QB Justin Fields To Start Season For Jets
When the Jets made the move to sign free agent quarterback Justin Fields, two things were made clear based on the makeup of his contract. First, with only a two-year deal, it was clear that this is still a prove-it contract for the young passer. Second, the $30MM of guaranteed money at signing for the $40MM deal indicated an expectation that Fields will be the starter throughout the duration of the contract. 
This past weekend at the annual league meetings, new Jets general manager Darren Mougey confirmed that second point. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Mougey made it clear that Fields is QB1 for the 2025 NFL season.
“We believe Justin is the starter,” Mougey told the media. “We believe in Justin. We believe we can win with Justin, so we’re excited about Justin.”
Fields, drafted 11th overall in 2021 by the Bears, had a rough start to his career in Chicago. The Ohio State product started his rookie season coming off the bench behind veteran Andy Dalton. A knee injury to Dalton forced Fields into action in Week 2. Fields led the team to a win in relief but went 2-6 in the first eight starts of his career. A rib injury led him to miss two games before losing his next two starts, and an ankle injury forced him out for the rest of the year. In his rookie season, Fields went 2-8 as a starter, throwing only seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions while adding two more scores on the ground.
In his sophomore campaign, as a full-time starter, Fields showed significant improvement statistically. While his team finished 3-12 in his 15 starts, Fields improved his passing numbers with 17 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. He broke out as a rusher, too, with 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns, but he led the NFL with 16 fumbles. In 2023, Fields once again worked as a full-time starter, though he missed four games with a dislocated shoulder and thumb. The Bears improved to 5-8 with Fields as the starter, and Fields was able to record career-high passing numbers despite playing two fewer games than 2022. He rushed much less as a result, though.
2024 saw Fields traded to Pittsburgh where he soon began competing with Russell Wilson for the starting job. It was announced prior to the start of the year that Wilson had won the starting job, but a calf injury forced Fields into the starting role for the first six weeks of the season. Fields played some of the best football of his career as a Steeler, completing 65.8 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards while throwing five touchdowns to only one interception in six games. He also rushed for 289 yards and five touchdowns during his time with the Steelers.
The Jets will hope to see Fields continue in his year-to-year improvement. In Year 5, Fields will be suiting up for his third NFL team. While the running backs group mostly looks the same, the Jets have lost some pieces in their passing and blocking game. With the draft and spring ball coming up, New York still has time to add bodies.
With Fields in place as the starter, and a reliable backup in place in Tyrod Taylor, the Jets should feel good about their quarterbacks roster. If there were any doubt in Fields being an effective starter, it would make sense to see New York go for a quarterback fairly early in the draft, in the hopes of developing him into the future leader of the offense should Fields falter. While it still makes sense for the team to take a flyer on a young passer, that draft pick would likely be coming on Day 2 or 3. With a fairly deep group of passing prospects, the Jets should have plenty of options.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/4/25
The NFL minor moves as we head into the weekend:
Denver Broncos
- Signed ERFA tender: OLB Dondrea Tillman
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DE Janarius Robinson
New York Jets
- Signed RFA tender: S Tony Adams
Browns Not Expected To Trade Up To No. 1
A few weeks ago, we saw Browns defensive end Myles Garrett make an about face on his stance for the team’s chances for contention on their current trajectory. While it hasn’t been said exclusively, one may assume that, in the team’s meetings and negotiations with Garrett, Cleveland gave him some insight into the team’s plans for becoming contenders. 
One would also assume that that would indicate some sort of improvement at the quarterback position, but so far, the Browns have exchanged Jameis Winston for Kenny Pickett and watched Deshaun Watson‘s rehab activities stall due to a second Achilles tendon tear that could hold him out for the 2025 NFL season.
[RELATED: Jimmy Haslam Admits Mistake On Deshaun Watson Trade]
One way that Cleveland could improve at the position is by drafting a talented rookie, but at No. 2 overall, the Browns sit just out of reach of the class’s best quarterback, Miami’s Cam Ward, who’s expected to be taken No. 1 overall by the Titans. While one might think it wouldn’t take too much to move up and exchange places with Tennessee, general manager Andrew Berry said at league meetings this week that the team is “unlikely” to trade up for Ward, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
In fact, Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam seemed to indicate that they may not add a quarterback at all, telling the media that they’re “not going to force it,” per Cabot. Instead, Cleveland may address Garrett’s position group by adding Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, who is widely seen as the top prospect in the class. Despite recent news of a stress reaction in Carter’s foot, Berry made it clear that the team is not concerned by the injury, stating that it shouldn’t “be prohibitive to a long, successful career,” per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi.
By not further addressing the quarterback position, the Browns would be setting themselves up to enter the 2025 NFL season with only Watson — who is questionable to be healthy by that time — and Pickett as options at QB1. That doesn’t seem to worry Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who told the media today that he believes in Pickett to be the team’s Week 1 starter “if it lands that way.” Over three years with the Steelers and Eagles, Pickett has a 15-10 record as a starter in the NFL with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
NFL To Use New Measurement Technology In 2025
While we already mentioned this technology back in February, the NFL has announced that Sony’s Hawk-Eye system will be used as the league’s primary method for measuring the line to gain starting in the 2025 NFL season, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. On-field officials will still be responsible for spotting the ball and a chain gang will still exist as a backup measure, but the new technology will be the official measuring tool and the increase in cameras will, in theory, provide more angles for replay reviews. 
The new Hawk-Eye tracking services from Sony were reportedly tested in the 2024 preseason and in the background during the 2024 regular season. The technology does not track the ball to determine if the ball crossed the line. An official is still needed to spot the ball and replay assist will confirm the accuracy of that placement. Once the spot is determined the tracking system will optimally notify officials if a first down was reached instantly, speeding up pace of play by avoiding lengthy measurements.
The setup requires six cameras to be used for the virtual line-to-gain technology, along with 12 boundary-line cameras and 14 Hawk-Eye’s SkeleTRACK cameras that monitor more than two-dozen skeletal points on a player’s body. Using the technology behind the scenes last year, the league reportedly saw a reduction in the time it took for a measurement from 75 seconds on average with the chain gang to 30 seconds on average with the new technology.
In order to accommodate and implement the system, all 30 NFL stadiums, as well as any international stadiums where NFL games will be played, will be equipped with 32 cameras each. With the additional cameras, there, theoretically, should be increased and improved replay angles, as well. The league will continue testing the system this spring during UFL games played in NFL stadiums like Detroit’s Ford Field.
While discussions of the use of this type of technology have been ongoing for years, a line is naturally going to be drawn between this rule and a Josh Allen fourth-down quarterback sneak that was ruled short of the line to gain in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ AFC Championship loss to the Chiefs. Similarly, the NFL passed a rule change three years ago that ensure both teams possession of the ball at least once in overtime of postseason games following a Bills’ divisional-round loss to the Chiefs during the 2021 season, a rule that was also augmented in the recent meetings.
Jimmy Haslam Admits Mistake On QB Deshaun Watson
Recent developments in Cleveland’s pursuit of veteran free agent quarterbacks and research into the 2025 rookie draft class’s group of passers seem to indicate that the Browns are perhaps ready to move on from their Deshaun Watson experience. The 29-year-old still has two years remaining on his deal, but it finally appears that the Browns are ready to recognize their mistakes and move forward. According to Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN, Browns co-owner Jimmy Haslam admitted as much at Monday’s annual league meeting. 
“We took a big swing-and-miss with Deshaun,” Haslam told the media. “We thought we had the quarterback; we didn’t. And we gave up a lot of draft picks to get him, so we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
Cleveland acquired Watson from the Texans in a trade package that included three first-round picks before signing the young passer to a five-year, $230MM extension, the league’s largest guaranteed contract in NFL history. Despite record-breaking contract after record-breaking contract being signed each year, no deal has come anywhere close to matching Watson’s $230MM in total guaranteed money at signing. Josh Allen‘s recent six-year, $330MM deal came the closest with only $147MM in total guaranteed money at signing.
In the three years since Watson signed that contract, though, he’s done little to earn that money he’s been guaranteed. He started just six games in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons and seven games this past year. The first shortened season was a result of an 11-game suspension that Watson served as a result of “egregious” and “predatory behavior” that led to several sexual assault allegations. In 2023, Watson missed three games with injury in the first 10 weeks of the season before suffering a broken bone in his throwing shoulder that would end his year.
Last year, we saw Watson suffer a torn Achilles tendon after seven weeks of play. In early-January, Watson suffered a setback in his rehab from the tendon tear that was reported to potentially require a second surgery. Days later, it was disclosed that he had suffered a second Achilles tendon rupture, potentially endangering his availability in 2025.
If the Browns do go after a rookie passer, it could certainly be an indication that Watson’s time in Cleveland has come to an end. The team has worked out multiple restructures with Watson in recent years in attempts to help spread out his cap impact through the 2029 season, but at the moment, he represents cap hits of $36.94MM in 2025 and $81.68MM in 2026. With 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions at the low, low cost of $230MM, it does appear that the Watson-trade has turned out to be a bit of a swing and a miss.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/1/25
Today’s only minor move in the NFL:
Carolina Panthers
- Re-signed: RB Raheem Blackshear
Although Blackshear didn’t get much run on offense as RB3 behind Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders in 2024, and despite the addition of Rico Dowdle and the health of Jonathon Brooks for this upcoming season likely pushing him to RB4, the signing of Blackshear shores up an important position on special teams for the Panthers.
Blackshear served as Carolina’s regular return man on kickoffs and punts. In a year where the league was trying out something new with the kickoff rules, Blackshear led the NFL with 31 returns. He added 17 punt returns in 2024, as well. He ends up returning to Carolina after the team chose not to tender him as a restricted free agent a month ago.
Patriots, WR Stefon Diggs Agree To Deal
MARCH 28: Diggs’ deal includes $16.6MM fully locked in and $22.6MM in injury guarantees, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated details. His 2025 compensation includes a $12MM signing bonus and $2.9MM in base salary (which is guaranteed) along with $4MM in reception and yardage incentives.
A $6MM injury guarantee covering 2026 shifts to a full one next March, a sign of the year-to-year nature of the accord. Diggs’ max earnings of $69MM is based in large part on the roster and workout bonuses present in the pact – which includes a total of $3.4MM in per-game bonuses. An additional $500K is available every year in the form of a Pro Bowl incentive.
MARCH 25: One of the top remaining players in free agency, wide receiver Stefon Diggs has officially come off the market. First reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Diggs has signed a three-year, $69MM contract to join the Patriots. The deal will include $26MM in guaranteed money. 
Diggs’ new contract is consistent with what he’s been making since 2022, when he signed a four-year, $96MM extension after being traded from the Vikings to the Bills. Following another trade to the Texans, Diggs agreed to a renegotiated deal that would pay him about $1.5MM less and make him a free agent three years sooner, making 2024 a prove-it season for the veteran wide receiver.
Despite being traded to a deeper depth chart in Houston than he competed with in Buffalo, Diggs only saw a slight drop off in production as a Texan. Through eight games, the 31-year-old hauled in 47 catches for 496 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 62 yards per game, just under his rate from 2023 but still on track for a seventh straight 1,000-yard season had he stayed healthy for the full, 17-game year.
Unfortunately for both Diggs and Houston, Diggs suffered an ACL tear midway through the 2024 season, an injury which hindered his market value and left Houston without a key member of the WR room. His absence was later compounded by Tank Dell‘s season-ending injury, one which has put Dell’s 2025 availability in doubt. Buoyed by an incredibly deep group that still included Nico Collins, John Metchie, and Robert Woods, the Texans limped into the playoffs, making short work of the Chargers before getting eliminated by the Chiefs.
Despite the season-ending injury, Diggs proved that he still had the ability to be a top wide receiver in the NFL. There is certainly an added amount of risk with Diggs coming back from the torn ACL, but it appears the Patriots are willing to overlook it, based on the reported numbers. CardsWire reporter Howard Balzer has since insinuated that the report should read that the contract in worth “up to $69MM,” indicating that a good amount of that money will be tied into incentives. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to edit his initial X post to include those two words, “up to.”
This would certainly make sense as teams aren’t apt to offer long-term, big money deals to veterans in their 30’s coming off a season-ending injury. Still, a three-year contract with $26MM of guarantees does seem to suggest a level of dedication to Diggs that is in line with the $23MM per year. Schefter tells us that general manager Eliot Wolf agreed to this deal because Diggs is reportedly on track for a Week 1 return in 2025, after suffering the injury in Week 8 of 2024. Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal seemed skeptical of that recovery timeline, though, calling it “overly aggressive.”
Despite having Nico Collins attached to a lucrative long-term deal, Texans general manager Nick Caserio said last month the team would consider keeping Diggs in the fold on a new contract. No deal developed, leading Diggs to explore his options and take a visit with the Patriots last week. Departing from New England, it appeared that there was no imminent deal between Diggs and the Patriots on the horizon, but later reports clarified that this was just due to a lack of urgency between the two parties.
Regardless, New England has made the move with the intention of providing second-year quarterback Drake Maye with a true No. 1 wide receiver. Diggs joins a young receiving corps that features Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne, Mack Hollins, and Ja’Lynn Polk. Maye also has a pretty dependable stable of tight ends with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper.
The Patriots have been fairly big spenders this offseason, mostly bringing in free agents on the defensive side of the ball like defensive tackle Milton Williams, cornerback Carlton Davis, pass rusher Harold Landry, and linebacker Robert Spillane. Diggs joins other veteran offensive additions in offensive tackle Morgan Moses, center Garrett Bradbury, backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs, and Hollins.
2025 NFL Draft Rumors: Saints, Packers, Falcons, Revel
The Saints continue to stay busy having visits with 2025 NFL Draft prospects, according to multiple reports from Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
Last night, the team hosted several Georgia players for dinner, including a top defensive end prospect in Mykel Williams as well as wide receiver Arian Smith. They also reportedly had dinner this week with Pittsburgh tight end Gavin Bartholomew, a likely Day 3 prospect whose name has not been making the rounds this early in the process. Lastly, the team was in Knoxville today reportedly meeting with some Tennessee players, including running back Dylan Sampson and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott.
Underhill adds that the team has been doing a ton of work during the pre-draft process on running backs. Even though lead back Alvin Kamara had a career-high 950 rushing yards in 2024, combined with 543 receiving yards, the sheer depth of this year’s class of running back prospects nearly ensures that quality backs will be available into the fourth or fifth round. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has eight running backs listed in his top 100 prospects list, so it makes sense that New Orleans is doing its homework on the position.
Here are a few other rumors concerning possibilities in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- The Packers currently have eight picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but if general manager Brian Gutekunst has anything to say about it, they could be angling for more. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, when asked about not having many picks this year, Gutekunst added the addendum “yet” to the end of the statement, indicating that he would have some interest in acquiring more picks via trade. Green Bay currently sits at No. 23 overall in the first round. It’s been posited that many teams from pick No. 20 on are looking to trade back out of the first round due to a lack of elite, top-end talent in this year’s class, as opposed to the tremendous depth the class seems to provide. Unfortunately, due to that same issue, there are going to be few, if any, takers willing to give up precious draft capital to move up into the first round.
- One trend we seem to be seeing shows the Falcons as likely candidates to go defense in the first round of the draft. Josh Kendall of The Athletic selected safety Nick Emmanwori in the site’s beat writer mock draft, and the other players he says he considered with the pick, safety Malaki Starks, linebackers Jalon Walker and Jihaad Campbell, cornerback Will Johnson, and edges Mike Green and Shemar Stewart, all reside on the defensive side of the ball. Kendall bases this belief that the team will go defense off of new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich wanting to build a new, uniquely hybrid defense.
- Lastly, Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network reported today that the Cowboys will be hosting East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel for a top-30 visit next week. We know that Revel is attempting to make a comeback from a torn ACL that ended his final collegiate season after only three games and that he is projected to be back in time for training camp. What makes this an interesting visit is that, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Revel’s ACL repair surgery was performed by Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper, likely giving the franchise a uniquely exclusive insight on his prognosis and recovery.
Draft Rumors: Pro Days, Jackson, Taylor
We’re in the thick of Pro Day Season and, while some of the 2025 NFL Draft’s top quarterbacks are showing out after not throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine, some of the draft’s top pass rushers have chosen to sit out of their pro days. Two of the class’s top pass rushing prospects, Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, have made the decision not to work out at their respective pro day events.
Carter’s announcement, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, was relayed by his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who said that his client was “still finishing up rehab on the shoulder injury” he suffered during the College Football Playoff game against Boise State. He won’t work out at the pro day but will still be measured, which is important because he didn’t get measured at the combine after having to leave early for medicals, according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic. Rosenhaus added that Carter may still work out at private team workouts in mid-April.
Stewart also missed workouts at both the combine and his team’s pro day, per Tony Pauline of sportskeeda. Stewart, a former five-star high school recruit, is a true physical specimen, but after only recording 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons of play with the Aggies, scouts were hoping to get some insight via pre-draft workouts. If he still goes in the first round of the draft, as is currently projected, it will likely be solely based on traits over production.
Here are a couple other draft rumors on potential Day 1 prospects:
- Another pass rushing prospect, Arkansas’ Landon Jackson is hoping to work his way into the first round with Carter and Stewart. After a phenomenal combine performance that included a 4.68-second 40-yard dash, a 40.5-inch vertical jump, and a 10-foot-9 broad jump, Jackson continued to impress on the stopwatch with a three-cone drill timed at under seven seconds, per Pauline. While Jackson surprisingly sat out of defensive line drills in Fayetteville, he’s still being projected as an easy top-42 pick, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found himself getting selected on Day 1.
- Lastly, LSU tight end Mason Taylor had an impressive pro day in Baton Rouge, timing out from 4.58-4.62, depending on the stopwatch, on his 40-yard dash and repping out 28 on the bench press. While the Giants and Cowboys both ran him through some blocking drills, the only team with an official top-30 visit planned, per Pauline, is the Chargers.
QB Draft Notes: Browns, Dart, Milroe
We know that the Browns have been exploring the quarterback options in the 2025 NFL Draft, conducting a private workout with Miami’s Cam Ward following the Hurricanes’ pro day in Coral Gables. The holders of the No. 2 overall pick in the draft know, though, that Ward may not be available to them.
According to Tony Grossi of TheLandOnDemand.com, the Browns’ road trip didn’t end there. Grossi informs us that Cleveland’s general manager, Andrew Berry, and head coach, Kevin Stefanski, conducted private workouts with Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Alabama passer Jalen Milroe this week, as well. He adds that the two will finish their quarterback workouts when the travel to Boulder for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders pro day next Friday.
While Ward and Sanders seem like the only two possible choices for Cleveland with the second overall pick, the team’s interest in Dart and Milroe provide the potential that they could go for another position, taking Penn State’s Abdul Carter or Colorado’s Travis Hunter, at No. 2 and go for a quarterback in a later round. Dart has lately been cast as a potential first-rounder, but it’s perfectly reasonable to think that he might be available to Cleveland at the top of the second. Milroe, on the other hand, has been seen, at times, as a likely Day 3 pick, further expanding the Browns’ options for a rookie passer.
Here are a few other rumors concerning quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- We’ve seen the Saints spend lots of time at dinner in the past week as they continue to meet with draft prospects. Per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, their latest dinner date was Dart, who met with the team tonight. The team previously held interest in Texas’ Quinn Ewers, hosting him and several of his teammates earlier this week. Dart getting picked at No. 9 overall by the Saints seems like an unlikely projection at the current moment, but Dart or Ewers on Day 2 could both be potential scenarios.
- Dart isn’t the only quarterback New Orleans saw today. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the team held a private workout today for Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord. While McCord hasn’t received a ton a press so far in the pre-draft process, he deserves some respect after leading the NCAA in passing yards and passing yards per game last year, being the only one in the country to out-pass Ward and even beating him in a head-to-head matchup. McCord could join Dart and Ewers as potential Day 2 or 3 options for the Saints.
- Lastly, Milroe has been getting more and more interest lately as rumors begin to swarm grouping him with Ward, Sanders, and Dart as a potential first-rounder. Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports said on The Herd today that “the Steelers really like Jalen Milroe” and may even consider drafting him at No. 21 overall. Cowherd believes that most teams sitting in the draft picks from Nos. 20-32 want to trade back out of the first round due to a lack of elite talent. Unfortunately, for that same reason, there likely won’t be many takers, and those teams will be forced to make a pick, even if overvalued. That pick for the Steelers could be Milroe as they only roster Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson at the moment and they continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers. Even if Rodgers signs, they would view Rodgers as a stopgap option, with Milroe as the future. As they examine the landscape of quarterbacks available, they believe Milroe is far more athletic than any other options and want to do something special at the quarterback position.