Newsstand News & Rumors

Ravens, Derrick Henry Agree On Extension

May 19th, 2025 at 2:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

MAY 19: Henry’s deal is now official, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes it includes a signing bonus of $11.75MM. The pact also contains $1MM roster bonuses for the next two years, with 2025’s guaranteed. Henry’s base salaries for this year ($1.26MM) and next ($1.3MM) are fully locked in, as is a $9.7MM option bonus for the 2026 campaign.

A decision will need to be made by the Ravens ahead of the 2027 season, one in which Henry’s $11MM salary is not guaranteed. When speaking publicly on Monday after signing the deal, he declined to say whether or not he intends to continue playing by that point (h/t ESPN’s Jamison Hensley), but for at least two more years Henry’s future is assured.

MAY 14: The Ravens’ rumored Derrick Henry extension will come to pass. After a dominant Baltimore debut, extension discussions began. Weeks later, the All-Pro back is now signed beyond 2025.

Baltimore will extend Henry on a two-year, $30MM deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Henry will see $25MM fully guaranteed. Delivering a monster age-30 season, Henry is now signed through 2027. This deal certainly puts the former Titans star on track to finish his career as a Raven.

Previously attached to a two-year, $16MM deal, Henry entered the 2024 free agency period with mileage concerns. Those helped keep his previously full guarantee ($9MM) low. As Saquon Barkley ($26MM) and D’Andre Swift ($14MM) received far more lucrative at-signing numbers last year, Henry did not receive comparable interest. The Ravens had targeted the likely Hall of Fame-bound back before the 2023 trade deadline, however, and they kept that interest in pairing him with Lamar Jackson a year later. Henry rewarded the AFC North team, helping it claim another division title.

Henry became only the second running back this century to gain at least 1,900 yards and fail to land a first-team All-Pro nod, joining ex-Packer Ahman Green (2003). It took a historic Barkley stampede to deny Henry that. Henry, however, led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns during his 1,921-yard rampage.

After the Eagles rewarded last year’s first-team All-Pro RB with a deal that included $36MM fully guaranteed, the Ravens will give their bulldozing starter a guarantee near the top tier at the position. Henry’s $25MM ranks behind only Barkley’s number and Ashton Jeanty‘s rookie contract among locked-in money at the position. It provides the 10th-year veteran considerable security for 2026, providing a clear sign the former Heisman winner will play beyond this season.

This Ravens decision represents a tremendous commitment to a player who is 31 and has logged 2,355 career carries — most among any back on a current roster. Henry has a 639-carry edge on Joe Mixon, who sits in second among active RBs. Henry has now secured two big-ticket extensions during his career. This one, despite Henry’s age, nearly eclipses his 2020 Titans accord in guarantees. That deal, agreed to at the 2020 franchise tag deadline, brought $25.5MM locked in.

Though, Henry needed to sign for four years to secure that number. The Ravens are authorizing this lofty guarantee over two based on his status as one of the most reliable RBs in NFL history. Henry has six 1,000-yard seasons on his resume; last year’s showing checked in nearly 400 yards clear of every non-2020 slate for the former rushing champ. Since he gave way to DeMarco Murray early in his career, all six have come since 2018.

Joining Barkley in making a significant difference for his team as a 2024 free agent signing, Henry will have a chance to move the Ravens back to a Super Bowl over the next two seasons. Baltimore is still taking a risk by making such a lucrative 2026 commitment for a player at Henry’s age, but the team is betting on the durable — save for a 2021 foot injury — back continuing to pound away. This durability has allowed Henry to accumulate more than $74MM during his career; Wednesday’s agreement will push that number to the $100MM doorstep.

Precise details of Henry’s new contract are still being reported, but it should reduce his 2025 cap hit, which was originally just under $13MM. That will give the Ravens some more breathing room with the salary cap as they finish signing their 2025 draft class and make their annual summer veteran additions, which could include a safety after Ar’Darius Washington‘s torn Achilles.

As for cashflow, Henry will received $14MM in 2025 and $11MM in 2026, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, representing all of his fully guaranteed money He’ll be due another $12MM in cash in 2027, which is essentially a team option year since none of his salary is guaranteed.

By then, Henry will be 33 years old, far past the retirement age for most NFL running backs. If he and the Ravens have captured their elusive Super Bowl win by then, he could hang up the cleats and start preparing his Hall of Fame acceptance speech. If not, he may run it back in Baltimore for one last shot at a Lombardi before he retires.

Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.

49ers, Brock Purdy Agree To Extension

May 18th, 2025 at 9:04pm CST by Adam La Rose

MAY 18: Purdy’s extension with the 49ers also includes a full no-trade clause for the duration of the contract, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. That has become standard practice for major quarterback extensions, though it remains unclear if Purdy received a clause preventing San Francisco from applying the franchise tag on him at the end of the deal.

MAY 17: While a rolling guarantee structure will help protect Purdy down the line, he still is believed to have received a nine-figure guarantee at signing. The 49ers are giving their franchise QB $100MM locked in up front, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco reports. Purdy becomes the 12th active QB to secure a $100MM full guarantee.

Passers earning less per year (from Deshaun Watson to Lamar Jackson to Justin Herbert to Kyler Murray) secured more at signing, though it will be interesting to learn how the 49ers have structured Purdy’s rolling guarantees. The seventh-round success story, who secured all of $77K when he signed his rookie deal, should see more guarantees vest a year out moving forward.

MAY 16: Brock Purdy will not need to wait until training camp to ink his extension. The 49ers’ starting quarterback agreed to a deal Friday, Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network report.

This will be a five-year, $265MM pact, Purdy’s agent informed the NFLN trio. The league’s latest monster QB deal includes $181MM in total guarantees; that figure consists of $165.05MM covering the next three seasons. Purdy is now on the books through 2030. The $181MM amount represents the injury guarantee, and Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes it contains a rolling structure.

San Francisco has long known a mega-pact was coming in this case. Whereas many of the team’s big-ticket extensions have dragged into the summer during recent years, that will not be the case with respect to Purdy. The former ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ has handled starting duties since midway through his rookie campaign, and that will remain the case – as the team hoped – for many years to come.

Purdy was due to collect a base salary of $5.35MM in 2025, the final year of his rookie pact. A massive raise was known to be in store, and negotiations began not long after the end of the season. Progress was made in relatively short order, and general manager John Lynch targeted voluntary offseason workouts as a timeline for an agreement to be in place. Indeed, prior to the start of San Francisco’s OTAs, the team’s most impactful piece of business has been taken care of. The fact Purdy was present for the beginning of voluntary work last month represented a clear sign this agreement was close.

This deal’s AAV of $53MM moves Purdy into a tie for seventh amongst quarterbacks in terms of annual earnings. The 25-year-old is on level terms with Jared Goff and narrowly behind Tua Tagovailoa in that respect; both of their deals were signed last offseason. In all, 11 signal-callers are now attached to a pact averaging at least $51MM per year.

Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo going down with season-ending injuries in 2022 opened the door for Purdy to take over as the team’s starter. The Iowa State product helped lead San Francisco to the NFC title game that year and to the Super Bowl during the following campaign. Despite making a clear error by trading up to the No. 3 slot in 2021 to draft Lance, the 49ers have thus received stable QB play (and at a fraction of the cost of veteran passers, of course). That will no longer be the case moving forward, but expectations will remain high for the team’s offense.

Throughout his tenure in the Bay Area, Purdy has enjoyed the benefits of San Francisco’s left tackle and skill-position investments. Wideout Deebo Samuel was traded earlier this offseason, but Trent Williams, Brandon Aiyuk, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle – himself the recipient of a recent extension – remain in the fold. Purdy saw his league-leading yards per attempt average (9.6) drop to 8.5 from 2023 to ’24, but a rebound could be in store provided the team can avoid the injury issues of last year.

While much of San Francisco’s offensive core has remained intact this spring, the team’s defense has undergone a number of changes. The need to budget for this Purdy extension represented a key reason for that, but in general a number of new faces will be counted on to contribute right away at important positions. The 49ers made 11 selections during last year’s draft and in doing so added necessary cost-effective options to compensate for the surge in operating cost under center.

Questions linger about how much longer the 49ers’ current core (which still includes All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, likely the team’s next extension priority) will remain intact and thus whether or not San Francisco’s Super Bowl window is closing. The extent to which a return to contention will take place in 2025 but also well beyond that point will be driven in large part by Purdy’s ability to deliver on expectations while playing out this deal.

Saints Announce Derek Carr’s Retirement

May 10th, 2025 at 9:52pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Saints have announced the sudden retirement of veteran quarterback Derek Carr due to a shoulder injury.

Reports of Carr’s injury emerged in early April, though its exact nature and impact on the 2025 season were initially unclear. Scans later revealed that Carr suffered a torn labrum with “significant degenerative changes to his rotator cuff,” according to the team’s statement. The 34-year-old quarterback tried an injection and rehab, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but opted against surgery that would likely sideline him for the 2025 season with no guarantee of a full recovery.

All eyes will now turn to the Saints’ quarterback situation under first-year head coach Kellen Moore. The team was already preparing for the possibility of Carr missing most or all of this season by using a second-round pick on Louisville QB Tyler Shough in last month’s draft. Shough was considered to be one of the most pro-ready passers in this year’s class and will have a chance to start as a rookie in New Orleans. His primary competition will be 2023 fourth-rounder Jake Haener and 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler, both of whom stepped in for Carr during his absence last season.

Carr’s retirement also comes with a complicated financial compromise. The 2025 compensation in his original contract included a $10MM roster bonus and a base salary of $30MM guaranteed for injury, per OverTheCap. The roster bonus became fully guaranteed for the offseason and triggered this past March, when his salary was also set to upgrade into a full guarantee. The Saints restructured his contract in March instead, converting the roster bonus and salary into a signing bonus to reduce his 2025 cap hit.

Now, that restructure seems to be reversed. Carr will keep the roster bonus, but the Saints will not be responsible for his salary in cash or cap space, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. The team will also process his retirement after June 1 to spread the remaining dead money across two years. Essentially, Carr is forgoing $30MM that he would otherwise be owed whether he retired or underwent surgery and spent the season on the sidelines.

Carr was just two seasons into a four-year, $150MM contract signed in 2023. He went 9-8 in his debut season in New Orleans, but missed seven games in 2024 and finished with a 5-5 record as a starter. His financial agreement with the Saints will result in $70MM paid out for two years and 27 starts.

The Saints’ announcement also included a statement from Carr:

“Upon reflection of prayer, and in discussion with [his wife] Heather, I’ve decided to retire from the National Football League. For more than 11 years, we have been incredibly blessed, and we are forever grateful and humbled by this experience. It’s difficult to find the right words to express our thanks to all the teammates, coaches, management, ownership, team officials and especially the fans who made this journey so special. Your unwavering support has meant the world to us.”

Carr is retiring after 11 years in the NFL. The first nine years of that stretch were spent with the Raiders, and the former second-rounder will be best remembered for his tenure with them. Carr earned four Pro Bowl nods as a Raider, including three straight from 2015-17. With only one playoff start to his name, though, a lack of postseason appearances and success will be a key aspect of his legacy.

The Fresno State product was reunited with former college teammate Davante Adams in 2022, but that tandem remained in place for only one year. Things did not go according to plan during brief period of the Josh McDaniels-Dave Ziegler regime, and Carr’s release brought about an end to his tenure in Vegas. His previous comments about retiring rather than playing for another franchise were replaced by his Saints pact, one which did not provide the desired results.

In all, Carr made 170 starts during his career, and his passing totals rank just outside the top 20 for quarterbacks in most categories. He amassed over $195MM in earnings over the course of his NFL tenure, one which has come to a rather abrupt end.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

Steelers Trade George Pickens To Cowboys

May 7th, 2025 at 10:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Coming up as a team interested in George Pickens ahead of the draft, the Cowboys are indeed moving forward with a trade to land him. The Steelers will cut bait on Pickens a year early; they are sending him to Dallas, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Todd Archer report.

The Cowboys will obtain the contract-year wide receiver in exchange for a third-round pick. Here are the terms of the now-official trade:

Cowboys receive:

Pickens
2027 sixth-round pick

Steelers receive:

2026 third-round pick
2027 fifth-round pick

Shortly before the draft, Jerry Jones had said his team was working on multiple trades. Closely linked to Tetairoa McMillan, Dallas left the draft without acquiring a CeeDee Lamb complementary target. This led to the owner confirming his team was still hunting for help at the position. The team has secured it. Pickens will relocate ahead of his contract year, becoming the latest WR talent the Steelers will pass on extending.

The teams had discussed Pickens since before the draft, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports, and Dallas is believed to have upped its offer to move the trade across the goal line. Previously, Dallas had offered only a fourth-rounder, per Russini; a third proved enough to headline a successful offer. 105.3 The Fan’s Bobby Belt was the first to report the Cowboys had zeroed in on Pickens. Unlike Diontae Johnson last year, Pickens did not request to be moved, The Pat McAfee Show‘s Mark Kaboly adds.

The Cowboys have searched for a high-end Lamb complementary piece for years, and they will now trade for one. The Cowboys continue to turn to the trade market to land receiving talent. This move comes after swaps involving Brandin Cooks and Amari Cooper; the latter’s departure helped create a years-long need in Dallas. Although Jones has swung and missed on big-ticket trades for receivers in the distant past — for Joey Galloway and Roy Williams — the Cooper move panned out. A belated replacement will arrive in the form of Pickens, whose impending relocation may well nix a rumored Cooper reunion.

Dallas dealt Cooper to Cleveland in March 2022, only obtaining fifth- and sixth-round picks for him. Cooper then delivered two 1,000-yard receiving seasons for the Browns while nothing comparable occurred alongside Lamb with his previous team. The Cowboys became closely connected, mostly via Jones, to Odell Beckham Jr. that year. No signing took place, and the Cowboys played out the string without much help for Lamb.

Michael Gallup‘s December 2021 ACL tear sidetracked the former 1,000-yard playmaker’s career, and while Cooks still delivered reasonable production in 2023 following a trade, he missed a chunk of last season due to injury. Cooks returned to New Orleans as a free agent, leaving little alongside Lamb. Pickens joining holdover Jalen Tolbert in a contract year changes that equation ahead of Brian Schottenheimer‘s HC debut.

Having followed through with a rumored Pickens trade, the Steelers are now the team with a wide receiver need. This comes, of course, as the team is wooing Aaron Rodgers for what would likely be a one-and-done stay. Rodgers has not publicly committed to Pittsburgh, but he did throw passes to Metcalf and remains in communication with Mike Tomlin. The Steelers have remained confident the future Hall of Famer will ultimately sign, but his potential receiving corps is now suddenly much thinner.

That said, the Steelers have bolstered their 2026 draft arsenal. With Rodgers (or Kirk Cousins, potentially) only being a short-term fix, Pittsburgh will need better ammo in the event 2026 becomes the next draft featuring a bona fide QB1 investment. The AFC North team had been aiming to make an early-round move in either this draft or the next for a passer. After the team passed on doing so this year, by only adding Will Howard in Round 6, 2026 now looks like the draft the team will seek to acquire its belated Kenny Pickett replacement.

The Steelers still trail the Browns and Rams in terms of 2026 capital, with those teams acquiring future first-rounders in this year’s draft. Pittsburgh, however, is now projected to hold three third-round picks, two fourths and two fifths (via this trade and the compensatory process) in ’26. More work may still remain for GM Omar Khan, whose team’s ultra-high floor annually prevents a draft slot in the upper half of a first round, but this represents a start. Though, a Steelers team that struggled to find a Pickens supporting-caster last year returns to familiar territory.

Metcalf arrived a day before free agency but months after the Steelers failed to acquire Brandon Aiyuk from the 49ers. The teams had trade terms and an extension worked out. Even though the extension was worth less than what the Browns and Patriots proposed, Aiyuk had the Steelers as his safety team in case a 49ers deal did not work out. Aiyuk ended his trade derby by signing a San Francisco extension, and Pittsburgh attempted to address its receiver need with a Mike Williams trade at last year’s deadline. That move did not produce much of consequence, and Williams has since returned to the Chargers. After years of Tyler Lockett working as a quality supporting-caster, Metcalf now comes to Pennsylvania without a notable WR2 presence.

Known for making receiver investments on Day 2 in the draft, the Steelers passed on doing so this year. They left the draft with their 2022 second-round find still rostered, but incessant trade rumors clouded Pickens’ future. He will now follow the likes of Johnson, Santonio Holmes, Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool as a wideout dealt ahead of a contract year.

The modern-era Steelers have made a habit of having just one wideout tied to a notable second contract at a time. As Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, Johnson and now Metcalf (four years, $131.99MM) cashed in, moving parts abounded. Pickens had become a player to monitor as a one-contract Steeler for months, and a post-draft report pointed to no Pittsburgh extension coming, and another Pittsburgh WR search will be a storyline to follow in the coming months.

Pickens, 24, has flashed brightly during his first three seasons. He became the latest Steelers receiver find from Day 2, leading the NFL with 18.1 yards per catch (1,140 in total) in 2023 despite inconsistent quarterback play. Pickens posted 900 yards last season, doing so despite missing three games and having a low-ceiling Russell Wilson–Justin Fields tandem targeting him. Pickens is the NFL’s only player to generate three straight seasons north of 16 yards per reception and accumulated over 2,000 since 2022, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

As Dak Prescott recovers from a significant hamstring injury and enters his age-32 season, he will become the top QB tied to Pickens, who has produced some of the NFL’s most acrobatic catches during his short time in the NFL. While the latter’s contract year will unfold in Texas on a team that has already paid Lamb, Prescott targeting him should prove a welcome sight for a player who will be eager to cash in — as a Cowboy or a 2026 free agent.

Maturity concerns have mounted with Pickens, undoubtedly factoring into both Steelers WR trades this offseason, but the Cowboys will take a chance on a talented player entering his mid-20s. The Cowboys will have the Georgia alum tied to a $3.66MM 2025 base salary. They will hold exclusive negotiating rights with Pickens until March 2026. Although the Cowboys have dragged their feet on extension talks in recent years, they will have a higher-profile player to evaluate regarding a long-term fit once again.

While two lofty WR payments may be too steep for a Cowboys team that will likely enter Week 1 with monster deals for Prescott, Lamb and Micah Parsons on its cap sheet, the team has upgraded its 2025 receiver cadre in exchange for third- and fifth-round picks. It will be interesting to see how the Steelers regroup.

Eagles TE Dallas Goedert Accepts Pay Cut

May 7th, 2025 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

10:10pm: Goedert is indeed accepting a pay cut. The Eagles will reduce his 2025 number from $14.25MM to $10MM, ESPN.com’s Field Yates reports. The Pro Bowler will have the chance to earn $1MM via incentives. This updated deal, regardless of Goedert’s performance this coming season, reducing his earning potential is interesting given the player’s importance to the team. But returning for a Super Bowl champion looks to have mattered for Goedert, who will make a case for a third contract soon.

9:40am: A busy morning of NFL news now involves the defending Super Bowl champions. After a host of Dallas Goedert trade rumors, it appears the Eagles will retain the talented tight end.

Goedert is expected to stay in Philly on a reworked deal, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane reports. One season remains on Goedert’s Eagles extension. The sides are indeed proceeding with a reworking, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo.

Trade offers did emerge for Goedert during the draft, Garafolo adds, and the Eagles were open to adding 2026 draft assets for the proven pass catcher/blocker. But Goedert remains one of the NFL’s top tight ends. He will be crucial to Philly’s title defense. As could be expected, Garafolo adds Eagles coaches wanted Goedert back for an eighth season. Talks about Goedert staying accelerated after the draft, McLane notes.

It is unclear what teams made offers for Goedert, but the former second-round pick preferred to stay with the Eagles over being dealt to one of the interested teams. Goedert, 30, remained in contact with the Eagles during this process. It is uncertain if he will score a second extension from the Eagles, who passed on a third Zach Ertz contract back in 2021 (before trading him and paying Goedert), but the team will have its third pass-catching pillar back for the 2025 season.

Eagles contract structures have become increasingly complicated, as option bonuses and void years pile up on their cap sheet, but Goedert was due $14.25MM in the final season of a four-year, $57MM deal. The Eagles were unwilling to commit to that nonguaranteed $14.25MM, per McLaine; a new number will emerge soon.

George Kittle and Trey McBride have upped the TE market this offseason. With A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts on big-ticket deals, the Eagles may have a difficult time paying Goedert as well. But the sides will huddle up once again, giving Goedert a chance to cement his value as part of a Super Bowl title defense.

Early during free agency, the Eagles were believed to be shopping Goedert. This preceded a rumor the team would not keep the South Dakota State alum around absent a pay cut. That may well be what is transpiring. Nevertheless, the Eagles’ pass game is all set to run through Brown, Smith and Goedert together for at least one more season. After not addressing the tight end position in the draft, the Eagles would have run into a difficult time finding a Goedert upgrade this offseason. It always made more sense for the sides to find common ground, though it will be interesting to learn what other destinations presented themselves to Goedert.

While injuries have continued to crop up for Goedert, he has continued to come back after short-term IR stints. Last season did bring an extended absences — separate three- and four-game hiatuses — but Goedert reemerged to lead the Eagles in playoff receiving yards (215). Goedert has not offered the Eagles Ertz-level receiving production, having topped 800 yards in just one of his seven seasons (2021), but he has been one of the game’s best all-around TEs. He played a key role in Saquon Barkley‘s 2,000-yard rushing season, doing so after having helped Miles Sanders and D’Andre Swift to 1,000-yard years.

The Eagles will still need to address this position soon, especially if they are not intending to give Goedert a third contract. The team added Harrison Bryant and Kylen Granson this offseason, but both profile as supplementary pieces rather than a starter. While Goedert’s post-2025 future will remain a talking point, his return will strengthen the Eagles’ chances at mounting a strong championship defense. His having worked with the team on a solution also should keep the door open for a compromise on staying in Philly beyond this season.

Ravens Release K Justin Tucker

May 5th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

Justin Tucker‘s tenure with the Ravens has come to an end. The decorated kicker was released on Monday, per a team announcement.

“Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,” a statement from general manager Eric DeCosta reads in part. “Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker… We are grateful for Justin’s many contributions while playing for the Ravens. We sincerely wish him and his family the very best in this next chapter of their lives.”

While this move is significant given Tucker’s lengthy run of success in Baltimore, it does not come as a surprise. The possibility of moving on from the 35-year-old has loomed throughout the offseason. On-field matters were cited as the reason why a release would take place during the official comments on the subject from the team’s decision makers, but today’s news also comes amid a backdrop of sexual misconduct allegations.

16 massage therapists have accused Tucker of inappropriate conduct dating back to the early portions of his NFL career. Denials of any wrongdoing have emerged on two occasions, and the Ravens made it clear in the wake of a league investigation being opened they would wait until its conclusion to make a decision. In spite of that, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reports the matter is still being reviewed.

Prior to the draft, Tucker was informed by the Ravens the team could select a kicker. In the rare instances when teams do so, veteran incumbents are usually replaced. That will indeed be the case in this instance as well. Tyler Loop – selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft – is now the only kicker on Baltimore’s roster. Barring an addition for training camp, he will be tasked with replacing the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker.

Tucker (a former undrafted free agent who took over kicking duties as a Ravens rookie in 2012) played a key role in the team’s Super Bowl victory that year. From that point on, he enjoyed a strong run of consistency, with his field goal success rate ranging from 82.5% to 97.4%. The 2010s All-Decade team member connected on a 66-yard field goal attempt in 2021, breaking the record for the longest in NFL history.

The 2024 campaign saw a notable downturn in accuracy, however. A midseason slump resulted in Tucker missing a total of 10 kicks (eight field goals, two extra points) during the season. A return to form late in the campaign did little to quell questions about a change at the position being on the horizon. That became especially true when news of the allegations broke.

Jeff Zrebeic of The Athletic notes Tucker will be designated a post-June 1 release, which represents the more feasible financial route from the team’s perspective. This move will generate $4.2MM in cap savings while incurring a dead money charge of $2.87MM. Three years remained on the five-time All-Pro’s contract, one which carried an average annual value of $6MM (the second-highest figure in the league for kickers).

While the Ravens will move forward with a new kicker for the first time in 13 years, attention will turn to the results of the league investigation. Tucker’s future in the NFL – if he has one – will no doubt depend in large part on the findings of the NFL probe.

Vikings, OLB Andrew Van Ginkel Agree On Extension

May 2nd, 2025 at 11:30am CST by Sam Robinson

MAY 2: Van Ginkel’s new guaranteed money includes a $10MM signing bonus, as detailed by Over the Cap. His cap charges now sit at $11.4MM for 2025 and $19.4MM the following season. $510K in per-game roster bonuses are included for both campaigns. Four void years are present in the deal.

APRIL 29: Andrew Van Ginkel impressed upon reuniting with Brian Flores, enjoying a productive season as a pass rusher to help the Vikings finish the season as a top-five defense. The team will reward the former Dolphins defender for his work.

The Vikings are giving Van Ginkel a one-year, $23MM extension, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The deal comes nearly fully guaranteed, with $22.4MM being locked in. Minnesota now has Van Ginkel signed through 2026. This will bring a significant bump for Van Ginkel, who was due a $10.78MM 2025 base salary that featured $4MM guaranteed.

Coming up earlier this offseason as an extension candidate, Van Ginkel drew interest from the Rams and Eagles last year. He has shown himself to be a viable starter on the edge — after previously working as a backup.

Reinserted into Miami’s starting lineup as a pass rusher due to Jaelan Phillips‘ 2023 injury, Van Ginkel upped his free agency stock in the weeks that followed. He signed a two-year, $20MM Vikings deal in 2024. That contract was to void if no extension occurred before the start of the 2026 league year. The Vikings have checked off that piece of business Tuesday.

Van Ginkel, 29, built on his 2023 pass-rushing production by registering 11.5 sacks last season. The former Dolphins fifth-rounder, who arrived during Flores’ first offseason in charge, accumulated an impressive 18 tackles for loss and 19 QB hits last season. Van Ginkel had previously never posted 10 TFLs in a season. In addition to his sack production, Van Ginkel also intercepted two passes and returned both for touchdowns in his Vikings debut. He now has three pick-sixes in two years.

Minnesota acquired a second first-round pick in 2024. While most assumed it was to become key ammo in the franchise’s quest to select a quarterback, the Vikings — after seeing the Patriots decline their trade-up offer for Drake Maye — then traded up from that spot (via the Jaguars) to take edge rusher Dallas Turner at No. 17. Despite the lofty investment, Turner played behind Van Ginkel and big-ticket free agent signee Jonathan Greenard. This extension certainly looks like that setup will continue in 2025.

This one-year bump resembles the Bengals’ 2023 move for Trey Hendrickson, though it comes after just one Van Ginkel season. Hendrickson signed a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023, doing so after he had outplayed his previous deal during his first two Bengals seasons. Van Ginkel’s profile does not check in on Hendrickson’s level, minimizing the chance he and the Vikings will later be at odds. Instead, a former Day 3 draftee collected a key payment during an offseason in which the Vikings both moved on from Sam Darnold and saw Kirk Cousins‘ $28.5MM dead money hit come off the books.

The Vikings have J.J. McCarthy signed through 2027, affording them opportunities to make payments previously unrealistic due to Cousins’ six-year tenure (and seven-year run on the payroll). They will bet on Van Ginkel, who has scheme familiarity but a thin record of consistent pass-rushing production. Also seeing early-career time as an off-ball linebacker, Van Ginkel had previously topped out at six sacks in a season (2023). But he has settled as an edge presence.

The Vikings, who lost Patrick Jones in free agency, will continue to send a Greenard-Van Ginkel-Turner pass rush at opponents, with this contract ensuring all three are signed for at least two more seasons.

49ers, George Kittle Agree To Extension

April 29th, 2025 at 11:09pm CST by Adam La Rose

Extension talks with George Kittle have produced an agreement. The All-Pro tight end announced during an appearance on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast that he has signed a new deal.

This will be a four-year pact, per Kittle. The deal is worth $76.4MM in total and includes $40MM in guarantees. The latter figure consists of $35MM locked in at signing along with $5MM in guarantees covering the 2027 campaign. 2025 had represented the final year of Kittle’s contract, but he is now on the books through 2029; his scheduled cap charge for the coming year ($22.03MM) will no doubt be lowered as a result of the agreement.

This deal carries an annual average value of $19.1MM, surpassing the AAV of Trey McBride‘s recent Cardinals extension. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk cautions, though, that the final year of the contract contains an inflated figure to push that mark from $18MM to its record-breaking point. Kittle had been attached to a $15MM-per-year pact, but his future has now been secured by means of another lucrative 49ers commitment on the offensive side of the ball.

Kittle surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the fourth time in his career in 2024, and his eight touchdowns marked the second-highest total in a single season for him to date. That production helped his leverage in contract talks, and prior to the draft it was reported team and player were far apart on terms. Originally, the 31-year-old was absent from the start of voluntary offseason workouts. Kittle did attend on Friday, though, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes negotiations gained steam from that point on.

A report stating the former fifth-rounder was aiming to become the league’s highest-paid tight end – with that being the reason for his early absence – drew a public rebuttal from the six-time Pro Bowler himself. Nonetheless, Kittle is now atop the position’s financial pecking order as he looks to remain a mainstay in the pass and run games for San Francisco. The team’s list of remaining extensions now includes quarterback Brock Purdy and linebacker Fred Warner, both of whom are in attendance for the start of offseason work.

The 49ers made 11 selections in this year’s draft, tied for the most in the NFL. None of those picks were used on a tight end, an indication the team would continue relying on Kittle (along with free agent addition Luke Farrell) for 2025 and beyond. San Francisco’s season did not go according to plan last year as the team dealt with a slew of injuries at key positions. Kittle continued a run of making at least 14 appearances which dates back to 2021, though, and the 49ers will be counting on that stretch of availability extending deep into his career.

As San Francisco prepares for a period with Purdy attached to one of the league’s most lucrative deals, the team also has big-ticket commitments in place with Kittle, wideout Brandon Aiyuk and running back Christian McCaffrey. If that nucleus is to guide the 49ers to a Super Bowl, Kittle will no doubt continue operating as a central figure in the team’s success.

Browns Trade Up To No. 144 For QB Shedeur Sanders

April 26th, 2025 at 11:16pm CST by Ely Allen

The slide finally stops here. The Browns have traded up with the Eagles to select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 144 overall. In exchange for the pick that lands the Buffaloes passer, Philadelphia collects pick Nos. 166 and 192.

The Browns had acquired pick No. 166, a fifth-rounder, from the Texans, who in turn had received it from Buffalo in the Stefon Diggs trade. The 192nd pick was sent to Cleveland by the Bears in exchange for defensive tackle Chris Williams, and they had received it originally from Miami in exchange for Chase Claypool.

Sanders has weathered one of the least-anticipated Draft Day slides in NFL history. At one point projected to be in competition with Cam Ward for the No. 1 overall pick, Sanders slowly saw his draft stock begin to fall throughout the pre-draft process. As scouts and analysts really dove into the 23-year-old’s tape, it became apparent that he wasn’t the top quarterback in the class and that he perhaps was not second-best. As it turns out, he is the sixth passer to come off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, 144 picks into the event and six picks into the fifth-round. Some have attributed a perceived lack of maturity and the resulting attitude as a factor that drove down Sanders’ stock, in addition to a questionable skillset.

As to why the Browns chose to select him after this historic slide, Zac Jackson of The Athletic provided a quote from general manager Andrew Berry. Berry told the media that he couldn’t “speak to why the market priced him the way it did,” saying, “We had our own internal evaluation…once it got to a price we felt was a pretty steep discount, it just made sense.”

Now that he’s headed to Cleveland, Sanders’ slide is strictly a thing of the past. Nobody will care where he got drafted if he can make a serious impact for the Browns. His competition begins with fellow rookie, and third-round selection out of Oregon, Dillon Gabriel. You don’t have to look back too far to find the last team to draft two quarterbacks in the same draft, as the Patriots did so last year with Drake Maye and Joe Milton. The Browns are the first team in the common draft era, though, to take two quarterbacks (Gabriel and Sanders) and two running backs (Ohio State’s Quinshon Judkins and Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson) in the first five rounds of a single draft.

The Browns now have five quarterbacks on their roster competing for, maybe, three spots. Expected starter Deshaun Watson suffered a second tear of his Achilles tendon in January and could be unavailable for the entire 2025 NFL season. Cleveland acquired two former starters and recent backups this offseason, signing veteran Joe Flacco and trading for 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett, and now Gabriel and Sanders join the fold. Flacco obviously has experience with the current staff after his 2023 campaign with the team, after which he won Comeback Player of the Year. Pickett has shown value as he’s been traded around since being drafted by the Steelers three years ago, but after failing to establish himself as a starter, he seems destined to work as an experienced backup.

There are a couple of ways the roster could play out in Cleveland. If Watson is healthy enough to play, we’ll likely see Flacco and Pickett as the prime competitors for the starting job, with the loser of the battle likely taking on QB2 duties. If Pickett wins the starting gig, Flacco would surely outrank both Gabriel and Sanders as the primary backup. If Flacco wins, though, I could see Gabriel and Sanders being given an opportunity to supplant Pickett for the primary role. Should one of the rookies do so, expect Pickett to be up for his third trade within the course of his rookie contract.

If Pickett can secure the QB2 role (behind Flacco), though, the battle between Gabriel and Sanders becomes critical for roster spots, and given his draft position, it appears the staff already has a slight preference towards Gabriel. With Watson presumably on an injured list, the Browns could opt to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, allowing them to retain the loser of the QB3-battle on the practice squad. If they decide to only keep two quarterbacks on the roster, though, provided Pickett does not get traded, Gabriel and Sanders could see themselves struggling to make the team as a rookie.

Giants Acquire No. 25, Select QB Jaxson Dart

April 24th, 2025 at 11:22pm CST by Ben Levine

There was some speculation about the Giants jumping back into the first round as they pursued a QB, and the front office has made that a reality. Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports that the team has acquired pick No. 25 from the Texans. The Giants will use their new pick to select Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart.

Full trade details:

Giants acquire:

2025 first-round pick (No. 25)

Texans acquire:

2025 second-round pick (No. 34)
2025 third-round pick (No. 99)
2026 third-round pick

With the Titans committed to Cam Ward at No. 1, holding there despite multiple Giants offers (one of which including the team’s 2026 first-round pick), Big Blue pivoted to the draft’s second wave of QBs. The team did extensive homework on some of the draft’s other top passing prospects. That included Dart, but it also included Shedeur Sanders, who was generally considered the second-best player at his position.

There was some speculation that a team could make a move up the draft board to select the Colorado product early in the first round, and there was some belief that the Giants could even ignore the draft’s blue chip prospects and simply use No. 3 on Sanders. Instead, Sanders — after a report the Giants were split on the two-year Colorado starter — ended up falling all the way to No. 25, and the Giants made the move…to select Dart.

It’s a pretty stunning development, but it may not be as much of an indictment on Sanders as it is a vote of confidence for Dart. The Ole Miss product recently came up as a player Brian Daboll liked, and the prospect quickly evolved from a potential Day 2 pick into a potential Day 1 pick throughout the pre-draft process. Daboll-Dart connections had developed for a bit leading up to the draft, and the fourth-year HC may well be staking his job on the SEC prospect — after Dave Gettleman-era draftee Daniel Jones defined the first three years of Daboll and GM Joe Schoen‘s tenure.

Dart had three strong seasons at Ole Miss, but he took it to another level in 2024. The prospect finished the campaign having completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. Dart also continued to show some ability on the ground, compiling 495 rushing yards on 124 carries. Thanks to an impressive showing at the Senior Bowl, Dart separated himself from the likes of Quinn Ewers and Jalen Milroe…and he apparently did enough to jump Sanders on the draft board.

Dart, 22 in May, will now join a Giants squad that was clearly hunting for a future signal caller. The Giants obviously believe in Dart’s ability considering the investment, but with Daboll and Schoen on the hot seat, leadership may not be inclined to immediately toss the rookie into the starting lineup.

The Jones era came to an end last season, and Tommy DeVito is the only holdover from the former QB grouping. Since free agency started, the team added a pair of notable veterans in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, and both of those players will surely sit above their new rookie teammate on the depth chart. Wilson notably only inked a one-year contract with New York, and while Winston’s deal is for two seasons, Dart could have a pathway to a starting gig in 2026. Whether the current regime is around to see it remains to be seen.

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