HEADLINES

Raiders Aren’t Shopping Maxx Crosby

October 25th, 2025 at 8:16pm CST by Ben Levine

OCTOBER 25: Owner Mark Davis spoke about Crosby after the fall league meeting. He reiterated (via Pelissero’s colleagues Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo) his stance and that of the team has not changed with respect to a trade in this case. While interest will no doubt continue to be shown, Crosby can still be expected to remain in Vegas moving forward.

OCTOBER 21: Maxx Crosby isn’t going anywhere. While the Raiders could be open to moving some significant pieces, the team doesn’t have any intention of trading their defensive star. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Raiders met with Crosby today and told the pass rusher they’re neither shopping nor trading him.

Following a report earlier this morning that the Cowboys had made inquires on Crosby’s availability, Pelissero notes that rival teams do indeed have interest in acquiring the four-time Pro Bowler. That probably goes without saying when it comes to a player of Crosby’s caliber, and it would simply be a continuation of this past offseason when teams (including the Seahawks and Patriots) were rebuffed in their attempts to acquire the star. No matter how many suitors line up for Crosby’s services, it sounds like the Raiders refuse to budge.

Perhaps best of all for the franchise, Pelissero notes that Crosby wants to stick with the Raiders. While the edge rusher has a strong desire to win, he wants that to happen in Las Vegas. Of course, the player previously showed his commitment to the franchise when he inked a three-year, $106.5MM extension this past offseason.

After missing the final four games of the 2024 campaign, Crosby has picked up where he left off. Through seven games this season, the 28-year-old has collected 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, and a force fumble. Pro Football Focus currently ranks him 21st among 113 qualifiers, although the site graded him as a top-four player at his position between 2021 and 2023.

While the Raiders won’t be trading Crosby, that doesn’t mean they won’t be active ahead of the deadline. Both the Raiders and Jakobi Meyers seem motivated to get the receiver out of Las Vegas, and there have even been rumblings that the front office could add to their defense. Despite the Raiders 2-5 start, the team isn’t anticipating any major changes to leadership, and it appears the organization will be looking to support their foundation with an eye on 2026.

As for the unsubstantiated Cowboys rumblings, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News denies that the organization hasn’t reached out to any teams about potential trades. However, the reporter notes that the front office has discussed potential deals internally, so perhaps a trade (for someone other than Crosby) could eventually materialize.

Chiefs LT Josh Simmons To Miss Week 8, Return In A Few Weeks

October 25th, 2025 at 5:57pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

5:57pm: Simmons might not be the only lineman missing for the Chiefs on Monday night. Per Pete Sweeney of The Kansas City Star, starting right guard Trey Smith is considered “doubtful” to play as he deals with low back spasms. The injury took Smith out of last week’s blowout win over the Raiders, and third-year backup lineman Mike Caliendo filled in during Smith’s absence. If Smith’s likelihood of playing continues to trend in the wrong direction, Caliendo will be in line to make his first start of the year.

9:19am: Chiefs left tackle Josh Simmons is expected to return in a few more weeks after missing two games due to a personal matter, according to ESPN’s Nate Taylor.

Simmons was a late addition to Kansas City’s injury report in Weeks 5 and 6. He did not play in the second matchup or the Chiefs’ next game against the Raiders. He was listed as questionable with an illness in Week 5, which is reportedly related to the situation he’s dealing with now. In the last two weeks, his absence has been explained with a non-injury-related/personal designation.

The Chiefs have a bye in Week 10, so Taylor’s report suggests that Simmons will not be back until Week 11 or later. That will keep former 49ers offensive tackle Jaylon Moore on the field for the foreseeable future. The five-year veteran has started in Simmons’ place for the past two games, which both featured Chiefs victories and at least 30 points.

Moore arrived in Kansas City on a two-year, $30MM deal this offseason as a potential starting left tackle. The Chiefs landed Simmons in the draft, and he quickly emerged as the starter, but Moore’s value as a reliable replacement has been apparent for the last two weeks.

2023 third-rounder Wanya Morris will now be the next man up in the Chiefs’ offensive tackle room. If Moore or right tackle Jawaan Taylor were to miss any time as the latter did for part of the team’s last game. Taylor has been dealing with knee and shoulder injuries, but he was a full participant in practice this week and should be good to go on Sunday.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/25/25

October 25th, 2025 at 5:29pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Saturday’s minor moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow’s slate of games:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Recently named QB2 Shedeur Sanders found his way to the injury report today with a back injury. By elevating Zappe, Cleveland is ensuring Sanders won’t play tomorrow, since in order to have three quarterbacks dressed for gameday, all three passers must be on the 53-man roster. Zappe will back up Dillon Gabriel, and Sanders will likely be in sweats. Similarly in Carolina, with Bryce Young set to sit this week, Hooker has been called up to back up Andy Dalton.

Both Buccaneers quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield and Teddy Bridgewater, were on the injury report this week, though neither received a “questionable” injury designation as result of their ailments. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that both passers are expected to be available, but with Bazelak taking up a spot on the active roster, it seems likely that only one other quarterback will be suited up alongside the practice squad callup. Because Bazelak’s not on the 53-man roster, only two passers can be active. Tampa Bay can still designate Bazelak as the inactive third quarterback, but doing so would seemingly be making this elevation moot.

There is no corresponding move necessary for Philadelphia to add Cooper. The team received a two-game roster exemption after signing veteran defensive end Brandon Graham, so they had an open roster spot.

For Basham in Carolina and Jennings in New England, this will be their third and final standard gameday practice squad elevations. If either of their respective teams want them to play in another game this season, they will need to first be signed to the 53-man roster.

Falcons Place LB Divine Deablo On IR, Activate S Jordan Fuller

October 25th, 2025 at 4:41pm CST by Connor Byrne

Linebacker Divine Deablo has been superb in his first season with the Falcons, but the team will go without him for the foreseeable future. The Falcons placed Deablo on IR with a broken forearm on Saturday. He’ll miss at least four games and won’t be eligible to return until Week 12.

[RELATED: Kirk Cousins To Start Week 8]

A former third-round pick and a Raider for the first four seasons of his career, Deablo left Las Vegas to sign a two-year, $14MM pact with Atlanta last March. The deal worked out well for the Falcons until Deablo suffered his injury in a loss to the 49ers last Sunday.

Over six games this year (all starts), Deablo has tallied 24 tackles, four passes defensed, a fumble recovery, and a half-sack. Opposing quarterbacks have mustered a weak 79.6 passer rating when they’ve thrown Deablo’s way. Not surprisingly, Pro Football Focus ranks Deablo’s overall performance seventh among 78 qualifying linebackers.

Thanks in part to Deablo, Atlanta’s defense ranks second in the NFL in yards per game allowed and eighth in points surrendered this year. Second-year linebacker JD Bertrand will be among those tasked with filling in for Deablo. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said this week he’ll take a “committee” approach in replacing the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Deablo, who combines a linebacker’s size with the athleticism of a defensive back (via Scott Kennedy of SI.com).

While Deablo is now on injured reserve, the Falcons brought back safety Jordan Fuller from IR on Saturday. The former Ram and Panther signed a one-year deal with the Falcons last March, joining Deablo as an offseason free agent pickup. He played 16 of his 17 snaps on special teams in a Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers before succumbing to a knee injury. With 56 career starts, Fuller will give the Falcons experienced depth behind the starting safety tandem of Jessie Bates and Xavier Watts.

Linebacker/defensive back Ronnie Harrison will join Fuller as part of Atlanta’s ‘D’ on Sunday against Miami. The Falcons signed Harrison from their practice squad to their 53-man roster on Saturday. They also elevated quarterback Easton Stick and wide receiver Dylan Drummond from their P-squad.

With backup quarterback Kirk Cousins considered ” highly likely” to start in place of usual starter Michael Penix Jr., who’s dealing with a knee injury, Stick’s elevation likely indicates that Penix will be inactive on Sunday. Since Stick isn’t on the 53-man roster, only two quarterbacks will be active for tomorrow’s game. If Penix is able to start, Stick will likely be designated the inactive third quarterback, but with things trending towards Cousins starting behind center to start tomorrow’s game, Penix could be the inactive passer.

Giants Activate K Graham Gano From IR

October 25th, 2025 at 3:55pm CST by Connor Byrne

After a four-week absence, Giants kicker Graham Gano will return Sunday against the Eagles. The Giants are activating Gano from IR, Jordan Raanan of ESPN reports. He’ll be their only active kicker in Philadelphia, per Raanan.

The 38-year-old Gano connected on all six field-goal tries and four straight extra points to begin the season, but he suffered a groin injury in pregame warmups in Week 3. Injuries have been an all-too-frequent occurrence for Gano since he signed a three-year, $16.5MM contract extension in 2023. He has now missed 20 games dating back to then.

Gano, who returned to practice earlier this week, will reclaim his job from fill-in Jude McAtamney. The Northern Ireland native converted both of his field-goal attempts during Gano’s four-game stint on IR. However, he missed three of his 12 extra-point tries, including two in a deflating 33-32 loss to the Broncos last Sunday. The Giants then cut McAtamney on Tuesday before re-signing him to their practice squad. He and veteran Younghoe Koo are in the fold as fallback options behind Gano.

Along with activating Gano on Saturday, the Giants elevated wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and safety Raheem Layne from their practice squad. It’ll be the third standard gameday elevation for both players, which is the limit. The Giants will need to sign either to their 53-man roster if they want to activate one or both of them again.

The Giants also waived linebacker Swayze Bozeman, who has appeared in four of their games this season. The 26-year-old has played 92 snaps (75 on special teams, 17 on defense) and made three tackles.

Jets Activate LB Quincy Williams From IR

October 25th, 2025 at 3:39pm CST by Ely Allen

Just three days after opening his 21-day practice window, the Jets have opted to activate linebacker Quincy Williams off of injured reserve. To make room on the 53-man roster, two players were placed on IR. Wide receiver Josh Reynolds and linebacker Cam Jones will miss at least the next four games after both suffered recent hip injuries.

Williams should easily fit back into the starting lineup on defense next to Jamien Sherwood. Just a year and a half removed from a first-team All-Pro season, Williams should immediately bring improvement to the Jets’ defensive front seven. Rookie fifth-round pick Kiko Mauigoa has been starting in Williams’ place and will likely revert to the third linebacker role, in which he’ll work on the first-team defense for formations that don’t require extra defensive backs.

Another interesting aspect of this transaction concerns the narrative of the trade deadline arriving in 10 days. Despite spending the last four weeks on IR, Williams has reportedly been monitored by teams looking for linebacker help on the trade market. Despite his recent All-Pro acclaim, Williams saw Sherwood, a former special teamer who developed into a starting role, earn a shiny, new deal as Williams made his way into a contract year. Though the shoulder injury may have dinged his value a bit, if a team comes in with the right price, the winless Jets are certainly in position to sell.

Reynolds has been running as WR2 in the Jets bottom-ranked pass attack this year. In five games, he’s caught 11 passes for 101 yards as the fourth most-targeted pass catcher on the offense, behind rookie tight end Mason Taylor and running back Breece Hall. With Reynolds out, fourth-round rookie Arian Smith and veterans Allen Lazard and Tyler Johnson will need to step up behind WR1 Garrett Wilson.

With Jones joining Reynolds on IR, the Jets had an open spot on the 53-man roster. The team opted to fill that spot by signing practice squad receiver Brandon Smith to the active roster. Smith will add depth to the receiving corps during Reynolds’ extended absence. Additionally, New York announced that it would call up defensive tackle Payton Page as a standard gameday practice squad elevation.

The Jets’ other practice squad elevation will be utilized on undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook. The Mizzou product is being called up for the second time this year to serve as the team’s backup quarterback on Sunday. Though it was initially thought that veteran Tyrod Taylor would be replacing Justin Fields as QB1, a knee injury will hold Taylor out, forcing Fields back into the first-team lineup and necessitating the elevation of Cook to back him up.

Bills Activate Maxwell Hairston From IR

October 25th, 2025 at 3:05pm CST by Connor Byrne

Bills first-round rookie Maxwell Hairston is finally set for his NFL debut. The team announced that it has activated the cornerback from injured reserve.

The 30th overall pick from Kentucky, Hairston entered the summer competing with Tre’Davious White for the Bills’ No. 2 corner job opposite Christian Benford. Hairston suffered an LCL injury early in training camp, though, leading to an IR placement for him and a starting role for White.

At 30 years old and having dealt with two major injuries in recent seasons (a torn ACL and an Achilles tear), White has struggled to regain his past form in 2025. Benford has also failed to impress after landing a four-year, $69MM extension last offseason.

To make matters worse for the Bills, they’ve been thin at boundary corner behind Benford and White. Another one of their rookies, sixth-rounder Dorian Strong, went on IR with a neck injury after Week 4. He may not return this season. With Strong and Hairston out, the Bills have been down to Ja’Marcus Ingram – a healthy inactive multiple times in 2025 – as their third outside corner in recent weeks.

The addition of Hairston will provide some much-needed playmaking ability and speed to the Bills’ secondary. The team’s corners have gone without an interception during a 4-2 start in which the defense has picked off just two passes. Hairston racked up five INTs in 2023, though he totaled just one over seven games in an injury-limited year last season. The 5-foot-11, 183-pounder then ran the fastest 40-yard dash time at the combine (4.28), which no doubt contributed to the Bills’ decision to draft him.

After missing the Bills’ first six games, Hairston returned to practice this past Monday. The Bills would have had 21 days to activate him, but head coach Sean McDermott will bring him into the fold much quicker than that. Hairston will debut Sunday against the Panthers as the Bills try to snap a two-game losing streak.

Safety Jordan Poyer and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips will join Hairston on Buffalo’s active roster in Week 8. The team, which is banged up at both positions, elevated the pair of Jordans from the practice squad on Saturday.

Lamar Jackson Out For Week 8; Ravens To Start Tyler Huntley

October 25th, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Connor Byrne

2:46pm: Part of the story of Jackson’s downgrade came as Baltimore changed the reporting of his practice participation from yesterday, changing the original “full practice” reporting to “limited practice.” Per Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports, the reason for the change was that Jackson only took scout team snaps at practice yesterday, getting no reps with the usual starters. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports provided the snippet from the NFL’s injury policy, which says, “participation on the scout team, no matter how extensive, by a player whose normal repetitions would be with the starters but for his medical condition, would not alter the player’s proper designation as ‘Limited Participation.'”

The NFL’s Management Council regularly investigates injury report disputes to ensure compliance with the policy, and though such investigations could take weeks, Baltimore could, at some point, be hit with a fine. Days after the largest sports gambling story in recent history hit the air waves, though, the league might think to make an example of the Ravens, if they find they can prove ill intent.

11:50am: Injured Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson will miss Week 8 against the Bears, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. Tyler Huntley, signed from the Ravens’ practice squad, will start. Jackson is expected to return in Week 9 in Miami.

While it was reported that Jackson was a full participant in practice on Friday, that was not the case. The Ravens announced that the two-time MVP remained limited with a hamstring injury. He’ll now miss his third straight game, an unwelcome development as Baltimore returns from its bye.

Off to a stunning 1-5 start after entering the season as Super Bowl hopefuls, the Ravens are 0-2 without Jackson. With Jackson unavailable, the Ravens initially turned to ex-Cowboy Cooper Rush as their starter. That couldn’t have gone worse. The Texans and Rams outscored the Ravens 61-13 in a pair of lopsided defeats. While Rush was a capable backup in Dallas, he went 25 for 39 for 251 yards, no touchdowns, and four interceptions in his first two starts as a Raven.

With Rush struggling mightily, the Ravens pulled him in favor of Huntley in the Rams game. Huntley finished the day 10 of 15 for 68 yards. Unlike Rush, Huntley can hurt defenses with his legs. He added 39 yards on three rushing attempts last week.

Huntley spent the first four years of his career in Baltimore before a regular-season stint with the Dolphins in 2024. He made nine starts for the Ravens from 2021-23. The team went 3-6 in those games, though Huntley’s 2-2 mark while filling in for Jackson in 2022 helped the Ravens earn a playoff berth.

As the Ravens try to keep their fading playoff hopes alive this year, they’ll need a strong performance out of Huntley against the 4-2 Bears. Regardless of whether the Ravens pull off a victory on Sunday, they’ll get Jackson back with a favorable schedule over the next several weeks. They’re set to face five straight sub-.500 opponents after Chicago, including the winless Jets in Week 12.

Packers Activate WR Christian Watson From Reserve/PUP

October 25th, 2025 at 2:14pm CST by Ely Allen

It’s been almost 300 days since Packers wide receiver Christian Watson tore his ACL, ending his 2024 season, but a return could be on the horizon. Watson will have a chance to make his 2025 debut tomorrow as Green Bay has activated him off the reserve/physically unable to perform list. He makes his way off the injury list with just two days to spare in his 21-day practice window.

With the injury occurring so late in the season, there were immediate expectations that Green Bay would be without one of their top receivers to start the 2025 campaign. What’s worse, this season was supposed to be a contract year for Watson, which would’ve given him a chance to earn a big, new contract. The Packers made sure that Watson would avoid having to prove himself in half a season by giving him a one-year, $11MM extension.

The short-term delay of free agency acts as a prove-it deal. After seeing the 26-year-old miss time with hamstring issues throughout his first two years, teams will want to see him have a fully healthy season before signing him to a big contract. The extension will allow Watson to ease back into the game over the remainder of this season and hit the ground running in 2026, his new contract year. The team also built three effective voidable years into the deal which will allow them to circumvent the 12-month renegotiation waiting period usually required to sign him to another potential extension after the season.

As the season drew near, it became clear that Watson would start the year on the reserve/PUP list, and eventually, he did. He returns to a Packers team that has gotten off to a hot 4-1-1 start and currently sits atop the NFC North. The offense and passing attack haven’t appeared to be quite as successful as last year’s offensive unit, but perhaps Watson’s return can contribute to some improvements on that front.

Also lacking Jayden Reed since Week 2, quarterback Jordan Love has continued to spread the ball evenly between his targets with tight end Tucker Kraft and receivers Romeo Doubs and first-round rookie Matthew Golden proving to be the main benefactors. While Reed remains on injured reserve for now, the addition of Watson back into the offense may mean a small change in role for Golden or Dontayvion Wicks.

We’ll see just how much of a leash the Packers give Watson, if they do in fact let him play in his first game of the season. They’ve been cautious in his return from injury thus far, so it’d be a surprise if he came out tomorrow with zero restrictions. Either way, adding Watson back into the mix should only help the Packers in what looks like it might be the league’s most contentious division race.

To make room for Watson on the 53-man roster, the Packers waived tight end Ben Sims. They also announced they would elevate defensive end Arron Mosby for the second time this year as a standard gameday practice squad elevation.

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