NFL Player News

Matthews, who starred at non-scholarship D-IAA San Diego, will enter Jags camp very low on the depth chart. He’ll be lucky to make the practice squad.

This won’t qualify as surprising news, but Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are battling for the pecking order after the gate is lowered. “But the reality is that either Gabriel or Sanders staying in the team’s plans and being deemed worthy of further development would count as a win,” Jackson notes while praising Sanders’ “obvious gifts.” Both quarterbacks are in the dynasty conversation, but they should be treated as stashes at this point.

It’s not unusual for older pass rushers to take their time in deciding where to go, and Miller appears to be no exception. He told 9NEWS’ Mike Klis that a return to the Broncos “wouldn’t make sense” because the team has two strong pass rushers. Miller will likely be able to catch on elsewhere — probably closer to training camp — if he desires to continue his career.

According to Schefter, the Eagles are looking to acquire a mid-round pick in exchange for Huff’s services. Huff signed a three-year deal with the Eagles last season after recording a 10-sack season with the Jets in 2023, but was limited to 12 games due to a wrist injury and declared inactive for the team’s Super Bowl win over the Chiefs. Huff has two years left on his deal and has amassed 20 sacks over his first four years in the league. Last season with the Eagles, he played on 285 defensive snaps, with 182 of those coming in pass rush situations. We should expect to see a similar split for Huff in San Francisco.

Dart’s deal is worth $17 million in fully guaranteed money. The rookie first-rounder is expected to take a back seat early in camp to veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dart take the field at some point in his rookie season. Head coach Brian Daboll enters the year on arguably the hottest seat of any coach in the league. Regardless of how the year plays out, some visible growth from a team that finished 3-14 last season, coupled with a solid rookie performance from Dart could go a long way in buying him additional time at the helm. Dart threw for 4,279-29-6 in his final season at Ole Miss and led the nation in YPA at 10.8.

“Flacco throws the ball in a practice setting better than any of (the other quarterbacks),” per Jackson. His experience under head coach Kevin Stefanski during their 2023 stint also likely bodes well for Flacco’s chances, at least early on, but there’s a good chance we see three or four different quarterbacks take the field for the Browns in 2025, depending on how their season unfolds. Coming off a three-win season, it’s fair to say expectations are far from high for the Browns, who ranked in the bottom five in points scored and points allowed last season and started four different quarterbacks due to poor play and injuries. Shedeur Sanders, who is expected to draw the most hype of any Browns QB in preseason, notably worked fourth in the QB rotation at OTAs.

Williams showed his full potential as a playmaker for the Lions in 2024. The former first-round pick posted career-highs in receptions (58), receiving yards (1,001), and receiving touchdowns (7) while averaging an explosive 17.3 YPR. Hopes appear sky high for Williams heading into this season after new offensive coordinator John Morton said he expects a “breakout year” for him in 2025, and Campbell added this week that the “sky’s the limit” for the speedster. Williams’ success on the field resulted in him averaging 13.7 PPR per game for fantasy managers last season, although he only produced a top-24 week in 40 percent of his games. He may remain a bit of a boom-or-bust option next season, but he has a chance to be an impactful player on deeper rosters as a home run threat WR3/WR4.

According to Schultz, “nothing is imminent,” and the Falcons would prefer to keep the former No. 4 overall pick. He also adds that “it would take at least a Day 2 pick to even spark serious talks.” A hyper-athletic tight end who burst on the scene as a rookie when he caught 68 passes for 1,026 yards and one touchdown, Pitts has struggled to replicate his rookie-year success. While injuries can be partly blamed for his struggles, Pitts’ effort has also been called into question at times by both the front office and coaching staff. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, any team that trades for Pitts would have to decide whether they want to extend him or force him to play out the year and earn a new deal next offseason. We don’t know which teams have called about Pitts, but this could be something to monitor in the coming weeks.

The long-time Ravens head coach went on to add, “That’d be my goal for him, and he’s capable of it.” It’s no secret that being an All-Pro requires a lot of playing time and a lot of production, and Likely would need both if he hopes to hit Harbaugh’s lofty goal this season. Of course, the challenge is overcoming Mark Andrews, who is presumed to be the Ravens’ TE1 this season. Likely has shown plenty of flashes, including a 9-111-1 performance in Week 1 last season against the Chiefs. He would only catch 33 passes for 366 yards the rest of the season, but the potential is clearly there for Likely to make a bigger impact with more opportunities. A 2025 breakout campaign from Likely wouldn’t be the most surprising thing after Andrews struggled for parts of last season and in the playoffs.

Adofo-Mensah was first hired as the Vikings’ general manager in 2022 after spending two seasons with the Browns. The 43-year-old GM has helped guide the team to a 34-17 record since his arrival, and signed Sam Darnold to a one-year deal last offseason which wound up paying big dividends for a team that went on to post a 14-3 record. Outside of a down 2023 campaign in which the Vikings lost Kirk Cousins eight games into the season, the Vikings have had the look of a perennial contender in the NFC. Securing Adofo-Mensah for the long term should go a long way in locking them in for more successful runs if quarterback J.J. McCarthy proves to be worth the No. 10 overall pick the Vikes used on him last season.

Kelce, 35, mulled retirement this offseason after turning in the worst year since his 2013 rookie campaign. Kelce posted a career-low three touchdowns last season and averaged a meager 8.5 YPR on 97 receptions. While the raw receiving totals remained intact, there’s no doubt that Kelce’s explosiveness has fallen off in recent years. He’s now had back-to-back seasons with a career-low YPR, and despite his quarterback praising him for being “motivated to go out there and have an even better year than he had this last (season),” it’s fair to wonder how much Kelce has left in the tank as far as being a high-end producer is concerned. While the future Hall of Famer will likely continue to produce more than the average tight end — as he did last season, his days of being a yearly 1,000-yard producer are likely behind him.