Vikings Sign WR Rondale Moore
MARCH 28: The Vikings are bringing in Moore on a one-year deal worth $2MM, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling. While Moore’s attached to a $1.1MM base salary, the Vikings only guaranteed him $250K. After a full-season absence, Moore will still have to earn a roster spot. But a market did form for the slot receiver this offseason.
MARCH 19: After drawing interest from a number of suitors, Rondale Moore has chosen his next team. The Vikings announced that they’ve agreed to terms with the free agent wide receiver.
Moore’s free agency tour kicked off in Minnesota last week. The wideout later took meetings with the Bears, Jets, and the Titans, with that latter visit taking place today. Ultimately, Moore decided to head to the Vikings to resume his NFL career.
The former second-round pick suffered a season-ending injury during Falcons training camp last year. Despite the extended absence, Moore clearly didn’t lack for suitors, and he’ll ultimately beat higher-profile names like Stefon Diggs, Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen and Tyler Lockett to the transaction log.
Moore established himself as a versatile offensive option during his time in Arizona. He averaged 45 receptions per season between 2021 and 2023, and he also garnered 52 total carries (for 249 yards) over that span. He even got an extended look as a returner during his rookie campaign, so the veteran could fill a number of holes for his new squad.
The Vikings are set to return their top three wide receivers in 2025, with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jalen Nailor leading the depth chart. There’s room for reps behind that trio, and considering Moore had the entire 2024 campaign to recover, he should be ready to compete for a WR spot.
Cowboys Have Not Submitted Micah Parsons Extension Offer
With the first few waves of free agency in the books, teams can turn their attention to working out extensions in a number of cases. That includes Micah Parsons and the Cowboys, although no agreement on that front is expected any time soon. 
Parsons is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2025, but a long-term pact will come at a much higher price than his scheduled $24.01MM for next season. An extension may not require making the four-time Pro Bowler the league’s highest-paid edge rusher; nevertheless, the new deals for Maxx Crosby (Raiders) and Myles Garrett (Browns) have raised the top of the position’s market. Garrett’s Cleveland extension carries an annual average value of $40MM, a figure which will no doubt play a role in Cowboys-Parsons negotiations.
Recent reporting on that front indicated serious contract talks have yet to take place, and NFL Network’s Jane Slater adds no offer has been submitted at this point. Parsons and owner Jerry Jones have been in communication “many times” during the offseason, per Slater, which comes as no surprise. The 25-year-old indicated last month a plan was in place regarding an extension, and preliminary talks opened up earlier in March. This latest update makes it clear, however, that considerable work is still to be done for an agreement to be reached.
Parsons missed only one game across his first three seasons in Dallas, recording between 13 and 14 sacks each year. The Penn State product was limited to 13 contests in 2024, but he still managed 12 sacks and 46 quarterback pressures (the second-highest total of his career). Expectations will be high for continued production on a multi-year deal, one which will of course take into account the cap commitments already made to the likes of quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Dallas had DeMarcus Lawrence in place as part of a starting tandem with Parsons for four years, but the team did not make an offer to the former before seeing him depart for Seattle as a free agent. Veteran Dante Fowler returned to the Cowboys, and he joins an edge rush group which also features recent draftees Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland. Retaining cost-effective options at the position will of course be key with Parsons representing a major long-term cap commitment once his deal is in place.
Per Slater, discussions between team and player took place at the Combine but nothing substantive has transpired since then. She adds Parsons’ camp is open to further talks at any time, and it will be interesting to see if negotiations are pursued in the near future as a result.
J.J. McCarthy Fully Healed; Latest On Vikings’ QB Plans
Aaron Rodgers has yet to make his final decision for the 2025 season, but it appears his preferred choice of signing with the Vikings will not come to fruition. Minnesota will still likely be in the market for a veteran passer even with J.J. McCarthy currently atop the depth chart, though. 
The No. 10 pick in last year’s draft missed his entire rookie campaign due to a meniscus tear, but his rehab has gone well. McCarthy went as far as to say during his recent Up And Adams appearance that he is 100% healthy (video link). As a result, he is positioned to handle a heavy workload during the spring in anticipation of training camp and the 2025 campaign.
With Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones each departing in free agency, though, Minnesota needs to add at least one depth passer. Only McCarthy and Brett Rypien are on the roster as things stand, a factor which helps explain the fact Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has not fully closed the door to a Rodgers signing. The four-time MVP continues to be linked most closely with the Steelers, and an agreement on that front would leave Minnesota with a short list of veteran signal-callers to choose from.
“At every checkpoint, whether it been the draft process or practice until the injury and really the offseason now, he’s met the bar,” Adofo-Mensah said when speaking about McCarthy’s rehab and development (via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert). “He’s exceeded our expectations at every point. So I don’t have the ability to tell you what the future is, but I can tell you what I expect to be the outcome this offseason from the competition.
“But it’s also our job to set up a quarterback room that’s going to have to… provide insurance in case somebody needs to come in for a couple of games. And that’s our job as a personnel department to look at all the options out there and make sure we’re setting ourselves up for the best case we can.”
Adofo-Mensah added the Vikings could wait until after the draft before making any moves under center. Free agents signed past April 29 do not count against the compensatory pick formula, and as such movement could pick up after that date. Veterans like Joe Flacco, Carson Wentz and Drew Lock are unsigned at this point; if that remains the case after the draft – by which point Rodgers’ future will likely be clear – Minnesota could pursue one of them as McCarthy insurance.
The Vikings sport an offense with an upgraded O-line, a skill-position group led by wideout Justin Jefferson and reigning Coach of the Year Kevin O’Connell. Expectations will be high for the unit regardless of who is in place as quarterback for 2025, and McCarthy remains on track to handle those duties without serious offseason competition.
2025 NFL Draft Rumors: Saints, Packers, Falcons, Revel
The Saints continue to stay busy having visits with 2025 NFL Draft prospects, according to multiple reports from Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.
Last night, the team hosted several Georgia players for dinner, including a top defensive end prospect in Mykel Williams as well as wide receiver Arian Smith. They also reportedly had dinner this week with Pittsburgh tight end Gavin Bartholomew, a likely Day 3 prospect whose name has not been making the rounds this early in the process. Lastly, the team was in Knoxville today reportedly meeting with some Tennessee players, including running back Dylan Sampson and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott.
Underhill adds that the team has been doing a ton of work during the pre-draft process on running backs. Even though lead back Alvin Kamara had a career-high 950 rushing yards in 2024, combined with 543 receiving yards, the sheer depth of this year’s class of running back prospects nearly ensures that quality backs will be available into the fourth or fifth round. Dane Brugler of The Athletic has eight running backs listed in his top 100 prospects list, so it makes sense that New Orleans is doing its homework on the position.
Here are a few other rumors concerning possibilities in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- The Packers currently have eight picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, but if general manager Brian Gutekunst has anything to say about it, they could be angling for more. According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, when asked about not having many picks this year, Gutekunst added the addendum “yet” to the end of the statement, indicating that he would have some interest in acquiring more picks via trade. Green Bay currently sits at No. 23 overall in the first round. It’s been posited that many teams from pick No. 20 on are looking to trade back out of the first round due to a lack of elite, top-end talent in this year’s class, as opposed to the tremendous depth the class seems to provide. Unfortunately, due to that same issue, there are going to be few, if any, takers willing to give up precious draft capital to move up into the first round.
- One trend we seem to be seeing shows the Falcons as likely candidates to go defense in the first round of the draft. Josh Kendall of The Athletic selected safety Nick Emmanwori in the site’s beat writer mock draft, and the other players he says he considered with the pick, safety Malaki Starks, linebackers Jalon Walker and Jihaad Campbell, cornerback Will Johnson, and edges Mike Green and Shemar Stewart, all reside on the defensive side of the ball. Kendall bases this belief that the team will go defense off of new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich wanting to build a new, uniquely hybrid defense.
- Lastly, Ryan Fowler of The Draft Network reported today that the Cowboys will be hosting East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel for a top-30 visit next week. We know that Revel is attempting to make a comeback from a torn ACL that ended his final collegiate season after only three games and that he is projected to be back in time for training camp. What makes this an interesting visit is that, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Revel’s ACL repair surgery was performed by Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper, likely giving the franchise a uniquely exclusive insight on his prognosis and recovery.
Draft Rumors: Pro Days, Jackson, Taylor
We’re in the thick of Pro Day Season and, while some of the 2025 NFL Draft’s top quarterbacks are showing out after not throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine, some of the draft’s top pass rushers have chosen to sit out of their pro days. Two of the class’s top pass rushing prospects, Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, have made the decision not to work out at their respective pro day events.
Carter’s announcement, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, was relayed by his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who said that his client was “still finishing up rehab on the shoulder injury” he suffered during the College Football Playoff game against Boise State. He won’t work out at the pro day but will still be measured, which is important because he didn’t get measured at the combine after having to leave early for medicals, according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic. Rosenhaus added that Carter may still work out at private team workouts in mid-April.
Stewart also missed workouts at both the combine and his team’s pro day, per Tony Pauline of sportskeeda. Stewart, a former five-star high school recruit, is a true physical specimen, but after only recording 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons of play with the Aggies, scouts were hoping to get some insight via pre-draft workouts. If he still goes in the first round of the draft, as is currently projected, it will likely be solely based on traits over production.
Here are a couple other draft rumors on potential Day 1 prospects:
- Another pass rushing prospect, Arkansas’ Landon Jackson is hoping to work his way into the first round with Carter and Stewart. After a phenomenal combine performance that included a 4.68-second 40-yard dash, a 40.5-inch vertical jump, and a 10-foot-9 broad jump, Jackson continued to impress on the stopwatch with a three-cone drill timed at under seven seconds, per Pauline. While Jackson surprisingly sat out of defensive line drills in Fayetteville, he’s still being projected as an easy top-42 pick, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found himself getting selected on Day 1.
- Lastly, LSU tight end Mason Taylor had an impressive pro day in Baton Rouge, timing out from 4.58-4.62, depending on the stopwatch, on his 40-yard dash and repping out 28 on the bench press. While the Giants and Cowboys both ran him through some blocking drills, the only team with an official top-30 visit planned, per Pauline, is the Chargers.
QB Draft Notes: Browns, Dart, Milroe
We know that the Browns have been exploring the quarterback options in the 2025 NFL Draft, conducting a private workout with Miami’s Cam Ward following the Hurricanes’ pro day in Coral Gables. The holders of the No. 2 overall pick in the draft know, though, that Ward may not be available to them.
According to Tony Grossi of TheLandOnDemand.com, the Browns’ road trip didn’t end there. Grossi informs us that Cleveland’s general manager, Andrew Berry, and head coach, Kevin Stefanski, conducted private workouts with Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Alabama passer Jalen Milroe this week, as well. He adds that the two will finish their quarterback workouts when the travel to Boulder for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders pro day next Friday.
While Ward and Sanders seem like the only two possible choices for Cleveland with the second overall pick, the team’s interest in Dart and Milroe provide the potential that they could go for another position, taking Penn State’s Abdul Carter or Colorado’s Travis Hunter, at No. 2 and go for a quarterback in a later round. Dart has lately been cast as a potential first-rounder, but it’s perfectly reasonable to think that he might be available to Cleveland at the top of the second. Milroe, on the other hand, has been seen, at times, as a likely Day 3 pick, further expanding the Browns’ options for a rookie passer.
Here are a few other rumors concerning quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft:
- We’ve seen the Saints spend lots of time at dinner in the past week as they continue to meet with draft prospects. Per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, their latest dinner date was Dart, who met with the team tonight. The team previously held interest in Texas’ Quinn Ewers, hosting him and several of his teammates earlier this week. Dart getting picked at No. 9 overall by the Saints seems like an unlikely projection at the current moment, but Dart or Ewers on Day 2 could both be potential scenarios.
- Dart isn’t the only quarterback New Orleans saw today. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the team held a private workout today for Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord. While McCord hasn’t received a ton a press so far in the pre-draft process, he deserves some respect after leading the NCAA in passing yards and passing yards per game last year, being the only one in the country to out-pass Ward and even beating him in a head-to-head matchup. McCord could join Dart and Ewers as potential Day 2 or 3 options for the Saints.
- Lastly, Milroe has been getting more and more interest lately as rumors begin to swarm grouping him with Ward, Sanders, and Dart as a potential first-rounder. Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports said on The Herd today that “the Steelers really like Jalen Milroe” and may even consider drafting him at No. 21 overall. Cowherd believes that most teams sitting in the draft picks from Nos. 20-32 want to trade back out of the first round due to a lack of elite talent. Unfortunately, for that same reason, there likely won’t be many takers, and those teams will be forced to make a pick, even if overvalued. That pick for the Steelers could be Milroe as they only roster Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson at the moment and they continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers. Even if Rodgers signs, they would view Rodgers as a stopgap option, with Milroe as the future. As they examine the landscape of quarterbacks available, they believe Milroe is far more athletic than any other options and want to do something special at the quarterback position.
Previous Jets Regime Considered 2025 Quincy Williams Extension
Jamien Sherwood‘s market producing the result it did creates an interesting issue for a new Jets regime. A special-teamer for three seasons, Sherwood stood out subbing for the injured C.J. Mosley in 2024. The result: a three-year, $45MM contract — agreed to just before free agency — that came with $30MM guaranteed at signing.
That deal matched Nick Bolton‘s second Chiefs contract, with both approaching Zack Baun‘s Eagles re-up. This trio helped provide a bump for the off-ball linebacker market, which had taken some hits in recent years. The market soon included three more eight-figure AAVs — in Robert Spillane (Patriots), Dre Greenlaw (Broncos) and Terrel Bernard (Bills). However, the Jets’ most accomplished linebacker is not among this expanding group.
Quincy Williams remains attached to a three-year, $18MM deal. Considering the multiyear Mosley ILB partner has a first-team All-Pro nod on his resume and has played well for four Jets teams, it would seem the team’s Darren Mougey-Aaron Glenn regime has an update to make. It is not yet known if they have another payday in mind for Williams, but ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini notes the Joe Douglas-Robert Saleh partnership was open to a 2025 extension.
As the off-ball linebacker market stagnated following the Fred Warner and Shaquille Leonard extensions in 2021, Williams expressed disappointment with the contract he ultimately received from the Jets. Re-signed months before younger brother Quinnen received a high-end extension, Quincy disagreed with the comps the Jets used in negotiations. That 2023 offseason saw a host of off-ball LBs sign deals in the Williams neighborhood, but the Jets received a bargain. The former Jaguars castoff soared to the All-Pro level during his first season on that contract and added another strong season in 2024, though last season brought front office and coaching staff overhauls.
Sherwood received a much better market for his services this year, as the cap had climbed by a staggering $55MM between the 2023 and ’25 offseasons, but only has one season as an LB regular on his resume. Sherwood, however, is nearly four years younger than Williams; the latter is going into his age-29 season. That adds to a potential Jets dilemma, one that likely soon will involve Williams taking issue with his now-low-middle-class contract. The Murray State alum, who posted four forced fumbles and two sacks to go with 14 tackles for loss this past season, has become one of the league’s top off-ball LBs. He is now the NFL’s 37th-highest-paid player at the position.
One of the top acquisitions of the Douglas era, Williams is now in a key period regarding earning potential. This will be the last last season of his 20s to market toward a lucrative contract, and a $15MM-per-year floor certainly makes sense for a player who has been one of the drivers for the Jets’ Saleh-Jeff Ulbrich-era defensive turnaround. It will be interesting to see how Glenn views the productive ILB, who is due a $6.5MM base salary in 2025.
Elsewhere on the Jets’ payroll, the team added Josh Myers for even cheaper than initial reports suggested. The four-year Packers center signed with the Jets on a one-year, $2MM deal, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. It is fully guaranteed. This is well outside the ballpark fellow free agent center Drew Dalman landed in, and it profiles as a “prove it” pact. Myers, though, does not have a clear path to starting in New York, which has its 2024 interior-line trio (John Simpson, Joe Tippmann, Alijah Vera-Tucker) returning.
Rounding out Jets O-line notes, the team’s Chukwuma Okorafor contract is worth $1.3MM, Cimini tweets. Despite bailing on the Patriots after one game last season, the former Steelers RT mainstay received $758K guaranteed. He will vie for time at tackle for a team that lost 2024 RT starter Morgan Moses to the Pats.
Falcons To Sign German-Born K Lenny Krieg
The Falcons are signing German-born kicker Lenny Krieg to a three-year deal, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
The 22-year-old Krieg 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 impressed once again at the NFL’s International Player Pathway pro day on Wednesday and scheduled visits with multiple teams.
Atlanta was his first and ultimately only stop. Expecting competition for Krieg’s signature, the Falcons offered him a three-year deal with a signing bonus and a base salary guarantee, per Garafolo. He will enter training camp competing with Younghoe Koo to be the team’s kicker in 2025.
Koo emerged as one of the league’s best kickers after his first three years in Atlanta, earning a five-year, $24.25MM extension to become one of the highest-paid players at his position. He took a step back over the next three years, culminating in a disappointing 2024 season. He ended the year on injured reserve after converting just 73.5% of his field goal attempts, his lowest in six years with the Falcons.
Krieg’s arrival in Atlanta – especially on a multi-year deal with guaranteed money – is a clear sign that Koo’s time as a Falcon may soon come to an end. The 30-year-old is due $8.75MM over the next two years, significantly less than Krieg is likely to earn on his contract. The Falcons would save $4.25MM in 2025 cap space by moving on from Koo after June 1, with $2.5MM in dead money split between 2025 and ’26.
Eagles To Reunite With OL Matt Pryor
The Eagles are reuniting with offensive lineman Matt Pryor, per Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pryor will sign a one-year deal to return to Philadelphia, where he started his NFL career as a sixth-round pick in 2018.
Pryor made the Eagles’ 53-man roster as a rookie but did not play in any games. He appeared in 12 games in 2019 exclusively on special teams before emerging as a versatile starter in 2020. Injuries to the Eagles offensive line pressed Pryor into action for 10 starts: six at left guard, three at right tackle, and one at right guard.
Pryor was then deemed surplus to requirements during final roster cuts in 2021 and traded to the Colts as part of a late-round pick swap. He started five games in Indianapolis, including three at left tackle to add even more versatility to his resume.
The Colts re-signed Pryor to a one-year, $5.5MM deal for the 2022 season. He started nine games across three different positions, but poor performance hurt his free agency stock, forcing him to take a veteran-minimum deal with the 49ers. He only played 42 snaps on offense in San Francisco and signed with the Bears in 2024. He took over the starting right guard role from Nate Davis in Week 3 and put together one of the strongest seasons of his career.
Pryor was interested in staying in Chicago after changing teams for three years in a row, but he will instead reunite with legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland in Philadelphia. The 30-year-old will likely compete for the starting right guard spot left vacant by the departure of Mekhi Becton to the Chargers.
Jets To Sign WR Josh Reynolds
The Jets are signing veteran wide receiver Josh Reynolds to a one-year deal worth up to $5MM, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The deal includes $2.75MM in fully guaranteed money with another $2.25MM available via incentives, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Jets’ new regime is very familiar with Reynolds. General manager Darren Mougey helped bring Reynolds to Denver during free agency last year when he was the Broncos’ assistant GM. Reynolds spent the previous 2.5 seasons in Detroit, where he worked closely with then-Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand. Engstrand is now the Jets’ offensive coordinator under new head coach Aaron Glenn, who also overlapped with Reynolds in Detroit.
After releasing Davante Adams and letting Tyler Conklin walk in free agency, the Jets needed to add an experienced pass-catcher to their offense. The team is expected to release Allen Lazard after June 1, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, and the rest of their wideouts outside of Garrett Wilson have combined for 12 career starts.
Reynolds fits the bill with 55 starts across eight years, plus an understanding of what Engstrand wants to do on offense. Two of the best seasons of Reynold’s career came in Detroit in 2022 and 2023 before a hand injury hampered him in 2024. Finding a similar role in New York may help the 30-year-old build on the success he found the last time he played under Engstrand.
The 6-foot-3 wideout has spent most of his time on the outside, though he also has plenty of experience lining up in the slot. He is also known as a strong run blocker, another plus for a Jets offense that figures to take a run-heavy approach with their young backfield of Justin Fields, Breece Hall, and Braelon Allen.
Since Reynolds was released by the Jaguars earlier this month, his signing will not count towards the compensatory pick formula (if his APY even qualified).
