2026 NFL Draft Mailbag: Potential impact of the rookie wage scale, mid-round options for the Bears, OL with positional flexibility & more

We’re nearly a month out from the 2026 NFL Draft. Your most pressing questions of the week.

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer
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We’re closing in on one month away from the 2026 NFL Draft.

Free agency has helped to completely reshape our expectations for certain teams and their plans for April. It’s an odd class — each one is like a snowflake, unique in its’ own ways. I don’t remember seeing a snowflake like this one before. As I’m finalizing my grades for all of the players, it is becoming increasingly apparent that scheme specificity could rule the roost in determining who goes in certain windows of this year’s draft. It should be a lot of fun, so let’s start laying groundwork and getting ready. I recently asked for your questions about this year’s class and we’ll tackle the most pressing ones here.

2026 NFL Draft mailbag: Positional value versus scheme fits and more

Wage scale’s impact on early draft decisions

I know these kinds of things usually come into play for conversations when vetting players in similar buckets. Let’s take Ashton Jeanty as an example — the rookie wage scale last year landed him with $23.589M in total compensation for the 2025 season. That figure ranked first in the NFL among running backs by nearly $7 million in total cash. That comes with expectations, even if it gets offset by three very cost-controlled years for Jeanty now.

In a standard year, I would say this kind of dilemma would be very real. That No. 2 pick is, according to OverTheCap, scheduled for a $36.8M signing bonus — nearly twice the annual average of Fred Warner’s position leading AAV of $21M. But we aren’t in a standard year. Styles has become the most clean projection in the class and I see a very strong impact in New York’s defense for Aaron Glenn. I think this year, because of the class, should be less about the economic balance of a player and more about finding appropriate value for your pick. You want to know what you’re getting (or as close to it) with a top-3 pick.

Tackles who can play guard

I firmly believe that two of this year’s top names could be considered guards for certain teams: Francis Mauigoa and Spencer Fano. Fano is even getting some buzz as a center. Here’s what I’d say about both guys: they should not be typecast exclusively as guards from the jump and deserve the chance to play tackle for their new teams if that’s where they’re needed on the line. Do I think the ceiling for both players is a bit higher inside? Sure. But positional value and scarcity rules the roost.

Beyond those two at the top, I believe that Gennings Dunker (Iowa) would benefit from playing with guardrails on either side of him. Boise State’s Kage Casey feels very “Wyatt Milum” to me, who was a LT at West Virginia and kicked inside last year.

Some of “My Guys” on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft

You’re looking for role specificity or guys with high floors on special teams here, right? You want to know a pick in the later chapters of the draft is going to fill an actual role on your roster. If you take too many developmental fliers, you may get stuck holding an empty bag. Here are some Day 3 projected players who I find myself very partial to in this year’s class:

  • Texas Tech safety Cole Wisniewski
  • Indiana fullback/tight end Riley Nowakowski
  • Georgia guard Micah Morris
  • Stephen F. Austin cornerback Charles Demmings
  • Clemson running back Adam Randall
  • Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock
  • Wyoming tight end John-Michael Gyllenborg
  • Iowa returner Kaden Wetjen
  • Oregon wide receiver Malik Benson

Mid-round centers for the Bears

You’re in luck. There’s no shortage of interesting options for Chicago on this front. Sam Hecht is going to get lots of buzz out of Kansas State after a good Senior Bowl showing. He’ll be an option on Day 2, where Chicago has three picks scheduled. Alabama’s Parker Brailsford, Indiana’s Pat Coogan and Iowa’s Logan Jones are all names you should know in the middle rounds, as well.

Dolphins top-50 pass rush options

Yeah so this one is interesting because we don’t really have the ‘Jon-Eric Sullivan’ proof of concept yet. We can read between the lines on what the Packers have done during his time with that program but how much influence does Jeff Hafley have on a potential different criteria? It’s tough to project.

Here’s what we know. The Packers generally have drafted size on the edge. Lukas Van Ness was 272 pounds, Rashan Gary was 277. Enagbare was 258, Barryn Sorrell was 258. The team had a great deal of success with Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith as free agent additions — both were north of 270 pounds.

Based on that history, I’ve got a hard time seeing them going for sub-250 pound rushers. That would leave Bain Jr. at 11 if he makes it, it would include Mesidor (259lb but played heavier in the past), TJ Parker from Clemson (263lb), Jacas (260lbs), and Zion Young (262lb) in the top-50. Faulk, the more I watch, probably projects inside in the NFL. That wouldn’t disqualify him from a fit with Miami but I envision his best outcomes result in stacking weight and playing inside.

It’s worth noting that Young does have a few questions on his resume tying back to a DWI in December and a locker room incident while he was at Michigan State. I can’t guarantee that they will disqualify him from consideration from Miami. But I do know that this regime is very focused on building a culture from the ground up and those sorts of things will need everyone’s sign-off before making a pick.

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