Browns Rumors: Sanders, Tillman, Fannin
The Browns received unfortunate news in the early hour of this morning when rookie fifth-round quarterback Shedeur Sanders was pulled over for allegedly driving 101 mph in a 60-mph zone. Sanders was issued a citation, which he can fight in court or pay for with a fine, according to the breaking report from Emily Smith and Peggy and Ed Gallek of the Fox 8 I-Team.
Aside from the potential danger of driving at such speeds, what’s so unfortunate about all of this for Cleveland is that it comes on the heels of Sanders falling in an historic way in the 2025 NFL Draft from a projected top-10 pick to Day 3. One of the main reasons cited by the teams that passed on him time and time again was character concerns. There were concerns about his maturity having only ever been coached by his father, and several teams were reportedly turned off by his behavior in pre-draft interviews.
Ultimately, this is just one mistake, but it’s one that will hit Sanders’ pockets a bit harder after he failed to secure first-round money. Though there are many who believe he could be a starter for the team this year, we continue to see reports that he and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel are working behind veterans Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett for backup roles. If Sanders has any intentions of leading the Browns offense on Sundays, he’ll need to avoid mistakes such as these that only seem to validate his fall in the draft.
Here are a few other rumors coming out of The Land:
- In an online Q&A this past weekend, ESPN’s Tony Grossi claimed there was a high likelihood that Cleveland adds another wide receiver to the team before the start of the year. Zac Jackson of The Athletic agreed with this sentiment, saying how in offseason workouts so far, Jerry Jeudy has been leaps and bounds above the rest of a group that doesn’t seem to be inspiring much confidence. Of course, this group does not include Cedric Tillman or Michael Woods II at the moment as both are sidelined with minor injuries. While Grossi suggested both players should feel pressure to get back on the field soon, Jackson called Tillman a “locked-in starter” if healthy. Regardless, barring a breakout training camp performance by one of the current crew, the Browns will likely still be interested in adding a receiver in the weeks leading up to the regular season.
- In a later breakdown of the team’s pass catchers, Jackson noted that, despite the impressive start he’s shown thus far, rookie third-round tight end Harold Fannin is seen as more of a long-term project than an immediate plug-and-play. The NCAA’s leader in receptions and receiving yards last year, Fannin holds versatile potential to play in an H-back role, in the slot, or in-line, but Njoku is still going to be the go-to receiving tight end in 2025. Increased two-tight end sets would give Fannin more opportunities on the field, but in order to be the second tight end in those sets, he’ll need to earn the coaches’ trust as a blocker, an area in which he has plenty of room for improvement.
- Following charges of simple assault and harassment levied at linebacker Devin Bush in May, Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal gave us an update on the proceedings. Bush appeared in front of a judge earlier this month and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. Now, he’ll have a formal arraignment on the morning of July 18 at which point he’ll enter a plea on the charges against him.
Giants Sign RB Cam Skattebo, Complete Rookie Class
As the Giants wrapped up their minicamp today, they finished business on another front, as well. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo posted early in the afternoon that New York and fourth-round rookie running back Cam Skattebo had agreed to terms on his first NFL contract. The team confirmed this a few hours later, when Skattebo officially put pen to paper and wrapped up the Giants’ rookie signings. 
Coming out of Rio Linda, just outside of Sacramento, Skattebo was an unranked recruit in high school. Determined to continue playing football, he committed to the only Division I program to offer him a scholarship: nearby Sacramento State. After COVID-19 cancelled his first season, Skattebo played a complimentary role for the Hornets before exploding the next year as the starter with 1,382 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, not to mention a passing and onside kick return touchdown, as well.
Having been named an FCS first-team All-American as a sophomore, Skattebo hit the transfer portal and landed at Arizona State. On a team that went 3-9, his first campaign with the Sun Devils was a bit of a struggle, but once again, he would explode in Year 2. While it was always going to be damn near impossible to keep pace with Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Skattebo was part of an elite group of four other backs who all averaged more than 130 rushing yards per game, and of those four, he was the only one to reach the end zone over 20 times. Finishing second in the nation in rushing yards (1,711) and sixth in rushing touchdowns (21), Skattebo led the Sun Devils to a Big 12 Championship and, consequently, a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Despite these statistical achievements and a fifth-place finish in the Heisman race, Skattebo was considered a fringe-Day 2 pick. Essentially, scouts seemed to recognize his tenacity, effort, and feel for the game but noted that he lacked any elite traits and feared that he may be exposed for that in the NFL. Still, Skattebo brings added value to New York thanks to the receiving production that helped make him such a versatile prospect.
Coming to New York, Skattebo joins a team that finished 23rd in rushing in 2024 after losing Saquon Barkley to their division-rival. He currently projects as RB3 behind last year’s top rushers, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary. Tracy, last year’s fifth-round pick, is a converted wide receiver who has never rushed for 1,000 yards in college or his rookie campaign, but his 839 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns led Big Blue in 2024. Singletary began last year as the starter before getting demoted to RB2 following a Week 4 groin injury. Skattebo will work to compete with Singletary for opportunities behind Tracy, but he comes into his rookie season with much more acclaim than Tracy did.
Here’s a final look at the Giants’ 2025 rookie class, now complete:
- Round 1, No. 3: Abdul Carter (OLB, Penn State) (signed)
- Round 1, No. 25 (from Texans): Jaxson Dart, QB (Ole Miss) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 65: Darius Alexander (DT, Toledo) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 105: Cameron Skattebo (RB, Arizona State) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 154 (from Seahawks): Marcus Mbow (G, Purdue) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 219: Thomas Fidone II (TE, Nebraska) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 246 (from Bills): Korie Black (CB, Oklahoma State) (signed)
NFL Minor Transactions: 6/18/25
Here are today’s midweek minor transactions from across the NFL:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: CB Mario Goodrich
- Waived: S Tanner McCalister
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed ERFA tender: P Matt Araiza
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: TE Seth Green, T Barry Wesley
For the second year in a row, Denver is signing a player from the UFL. Last year, Dondrea Tillman contributed five sacks to the Broncos defense a couple months after finishing play with the Birmingham Stallions. Now the team dips back into Birmingham for Goodrich, who resorted to the UFL after spending the 2024 season away from the NFL. The Saints also dipped into the UFL today, taking Green off of the Arlington Renegades and Wesley off the Stallions.
After finally debuting in the NFL last year, despite getting drafted in 2022, Araiza was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate and played in the Super Bowl. Kansas City essentially assured that he would be around in 2025 when they tender him as an exclusive rights free agent, but with Araiza’s signature today, the transaction in complete.
Trade Candidate: Allen Lazard
So far, Allen Lazard‘s career has been tied in lockstep with new Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Lazard spent his first five years in Green Bay catching passes from Rodgers. Then, in anticipation of a trade that would send Rodgers to the Jets, Lazard headed to New York as a free agent. With Rodgers now in Pittsburgh, there’s certainly a door open that could reunite Lazard with Rodgers, once again. 
Originally signing with the Jaguars after going undrafted out of Iowa State in 2018, Lazard failed to make Jacksonville’s 53-man roster but signed to the team’s practice squad. Late in December of his rookie year, though, Green Bay signed him off the Jaguars’ p-squad as they saw a number of injuries to their own receiving corps. While he didn’t contribute much that season, he found his home of the next four years.
While Lazard was never a favorite target of Rodgers in Green Bay — a role rightly reserved for Davante Adams — he had a consistent role in the offense. In his second and third seasons, he contributed an average of 34 receptions for 464 yards and three touchdowns. He became more of a redzone target in 2021, logging 40 catches for 513 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns, before putting up a career year in 2022 with 60 catches, 788 yards, and six touchdowns.
Later rumors would indicate that following that final season in Green Bay, Lazard and Rodgers often spoke of playing in New York together. In fact, Lazard took the initiative to reach out to the Jets about the free agent deal he would eventually sign. Lazard’s first year in New York became essentially a wasted season, though, when Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon in the season opener. With Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, and Tim Boyle throwing to him, he only logged 23 receptions for 311 yards and a single touchdown. He improved last year, with Rodgers back on the field, but returned to his average totals with 37 catches for 530 yards and six touchdowns.
With Rodgers no longer in New York, Lazard’s current role seems uncertain. Adams departed from New York this offseason, seemingly giving Lazard a shot to be WR2. Unfortunately, according Rich Cimini of ESPN, Lazard is losing the WR2 battle to free agent addition Josh Reynolds. Per Cimini, Reynolds is the “clear-cut favorite” to land the job.
There was a time at which it seemed Lazard was certainly not long for New York. Early in the offseason, rumors came out that the Jets were likely to release him in the offseason, and a couple weeks later, the team gave him permission to seek a trade. Ultimately, the team opted to retain Lazard’s services, restructuring his contract to solidify the deal.
Despite this renewed commitment, Rodgers’ Pittsburgh signing immediately reignited rumors of a trade that would send Lazard to the Steelers. Given that cutting or trading Lazard before June 1 would’ve resulted in $6.55MM of dead money with him still taking up $1.94MM in cap space, it starts to make sense that Lazard has been kept around to this point, but a post-June 1 trade would now leave New York with only $2.18MM in dead money while relieving $2.43MM in cap space.
Cimini still thinks that it would be unlikely that the Jets would trade Lazard away. If they do, though — and Cimini notes here that that’s “a big if” — New York likely wouldn’t do so until the end of the preseason. The Jets have a lot of new pieces in their offense, and they’ll need to make sure they’re comfortable with their depth at wide receiver before agreeing to send Lazard away.
Packers Announce Scouting Promotions
Earlier this week, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst announced four promotions and a new hire to the team’s scouting department. Mike Owen was promoted from college scout to national scout, Daric Whipple and Sam Fleming were both promoted from scouting assistant to pro scout, Connor Koch has been promoted from scouting intern to northeast area scout, and Dan Zegers has been hired as scouting coordinator.
Owen is the longest-tenured of the staffers receiving new titles. He first joined the team in 2012 as a college scout, holding the role for all of the past 13 years. Throughout his time in Green Bay, he’s covered different areas, but the last 10 seasons were spent covering the northeast region and parts of the mid-Atlantic region. Koch will now cover the northeast area vacated by Owen. He earns the role after just one season as a scouting intern.
Whipple joined the team as a scouting assistant in 2023. He came to scouting straight after concluding his collegiate career as a wide receiver at Iowa State and Northern Iowa. Fleming, also a collegiate wide receiver at Samford, first worked as a player personnel assistant for the Bulldogs when his playing career concluded. He was elevated to director of football operations the following year. From 2021 to 2024, Fleming also earned experience as a scouting assistant for the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. After a successful 2023 training camp scouting internship in Green Bay, Fleming was brought back as a scouting assistant alongside Whipple. The two will continue to share a title in 2025 as pro scouts.
Zegers is actually reuniting with the Packers. He originally worked with the team as a 14-year-old equipment assistant in 2004. At 17 years old, Zegers began helping out in the team’s scouting department, as well. He left in 2013 to get experience as a personnel assistant for the Chiefs, holding the role for four years before earning a promotion to college scouting coordinator. In 2018, Zegers joined the Browns as their personnel coordinator, getting promoted to area scout in 2020. He most recently worked as the midwest area scout in Cleveland, but he’ll return to Green Bay in 2025 after being away from the team for 12 years.
Shaq Thompson Unlikely To Start For Bills
New Bills linebacker Shaq Thompson has been a full-time starter for most of his career. A veteran of 10 years, Thompson started double-digit games in each of his first eight seasons and entered each of his last two seasons as the starter, as well. For the first time in his career, though, it’s considered likely that Thompson will consistently be coming off the bench throughout the 2025 NFL season, per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. 
This week saw Thompson reunited with his former defensive coordinator in Carolina — now Bills head coach — Sean McDermott and a man who helped in drafting him to Carolina, Bills general manager Brandon Beane. That familiarity with McDermott’s system will almost certainly help the 31-year-old defender earn a role on the defense, but Buscaglia posits that Thompson’s ceiling could be as LB4 on the depth chart.
In 2025, Buffalo hopes it will see the return of three healthy starters in Matt Milano and Dorian Williams on the outside and Terrel Bernard in the middle, and per Buscaglia, the three “all seem relatively entrenched in their spots.” To be fair to Thompson’s chances, though, none of them had very good individual performances in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). PFF graded Williams as the best of the three, ranking him at 61st out of 84 players graded at the position. Milano came in at 73rd, while Bernard slotted in at 80th.
To be fair to Williams, Milano, and Bernard, though, the three only got four games together in the regular season. Once they got to the playoffs, the three worked extremely well together in slowing down a potent Ravens offense to advance to an AFC Championship matchup with the Chiefs.
If Thompson can get back to his pre-injury level of play, though, there’s certainly a chance he can earn some starting time, should any of the current first-team stumble. That’s a big if, though. With his 2023 season ending due to a fibula fracture and his 2024 campaign cut short due to a torn Achilles tendon, it’s been nearly two years since we’ve seen Thompson at his best. Primarily an outside linebacker during his time in Carolina, Thompson could push the weak link in the rankings, Bernard, by shifting inside for some potential playing time, as well.
Ultimately, Thompson will need to show he’s healthy, and he’ll need to show that he still is capable of running in McDermott’s defense, but Thompson has every chance at making the roster and earning a strong role. Turning that strong role into a starting one may be a tougher task for Thompson to tackle.
AFC Workouts: Snead, Texans, Mims
Willie Snead hasn’t seen much success in the NFL since his departure from Baltimore following the 2020 season. The 32-year-old veteran receiver bounced around over the next two years, splitting his 2021 campaign between the Raiders and Panthers before spending two seasons in San Francisco. After an injury placed him on the Dolphins’ injured reserve in last year’s preseason, resulting in him getting cut and sitting out the entire season, Snead is attempting a comeback with a recent tryout with the Chargers.
Los Angeles attempted to improve their receiving corps this offseason through the draft with additions like Ole Miss’ Tre Harris in the second round and Auburn’s KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the fifth. Their top returning wideouts from last year include Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, and Derius Davis, and an aging Mike Williams has returned after a year away. The team hosted Snead for a veteran tryout earlier this week, per ESPN’s Kris Rhim.
Adding Snead would provide some veteran depth to the group. Though he had some resurgent seasons catching balls from Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, he was never able to reach the heights of his surprising first two campaigns in New Orleans. Since leaving the Ravens, his production has been minimal, so it will likely take a stellar tryout to convince the next team to sign him.
Here are a few more workout updates from around the AFC:
- The Texans continue to work out cornerbacks as the offseason carries on. After the team hosted former Raiders first-round pick Damon Arnette on Monday, Houston welcomed Duke Shelley and Keenan Isaac in the days after, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Shelley, a six-year veteran, has 11 starts in his career over time with the Bears and Vikings. The last two years, though, have seen him relegated to specials teams with the Rams and the practice squad of the Giants. Isaac, a former undrafted signee for Tampa Bay in 2023, spent this past United Football League season with Arnette on the Houston Roughnecks.
- Lastly, the Browns worked out former Saints running back Jordan Mims, per Wilson. With a deep, young group of rushers already on the roster, Mims potential signing would add some camp depth with the possibility of him contributing on special teams as a returner.
Chiefs’ Rookie Josh Simmons To Start At LT If Healthy?
JUNE 15: Apparently, Simmons is the Chiefs’ preferred left tackle for 2025, provided he can return to full health. ESPN’s Adam Teicher says if the rookie is a full participant in this week’s minicamp, that will bode well for his chances of opening the season as Patrick Mahomes‘ Week 1 blindside blocker. Teicher says Moore will only step in at LT if Simmons is unable to play.
JUNE 8: After falling just short of a Super Bowl three-peat, the Chiefs were forced to reckon with how much the team that did win the Super Bowl dominated them in the trenches. As a result, Kansas City’s first three picks in the draft and its biggest free agent signing all addressed the offensive and defensive lines. Their top overall draft pick, though, is likely not expected to be a main contributor to start the 2025 season, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. 
The Chiefs traded back a spot and utilized the final pick of the first round on Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons. Simmons started his collegiate career at San Diego State, starting every game of his redshirt freshman season at right tackle before transferring to Columbus. He immediately stepped in as the Buckeyes starting left tackle in 2023, and even though he missed 10 games last year, he still earned All-Big Ten honorable mention.
Part of the reason Simmons is not expected to start in Week 1 is because of what caused him to miss 10 games last year. Projected to be in contention for the honor of top lineman in the draft, Simmons draft stock took a hit when he suffered a ruptured patellar tendon only six games into the season. Apart from how challenging it can be for a rookie to adjust to the NFL game, Breer notes that that kind of knee injury can be harder for big men to come back from than a torn ACL.
Add in the fact that the Chief’s biggest free agent signing this offseason was former 49ers backup offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, and the team’s plans start to become clear. Moore came to Kansas City on a two-year, $30MM deal after four years in San Francisco, where he served as a swing tackle who started games in place of Trent Williams and others. Over the course of his rookie contract, Moore played in 55 games but started only 12 of them.
The beauty of signing Moore to a two-year deal is that it will likely serve two purposes. In 2025, Moore is expected to man the starting left tackle spot across from Jawaan Taylor. This will allow Simmons to take his time to recover to full health and catch up to the speed of the NFL game with no pressure. The second purpose was hinted at over a month ago, when head coach Andy Reid expressed the team’s view that Moore could play multiple positions on the offensive line. Considering he’s never played at snap at guard in the NFL, the presumption, then, is that Reid means he can play both left and right tackle.
After the 2025 season, Taylor’s contract contains a potential out that reduces his dead cap money from $34.78MM if cut in 2025 to $7.39MM if cut in the next league year. One could imagine, Breer posits, that Kansas City would be able to free up $20MM of cap space, move Moore from left to right tackle, and let Simmons take over at left tackle in 2026.
So, sure, Simmons isn’t expected to start Week 1 in 2025, but that also doesn’t exactly mean that he’ll be redshirting his rookie year. Once he’s fully healthy, the Chiefs will likely try to work Simmons into the line somehow. Maybe they’ll start him out on the interior, or they could shift Moore inside, if Reid really meant what he said about multiple positions, and allow Simmons to get accustomed to the starting spot on the blind side. Either way, the plan for Simmons is likely focused much further out than Week 1 of the upcoming season.
Players Interested In Olympic Flag Football
Since the announcement that the NFL’s ownership group would allow active NFL players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics’ flag football event, there’s been plenty of speculation on which players might find themselves representing the US of A. While Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made it known that he had no intentions of playing, and Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill claimed he’d rather do track, there have been some players who have expressed interest. 
If Team USA is looking for a quarterback, it needn’t look past last year’s MVP. According to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is prepared to throw his hat in the ring. In a quote to the media, Allen made sure not to disrespect the current quarterbacks of the flag football community but claimed that he “would absolutely love to” play if the opportunity presented itself.
While we haven’t seen any other offensive weapons volunteer themselves to potentially play with Allen, Team USA has a few offers on defense. If they play their cards right, the country’s national flag football team could land the two cornerbacks that topped Pro Football Focus’s positional rankings in 2022.
The Jets released a video this week of star cornerback Sauce Gardner expressing his interest in playing. Gardner told reporters that he “definitely would be interested in…being able to play for (his) country.” The third-year cornerback had a relatively down year after two first-team All-Pro seasons to open his career, but I imagine Team USA would at least do their homework to see how he’d fit on the team.
If the Olympic team really wants to create a shutdown cornerback tandem, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain has also offered his services. According to Luca Evans of The Denver Post, Surtain spoke at an event for his foundation earlier this month and told the media he has “definitely high interest” in playing, calling the possibility a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ultimately, it’ll be a couple years before we truly know who all could be participating. Each team will be able to send one player to the flag football tryouts whenever they take place. At the moment, it sounds like Allen, Gardner, and Surtain are making bids to be the representatives from Buffalo, New York, and Denver.
Raiders Could Field New-Look Starting Secondary
Looking at how things are going in offseason workouts so far, there’s a chance that the Raiders could see only one starter from last year’s secondary return with the first-team defense in 2025. We already saw a free agent exchange at safety, with Tre’von Moehrig being replaced by Jeremy Chinn after signing with the Panthers. Now, according to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, both of last year’s starting cornerbacks are working with the second team this summer. 
In his report earlier this week, McFadden noted that, so far in Organized Team Activities, it’s been free agent addition Eric Stokes and rookie third-round pick Darien Porter running on the first-team defense, while Jakorian Bennett and Decamerion Richardson, who tied for the second-most starts in the team’s cornerbacks room last year, are getting reps on the second team.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Last year, the Raiders didn’t have a single cornerback rank in the top half of players at the position with enough snaps to qualify for Pro Football Focus’s rankings system (subscription required). Nate Hobbs (72nd of 116) was the highest ranked corner on the team, and Jack Jones (102nd) was cut after starting 16 games in 2024. Bennett (85th) and Richardson (114th) were then tasked with holding off Stokes, who ranked 72nd in Green Bay last year, and the rookie, Porter.
Though Stokes has never started for a full season, he’s got plenty of experience on first-team defenses after starting 32 of 45 appearances during his time with the Packers. Statistically and analytically, Stokes’ rookie campaign was by far his best. That year, he started 14 games, nabbed an interception, and registered 14 passes defensed, earning him a ranking of 45th out of 116 cornerbacks, per PFF. After a disappointing start to his sophomore season, injuries set in. Stokes ended up missing 22 of 25 games leading up to last year, when he appeared in every game of the season.
Porter’s early starting role comes as a bit of a surprise. Coming into the NFL at 24 years old after a six-year collegiate career at Iowa State, Porter only has seven starts under his belt. Originally a wide receiver commit for the Cyclones, Porter switched to cornerback in his fourth year with the team. After serving as a rotational defender in his first two year on defense, Porter got all seven starts in his sixth year as the team’s CB3. After only seeing four passes defensed in his first two defensive seasons, Porter broke out last year with five passes defensed and three interceptions. That meteoric rise appears set to continue in Las Vegas.
A fourth-round pick two years ago, Bennett started four games as a rookie. He started seven of the team’s first 10 games last season as he tried to play through a torn labrum, per Tashan Reed of The Athletic, but the injury worsened and led Bennett to undergo season-ending surgery. Now, Bennett has two hurdles to overcome as he attempts to earn back a starting role while trying to get back to form following the surgery. Richardson was the one to step in for Bennett in the starting lineup to close out the season. Quarterbacks targeting Richardson completed 30 of 46 passes for 459 yards and three touchdowns during his rookie season.
We still have a long way to go before the start of the season, so any number of updates could change the outlook for the depth chart. At the moment, though, it’s looking like safety Isaiah Pola-Mao could be the only starter from last year’s secondary to return to his role in 2025.