Kicking Competition In New York?
Three weeks ago, we labeled veteran kicker Graham Gano a potential cap casualty for the Giants. At the time, we weren’t sure where his potential replacement would come from. We made note of the team’s signing of Jude McAtamney to a reserve/futures deal, but drew more attention to the litany of established, veteran kickers available on the free agent market. According to Ryan Dunleavy of New York Post Sports, while special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial praised the way Gano closed out the 2024 NFL season, the second-year coach left the door open for a kicking competition this summer with McAtamney. 
Gano has been with the Giants for the past five seasons, putting up some of his best seasons from 2020-22. Unfortunately for Gano, Ghobrial only joined the staff last season. When Ghobrial came in, he would’ve looked at a 2023 campaign that saw Gano miss six of 17 attempts and only appear in eight games before coaching Gano through last year’s 10-game performance in which he converted nine of 11 attempts.
Gano is under contract for the next two years, but his recent injury issues (a knee injury in 2023 and a groin injury in 2024) put the Giants in a difficult spot. His current contract has a potential out built in that makes the dead money of his contract fairly manageable. Cutting him now would leave the team with $1.25MM of dead money and $4.42MM of cap savings. Graham closed out last season strong, but the recent history of regression and injuries makes his hold on the kicking job a bit tenuous.
The Giants initially turned to veteran Greg Joseph as an injury replacement for Gano last year but gave McAtamney a shot off the practice squad later in the season. He wasn’t asked to do much, but he did convert the only two kicks — a 31-yard field goal and an extra point — that he attempted.
Looking back at his capabilities, McAtamney didn’t draw much interest coming out of college. A Northern Ireland-native, McAtamney attempted to join ProKick Australia to develop for a chance to play collegiately, but COVID-19 kept him from traveling down under. Instead, he worked with former Ray Guy Award winner Tom Hackett in Serbia until they were cleared to travel to the states. McAtamney started his American football career at Chowan University, converting six of 10 attempts and 47 extra points for the Division II program.
He transferred to Rutgers after a year with the Hawks and won the starting job for the Scarlet Knights. After only converting on 12 of 18 field goal attempts, though, he ultimately lost the kicking job to Jai Patel, though he retained kickoff duties. The Giants noticed McAtamney at his pro day, where he converted all 10 attempts in front of scouts. The team invited him for a tryout and, eventually, signed him as an undrafted free agent.
At the moment, it looks like the job is Gano’s for the taking in New York, but McAtamney continues to lurk in the background and seems to be doing enough to remain in contention. If McAtamney can impress this summer, the combination of Gano’s cap impact and his recent struggles with injury may open the door a little wider for McAtamney to kick his way through.
Bills DE Joey Bosa Expected Back By Training Camp
Injuries have limited Joey Bosa‘s play in the last three seasons, limiting his free agency potential, as a result. Unfortunately, he’s already found some injury trouble with his new team, but according to Lance Lysowki and Ryan O’Halloran of The Buffalo News, there’s “no question” the veteran pass rusher will be ready in time for training camp. 
Coming off his release from a five-year, $135MM extension, the past year of which included a pay cut, Bosa landed in Buffalo after a brief stint as a free agent. While he was well-compensated on the deal, worth $12.61MM, his injury history likely limited the team’s commitment to a one-year tryout.
If he hits on a number of incentives, Bosa stands to earn an additional $3.51MM and the potential of a more committed contract. Reaching those incentives would require Bosa to play at least 65 percent of the Bills’ defensive snaps (something he hasn’t done since 2021) and register 12.0 sacks (something he hasn’t done since 2017).
Bosa’s pay cut came as a result of missing 20 of 36 games over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He missed a three-game stretch last year but played in the Chargers’ final 11 games of the regular season, though he only tallied three sacks in that span. While he was able to get on the field, injuries may still have been limiting the 29-year-old. His defensive rating in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), was the lowest of his career and ranked 71st out of 119 edge defenders.
The news of the early calf injury is certainly not encouraging, seeing as it keeps him off the field during a crucial stretch for helping to learn a new defense, but the certainty of reports that he’ll be back for training camp provide some silver lining. With Von Miller no longer on the roster, Bosa is expected to step in across from Greg Rousseau on the starting defensive line. A.J. Epenesa will continue to run with the first team, until Bosa is ready and may continue to do so until Bosa can earn the spot. Regardless, Buffalo will likely be patient with its new pass rusher, making sure they have a healthy Bosa on hand. Bosa intends for that version of himself to show up at training camp.
Jaguars, Travis Hunter Deal Not Expected Soon
The Jaguars made maybe the biggest move in the draft when they traded up to take Colorado athlete Travis Hunter with the No. 2 overall pick. Now, they just need to get the move over the finish line, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tells us that a signed contract is not expected soon. Rapoport says that he expects “Hunter will probably be the last first-rounder to sign.” 
There really isn’t much room for negotiation in rookie contracts, as Rapoport points out, and this makes them notoriously difficult to negotiate. Hunter will end up making around $46.6MM with an approximately $30MM signing bonus, and Hunter can’t really do anything about those numbers. What he can do is negotiate the structure of payments like the signing bonus. Whereas quarterbacks tend to receive a good amount of their signing bonus fairly early on in their initial deals, other players usually need to negotiate those early bonuses up as much as they can.
It sounds like Hunter is using every bit of leverage he has to try to maximize his deal. While it would make sense to try and receive as much money as you can as soon as possible, this process also includes the process of trying to set up the third and fourth years of his rookie deal in a way that makes the team consider giving him an extension sooner rather than allowing him to play out the whole contract.
While Rapoport sees this deal taking some time to get done, he doesn’t anticipate a holdout from Hunter, like we’re seeing in Cincinnati with Shemar Stewart. In fact, we’ve already seen plenty from Hunter at Organized Team Activities this summer, and if he plans on playing both cornerback and wide receiver as a rookie, he’ll need as much offseason practice as he can get, which will also extend contract proceedings.
That infamous two-way ability is, perhaps, his greatest bargaining chip, as the team is essentially getting two players for the price of one. In the early days following the draft, it was reported Hunter’s primary position in Jacksonville would be wide receiver, and we saw him work out there during rookie minicamp. But so far in OTAs, Hunter has been spending most of his time at cornerback.
Hunter is going to have to be one of the hardest working players in the NFL in order to play two ways on Sundays. At the moment, though, he’s making the Jaguars front office work hard to earn his signature. He’ll almost certainly be playing with a signed contract in September, but by the look of it, that signature will only be coming on his terms.
Eagles Sign First-Round LB Jihaad Campbell
One of the last seven unsigned first-round picks of the 2025 NFL Draft put pen to paper today. Alabama defender Jihaad Campbell signed his rookie contract with the Eagles today, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The four-year deal with a fifth-year option is reportedly worth $14.90MM. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 adds that Campbell’s deal includes a signing bonus of $7.48MM. 
Campbell comes out of Alabama, where he originally committed to the Crimson Tide as a five-star edge rushing prospect out of IMG Academy (FL). Injuries to the team’s defense forced Campbell out of his natural spot as he filled in as an off-ball linebacker and excelled there. He spent the team’s 2023 campaign almost exclusively playing linebacker but was able to get some playing time back at his old position last year as Alabama utilized his versatility.
There were rumors in the weeks after the draft that Campbell could be the latest in the mold of former Penn State linebackers Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter, who both became eventual pass rushers in the NFL, with thoughts that Campbell could have a chance to return to his old position after all. It doesn’t quite look like that will come to pass, though. Campbell hasn’t been working out, as he continues to rehab a shoulder injury from his last season with the Tide, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told the media last week that, once he returned to the field, Campbell would be working out with the linebackers.
Part of his current assignment could be due to the assumption that Nakobe Dean will start the 2025 NFL season on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to recover from a torn patellar tendon suffered late last season. With only last year’s fifth-round linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. to fill in if Dean and Campbell aren’t there, Campbell’s talents are likely needed more at linebacker to start his career. There’s always a chance, though, that Philadelphia ends up cross training him and giving him more freedom and flexibility across the defense.
With Campbell signing his name on the dotted line, the Eagles only have one more rookie to sign to finish up their class. Second-round Texas safety Andrew Mukuba is the lone remaining un-signed rookie in Philadelphia. Here’s a look at the Eagles’ rookie class:
- Round 1, No. 31 (from Chiefs): Jihaad Campbell (LB, Alabama) (signed)
- Round 2, No. 64: Andrew Mukuba (S, Texas)
- Round 4, No. 111 (from Panthers through Broncos): Ty Robinson (DT, Nebraska) (signed)
- Round 5, Nos. 145 (from Jets): Mac McWilliams (CB, Central Florida) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 161: (from Texans): Smael Mondon (LB, Georgia) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 168: Drew Kendall (C, Boston College) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 181 (from Patriots through Chargers): Kyle McCord (QB, Syracuse) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 191 (from Cardinals): Myles Hinton (T, Michigan) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 207 (from Chiefs and Jets): Cameron Williams (T, Texas) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 209 (from Chargers)*: Antwaun Powell-Ryland (OLB, Virginia Tech) (signed)
NFL Minor Transactions: 6/11/25
Here are the midweek minor moves from around the NFL:
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Kevin Foelsch
- Waived: DT Siaki Ika
Ika’s struggles in the NFL continue. A member of LSU’s 2019 National Championship squad, Ika was a third-round pick four years later for the Browns in 2023. After appearing in four games as a rookie, Ika failed to make the roster in his second year in Cleveland. Since October, Ika has signed with and been cut from the practice squads of the Browns, Eagles, and now the Chiefs, with whom he signed a reserve/futures deal at the end of this past season.
Texans To Sign RB Nick Chubb
JUNE 9: Chubb passed his physical today, Russini reports. As a result, he is in position to suit up for the Texans in 2025.
JUNE 8: Shortly after reports that the Texans would be looking into the potential of signing veteran running back Nick Chubb, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Chubb is now expected to sign with the Texans on Monday, assuming everything goes well with a workout and physical. 
We’ve seen two full NFL seasons come and go since we last saw Chubb at his best. Once a perennial Pro Bowler and a constant threat to rush for 1,500 yards and double-digit touchdowns, a serious knee injury that resulted in a torn MCL and damaged ACL has plagued Chubb in the past two seasons. The 29-year-old intends to not let it keep him down, though, and he has remained an attractive free agent option as a result.
The Texans are just three seasons removed from a year in which they had the worst rushing offense in the entire league and their top rusher had 427 yards. Before Joe Mixon rushed for 1,016 yards last year, the team hadn’t seen a 1,000-yard rusher since 2019. So even after a season of relative success, in which they had a Pro Bowl running back with over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns but still finished 15th in the league in rushing, Houston sees room for improvement.
Until this potential move, the team hadn’t touched the position in free agency, mostly because they didn’t lose anyone to free agency, but they did add Woody Marks in the draft. Marks, as a fifth-year transfer at USC, had a breakout season for the Trojans, rushing for 1,133 yards and nine touchdowns while showing a decent ability to catch out of the backfield. Perhaps the Texans believed Marks could compete to be an improved RB2 after Dameon Pierce rushed for only 117 yards before the team’s season finale which featured Mixon for only a single starting drive.
Additionally, some combination of Cam Akers, Dare Ogunbowale, J.J. Taylor, and British Brooks only added a combined 305 rushing yards and one touchdown. All this while sixth-round rookie Jawhar Jordan, out of Louisville, failed to make the initial roster and spent his rookie campaign on the practice squad.
So, ultimately, the potential of adding a veteran like Chubb to this sea of bodies has very little risk of hurting the team, while providing the potential that they can add a savvy, veteran rusher almost two full years removed from the serious injuries that sidelined him. Requiring a workout and physical will provide the team with the ability to walk away while also giving them significant information with which to inform the terms of a contract offer.
Expect a low-risk deal for the team with a potential for high rewards for Chubb should he reach certain benchmarks, if the two sides to put pen to paper tomorrow. This expectation is supported by a recent post by Dianna Russini of The Athletic, who reports that “Chubb received more lucrative offers from other teams but could sign a more incentive-laden contract to join (Mixon) in Houston.”
WR Gabe Davis To Visit Saints
The Gabe Davis 2025 offseason tour continues. Since being released by the Jaguars a month ago, Davis has met with the 49ers, Giants, and Steelers. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Davis is now headed to New Orleans where he’ll meet with a Saints team that could certainly use a receiver of his makeup. 
After impressive contributions for four years as a WR2 in Buffalo, Davis was rewarded in free agency with a three-year, $39MM contract with the Jaguars. Through 10 games with his new team, though, Davis was averaging a career-low 23.9 yards per game and was on track for the lowest touchdown total of his career, as well. His struggles deepened when a meniscus tear required him to undergo season-ending surgery, and Jacksonville cut bait two years early despite the massive dead money doing so stuck them with.
In New Orleans, the Saints fielded a bottom-10 pass offense in the NFL last season, and with Derek Carr‘s retirement, improving on that in 2025 won’t be easy. New Orleans will have three young, inexperienced quarterbacks battling it out for the right to lead the offense this season, so having an experienced receiving corps could be extremely beneficial for the winning quarterback’s chances for success.
In 2024, the team’s leader in receiving yards was tight end Juwan Johnson, followed closely by running back Alvin Kamara, tight end Foster Moreau, and only then a wide receiver. The next three leading receivers were Chris Olave, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Rashid Shaheed, and none of the three played more than half the season. This underlines the team’s need for a reliable receiver.
The Saints are currently headed into the season with Olave, Shaheed, and Brandin Cooks as their top three receivers. Beyond that is a mix of receivers who have shown inconsistent hints of talent in the past (Cedrick Wilson, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Dante Pettis) or have relatively little experience (Bub Means, Kevin Austin, Mason Tipton, Chris Tyree, and Moochie Dixon). Adding Davis would give New Orleans another receiver in the frame of Wilson or Peoples-Jones but with more deep ball ability and more consistent results.
Rapoport points out that, with approximately $11.5MM still due to Davis from Jacksonville, the 26-year-old will likely command only a one-year deal from his new team. Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football goes a step further in saying that “Davis will almost certainly get” the league minimum.
If that holds true, and Davis does not, in fact, force a bidding war between the teams he’s visited and remained in contact with, then Davis’ decision will likely come down to team fit. If the Saints decide that they want to bring Davis into the fold, they’ll likely need to demonstrate how he fits in the offense and the locker room. Depending on how the visit goes, Davis could end up one step closer to his next NFL home.
Lions CB Ennis Rakestraw Moving Outside After Rookie Struggles
The Lions added cornerback Ennis Rakestraw in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft last year, but a look into the rookie’s first full season brings about questions concerning whether or not he was worth the draft stock used on him. A bit of position change and some new competition should give him a chance at redemption in 2025, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. 
As a rookie, Rakestraw’s primary focus was playing as a slot cornerback. The 23-year-old claims that he was even in line to start the team’s Week 2 contest before suffering a pulled hamstring in pregame warmups. After a sports hernia from his days at Missouri limited him in training camp and the pulled hamstring forced him to miss two games early, the injuries compounded, and an eventual strained hamstring sent him to injured reserve for the last seven games of the season.
Even when he was healthy, though, Rakestraw struggled to get on the field as a rookie. Through eight game appearances, Rakestraw only saw 46 defensive snaps. He did see more than double that number of snaps on special teams, but a second-round pick is an expensive price to pay for a special teamer.
So far, in summer activities this year, Rakestraw has been working exclusively as an outside cornerback. Per Birkett, “he took first-team reps at left cornerback last week and should compete for the top backup” role behind returning starter Terrion Arnold and free agent addition D.J. Reed. The slot should be perfectly fine without Rakestraw as Amik Robertson returns as the primary nickelback and another free agent addition, Avonte Maddox, should back him up.
Cornerbacks coach Deshea Townsend adds that he thinks Rakestraw should benefit from being able to solely focus on playing outside cornerback. His competition for the CB3 job will be Khalil Dorsey and Rock Ya-Sin. Dorsey has been in Detroit the last two seasons. He’s started three games in that span, but outside of those three games, he’s hardly seen the field. Still, the Lions signed him to a new two-year deal this offseason.
Ya-Sin, another free agent addition this offseason, hasn’t seen significant playing time since 2022. Also a former second-round pick, Ya-Sin was traded from the Colts to the Raiders for the final year of his rookie contract, starting 38 games in his first four years. In the two years since, Ya-Sin has spent a year each with the Ravens and 49ers coming off the bench and playing mostly on special teams.
Rakestraw will have a lot to prove in his sophomore season in order to quiet the critics. Some renewed health, a move to the outside, and some real competition should help push him to improve in his second year.
Aaron Rodgers’ ‘$10MM’ Offer Exclusive To Rams?
Back in April, when veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers was still mulling his options with several teams, we saw a number of reports quoting that Rodgers had said he’d be willing to play for $10MM on a one-year contract in 2025. While the Steelers are still getting a pretty good bargain on the reported numbers we saw this afternoon (one-year, $13.5MM with $10MM guaranteed and $6MM in incentives), it’s still more than the $10MM number that was so often quoted. 
An easy way to reconcile this could simply be to say that Pittsburgh wanted to honor his commitment to play on a lower-end, try-out deal while adding a little incentive to ensure he found his way to the Steel City. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has a different theory.
In a post on X, shortly following the announcement of details on Rodgers’ new contract, Breer wrote, “For what it’s worth, I’d heard the $10 million number, at the time, was sort of exclusive to the Rams. As in, an example of how badly he wanted to go there in March.”
As the Rams were allowing their Super Bowl-winning passer Matthew Stafford to talk to other teams and gauge his market, a link seemingly emerged between the team and Rodgers. A northern California native and Cal alumnus, Rodgers has always been drawn to the potential of returning to his home state. A report in late February delivered rumors that Rodgers had the Rams in his cross hairs, and that he intended to, once again, take long-time teammate Davante Adams with him.
This rumor held a lot of weight at the time, considering that the wide receiver had already expressed interest in returning to the west coast earlier that month, specifically calling out the Rams and Chargers in the process. Ultimately, Adams did end up signing with the Rams, but at that point, the team had already agreed to secure Stafford for another season.
So, according to Breer, Rodgers’ quote may have been taken a bit out of context. While it may have just been a way to express how badly he would’ve loved to play alongside Adams in their home state, Rodgers still accepted a frugal, team-friendly deal in Pittsburgh on similar terms.
49ers Announce Three Staff Promotions
Earlier this week, the 49ers announced the promotion of three members of their staff, according to Jonthan Jones of CBS Sports. In the personnel department, Tariq Ahmad and R.J. Gillen have both been promoted in the shared role of vice president of player personnel, and in analytics, Matt Ploenzke was elevated into the position of vice president of football research and development.
Ahmad joined the team in 2014 as a scouting assistant, after a collegiate career that saw him serve as an offensive graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Ithaca College, and as director of football recruiting operations at Rutgers, where he earned his master’s degree. A year later, he was promoted to area scout, holding the role for five seasons before earning another promotion to assistant director of college scouting in 2020. Ahmad would only spend a year in that role, as well, before being named director and serving in that role for three years.
Where Ahmad’s experience is solidly in scouting, Gillen has experience in scouting, law, and technology. Following time as a walk-on athlete at LSU, where he was a part of the 2007 BCS National Championship team, Gillen earned his law degree from Marquette; he’s still a member of the bar in Texas and Wisconsin. His uniquely diverse background helps him in regard to personnel evaluation, roster management, and contract negotiation. Gillen even interned at the Shapiro Negotiations Institute where he assisted in consulting and coaching for NBA, NFL, and MLB front offices. He followed that with a front office internship with the San Antonio Spurs before joining the 49ers in 2015.
In San Francisco, Gillen started as a scouting assistant before getting promoted to pro personnel scout. After five years in that role, he was named director of pro personnel, while Ahmad served in the equal role for college scouting. The two shared the title of director of player personnel for a year last season before earning this joint promotion.
Ploenzke holds two bachelor’s degrees in statistics and economics from the University of Minnestoa, Duluth, and a Ph.D. in biostatistics from Harvard. He logged experience working for the Office of Institutional Research at Minnesota, Duluth, and as a head research analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before turning to football.
After being a part of the winning team in the NFL’s 2020 Big Data Bowl, per Michael Lopez of the NFL’s data & analytics department, Ploenzke joined the 49ers as a football data scientist. He was elevated to manager of football research and development in 2022 and director in 2023. Like Ahmad and Gillen, he, too, now sports the vice president designation for his department.