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Offseason In Review: Denver Broncos

August 23rd, 2025 at 10:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Hovering near the bottom of most power rankings entering last season, the Broncos overcame a record-setting Russell Wilson dead money anchor to make a surprising playoff berth. Viewed as a reach by many, Bo Nix played the lead role in the Broncos snapping an eight-year postseason drought. Nix’s strong finish to his rookie year also provided a ray of hope Denver has finally solved a quarterback issue that had lingered since Peyton Manning‘s retirement.

The Broncos did benefit from drawing the NFC South last season, sweeping the division en route to a 10-7 record. Denver went 2-7 against teams with winning records, and while the team’s showing in Kansas City pointed to the eventual AFC champions having a tough assignment in Week 18 even had they played starters, Sean Payton‘s third Broncos squad has questions to answer about navigating over-.500 opposition. But addressing deficiencies in free agency and the draft have moved the Broncos into a better place roster-wise, creating considerable optimism compared to where they stood entering the past two seasons.

Extensions and restructures:

The Broncos did well to pay Sutton before the 2022 wide receiver market transformation, locking down one of their key pass catchers on a four-year extension worth $60MM in November 2021. Sutton did not approach 1,000 yards in 2021 or ’22, but Denver’s offensive struggles as a whole dragged down its receivers in those years. Jerry Jeudy did not make a step forward in Payton’s offense in 2023, but Sutton reestablished himself as the team’s top target by hauling in 10 touchdown receptions — a few of which of the acrobatic variety — to help Wilson (to a degree, at least) bounce back from a career-reshaping 2022. This came during an endless run of Sutton trade rumors, buzz that did not stop until after the 2024 deadline.

Denver discussed Sutton in 2022 deals and dangled him during the ensuing offseason, with Baltimore talks nearly producing a March 2023 swap. Odell Beckham Jr.‘s Ravens interest may have changed the Broncos’ WR plans, as the AFC North team backed off Sutton. The Broncos had sought a second-round pick for the 2018 second-rounder and a first for Jeudy, but they ended up selling low on Jeudy (fifth- and sixth-rounders) in March 2024. The Broncos stuck with Sutton and prioritized him to the point they declined a third-round offer from the 49ers, who would have added Sutton as part of a three-team Brandon Aiyuk trade with the Steelers in August 2024.

The Beckham and Aiyuk what-ifs behind him by Week 1 of last season, Sutton posted his second 1,000-yard year to help Nix to the second-most rookie-year TD passes (29) in NFL history. The 6-foot-4 WR had sought a true raise from the Broncos during the 2024 offseason, but only an incentive package emerged.

With 1,081 receiving yards and the Broncos improving on their 2023 offensive standing, Sutton maxed out that $1.5MM package. After the Broncos had informed him 2025 would be his true negotiating window, his camp informed the team the wideout would not play out a contract year on the $15MM-per-year deal. That set the stage for another round of Sutton rumors.

Although an offseason report listed Allen and Nik Bonitto as higher extension priorities, Sutton did not need to wait much longer. The Broncos locked down their No. 1 target at a team-friendly rate but one, illustrating how far the WR market has climbed since Sutton was last extended, that provided a considerable raise. At $23MM per year, Sutton’s AAV matches Calvin Ridley‘s for 18th among wideouts. Ridley, who used free agency to his advantage, received more fully guaranteed ($46MM); still, Sutton’s $40MM there ranks 14th at the position.

Sutton, 29, admitted he left a bit on the table to help the Broncos extend teammates. It is unlikely he left too much, but the Broncos had a complex task in completing a fair deal with a player 2-for-7 in 1,000-yard seasons — with QB play largely contributing on that end. Sutton also observed the Broncos pass on adding a No. 1-type wideout this offseason, strengthening his leverage. But a compromise figures to benefit the Broncos, who only guaranteed $1MM of Sutton’s money beyond 2026. It would cost the Broncos $15.85MM (due to two void years) to escape the contract in 2027; that number drops to $9.78MM in 2028 — which would be Sutton’s age-32 season.

Shortly after that long-rumored deal was finalized, the Broncos paid one of their three first-time All-Pros from 2024. Allen had proven a value on a three-year, $45.75MM deal, going from J.J. Watt sidekick to interior disruption force as a D-line’s anchor. The career-long Vance Joseph pupil led the NFL with 40 QB hits last season; that ranked second among all 2020s performances and eighth over the past 10 years. Basically, that list is Aaron Donald, the Watts and Allen’s 2024.

Allen’s extension path was not nearly as complicated as Sutton’s. The Broncos paid their top D-lineman in his contract year, tabling talks until after the draft. Thanks to Allen’s dominant 2024, the process ended with the seventh-year veteran becoming the NFL’s third-highest-paid interior D-lineman. Only Chris Jones and Milton Williams (who used free agency to land a monster Patriots deal) sit higher than the late-blooming Bronco.

In addition to his $44.5MM guaranteed at signing, Allen will see $15.75MM of his 2027 base salary shift from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee in March 2026. This contract structure reminds of Mike McGlinchey‘s, which provided the right tackle a Year 3 guarantee that vested early in Year 2. The deal effectively locks Allen in through at least his age-30 season, and this partnership will probably extend beyond Sutton’s due to age.

Since June 2024, the Broncos have extended six starters (Sutton, Allen, Quinn Meinerz, Patrick Surtain, Jonathon Cooper, Garett Bolles) on deals worth at least $13.5MM per year. Backloading the deals via void years has helped the franchise, which cannot reap the usual benefits of a rookie-QB contract thanks to part two of Wilson’s dead money apocalypse still coming in at $32MM.

Wilson’s money comes off the books next year, but the relief will be short-lived. Although a Nix extension stands to be backloaded as well, a deal will be likely to commence in 2027. Having plenty of players worthy of extensions is a good problem, though this spree of upper-crust contracts will create challenges down the road. The past year also represents quite the comeback tour for GM George Paton, who evaded firing rumors after his Wilson contract and Nathaniel Hackett hire to form an effective duo with Payton.

Free agency additions:

Denver’s 2024 improvement aside, it came without much at linebacker and without any reliable skill-position talents outside of Sutton. While Nix’s strong second half occurring with limited weaponry naturally creates Year 2 optimism, the Broncos needed to aggressively target upgrades to help their QB. One came in free agency, while two more ex-49er staples — to join D.J. Jones and Mike McGlinchey — preceded the Engram signing.

Hufanga and Greenlaw brought difficulty when compiling this year’s PFR Top 50; injury issues clouded both ex-San Francisco stalwarts’ markets. Hufanga (No. 30 in our annual value-based rankings) received more interest; Greenlaw (No. 40) still commanded plenty despite missing almost all of last season with the Achilles tear that may or may not have swung Super Bowl LVIII.

The 49ers did well to lock down Greenlaw on a team-friendly deal in 2022, giving the longtime Fred Warner sidekick a two-year extension worth just $16.4MM. Greenlaw outplayed that contract, but his seminal Achilles tear sustained trotting onto the field in Super Bowl LVIII re-routed his career. The all-around LB talent played just 34 snaps last season, running into Achilles soreness shortly after being activated from the reserve/PUP list in Week 15. The Broncos are betting on upside, but Greenlaw’s injury-plagued 2024 — which came three years after groin surgery sidelined him for 13 2021 games — influenced a lighter commitment.

Although the 49ers made an 11th-hour push to flip Greenlaw’s Broncos commitment during the legal tampering period, the seventh-year LB did not waver even after San Francisco upped its offer beyond where Denver went. It is not clear if that means a bigger overall package or a higher guarantee. It is safe to assume the Broncos’ $11.5MM at signing compared closely to the 49ers’ last-ditch pitch. The Greenlaw contract contains a $2MM salary guarantee on Day 5 of the 2026 league year; nothing else is locked in beyond 2025, giving the Broncos an early out.

Not featuring much in the way of reliable linebacking play since the Super Bowl 50 Danny Trevathan–Brandon Marshall combo, the Broncos will hope they do not have to consider escaping that 2026 Greenlaw guarantee next March. Greenlaw, 28, would fill the key need on Denver’s defense; he graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 9 overall off-ball LB in 2022 and 23rd in 2023 (247 combined tackles, eight TFLs).

A plus coverage ‘backer, Greenlaw has already missed offseason and training camp time. Considering Alex Singleton is 31 and coming off an ACL tear, the Broncos’ ILB situation brings risk. That is about the only worrying area on a strengthened defense, however.

The Broncos fended off a late Jets push for Hufanga, who will replace P.J. Locke alongside 2024 FA addition Brandon Jones. Had Hufanga stayed healthy in 2023 and ’24, his market probably would have topped Tre’von Moehrig‘s $17MM-per-year deal in March. But Hufanga, 26, suffered a November 2023 ACL tear — the Broncos cornered the market on 49ers defenders absent during Patrick Mahomes‘ late-game surge in Super Bowl LVIII — and missed much of last season due to a concussion and a wrist injury. Before he missed 20 games from 2023-24 (counting playoffs), the former fifth-round find delivered one of the decade’s top safety seasons.

Hufanga’s 2022 brought six turnovers (four INTs, two forced fumbles) to go with two sacks, five TFLs and nine pass breakups. That first-team All-Pro season — Hufanga’s first as an NFL starter — produced the $20MM guarantee necessary to sign him. PFF also graded Hufanga as a top-30 safety in 2023 but was much lower on him last year, slotting him 74th at the position. As they have with Greenlaw, the Broncos are rolling the dice. Hufanga’s age presents greater upside. If the Broncos are right, having Hufanga on the NFL’s 12th-most lucrative safety contract will be a bargain.

Tight end probably loomed as Denver’s biggest need; fortunately, Jacksonville sent a proven option to the market during Liam Coen‘s first weeks on the job. The Broncos have been unable to replace Noah Fant since his inclusion in the Wilson trade. Greg Dulcich did not pan out, and over the past two years, no Bronco tight end has eclipsed 205 receiving yards in a season. Last year, top TE Adam Trautman accumulated just 188. Engram is set to turn 31 in September, but he will be a massive upgrade on what the Broncos had been deploying post-Fant.

Engram set the Jaguars’ single-season tight end receiving yardage record in 2022 and broke it in ’23. After a 766-yard showing in 2022, the ex-Giants first-rounder tallied 963 in ’23. Engram’s 2023 season included 114 catches, which trailed only Jimmy Smith‘s 1999 in Jags history, and it had proved the team right for extending a player who had been inconsistent in New York.

A two-time Pro Bowler as a Giant, Engram fell back to earth in 2024. The agile chain-mover missed eight games due to two separate injuries, with a labrum tear the lead culprit. The Jags’ new regime bailed on Year 3 of Engram’s $13.75MM-AAV extension.

Nearly matching that per-year number on this Broncos deal, Engram received a comparable offer from the Chargers. Although Justin Herbert (and a Los Angeles landing) would certainly seem an enticing combo, Engram said Nix proved a driver for his Denver commitment. Landing in Payton’s offense will likely help as well. Denver naturally pursued ex-Payton Saints charge Juwan Johnson, driving up his market ahead of a New Orleans re-signing, but Engram is a more accomplished player. Not a proven red zone threat (nine total TDs in three Jacksonville seasons), the ninth-year vet could still profile as Denver’s de facto WR2 this season.

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2025 Offseason In Review Series

August 23rd, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are PFR’s breakdowns of each NFL team’s 2025 offseason. The list will be updated between now and Week 1.

AFC East

AFC North

  • Baltimore Ravens
  • Cincinnati Bengals
  • Cleveland Browns
  • Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Rams

August 20th, 2025 at 10:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pushing the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles to the limit in the divisional round, the Rams entered the offseason in the same place they usually do — as a clear championship contender. The team needed to solve a quarterback dilemma before reloading its arsenal for a potential Super Bowl LX run, and considerable fallout emerged from the latest Matthew Stafford contract-driven saga.

While the Rams swapped out star wide receivers and made their biggest running back commitment since Todd Gurley, Stafford’s status overshadowed everything else about Los Angeles’ offseason. The team’s draft strategy opens a door to a potential succession plan, but for now, it is still Stafford-or-bust in L.A.

Extensions and restructures:

After the Rams solved their lingering 2024 Stafford issue with an incentive package and a minor guarantee bump for 2025, they received word the Super Bowl-winning passer would play a 17th NFL season. By late January, however, Stafford trade rumors began to emerge. As the Combine neared, the Rams gave Stafford — whom they acquired in a January 2021 blockbuster trade — permission to explore another relocation. That set off one of the stranger storylines involving a high-profile QB in recent memory. A host of rumors emerged about Stafford’s future, all while the Rams would have been staring at a significant downgrade at the game’s premier position if they went through with a swap.

Playing on a Lions-designed deal ($27MM per year) during the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning season, Stafford signed a four-year, $160MM extension. At the time, Stafford left money on the table to help the Rams remain a contender. The team then rewarded Super Bowl heroes Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp later in 2022. Stafford, however, regretted this decision and pushed for better terms in 2024 and ’25.

The Rams gave him a $5MM 2024 raise by moving money up from future years and then added a $4MM 2025 roster bonus. Stafford submitted a second straight strong season — after 2023 trade rumors swirled following an injury-plagued 2022 — and found teams willing to pay up, increasing urgency on the Rams’ end.

Several teams, including the Steelers, contacted the Rams on Stafford. While Pittsburgh preferred Stafford to Aaron Rodgers, two teams emerged as the true Stafford suitors. The Giants and Raiders worked out contract parameters, with each team ready to authorize guarantee packages in the $90-$100MM range. As he did in the Raiders’ Ben Johnson pursuit, Tom Brady played a lead role and spoke with Stafford at a Montana ski resort. The Giants were linked to a potential $55MM-per-year offer, after a Stafford request of at least $50MM AAV had emerged.

The Rams sought a first-round pick, but neither of the primary suitors was willing to deal a top-six selection — as both held such draft real estate. L.A. was not willing to meet Stafford’s $50MM-AAV ask, but the team had infrastructure advantages on both suitors. Coming off last-place divisional finishes, neither the Giants nor Raiders profile as a 2025 contender. With Stafford now 37, it would have been more of a pure financial play to bail on the Rams for one of those situations.

With Stafford lacking a no-trade clause, the Rams also held the hammer here. Sean McVay represented a draw as well, and the ninth-year Rams HC remained in contact with Stafford throughout the process. In the end, a predictable conclusion emerged. Stafford did not take a late-career risk of joining teams much farther away from the Super Bowl-contending level, and the Rams fully guaranteed his 2025 salary while dangling a guarantee carrot for 2026. Though, Stafford remaining on the roster by that March 2026 vesting date suddenly looks hazier.

If Stafford remains a Ram by Day 5 of the 2026 league year, $40MM of his 2026 compensation fully guarantees. That effectively becomes a sell-by date for the Rams, whose first-round trade may change their long-term outlook at the position. Even though Stafford has secured $26MM more from the Rams than this contract initially called for, turning down better security — even though the full guarantee numbers from the Giants and Raiders never surfaced — injects some risk due to the QB’s ongoing injury trouble. But Stafford is running it back with a team he has piloted to three playoff appearances.

It would cost the Rams $41.87MM to drop Stafford before that guarantee vests, and while the latest rework did increase the punishment on the franchise were it to move on before that mid-March date, the dead money could be split over two years via a post-June 1 cut. It remains to be seen if Stafford would have realistic trade value next year, when he intends to keep playing. His latest injury battle has created short- and long-term questions.

A back injury cropped up early in training camp, keeping Stafford off the field for multiple weeks. This included missing two joint practices. A report of a disk issue soon surfaced, as Stafford received an epidural injection, and the Rams continued to push back their fifth-year QB’s return date.

As of Monday, Stafford has returned to work. But he has played through countless injuries over his career. Now in his late 30s, the one-time (non-alternate) Pro Bowler will need to be constantly monitored on the health front. The Rams’ fortunes ride on their star passer staying healthy, but without an alternative they were overly interested in (more on that below), a decision to regroup with Stafford won the day. Was it the right play?

A less complicated negotiation unfolded with Williams, who came up as an extension candidate in the spring. It took a few months, but the sides reached an agreement. The former fifth-round pick, who had pushed Cam Akers to the periphery in L.A.’s vision, became the first running back the team has committed to contractually since Todd Gurley‘s 2018 payday. The team came to regret the Gurley contract — which reset the market seven years ago — and even as the cap has exploded since, the Williams deal comes in well south of Gurley’s.

With the cap at $177.2MM in 2018 (compared to $279.2MM today), the Rams gave Gurley a four-year, $57.5MM extension that came with $21.95MM at signing. Williams has not proven to be in that class, but the Notre Dame alum has been a quality starter. Williams, 25 next week, led the NFL with 95.3 rushing yards per game in 2023 and delivered a career-high 1,299 on the ground last season. The Rams had not seen enough from Akers or Darrell Henderson to pay them between their 2020 Gurley cut and Williams’ extension eligibility, but they have reinvested in the position on a more careful contract. The team was unwilling to go toward a top-market deal here.

Les Snead approved a $15.15MM at-signing guarantee, but Williams’ camp secured additional guarantees by early 2026. Already guaranteeing $2.75MM of Williams’ $5MM 2026 base salary, the Rams will guarantee the rest on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. On Day 5, $4.61MM of Williams’ $8.95MM 2027 base salary will lock in. Barring an injury that would impede a passed physical come March, the Rams could move on for $12.58MM in dead money next year.

This contract’s fine print reveals a bit more caution on the team’s part, but if it were to consider moving on, a move would need to be made soon after free agency starts. While Williams’ camp did well to secure a rolling guarantee structure, it does not fully protect the RB from a quick release — as a post-June 1 cut would minimize the damage for the Rams, who cut Gurley less than two years after his extension.

Free agency additions:

Adams grew to loathe his first post-high school experience of catching passes from quarterbacks not named Derek Carr or Aaron Rodgers, but the California native became intrigued by a move back west after his Jets stop. The Rams convinced the decorated wide receiver to replace Cooper Kupp alongside Puka Nacua. Adams is a year older than Kupp but has been far more durable, and the Rams will at least try him out — for a hefty sum — for a season.

Although the Jets could not crawl out of their early hole upon acquiring Adams from the Raiders, the wide receiver put up impressive numbers during the 5-12 slate. Not missing any games as a Jet (after what looked like an injury exaggeration in his final Las Vegas days), Adams posted 854 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 New York games. His presence looked to have alienated Garrett Wilson, but it showed some positive Rodgers work. In 14 games last season, Adams cobbled together his sixth 1,000-yard season. Firmly on the Hall of Fame radar, Adams will attempt to contribute to a Super Bowl contender’s cause after his post-Green Bay years did not remotely involve playoff chances.

The Rams, who could not count on Kupp for the most part since a string of injuries that began midway through the 2022 season, added a receiver who has not missed more than two games in a season due to a legitimate injury since 2019. If Adams shows clear decline signs, the Rams have an early out. Adams, 32, is due a $6MM roster bonus on Day 5 of the 2026 league year. The Rams can move on via a $14MM dead money charge if they opt to cut bait before the bonus is due.

It is interesting Adams joined a team that could feature some Jimmy Garoppolo starts, seeing as the receiver criticized the then-Raiders starter — effectively getting Garoppolo benched midway through the 2023 season — as the wheels fell off for Josh McDaniels in Vegas. Garoppolo had not re-signed with the Rams when Adams committed, but the team re-upped its backup QB a day after it signed Adams.

Naturally, the Rams were also connected to Rodgers. In what would have been a third Rodgers-Adams partnership, the Rams discussed the aging great as a contingency plan in case they followed through with a Stafford trade. Rodgers, who lives in California during the offseason, was open to taking a discount to play for McVay. Stafford staying forced the four-time MVP to look elsewhere, and he ended up in Pittsburgh (on a one-year, $14.15MM deal) just before minicamp.

Shelton’s 2024 exit stung the Rams a bit more than expected. Even though the team’s two-year center starter commanded just $3MM from the Bears, the Rams cycled through a few centers last year. The sides regrouped in March, and Shelton received a significant raise. He will see half of his 2026 base salary guaranteed at signing, pointing to a true two-year commitment.

Between training camp and the divisional round, the Rams tried Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson and Beaux Limmer at center. Limmer will return to a backup role, while Avila is at his more natural guard spot — where he resettled last year after the Rams regretted their Jackson signing. Shelton, 30, is back with the team he spent five seasons with from 2019-23.

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Offseason In Review: Green Bay Packers

August 19th, 2025 at 10:20pm CST by Adam La Rose

Year 2 of Jordan Love’s tenure atop the Packers’ quarterback depth chart produced another playoff berth amidst a strong showing against several middling and subpar opponents. On the other hand, Green Bay went a combined 0-6 between the regular and postseason against the Eagles, Lions and Vikings. Even a season of double-digit wins thus demonstrated the need for further improvement.

By and large, the past several months have been quiet for the Packers. Beyond some big-ticket free agency additions, few major roster changes have taken place in anticipation of the 2025 campaign — one when the NFC North should again be very strong. If the team is to emerge as one of the league’s true heavyweights, a number of familiar faces will be relied on this year.

Free agency additions:

Last spring, the Packers made a pair of major splashes on the open market. The investments made in safety Xavier McKinney and running back Josh Jacobs proved worthwhile in Year 1, with both players receiving a Pro Bowl invitation and McKinney landing a first-team All-Pro nod. General manager Brian Gutekunst noted in February, however, that 2025 would not feature as many big swings in free agency.

Indeed, only two notable new faces arrived as part of this year’s class. Banks was not a factor during his rookie campaign in San Francisco, but the following three seasons saw him operate as a full-time starter. The former second-rounder avoided major injury over that span, playing a key role in the 49ers’ offense and playing his way out of a second deal with the team. San Francisco had a number of other financial priorities, leaving Banks (PFR’s No. 21 free agent) as one of the best interior blockers available this spring.

As expected, Banks departed the Bay Area early in free agency. The Notre Dame product secured an AAV of $19.25MM, a figure which ranked fifth for guards at the time (Trey Smith has since replaced his franchise tag with a market-topping Chiefs extension). Expectations will certainly be high for Banks as a result; he will replace Elgton Jenkins at the left guard spot for the foreseeable future.

Set to turn 28 in September, Banks has not drawn standout evaluations from Pro Football Focus to date in his career. Pass protection in particular has been an issue, although 2024 marked his best campaign in terms of run blocking grade and overall evaluation. Still, Banks has finished no better than 33rd amongst guards so far. Banks’ free agent market would stand to disagree with PFF’s assessments, but the Packers are certainly banking on an uptick readies to debut for his second career team.

Keeping with organizational policy, Hobbs joined Banks in receiving his only fully guaranteed money in the form of a signing bonus. He can nevertheless be counted on to remain in the fold through at least 2026 based on the structure of his pact. A full-time starting gig awaits the former Raider for however long he is in place with Green Bay.

Hobbs saw time on the perimeter while playing out his rookie contract, but the Raiders primarily deployed him in the slot. The former fifth-rounder is expected to be used in both capacities with his new team, one which enters the season with questions in the secondary. Hobbs, 26, missed a total of 17 games across his four Raiders campaigns. In addition to high-end play, availability will be a central goal over the coming years in his case as a result.

A preventative knee surgery took place earlier this month, so while Hobbs could be back to full strength in time for the start of the season his Green Bay tenure has not gotten off to a worry-free start on the health front. Provided the Illinois product can stay on the field, though, continued improvement in terms of pass coverage – coming off personal bests in completion percentage and passer rating allowed in 2024 – would make him a worthwhile addition.

The Packers were among the teams which showed interest in former first-rounder Damon Arnette. After a one-year spell in the UFL, Arnette put himself back on the NFL radar and ultimately landed with the Texans. Green Bay did not take a flier in that instance, but the team did so in the case of Simmons.

The former Cardinals top-10 pick struggled in Arizona while failing to find a permanent role on defense. A trade to the Giants allowed Simmons to spend 2024 in New York; he appeared in every game while seeing sparse usage on defense and special teams. The 27-year-old will work full-time as a linebacker in Green Bay. Success in that capacity could result in a stronger market next spring.

Re-signings:

Prior to free agency, it became clear the Packers intended to retain McManus for 2025 and beyond. Such a stance was certainly understandable given the veteran’s showings in 11 Green Bay games last year. McManus missed only two of his 23 total field goal attempts during the regular season and playoffs. The 34-year-old was also perfect on extra points.

McManus saw his nine-year Broncos run come to an end in 2023; that resulted in a 17-game period handling kicking duties with the Jaguars. A free agent signing with the Commanders followed, although the Super Bowl 50 winner was then named in a lawsuit alleging sexual assault during an international flight during his Jacksonville tenure. The Commanders cut McManus, but after the league’s decision not to suspend him another fresh start become available.

In the wake of the Anders Carlson selection not panning out as hoped, the Packers cycled through several options before finding stability in the form of McManus. The Temple product is now in position to serve as a (relatively) long-term Mason Crosby successor, provided he plays out at least most of his current pact. At an AAV of $5.1MM, McManus’ deal sits tied for ninth amongst kickers in annual compensation.

Over the course of his four Green Bay seasons, McDuffie has seen a year-over-year jump in playing time. The former sixth-rounder’s defensive snap share checked in at 64% in 2024 and he started every game. Coming off a career high in tackles (97), McDuffie is once again set to serve as an important contributor at the second level of Green Bay’s defense alongside Quay Walker and Edgerrin Cooper. No member of that trio is attached to a lucrative pact, and McDuffie’s modest second NFL accord could prove to be valuable if he manages to duplicate last year’s play.

Notable losses:

As soon as the Nate Hobbs signing took place, the chances of an Alexander departure increased. The latter spent his first seven years in Green Bay, landing what was at signing a market-topping cornerback extension based on his early play. Considerable missed time increasingly became a problem in Alexander’s case, however.

Having missed double-digit games three of the past four seasons, Alexander was not a feasible candidate to continue playing out the remaining two years of his $21MM-per-year pact absent an adjustment. Trade talks took place over an extended period, but to no surprise suitors were hesitant about taking on his contract. A pay cut was offered in May; in the absence of an agreement on that front, Alexander remained a strong candidate to play elsewhere in 2025.

The two-time Pro Bowler made it clear a release would be preferred to a trade (all the while maintaining the expectation a new Packers arrangement would eventually be worked out). Green Bay’s restructure offer would have set Alexander up for free agency in 2026, but the proposal did not include any up-front guarantees for this season. In the end, the Packers decided to proceed with a release — without a post-June 1 designation. As a result, a $17MM-plus dead cap charge will be applied to 2025 before Alexander’s contract comes off the books entirely next year.

As expected, free agent interest emerged immedicably after the release took place. Turning aside more lucrative offers, Alexander chose to reunite with former Louisville teammate Lamar Jackson by taking a one-year Ravens deal. A healthy showing within Baltimore’s highly regarded secondary could result in a notable free agent market next spring. Failing that, the 28-year-old could very well struggle to move his earning power back to where it once was.

Slaton certainly outperformed expectations while playing out his rookie contract in Green Bay. The former fifth-rounder saw part-time work during his first two seasons and developed into a full-time starter after that. In 2023, Slaton handled a career-high snap share of 56% and set a new personal mark with 50 tackles.

While the 27-year-old’s playing time and output took a downturn last season, he played his way into a Bengals pact on the open market. Slaton will continue to serve as a run-stopping presence with his new team. Green Bay ranked seventh against the run in 2024, and remaining strong in that regard without their recent nose tackle starter will be key.

Myers represents the most notable loss on offense. A 56-game starter with Green Bay, his preference was to remain in place on his second contract. Instead, a departure took place by means of a Jets deal which may not result in the starting gig. Myers, 27, ranked between 26th and 38th in terms of center PFF grades during his Packers tenure. The team will aim for improvement with its new arrangement up front.

Like Alexander, Stokes struggled to remain healthy and thus to meet expectations in Green Bay. The former first-rounder managed to play 17 games last year, but he did so while logging the lowest snap share (54%) of his career. A starting spot should await Stokes with the Raiders, but his role could change in the event of a late-summer cornerback addition being made in Vegas.

Over the course of his three seasons in Green Bay, Wilson took on an increased workload both on defense and special teams. His 12 starts and 558 defensive snaps were the second most of his career, so the 30-year-old’s absence could be felt in 2025. The Packers will face Wilson at least twice this season since he returned to the Vikings on the open market.

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Offseason In Review: Buffalo Bills

August 18th, 2025 at 10:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last season further entrenched the Bills in an impressive but unfortunate contingent in NFL history. In booking a seventh playoff berth in eight seasons (six of those with Josh Allen at the helm), this Buffalo nucleus is firmly among the best — along with the Air Coryell Chargers, Marty Schottenheimer‘s Browns and Chiefs squads, and probably the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson-era crew (among others) — to not reach a Super Bowl. After 2024 brought a retooling offseason that lowered expectations, last year’s run to the Super Bowl LIX precipice restored them for 2025.

As the Bills continue their agonizing trend of controlling the regular-season Chiefs rivalry before losing each playoff rematch, they went to work augmenting key areas. But ensuring a batch of early-2020s draft choices remained in Buffalo long term defined this offseason. One extension towered among the others in value and importance, but a host of reasonably priced paydays set up this Bills core for the decade’s remainder.

Extensions and restructures:

The Allen contract came without rumored talks. That theme persisted, with one notable exception, as the Bills planned their paydays. Allen entered the offseason tied to what had become a wildly team-friendly deal, as the QB market exploded beyond the $50MM-per-year rate and as Allen had established himself as a megastar. The Bills did not technically need to do anything after the seven-year veteran’s MVP season; his six-year extension (agreed to in August 2021) ran through the 2028 slate. But as the market had moved the Buffalo icon out of the top 10 among QBs, the team acted.

Allen’s new contract is more of a lucrative rework than a true extension. Only two new years are included; the QB is now tied to the Bills through the 2030 season. But the Bills rewarded their franchise cornerstone with a massive guarantee influx. Allen, 28, received what amounts to a $90MM raise on his previous deal. The fully guaranteed money represented the lead item here. Allen’s $147MM figure is well south of Deshaun Watson‘s $230MM, but this contract beats every other deal in terms of fully guaranteed money. Although Allen could not catch Dak Prescott‘s massive $60MM-AAV accord — one achieved with far more leverage than the Bills QB carried — he topped the Cowboys passer in upfront guarantees.

Some 14 months after Patrick Mahomes‘ outlier 10-year extension, Allen became the only quarterback to agree to a deal beyond five years. This helped the Bills, who have gone to the restructure well like the Chiefs have. Buffalo needed to make an adjustment, as Kansas City did with its megastar talent in September 2022, but the team still has Allen signed for six more seasons. That will help establish cost certainty — for a while, at least — at Allen’s apex.

Having Allen at the same AAV of Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love — even after a $24MM offseason cap surge — should age quite well. Mahomes’ historic Chiefs impact notwithstanding, the three-time Super Bowl champion has Andy Reid calling the shots and the perennially underrated Steve Spagnuolo providing defensive fortification. Travis Kelce, for most of Mahomes’ career at least, being a dominant tight end helped raise the QB’s floor as well. Allen has lacked these amenities, for the most part, and an argument can be made — as it was last year — he is the NFL’s most indispensable player.

The Bills have continued to receive full participation from their dual-threat dynamo, despite regular punishment on scrambles and designed runs. Allen has logged 759 regular-season carries and 112 more in the playoffs, signing up for hits Jackson deftly avoids in the process. Obviously important as a passer, Allen’s run-game prowess separates him as an all-time talent. Allen already ranks sixth in career QB carries; he will move into fourth early this season. While the Bills may need to rein in their do-it-all player on that front at some point to ensure he remains elite through the duration of this contract, the franchise is enjoying the spoils of its two-trade-up 2018 presently.

Dion Dawkins‘ NFL arrival predates Allen’s, but the Bills went to work on fortifying their younger core this year. That meant deals for starters drafted in 2021 and ’22. Shakir’s extension began this mission in February, and the blueprint (barring a late-summer accord perhaps with an interior O-lineman) ended with Cook’s hold-in leading to an agreement last week.

After five smooth negotiations, the Bills reached choppy waters during Cook’s. The 2024 Pro Bowler threw a $15MM-per-year price point out there, and initial talks in the spring did not progress. Brandon Beane then pointed to the two-year running back starter needing to begin his contract year unsigned. Fortunately for all parties, that did not end up happening. Cook skipped OTAs but reported for minicamp. This off-and-on work schedule persisted into training camp, when the former second-round pick participated initially before shifting to a hold-in strategy before returning to practice. A day after Cook suited up, a deal unsurprisingly emerged.

The 2024 running back resurgence did bring a market reset, thanks to Saquon Barkley‘s otherworldly season, and Derrick Henry receiving $25MM guaranteed at signing despite being 31. Beyond those Hall of Fame-caliber talents, no true shift occurred. Last fall established a second tier at the position, with James Conner, Chuba Hubbard and David Montgomery following Rhamondre Stevenson in landing extensions between $8.3MM and $9.5MM per year. Alvin Kamara‘s third Saints contract came in at $12.25MM AAV. This offseason brought two notable deals in between those goalposts.

Days after the Rams gave Kyren Williams a three-year, $33MM extension, the Bills found common ground with Cook. Although both players received full guarantees totaling just more than $15MM, each deal features vesting dates in early 2026. The Bills guaranteed $5MM of Cook’s 2026 compensation at signing; another $4.41MM locks in February 9. Cook also secured a rolling guarantee structure, which will pay out $6.22MM of his $9.13MM 2027 base salary on Day 5 of the 2026 league year. Although Cook’s $15.28MM full guarantee is just 10th at the position, more than $10MM in additional guarantees are due by mid-March.

Cook offered a second straight 1,000-yard rushing season last year and led the NFL with 16 rushing TDs. Cook received the first notable RB extension during the Beane-Sean McDermott era. The Bills had removed LeSean McCoy‘s Doug Whaley-era contract from the payroll and made Devin Singletary and Zack Moss one-contract players. Cook, 26 in September, did not do as well on his second contract as older brother Dalvin. But most teams have been stingier on RB paydays since the 2017 class cashed in years ago.

Cook and Shakir have been Allen’s steadiest weapons since Joe Brady replaced Ken Dorsey as OC midway through the 2023 season. While Stefon Diggs disappointed to close that campaign, Shakir emerged as a reliable target and developed further in 2024. The slot cog led a more egalitarian Bills pass-catching corps with 821 receiving yards. Seventy-six catches and four touchdowns to go with that yardage total did not provide Diggs-level numbers, but Shakir was not asked for such contributions. The extension reflects such a role.

Shakir’s $13.25MM AAV number sits 27th among receivers. It is difficult to extend core performers this far outside the upper crust at their respective positions, but Shakir is a former fifth-round pick who played sparingly as a rookie. Considering how valuable he is in Buffalo’s post-Diggs setup, this seems like a team-friendly deal. Shakir, 25, opted to pass on testing free agency — or at least waiting to see how the market changed by training camp — to lock in money early. The Bills made a few similar moves in the weeks that followed.

Like Bobby Okereke years prior, Bernard entered the NFL perhaps better known for an enthusiastic (via Kyle Brandt) third-round draft announcement than on-field play. Last season changed that, as Bernard established himself as Buffalo’s new linebacker pillar. Bernard, 26, has played at least 87% of the Bills’ defensive snaps over the past two seasons. With Milano missing most of that stretch, the Baylor product became a vital player on a defense known to run into ill-timed injury trouble. Although Pro Football Focus rated Bernard as a bottom-five full-time LB last season, the Bills disagreed and rewarded the productive Day 2 draftee.

Of the Shakir-Bernard-Rousseau-Benford quartet, Bernard did the best in terms of AAV at his position. His $10.5MM number still ranks only 12th among off-ball ‘backers, marking what looks like another solid compromise from the Bills. This deal reminds of Milano’s second contract (in 2021), but with the cap spiking by nearly $100MM since that offseason, Bernard’s is a much team-friendlier agreement. The Bills also did not guarantee any money beyond 2026, giving them an easy out — in the event this bet on an ascending player fails — by 2027.

The Bills did not receive what they hoped from Von Miller, leading Rousseau to go from an initial sidekick piece alongside the future Hall of Famer to the team’s lead pass rusher. Rousseau, 25, has not yet posted a nine-sack season; he reached eight in 2022 and ’24. But he has boosted his career-high in QB hits in each of the past three seasons, going from 14 to 18 to 24. Rousseau’s 35 pressures also ranked 11th last season, when he added career-high marks in TFLs (16) and forced fumbles (three). Barring injury, it is likely Rousseau’s best work is ahead of him.

The Bills did not exactly get in early here, as Rousseau had played four seasons on his rookie deal, but the 2021 first-rounder’s resume helped them close these negotiations with the No. 13 edge rusher AAV ($20MM). Continuing to equip Rousseau with veteran bookends (Miller, Leonard Floyd, Joey Bosa), the Bills have made the Miami alum their lead D-end with this extension. Rousseau would have been a franchise tag candidate in 2026 had he not signed early, but the Bills took care of this months before training camp. Rousseau’s AAV matches Miller’s 2022 number, but he is nearly eight years younger at the time of signing (at a lower percentage of the cap), pointing to better returns.

Identifying Cook, Shakir, Bernard and Rousseau as core players to extend, the Bills included Benford in that group after he had taken the longest road to such status. Chosen in the same 2022 draft as first-rounder Kaiir Elam, Benford quickly showed he was the better player. Also coming from Division I-FCS (Villanova), Benford entered his rookie season with minimal fanfare. But Benford earned a starting gig early, giving Tre’Davious White more time to rehab his first major injury. When the Bills acquired Rasul Douglas at the 2023 deadline, it was to give them an answer opposite Benford, not Elam.

PFF has ranked Benford as a top-10 corner in each of the past two seasons. The 6-foot-1 CB submitted his best work in terms of completion percentage (63.5) and yards per target (5.4) as the closest defender last season. Given the Chiefs’ narrow victory margins in both their past two playoff wins in this series, it can certainly be argued the series’ playoff record would be different had Benford finished either game. Benford missed the Bills’ 2023 divisional-round Chiefs loss and left with a concussion early in last season’s AFC championship game.

Despite his ill-timed absences, Benford secured what is now an upper-middle-class CB extension. Buffalo’s Benford deal came after both Jaycee Horn and Derek Stingley Jr. raised the market’s ceiling, but the team still has its top cover man tied to the 19th-most lucrative CB contract. Benford, 25 in September, likely would have done better by waiting until free agency (or a franchise tag). But the Bills, continuing their offseason theme, convinced him to re-up early.

Part of McDermott’s first draft (one that took place shortly before Beane’s GM hire), Milano delivered strong work on his rookie deal and second contract. Since Buffalo redid the All-Pro’s contract in 2023, injuries have thrown his career off course. Milano, 31, missed 12 games due to injury in each of the past two seasons. That has limited Buffalo’s defense, and keyed a reduction.

Rather than taking his chances on the market coming off these injury-marred years ahead of his age-31 season, Milano will attempt to rebound with the team that drafted him. As Bernard, Benford, Cook, Rousseau and Shakir became the offseason focus around Allen, one of the initial McDermott-era investments is now paid as a moderately priced starting linebacker.

Free agency additions:

More undercard (to the extension cycle’s main event) in this Bills offseason, free agency still brought some important additions. The three most significant came from Los Angeles.

As they did with Von Miller in 2022, the Bills swooped in as a stealth contender to win an edge rusher sweepstakes. Joey Bosa was listed as close to reuniting with younger brother Nick in San Francisco, while the Miami native was also on the Dolphins’ radar. No Bills connections emerged until an agreement became known.

Bosa, 30, treks east as an injury-prone but productive pass rusher. The Bills will need to account for the health issues associated with this marquee free agent — a player the Chargers dropped after giving him a 2024 pay cut — and a calf issue already kept Bosa out for a stretch this offseason. When available, however, Bosa will be an upgrade.

It would seem Bosa will need to switch to a situational role earlier than most four-time Pro Bowlers do, because he has missed 40 regular-season games in nine years. He has already been on this track, having not eclipsed the 55% snap barrier on defense since 2021 — his most recent non-alternate Pro Bowl season. Bosa has four double-digit sack seasons on his resume — all from 2016-21. He missed much of the ’22 season after groin surgery and was down for eight 2023 games with foot trouble. Last season, Bosa posted modest numbers — five sacks, 13 QB hits, two forced fumbles — but generated a decent FA market.

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Offseason In Review: Miami Dolphins

August 15th, 2025 at 10:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

For a team that has made two playoff appearances over the past three years and has not lost 10 games since 2019, vibes sure don’t seem great in Miami. Mike McDaniel has moved closer to the hot seat, despite coaxing dramatic Tua Tagovailoa improvement and leading the Dolphins to back-to-back playoff berths for the first time since Dave Wannstedt‘s tenure more than 20 years ago. GM Chris Grier also has not enjoyed a banner year, having seen his Tyreek Hill rework and Jalen Ramsey extension not prove fruitful.

The Dolphins have battled cap trouble in multiple offseasons, and this one brought a historic dead money charge thanks to the Ramsey trade. McDaniel may need a third playoff berth in four seasons to keep his job — as odd as that sounds for a franchise that booked two playoff appearances from 2002-21 — pointing to Tagovailoa’s health potentially determining the HC’s long-term fate. Regardless of Tua’s status, the Dolphins have some questions to answer after some notable offseason roster subtractions and storylines.

Trades:

Reminding of the 2019 Odell Beckham Jr. trade that belatedly included an Olivier Vernon–Kevin Zeitler swap, the Dolphins and Steelers folded the Smith transaction into the Ramsey-Fitzpatrick blockbuster. Almost six years after he forced his way out of Jacksonville, Ramsey burned more bridges in Florida. After it was over, the former All-Pro cornerback set a non-quarterback dead money record, tagging the Dolphins with $35.86MM — spread between 2025 and ’26.

The latest Ramsey chapter of discontent emerged in April, when the Dolphins and the aging defender agreed to pursue a trade. This came months after Grier had signed off on a market-topping extension, representing the second time Ramsey had become the top CB earner.

Extended soon after Patrick Surtain reset the market in September, Ramsey played reasonably well in 2024. Pro Football Focus ranked him 11th among corners, but considering he missed nearly half the 2023 season, the nine-year veteran did not justify Grier’s decision to both rework his Rams deal upon arrival and then sign off on a new one 18 months later.

Grier has become the rare GM to cave repeatedly to disgruntled players. It was not even known if Ramsey was even disgruntled last year, but after Grier reworked the Xavien Howard and Tyreek Hill deals to throw significant guarantees their way, he paid Ramsey ahead of an age-30 season. Ramsey is tied to a three-year, $72.3MM extension that runs through 2028. This reminded of the Howard and Hill adjustments since Ramsey also had multiple seasons (two) left on a contract. The Dolphins doing that extension and then trading him less than a year later proved quite costly.

Teams balked at taking on all of Ramsey’s guaranteed money for 2025, depressing the value of a player probably headed to the Hall of Fame. More significantly, Ramsey was believed to be at odds with McDaniel’s leadership style, potentially calling into question the atypical HC personality’s fit in the locker room. The draft-day report called the Ramsey-McDaniel relationship “irreparably broken,” and the former Super Bowl winner had harbored issues with the Dolphins’ (in his view) “willingness to accept mediocrity.” but the team needed — rather than see the Ramsey dead money hit the 2025 payroll exclusively — to drag this out until after June 1.

While the buildup did not look great for the Dolphins, Grier crafted an interesting solution. The Dolphins agreed to pay $7MM of Ramsey’s 2025 compensation, sweetening the deal for the Steelers, who are paying nearly $20MM to the soon-to-be 31-year-old CB. This was a somewhat surprising salary split, but the Dolphins took on more money by reacquiring Fitzpatrick. That became the most fascinating component of that two-trade day, seeing as the Dolphins — in Grier’s first months as a GM with roster control — traded Fitzpatrick early in his second season.

A dispute between Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins led to his exit after just 18 games. The 2018 first-round pick (and his mother) objected to the Flores-led coaching staff using Fitzpatrick as a box player during the team’s 2019 training camp. This came after Miami primarily used Fitzpatrick at corner as a rookie.

While 2019 featured Grier at the controls, previous front office boss Mike Tannenbaum drafted Fitzpatrick. Grier traded him — days after giving the player’s camp permission to seek a trade — as the Dolphins continued a teardown that included swaps involving Ryan Tannehill and Laremy Tunsil. Six years later, Fitzpatrick joins a team that made strides in this rebuild but has not approached the ultimate goal.

Fitzpatrick, 28, should have more good football left than Ramsey. The three-time first-team All-Pro combined for 15 interceptions from 2019-22, excelling as a deep safety while helping to elevate the Steelers’ defense into a perennial top-10 unit. Over the past two years, the Steelers became underwhelmed by Fitzpatrick’s lack of splash plays; he has one INT since the start of the 2023 season. The 2023 slate, however, brought an increase in box snaps compared to his usual free safety role. Last season did not reverse Fitzpatrick’s downward playmaking trend, but he suited up for 17 games and will have a chance to play a lead role in a Dolphins team that lost Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones over the past two offseasons.

As a Dolphins rookie in 2018, Fitzpatrick primarily played corner. He rotated between the boundary and the slot, playing more inside. That will not be his role this time around. Set to deploy Fitzpatrick at safety, the Dolphins also reworked his contract.

Previously attached to a four-year, $72.98MM deal, the eighth-year vet is now on a two-year, $33.1MM accord that provided a new signing bonus and dropped his 2025 cap hit to $4.5MM. That provided a cash influx for a player who had played out the guarantees on his Steelers deal. Despite Grier trading him so early in his career, Fitzpatrick is now interested in a long-term Miami future.

The Dolphins showed interesting hesitation about paying Smith, whose Miami debut doubled as his best season. Smith smashed career-high marks with 88 receptions, 884 yards and eight TDs last year, helping a Dolphins team that saw Hill’s production nosedive and Jaylen Waddle regress as Tagovailoa missed time.

The Steelers came up as a Smith suitor in May, and while the veteran tight end expressed a desire to stay in Miami while the sides discussed an extension, the parties could not hammer out one. Roughly a month after the initial rumor, Jonnu and Arthur Smith — the former Titans OC and Falcons HC — reunited yet again.

This marks the second time an Arthur Smith team traded for Jonnu Smith, but this trade preceded an extension. Jonnu Smith had been tied to a two-year, $8.4MM deal — one agreed to after the Falcons made him a cap casualty soon after firing Arthur Smith. The Steelers gave Jonnu a one-year, $12MM extension, pushing his deal through 2026. The trade brought less than $3MM in Dolphins dead cap, but it leaves a significant question at tight end. With limited options in terms of proven receiving TEs by early July, the Dolphins threw a Hail Mary of sorts.

Waller, 33 next month, retired last summer after rumors pointed to an exit for weeks. The former Raiders Pro Bowler burned the Giants, having sustained another hamstring injury (leading to a five-game absence) and retired after the 2024 draft. No word about a Waller comeback had surfaced, but after the Dolphins acquired his rights via the pick-swap trade, Waller let it be known he wanted to play in Miami or stay retired.

The Dolphins stashed Waller on their active/PUP list for ramp-up purposes. Miami has him on a one-year, $2MM deal with no guarantees. While this profiles as a flier, the Dolphins’ TE depth chart is desperate for this Waller reemergence to commence in earnest. Miami did not draft a tight end and has none on the roster who have delivered a 210-yard season. Waller accumulated 552 in a disappointing Giants season and is among a select few with two 1,100-yard years on his resume.

The Dolphins will almost definitely not be getting prime Waller form, but something in the range of his Giants work would be a lifeline for a team desperate at this position. Waller missed eight Raiders games due to hamstring trouble in 2022, following a $17MM-per-year extension agreement, and some Las Vegas staffers expressed frustration about his slow recovery. Waller also missed six games in 2021. This is a buyer-beware situation, making the Dolphins’ visit with Noah Fant — who signed with the Bengals soon after — rather interesting.

Extensions and restructures:

Add Sieler to the list of Dolphins Grier has extended with more than one year left on a previous deal. Sieler did not hold in but let it be known he wanted a new deal after back-to-back 10-sack seasons. Because this extension is tacked onto a through-2026 pact, the veteran D-tackle is now signed through 2029.

Originally a waiver claim (from the Ravens) in December 2019, Sieler arrived to close out Grier’s first year as the team’s front office boss. Sieler operated as more of a Christian Wilkins sidekick from 2020-22, and the Dolphins did well to extend him at what turned out to be a below-market rate. Paying Sieler before being unable to come to terms with Wilkins, Miami observed its waiver-claim find combine for 24 TFLs over the past two seasons.

Grier’s latest early raise bumps Sieler from barely $10MM per year (31st among interior D-linemen) to over $22MM AAV. Sieler, 30 next month, is now being paid more than Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams and Daron Payne. This is quite the level jump for a former seventh-round pick, and the Dolphins will count on him once again ahead of an age-30 season. Though, he should have more help thanks to some returning edge rushers.

Chubb was delivering on the November 2022 trade/extension sequence. He posted 11 sacks — his most since a rookie season (12) opposite Von Miller — and led the NFL with six forced fumbles in 2023. Chubb, though, suffered an ACL tear late in a blowout loss to the Ravens in Week 17 of that season. He then missed all of last season, joining OLB mate Jaelan Phillips in seeing injury issues reshape his Miami trajectory. As a result of the missed season, an accepted pay-cut request transpired.

The Dolphins included incentives in Chubb’s rework, and since the former top-five pick missed all of last season, the escalators will be considered not likely to be earned — thus giving Miami 2025 cap relief. Chubb’s cap hit is down to $12.33MM. The two-time Pro Bowler is on track to return for the Dolphins, who have EDGE questions but more depth at the position compared to their Chubb- and (largely) Phillips-less 2024. Phillips, who suffered an ACL tear early last season, also avoided the active/PUP list ahead of training camp.

The veteran duo will accompany 2024 first-rounder Chop Robinson, giving Miami an intriguing pass-rushing boost — provided Chubb and Phillips stay on the field. Miami will be expected to either give Chubb another pay cut in 2026, when his cap hit balloons to $31.2MM, or release him. This will be a critical season for the 29-year-old pass rusher’s value. Phillips is tied to a $13.25MM fifth-year option, cashing in between his Achilles and ACL tears. This will be a pivotal year for him as well.

Free agency additions:

After Isaiah Wynn joined Bradley Chubb in seeing a 2023 injury cost him the full 2024 season, the Dolphins retooled with a player who missed most of that campaign. Daniels would have been a less affordable option had he not suffered an Achilles tear in Week 4. While this is technically a three-year deal, it is more of a “prove it” pact due to its structure.

Even with three void years included in this accord, the Dolphins can cut Daniels (due a $3.48MM guarantee on Day 3 of the 2026 league year) for just a $4.8MM dead money charge in 2026. Despite being a seven-year veteran, Daniels had age on his side. The former second-round pick heads into an age-28 season. If he can recapture his pre-injury form, the Dolphins will gain considerable value.

Daniels finished ninth in pass block win rate in his 2022 Steelers debut and was second only to Quenton Nelson in run block win rate before going down last season. PFF ranked Daniels 33rd among guard regulars in 2023. He will be an upgrade from Robert Jones; the Dolphins hope the three-year Steelers starter can return to a form that saw him miss only two games from 2021-23.

Wilson nearly fetched as much guaranteed as Trey Lance and Mac Jones combined, representing a lingering belief in the former No. 2 overall pick’s arm talent. Even as Wilson did not threaten Jarrett Stidham for Denver’s backup job last season, he has made 33 career starts. Highlighting Wilson’s experience may not be the best way to go here, considering the Jets benched him three times — at one point demoting him to the third-string level — during an erratic tenure. Despite being supported by a top-five defense in 2022 and ’23, Wilson went 12-21 as a starter in his three-year New York run. The Jets needed to take on rookie-contract money in order to fetch a Day 3 draft pick from the Broncos last year.

The Jets saw a failure to add a veteran behind Aaron Rodgers prove costly in 2023, as Wilson’s reset program returned to center stage. Tua Tagovailoa‘s unreliability makes this situation resemble the Jets’ 2023 blueprint, but Wilson having shown more evidence in incapability that year makes this Miami setup perhaps even shakier.

If Tua goes down again, the Zach Wilson Experience will hit South Beach. That is a frightening proposition. But the Dolphins pounced on Wilson on Day 1 of the legal tampering period, rather than waiting out the veteran QB2 market. This points to McDaniel belief he can coax better play from the one-time top prospect, though the Dolphins were believed to be interested in Andy Dalton before he re-signed with the Panthers. Wilson, 26, is definitely another way to go.

A touchdown machine in 2024, Westbrook-Ikhine will almost definitely be an upgrade on last year’s Odell Beckham Jr. version. The tertiary Titans target caught nine TD passes on just 32 receptions. While that will be difficult to sustain, Westbrook-Ikhine (10 combined TDs from 2021-23) played a regular Tennessee role (between 370-480 yards each year from 2021-24) and is qualified to operate as Miami’s WR3 alongside Hill and Waddle. This is a much more affordable option than Cedrick Wilson Jr., who flopped on a three-year, $24MM deal. NWI’s consistency should matter for a Dolphins team that may need more from this spot after trading Jonnu Smith.

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Offseason In Review: San Francisco 49ers

August 12th, 2025 at 10:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Reminding closely of the 49ers’ 2020 season, San Francisco’s latest NFC title defense skidded off track largely due to injuries. A difficult schedule, which came after two more late-summer contract sagas (Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams), ground up a depleted San Francisco roster, producing the same six wins the 2020 slate brought. This offseason brought significant changes, seeing a host of Super Bowl LVIII starters depart while also featuring a welcome change in the 49ers’ negotiation timing.

The team completed its top extension priorities before May’s end, reupping George Kittle, Brock Purdy and Fred Warner. This stood to minimize the distractions that have frequently impacted the 49ers during the Kyle Shanahan–John Lynch era. A far less imposing — as it appears in August — schedule awaits Shanahan’s ninth roster, and the team will attempt to replicate the 2021 squad’s rebound effort.

Extensions and restructures:

It is still difficult to overstate the oddity of Purdy’s career arc. Although Dak Prescott became the NFL’s highest-paid player out of the fourth round, Purdy was one pick from going undrafted. The NFL features 20 $20MM-per-year quarterbacks; Purdy is the only one chosen outside the fourth round. The Iowa State success story lost some steam from his 2023 breakthrough, as All-Pros kept dropping around him, but he did nothing to veer off the extension course he had traversed. The 49ers then managed an interesting compromise.

Regularly labeled a modest talent in a great system, Purdy has operated on a higher level compared to Jimmy Garoppolo — a player the 49ers once re-signed at a top-market rate. That ignited what had been a slower-moving QB market in 2018, and passers continue to benefit. Because of the struggles the 2021 and ’22 QB draftees have faced, Purdy stood as the only contract-year passer to monitor regarding a blockbuster payday this offseason.

Following up his first-place QBR finish in 2023 with a seventh-place conclusion despite the losses of Aiyuk, Williams and Christian McCaffrey — and more underwhelming Deebo Samuel play — Purdy solidified his extension status. He had already gone toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVIII to punctuate one of the most unlikely ascents in quarterback history, and that 2023 produced only the second full-season yards-per-attempt number north of 9.5 since the 1950s (trivia answer: Chris Chandler‘s 1998 slate). Shanahan’s offense undoubtedly has boosted Purdy; team and player reached a compromise that undoubtedly stemmed from this unique arrangement.

Seeking an early-offseason deal in order to minimize distractions, Purdy is believed to have asked for $65MM per year. That was a nonstarter for the 49ers. Rather than the usual San Francisco stalemate dragging well into training camp, the sides resolved it with a $53MM-per-year deal that carries a player-friendly structure.

Purdy secured a Mahomes-like rolling guarantee structure. A $55.1MM 2028 payout will become guaranteed April 1, 2027, per OverTheCap. The 49ers are due to pay out a $7.2MM guarantee for 2029 on April 1, 2028. These key dates follow a $100MM at-signing guarantee. Purdy’s $165.1MM cash flow through four years betters Jared Goff‘s number, even if the Lions QB has Purdy’s deal beat at the second- and third-year marks.

The 49ers managed to still sign Purdy to an AAV tied for seventh at the position. Considering the Jaguars and Packers needed to match the top QB salary at the time to extend their passers (Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love) without a Purdy-level season on their resumes, the 49ers did well not to approach Prescott’s $60MM-per-year topper. Purdy agreeing to the Goff AAV after the cap spiked by another $24MM is a team win, though this is still a substantial commitment to a player that drew no draft buzz three years ago.

Even if Purdy admitted to leaving money on the table to help the 49ers build around him, this is a seismic payout for him; the QB’s rookie deal was worth $3.74MM. This compromise also netted Purdy a no-trade clause, providing protection few players across the league enjoy. While this deal does not make it a lock Purdy finishes his career in San Francisco, it is a sizable commitment.

It was worth wondering — after the high-end deals given to non-top-tier passers like Lawrence, Love and Tua Tagovailoa last year — if the 49ers would consider letting Purdy play out his rookie contract while keeping the trade door open. But rumors steadily emerged about an extension. The team fully endorsed its former third-string QB, minimizing any talk of a potential 49ers zag while they added another rookie-deal QB to play for Shanahan.

Purdy’s payday came after Kittle inked his third contract. Having built a Hall of Fame resume, Kittle was still unable to move the tight end position past $20MM per year. The 49ers handed their all-around TE dynamo an extension weeks after Ja’Marr Chase elevated the WR ceiling to $40.25MM, it is certainly interesting the NFL keeps valuing top TEs far lower than high-end WR2s.

Kittle’s deal also came after the Cardinals kept Trey McBride under $20MM per year. While a sizable gap existed between team and player early, the deal was done before April ended. Regardless of how undervalued Kittle appears to be, the deal may ensure the ninth-year pass catcher finishes his career in San Francisco.

Purdy could well become the defining Shanahan/Lynch draft choice, but Kittle is right there. The former No. 146 overall pick moved into a tie for second place all time with a fourth 1,000-yard TE season. Kittle has not matched peak Travis Kelce in terms of receiving success, as the 49ers use him differently, but he has long been the game’s premier all-around tight end. Vital to the 49ers’ run game as well, Kittle has five All-Pros on an eight-season resume. He also stayed mostly healthy since his first extension (5/75) preceded an eight-game 2020. Kittle, 31, has played at least 15 games in each of the past three seasons.

Kelce and Rob Gronkowski being tied to team-friendly contracts hurt the tight end market on the whole, and Kittle heading into an age-32 season limited his earning power. This deal locks him in through at least 2026, and $2MM of the Iowa alum’s 2027 money is guaranteed at signing. The 49ers used an Eagles-like structure, filled with option bonuses and void years, to keep Kittle’s cap hits under $19MM until 2029. The 49ers did not submit to a rolling guarantee structure here, making 2027 a year to monitor regarding this contract. By 2028, the 49ers can escape it for less than $5MM in dead money.

Purdy’s extension influenced the 49ers in free agency, which included far more notable losses than additions, but the team’s Dre Greenlaw‘s price point probably pertained to Warner’s future. Unlike Shaquille Leonard, Warner has stayed healthy after resetting the off-ball LB market in 2021. The 49ers rewarded him by ending Roquan Smith‘s two-year run atop the market.

Like Kittle, Warner appears on his way to Canton. He is riding a three-season streak of first-team All-Pro honors and has four in his career. That matches NaVorro Bowman‘s count and is just one shy of 2024 Hall inductee Patrick Willis‘. Warner also played through an ankle fracture last season, still motoring to his usual All-Pro perch.

The 49ers have seen the former third-round pick miss one career game, giving them confidence in Warner staying power into his early 30s while also providing important durability for a frequently injury-plagued team. The dynamic cover LB’s 2027 money will become guaranteed by April 1, 2026.

Trades:

While the 49ers continue to build around Super Bowl LIV starters Kittle and Warner, they separated from another by making Samuel part of this offseason’s first trade. The $30MM-per-year Aiyuk extension pointed to Samuel being trade bait this offseason, and while the 49ers expressed some hope they could keep their five-year receiving duo together, they quickly pivoted to letting his camp find a trade partner. As it turned out, only one truly emerged.

The Broncos and Texans looked into Samuel, but neither made an offer. A year after Aiyuk expressed interest in joining college teammate Jayden Daniels via trade, the Commanders — led by ex-49ers assistant GM Adam Peters — acquired Samuel. Whereas the Steelers needed to send a second-round pick to the Seahawks for D.K. Metcalf and hand over a top-four extension, this trade involving a 2019 WR draftee amounted to a salary dump. It still stings the 49ers, who are taking on $34.12MM in dead money — breaking the Bills’ Stefon Diggs WR record from last year — following the swap.

The Commanders have not extended Samuel, who remains tied to his three-year, $71.55MM deal from summer 2022. The 49ers asked for Jonathan Allen in the trade, but the Pro Bowl DT was not included. San Francisco also passed on Allen in free agency after his Washington release.

Even as Samuel would occasionally make highlight-reel plays, he struggled with durability and put up generally unremarkable stats on his second 49ers contract. Samuel’s dominant 2021 — 1,405 receiving yards, 365 on the ground, 14 touchdowns — now looks like an outlier. While the “wide back” did impress in 2023 (892/225/12), he did not eclipse 700 receiving yards in 2022 or ’24. Having accumulated 202 rushing attempts also could shorten Samuel’s career, as he plays with a physical style.

The 2019 second-round pick did make important contributions during the 49ers’ four NFC championship game journeys, but the team sold low and has Ricky Pearsall‘s rookie deal — and a low-cost Jauan Jennings contract, much to the ascendant WR’s chagrin — complementing Aiyuk’s top-10 WR terms. Though, the 49ers continue to have persistent trouble keeping their top wideouts healthy. That has continued during training camp.

Huff received a lifeline because of this trade. One of the few Eagles to see his stock drop last year, Huff was a healthy scratch for Super Bowl LIX despite commanding $34MM guaranteed at signing in 2024. The former Jets passing-down specialist sensed early he would not fit in Vic Fangio‘s scheme; he will now be back under Robert Saleh, who oversaw his ascent to a 10-sack player in 2023.

After winning a bidding war, the Eagles realized Huff was not worth the three-year, $51MM contract. In Saleh’s Jets scheme, however, Huff finished his tenure with a dominant (albeit in short spurts) contract year. He was PFR’s No. 9 free agent in 2024, having led the NFL in pressure rate (21.8%). That came on just 480 snaps, which proved telling ahead of an injury-affected Eagles slate. But the Jets’ 2023 sack leader was struggling before his wrist injury. He tallied all of 2.5 sacks and four QB hits last season.

The 49ers have Huff on a $7.95MM guaranteed 2025 salary; beyond this year, he can be cut free of charge. The 49ers will likely adjust Huff’s contract if they intend to keep him in 2026, as his cap number balloons to $17.1MM next year. Huff, 27, joins the resilient Yetur Gross-Matos and first-rounder Mykel Williams as Nick Bosa complementary rushers. The 49ers continue to shuffle through Bosa wingmen, and Huff follows Chase Young, Randy Gregory and Charles Omenihu as a trade piece to staff part of this contingent.

Mason outlasted third-rounders Trey Sermon and Tyrion Davis-Price and was a much more reliable option than pre-McCaffrey starter Elijah Mitchell. A former UDFA, Mason began last season as the 49ers’ starter due to McCaffrey’s injury. Averaging over 5.0 yards per carry on limited usage in 2022 and ’23, Mason impressively posted a 5.2-yard number on 153 carries last year. The 49ers sold high, but they will rely on 2024 third-rounder Isaac Guerendo — he of a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash time in 2024 — behind CMC this year. One of the top fantasy handcuff options in recent memory, Guerendo averaged 5.3 yards per tote as a rookie.

Free agency additions:

Farrell’s Jacksonville-to-San Francisco migration headlining a team’s free agency payments illustrates a light acquisition effort on the 49ers’ part. The 49ers lost blocking tight end Charlie Woerner to the Falcons last year and saw the Lions match their Brock Wright RFA offer sheet. Farrell spent much of his on-field time last season as a run blocker.

Pro Football Focus raved about Farrell’s run-blocking work, grading him second-best among tight ends in that skill last season. The 49ers have long prioritized run blocking at tight end, as Kittle fantasy GMs can confirm, and Farrell (27) should give them a quality option in his prime.

Safety has been a wildly unstable position in San Francisco. From toggling Jimmie Ward between safety and the slot to Jaquiski Tartt‘s crushing INT drop to Talanoa Hufanga‘s All-Pro season preceding two injury-marred slates, the 49ers have struggled to staff this role. That will continue, as 2024 rookie starter Malik Mustapha is expected to miss regular-season time due to a Week 18 ACL tear. In Pinnock and Grant, the team grabbed two starters at cheap rates. One of the two will slide in as depth post-Tashaun Gipson.

Not exactly beacons of safety stability, as Julian Love and Xavier McKinney left town, the Giants turned to Pinnock as a starter from 2023-24. A 2021 Jets fifth-round pick, Pinnock reunites with Saleh after the team waived him in 2022. Pinnock started 37 games on his rookie contract, making 85 tackles in each of the past two seasons. He intercepted two passes in 2023, taking one back for a touchdown, and combined to make 10 TFLs over the past two years. PFF graded Pinnock as a top-50 safety in 2023 but placed him 78th last season.

Pinnock is on track to start, impressing to the point two-year starter Ji’Ayir Brown is in competition with Grant and fifth-round rookie Marques Sigle for the other spot. Justin Simmons replaced Grant in 2024. Grant started 32 games for the Falcons from 2022-23.

With Samuel gone and Brandon Aiyuk unlikely to be ready for Week 1, the 49ers still stood down at receiver. The Jauan Jennings–Ricky Pearsall duo will be important until Aiyuk returns, but Robinson will be relied upon early in the season as well. The former Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford tertiary target impressed as Los Angeles’ primary WR3 last season, hauling in 31 passes for 505 yards and seven touchdown grabs.

The nine-year veteran collected guarantees into Year 2 of his deal, pointing to an expectation for the four-time 400-yard performer to be a regular in the 49ers’ offense. Though, Aiyuk returning would stand to slide Robinson to the WR4 post. Robinson is suddenly not a safe bet, either, after pleading no contest to a DUI charge. A three-game suspension, which Robinson has preemptively appealed, could further limit the 49ers to open the season.

Although a rumor connected the 49ers to Davante Adams, nothing came out of it. Adams signed a two-year, $46MM deal with the Rams. The 49ers allocated their money to extensions, having already committed to Aiyuk as their high-priced wideout.

As it turned out, the 49ers did not have a deal in place with D.J. Humphries, who joins Adams with the Rams. Dillard represents a shaky swing option, having been a Titans release — after being demoted — one season into a three-year, $29MM deal. Dillard, though, played as a Packers backup last year and cost the veteran minimum. Dillard joins Spencer Burford and as the 49ers’ top swing options at tackle.

Weeks wanted to stay with the Texans, but they moved on from the longest-tenured player in franchise history. The 39-year-old long snapper will play his 16th season in San Francisco, being part of a historically old snapper-punter duo. Morstead is also 39 but will reunite with Saleh, who had the ex-Saints Super Bowl winner installed as his punter during two separate stints while employed as Jets HC. Morstead averaged at least 47.2 yards per punt as a Jet; six-year option Mitch Wishnowsky — cut after suffering a back injury last November — only reached that number once in six seasons.

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Offseason In Review: Minnesota Vikings

August 9th, 2025 at 10:22pm CST by Adam La Rose

Having allowed Kirk Cousins to depart in free agency to take on a multiyear tenure atop the Falcons’ quarterback depth chart – or so he thought – the Vikings began a new era under center in 2024. First-round rookie J.J. McCarthy did not wind up seeing any regular-season action due to meniscus surgery, however, so his acclimation period in the NFL was delayed for one year.

As McCarthy rehabbed his knee, one-year rental Sam Darnold enjoyed what was (at least up to the final two weeks of the campaign) a stellar season for the Vikings. A 14-3 record preceded a highly underwhelming playoff exit, but the Kevin O’Connell-Kwesi Adofo-Mensah regime earned a new commitment from the organization in the process. With Minnesota’s HC and GM in place for the long term, McCarthy’s stint in the QB1 role is set to begin.

Trades:

Mason played sparingly during his first two 49ers campaigns, but 2024 saw Christian McCaffrey limited to just four games. In his place, Mason took on a starting role prior to suffering his own season-ending ailment. When on the field, the former UDFA averaged an intriguing 5.2 yards per carry.

San Francisco’s decision to apply the second-round RFA tender on Mason appeared to ensure he would remain in place for at least the 2025 campaign. However, the trade brought about a change of scenery in this case. Upon arrival in Minnesota, the 26-year-old agreed to a two-year, $10.5MM extension. Roughly three-quarters of that figure is guaranteed, and incentives could increase his earnings with rush totals of 800 yards or more. Mason racked up 793 last year despite missing five games, so upping his compensation could certainly be attainable.

A full-time starting gig will not be available unless Aaron Jones misses time while playing out his new Vikings pact. Nevertheless, Mason should manage to find success at least as a short-yardage and goal line option with Minnesota. Of course, a heavy emphasis on the passing game will always be expected with O’Connell and as talented a receiver tandem at his disposal. The ground game will nevertheless be worth watching with Mason now in the fold.

Howell’s time in Seattle proved to be short-lived. The former Commanders draftee spent a single campaign in the Emerald City, making two brief appearances while backing up Geno Smith. The Seahawks’ quarterback renovations included trading away Smith but also reuniting with Drew Lock. That move helped make Howell a trade candidate, and a parting of ways became even more likely once Jalen Milroe was selected during the third round of the draft.

One day after Milroe arrived in Round 3, the Howell swap took place. One season remains on the 24-year-old’s rookie contract, so his addition could prove to simply be a rental. With only one year as a starter at the NFL level, Howell is far from an experienced passer for McCarthy to rely on as he begins his tenure atop the depth chart. That was not for lack of interest in veteran signalers, however.

The Vikings were named as a Joe Flacco landing spot shortly after the start of free agency. The former Super Bowl MVP has bounced around the league following the end of his Ravens tenure taking on a number of (primarily) QB2 gigs, although he has totaled 15 starts across the past three years. That figure could increase in 2025 during his second Browns stint. Ryan Tannehill – who last played in 2023 – also received consideration from Minnesota. In lieu of adding one of those veterans, Howell will be counted on to occupy the backup gig while McCarthy acclimates to the starting role.

The Texans’ primary objective this offseason was a major retooling along the offensive line. That effort included the release of Shaq Mason and trades which sent out fellow guard Kenyon Green as well as left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Ingram was not considered likely to be retained for 2025 after losing his starting spot last season. In Houston, the pending free agent will look to rebuild his value for next spring. If the Vikings see a depth addition as being necessary late in the offseason, a familiar face in the form of Dalton Risner remains available.

Free agency additions:

An inexpensive quarterback room — a Vikings first since before Sam Bradford‘s 2016 arrival — headlined by McCarthy’s remaining term on his rookie deal allowed for the Vikings to spend aggressively at other positions. Indeed, the team has committed nearly $350MM in total cash to this year’s roster. Several new faces will be expected to contribute early and often in 2025.

As was also the case with the Bears this spring, upgrading on both sides of the line of scrimmage emerged as a clear priority for the Vikings. Fries received the longest free agent deal around the NFL this offseason, a noteworthy feat considering the tibia fracture which limited his 2024 season to just five games. The 27-year-old had a solid 2023 campaign and drew strong PFF evaluations when healthy last season, so he still found himself amongst the top guards on the market. Interest from teams such as the Giants and Seahawks came in, but Fries will play out his second NFL contract with the Vikings.

The former seventh-round pick can up his earnings by as much as $6MM via incentives. Even if Fries is unable to collect on those, though, his ranking ninth in terms of average annual value amongst guards certainly represents a successful first trip to free agency. Age will be a concern with any future deals if/when he hits the market again, but for the time being a lengthy Minnesota stay should be in store.

Fries has the potential to offer the Vikings stability at the right guard spot for several years. He is certainly being counted on to do so, given the terms of his deal, and a strong debut campaign would go a long way in ensuring McCarthy transitions to the QB1 role effectively. Of course, Fries is not the only newcomer up front for whom that can be said.

Hitting free agency as the most accomplished center available (by a wide margin), Kelly expectedly joined a contender when selecting his second career team. The four-time Pro Bowler did not see any of his 2026 salary guaranteed at signing, however, meaning the Vikings could move on after a signing season. If things go according to plan, Kelly should manage to avoid such a situation.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard publicly stated his intention to deviate from the team’s philosophy of largely retaining in-house players in lieu of high-priced outside additions. That helped open the door to a Kelly departure, although the 32-year-old did discuss re-signing with Indianapolis. Instead of continuing on what would have been a third Colts contract, the 121-game starter will look to upgrade – at least on a short-term basis – the center spot with Minnesota.

The possibility of Allen being released emerged this offseason, and Washington elected to part ways with the veteran D-tackle after eight years in the nation’s capital. That cost-shedding move made the two-time Pro Bowler an attractive option in free agency given his durability (up until the 2024 season) and relatively consistent production. The 49ers explored including him in the Deebo Samuel trade, but that did not come to pass. Instead of signing with San Francisco (a team which remained interested) on the open market, Allen headed to Minnesota.

At the age of 30, concerns about a drop-off in production will be present in Allen’s case. The former first-rounder has notched at least 7.5 sacks three times in a season, but he posted 5.5 in his last full campaign and three when healthy in 2024. Allen returning to his previous form would be critical for a Vikings defensive front which has undergone a slew of changes over the past two offseasons. That would also generate financial benefits given the incentives based on playing time and sack totals present in his deal.

The 49ers’ interest in adding Allen through trade or free agency was based in part on their decision to release Hargrave. At the end of the 2024 campaign, GM John Lynch made it clear the former Steeler and Eagle would be cut with a post-June 1 designation. Hargrave earned one of his two Pro Bowl nods during his two-year stint in the Bay Area, maintaining his status as one of the league’s most disruptive interior defenders on his third team. A pectoral tear resulted in only three games played last season, however, causing the 49ers to restructure his pact before cutting ties.

The first major injury in Hargrave’s nine-year career limited his latest pact to two years, but a healthy guarantee illustrates Minnesota’s investment in his continued production for at least the immediate future. The 32-year-old has started 115 games and been on the field for no fewer than 58% of his team’s defensive snaps each season since 2019. Serving as a mainstay with the Vikings would help a defense which has ranked top-eight against the run during both of Brian Flores’ DC seasons. It could also shift how Flores operates moving forward.

In 2023 and again in ’24, the Vikings led the NFL in blitz percentage. With an experienced tandem of Allen and Hargrave at the DT spots along with a returning top trio of edge rushers, though, Flores could rely more on four-man rushes this season in an attempt to aid Minnesota’s secondary. In any case, the team’s defense will remain a major factor in deciding whether or not the coming campaign is a success. It will still be interesting to see if a slightly different approach is explored along the way.

A gambling suspension sidelined Rodgers for the entire 2023 season and ended his tenure with the Colts. A one-year flier offered by the Eagles proved to be beneficial for both parties; the former sixth-rounder played a rotational role on defense while also chipping in on special teams for the Super Bowl winners. Philadelphia was interested in keeping Rodgers – especially considering Darius Slay’s release and subsequent intra-Pennsylvania move to the Steelers – but ended up losing both cover men during the spring.

A starting spot is available for Rodgers, 27, who could enjoy a notable career turnaround compared to where things stood two years ago. He and Okudah (a former No. 3 pick who has played double-digit games in a season just twice so far) could find themselves making key contributions in Minnesota’s secondary in 2025. One or both could thus prove to be effective buy-low additions from the team’s perspective.

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Offseason In Review: Atlanta Falcons

August 8th, 2025 at 9:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 2024 offseason put the Falcons’ most significant pieces in place. A year later, Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins are still coexisting. Cousins’ attempts to be released or traded have failed. For now, Atlanta is keeping the high-priced veteran as a disgruntled backup. As the Penix era begins in earnest, the Falcons used their top 2025 offseason resources on defense.

After Atlanta used its 2024 first-round pick on Penix, it doubled down on an area it has been unable to staff for the better part of a decade. The team will hope its two first-round edge rushers can make an immediate difference, as it has now been eight years since the franchise’s last playoff appearance.

Extensions and restructures:

Before its Cousins retention and OLB draft choices, the Falcons locked down their reliable left tackle. No longer a blindside presence thanks to Penix joining Tua Tagovailoa as the NFL’s only southpaw starting quarterbacks, Matthews nevertheless sits as an important piece to open a new period. This is Matthews’ fourth contract. A spotless track record placed the NFL legacy in position to enter the $20MM O-line club at 33. Matthews has missed one career game, lining up for every Falcons contest over the past 10 seasons.

The 2014 first-round pick protected Matt Ryan‘s blind side for eight years. With Grady Jarrett off the roster, Matthews is the last remaining Falcon from their Super Bowl LI season. None of Matthews’ teammates arrived before 2019; Thomas Dimitroff was midway through his GM tenure when he tabbed Matthews to protect Ryan. That selection did not give the Falcons a top-flight tackle; Matthews has just one Pro Bowl and zero All-Pro accolades on his resume. Despite this and no ties to the current coaching staff or GM, Matthews collected a new deal that came in beyond the Dion Dawkins–Taylor Decker–Garett Bolles tier established last year.

Finalizing this re-up hours before free agency, the Falcons have their LT signed through 2028. Acting early probably helped, as Matthews may have demanded more in light of middling LT Dan Moore Jr. fetching $20.5MM per year a day later. Still, Matthews is on track to enter Week 1 as the NFL’s sixth-highest-paid player at the position.

McGary’s late-summer extension gives the Falcons three O-linemen earning at least $15MM per year; All-Pro guard Chris Lindstrom is at $20.5MM AAV. These contracts join Matthew Bergeron‘s rookie deal and Ryan Neuzil‘s RFA tender on the Falcons’ payroll.

Part of a high-end 2023 crop of free agent right tackles, McGary has held his own despite not being deemed as valuable as Mike McGlinchey or Jawaan Taylor (believe it or not) that year. Pro Football Focus has graded McGary as a top-30 tackle in each of the past three seasons, slotting him 29th last season. McGary’s run-blocking ability has helped Bijan Robinson start fast, after the former first-round tackle’s work boosted Tyler Allgeier during a run-obsessed 2022 Falcons season. He has been an asset, but this deal signified the Falcons do not identify him as an upper-crust RT.

McGary’s AAV jumps from $11.5MM to $15MM, but the latter figure checks in 12th among right tackles. It is interesting McGary opted to lock in money now, as another free agency bid would have probably bettered his situation. McGary has not dealt with major injury trouble, missing just six games in six seasons, but he did turn 30 this year. The Falcons will capitalize on their six-year RT opting not to test the market again.

Free agency additions:

Atlanta eyed the draft as the route out of its edge rusher predicament, but the team first brought in an experienced veteran. Ahead of an age-33 season, Floyd could either act as a bridge for James Pearce Jr. or operate as an experienced rotational piece. Floyd followed Jarrett in landing on his feet following a release. He managed the same AAV his 49ers contract carried.

Floyd received an early San Francisco release despite an 8.5-sack season. That slate continued a stretch as one of the NFL’s steadiest edge rushers. From 2020-24, Floyd has not missed a game and has recorded between 8.5 and 10.5 sacks each season. The Falcons will hope for at least one more productive year from the former first-round pick.

Ryan Pace‘s front office presence presumably impacted Floyd’s path. In place as Bears GM when the team drafted Floyd in the 2016 top 10, Pace has been in the Falcons’ front office since 2022. Terry Fontenot retained Pace, who had also added Eddie Goldman after a Chicago release. Floyd fared better with the Rams, serving as Aaron Donald‘s pass-rushing wingman, and delivered (career-high 10.5 sacks) on a modest Bills deal in 2023. Tallying between 16 and 22 QB hits in the decade’s first five seasons, Floyd — an Atlanta native who attended Georgia — profiles as a strong stopgap for a team that has seen just one 8.5-sack season (Vic Beasley‘s 2016 All-Pro year) since John Abraham‘s 2013 exit.

Deablo joined Tre’von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs and Robert Spillane in relocating from the Raiders’ defense. Deablo did not rival his former teammates’ contracts but has considerable experience. The former third-round pick made 42 starts on his Raiders rookie deal. Deablo tallied snap rates of at least 75% in each of his four seasons and finished with 106 tackles during a 2023 slate that brought the Raiders’ only top-half scoring defense in the past 22 years.

Deablo is undersized (at 223 pounds) but expected to step in for ex-second-rounder Troy Andersen, who opened camp on the Falcons’ active/PUP list due to a knee injury that ended his 2024 season. Andersen is not a lock to open the season on time, which would hurt his contract-year stock and free up a spot alongside Kaden Elliss in Jeff Ulbrich‘s defense.

Mooney joins Andersen on the mend, being set to miss weeks after suffering a shoulder injury early during camp. Chark agreed to terms before that development, pointing to Falcons interest in adding receiver depth. Chark is now on a fifth team in five years, settling as a supporting-cast mercenary. Chark is coming off a down Chargers season, catching only four passes after beginning the year on IR. He did provide solid tertiary work in Detroit (502 receiving yards) and Carolina (525), combining for eight touchdown receptions in that span. The former 1,000-yard Jaguar will be expected to complement Mooney, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, providing a potential fourth option for Penix. But Chark is not viewed as a roster lock.

While Fox and Fuller were Rams teammates, the former did not play for Raheem Morris in Los Angeles. Fox spent the past three seasons as a Joey Bosa–Khalil Mack sidekick, totaling 15.5 sacks as an interior rusher in that span. Heading into his age-31 season, Fox will be in place as a cheap veteran supplementary rusher alongside Floyd, Pearce and Jalon Walker.

Fuller did play under Morris in L.A., working as a starter for the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI-winning team. Pro Football Focus graded the former sixth-round find as a top-20 safety that year, but he has struggled to stay healthy since. A late-season injury kept Fuller out of that Super Bowl, and he missed 14 games in 2022 and eight last season with Carolina. PFF graded Fuller 82nd among safety regulars in 2024; well-versed in a scheme Panthers DC Ejiro Evero uses as well, now profiles as a bridge option for third-rounder Xavier Watts.

Krieg, 22, is a converted soccer player who previously played in professional football in Europe. He drew the attention of NFL scouts when he converted all 14 field goal attempts at the Combine, the only kicker to do so. He and Koo, who is signed to a five-year extension worth $24.25MM, have been competing in camp.

Koo, 31, has been the Falcons’ kicker for the past six seasons. The one-time Pro Bowler remains the favorite, and although his $5.5MM cap number is much higher than Krieg’s ($843K), he would be a candidate to land elsewhere immediately if the untested Krieg wins the job.

Re-signings:

The Falcons have been unable to find a regular No. 2 cornerback opposite AJ Terrell. Even after the Hughes re-signing, the team pursued Jaire Alexander. That suggests some uncertainty regarding Hughes, who transitioned from logging a combined 455 slot snaps from 2022-23 to being a near-exclusive boundary option last season. Hughes played all of one slot snap in 2024. Based on their offseason, the Falcons will ask the former first-round pick to remain in that role opposite Terrell.

PFF graded Hughes’ transition well, ranking him as a top-30 option at corner. This came after a 107th-place ranking in 2023, when he was a part-time starter with Atlanta. This marks Hughes’ best contract since his Vikings rookie deal. He played for $2.25MM in 2022 and played out a two-year, $7MM Falcons pact following that accord.

Alford is still present as a slot option, but the Falcons did not prioritize him, as evidenced from being nontendered (as an RFA) and accepting this light guarantee, and are giving fourth-round rookie Billy Bowman slot time. Still, Alford (69% 2024 snap rate) has handled the role for the team for the better part of his Georgia stay.

Atlanta ranked 22nd against the pass last season. While the team’s pass rush was again an issue, its coverage work outside of Terrell and Jessie Bates does not include much in the way of proven defenders. Beyond Bowman, the team is hoping a similar blueprint can excel at corner in Morris’ second season.

Hodge has continued to prove useful, most notably after his overtime catch-and-run against the Buccaneers brought a walk-off TD. Hodge, 30, is still in place as a backup receiving option. But his special teams contributions represent his primary Atlanta role. That brought Pro Bowl recognition last season. This will be Hodge’s fourth Falcons season. He stands as insurance against one of Atlanta’s starting WRs going down. With Mooney out for the time being, Hodge has played over Chark as a first-teamer.

Notable losses:

No Falcon came out of Super Bowl LI looking better than Jarrett, who broke through with three sacks of Tom Brady during that otherwise ignominious night for the franchise. That turned into a preview of Jarrett’s Atlanta importance; it preceded two extensions, the second of which a three-year, $49.5MM deal. Jarrett’s pass-rushing production has cooled down, and he spent much of 2024 rehabbing an ACL tear. The Falcons shopped the 10-year veteran, but no trade emerged. A minimal dead money hit ($4.13MM) then came as a result of a release.

The Falcons offered to keep Jarrett on a pay cut, but he bet on a big market being there. Despite the ACL tear and the veteran interior D-lineman entering an age-32 season, he was right. The Bears gave him a three-year, $42.75MM contract that included a surprising $27.25MM guaranteed at signing. This represented one of the softer landings for a cap casualty in recent history.

While Jarrett has been durable (full attendance in all but one of the past six seasons) and earned Pro Bowl nods in 2019 and ’20, his next eight-sack season will be his first. The Falcons will hope Fox can help fill the void created by their longtime D-line anchor’s departure.

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Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Chargers

August 6th, 2025 at 10:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

As he had done at his other career stops, Jim Harbaugh orchestrated a turnaround season in his Chargers debut. The Bolts returned to the playoffs and transformed their defense. While a more run-focused attack minimized Justin Herbert, the star quarterback operated efficiently despite limited weaponry. The team still has questions to answer in the pass-catching department, but a more significant running back retooling effort commenced this offseason.

The Chargers made a host of affordable free agency moves, through retention and outside acquisitions, and budgeted for a record-setting extension. They will operate in a historically loaded division for coaching achievement, with Harbaugh suddenly the only AFC West leader without a Super Bowl title. Last season established the Chargers as a rejuvenated operation; how will they take the next step?

Extensions and restructures:

Although Slater was extension-eligible in 2024, the Harbaugh-Joe Hortiz regime made the former Tom Telesco first-rounder wait. While the Bolts received an additional year of rookie-contract control on the 2021 first-rounder, his price naturally rose this offseason. Slater’s resume does not match those of Tristan Wirfs or Penei Sewell, but he is now the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman. Waiting a year brought that to fruition, and Slater’s benchmarks compare favorably to the other top left tackle contracts.

In addition to his record-setting $28.5MM AAV, Slater commanded the second-highest guarantee at signing (behind only Andrew Thomas). Thomas needed to give the Giants five years of control to get his $67MM at-signing guarantee. Slater’s $92MM in total guarantees beat Wirfs’ previous highwater mark ($88.24MM).

Slater, 26, received the top one- and two-year cash flows for any O-lineman. The Chargers also gave Slater a rolling guarantee structure, which will lock in his 2027 and ’28 base salaries one year early. This provides considerable protection for a player who had made a calculated gamble before, having joined Sewell and Micah Parsons in opting out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 cloud. Slater skipped this year’s Bolts OTAs but had a deal in place before training camp.

The Chargers had seen their LT situation become unstable in between King Dunlap‘s final season (2016) and Slater’s debut, but the Northwestern product gave the team an upper-crust blindside protector for Herbert. Slater is a two-time Pro Bowler who bounced back from a three-game 2022 to play in 32 regular-season games from 2023-24. Pro Football Focus rated Slater second among all tackles last season and has never graded him outside the top 20 in a campaign. The Chargers’ second-year regime is buying in, and they now have him signed through 2029.

The Dupree commitment is obviously modest by comparison, but the move keeps the former first-rounder as a quality No. 3 edge rusher. Although the Chargers do look weaker here on paper due to the Joey Bosa release, Dupree backing up Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu presents a workable situation.

Dupree notched six sacks and 10 QB hits as a full-time backup last season. While extending a 32-year-old pass rusher after retaining a 34-year-old EDGE does introduce age concerns at this premium position, Dupree is a 99-start player who can easily step in as a sidekick in the event Mack or Tuipulotu miss time.

Free agency additions:

Harbaugh did not dismiss an Allen reunion when asked in April, but it did not sound promising at that point. Midway through training camp, however, circumstances had changed and Harbaugh was eager to bring back the second-leading receiver in franchise history. Allen had said he would only delay retirement for a Bears re-signing or a Los Angeles return. Even after the Cal alum-turned-decorated Charger had been offered a pay cut before being traded to Chicago last year, he and the Bolts made peace and will reunite at an interesting juncture. Mike Williams‘ retirement may have pried the door open for a team that would have otherwise relied on unproven players alongside Ladd McConkey.

Allen’s 10,530 yards trail only Antonio Gates (11,841) in Chargers history; the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee also played 16 seasons to accumulate that total. Allen is now 33, but he remains a quality starter. The six-time Pro Bowler did not add a seventh 1,000-yard season to his resume last season, but he still drew 121 targets and turned them into 744 yards and seven TD grabs during a disjointed Bears season. Multiple teams considered Allen, who left the Chargers as their No. 1 target but will return as a McConkey complementary piece.

Allen’s most recent Chargers season was one of his best; with Williams sidelined with an ACL tear, the slick route runner averaged a career-high 95.6 yards per game during a 1,243-yard season. While Allen and Williams fit together seamlessly, his place in a McConkey-centered attack will be interesting.

Regardless of a slot overlap, Allen is a proven target who meant plenty during Justin Herbert‘s ascent. The Tom Telesco draftee/two-time extension recipient could be a missing piece, having provided a significant boost to Herbert- and Philip Rivers-piloted attacks throughout his first Chargers stint. Allen’s presence stands to help the Chargers, whose lack of weaponry helped lead to a 19th-place 2024 pass-game ranking.

The Chargers did not overreach in free agency, but they look to have upgraded in certain areas nonetheless. Harris may not be a clear upgrade on J.K. Dobbins, but the draft rounded out a two-pronged backfield plan. Dobbins resides as one of the NFL’s top injury risks, while Harris never missed a game in four seasons. Of course, the fireworks accident the veteran RB encountered July 4 does offer some concern about his unblemished durability record.

Harris is believed to have suffered a “surface-level” eye injury in the accident. Initially, Harris began working with doctors at Stanford; he transitioned to the Chargers’ medical team once training camp began. The Bolts have conveyed confidence about Harris’ expected regular-season availability, but after he began camp on the active/NFI list (as Hortiz announced neither he nor Chargers doctors had observed the damages firsthand until that point), this situation is a bit murky.

After a 4-for-4 stretch of 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Harris certainly hoped last year’s running back resurgence would garner him more than $5.25MM. The 2021 first-rounder did note that by late last year he did not expect the Steelers to re-sign him. Pittsburgh passed, having placed a near-identical value (via second-round RFA tender) on Jaylen Warren. Kenneth Gainwell and third-round pick Kaleb Johnson round out Pittsburgh’s new backfield.

Harris, 27, is more of a grinder; that style fits Harbaugh’s approach. Next Gen Stats’ rush yards over expected metric ranked Harris (minus-3) in the bottom half last season (while Dobbins checked in at 115 RYOE). Harris’ 1,277 career touches undoubtedly affected his market, but not benefiting from the likes of Alvin Kamara, Rhamondre Stevenson, James Conner and Chuba Hubbard being signed beforehand did prove interesting. The Miami alum will try to reestablish value in L.A.

Interior O-line issues plagued the Chargers last year; they added some new options as a result. The Chargers have not abandoned starters from 2024, re-signing Bradley Bozeman and retaining Trey Pipkins, but they have at least one new guard starter and an interesting buy-low piece at center.

Becton rebuilt value with the Eagles, but his market made it clear teams were still skeptical. Becton played one game between the 2021 and ’22 seasons, after weight concerns surfaced during an otherwise promising rookie year. He lobbed salvos at the Jets to proclaim himself their best left tackle option in 2023; despite significant weight loss and a return to the starting lineup (at RT and LT), Becton landed just $2.75MM from the Eagles. He finally started to make strides in Philly, winning the team’s right guard job and mixing in on the NFL’s top offensive line. The Eagles’ commitments at the other four O-line positions never made it realistic Becton would be retained, however.

PFR’s No. 22 free agent — albeit with a bit of a wild-card profile — ranked 20th (per PFF) among guard regulars last year. The NFL effectively labeled Becton a “prove it” case, but if he can show the Chargers his 2024 tackle-to-guard transition was no fluke, the Bolts have him at a favorable rate. If he cannot, the team has an easy out in 2026. The Bolts can cut Becton with just $2.5MM in dead money next year.

James landed in PFR’s top 50 entering the 2024 free agency period, and the Raiders re-signed him on a three-year, $24MM deal. The four-year Las Vegas starting center appears underpriced at a vet-minimum number. James, 28, made 59 starts in that time. PFF graded James as the NFL’s ninth-best center in 2023 but dropped him to 33rd last year. James played for six play-callers since 2021, and Vegas’ new regime dropped a player paid during Telesco and Jon Gruden‘s stays. If nothing else, the experienced blocker offers the Bolts high-end depth.

Running back was not the only position bringing substantial turnover. The Chargers let Asante Samuel Jr. and Kristian Fulton go while adding Jackson and St-Juste. Jackson landed on his feet, via a second notable free agency deal, despite being graded poorly in coverage during his Steelers one-off. Although PFF graded the 2024 Pittsburgh trade pickup as a bottom-10 CB last year, he intercepted five passes as a 15-start player. Coverage metrics still have a ways to go in terms of reliability, but PFF ranked Jackson outside the top 60 at corner from 2021-24.

Jackson has worked as a boundary corner throughout his career, signing two Panthers contracts before being traded straight up for Diontae Johnson — a deal that produced a surprising Steelers win on the judges’ scorecards. The Chargers will hope the 5-foot-10 cover man (30 in November) has some quality football left; they certainly coaxed good work from unlikely sources in 2024.

St-Juste has seen far more slot work compared to Jackson, logging 441 snaps inside in 2023. The Chargers are almost shorting PFF at this point, as the advanced metrics site graded the Canadian talent 112th (just behind Jackson) last season. St-Juste is more of a flier, given his price, but he made 45 starts in Washington. The Chargers have 2024 draftee Tarheeb Still primed for a big role. Jackson’s contract points to him starting, leaving St-Juste and Cam Hart‘s roles less certain. L.A. carries some moving parts here, but the team should have more depth at corner entering this season.

The Chargers met with Evan Engram and offered him a similar contract to his Broncos proposal (two years, $23MM, $16.5MM guaranteed), but the former Giants and Jaguars pass catcher chose Denver and may have a de facto WR2 role on tap. Conklin outproduced fellow Jets 2022 signee C.J. Uzomah, playing fairly well with Aaron Rodgers and Zach Wilson. Conklin tallied a career-high 621 yards (10.2 per reception) in 2023 and posted 449 (8.8 YPC) last year. Two other 550-yard seasons are on Conklin’s resume.

Unspectacular, yes, but the Chargers saw Will Dissly lead their TE group with 449 yards in 2024. Nearing 30 and without the blocking credentials Dissly has, Conklin looks like a placeholder — perhaps in the event fifth-rounder Oronde Gadsden II, a dynamic threat at Syracuse, does not develop.

Harbaugh’s initial Bolts QB2 plan did not work, leading to the team replacing the re-signed Easton Stick with Taylor Heinicke via trade last August. Heinicke is now battling Lance for that gig. Wildly overvalued as the No. 3 overall pick in 2021, Lance has still logged an alarmingly low usage rate since his 2017 high school finale. Since 2019, Lance has just 460 pass attempts.

Redshirted at North Dakota State, Lance shredded Division I-FCS opposition — albeit as part of the level’s best program — in 2019 but saw the pandemic keep him off the field in 2020. The 49ers used Lance as a four-game starter, but their 2022 plan to build around him involved regrouping with Jimmy Garoppolo as insurance; Lance’s fractured ankle also pried the door open for Brock Purdy, leading the unseasoned talent to Dallas in 2023.

Lance threw all of 41 passes in two Cowboys seasons, even with Dak Prescott missing half of 2024. Harbaugh will attempt to derive some value from Lance, who is still just 25. A package role also could intrigue here, due to Lance’s run-game skills. That would seemingly appeal to Greg Roman, who coached Colin Kaepernick and Lamar Jackson, but it would also involve taking Herbert off the field. The Hall of Fame Game outing did bring an encouraging start for the bust-turned-backup hopeful.

Re-signings:

Mack shook off his one injury-plagued season (2021) and became the Chargers’ lead option following a 2022 trade. The Bolts could not rely on Joey Bosa, counting on Mack continuing as an OLB regular into his mid-30s.

Mack, 34, considered retirement this offseason but had seen the Bolts aggressively pursue him despite having handed him a 2024 pay cut. The former Defensive Player of the Year had been tied to a six-year Bears-designed/Chargers-updated contract. While that limited Mack from cashing in on a notable multiyear deal in his prime, the 11-year vet has still earned more than $179MM. He will approach $200MM via this Chargers re-signing.

Aging players typically slide down our free agent rankings, or are omitted altogether, but Mack has continued to deliver and stay healthy. Slotted 25th in PFR’s 2025 FA offering, Mack indeed did well on a one-year deal. Among non-quarterbacks and franchise-tagged players, Mack’s $18MM guarantee represents the third-highest amount on a one-year deal (behind only Danielle Hunter and Andrew Van Ginkel‘s 2025 extensions) in NFL history. Mack can use this extra Chargers year to build on his Hall of Fame case. The All-Decade-teamer may be a decent bet, but his 107.5 sacks sit 32nd in the sack era (1982-present). Mack may need more work.

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