Minor NFL 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.
Broncos, RB J.K. Dobbins Were In Contact Since March
The Broncos recently signed running back J.K. Dobbins to a one-year contract worth $2.75MM, with an additional $2.5MM incentive package. Although the two sides just came to terms several days ago, there was mutual interest since free agency opened in March.
Per Luca Evans of the Denver Post, the Broncos made contact with Dobbins’ camp at the outset of free agency and stayed in touch over the next several months. Similarly, Dobbins – who played against defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit as a member of the Chargers last year and who lauded his new club’s O-line and quarterback Bo Nix – said joining Denver was a “no-brainer.”
Though he is only 26, Dobbins is now far and away the most seasoned player in Denver’s RB room, which also features second-round rookie R.J. Harvey, 2024 fifth-rounder Audric Estime, and 2023 UDFA Jaleel McLaughlin. The overall underperformance of the club’s running backs in 2024, along with the free agency departure of Javonte Williams, led many to believe the Broncos would target the position on Day 1 of April’s draft.
UNC back Omarion Hampton was frequently mocked to Denver and its No. 20 overall pick. Instead, the Broncos chose a defensive player in Texas corner Jahdae Barron, and while they reportedly would have targeted Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson in a trade-down maneuver from the No. 20 spot, they clearly did not receive an offer tempting enough to relinquish the opportunity to select Barron.
In theory, the club could have moved up from its No. 51 slot to nab Henderson – who eventually went to the Patriots with the No. 38 pick – but Troy Renck of the Denver Post believes the Broncos eschewed that route largely because they knew they had Dobbins “in their back pocket.” Ultimately, Denver traded down twice from their No. 51 position to land Harvey at No. 60 overall.
Dobbins appears to have wanted to sign with Denver all along, and he was merely waiting for them (or, presumably, a different team with a clear RB opening) to hit his price point. Nick Chubb’s one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Texans helped crystallize Dobbins’ market, and he put pen to paper on his Broncos deal shortly after Chubb officially joined his new team.
Dobbins admitted there was some urgency to the deal as a result of the Chargers’ decision to hit him with the UFA tender. If Dobbins had not signed a contract with a different club by July 22, the Bolts would have regained exclusive negotiating rights with him, and he theoretically could have been forced to play out the 2025 campaign on the $1.1MM tender (though Los Angeles did make him what was described as a “pretty decent” offer before he elected to join the Broncos).
While the Chargers added Najee Harris in free agency and selected Hampton in the first round of the 2025 draft (just two picks after Barron came off the board), keeping Dobbins in the fold would not have broken the bank and would have given the team a deep and intriguing collection of RB talent. But from Dobbins’ perspective, Denver clearly presents a better opportunity.
Renck believes Dobbins will be ticketed for a starting role from the jump, as he says Harvey will “ideally” begin sharing early-down snaps with his new teammate by the middle of October. That said, Harvey was not a consensus second-round talent, so if Dobbins can stay healthy – which has been difficult for him since he suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game in 2021, his second year in the league – he could see the lion’s share of carries throughout the 2025 season.
Dobbins missed four games due to a MCL strain in 2024, his first and only season with the Chargers. Still, he tallied 905 yards and nine TDs on a strong 4.6 yards-per-carry average, and his 27 runs of 10+ yards was the 11th-highest total in the league. After playing in just one game the year prior, Dobbins finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting in 2024 (behind Bengals QB Joe Burrow).
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.
Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto Higher Broncos Extension Priorities Than Courtland Sutton?
When the Broncos agreed on merely an incentive package with Courtland Sutton last year, they are believed to have targeted 2025 as the window for their top wide receiver to be paid. But big seasons from younger players may affect the receiver’s place in a growing Denver extension queue.
Helping the Broncos’ defense become a top-five unit in 2024, Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto earned second-team All-Pro acclaim. A 2023 free agency addition, Allen is entering an age-28 season. Bonitto joins the disruptive interior D-lineman in a contract year; the former second-round pick will turn 26 in September, soon before Sutton will turn 30 (October).
While Sutton has been an integral part of the Broncos’ offense since they traded Super Bowl-era stalwart Demaryius Thomas at the 2018 trade deadline, it is now possible he has lost ground in a push for an extension due to the level jumps Allen and Bonitto made. The two defenders are considered higher extension priorities compared to Sutton, the Denver Post’s Troy Renck notes. Sutton extension talks dragging would bring another complication to what has been a successful but complicated partnership.
The 2018 second-round pick became a mainstay on the trade block between the 2022 and ’24 trade deadlines. The Broncos dangled Sutton during trade windows between this point, nearly sending him to the Ravens (before the AFC North club’s 2023 Odell Beckham Jr. signing) and discussed him with the 49ers last year. Other discussions undoubtedly occurred since 2022, but it was certainly notable when the Broncos turned down a third-rounder from the 49ers for Sutton. The 6-foot-4 performer then became an integral part of Bo Nix‘s rookie-year emergence, cashing in on incentives during his second 1,000-yard season.
Sutton also has run into a timing problem, which we have outlined previously. His four-year, $60MM extension — agreed to in November 2021, before Sean Payton‘s arrival — appeared in step with the market at that time. But after Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill‘s March 2022 extensions brought a sea change, Sutton’s pact began to look Broncos-friendly. The 2024 WR market boom only made matters worse for a player who is now the NFL’s 25th-highest-paid receiver. Sutton posted a 10-touchdown 2023 season, helping Russell Wilson rebound from a disastrous 2022 slate, and helped Nix finish with the second-most rookie-year TD passes (29) in NFL history.
Not only is Sutton the last WR holdover from the John Elway GM period, none of the Broncos’ other wideouts were around before Payton’s 2023 arrival. Denver is betting on development from some younger players at the position, with 2024 seventh-rounder Devaughn Vele at the front of that line. Before missing minicamp, Vele had turned heads during Broncos OTAs, Renck adds.
An unconventional rookie due to serving a Mormon mission while at Utah, Vele will turn 28 this year. He would make for an unusual extension candidate down the road, but for now, Renck offers that the 6-5 target could be viewed as a post-2025 Sutton replacement if extension talks go south. Vele, who caught 41 passes for 475 yards as a rookie, is signed through 2027. He is not expected to miss any training camp time, Payton said (via the Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel). Vele joins Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin and third-round rookie Pat Bryant as Sutton’s rookie-contract supporting cast.
Sutton reported for Broncos voluntary work this offseason and did say extension talks had yielded progress. The Broncos under GM George Paton have also done plenty of extension business during the summer and into the season. Between mid-June and mid-December last year, the team extended Quinn Meinerz, Patrick Surtain, Jonathon Cooper and Garett Bolles. Allen is interested in an extension, and the team has begun talking to Bonitto about a second contract. A host of post-draft priorities are in place after the team’s first playoff berth in nine years.
Bonitto’s market will come in higher than Sutton’s, while Allen leading all interior D-linemen in QB pressures (47) last season will spike his value as well. Sutton would be in good position to be paid as a 30-year-old free agent in 2026, but cashing in ahead of his age-30 season would help. This will be a summer storyline to monitor for a rejuvenated Broncos team.
Broncos To Sign RB J.K. Dobbins
10:05pm: Chubb’s terms do resemble Dobbins’, as Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports the sixth-year back will join the Broncos for $2.75MM in base value. The contract can max out at $5.25MM through incentives. The incentives will be tied to yards from scrimmage, Florio adds. Rushing yards also factor into the incentive package, per 9News’ Mike Klis.
2:37pm: J.K. Dobbins left his Denver visit without a contract, but the sides circled back to such business. The 2024 Chargers starter is indeed committing to the Broncos, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports.
Dobbins agreed on a one-year deal to join the team, which will be his third in three seasons. This will be a notable change for Denver, which used a second-round pick on R.J. Harvey in the draft. Dobbins’ signing comes a day after the Texans gave Nick Chubb a $2.5MM deal; it will be interesting to see if Dobbins’ Broncos terms are similar.
The Chargers had placed a UFA tender on Dobbins in May, but like Elijah Moore, such a move will not lead to a return. The Bolts had made other plans this offseason, signing Najee Harris and using a first-round pick on Omarion Hampton.
Tuesday’s signing could mark a significant change for the team, which lost primary 2024 starter Javonte Williams in free agency. That said, Denver still employs rookie-contract holdovers in Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. The latter’s path to a notable role may well become blocked by Dobbins, who delivered a bounce-back season in Los Angeles following an injury-plagued Baltimore stay. Dobbins would stand to pair with Harvey, offering a seasoned early-downs option to go with the team’s No. 60 overall choice.
Sean Payton, who confirmed Tuesday (via the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson) the team was close to signing Dobbins, had said the Broncos viewed Harvey as a three-down back. It would not seem the team has changed its stance so soon on the Central Florida product, as shoulder pads do not come on until early in training camp, but it does appear the Broncos may not be ready to give the prospect a three-down role from the start. Dobbins represents high-end insurance, and a committee would seem likely based on this agreement.
Denver used a committee approach last season, primarily giving time to Williams and McLaughlin. The latter is a third-year UDFA who has operated as a change-of-pace option and pass-game weapon. Dobbins’ signing would not stand to affect McLaughlin’s aerial role, but Harvey’s arrival certainly could. One season remains on McLaughlin’s rookie contract; three are left on Estime’s. The Broncos used a fifth-round pick to bring in Estime out of Notre Dame, but an early-season injury and fumbling issues plagued his rookie year. Not much of an outlet option for Bo Nix, Estime looks to have seen his stock fall during the Broncos’ offseason program.
Dobbins, 26, finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting — behind Joe Burrow — last season. Given a one-year, $1.61MM deal that included just $50K guaranteed, the former Ravens second-rounder overtook the higher-paid Gus Edwards to become the Bolts’ starter. Dobbins averaged 4.6 yards per carry, accumulating 905 to help the Chargers to the playoffs. Jim Harbaugh used a more run-focused offense last season, and Dobbins also managed to shake off another injury — a midseason MCL sprain — to return and help a late-season charge to the wild-card round.
Next Gen Stats’ rush yards over expected metric placed Dobbins 12th last season (115); Williams (minus-83) landed near the bottom of that chart. Williams has not been the same since a 2022 injury, ACL and LCL tears, but the Broncos will now turn to a player with a more significant medical sheet. Dobbins has missed 46 games since suffering a late-summer ACL tear in 2021. That injury cost him nine games in 2022, which required an IR stint after he had returned, and an Achilles tear cost the Ohio State product 16 games in 2023.
Payton regularly relied on backfield committees in New Orleans, as Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram respectively gave way to flashier options in Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles and Alvin Kamara. Dobbins-Harvey appears the veteran HC’s next top duo, as the Broncos ranked 16th in rushing yards last season. Nix contributed 430 to the team’s cause; he will now have more help on the ground.
Injuries have crushed Dobbins’ NFL earning potential, but his Chargers reemergence will present an opportunity — via this Broncos commitment — at building up more value during his mid-20s.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/5/25
Today’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived from IR: TE Cole Fotheringham
Detroit Lions
- Reverted to IR: CB Divaad Wilson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Reverted to IR: OL Cooper Hodges
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Released: DB Joshuah Bledsoe
With the Steelers adding S Quindell Johnson yesterday, the team ended up moving on from one of their other defensive backs. The choice was Bledsoe, a former sixth-round pick by the Patriots. The Missouri product got into four games during his two seasons in New England. Following a brief stint in the UFL, Bledsoe caught on with the Steelers’ offseason roster back in January.
RB J.K. Dobbins To Visit Broncos
Former Chargers and Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins is meeting with the Broncos this week, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He will have dinner with Denver’s coaching staff tonight with a visit to the team’s facility scheduled for Thursday.
Dobbins finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting as a Charger in 2024, his return to the field after injuries derailed the start of his career in Baltimore. The 2020 second-round pick averaged 6.0 yards per carry as a rookie but only played nine games over the next three seasons due to an ACL tear in 2021 and an Achilles tear in 2023. He then signed with Chargers last offseason to reunite with Greg Roman (and a slew of other former Ravens) in Los Angeles.
Last year, Dobbins ranked 10th in yards per game (69.6) and 13th in yards per carry (4.6) among qualified running backs, though his 42.6% success rate was the third-lowest in that same group. Crucially, he finished the season healthy; he landed on injured reserve with an MCL sprain but recovered within the four-week minimum and started the team’s last three games (including the playoffs).
The Chargers declined to re-sign Dobbins after the season but placed the little-used UFA tender on him when he remained unsigned after the draft. This week’s visit to Denver is the first reported interest in Dobbins this offseason and could lead to a bigger payday than the $1.1MM he stands to earn in Los Angeles.
The 26-year-old Dobbins would bring a veteran presence to a Broncos running back room that lacks proven NFL experience after the departure of Javonte Williams this offseason. Denver drafted R.J. Harvey in the second round to help fill the void, but his undersized frame and lack of pass-blocking chops will likely keep him from being a three-down bellcow. The team’s other ballcarriers – Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin, Blake Watson, and Tyler Badie – have just 281 career carries between them. Dobbins has 429, including 195 in 2024 alone.
If the Broncos sign Dobbins, it may be an indication that head coach Sean Payton will be taking a committee approach to his backfield this season. Harvey’s status as a second-rounder should lead to plenty of touches, and McLaughlin — a 2023 UDFA — has carved out a rotational role over the last two years. Payton also promised more action for Estime, who saw double-digit carries just twice as a rookie.
“He’s a back that requires enough touches,” said Payton of Estime during OTAs (via NFL.com’s Grant Gordon). “He’s going to get those opportunities.”
The Broncos would also have to find a way to fit Dobbins into the picture, a topic that will likely be discussed during his visit.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/25
Today’s minor moves across the NFL:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: WR Jaelen Gill
- Waived: K Andre Szmyt
Denver Broncos
- Reverted to IR: TE Cole Fotheringham
Detroit Lions
- Waived (with injury designation): CB Divaad Wilson
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Waived (with failed physical designation): G Cooper Hodges
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: DT Ben Stille
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: WR Ife Adeyi
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: S Quindell Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: WR Nate McCollum
Gill becomes the 13th wide receiver on the Browns roster. While that certainly seems like a lot, keep in mind that the Browns need to run drills for four quarterbacks and some receivers aren’t able to participate at the moment. An undrafted receiver out of Fresno State last year, Gill spent the last two months of the season on the Browns’ practice squad.
The Eagles add another undrafted rookie to their group in Adeyi. The speedy, diminutive wideout spent his final two collegiate seasons at Sam Houston State. He had 30 catches for 271 yards and a touchdown, with another score on the ground. He returned punts for the Bearkats in 2024, as well.
2025 NFL Cap Space, By Team
This week started with a point on the NFL calendar that has been important for decades. Although teams have not needed to wait until June to make their most expensive cuts in many years, they do not see the funds from post-June 1 designations until that point.
With June 1 coming and going, a fourth of the league has seen the savings from post-June 1 releases arrive. That has affected the NFL’s cap-space hierarchy. Here is how every team stands (via OverTheCap) following June 2 changes:
- New England Patriots: $67.34MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $53.49MM
- Detroit Lions: $40.12MM
- New York Jets: $39.8MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $36.16MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $32.11MM
- Dallas Cowboys: $32.11MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $31.88MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $31.21MM
- Tennessee Titans: $30.16MM
- Green Bay Packers: $28.94MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $27.08MM
- Los Angeles Chargers: $26.83MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $26.63MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $26.54MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $25.79MM
- New Orleans Saints: $22.62MM
- Washington Commanders: $21.13MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $20.09MM
- Los Angeles Rams: $19.44MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $18.95MM
- Carolina Panthers: $18.69MM
- Minnesota Vikings: $18.49MM
- Cleveland Browns: $18.2MM
- Houston Texans: $16.3MM
- Denver Broncos: $16.23MM
- Chicago Bears: $14.76MM
- Miami Dolphins: $13.81MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $10.75MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $5.02MM
- New York Giants: $3.82MM
- Buffalo Bills: $1.69MM
The Jets saw their situation change the most from post-June 1 designations, as $13.5MM became available to the team after its Aaron Rodgers and C.J. Mosley cuts. Teams have up to two post-June 1 designations at their disposals. Five clubs — the Jets, Browns, Ravens, Eagles and 49ers — used both slots. Only three other teams made a post-June 1 cut before that seminal date. The eight that made these moves will have dead money split between 2025 and 2026.
Baltimore used the cost-defraying option to release Marcus Williams and Justin Tucker, while Cleveland — in Year 4 of the regrettable Deshaun Watson partnership — used it to move on from Juan Thornhill and Dalvin Tomlinson. As the Eagles’ option bonus-heavy payroll included two hefty bonus numbers for Darius Slay and James Bradberry, the reigning Super Bowl champions released both 30-something cornerbacks. Together, Slay and Bradberry will count more than $20MM on Philadelphia’s 2026 cap sheet. As for this year, though, the Browns, Eagles, Ravens and 49ers respectively saved $9.85MM, $9.4MM, $6.3MM, $6.4MM and $5.6MM, according to Spotrac.
The Jaguars made a mid-offseason decision to release Gabe Davis, doing so not long after trading up to draft Travis Hunter — with the plan to primarily play him at wide receiver — at No. 2 overall. Off-field issues, coupled with a down 2024 season, made Tucker expendable — after the Ravens drafted Tyler Loop in Round 6. The Vikings moved off Garrett Bradbury‘s contract and will replace him with free agency addition Ryan Kelly, while Mason lasted two seasons paired with C.J. Stroud‘s rookie deal. The 49ers made it known early they were moving on from Javon Hargrave, while 2024 trade addition Maliek Collins also exited the team’s D-tackle room.
Derek Carr‘s retirement being processed Tuesday also changed the Saints’ funding. The team will spread the dead money ($50.13MM) across two years. Even with the number being reduced this year, the Saints will be hit with the second-highest single-player dead money hit (behind only the Broncos’ Russell Wilson separation) in NFL history as a result of the Carr exit. The Saints will only be responsible for $19.21MM of that total in 2025. As they did with Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox‘s retirements last year, the Eagles will also process Brandon Graham‘s hit this way.
Eight of this year’s post-June 1 releases remain in free agency. The Patriots added Bradbury to replace the now-retired David Andrews, while the Vikings scooped up Hargrave. As the Steelers await Rodgers’ decision, they added two other post-June 1 releases in Slay and Thornhill. Tomlinson joined the Cardinals not long after his Browns release.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/3/25
Here are the latest minor moves from around the NFL:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Caden Prieskorn
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: TE Mitch Van Vooren
Prieskorn is a 6-foot-5, 255-pound rookie out of Ole Miss who initially signed with the Lions after the draft. He was waived on May 12 and now lands in Denver, where he will likely serve as depth during training camp with a slim chance of making the 53-man roster. Prieskorn recorded 850 yards and seven touchdowns on 57 receptions over his final two seasons in college.
Almost a decade after he announced a seventh-round draft pick (via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero), Van Vooren will make the jump to the NFL himself. The former St. Norbert tight end will be the latest Division III college player to ply his trade in the pros.