HEADLINES

Month: July 2025

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:

AFC Staff Updates: Dolphins, Chargers, Chiefs

July 19th, 2025 at 5:53pm CST by Ely Allen

The Dolphins made a move on their offensive staff this week, promoting senior offensive assistant Chandler Henley to run game specialist, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports.

A Yale graduate like his head coach, Henley initially worked in sales for IBM and Google. On the side, though, he worked as a part-time researcher for NBC’s Football Night in America. He first got into coaching at Vanderbilt, stating as an offensive/recruiting graduate assistant before getting promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach. He left for the tight ends coaching job at his alma mater, leaving again three years later for an opportunity in the NFL.

Henley joined the Titans in 2018 as a quality control coach working primarily with the offensive line. In 2021, he was hired as assistant offensive line coach of the Falcons, before joining the Dolphins the following year as assistant quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to his most recent position just last year and will serve under his third title in Miami for the 2025 season.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC:

  • ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported yesterday that the Chargers have hired Chuka Ndulue as their new assistant defensive line coach. Ndulue spent the 2024 season as assistant coach and defensive line coach at Colorado State. A standout defensive lineman at Oklahoma, Ndulue signed as an undrafted free agent with the Broncos in 2015. His two years in the NFL as a player also saw him with the Chargers, but he never saw game time with either team. He returned to his alma mater in 2017 to volunteer as an assistant for the defensive line. The next year, he joined Nebraska as a graduate assistant for the defensive line and got his first full defensive line coaching job with FCS Southern Illinois in 2019. After three years with the Salukis, Ndulue coached the same position group at New Mexico State for two years before landing in Fort Collins. Now, he’ll head to Los Angeles to once again make the jump from collegiate football to the NFL, this time as a coach.
  • Finally, shifting from coaching staffs to front office, the Chiefs announced some new hires as the head into camp. In analytics, Sarah Pollack was named as a football data science fellow. In the scounting department, Curtis McGhee, Brayden Nagy, and Ryan O’Connor were named player personnel interns. Nagy is the son of the team’s offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy.

Saints Agree To Sign DL Jonathan Bullard

July 19th, 2025 at 3:21pm CST by Ely Allen

The Saints are bringing in some defensive line help late in the offseason. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the team has agreed to terms with veteran defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard, who is now set to join his sixth NFC team in 10 years, three days before veterans report for training camp in New Orleans.

Bullard started in the NFL as a third-round pick out of Florida in 2016, getting drafted to the Bears. After failing to secure more than a rotation role in three seasons in Chicago, Bullard was waived before the final year of his rookie deal. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers, and he finally found some sustained success in Arizona. Bullard started six of nine games in 2019 before getting placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

The Cardinals re-signed him for the 2020 season but, ultimately, decided to release him in final roster cuts, signing him to their practice squad. In October, Seattle signed Bullard off of Arizona’s practice squad, and he saw six games of action. As a free agent in 2021, Bullard signed with the Falcons, starting three of the first seven contests before missing eight of the 10 final games of the season.

In 2022, the Vikings took a chance on Bullard with a one-year deal. He took on a pretty significant role on the defense, starting seven of 12 contests and showing some ability to get into the backfield with five tackles for loss, the most in a season for him at that point in his career. Unfortunately, the injuries continued to bite him as he missed four of the last five games of the season on IR.

Still, the Vikings re-signed him, and he returned to his significant role while playing in every game of a season for the first time since his rookie contract. He started 14 of 17 games and put up career highs in sacks (2.0) and total tackles (44). Minnesota re-signed him for another one-year deal, and he started all 17 games of the 2024 season for the Vikings. While he didn’t grade out very highly as an individual, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he contributed to a defense that allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL last year.

That looks to be the main reason to sign the 31-year-old veteran. In 2024, the Saints gave up the second-most rushing yards in the NFL, and while Bullard’s PFF ranking of 73rd, out of 118 players graded at the position, isn’t outstanding, he graded out higher than four of the Saints who started games on the interior defensive line, namely Khalen Saunders (75th), Nathan Shepherd (106th), and Bryan Bresee (114th).

Adding Bullard isn’t likely to solve all of New Orleans’ defensive woes, but adding a veteran who has recently shown he can be healthy and contribute to a strong run defense is a step in the right direction. With Cameron Jordan entrenched at defensive end and Davon Godchaux being acquired to start at defensive tackle, Bullard will likely challenge Saunders and Shepherd for a starting role in 2025. The signing also reunites Bullard with defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who served as outside linebackers coach during two of Bullard’s years with the Bears near the start of his career.

Bengals, Second-Round LB Demetrius Knight Agree To Rookie Deal

July 19th, 2025 at 1:04pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

1:04pm: Knight’s signing bonus includes the same upfront payout percentage as past Bengals second-rounders, according to Conway, indicating that the team was holding out on his payment schedule in addition to the disputed default/void language.

Stewart appears to be fighting the same terms from Cincinnati, but it is unclear if he would be willing to make the same deal as Knight.

11:04am: The Bengals have reached an agreement with second-round pick Demetrius Knight on a four-year rookie contract, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.

The deal comes on the day that the team’s rookies are due to report to Cincinnati for training camp. Knight is expected to compete with fourth-round rookie Barrett Carter and veteran Oren Burks for the right to start at linebacker alongside Logan Wilson.

Almost 80% of Knight’s deal is fully guaranteed, and he is also the first No. 49 pick in league history to receive guaranteed salary in Year 4. For context, Kris Jenkins, the No. 49 pick in 2024 (coincidentally, also by the Bengals), had less than 70% of his rookie contract fully guaranteed, per Spotrac.

Every member of Cincinnati’s 2025 draft class is now under contract except for first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who did not participate in spring practices and remains a holdout over default and void language in his contract.

Knight was opposed to the same default and void language as Stewart, but accepted it in his final contract in exchange for receiving 75% of his signing bonus at signing, according to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Despite the name, signing bonuses do not automatically pay out in full when a player puts pen to paper. Instead, payment schedules are a term to be negotiated along with the rest of the contract. Rather than remove or change the language Knight objected to, the Bengals simply offered him an improvement elsewhere in the deal (which they could have done all along).

The team has not made same offer to Stewart, per Conway, but since it resolved the impasse with Knight, it is probably worth a try. As of now, however, the Bengals’ negotiations with Stewart have made “no progress,” according to Schultz, and the former Texas A&M standout remains the only first-rounder leaguewide who has yet to sign his rookie deal.

Here’s a look at the rest of the Bengals’ 2025 draft class:

Rams Sign Second-Round TE Terrance Ferguson, Complete Draft Pick Signings

July 19th, 2025 at 12:39pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Rams are signing No. 46 pick Terrance Ferguson to a four-year, $9.71MM rookie contract, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Like virtually every 2025 second-rounder, the rookie tight end will set a record for guaranteed money for his draft slot. 82.8% of his contract (just under $8.05MM) is fully guaranteed, per Fowler; in 2024, No. 46 Jonathon Brooks signed a deal that was 74.1% fully guaranteed (via Spotrac).

Ferguson’s signing comes on the heels of the Colts’ agreement with No. 45 pick J.T. Tuimoloau, who reached 88.02% in total guarantees. If that number also reflects Tuimoloau’s fully guaranteed allotment, the gap between him and Ferguson would be significantly larger than the one between Ferguson and No. 49 pick Demetrius Knight, signed earlier today with nearly 80% of his deal fully guaranteed.

With both Ferguson and Knight putting pen to paper, deals should quickly fall into place for the players drafted between them: Cardinals No. 47 pick Will Johnson and Texans No. 48 pick Aireontae Ersery.

Ferguson, meanwhile, is all set to report for Rams training camp this week as the team’s highest selection in this year’s draft. He will push veteran tight end Tyler Higbee for the starting job and is considered the 31-year-old’s long-term replacement.

The Rams have now signed all six of their 2025 draft picks:

Colts Sign DE JT Tuimoloau; Finish Draft Signings

July 19th, 2025 at 12:07pm CST by Ely Allen

July 19: Tuimoloau’s contract is worth $9.942MM over four years, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. 88.02% of the deal, or $8.75MM, is guaranteed, including a fully guaranteed $4.135MM signing bonus.

Comparatively, the No. 45 pick in 2024, Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, received guarantees for less than 80% of his rookie deal.

July 18: The falling dominoes continue with the Colts signing their second-round pick today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Ohio State defensive end JT Tuimoloau put pen to paper today, closing out the team’s rookie class signings.

A top-four recruit in the nation from the Class of 2021, Tuimoloau was on the field early and often as a true freshman for the Buckeyes. Getting snaps behind Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith, Tuimoloau logged only two starts in Year 1 in Columbus, but he still showed the disruption that was to come with 2.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, and a batted pass in 12 games.

He exploded in his sophomore year, starting 10 of 13 games as essentially a full-time starter. That year, he only added one sack to his prior year total, but he stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere, logging 10.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, six passes defensed, and two interceptions. He followed that up with a decent junior campaign, improving his sack total to five while still notching seven tackles for loss and two passes defensed.

But it wasn’t until his senior year, a championship season, that he finally lived up to his 5-star recruiting status. Starting all 16 games, Tuimoloau led Ohio State in sacks (12.5) and tackles for loss (21.5), dominating opponents’ backfields all season. He added two forced fumbles and three passes defensed for good measure as he recorded a career-high 61 total tackles.

Indianapolis tied for 25th in the NFL last year with only 36 team sacks. 2021 first-round pick Kwity Paye continued to look decent with a team-leading eight sacks. The team was likely hoping for him to take the next step after he recorded 4.0, 6.0, and 8.5 in his first three seasons, but eight is still plenty serviceable. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was second on the team with 6.5 sacks, his lowest total since arriving in Indy five years ago. Last year’s first-round pick (and the first defensive player off the board in 2024) Laiatu Latu was third on the team, only logging four sacks while coming off the bench behind Dayo Odeyingbo.

So, once again, the Colts turned to the draft this year, hoping to improve their pass rush. With Paye in a contract year, Latu now in the starting lineup, and Tuimoloau chipping in, Indianapolis will hope that its trio of highly drafted pass rushers improves its standing in the sack race in 2025.

With Tuimoloau being the final Colts rookie to sign, here’s a look at the full 2025 draft class in Indianapolis:

Commanders Signing OLB Von Miller

July 19th, 2025 at 9:55am CST by Ely Allen

July 19: Miller’s deal is worth $6.1MM with another $4.4MM available in incentives, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. His last two contracts were each worth over $19MM per year, according to OverTheCap; now, Miller will have a base APY slightly lower than his rookie contract.

The Commanders have enough cap space to absorb the deal without void years, but the team has been using them more frequently under new general manager Adam Peters.

July 16: Washington is adding a major veteran at a key position of need. After deciding not to draft a pass rusher back in April, the Commanders have moved to add a proven veteran. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, veteran pass rusher Von Miller is signing with the Commanders. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tells us that it’ll be a one-year deal for the 36-year-old, once terms are finalized.

After parting ways in recent years with former first-round picks Montez Sweat and Chase Young, Washington depended on a pair of former Cowboys in Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler Jr. for most of their pass rushing sets in 2024. The latter of two led the Commanders in sacks last year with 10.5 but returned to Dallas on a one-year deal in free agency back in March.

The only additions Washington made to cancel out the loss of Fowler were those of former Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise, who averages about 4.5 sacks per season and topped out at 7.5 back in 2022, and former Bears outside linebacker Jacob Martin. The team showed interest in bigger names like DeMarcus Lawrence and Joey Bosa, as well, but ultimately fell short landing either.

Edge rusher was identified as a major need for Washington leading into the 2025 NFL Draft, but this year’s crop of prospects was not viewed as a strong one, past No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter. Nevertheless, by the time the Commanders’ first pick came around, three more pass rushers had been taken off the board, with Atlanta trading three spots ahead of Washington to take their second pass rusher that night, further weakening the caliber of available prospects at the position.

The team never ended up finding a prospect at an appropriate value with their remaining four picks, leaving them to enter the 2025 season with Armstrong as a returning starter across from Wise with Martin and Clelin Ferrell coming off the bench as the primary backups. It looked like Washington was set to head into training camp with a downgraded pass rushing group, but the addition of Miller has the potential to keep that from being the case.

True, Miller has not been the double-digit sack-getter we know him as for years now; he hasn’t passed 9.5 since 2018. Still, much of that has been due to either health or role. In 2021, splitting time between two different defenses, Miller collected 9.5 sacks in 15 starts. The next season, his first in Buffalo, Miller started 11 games, racking up 8 sacks. In both cases, he was likely to reach double-digits if he played the full allotment of games in a season.

The following two years in Buffalo, though, Miller lost his role as a starter. In fact, Miller fell to fifth in the pecking order in 2023, seeing snaps in only 12 games (no starts) behind Leonard Floyd, Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa, and Shaq Lawson and getting zero sacks, as a result. In 2024, though, with Floyd and Lawson elsewhere, Miller thrived as the first pass rusher off the bench, tallying six sacks in 13 games (no starts).

It’s hard to say that Miller will certainly come in and start over Wise at his age. If he can come in and start, though, he’s likely to amass more sacks than Wise would in the same snap share, despite the age gap. Even if Miller ends up just working as the first pass rusher off the bench for the second year in a row, six sacks would’ve been good for third on the Commanders defense last season. It’s an easy risk to take for the Commanders, as it likely only cost them a cheap, one-year contract laden with incentives they’ll happily pay if it means they get strong contributions from the 36-year-old.

The move reunites Miller with senior defensive assistant John Pagano, who was his outside linebackers coach in Denver for a short time, and general manager Adam Peters, who was a scout for the Broncos when the team drafted Miller in 2011. He also stands a chance at being one of two starters on the defense north of 35 years old alongside veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner. One would be hard pressed to find a team with an older pair of defensive starters, assuming Miller starts.

NFL Won Grievance Over NFLPA On J.C. Tretter’s RB Injury Remarks

July 18th, 2025 at 10:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

Much has been made recently about the collusion grievance filed by the NFLPA against the NFL and the fallout from an arbitrator’s findings on the case being made public. Another case between the two has likewise recently come to light.

Former Packers and Browns center J.C. Tretter – who served as NFLPA president before occupying his current role as chief strategy officer for the union – spoke two years ago about the state of the running back market. Given the flat financial growth seen at the position at that point, Tretter openly remarked about the possibility of players fabricating and/or exaggerating injuries to help their negotiating position. The NFL filed a grievance over the matter; the details of the case were revealed during the latest collaboration between Pablo Torre of the Pablo Finds Out podcast and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio (video link).

The NFLPA offered a statement to Florio noting how no evidence was found that running backs (or other players) faked an injury. A number of high-profile running backs met virtually to discuss their options regarding leverage in contract negotiations in the wake of Tretter’s remarks. Despite that fact no action was taken in terms of false claims related to injuries, the league ended up winning the grievance since Tretter violated the CBA with his comments.

“The Arbitrator upheld the Management Council’s grievance in its entirety and found that Mr. Tretter’s statements violated the CBA by improperly encouraging players to fake injury,” a league statement supplied to Florio reads in part. “As a result, he prohibited Mr. Tretter and the union from such conduct in the future. The NFL did not allege that any individual player ever feigned injury.”

As was the case in the collusion grievance, nothing from the February 2025 ruling was made public by either side. While a subsequent statement from the league says (via Florio) teams were informed of the grievance during the spring, a general manager contacted by Florio about the matter was met with a puzzled response. The lack of public knowledge on the Tretter case came about in the wake of the joint decision by the league and union to keep the collusion findings secret for several months.

In more recent news, Sidney Moreland – the arbitrator overseeing non-injury grievance cases, including the Tretter one – has been fired by the NFLPA. The move (first reported by Sportico’s Michael McCann and Eben Novy-Williams) is permitted by the CBA, which allows the league or union to dismiss arbitrators since they are jointly appointed. Per the report, the decision to fire Moreland was not related to the recent revelations about the Tretter case.

Nevertheless, this latest news adds further to the attention the NFLPA has received recently. The union will no doubt remain in the spotlight as its search for a new executive director unfolds in the wake of Lloyd Howell‘s resignation. Tretter is still in place as a key figure in the organization, although it remains to be seen at this point if he will emerge as a candidate to replace Howell.

Patriots Give Second-Round RB TreVeyon Henderson Fully Guaranteed Deal

July 18th, 2025 at 10:01pm CST by Ely Allen

When the 49ers were able to break the standstill on second-round rookies signing deals, a flurry of second-round signings was sure to follow, but it wasn’t expected to affect the second-rounders up top who were hoping to bargain for a fully guaranteed deal based off Saints quarterback Tyler Shough‘s lead. Lo and behold, Shough remains unsigned, yet the guaranteed deals are flowing in for the picks above him, the latest of which is Ohio State second-round running back TreVeyon Henderson, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Henderson arrived in Columbus as a five-star recruit out of Hopewell HS (VA), the top running back recruit in the country. As a true freshman, Henderson was immediately RB1 in an offense featuring C.J. Stroud at quarterback and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Emeka Egbuka at receiver. In Year 1, Henderson led the rushing offense with 1,248 yards on 183 carries with 15 touchdowns on the ground, adding 312 yards and four more scores on 27 receptions.

2022 saw Henderson limited to only eight games after suffering a fractured sesamoid bone, which reportedly split into three and tore ligaments and tendons around the bone. He came back with vengeance in his junior year, rebounding with a solid 926 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, while missing three more games with injury. Despite a lightened load in 2024 with the arrival of fellow second-round pick Quinshon Judkins, Henderson improved his numbers from the prior year. Judkins led the team with 194 carries, 1,060 yards, and 14 touchdowns, but on 50 fewer carries, Henderson still put up 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Henderson deserves a lot of credit for how he handled himself in his four years with the Buckeyes. After having the stellar freshman All-American season, getting derailed by a major injury, and pushing through more injury as a junior, Henderson could’ve been intimidated by the arrival of Judkins from Ole Miss and ceded the offense to the newcomer. Instead, Henderson pushed Judkins every step of the way, making sure Judkins knew that they were sharing the starting role. His faith, maturity, and unselfishness made him an easy choice for team captain last year.

At 5-foot-10, 200+ pounds, Henderson is a stout runner who tends more to seek contact than make tacklers miss, though he does have a few good moves. He tends to always find tacklers off-center, allowing him to fall forward for extra yards. He’s a tough runner with great hands, highlighted by only two fumbles in four years, both of which came in his first two years and both of which didn’t result in turnovers.

In New England, Henderson will once again work in a committee, joining Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson in the Patriots backfield. The Patriots are no strangers to the running-back-by-committee approach, and Henderson should blend in well with the group. He could end up being an upgrade at RB2 over Gibson or even take over starting duties over Stevenson, or the three could form a three-headed attack that feeds the offense for young quarterback Drake Maye.

With Henderson being the last of the Patriots’ 11 rookies to sign his entry contract, the class is now complete. Here’s a final look at New England’s 2025 rookie draft class:

NFLPA Board Of Player Reps To Meet After Latest Lloyd Howell Revelations

July 18th, 2025 at 9:44pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The NFLPA’s board of player representatives is meeting tonight after the resignation of executive director Lloyd Howell amid multiple controversies, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post.

All 32 teams have one player representative and three alternates who are selected by their teammates every other year. They are likely to be joined by the NFLPA’s player-led executive committee as well as other union executives.

Howell has come under scrutiny in recent weeks due to his handling of the union’s collusion grievance against the NFL, a potential conflict of interest from his consultant gig at a private equity firm, and a revelations about sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit during his time at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Howell’s resignation was also triggered by questions about his use of union funds, according to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler. An outside investigator reportedly found that Howell submitted expense reports for transportation and cash withdrawals at strip clubs, including $2,426 in charges during this year’s NFLPA summit in Atlanta in February, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Howell was accompanied by two union employees and submitted the outing as a “Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union.”

Howell faced similar accusations of misused company funds while working for Booz Allen in 2015, per Van Natta and Kahler.. A colleague submitted an expense report for a strip club visit – while he was still a defendant in the aforementioned lawsuit, which was later settled.

The FBI has also been investigating the NFLPA (as well as the MLBPA) due to their dealings with OneTeam Partners, a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm, as originally reported by Van Natta and his ESPN colleague, Jeff Passan. That led to an ongoing internal union investigation into Howell’s leadership, led by attorney Ronald C. Machen of Wilmer Hale, according to Van Natta and Kahler.

The players representatives’ meeting tonight is expected to focus on next steps for the union, primarily the selection of an interim executive director, per Maske. NFLPA executive Don Davis and Tom DePaso are among the early frontrunners for the job, though a decision may not be made tonight. The union will then need to commence a search for Howell’s long-term replacement, which will likely entail much more scrutiny than their last hiring process. 
Load More Posts