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Colts, Bernhard Raimann Agree To Extension

July 28th, 2025 at 10:45pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Colts are locking down left tackle Bernhard Raimann with a four-year, $100MM extension, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. The deal is now official, per a team announcement.

Raimann said last week a gap between his asking price and the Colts’ offers existed; that difference was resolved in a matter of days. In that time, the Chargers signed Rashawn Slater to a $28.5MM APY extension, which may have helped to accelerate negotiations in Indianapolis.

Raimann’s $25MM APY makes him the sixth-highest-paid offensive lineman in the league, tied with Laremy Tunsil and Lane Johnson. His contract also includes $60MM in guaranteed money; if that amount is fully guaranteed, it would be the second-most among all offensive lineman.

Regardless of the precise terms, it’s an impressive deal for the Austrian-born Raimann, a rare franchise left tackle drafted outside of the first round. That’s all the more impressive considering the fact that he converted from tight end to offensive tackle at Central Michigan in 2020 and only played 18 games at the position before going to the NFL. After a strong Combine, the Colts bet on his athletic potential and selected him in the third round (No. 77) of the 2022 draft. Raimann had an uneven start to his rookie year, but took over the left tackle job in Week 9 and never looked back.

Raimann is not a household name, due in part to his lack of Pro Bowl or All-Pro recognition. However, he has been graded as a top-10 tackle by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) over the last two years, combining with Quenton Nelson to form one of the best tackle-guard duos in the league. With a combined APY of $45MM, they are now also one of the most expensive.

The Colts now have Raimann under contract through 2029, but their future at other spots is less clear. Nelson is due for an extension next offseason and will likely receive another deal at the top of the guard market barring a significant injury or drop in play. The team hopes Tanor Bortolini can succeed Ryan Kelly, but the 2024 fourth-rounder only has five pro starts under his belt. 2024 third-rounder Matt Goncalves is moving to right guard after playing tackle in college as well as his rookie year. Braden Smith accepted a pay cut this year, which often precludes a parting of ways after the season, though Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley stands out as an exception.

Indianapolis will be hoping that its 2024 draftees can hold up in starting roles and leave right tackle as the only uncertain spot heading into 2026. Raimann is now the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman drafted outside of the first round, as well as one of the highest-paid foreign-born players in league history.

Buccaneers Guarantee $30MM Of Baker Mayfield’s 2026 Compensation

July 28th, 2025 at 10:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

2026 is the final year of Baker Mayfield‘s current Buccaneers contract. That season did not originally contain any guaranteed money, but things have changed in that regard.

Mayfield revealed on Monday (via Fox Sports’ Greg Auman) the Buccaneers have restructured his pact to lock in money for 2026. He did not get into specifics on the situation, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports $30MM of Mayfield’s scheduled $40MM salary has been locked in early. No new years were added to the pact.

This move – which Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes was actually agreed to in the spring – represents another indication the Bucs are willing to commit to Mayfield for the long haul. The former No. 1 pick landed a three-year, $100MM pact last offseason and delivered a career year in 2024. If he can deliver another strong campaign, team and player could very well work out another multi-year pact.

“Right now, I’m under contract through ’26,” Mayfield said during an interview with CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco (video link). “So it was really just about getting guaranteed money for ’26, and they did that. And that’s all I can ask for… I trust this place. I love being here. Obviously, used to bouncing around. I’ve done that before, but I don’t want to leave.”

For the coming season, Mayfield is owed $30MM, the same amount he collected last year. Given the current state of the quarterback market, that is a rather team-friendly figure from the Buccaneers’ perspective. Another extension will no doubt come at a higher cost, especially if Mayfield – who has earned a Pro Bowl nod during both of his Tampa campaigns – can maintain a consistent level of play. Turnovers have been an issue in the Oklahoma product’s case (26 interceptions), but he has amassed 8,554 yards and 69 touchdown passes over the past two years.

The Buccaneers have topped the NFC South in each of the past four years, and expectations will be high for a repeat of that feat in 2025. Mayfield will have a central role to play in that effort, and he will enter the season anticipating a new round of extension talks at some point (likely after the campaign has ended). In any case, his financial future for the next two years is assured.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/28/25

July 28th, 2025 at 10:35pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: CB Keni-H Lovely

Baltimore Ravens

  • Activated from non-football injury list: LB Jake Hummel

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Activated from active/NFI list: S Josh Minkins

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Jenkins, who switched to center this offseason, was dealing with a back injury in training camp and participated in a limited capacity on Monday, per USA Today’s Ryan Wood.

Evans, a sixth-round pick by the Rams in 2023, played in 10 games as a rookie but didn’t make the 53-man roster in 2024. He joined the Jets’ practice squad in December and signed a reserve/futures contract in January, but opted to retire instead.

Giants Bring Back WR Gunner Olszewski

July 28th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Adam La Rose

Gunner Olszewski is back in the fold for the Giants. The veteran receiver/returner has a new deal in place with the team, as first reported by ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

The move is now official. Olszewski spent time with the Giants in 2023 and was set to remain in place last year. The 28-year-old wound up being injured just before New York’s regular season opener, though, and he was unable to see any playing time. Now, Olszewski will be able to spend the remainder of training camp carving out a roster spot.

Today’s deal comes on the heels of fellow special teams mainstay Bryce Ford-Wheaton suffering an Achilles tear. His absence – stemming from the second season-ending injury of his three-year career – created an opening for an addition to replace his third phase contributions. That will take the form of a familiar face.

Olszewski is a veteran of 65 games across his time with the Patriots, Steelers and Giants. The former UDFA has made only 15 catches in his career and surpassed 100 offensive snaps just twice in a season. An uptick in workload in that capacity should not be expected upon returning to the Giants. Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt are set to remain the team’s top WR options in 2025.

That will leave Olszewski to operate as a fill-in option at the receiver spot while also offering value in the return game. He earned a first-team All-Pro nod in 2020 for his work as a punt returner in particular, and he handled that role last time around with the Giants. It would come as no surprise if the same were to be true in 2025.

Steelers Release Cordarrelle Patterson

July 28th, 2025 at 11:48am CST by Adam La Rose

Cordarrelle Patterson entered training camp on the Steelers’ roster bubble. To little surprise, then, the veteran running back/returner has been let go.

Patterson himself posted on X Monday that he has been released. He will now hit the open market with plenty of time remaining in the offseason to find a new opportunity. One year remained on Patterson’s contract, and this move will create $2.8MM in cap savings while generating $950K in dead money.

After three years with the Falcons, Patterson joined the Steelers last offseason. The 34-year-old followed Arthur Smith from Atlanta to Pittsburgh by doing so, giving the new offensive coordinator a familiar option to work with. Finding himself behind Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren on the depth chart, Patterson only handled 32 carries on offense, though. His 11 kick returns also fell well short of his previous highs in that regard.

A four-time All-Pro based on his special teams abilities, Patterson has topped the NFL in yards per kick return on three occasions in his career. 2016 marked the most recent time that was the case, however, and the former first-rounder has not been a major contributor in the third phase since his final Bears season (2020). That campaign saw Patterson earn his fourth Pro Bowl nod.

Warren is still in place for the Steelers, a team which added Kaleb Johnson during the draft. Those two will handle backfield duties in 2025 and quite possibly beyond the coming season. Having made just 12 catches last year, Patterson’s absence will also not be expected to make a notable impact in Pittsburgh’s very different passing game. Teams around the league may see Patterson as a potential upgrade in the return game, but it will be interesting to see if a strong market emerges in light of his 2024 production.

The Steelers entered Monday with more than $17MM in cap space, but that figure will increase with Patterson no longer in the fold. Pittsburgh could look into further additions late in free agency while Patterson searches for his next NFL gig.

Chargers, Rashawn Slater Agree To Extension

July 27th, 2025 at 10:25pm CST by Adam La Rose

10:25pm: Mike Florio of NBC Sports delivered some details on Slater’s new record-setting contract. Of the $92MM in guaranteed money, $29MM comes in the form of his signing bonus. His base salaries in 2025 ($2MM) and 2026 ($11MM) are fully guaranteed, as are the $7MM roster bonuses in each year. His base salaries for the remaining years are $26MM in 2027 (guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed in March 2026), $23.29MM in 2028 ($10MM guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed in March 2027), and $20.75MM in 2029. He can also receive a $7MM roster bonus in 2029, giving Los Angeles incentive to let him play out the final year of the deal.

The deal is structured in a way that rewards Slater with the largest one-year, two-year, and four-year cash flows for an offensive lineman in NFL history. Daniel Popper of The Athletic adds that Slater’s cap hits as a result of the new contract will be $14.8MM in 2025, $23.8MM in 2026, $31.8MM in 2027, $29.09MM in 2028, and $33.55MM in 2029.

1:03pm: Rashawn Slater will not enter the 2025 campaign as a pending free agent. Talks on a Chargers extension produced an agreement Sunday.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports team and player have agreed to a four-year, $114MM extension. This monster pact – which is now official – includes $92MM guaranteed and makes Slater the highest-paid offensive linemen in NFL history. As a result of this pact, he is on the books with Los Angeles through 2029.

Given the Chargers’ decision to pick up Slater’s fifth-year option last spring, he was on track to collect $19.04MM in 2025. A mutual interest has long existed for a multi-year pact to be worked out, however, and after skipping OTAs the former No. 13 pick attended mandatory minicamp. Expecting to land an extension in time for Week 1, Slater was also present for the start of training camp this month. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Slater sat out early practices while the agreement was finalized.

When Penei Sewell inked his Lions extension last offseason, he moved the bar to $28MM in average annual value. Tristan Wirfs narrowly surpassed that mark on his second Buccaneers contract, and Slater has now moved to the top of the pecking order. The 26-year-old’s AAV of $28.5MM is a new watermark for offensive linemen, and his guarantee figure – which will come into greater focus when the full structure of this pact is known, of course – far outpaces the other top earners along the O-line.

Slater has started all 51 of his regular season games with the Bolts, putting to rest questions about his arm length potentially preventing him from operating as a left tackle at the NFL level. The Northwestern product earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie and has rebounded from a health perspective since being limited to three games the following year. Slater finished a career-worst 17th in terms of PFF grade in 2023, but he landed a far better evaluation last season.

In 2024 – with No. 5 pick Joe Alt handling right tackle duties – Slater received a 90.9 PFF grade, good for second amongst qualifying tackles. The Chargers will be counting on that level of play continuing for the foreseeable future. Alt loomed as a potential candidate to replace Slater on the blindside starting in 2026, but today’s move ensures that tandem will remain in place for years to come.

Strength up front was, to no surprise, a key target for the Jim Harbaugh-Joe Hortiz regime when it took over last year. The Chargers now have Slater under contract long term while Alt has plenty of runway on his rookie pact. Mekhi Becton was signed in free agency after his stellar one-and-done Eagles campaign, and he will occupy the right guard spot. A rotation between left guard and center is ongoing with respect to Zion Johnson and Bradley Bozeman, but regardless of how that plays out the offensive line will again be expected to be among the league’s best in 2025.

The Bolts made the postseason in Harbaugh’s first year in charge, but a turnover-filled performance on the part of quarterback Justin Herbert resulted in a wild-card exit. If the team is to take a step forward this year, Slater will no doubt play a major role. His performance will now be measured with a record-breaking commitment on the part of the team in mind.

Cowboys, TE Jake Ferguson Agree To Extension

July 27th, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Rory Parks

The Cowboys and tight end Jake Ferguson have agreed to a four-year, $52MM extension, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The deal features $30MM in guarantees, including a $12MM signing bonus.

Although it was reported earlier this year that Dallas was eyeing a new deal for Ferguson, the negotiations mostly flew under the radar. In terms of average annual compensation, the contract places Ferguson seventh in the NFL’s tight end hierarchy. It also makes him the highest-paid TE in franchise history (h/t Rapoport).

Ferguson, 26, was selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He played in just 40% of the club’s offensive snaps in his rookie campaign, but he assumed TE1 duties in 2023, when Dalton Schultz left in free agency. As part of a prolific Dallas attack that led the league in scoring and finished fifth in total offense that year, Ferguson tallied 71 catches for 761 yards and five TDs.

Of course, 2024 was a different story. With quarterback Dak Prescott missing over half of the season due to injury, Ferguson totaled just 494 receiving yards and failed to reach the end zone. Nonetheless, Ferguson has shown he can be a productive member of a healthy and capable offense, and the Cowboys have opted to bet on that upside rather than allow the Wisconsin product to play out the final year of his rookie contract.

In addressing the extension, new head coach Brian Schottenheimer partially attributed Ferguson’s downturn in production to the TE’s own health concerns (via Jon Machota of The Athletic). Ferguson suffered a sprained MCL in Week 1 of the 2024 slate and then dealt with a concussion in the middle of the season, but those issues appear to be behind him. Schottenheimer also said Ferguson has lost weight and is moving well.

“I have zero doubts in my mind that his production will get back to where it was the year before,” Schottenheimer said. “I think last year was just kind of one of those years that you look back on your career and it was more of a fluke than anything.”

Historically, Prescott has relied heavily on his tight ends, so getting the Ferguson deal done represents a key piece of business for the Cowboys. The team remains in a holding pattern in its talks with star edge rusher Micah Parsons, and while that situation has understandably generated the most headlines, new contracts for players like Tyler Smith, DaRon Bland, and Brandon Aubrey could also be in the works.

49ers To Sign CB Eli Apple

July 27th, 2025 at 9:30pm CST by Ely Allen

The 49ers already entered training camp working to establish their cornerbacks group after losing Charvarius Ward and Isaac Yiadom in the offseason. The position took another hit two days ago when returning starter Renardo Green left practice early with an apparent hamstring injury, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. An update today from Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports reported that head coach Kyle Shanahan expects that Green will be out at least until the team’s second preseason game, meaning about a two-week absence.

Down another body in the room, San Francisco moved to sign veteran cornerback Eli Apple, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who was informed by Apple’s agent, Kevin Conner. Apple is now set to join his seventh NFL team as he heads into his 10th year of play. His new deal with the 49ers will be a one-year agreement.

Apple hasn’t held a full-time starting role in the NFL since his two-year stint with the Bengals ended after the 2022 season. 2023 saw Apple signed by the Dolphins around this same time of year when Jalen Ramsey suffered a knee injury in training camp. He appeared in 10 games with Miami, starting four. Last year, Apple went unsigned into the regular season and eventually signed with the Chargers after Asante Samuel Jr. went down. The cycle continues for a third year in a row as Apple lands with a team late because of an injury.

One of the reasons Apple is rarely getting long-term deals is his own injury history. Apple has never played in every game of a full season in his nine-year career. His best attempts were in the final of two years of his rookie contract (split between New York and New Orleans), in which he started and played in 30 of a possible 32 games, and his two years in Cincinnati, in which started 30 of 31 appearances out of a possible 34 games. Overall, he’s missed 30 games due to injury over the years, including most recently, the Chargers’ last six game of 2024.

Regardless, the Niners are turning to the veteran to help fill out a thin room in training camp. As it stood before the injury to Green, Deommodore Lenoir was set to start opposite Green on the outside, after spending most of 2024 in the slot. Lenoir’s nickelback role was likely to be filled by third-round Western Kentucky rookie Upton Stout, who frequented the position for the Hilltoppers last year. Behind them, free agent additions Tre Brown, Siran Neal, and Dallis Flowers added depth to the group, along with a few less-experienced incumbents like Tre Avery, Darrell Luter Jr., and Chase Lucas. Apple’s experience should help the group this summer and give him a chance to stick into the season, even after Green’s return.

In addition to adding Apple, the 49ers also saw the return to the field of wide receiver Ricky Pearsall. The second-year receiver had been placed on the active/physically unable to perform list a little over a week ago with a hamstring injury, but he’s now passed his physical and returned to practice, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/27/25

July 27th, 2025 at 7:11pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Sunday’s minor transactions to close out the weekend:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

  • Activated from active/NFI list: RB Amar Johnson

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Jets

Arizona is adding the brother of Stephon Gilmore after placing two cornerbacks on injured reserve earlier today. Thomas-Oliver was released by the Lions a day after suffering a hamstring injury in practice. He had returned to practice only three days ago from the active/non-football injury list.

Cardinals CB Starling Thomas Suffers Torn ACL

July 27th, 2025 at 2:25pm CST by Rory Parks

2:25pm: Thomas has landed on injured reserve, per a team announcement. That move confirms he will join Murphy-Bunting in missing the entire 2025 campaign. Fellow cornerback Jaden Davis – who inked a futures deal in January – is also on IR.

11:56am: Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas suffered a torn ACL during Friday’s practice, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Thomas will likely miss all of 2025 as a result.

Thomas, 25, signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He impressed in his first training camp with Detroit but was unable to make the club’s 53-man roster at the end of the summer. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers, and by the end of his rookie season, he had become a full-time starter.

He continued to operate in that capacity in 2024, appearing in a full complement of games and starting 15 of them en route to a 75% snap share. While his peformance last season was certainly an improvement on his rookie showing, he has not yet made much of an impression in terms of surface-level stats or advanced metrics.

Pro Football Focus assigned Thomas an uninspiring 60.9 overall grade (with a matching coverage grade) in 2024, which placed him 76th out of 116 qualified corners. The UAB product also surrendered a 100.6 quarterback rating and is still waiting for his first career interception. He tallied just six passes defensed in his 820 defensive snaps last year.

While ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss believes the Cardinals are well-equipped to withstand Thomas’ absence, the team was seemingly counting on him to remain a key contributor in the secondary. As Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic writes, Thomas and second-round rookie Will Johnson were splitting reps at one outside corner spot, with 2024 second-rounder Max Melton getting the lion’s share of the looks on the opposite side.

With veteran Sean Murphy-Bunting set to miss the entire 2025 campaign as well, the Cardinals could look to the free agent market for reinforcements. The team’s CB room is comprised largely of young talent like Melton, Johnson, 2023 third-rounder Garrett Williams, 2024 third-rounder Elijah Jones, and fifth-round rookie Denzel Burke.

On the other hand, as Weinfuss suggested when Thomas first suffered the injury (video link), Arizona may feel it has enough depth even without Murphy-Bunting and Thomas in the mix.

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