Wisconsin Professional Athletes

Tyler Biadasz never got a snap in.

The Los Angeles Chargers placed the Wisconsin center on season-ending injured reserve this week, cutting short a 2026 campaign that had barely begun. Biadasz, a key offseason acquisition for Los Angeles, is now out for the entire year — a brutal blow for both player and franchise.

It's a cruel twist for the former Badger, who spent four seasons as the Cowboys' starting center before landing in L.A. this offseason with the expectation of anchoring the Chargers' offensive line. Instead, he joins the IR list before a single regular-season game is played, leaving the Chargers scrambling at one of the most critical positions on the field.

Los Angeles has fellow Wisconsin alumnus Alec Ingold on the roster at fullback, and the Chargers will need every healthy body they can get as they try to manage the fallout up front. Yahoo Sports highlighted Ingold this week as one of the team's "hidden gem" contributors heading into the season — one of the few bright spots in what has otherwise been a rough preseason stretch for L.A.

For Badger Nation, the broader picture

Biadasz's injury is the most significant Wisconsin alumni news of the week, but the program continues to have one of the deepest footprints in the NFL. More than 40 former Badgers are on active rosters heading into the 2026 season, spanning every position group and franchise.

The offensive line pipeline remains particularly strong. Rob Havenstein anchors the Rams' right tackle spot. Jonathan Taylor — one of the most decorated running backs in program history — is entering another season with the Colts. T.J. Watt remains among the league's most feared edge rushers in Pittsburgh. And Zack Baun, who carved out a standout role with the Eagles, is back for another run in Philadelphia.

The Biadasz situation is a reminder of how quickly an NFL season can change — and how much roster depth matters. Wisconsin's NFL community is large enough that the program rarely lacks for storylines, but losing a starting-caliber center before Week 1 stings regardless of what else is going right.

Biadasz's timeline for recovery has not been publicly detailed. The Chargers have not announced what injury landed him on IR.

Wisconsin's NFL alumni delivered a week that ran the full emotional spectrum — a devastating injury, a pair of encouraging returns, and a star running back earning his national flowers.

Biadasz Goes Down Hard

The week's dominant story out of Badger Nation was a brutal one. Chargers center Tyler Biadasz was carted off the field during Tuesday's joint practice with the San Francisco 49ers after 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez fell on his left leg. What initially looked like a lower-leg injury was later confirmed to be ACL damage, with Los Angeles placing Biadasz on an indefinite timeline while he seeks additional medical opinions.

It's a crushing blow on multiple fronts. Biadasz was the Chargers' first free-agency signing of the offseason — a clear signal of how seriously the organization took shoring up its historically problematic offensive line. Now, with Justin Herbert's protection once again unsettled, Los Angeles faces familiar anxieties heading into the regular season. A former tackle publicly called out the franchise's handling of its line issues in the aftermath. The injury news left no room for optimism: per reports, the situation is expected to be long-term.

For Biadasz, who has battled durability questions throughout his career, the timing couldn't be worse.

Allen Announces Himself in Green & White

On the brighter end of the ledger, Braelon Allen gave Jets fans something to cheer about in New York's preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Wisconsin product, returning from an 11-month layoff, made his comeback emphatic — hauling in a 31-yard touchdown that had MetLife buzzing.

Allen was among the standout performers in the game, per multiple Jets beat reporters, and his return reignites questions about how New York's backfield depth chart shakes out. After missing nearly a full year, that kind of statement performance matters. The Jets appear to have a legitimate weapon on their hands if Allen can stay healthy.

Van Lanen Back in Jacksonville

Quietly but meaningfully, Jaguars offensive tackle Cole Van Lanen was activated off the physically unable to perform list on Thursday. Jacksonville's offensive line has been a work in progress, and getting Van Lanen back into the mix — even at this stage of the preseason — gives the unit another experienced option. The Jaguars also signed offensive lineman Timothy McKay the same day, signaling the front office is serious about building depth up front.

Taylor Cracks the NFL's Top 20

Away from the injury news and position battles, Colts running back Jonathan Taylor earned a moment worth savoring. The former Heisman finalist and Madison legend cracked the Top 20 of the NFL Top 100, a peer-voted list that carries genuine weight because it comes from the players themselves. Taylor continues to be regarded as one of the premier backs in the league — a fact Wisconsin fans have known for years.

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It was a week that reminded Badger alumni fans how quickly fortunes can shift in August. Biadasz's injury casts a long shadow, but Allen's return and Taylor's recognition give Wisconsin faithful reasons to keep watching as the preseason rolls on.

Keeanu Benton Rewrites Steelers History

Wisconsin defensive tackle Keeanu Benton is getting paid — handsomely, and for a long time.

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract extension with Benton on Friday, making the 24-year-old the highest-paid defensive lineman in franchise history. The deal ties him to Pittsburgh through the 2030 season, a massive organizational bet on the former Badger after a career-best 2025 campaign.

Benton was a second-round pick out of Wisconsin in the 2023 NFL Draft and has developed steadily into one of Pittsburgh's most important defensive pieces. That trajectory clearly convinced the Steelers to lock him up well before he could test the open market. Defensive tackles have been cashing in across the league, and Pittsburgh made sure Benton wouldn't be doing that elsewhere.

For Badger fans, this is the kind of moment that validates the pipeline. Wisconsin has long been a factory for NFL-caliber interior linemen, and Benton — versatile, disruptive, and now richly compensated — is the latest proof of concept.

More Badgers on the Move

Benton wasn't the only Wisconsin alumnus generating headlines this week.

Jake Ferguson continued his strong camp showing with the Dallas Cowboys, where he remains a focal point of the Dallas passing game entering the 2026 season. The Cowboys TE has looked sharp and continues to build on his breakout trajectory in Big D.

In Washington, Leo Chenal was part of a vocal Commanders contingent that held joint practices with the Miami Dolphins this week. Head coach Dan Quinn singled out several players during the session, and Chenal — in his third NFL season and entrenched as a starting linebacker — was among those who drew attention during camp.

Meanwhile, Michael Deiter's season ended before it started. The veteran center, now with the Denver Broncos, was carted off the practice field and placed on season-ending injured reserve. Denver signed veteran center Lecitus Smith as a replacement. It's a brutal blow for Deiter, who has battled to stay healthy throughout his NFL career.

Over in New York, Braelon Allen made noise for the Jets with a standout return from injury. The second-year running back has been one of the more buzzed-about names in Jets camp, and his return to full health gives New York's backfield a genuine dual-threat dimension heading into the preseason.

On the offensive line in Indianapolis, Tanor Bortolini was flagged as one of the Colts' under-the-radar roster pieces to watch in 2026 — a nod to the kind of unheralded, high-floor reliability that Wisconsin linemen routinely bring to NFL rosters.

The Bottom Line

It was a week that ran the full spectrum for Badgers in the NFL — record-breaking contracts, injury heartbreak, and preseason momentum. But make no mistake: Keeanu Benton's $72 million extension is the story. It's the largest commitment to a defensive lineman in Steelers history, and it cements a former Badger as a cornerstone of one of the NFL's most storied franchises. Madison has plenty to feel good about this August.

The Highs

Jonathan Taylor is staying in Indianapolis — and he's getting paid like it.

The Colts signed the Wisconsin product to a two-year, $44 million contract extension this week, making him the second-highest paid running back in the NFL, trailing only Atlanta's Bijan Robinson, who landed a historic $75 million deal just days earlier. Taylor, 27, is coming off a dominant 1,585-yard season, and Colts principal owner Carly Irsay-Gordon made clear the franchise's intentions before the ink was even dry, declaring at a night practice that Taylor is "here to stay."

The timing matters. Robinson's blockbuster deal reset the RB market almost overnight, and Taylor — who had made his desire to be a Colt for life publicly known — moved quickly to capitalize. The two-year structure gives Indianapolis flexibility while rewarding one of the most productive backs in franchise history. For Wisconsin alumni, it's the kind of payday that validates what Badger fans have known since Taylor was shredding Big Ten defenses in Madison.

The Lows

On the other side of the ledger, the week brought one of the cruelest injury stories in the NFL.

Denver Broncos defensive lineman Matt Henningsen tore his Achilles at training camp practice on Friday — the second consecutive August that the former Wisconsin pass-rusher has suffered the same devastating injury. Henningsen originally tore his Achilles on August 7, 2025, missed the entire season, rehabbed tirelessly, and was re-signed by Denver to compete in 2026. He made it back to the practice field. Then, nearly one year to the day, it happened again.

The Broncos officially placed Henningsen on injured reserve Saturday, ending his season before it began. Back-to-back Achilles tears are the kind of setback that has derailed NFL careers, and Henningsen now faces yet another long road back. The resilience he showed getting back to camp this year suggests he won't quit — but the football world is rooting hard for him to catch a break.

Also Noteworthy

Elsewhere in the Badger alumni network, Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards was activated by Chicago this week, a quiet but positive roster note for one of the steadier Wisconsin products in the league. Edwards has been a reliable presence at the linebacker position and his activation signals he's ready for the preseason push.

The broader Wisconsin alumni corps remains one of the deepest in the NFL, with former Badgers scattered across all 32 rosters — from T.J. Watt anchoring Pittsburgh's defensive front to Jake Ferguson lining up for Dallas at tight end. But this week belonged to Taylor's triumph and Henningsen's heartbreak — the full spectrum of what training camp can deliver in a single news cycle.