2026 NFL Offseason Buzz, Rumors: Eagles DC Vic Fangio Reportedly Considered Retirement

The NFL offseason hasn’t officially arrived yet, but 30 teams are already looking ahead to 2026. As teams continue to fill out their coaching staffs, some teams are already making plans on what to do with their rosters ahead of the start of the new league year in March. Who’ll get cut? Who’ll get traded? Who’ll get extended? Who’ll get the franchise tag? Here’s the latest look at some of the most notable rumors around the NFL. Eagles DC Vic Fangio considered retirement The Philadelphia Eagles nearly had to make two coordinator changes this offseason. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio informed the team shortly after their season ended that he planned to retire before the Eagles convinced him to return, PhillyVoice reported. If Fangio had held firm in his decision to retire, the Eagles were planning to contact former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon and Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, according to PhillyVoice. Gannon was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator for two seasons (2021-22) before leaving for Arizona in 2023. Fangio has been widely regarded as one of the top defensive minds in the NFL for several years. The Eagles’ defense has also been one of the game’s top defensive units since Fangio joined the team in 2024, ranking in the top five in scoring in each of the last two years. The Eagles hired Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion to be their next offensive coordinator after parting ways with Kevin Patullo. Packers extend coach, multiple executives Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president/director of football operations Russ Ball have joined coach Matt LaFleur in signing multi-year contract extensions. Packers president/CEO Ed Policy announced the extensions for all three on Friday. The extensions come after the Packers went 9-8-1 and made their third straight playoff appearance, and sixth in the last seven years. A 31-27 loss at Chicago in the NFC wild-card playoff round capped a five-game skid that ended Green Bay’s season, though one of those defeats came when the Packers rested their starters in their regular-season finale. “We are excited to extend our commitment to Brian, Matt and Russ as the leaders of our football operations,” Policy said in a statement. “Their steadfast dedication, passion and collaboration have remained constant in our drive to compete at the highest level. While we are all disappointed with the way this season ended, we remain aligned in purpose and have spent considerable time over the past weeks collaborating on a path forward. “I am exceedingly confident we have the right people to achieve our goal. The entire Packers organization looks forward to supporting every effort to bring our community and fans another championship that they very much deserve.” LaFleur owns a 76-40-1 regular-season record and has led Green Bay to the playoffs in all but one of his seven years on the job. That includes NFC championship game appearances in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Green Bay has been the NFC’s seventh and final playoff seed each of the last three seasons. Falcons plan to release QB Kirk Cousins, but could bring him back Cousins’ time in Atlanta seems to be nearing its end, as the Falcons are planning to cut the veteran QB, The Athletic reported. The Falcons would be interested in re-signing Cousins on a cheaper contract, per The Athletic’s report. Cousins, 37, signed a four-year, $180 million deal to join the Falcons in the 2024 offseason, just months after he tore his Achilles. His tenure in Atlanta began with some promise before getting benched late in the 2024 season in favor of Michael Penix Jr., who the Falcons selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Penix was the Falcons’ starting quarterback to open the 2025 season. However, Cousins wound up starting eight games as Penix suffered a season-ending ACL tear in November. Cousins put up a respectable statline in 2025, completing 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions with an 84.8 passer rating. The Falcons went 5-3 in Cousins’ eight starts as well. That wasn’t good enough for Cousins to guarantee his spot in the Falcons’ new regime, however, with Matt Ryan running football operations and Kevin Stefanski entering his first season as Atlanta’s head coach. Check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.