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Poll: Who Will Win Saints’ QB Competition?

July 20th, 2025 at 10:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

Speculation about Derek Carr’s Saints future came to an end when he elected to retire in lieu of undergoing shoulder surgery. The procedure would have kept him from playing in New Orleans (or elsewhere) in 2025, so the four-time Pro Bowler brought his career to an end and began the team’s next era under center.

Carr handled starting duties for a pair of campaigns with the Saints after his Raiders tenure came to a close. The arrival of new head coach Kellen Moore brought about questions regarding a departure, but that is of course a moot point now. This year’s training camp will see Moore and his staff evaluate New Orleans’ four remaining signal-callers to determine the pecking order.

That quartet includes undrafted free agent Hunter Dekkers. Like in essentially any case regarding UDFAs, he profiles as a practice squad candidate once roster cuts are made at the end of the summer. The Saints’ other three quarterbacks – Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener – are positioned to battle for the starting gig.

In the wake of the Carr retirement, Moore left the door open to a veteran addition under center. None came about during the late stages of free agency, though, so the Shough-Rattler-Haener trio is set to take part in an open competition. New Orleans has drafted a quarterback during each of the past three years, leaving each contender short on experience.

Shough emerged as a name to watch for the Saints during the pre-draft process as the team sought out a Carr successor capable of playing as early as this year. Entering the league as a 25-year-old, he certainly profiles as a candidate to see the field early at the NFL level. Over the course of his seven years in college, however, Shough only had one full campaign as a starter.

The Oregon/Texas Tech/Louisville product dealt with a number of injuries before managing to remain healthy for a full campaign in 2024. Shough’s size and arm strength made him an intriguing option in this year’s quarterback class, one which is not held in high regard compared to next year’s. Nevertheless, New Orleans could turn to him right away in a bid to evaluate his candidacy as a long-term answer under center.

2025 has seen a notable uptick in guaranteed compensation for second-round rookies. Shough, taken 40th overall, was a figure to watch as he joined the players selected around him in seeking a fully guaranteed pact. He recently succeeded in doing so, securing a favorable structure in terms of the payment schedule. That commitment does not ensure Shough will begin his career atop the depth chart, of course, but it illustrates how he will be a member of New Orleans’ QB setup for years to come.

Rattler fell to the fifth round of his draft class despite being the first signal-caller selected after the six first-rounders in 2024 came off the board. The Oklahoma and South Carolina product saw time after Carr was injured, recording a total of six starts. The Saints lost each of those contests while dealing with a number of other absences and ultimately finishing out the campaign under interim head coach Darren Rizzi. Rattler reached 240 passing yards only twice during his time as a starter, and he threw more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four).

Expectations are certainly muted entering Year 2 as a result, although Rattler, 24, represents at least an affordable backup option for the remainder of his rookie contract. The arrival of Moore as head coach will offer him a fresh start after last year’s poor showing. A stretch with better health up front and at the receiver position could allow for a better evaluation of Rattler’s ceiling in the NFL. Whether or not he is capable of handling starting duties will be determined to a large extent in 2025, and training camp and the preseason will be key in Rattler’s assessment.

Haener did not see the field during his rookie campaign, one which included a PED suspension. The 26-year-old made one start after Carr’s injury last season, a one-point loss despite his 49 passing yards on four completions. If Moore and Co. keep Haener behind Rattler in the pecking order, the QB2 spot is the best-case scenario for the Washington/Fresno State alum.

Winning the starting gig is certainly a possibility entering camp, but Haener is also candidate to operate as the Saints’ emergency third quarterback if Shough and Rattler are still healthy by Week 1. It will be interesting to see if he can alter the depth chart based on how it stood during his first two NFL seasons.

How do you think New Orleans’ competition will play out? Vote in PFR’s latest poll on who you think will emerge as the team’s Week 1 starter and have your say in the comments section below.

Saints, QB Tyler Shough Agree On Fully Guaranteed Rookie Deal

July 19th, 2025 at 10:10pm CST by Ely Allen

Once thought to be the first domino that would fall in the second-round standoff, Louisville second-round quarterback Tyler Shough has finally signed his four-year, entry-level contract. ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms that Shough got the fully guaranteed four-year, $10.8MM contract many expected, but it comes with a few more benefits, as well.

It was 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins, picked three slots after Shough, who actually broke through the impasse, and the pick after Shough, Bills defensive tackle T.J. Sanders, signed yesterday with 94.6 percent of his contract guaranteed, meaning Shough’s 40th draft slot now stands as the lowest pick in modern draft history to receive full guarantees. His contract also, according to Schefter, is the only for non-first round picks that includes annual roster bonus structure, with which Shough receives the majority of his compensation each year during the first week of training camp.

Coming out of football powerhouse Hamilton HS (Ariz.), Shough committed to Oregon as the top recruit in the state and a consensus top-seven quarterback recruit. With Justin Herbert firmly entrenched in the starting spot behind center, Shough redshirted and served as a backup in Year 2. After Herbert moved on to the NFL, Shough got his chance to start for the Ducks, winning his first three contests. Back-to-back unexpected losses to Oregon State and Cal forced then-head coach Mario Cristobal to start splitting series between Shough and Anthony Brown down the stretch of the COVID-19-shortened season

With Brown ending the season with more momentum than Shough, the latter made the decision to transfer to Texas Tech. In his first season in Lubbock, Shough won the starting job over an incumbent senior and three freshmen but broke his collarbone in the fourth game of the season. He won the starting competition the following year, as well, but missed a few games after exiting the season opener with a shoulder injury. When he returned late in the year, he won every one of his starts, assuring that he would start again in 2023. Once again, though, injury forced Shough off the field after only four games when a broken fibula required surgery.

Granted a seventh year of eligibility, Shough transferred to Louisville and finally delivered a full season of work. Starting all 12 games for the Cardinals, Shough went 8-4, completing 62.7 percent of his passes for 3,195 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Perhaps, cautioned from his injury-riddled history, the at times mobile quarterback showed a much lower propensity for taking off with the ball in his final collegiate season.

With a 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame, Shough looks the part of an NFL quarterback. He also does a lot of things that offensive coordinators love to see at the NFL level. He boasts a quick delivery, an ability to throw from different arm angles, the touch and arm strength to cover all areas of the field, and good accuracy when throwing on the run. The red flags are a bit obvious, having only completed one full season in seven years of college and entering the NFL at 26 years old, but he also has a tendency to throw up some prayers, which can result in big plays but also potential disasters.

After Derek Carr‘s mid-offseason retirement, there is no question what his role will be in New Orleans. Shough will be coming in with the hopes that he can beat out Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener for the starting job behind center in 2025. He proved time and again in college that he can win out in position battles, but now he’ll be competing with a couple of passers who have a head start in NFL experience. “NFL experience” is specified there, since Shough is the oldest quarterback to enter the NFL since Brandon Weeden, who was 28 years old when he was selected, encroaching a bit closer to Weeden than last year’s 24-year-olds, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr.

With one of the three biggest dominoes having now fallen, only nine rookies still need to sign their contracts. The Shemar Stewart situation has been covered in great detail, and the Browns want Quinshon Judkins focusing on his legal situation. Aside from those two, there are three groups of picks later on in the second round that should put pen to paper in the coming days.

With Shough closing out the Saints’ rookie class signings, here’s a final look at New Orleans’ nine-man draft class:

Saints Agree To Sign DL Jonathan Bullard

July 19th, 2025 at 3:21pm CST by Ely Allen

The Saints are bringing in some defensive line help late in the offseason. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the team has agreed to terms with veteran defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard, who is now set to join his sixth NFC team in 10 years, three days before veterans report for training camp in New Orleans.

Bullard started in the NFL as a third-round pick out of Florida in 2016, getting drafted to the Bears. After failing to secure more than a rotation role in three seasons in Chicago, Bullard was waived before the final year of his rookie deal. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers, and he finally found some sustained success in Arizona. Bullard started six of nine games in 2019 before getting placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

The Cardinals re-signed him for the 2020 season but, ultimately, decided to release him in final roster cuts, signing him to their practice squad. In October, Seattle signed Bullard off of Arizona’s practice squad, and he saw six games of action. As a free agent in 2021, Bullard signed with the Falcons, starting three of the first seven contests before missing eight of the 10 final games of the season.

In 2022, the Vikings took a chance on Bullard with a one-year deal. He took on a pretty significant role on the defense, starting seven of 12 contests and showing some ability to get into the backfield with five tackles for loss, the most in a season for him at that point in his career. Unfortunately, the injuries continued to bite him as he missed four of the last five games of the season on IR.

Still, the Vikings re-signed him, and he returned to his significant role while playing in every game of a season for the first time since his rookie contract. He started 14 of 17 games and put up career highs in sacks (2.0) and total tackles (44). Minnesota re-signed him for another one-year deal, and he started all 17 games of the 2024 season for the Vikings. While he didn’t grade out very highly as an individual, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he contributed to a defense that allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL last year.

That looks to be the main reason to sign the 31-year-old veteran. In 2024, the Saints gave up the second-most rushing yards in the NFL, and while Bullard’s PFF ranking of 73rd, out of 118 players graded at the position, isn’t outstanding, he graded out higher than four of the Saints who started games on the interior defensive line, namely Khalen Saunders (75th), Nathan Shepherd (106th), and Bryan Bresee (114th).

Adding Bullard isn’t likely to solve all of New Orleans’ defensive woes, but adding a veteran who has recently shown he can be healthy and contribute to a strong run defense is a step in the right direction. With Cameron Jordan entrenched at defensive end and Davon Godchaux being acquired to start at defensive tackle, Bullard will likely challenge Saunders and Shepherd for a starting role in 2025. The signing also reunites Bullard with defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who served as outside linebackers coach during two of Bullard’s years with the Bears near the start of his career.

Players To Spend Season On Franchise Tag Since 2015

July 13th, 2025 at 10:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chiefs and Trey Smith have just less than 48 hours to agree on a long-term extension; otherwise, the Pro Bowl guard will play on the franchise tag and negotiations will be tabled until 2026. That is 2025’s only tag situation as the July 15 deadline approaches.

Over the previous 10 offseasons, 77 players received the franchise tag. Many of those signed extensions before the midsummer deadline. Here are the players who did not and ended up playing the season for the tag price:

2015

Pierre-Paul’s infamous fireworks accident led to Giants rescinding $14.8MM tag, setting up revised agreement 

2016

2017

2018

Bell did not collect any money on his 2018 tag, being the 21st century’s lone franchise-tagged player to skip season

2019

Texans applied $15.9MM linebacker tag on Clowney, trading him to Seahawks in August 2019; edge rusher agreed to salary reduction upon being dealt

2020

Ravens, Judon agreed on compromise between defensive end, linebacker tag prices. Ngakoue agreed to salary reduction to facilitate trade from Jaguars. Vikings traded edge rusher to Ravens before 2020 deadline. Prescott received exclusive franchise tag from Cowboys.

2021

2022

2023

Raiders provided raise to Jacobs to bring him into training camp

2024

33 Unsigned 2025 Draft Picks Remain

July 9th, 2025 at 9:19pm CST by Ely Allen

The NFL has hit a logjam and is collectively lagging far behind where it normally is at this point in the offseason. Two years ago, the league hit its last 30 unsigned players before July. Last year, teams were signing rookies as quickly as they were drafting them, and only 10 players remained unsigned by June 17. A couple intriguing situations have caused pens to go quiet in 2025, and as a result, here are the 33 remaining unsigned rookies of the 2025 NFL Draft:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 4:

  • No. 107 (Jaguars): Jack Kiser (LB, Notre Dame)

In recent years, a trend has seen second-rounders lasting the longest, but what we’re seeing this year is unheard of. As rookies have been getting a bit of flexibility in negotiating structures of guarantees, getting deals done has become a waiting game of seeing what surrounding picks are getting for comparison. Last year, teams breezed through the issue, but 2025 has seen significantly increased troubles.

Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins set the tone by signing a fully guaranteed rookie contract, the first ever for a second-round selection. The next day, the Browns were essentially forced to do the same for Carson Schwesinger, picked one slot before Higgins. Shough, the Saints rookie quarterback, is seeking the same deal, hoping that his elevated status as a passer will help convince New Orleans to continue making history. Shough’s efforts have caused every pick between him and Higgins to stand pat, waiting to see if they get to ask for full guarantees from their teams, as well. This would be a drastic development, as last year’s 40th overall pick, Cooper DeJean, received only two fully guaranteed years with only partial guarantees in Year 3.

The biggest story outside of the second round is that of the standoff between Stewart and the Bengals. Stewart has issues with what he perceives as a lack of protection in Cincinnati’s offer that causes a contract default in any year to void any guarantees in all the following years. It’s a new precedent the team is trying to set, and Stewart seems intent on preventing them from doing so.

It will be interesting to see which standoff gets settled first: Stewart’s or Shough’s. The latter standoff ending would likely set off a domino reaction of second-round deals that would help a large number of teams close out their rookie classes. To this point, only four NFL teams have done so.

The NFL’s Longest-Tenured GMs

July 5th, 2025 at 10:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL’s 2025 HC carousel brought five new sideline leaders; this year’s GM market eventually featured four new hires. Two teams made quick-trigger decisions involving front office bosses this offseason.

Not long after the Raiders fired Antonio Pierce, they booted Tom Telesco — brought in to give the inexperienced HC a seasoned GM — after just one season. New minority owner Tom Brady, who certainly appears to have downplayed his Raiders role in a recent interview, wanted a fresh start. That meant firing Telesco despite the GM’s Brock Bowers draft choice last year. John Spytek, an ex-Brady Michigan teammate who was with the Buccaneers when the team signed the QB icon, replaced him. Formerly the Chargers’ front office boss, Telesco had entered every season in a GM chair since 2013.

Ran Carthon received two years in charge in Tennessee, but owner Amy Adams Strunk — a year after the surprise Mike Vrabel firing — moved on and arranged an interesting power structure this offseason. The Titans installed Chad Brinker, who had been one of Carthon’s two assistant GMs, as president of football operations. The ex-Carthon lieutenant holds final say over new hire Mike Borgonzi, who did run the Titans’ draft this year. Borgonzi, who interviewed for the Jets’ GM job as well, comes over after a lengthy Chiefs tenure.

The in-season Joe Douglas firing brought a Jets GM change for the first time in six years. As Woody Johnson overreach became a regular talking point in New York, the Jets started over with Darren Mougey. Johnson changed up his workflow upon hiring Mougey, however. Rather than the GM directly reporting to the owner (as Douglas had), both Mougey and Aaron Glenn will do so. Mougey, though, does control the roster.

Telesco’s January firing left Trent Baalke as the NFL’s lone second-chance GM. The Jaguars had kept Baalke despite firing Doug Pederson, but as the team’s coaching search brought significant concerns from candidates about the presence of the resilient GM, Shad Khan eventually made a change. This move came after top HC candidate Liam Coen initially turned down a second interview, doing so after Ben Johnson concerns about the situation circulated. Gladstone is now in place as the NFL’s youngest GM, at 34, coming over from the Rams.

This offseason also brought three GM extensions — for Jason Licht, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Omar Khan. Licht is heading into his 12th season at the helm. Adofo-Mensah joined Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell in being extended this offseason. Also a 2022 GM hire/promotion, Khan signed a Steelers extension this week.

Although Jerry Jones and Mike Brown have been in place longer, the Cowboys and Bengals’ owners hold de facto GM titles. Mickey Loomis is not only the longest-tenured pure GM in the NFL; the Saints boss trails only Hall of Famer Tex Schramm as the longest-tenured pure GM in NFL history. Hired four years before Sean Payton in New Orleans, Loomis heads into his 24th season at the controls. Loomis hired his third HC as a GM (Kellen Moore) in February.

Here is how long every GM has been in place across the NFL:

  1. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
  2. Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
  3. Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
  4. John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010; signed extension in 2021
  5. Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010[3]; signed extension in 2022
  6. Les Snead (Los Angeles Rams): February 10, 2012; signed extension in 2022
  7. Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014; signed extension in 2025
  8. Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016[4]
  9. John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017; signed extension in 2023
  10. Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017; signed extension in 2021
  11. Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017; signed extension in 2023
  12. Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017; signed extension in 2024
  13. Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018; agreed to extension in 2022
  14. Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019
  15. Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020; signed extension in 2024
  16. Nick Caserio (Houston Texans): January 5, 2021
  17. George Paton (Denver Broncos): January 13, 2021
  18. Brad Holmes (Detroit Lions): January 14, 2021; agreed to extension in 2024
  19. Terry Fontenot (Atlanta Falcons): January 19, 2021
  20. Joe Schoen (New York Giants): January 21, 2022
  21. Ryan Poles (Chicago Bears): January 25, 2022
  22. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (Minnesota Vikings): January 26, 2022; signed extension in 2025
  23. Omar Khan (Pittsburgh Steelers): May 24, 2022; signed extension in 2025
  24. Monti Ossenfort (Arizona Cardinals): January 16, 2023
  25. Adam Peters (Washington Commanders): January 12, 2024
  26. Dan Morgan (Carolina Panthers): January 22, 2024
  27. Joe Hortiz (Los Angeles Chargers): January 29, 2024
  28. Eliot Wolf (New England Patriots): May 11, 2024
  29. Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee Titans): January 17, 2025
  30. John Spytek (Las Vegas Raiders): January 22, 2025
  31. Darren Mougey (New York Jets): January 24, 2025
  32. James Gladstone (Jacksonville Jaguars): February 21, 2025

Footnotes:

  1. Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
  2. Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
  3. The Eagles bumped Roseman from the top decision-making post in 2015, giving Chip Kelly personnel power. Roseman was reinstated upon Kelly’s December 2015 firing.
  4. Although Grier was hired in 2016, he became the Dolphins’ top football exec on Dec. 31, 2018

NFL Staff Updates: Chargers, Bills, Saints

July 5th, 2025 at 3:13pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are a few recent staffing updates to front offices in the NFL:

  • According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, the Chargers are losing a member of its analytics staff. Senior analyst Alex Stern will be leaving the team in order to take a position with “Teamworks Intelligence (formerly Zelus Analytics), a major third-party sports analytics company with NFL clients.” After being named a finalist in the 2019 Big Data Bowl and concluding an analytics and research internship with the University of Virginia, Stern joined the Chargers as a research analyst in 2021. He was promoted to senior analyst last June.
  • Where one team loses an analyst, another team gains one. Walker reported this week that the Bills are hiring a new football research assistant. Cole Jacobson makes his NFL debut in the position after years of doing freelance, seasonal, and part-time work with NFL Media, MLB Media, FOX Sports, Stats Perform, and Championship Analytics. He and his team were named finalists in this year’s Big Data Bowl.
  • Lastly, the Saints have hired an operations admin out of Boise State in Garrett Holle to serve as their new director of rehabilitation, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. Holle heads to New Orleans after a quick rise through the collegiate ranks. Following an internship at Arizona State in 2023, Holle joined Boise State in the same season, rising from assistant athletic trainer and rehabilitation coordinator to assistant athletic director of sports performance and health and wellness in 2024. He fills the role vacated by Johnathan Gress, who left for the University of Oklahoma after six years in the position with the Saints.

The NFL’s Longest-Tenured Head Coaches

July 3rd, 2025 at 10:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

By the end of the 2024 regular season, the Bears, Jets and Saints had already moved on from their head coaches. Those teams were joined by Cowboys, Jaguars, Raiders and Patriots in making a change on the sidelines.

After their midseason terminations, Matt Eberflus, Robert Saleh and Dennis Allen each landed defensive coordinator gigs during the 2025 hiring cycle. The staffers who remained in place through the end of the campaign have yet to line up their next NFL opportunity, however. Mike McCarthy withdrew from the Saints’ search, setting the 61-year-old for at least one year out of coaching (just like the pause between his Packers and Cowboys stints).

Meanwhile, Doug Pederson was unable to parlay interest in an offensive coordinator position into a hire this spring. The former Super Bowl winner is thus set to be out of coaching for 2025. The same will also be true of Antonio Pierce and Jerod Mayo after their one-and-done stints as full-time head coaches did not go as planned.

While recent months have brought about the latest round of changes, many of the longest-tenured head coaches around the league remain in place. McCarthy was the only staffer within the top 10 on last year’s list in that regard who has been replaced. In all, nine head coaches hired at the beginning of this decade (or earlier) will carry on with their respective teams in 2025.

Six of those reside in the AFC, with Mike Tomlin – who became the league’s longest-tenured head coach last year in the wake of Bill Belichick’s Patriots departure – once again leading the way, albeit with questions about his future beyond this season present. The NFC will include Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur handling their familiar roles in 2025, although the latter (who has two years left on his deal) will not receive an early extension.

Here is a look at how the league’s head coaches shape up entering the 2025 campaign:

  1. Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007; extended through 2027
  2. John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008; extended through 2028
  3. Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013; extended through 2029
  4. Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017; extended through 2027
  5. Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017; extended through 2027
  6. Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017; extended through 2027
  7. Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019: extended through 2026
  8. Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019; extended through 2026
  9. Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020; signed extension in June 2024
  10. Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions): January 20, 2021; extended through 2027
  11. Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles): January 21, 2021; signed offseason extension
  12. Brian Daboll (New York Giants): January 28, 2022
  13. Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings): February 2, 2022; signed offseason extension
  14. Mike McDaniel (Miami Dolphins): February 6, 2022; extended through 2028
  15. Todd Bowles (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): March 30, 2022; extended through 2028
  16. Sean Payton (Denver Broncos): January 31, 2023
  17. DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans): January 31, 2023
  18. Shane Steichen (Indianapolis Colts): February 14, 2023
  19. Jonathan Gannon (Arizona Cardinals): February 14, 2023
  20. Brian Callahan (Tennessee Titans): January 22, 2024
  21. Jim Harbaugh (Los Angeles Chargers): January 24, 2024
  22. Dave Canales (Carolina Panthers): January 25, 2024
  23. Raheem Morris (Atlanta Falcons): January 25, 2024
  24. Mike Macdonald (Seattle Seahawks): January 31, 2024
  25. Dan Quinn (Washington Commanders): February 1, 2024
  26. Mike Vrabel (New England Patriots): January 12, 2025
  27. Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears): January 20, 2025
  28. Aaron Glenn (New York Jets): January 22, 2025
  29. Liam Coen (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 23, 2025
  30. Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders): January 24, 2025
  31. Brian Schottenheimer (Dallas Cowboys): January 24, 2025
  32. Kellen Moore (New Orleans Saints): February 11, 2025

Saints’ Trevor Penning Likely To Start At LG

July 2nd, 2025 at 10:20am CST by Nikhil Mehta

Trevor Penning struggled at both tackle spots across his first three seasons with the Saints, so the team’s new coaching staff has moved him inside to compete for the starting left guard job.

Penning played with the first team “all throughout OTAs and minicamp,” according to ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, giving him a strong chance at to start in Week 1. The Saints will be hoping that he can bring some stability to the position after using five different players at left guard in 2024.

New Orleans’ primary option, Lucas Patrick, started eight games last year, including Week 1, but injuries forced him first to center, and then the sidelines. Patrick signed with the Bengals this offseason, so Penning’s main competition will be 2023 fourth-rounder Nick Saldiveri, who started six games at left guard in 2024. Landon Young saw time at both guard spots last year, so he could be in the mix as well.

The Saints traded up in the first round to draft Penning in 2022, envisioning him as the team’s long-term left tackle after the departure of Terron Armstead. The move was questioned at the time given that Penning largely faced FCS-level competition at the University of Northern Iowa. Multiple foot injuries limited him to one start as a rookie, so those concerns were not substantiated until 2023, when Penning was benched after starting the first five games at left tackle.

Penning flipped to right tackle last offseason amid uncertainty around Ryan Ramczyk‘s knee; the former All-Pro ended up starting the entire year with the veteran on the PUP list before retiring this offseason. Penning still struggled to protect the quarterback and allowed 54 quarterback pressures, the second-most of any offensive tackle, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Starting the entirety of the previous season would normally position Penning to at least compete for the starting right tackle job this year, but it is expected to be filled by 2024 first-rounder Taliese Fuaga. This is the second straight offseason that Fuaga has bumped Penning out of his spot; last year, he took over at left tackle after primarily playing right tackle at Oregon State.

With Fuaga returning to his natural position, Penning has instead kicked inside to left guard in a contract year after the Saints declined his fifth-year option in May. That is typically a sign that a team plans to move on from a former first-round pick, so a smooth transition to the interior will be crucial for his market in 2026 free agency. Of course, impressing the Saints’ new coaches could keep Penning in New Orleans, but a guard market that continues to explode could price him out of the Big Easy.

OL Jesse Davis Announces Retirement

June 23rd, 2025 at 5:01pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Former Dolphins offensive lineman Jesse Davis announced his retirement from the NFL in an Instagram post (via Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams).

Davis put together an impressive career for an undrafted player, appearing in 95 games with 72 starts across his seven NFL seasons. He logged multiple starts at every offensive line position except center in his career, though he primarily lined up at right guard and right tackle in Miami. That versatility allowed the Dolphins to move him around their offensive line as needed to weather injuries.

Davis played college football at the University of Idaho and was not selected in the 2015 NFL Draft. He did not make a regular-season roster until he signed with the Dolphins and emerged as a starter in 2017. He played a rotational role at the beginning of the season before taking over a starting job – first at left guard, then at right tackle – before settling in at right guard for the last six games of the season, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Davis retained his starting gig into 2018 and started the entire season at left guard, earning a three-year, $15MM extension in September 2019. He started at both left and right tackle over the next two years before returning to right guard to finish the 2020 season. Davis moved around once again in 2021, starting 14 games at right tackle and two at left guard.

The Dolphins released Davis after the 2021 season, and he didn’t play another regular-season snap on offense for the rest of his career. He appeared in 14 games for the Steelers in 2022 and one for the 49ers in 2023 but only saw the field for special teams work. Davis retires with career earnings of $16.4MM, per OverTheCap.

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