Patrick Mahomes Comeback Headlines Biggest NFL Training Camp Dramas

The Seahawks Are Trying to Repeat, and They Know How Hard That Is

Sam Darnold spent most of his career being the quarterback people pointed to as evidence that the position could make or break a franchise. In February 2026, he was the quarterback who led Seattle to a Super Bowl championship. The defending Seahawks enter 2026 training camp as one of the most intact Super Bowl champions in recent memory — 86.9 percent of their offensive and defensive snaps from the title run return — but the key departures are notable.

Kenneth Walker III, who rushed for 1,300 yards in the Super Bowl season, signed with Kansas City in the offseason. Defensive end Boye Mafe inked a $60 million deal in Cincinnati. The secondary lost Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen to Chicago and Philadelphia respectively.

The Seahawks are a strong team still, but a meaningfully different one, and the NFL history of back-to-back champions is a short list — Kansas City did it in 2023-2024 before the drought was snapped. Seattle is also the featured team on Hard Knocks this summer, which means every practice moment gets amplified.

The stated goal in Seahawks camp is simple: be a sequel, not a rerun. What that means in practice is figuring out who replaces KW3’s production, how the secondary adjusts after losing two starters, and whether Darnold can replicate a season that surprised almost everyone who covers football.

Tua and Penix Are Both in Atlanta, and One of Them Can’t Practice

The Falcons’ quarterback situation entering 2026 training camp is genuinely strange. Tua Tagovailoa was released by Miami after the Dolphins’ roster reset and signed a one-year deal with Atlanta for $1.3 million — one of the more humbling contract resets for a former franchise quarterback in recent memory.

Michael Penix Jr., the player Atlanta originally drafted to be its future at the position, is still recovering from a torn ACL that ended his 2025 season. He is not expected to be cleared for full participation for several weeks into camp.

The result is a quarterback competition where one competitor is injured and the other has a bad back. Tua has been limited in practice but is participating. Penix is rehabbing. NFL insider Ian Rapoport projects Tagovailoa as the likely Week 1 starter by default.

This is not what the Falcons envisioned when they drafted Penix in the first round two years ago, and it is not what Tagovailoa envisioned for the trajectory of his career. For Atlanta, the best-case scenario is Penix recovering fully and eventually claiming the job he was drafted for.

The realistic scenario for opening day looks like a quarterback who took a $1.3 million minimum deal and a team hoping he stays healthy enough to get there.

The Vikings Are Watching Two Quarterbacks Fight Over One Job

Minnesota’s quarterback situation is compelling for different reasons than Atlanta’s. The Vikings acquired Kyler Murray in the offseason as a proven starter, but J.J. McCarthy — last year’s first-round pick — is not conceding the starting job without a fight.

Camp in Eagan has turned into a genuine competition, with Murray receiving roughly two-thirds of first-team reps through the first weeks of practice while McCarthy works primarily with the second unit.

The challenge for McCarthy is structural. His coaches have put him up against Minnesota’s first-team defense while giving Murray the starters on offense — a configuration that makes it harder for the younger quarterback to succeed on film.

Murray has won most of the individual days being reported publicly, looking sharper and more decisive with the first unit. McCarthy has shown moments, including a strong finish to one camp session that drew significant attention, but the rep distribution has told a story of its own.

The Vikings are not expected to hold this competition indefinitely. Coach Kevin O’Connell has indicated a decision is coming as the preseason games begin to stack up. The smart money is on Murray. The storyline worth watching is whether McCarthy’s performance forces that calculus to change.

The Raiders Had First Pick in the Draft and He’s the Backup

Las Vegas selected Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He is currently the Raiders’ second-string quarterback.

Coach Klint Kubiak named Kirk Cousins the Week 1 starter before the first practice of camp and has not deviated from that position, citing Cousins’ track record and the value of not rushing a rookie into a starting role before he is ready. Cousins has backed up the decision by performing well, opening a team period with two deep touchdown passes and showing the kind of veteran command that makes the case for keeping a 38-year-old in the lineup easy to make on a day-by-day basis.

Mendoza is reportedly excelling in the short and intermediate passing game and has drawn interest with his processing speed and arm accuracy. He appears to accept his role and is described in camp reports as focused and coachable.

The question hanging over Las Vegas all summer is not whether Mendoza eventually becomes the franchise quarterback — that outcome feels nearly certain — but whether his performances in camp and the preseason games force Kubiak’s hand before the season begins. The Raiders have a complicated history with first overall picks. This one, at least, is making the drama about football.

Tampa Bay’s Training Camp Has Two Unhappy Storylines and One Team

The Buccaneers entered 2026 training camp with a lame-duck starter and a defensive tackle requesting a trade, which is not the combination any franchise wants to be managing in late July.

Vita Vea, one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL, has requested a trade and is currently “holding in” — attending meetings and walking through the facility but refusing to practice until his contract situation is resolved. His agent has signaled that a trade is the expected outcome, suggesting the gap between Vea and the Buccaneers on a new deal is not bridgeable through negotiation alone.

Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers could not agree on a contract extension before camp. Mayfield is now playing out the final year of his deal without long-term security, which is not an unusual situation in the NFL but is an unusual one for a quarterback who has won division titles and been to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in Tampa. Mayfield has not made noise publicly about his contract, but practicing as a lame-duck starter while watching your best interior defensive lineman hold in is not a backdrop conducive to the focused summer any contender wants.

The Buccaneers still have legitimate NFC South aspirations. They are just trying to get through August first.