INDIANAPOLIS — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have informed safety Jordan Whitehead that they will be declining his 2025 option, which will make him an unrestricted free agent, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

A starter on the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV-winning defense in 2020, Whitehead reunited with Tampa Bay last year on a two-year deal worth $9 million.

Whitehead dealt with a torn pectoral muscle in 2024 and missed the Buccaneers’ regular-season finale and their wild-card playoff game against the Washington Commanders after he was involved in an automobile accident on his way to the team facility Jan. 4 that resulted in undisclosed injuries. He was placed on the non-football injury list.

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Legendary offensive lineman Jason Peters is retiring after 21 seasons in the NFL and will take a job in the Seattle Seahawks’ front office, general manager John Schneider told reporters at the scouting combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Peters, who spent the past two years with the Seahawks, will take a player-development role under vice president of player affairs Mo Kelly, Schneider said. Peters’ specific title is listed on the Seahawks’ website as “veteran mentor.”

Peters amassed one of the most decorated résumés for an offensive lineman in NFL history, going from undrafted in 2004 out of Arkansas to a surefire Hall of Famer. He made nine Pro Bowls, was twice named a first-team All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s. He won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2017 season.

Peters played in 233 regular-season games for the Buffalo Bills (2004-08), Eagles (2009-20), Chicago Bears (2021), Dallas Cowboys (2022) and Seahawks (2023-24). That included eight games and two starts with Seattle in 2023 after joining the team’s practice squad.

The Seahawks signed him back to their practice squad last October, after he was set to retire, but he didn’t appear in a game.

LOS ANGELES — The Rams have given quarterback Matthew Stafford’s agent permission to speak to other teams about his market value, a source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday.

The news was first reported by NFL Network. The sides have been discussing a reworked contract, a source told ESPN.

After the Rams won Super Bowl LVI, the team and Stafford agreed to a contract extension in March 2022. Stafford has two seasons left on the extension, with $4 million guaranteed in 2025 and none in 2026.

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EAGAN, Minn. — It seems safe to rule out at least one possibility as the Minnesota Vikings sort through their backfield options this spring. They do not want to repeat their heavy use of veteran Aaron Jones, who set career highs in touches (306), carries (255) and offensive snaps (700) in his first season with the team.

Jones made it through all 18 games, even while nursing hip, rib and quadriceps injuries. He had the most rushing yards (1,138) and second-most yards from scrimmage (1,546) in his career. But as he approaches free agency at age 30, the Vikings have signaled that they will dial back his playing time if he returns.

“The big thing for me is we loved having Aaron Jones, the impact he had,” coach Kevin O’Connell told SiriusXM earlier this month. “For the better part of his career, he had kind of been a part of backfield committees, but for the most part, Aaron Jones was the feature back [in 2024]. … So I would love to have Aaron back. And then we just continue to grow in that room, whether it’s infusing a young player in the draft or maybe another player in free agency alongside Aaron Jones, hopefully.”

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Many teams, however, will be sorting through what is projected to be a deep class of running backs in the draft. ESPN’s Field Yates ranks Boise State’s