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2025 NFL Draft News & Rumors

FA QBs Asked Giants Not To Target Position In 1st Round

August 2nd, 2025 at 12:55pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Kirk Cousins‘ experience in Atlanta seems to have served as a warning to other veteran quarterbacks around the league.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen revealed this week that multiple free agent QBs said they wouldn’t sign in New York unless the team promised not to take a quarterback in the first round of April’s draft.

Last offseason, the Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180MM contract in free agency before using the No. 9 pick of the 2024 draft on Michael Penix. Cousins was surprised by the move and later revealed that he may have taken a different approach to free agency had he known of the team’s plans. Injury and turnover woes knocked the veteran out of the starting lineup late in the 2024 season and Penix replaced him as the team’s new franchise quarterback. Unable to secure a release or trade, Cousins is now set to spend the 2025 season as Penix’s backup.

Understandably, free agent quarterbacks looking for a new home this offseason wanted to avoid a similar situation. The Giants wouldn’t make any promises.

“We would not guarantee anybody that we wouldn’t draft a quarterback,” said Schoen in an appearance on WFAN (via Awful Announcing). For some free agents, that was a nonstarter, but Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll had yet to finish their evaluations of the 2025 draft class.

“When we sign these guys, it’s mid-March,” explained Schoen. “Daboll hadn’t seen some of the [prospects] throw yet, in-person. We hadn’t had private workouts with them. Some of them hadn’t been in our building yet.”

When Schoen and Daboll were hired in 2022, they inherited Daniel Jones from Dave Gettleman‘s time as GM. The Giants’ new regime declined to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option for the 2023 season, but Jones immediately put up the best season of his career and forced the team to give him an extension. After moving on from the 2019 first-rounder last year, Schoen and Daboll finally had a chance to pick their own quarterback prospect to draft and develop. They didn’t want to give up that opportunity to sign a veteran who would only serve as a short-term starter.

“We’re not going to promise that, because I don’t know who’s going to be there, we don’t know how the draft is going to unfold,” explained Schoen. “I’m never going to do that promise.”

The Giants ultimately agreed to terms with Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in March before selecting Jaxson Dart with a first-round pick a month later. Wilson is expected to start this season with Winston serving as his primary backup and Dart learning the ropes from his veteran teammates.

Bengals Sign First-Round DE Shemar Stewart

July 26th, 2025 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

JULY 26: Stewart officially put pen to paper today, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Inking the deal on an off day for the team, Stewart will officially rejoin his teammates on the field tomorrow.

JULY 25: The Bengals have cut their contract issues with defensive ends from two to one. At long last, the AFC North team has its first-round pick under contract.

Shemar Stewart agreed to terms on his four-year rookie deal Friday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. The sides had been engaged in a dispute about default language, and the impasse kept Stewart from working out during OTAs or minicamp. After the stalemate continued into training camp, it is now over. The Bengals bent on language to finally sign Stewart, as Pelissero adds an adjustment was made.

Cincinnati attempted to build new language into its rookie contracts that would void all guarantees in future years if a player does something to void guarantees in any year of the contract, as opposed to only voiding the guarantees in the year that something occurred. Stewart voiced displeasure in being the guinea pig here and refused to sign, becoming the last first-rounder to put pen to paper this year. After this deal’s completion, only Browns second-round running back Quinshon Judkins — due to a domestic violence arrest — is unsigned.

The above-referenced adjustment, however, does not constitute a win for the Stewart camp on the core issue. Rather, the Bengals agreed to adjust Stewart’s signing bonus payment schedule, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports. That evidently convinced Stewart being the guinea pig for the Bengals’ default language quest was acceptable. Second-rounder Demetrius Knight also objected to the Bengals’ void language, but he ended up accepting it in exchange for receiving 75% of his signing bonus upfront.

More specifically, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports $500K in Stewart’s bonus will be paid upfront rather than in December. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway, the team also greenlit a $550K bump to bring Stewart into camp. That would be the more notable development, as it would stand to bring a true raise for the disgruntled player in exchange for his agreement on the much-discussed default matter.

Unsigned draftees generally participate in OTAs and minicamps by signing waivers, but Stewart expressed issues with the Bengals on that front as well. He has yet to practice since the team chose him 17th overall. The Texas A&M product and the Bengals had been at odds for months on this matter, and while Cincinnati’s concession is not yet known, the team will have its top draft choice in uniform moving forward.

This closes one of the strangest negotiating chapters in the rookie-scale contract era (2011-present). First-rounders had been in the fully guaranteed contract bracket for a few years now; at No. 17, Stewart was locked into a fully guaranteed $18.97MM contract when the Bengals drafted him. The team’s crusade over minor default language, which prompted VP of player personnel Duke Tobin to criticize Stewart’s agent this week, brought scrutiny — especially as the Bengals navigate their Trey Hendrickson impasse. As a result, the team has not had its two highest-profile D-ends at work throughout the offseason.

Stewart had been training at his alma mater ahead of training camp — no, an actual Aggies return (with an aim at a 2026 draft reentrance) was not a thing — but will be tasked with developing quickly in Al Golden‘s defense. The Bengals have Hendrickson engaged in a holdout, already stripping away their top defender. Having Stewart out of action for this long compounded the issue, but the team at least has two first-rounders — Stewart and 2023 draftee Myles Murphy — at work.

The team drafted Stewart weeks after Sam Hubbard‘s retirement. He arrived for a team coming off a woeful defensive season, a campaign that prompted the Bengals to fire six-year DC Lou Anarumo and hire Golden. Stewart also checks in as a potential Hendrickson successor, in the event the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up and the Bengals cannot agree on an extension, or insurance against Murphy failing to make strides after two unremarkable years.

The Bengals are going on projection with Stewart, who totaled 1.5 sacks in each of his three college seasons. In correctly tabbing Stewart as the Bengals’ pick in his PFR mock draft, Ely Allen indicated scouts were enamored with the project pass rusher’s build, balance and bend. Cincinnati will finally have a chance to see their prized investment’s skills firsthand.

Cardinals Sign Second-Round CB Will Johnson, Complete Rookie Deals

July 23rd, 2025 at 7:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

JULY 23: Howard Balzer of Cards Wire reports that Johnson’s rookie deal is worth $9.41MM over four years. Johnson ended up getting $7.66MM of that money guaranteed, including his $3.48MM signing bonus. The rest of the guarantees come from his first three years’ full base salaries of $840K, $1.27MM, and $1.7MM, as well as 17.55 percent of his Year 4 base salary of $2.12MM, which amounts to $372.64K.

JULY 22: no surprise, Will Johnson is on the books in time for the start of the Cardinals’ training camp. The second-round corner signed his rookie deal Tuesday, per a team announcement.

Last night, ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss reported an agreement was expected in this case. Rookies do not have the option of signing an injury waiver for training camp (unlike rookie minicamp, OTAs and mandatory minicamp). As a result, recent days have seen a flood of second-round picks sign their deals to be available for summer practices.

Johnson’s deal means that Browns running back Quinshon Judkins – whose attention is currently focused on a domestic violence arrest – and Bengals first-rounder Shemar Stewart – who remains engaged in a standoff over language in his pact – are the only rookies yet to sign in 2025. This offseason has been marked by a dramatic uptick in guaranteed compensation for the latter parts of rookie deals in the case of second-round picks. As the No. 47 pick in April’s draft, Johnson is in line to benefit from that development.

Over the course of his three years at Michigan, Johnson established himself as a pivotal figure in the team’s secondary. He played a key role in the Wolverines’ national title in 2023 and entered last season as a strong candidate to hear his name called on Day 1. Injuries limited Johnson to six games in 2024, however, and a knee ailment served as a deterrent for certain teams during the pre-draft process. Questions linger over Johnson’s ability to serve as a regular contributor on defense beyond his rookie contract.

If he can manage that, the All-American will prove to be a highly valuable draft investment on Arizona’s part. The Cardinals will be without Sean Murphy-Bunting for the entire season due to knee surgery, and their secondary will be missing a veteran as a result. Johnson will spend training camp looking to carve out a role amongst the remaining cornerback options, a list which includes other recent draftees in the form of Garrett Williams, Elijah Jones and Max Melton as well as fellow rookie Denzel Burke.

With Johnson signed, here is a final look at the Cardinals’ draft class:

Titans Complete Draft Pick Signings With Second-Round OLB Oluwafemi Oladejo

July 21st, 2025 at 7:43pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Titans have reached an agreement with second-round pick Oluwafemi Oladejo, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, completing their 2025 draft class signings.

Oladejo’s deal is worth $8.415MM over four years, the first three of which are fully guaranteed along with a $2.76MM signing bonus. That represents a massive jump from last year’s No. 52 pick, Adonai Mitchell, who only received guarantees on 47.7% (700k) of his Year 3 salary, per OverTheCap. Oladejo received 52.3% more guaranteed salary in Year 3, which will push him well above Mitchell’s overall guarantees worth 65% of his rookie deal.

Though Oladejo’s contract is significantly stronger than past players in the same draft slot, it is somewhat weak compared to the rest of the 2025 second-round pick market. 85% of No. 54 pick Anthony Belton‘s Year 3 salary was fully guaranteed by the Packers, per OverTheCap; a few days later, No. 53 pick Benjamin Morrison reached 96% on his Year 3 guarantees in his deal with the Buccaneers. Initial reports of Oladejo’s contract did not mention any guarantees past the third year, so a mere 4% increase over Morrison in Year 3 guarantees seems disappointing after Morrison received 11% more than Belton in the same category.

Regardless, Oladejo’s rookie contract completes an impressive year for the 21-year-old. After spending his first three college seasons – two at Cal and one at UCLA – as an off-ball linebacker, he moved to the edge in 2024 and finished the season with 4.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Oladejo surged up big boards throughout the draft process and was consistently pegged as a Day 2 pick before the draft. He will now have an opportunity to compete for a starting role in a Titans defense that lost Harold Landry this offseason and did little to replace him in free agency. Seven-year veteran Arden Key will likely be one of Tennessee’s starting edge defenders, and Oladejo should push Lorenzo Carter to be the other.

Oladejo was the final Titans draft pick to sign his rookie deal;

Eagles Sign Second-Round S Andrew Mukuba, Complete Draft Class Deals

July 21st, 2025 at 12:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles are the latest team to wrap up their rookie deals in time for training camp. Second-round safety Andrew Mukuba inked his contract on Monday, per a team announcement.

Like 29 other players taken in the second round of April’s draft Mukuba was unsigned at the start of last week. Round 2 picks have received a notable uptick in guaranteed compensation this year, with a number of players taken at the top of the round seeing all four years of their deals locked in (something which was previously only the case for Day 1 draftees). As the 64th pick, Mukuba is not in line to have his entire deal guaranteed, but his agreement no doubt represents a step in that direction compared to previous years.

During three seasons at Clemson, Mukuba operated as a key member of the team’s secondary. He recorded only one interception within that span, but things changed in 2024. After transferring to Texas, Mukuba notched five picks while adding seven pass deflections. That production helped his draft stock considerably, and he now enters the NFL with a chance to carve out a starting role on defense.

Philadelphia’s offseason has included a number of defensive departures, including the trade which sent C.J. Gardner Johnson to the Texans. The Eagles informed Gardner-Johnson of their decision to move on from him during the opening stages of free agency, and the trade created a vacancy at the safety spot. Reed Blankenship is set to return for 2025, and the same is true of Sydney Brown.

Those two could operate as Philadelphia’s starting safety tandem in 2025, although the Super Bowl champions could also find themselves in the market for one of the veterans still on the free agent market. Barring an addition, Mukuba should at least be able to occupy a special teams role during his rookie season. With Blankenship entering the final year of his contract, a path could exist down the road to a first-team defensive gig.

Here is a final look at the Eagles’ 2025 draft class:

Buccaneers Close Draft Class Signings; Ink CB Benjamin Morrison

July 20th, 2025 at 6:29pm CST by Ely Allen

The Buccaneers are the latest team to close out their rookie draft class signings today after getting Notre Dame second-round cornerback Benjamin Morrison to put pen to paper. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Morrison’s deal includes full guarantees for the first two years and 96 percent of the third year guaranteed.

A four-star recruit coming out of Brophy College Prep (AZ), Morrison had offers from a number of big programs. After taking official visits to Notre Dame, Oregon, and Washington in back-to-back-to-back weekends, Morrison committed to the Fighting Irish. He found his way onto NFL radars as a true freshman despite enrolling just two months before the start of the season. Making nine starts in 13 games, Morrison led his team with six interceptions, including one returned 96 yards for a touchdown, and added 10 passes defensed for good measure.

He continued his excellence in his sophomore year, starting 11 of 12 contests and missing one game with a quad injury. Despite added caution from opposing quarterbacks after his freshman year acclaim, Morrison still made plenty of plays on the ball, recording three interceptions and 13 passes defensed. He also showed a strong ability to blow up plays on the perimeter with 3.5 tackles for loss.

Scouts everywhere were licking their chops to see what film Morrison would put up in 2024, now that he was finally going to draft eligible. Through six games, Morrison hadn’t recorded any interceptions, but his four passes defensed were on track for his usual rate of deflections. Unfortunately, a hip injury took Morrison off the field for the remainder of his junior year. Feeling he had put up enough film to warrant a high draft pick, he decided to forego his senior season and declare for the draft.

The Buccaneers return much of a secondary from 2024 that allowed the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL. Part of that can be attributed to injuries as safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jordan Whitehead missed a combined 14 games, pushing Christian Izien into the starting secondary. Whitehead is the only one absent from last year’s roster in 2025 with Winfield and Izien back at safety, Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollum back at outside cornerback, and Tykee Smith returning at nickelback.

Early reports suggested that Morrison is expected to be ready to return to the field after his hip injury in time for training camp, which starts this week. While the Buccaneers will surely be happy to see him back on the field, they likely won’t attempt to rush him back. If he gets onto the field and plays at a high level as a rookie, great. If not, the team’s plans for him may be much increased in 2026. 2025 is a contract year for McCollum, and Dean’s cap hits over the next two seasons — $15.14MM in 2025 and $15.78MM in 2026 — are high enough to speculate at his candidacy for release. If the team can’t justify bringing both back after this year, then Morrison will be there an additional year removed from his hip injury.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Morrison is able to do in 2025. With the early displays he put on at Notre Dame as evidence, the 21-year-old could be a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate if his play resembles anything close to what he displayed pre-injury. With Morrison being the last Tampa Bay rookie to sign his entry-level deal, here’s a final look at the Buccaneers’ completed six-man draft class:

Saints, QB Tyler Shough Agree On Fully Guaranteed Rookie Deal

July 19th, 2025 at 10:10pm CST by Ely Allen

Once thought to be the first domino that would fall in the second-round standoff, Louisville second-round quarterback Tyler Shough has finally signed his four-year, entry-level contract. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms that Shough got the fully guaranteed four-year, $10.8MM contract many expected, but it comes with a few more benefits, as well.

It was 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins, picked three slots after Shough, who actually broke through the impasse, and the pick after Shough, Bills defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, signed yesterday with 94.6 percent of his contract guaranteed, meaning Shough’s 40th draft slot now stands as the lowest pick in modern draft history to receive full guarantees. His contract also, according to Schefter, is the only for non-first round picks that includes annual roster bonus structure, with which Shough receives the majority of his compensation each year during the first week of training camp.

Coming out of football powerhouse Hamilton HS (Ariz.), Shough committed to Oregon as the top recruit in the state and a consensus top-seven quarterback recruit. With Justin Herbert firmly entrenched in the starting spot behind center, Shough redshirted and served as a backup in Year 2. After Herbert moved on to the NFL, Shough got his chance to start for the Ducks, winning his first three contests. Back-to-back unexpected losses to Oregon State and Cal forced then-head coach Mario Cristobal to start splitting series between Shough and Anthony Brown down the stretch of the COVID-19-shortened season

With Brown ending the season with more momentum than Shough, the latter made the decision to transfer to Texas Tech. In his first season in Lubbock, Shough won the starting job over an incumbent senior and three freshmen but broke his collarbone in the fourth game of the season. He won the starting competition the following year, as well, but missed a few games after exiting the season opener with a shoulder injury. When he returned late in the year, he won every one of his starts, assuring that he would start again in 2023. Once again, though, injury forced Shough off the field after only four games when a broken fibula required surgery.

Granted a seventh year of eligibility, Shough transferred to Louisville and finally delivered a full season of work. Starting all 12 games for the Cardinals, Shough went 8-4, completing 62.7 percent of his passes for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Perhaps, cautioned from his injury-riddled history, the at times mobile quarterback showed a much lower propensity for taking off with the ball in his final collegiate season.

With a 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame, Shough looks the part of an NFL quarterback. He also does a lot of things that offensive coordinators love to see at the NFL level. He boasts a quick delivery, an ability to throw from different arm angles, the touch and arm strength to cover all areas of the field, and good accuracy when throwing on the run. The red flags are a bit obvious, having only completed one full season in seven years of college and entering the NFL at 26 years old, but he also has a tendency to throw up some prayers, which can result in big plays but also potential disasters.

After Derek Carr‘s mid-offseason retirement, there is no question what his role will be in New Orleans. Shough will be coming in with the hopes that he can beat out Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener for the starting job behind center in 2025. He proved time and again in college that he can win out in position battles, but now he’ll be competing with a couple of passers who have a head start in NFL experience. “NFL experience” is specified there, since Shough is the oldest quarterback to enter the NFL since Brandon Weeden, who was 28 years old when he was selected, encroaching a bit closer to Weeden than last year’s 24-year-olds, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr.

With one of the three biggest dominoes having now fallen, only nine rookies still need to sign their contracts. The Shemar Stewart situation has been covered in great detail, and the Browns want Quinshon Judkins focusing on his legal situation. Aside from those two, there are three groups of picks later on in the second round that should put pen to paper in the coming days.

With Shough closing out the Saints’ rookie class signings, here’s a final look at New Orleans’ nine-man draft class:

Panthers Sign Second-Round OLB Nic Scourton, Complete Rookie Deals

July 19th, 2025 at 9:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Panthers are the latest team to wrap up their rookie deals in time for training camp. Edge rusher Nic Scourton agreed to terms Saturday, per a team announcement.

Scourton was selected with the No. 51 pick in April’s draft. That slot saw guarantee rates of 54.8% and 66.4% over the past two years, Jason FItzgerald of Over the Cap notes. This pact is highly unlikely to be fully guaranteed like a number of other second-round deals signed this year, but Scourton no doubt moved that mark upward like all other players taken around him in the 2025 draft.

During his first two college seasons, Scourton played at Purdue. After not logging any starts as a freshman, he stood out the following year with 10 sacks (most in the Big Ten) and 15 tackles for loss. Last offseason, the second-team all-conference performer transferred to Texas A&M. During his lone campaign with the Aggies, Scourton saw his sack total drop to five (which nevertheless led the team) while adding 14 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

That production landed him first-team All-SEC honors as well as a second-team All-American nod. Scourton drew plenty of attention during the pre-draft process and it came as little surprise when he came off the board midway through the second round. The Panthers were seen by many as a strong candidate to select a pass rusher with their first pick, but they instead went the receiver route on Day 1 (Tetairoa McMillan) before turning their attention to pass rushers.

Scourton’s selection was followed by that of Princely Umanmielen in the third round. Both rookies should feature on at least a part-time basis as members of an edge rush group which lost Jadeveon Clowney due to his release this spring. Scourton’s strength against the run should allow him to carve out a role fairly early with Carolina as the team looks to take a needed step forward on defense in 2025.

With Scourton’s pact taken care of, here is the full breakdown of the Panthers’ draft class:

Texans Agree To Terms With Second-Round T Aireontae Ersery, Complete Rookie Deals

July 19th, 2025 at 8:51pm CST by Adam La Rose

A deal has been worked out with each member of the Texans’ draft class. Second-round offensive linemen Aireontae Ersery agreed to terms with Houston on Saturday.

The four-year pact is worth a total of $9.21MM, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 notes. While it is unclear at this point how much Ersery secured in terms of guaranteed money, he is likely among the second-round rookies from the 2025 class who have moved the bar considerably in terms of locked in compensation. Ersery was taken with the No. 48 selection in April.

In 2023, that slot received 68.3% guaranteed; that figure rose to 71.1% last year (h/t Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap). It would come as no surprise if Ersery’s pact includes a larger portion guaranteed while falling short of a 100% rate in that regard. Of course, the Texans helped set a new precedent with respect to second-round guarantees by locking in all of No. 34 pick Jayden Higgins‘ pact in May.

That move created a long-running logjam amongst second-round rookies aiming to join Higgins in receiving a fully guaranteed pact. Not all managed to do so, but in recent days it has become clear players taken in that round will see notably more money locked in at signing moving forward. With Ersery’s deal done, he will be able to report to training camp alongside the rest of the Texans’ rookies along with their veterans on July 22.

Each of Ersery’s five college seasons were spent at Minnesota. He made only one appearance during each of the 2020 and ’21 campaigns, but after that he was a regular for the Golden Gophers who stood out as their left tackle. The second-team All-American was named the Big Ten’s top offensive lineman in 2024 and cemented his status as one of the draft’s top tackle prospects. In Houston, Ersery will look to occupy either the left or right tackle spot on an offensive line which has seen numerous changes this offseason and which enters training camp with a number of unanswered questions.

With Ersery ‘s deal finished, here is a final look at the Texans’ draft class:

Chiefs Agree To Terms With Second-Round DT Omarr Norman-Lott

July 19th, 2025 at 6:38pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Chiefs have completed each of their rookie deals. Second-round defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott has agreed to terms, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Norman-Lott was selected with the No. 63 pick in April’s draft. Financial details have not emerged on his four-year rookie contract, but it is safe to assume it is not among those which are guaranteed in full (like a number of others for players taken at the beginning of the round). That slot saw guarantees of 52.7% and 52.5% over the past two years, Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald notes.

2025 has seen a notable upward shift in terms of a higher portion of second-round contracts being guaranteed at signing. That will no doubt be the case with Norman-Lott and future players taken at that spot. With the deal in place, team and player can turn their attention to training camp. Chiefs players report on Monday.

The Chiefs lost Tershawn Wharton in free agency, leaving them with a notable vacancy along the interior. All-Pro Chris Jones is still in place of course, but Kansas City entered the draft in need of a new pass-rushing presence along the defensive front capable of handling at least a depth role early on. Given the strength of the 2025 DT class, it came as no surprise the team targeted one early in the draft.

Norman-Lott spent his first three seasons at Arizona State before transferring to Tennessee. During his two years with the Volunteers, he totaled 9.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Questions were raised during the pre-draft process about his ability to anchor against the run, but Norman-Lott should at least be able to chip in as a pass-rushing contributor as a rookie. If he develops beyond that over time, the Chiefs will continue to have a strong presence along the defensive interior for years to come.

With the final rookie contract worked out, here is a final look at the Chiefs’ 2025 draft class:

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