Friday’s reserve/futures contracts around the league:
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Minnesota Vikings
New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Commanders
With the Cowboys and Mike McCarthy splitting up, seven teams have made coaching changes so far during this year’s cycle. Here are the candidates connected to each of the HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.
Updated 2-11-25 (11:40am CT)
Wednesday’s taxi squad moves:
Buffalo Bills
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
JANUARY 14: The Titans’ second round of interviews will take place in person today, tomorrow and Thursday, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports’ reports. Once all six candidates have been met with, it would come as no surprise if a decision were to be made in relatively short order. Tennessee may well be the first of the three GM-needy teams to move forward with a hire during the 2025 hiring cycle.
JANUARY 13: Needing a GM for the second time in three years, the Titans are moving fast. Less than a week after firing Ran Carthon, Tennessee is setting up second interviews. One of those involves a candidate the team met with in 2023 as well.
Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham met with Titans brass two years ago, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport notes the Ryan Poles lieutenant is in line for a second interview this time around. Joining Cunningham in advancing to this stage will be Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borgonzi and Buccaneers assistant GM John Spytek.
We may not be at the finalist stage yet, though third interviews are virtually unheard of. Still, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray and Colts AGM Ed Dodds are also expected to receive second interviews. Ditto Jon-Eric Sullivan, per Pelissero. While this process is moving swiftly, the Titans still have several candidates in the race.
This batch of candidates includes some who are still in consideration for the Jets and Raiders’ GM gigs. Spytek, a Tom Brady college teammate, is on the Raiders’ radar early. Borgonzi is a Long Island native who has interviewed with the Jets. Sullivan interviewed for the Jets’ job as well. Beyond these three, none of the Titans’ set of second interviewees has been connected to one of the other available jobs. Though, the Raiders have not made official requests yet.
Cunningham would join the Bears’ HC search committee once he is no longer connected to leaving, but for now, the fourth-year Chicago staffer is in limbo. The Bears gave Cunningham an extension after he lost out to Adam Peters for the Commanders’ GM job. The Titans strongly considered Cunningham in 2023, giving him a second interview during the pursuit Carthon eventually won. Cunningham is also believed to have turned down the Cardinals’ GM job that year, with ex-Titans exec Monti Ossenfort winning. Titans brass circling back with another second interview bodes well for Cunningham’s status this year.
Dodds has been on GM carousels previously and has been in the AFC South for seven seasons now. The Colts hired Dodds shortly after Chris Ballard took over in 2017. Dodds interviewed for the Chargers, Panthers and Raiders jobs last year. Gray met with the Bolts and Raiders but declined a Patriots interview request, joining others in doing so as the Patriots looked to satisfy the Rooney Rule for a job most correctly figured would go to Eliot Wolf.
Borgonzi was part of last year’s GM carousel as well, meeting about the Commanders job, but this year marks the first time he has met with multiple teams in the same offseason. The Chiefs have lost Ballard and Brandt Tilis from their front office during Andy Reid‘s tenure. Considering Kansas City’s success over the past several years, it would surprise if Borgonzi was not in the mix for the Jets and Titans’ jobs until the end. Both the Bucs’ assistant GMs, Spytek and Mike Greenberg, are on this year’s GM carousel. Greenberg has interviewed with the Jets. Spytek has been with the Bucs for nearly 10 seasons, two in his current role.
The Titans are giving Chad Brinker significant power, with the team’s former assistant GM — after having usurped Carthon — now president of football operations. That will affect the team’s next GM considerably, significantly affecting this search. Sullivan’s resume should be important here, as he and Brinker worked together for nearly 15 years in Green Bay. Sullivan has been with the Packers since 2004, learning under Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekunst. Brinker featured the same background upon arriving in Nashville.
Via PFR’s General Manager Search Tracker, here is how the Titans’ process looks nearly a week in:
The 2023 NFL season yielded a dearth of clear-cut MVP candidates, but that has not proven to be the case this year. Several players made a claim to receive consideration at various points in the campaign, and debate has continued through the conclusion of the season regarding which one will ultimately take home the award at NFL Honors. 
As usual, quarterbacks have dominated the discussion. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley led the way for other positions in 2024, a year in which he became the NFL’s ninth ever 2,000-yard rusher. Especially given the team’s decision to rest him in Week 18 (which prevented him from being able to attempt breaking Eric Dickerson’s all-time record), though, it is extremely unlikely the run of QBs receiving the MVP nod will end this year.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals’ passing attack gave the team a chance to rally from 4-8 into the postseason, and a wild-card berth was still possible entering the final day of the regular season. Cincinnati fell short of the No. 7 seed, however, effectively ending Burrow’s chances of receiving votes at the top of the MVP ballot. The likes of Jared Goff (Lions) and Sam Darnold (Vikings) are likely to be popular names on the lower end of many MVP voters’ final five-player lists, but as far as most observers are considered the race for the award is down to two contenders.
Lamar Jackson has served as the Ravens’ full-time starter for six seasons. Twice in his previous five – including two of the past three where he has remained healthy through the full campaign – he has collected the Most Valuable Player award. That includes a unanimous nod in 2019 as well last year’s award, for which the only other first-place vote went to Josh Allen. Unsurprisingly, the Bills star once again finds himself as the other candidate to receive the honor this year.
Baltimore and Buffalo both saw several notable changes this past offseason, although continuity at a number of spots and with respect to the team’s offensive coordinators was also present. In the case of both division-winning teams, the play of their quarterbacks was the driving force of their overall success, and any number of angles can be taken when arguing in favor of Jackson or Allen. While the latter sat out the closing minutes of several blowouts this year and only logged one snap in Week 18, both passers offered a strong sample size for MVP evaluation.
Jackson and the Ravens needed a win in Week 18 to clinch the AFC North in part due to their 0-2 start to the year. At the end of the campaign in particular, though, the team’s offense showed signs of improvement with Jackson’s increased passing efficiency on full display. In all, the Louisville product finished with career highs in yards (4,172) and touchdowns (41) through the air coupled with four interceptions. No quarterback in league history has recorded more than 40 passing TDs while also managing fewer than five interceptions.
With those totals in mind, it comes as no surprise Jackson’s passer rating for the season (119.6) also checked in at a career high. That figure not only led the league, but it was the fourth-highest single-season total in NFL history. As usual, Jackson was also impactful in the run game; his 915 rushing yards topped the field amongst quarterbacks while his 6.6 yards per attempt average led the NFL. Shortly put, the raw statistics in most categories point toward a third MVP award.
Allen’s performance is highly impressive on many fronts as well, however. Transitioning to a new receiving corps in the offseason (and, in the case of Amari Cooper, midway through the campaign), he led the Bills to a comfortable AFC East title en route to the conference’s No. 2 seed. A pair of Buffalo’s 13 wins in particular understandably drew major attention around the league. The Bills are responsible for the Chiefs’ only regular season loss in which they played their full lineup as well as one of the Lions’ two defeats. Especially with the latter victory coming in Detroit, it helped Allen’s MVP case and highlighted his stellar campaign. 
With 28 passing touchdowns and 12 rushing scores (second most in the league amongst QBs), Allen repeated an unprecedented feat in terms of prolific scoring through the air and on the ground in the same season. While ball security has been the source of criticism in past seasons, he committed only eight in 2024. The Wyoming product’s 14 sacks taken were also by far the fewest of his career. Coupling those numbers with individual moments like his fourth-and-2 touchdown run against Kansas City and the play in which he threw and caught the same TD pass against San Francisco make it easy to foresee Allen’s first MVP nod being a distinct possibility.
The Bills and Ravens met head-to-head in Week 4, with Baltimore earning a comfortable victory. Overall, Jackson’s numbers in games against playoff-caliber opponents outweigh Allen’s, although on the other hand the fact Buffalo finished with a superior record in what was viewed as a transitional year may balance the scales on that front. In any case, the 28-year-old draft classmates have each enjoyed the primes of their careers, and both signal-callers’ résumé’s have been significantly bolstered by the 2024 campaign.
There is precedent for the MVP award to be shared, as that has proven to be the case on two occasions (Brett Favre and Barry Sanders in 1997; Peyton Manning and Steve McNair in 2003). Unless that situation emerges again, though, voters will be met with a Jackson-or-Allen decision. Regarding AP first-team All-Pro nods, Jackson wound up with a 30-18 edge over Allen in terms of votes. That is generally an indication of how the MVP competition will shake out; indeed, as ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg notes, every quarterback named first-team All-Pro since 2013 has also taken home MVP honors.
With all ballots submitted and the countdown on until NFL Honors, how do you see the MVP race ending? Have your say in the comments below.
With the regular season in the books, all NFL teams have declared their cap carryover for the 2025 league year. Unused cap space from the current campaign will roll over, a substantial element of many teams’ financial planning.
Last offseason saw a record-breaking jump in the salary cap ceiling (pushing the upper limit to $255.4MM). To no surprise, another spike is expected but a smaller year-to-year increase is likely to take place. It was learned last month that teams are preparing for the 2025 cap to check in at a figure between $265MM-$275MM.
As teams evaluate key roster-building decisions – including restructures and cuts aimed at manufacturing cap space – carryovers are crucial. It it still not known what exactly the cap ceiling will wind up as, but in the meantime every club’s space which has been rolled over will add a degree of clarity with respect to how their offseason will take shape. Several teams (including the top two on this year’s list) have made a concerted effort in recent years to carry unused space through the course of a campaign knowing a spike in cap charges for core players are forthcoming.
Courtesy of Over the Cap, here is the full breakdown of each team’s 2025 cap carryover amount:
Saturday’s minor transactions and more standard gameday practice squad elevations for the wild-card round of the playoffs:
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
As a member of the practice squad this year, Clifford, the second-year passer out of Penn State, was elevated twice. As a member of the active roster, he will be able to serve as Green Bay’s emergency third quarterback, which could be beneficial after starter Jordan Love was knocked out of the team’s Week 18 loss with an elbow injury on his throwing arm, and his backup, Malik Willis, was dealing with a thumb injury on his throwing hand. Both players had two full practices this week and carry no injury designation, but the team will be taking no chances.
Today’s minor transactions:
Los Angeles Chargers
Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
A former first-round pick, Cine will get a third chance in Philadelphia. The Georgia-product has failed to gain much traction at his first two stops with the Vikings and Bills, but he’ll open the postseason on the active roster with the Eagles.
Once a ball-hawking cornerback for the Rams, Hill’s role has reduced quite a bit in his age-33 season. With the playoffs coming up, though, Hill has the potential to provide some experienced depth in the Buccaneers secondary.
Wednesday’s practice squad moves around the league:
Buffalo Bills
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington Commanders
Gotsis will provide veteran D-line depth for the Bucs in advance of the playoffs. The 32-year-old has 126 games and 54 starts to his name, including five appearances with the Colts earlier this year. It will be interesting to see if Gotsis makes his way onto Tampa Bay’s roster in time for the team’s wild-card round either through promotion or as a gameday elevation.
The Titans and Raiders again became part of a GM carousel in the 2020s. Tennessee canned its front office boss after two seasons, while Las Vegas moved on after one. These two joined the Jets, and after two-plus offseason weeks, the Jaguars followed suit by firing Trent Baalke. With the Titans, Raiders and Jets landing on GMs, the Jags are the only team left searching. Here is how the GM market looks:
Updated 2-21-25 (4:00pm CT)