Colts Finalize Defensive Coaching Staff
The Colts have announced their finalized coaching staff for the 2025 NFL season, per Mike Chappell of FOX59. No changes were necessary on the offensive or special teams sides of Shane Steichen‘s coaching staff, but with the arrival of new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo from Cincinnati, there were a couple changes to the defensive staff. 
To preface, Anarumo didn’t actually make very many updates to the defensive staff that had coached under former coordinator Gus Bradley in 2024. The newcomer made the decisions to retain defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, senior assistant/defensive line coach Matt Raich, assistant linebackers coach Cato June, defensive quality control coach Brent Jackson, defensive assistant Brent Stockstill, and both Tony Dungy Diversity Coaching Fellows Diego Ortiz and Kalon Humphries.
The changes that were made to the staff were already reported or mentioned, as well. We noted already that James Bettcher landed as linebackers coach after defensive coordinator gigs in Arizona and New York, and we also reported that Chris Hewitt departed Baltimore to accept a role as pass game coordinator/secondary coach under Anarumo.
The other new hire was someone we had noted that Indianapolis had interest in. About a week ago, we relayed that the Colts were targeting veteran defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson for a role on their staff, noting that with Hewitt as secondary coach, Henderson’s role may be unclear. Regardless of Hewitt’s title, Henderson was brought on to serve as defensive backs coach, per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Henderson has served as defensive backs coach for the Jets (2008), Browns (2009-11), Cowboys (2012-15), and Giants (2020-24) with additional years as a defensive passing game coordinator for the Falcons (2016-19) and the Giants last year.
Browns OT Dawand Jones Underwent Knee Surgery
Dawand Jones recently went under the knife. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Browns left tackle underwent arthroscopic knee surgery.
The procedure was intended to clean up a knee injury that lingered during the 2024 campaign. Fowler says the hope is that Jones will begin running soon and will be at full health for the start of training camp, but his recovery will obviously be worth watching.
Jones has struggled with injuries during his brief career. The former fourth-round pick got into 11 games as a rookie before suffering a season-ending MCL injury. He played through his knee issue in 10 games last year before going down with a broken fibula.
In total, the lineman has appeared in 21 games (17 starts) in his two seasons in the NFL. His knee troubles may have contributed to his poor showing in 2024, as Pro Football Focus ranked the lineman 77th among 81 qualifying OTs. Jones had a much better showing in 2023, finishing 48th among 81 qualifiers in those same rankings.
Despite the injuries and inconsistent play, the Browns are still hoping the 23-year-old can be their answer at left tackle. Jones will be penciled into the starting lineup opposite Jack Conklin to open the offseason, although that’s mostly because the rest of the team’s tackle depth (including James Hudson, Jedrick Wills, and Germain Ifedi) is set to hit free agency.
Raiders Expected To Cut Gardner Minshew?
As the new Raiders regime looks to retool their quarterbacks depth chart, some of the team’s incumbent signal callers may be pushed off the roster. That would naturally include the team’s highest-paid QB, as Tashan Reed of The Athletic writes that Gardner Minshew is a release candidate heading into the offseason.
Minshew inked a two-year, $25MM deal with the Raiders last offseason, and the organization is still on the hook for some guaranteed money for the 2025 campaign. That contract does contain an out, but it would only provide the Raiders with about $3MM in relief while leaving close to $11MM in dead cap.
Reed says the more realistic route would see Minshew released via a post-June 1 designation. In that scenario, the Raiders would free up $6MM in cap space since the QB’s dead cap hit would be spread across the 2025 ($7.82MM) and 2026 ($3MM) campaigns. It’s a less-than-desirable outcome for the front office, but there’s still enough incentive to move on from the veteran.
Minshew’s first (and likely lone) season in Las Vegas couldn’t have gone much worse. The Raiders went 2-7 in his nine starts, with Minshew finishing with a career-low touchdown percentage (2.9) and a career-high interception rate (3.3). The 28-year-old was replaced a handful of times by Aidan O’Connell before getting definitively benched in November.
After going 7-6 as a starter with the Colts in 2023, Minshew seemed like a logical bridge or stopgap QB heading into last offseason. Assuming the QB ends up reaching free agency via his release, he may have to settle into a similar backup role he had with the Eagles in 2021 and 2022.
With Pete Carroll and John Spytek now running the operation (along with Tom Brady‘s heavy influence), it seemed very unlikely that the Raiders would roll into the 2025 campaign with the same QB grouping. O’Connell still remains under contract, but the organization will surely be looking for some reinforcement at the position. The team has already been connected to a handful of veteran options, including Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, and Marcus Mariota. The Raiders are also armed with the sixth-overall pick and could be in position to select one of the draft’s top QB prospects.
Saints Hire Brandon Staley As DC
The Saints are hiring former Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their next defensive coordinator, per Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
Staley has been a top candidate for the Saints’ DC gig ever since Kellen Moore was hired as head coach. Moore was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2023, Staley’s last season as head coach. Staley was fired before the end of the regular season and spent 2024 as an assistant head coach with the 49ers. He interviewed with the Saints last weekend and emerged as the favorite for the job, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
2025 will be Staley’s ninth season coaching in the NFL. He began his career at the college level before moving to the pros as an outside linebackers coach under Vic Fangio in Chicago (2017-2018) and Denver (2019). Staley was then hired by the Rams in 2020 as defensive coordinator. His defense finished first in total points and yards allowed, which helped him land the Chargers’ head-coaching gig after just one year as a coordinator.
Staley led the Chargers to a 9-8 record in his debut season with a top-five offense under second-year quarterback Justin Herbert. A 10-7 record in 2022 was enough for a playoff berth as a wild card, though the Chargers lost to the Jaguars in the first round. 2023 saw significant regression on both sides of the ball, leading to Staley’s firing after a 5-9 start. Of particular concern was the Chargers’ defensive struggles during his tenure; the team never finished higher than 20th in points or yards allowed across his three seasons.
Staley’s history with Fangio likely helped him land the job in New Orleans. Fangio is currently the Eagles’ defensive coordinator and worked with Moore in Philadelphia last season. The two led elite units on either side of the ball to a 14-3 record in the regular season and a victory in Super Bowl LIX. Staley will likely install a scheme similar to Fangio’s in New Orleans in an effort to turn around a Saints defense that allowed the third-most yards in the NFL in 2024.
The Saints may face criticism for their hiring process. Their other two candidates, Daronte Jones and Christian Parker, are both minorities. Given Staley’s early status as a frontrunner for the job, the Saints’ meetings with Jones and Parker could be seen as sham interviews that were only conducted so the team could comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
New Orleans also considered some college coaches for their defensive coordinator vacancy, including Colorado DC Robert Livingston, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. Here is a final update on their search:
- George Edwards, outside linebackers coach (Buccaneers): Mentioned as candidate
- Daronte Jones, defensive pass-game coordinator (Vikings): To interview 2/15
- Robert Livingston, defensive coordinator (University of Colorado): Was under consideration
- Christian Parker, passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach (Eagles): Interviewed 2/16
- Brandon Staley, assistant head coach (49ers): Hired
Jaguars Hire James Gladstone As GM
The Jaguars are hiring Rams director of scouting strategy James Gladstone as their next general manager, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The team confirmed the hire via social media, and Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport) calling Gladstone “exceptional in every regard.” Gladstone will reunite with Liam Coen, a Rams assistant from 2018-20 and their OC in 2022. Although Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham was viewed as the frontrunner, it certainly makes sense Coen would want a former coworker to start fresh with him in Jacksonville.
Gladstone will become the youngest general manager in the league at 34 years old. He was previously a high school coach in St. Louis before being hired by Rams general manager Les Snead. Gladstone has spent the last eight years in Los Angeles including the last four as director of scouting strategy. Gladstone will become a GM four years after former Rams staffer Brad Holmes took over in Detroit. Holmes’ Lions success surely did not hurt Gladstone’s chances, though Coen’s status in Jacksonville probably played a bigger role here.
The Rams consistently hit on their draft picks in Gladstone’s tenure despite trading away most of their first-round picks. He will hope to bring that success to Jacksonville, which had an inconsistent drafting record under Trent Baalke. The Jaguars currently hold the fifth overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, giving Gladstone a chance to add an elite prospect with his first pick as GM.
Snead may look to an internal promotion to replace Gladstone in Los Angeles. Candidates could include director of data and analytics Jake Temme and scouting strategist Nicole Blake, per Jordan Rodrigue of The Athletic.
Gladstone was not considered a frontrunner for the Jaguars’ GM job when the team first requested to interview him, partially because he was not considered for any of the other vacancies this hiring cycle. He impressed team decision-makers enough in his first interview to earn a second, solidifying him as a finalist for the job in Jacksonville. Now, he will team up with Coen in an effort to rebuild the team after a 4-13 showing in 2024.
The Jaguars’ GM vacancy was the last to be filled of this year’s hiring cycle, so Gladstone will have to move quickly to prepare the roster for free agency. Jacksonville currently has just under $40MM in cap space, but could create another $35MM of room by moving on from Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, and Josh Reynolds. Reynolds made just one catch in 2024 and won’t be worth his $4.26MM cap hit next season. Kirk and Engram both played well in 2022 and 2023, but experienced a downtick in production last year before going down with season-ending injuries. They represent the team’s two biggest cap hits in 2025, so the new regime may prefer to cut ties rather than extend players they didn’t originally sign.
Gladstone beat out a number of veteran executives for the GM role in Jacksonville in what Khan called “a painstaking but energizing interview process.” Below is a full list of their candidates:
- Chad Alexander, assistant general manager (Chargers): Interviewed 2/13
- Brandon Brown, assistant general manager (Giants): Interviewed 2/13; strong contender?
- Trey Brown, senior personnel executive (Bengals): Interviewed 2/12
- Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager (Bears): Conducted second interview 2/19
- James Gladstone, scouting director (Rams): Hired
- Terrance Gray, vice president of player personnel (Bills): Interviewed 2/12
- Mike Greenberg, assistant general manager (Buccaneers): Declined interview
- Champ Kelly, assistant general manager (Raiders): Interviewed 2/14
- Jon Robinson, former general manager (Titans): One of top candidates?; Interviewed 2/13
- Jon-Eric Sullivan, vice president of player personnel (Packers): Conducted second interview 2/20
- Ethan Waugh, interim general manager (Jaguars): Strong candidate?; Interviewed 2/20
- Josh Williams, director of scouting and football operations (49ers): Conducted second interview 2/19
49ers WR Deebo Samuel Worth Day 3 Pick?
The 49ers-Deebo Samuel road has been a rocky one for some time now. After a hold-in led to a new deal in 2022, it didn’t take long for trade talks to circulate involving one (and eventually both) of the team’s top wide receivers. The veteran weapon was not moved, in part due to the 49ers’ lack of satisfaction with the offers that were coming in for him, and this offseason doesn’t appear likely to bring in bigger offers. 
During an appearance on The John Keim Report, ESPN’s Nick Wagoner gave his opinion on Samuel’s trade value in 2025. He reminded us that, last year, it was teammate Brandon Aiyuk who was getting the Round 1 and 2 offers that San Francisco was hoping to get for Samuel. Samuel, on the other hand, was receiving interest from teams with late-Day 2 offers or worse. This offseason, Wagoner predicts that the offers will all be picks from Day 3 of the draft.
Part of that is due to performance and health issues from Samuel since his extension was signed. Another part of it is the publicity of the situation. As Wagoner states, the 49ers are dead set on moving on from Samuel, and Samuel is dead set on moving on from the 49ers, and the whole of the NFL world knows this. This total transparency doesn’t give either side much bargaining power over a new team interested in acquiring Samuel’s talents.
Michael David Smith of NBC Sports goes as far as to say that, though many teams appear to be interested in Samuel, their pursuit may not come via trade offers. Smith indicates that teams could continue to lowball the 49ers with their trade offers knowing that the 49ers could cut Samuel if they can’t work out a trade. At that point, Samuel’s free agency would become fair game for everyone.
This decision by San Francisco would likely need to occur by March 22. That day, a month from now, is the date on which the team would owe Samuel a $15.4MM option bonus if he’s still on the roster. If the 49ers can’t work out a trade by then, it seems extremely likely that they would cut Samuel, knowing that both sides are dead set on moving on from each other. Opposing teams seeking to acquire the 29-year-old would then just need to wait the 49ers out in order to avoid spending draft capital in securing Samuel’s services.
Sam Darnold Deal Possible In Minnesota; Franchise Tag Unlikely
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler appeared on SportsCenter today and dropped an interesting update on the situation regarding free agent quarterback Sam Darnold. While Darnold has been viewed as a potential franchise tag candidate, Fowler’s report seems to indicate that that would not be the most likely option for the Vikings. 
With the way the franchise tag costs are determined, the projected cost for tagging a quarterback is around $42.39MM. Minnesota’s stance is reportedly that they don’t intend to “mortgage their future” in order to retain the 27-year-old quarterback who led them to a 14-3 record last season. That doesn’t mean that the team isn’t open to retaining Darnold on a new contract. Fowler indicates that if Darnold fetches big bucks on the free agent market, they would likely let him walk, but a reasonable deal could see Darnold return for another season.
The main takeaway from the report is that the Vikings still view first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy as their future at the position. The No. 10 overall pick in last year’s draft missed his entire rookie season after fully tearing the meniscus in his right knee. The expectation is that, whether it takes six, 12, or 18 months, McCarthy will eventually take over as QB1, and if someone else is starting in 2025, it’s merely as a placeholder.
That mentality makes the approach to Darnold’s contract make a lot of sense. As much as the team would love to have Darnold back after his breakout season, a cost anywhere close to $40MM would be far too much for a bridge starter. Fowler offers that another veteran, Daniel Jones, would make far more sense as a re-signing. Jones spent the last six weeks of last season in Minnesota after getting waived by the Giants, giving him some familiarity. If the intention is to bring in a one-year starter until McCarthy is ready, Jones would certainly make more fiscal sense than Darnold.
It will all likely depend on just what Darnold fetches in the free agent market. The team is no longer expected to tag last year’s starter, and if his market isn’t very competitive, he may return on a reasonable deal. Otherwise expect McCarthy or a placeholder for McCarthy like Jones to be the plan for 2025.
Extension Talks Between Cowboys, Micah Parsons Have Not Started
Cowboys outside linebacker Micah Parsons has been extremely vocal about wanting to remain in Dallas under an extended contract, especially over the last three months. In what has become typical Cowboys fashion, though, talks between the two parties have not started, according to Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News. 
To be clear, this seems to directly conflict with a report from just over a week ago from the team’s website, following a meeting between Parsons and team owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones. After the meeting, Parsons stated that the talks went well and that “there’s definitely a plan in place.” The more recent report from Watkins seems to indicate that Jones and company didn’t take Parsons’ plan as seriously as Parsons did.
Typically, as Watkins points out, team officials will wait for the NFL Scouting Combine to start contract talks with players’ agents. While Parsons and Jones met in the building where Parsons laid out his expectations for what the team’s website called “an exceptionally complex and lucrative contract,” it appears the source with knowledge of the situation communicating with Watkins is indicating that those preliminary talks were just window dressing until the real talks with Parsons’ agents can begin.
This continues a worrying trend wherein Jones and the Cowboys seem to be operating with no sense of urgency. Waiting to secure extensions for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb last year cost the Cowboys millions as other players around the league set new markets at the same positions with their own extensions. Jones’ baffling decision to let former head coach Mike McCarthy‘s contract expire instead of firing him earlier not only gave every other team with an opening a head start on interviewing and hiring replacement head coaches, but he also allowed the assistant coaches’ contracts to expire. When he eventually promoted offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to the top position, the new head coach was unable to retain many of his assistants from 2024 as they had already started to explore other opportunities following the expiration of their deals.
In addition, not only have the Cowboys seemingly not been working night and day to retain their best defensive player (perhaps their best player overall) on a long-term deal, but there have also been internal discussions about trading the star pass rusher. With how unabashed Parsons has been about wanting to stay in Dallas, it’s truly stunning to see the Cowboys continue to slow play the situation and explore other options.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/21/25
Friday’s minor moves across the NFL:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Extended: LS Cal Adomitis
New England Patriots
- Signed ERFA tender: C Ben Brown, T Demontrey Jacobs
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: TE Donald Parham
Seattle Seahawks
- Waived: CB Ryan Cooper, WR Cornell Powell
Brown and Jacobs were both tendered by the Patriots yesterday and have agreed to their tenders today. As exclusive rights free agents, their options were to accept the tender offered to them or not play football in 2025.
Bengals Release DT Sheldon Rankins
The Bengals have released veteran defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, per a team announcement. Rankins was an expected cap casualty after missing most of the 2024 season.
He signed with the Bengals on a two-year, $24.5MM deal last March and started the first two games of the regular season before suffering a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three games. He returned in Week 6 and started Cincinnati’s next five games before coming down with a viral illness ahead of Week 11.
Details of the illness were not disclosed during the season, but it was revealed by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Rankins was battling viral meningitis. He was inactive for the next six games before landing on the non-football injury list to end the year. Rankins finished the season with 18 tackles (one for loss) and one sack, the latter being the lowest total of his career.
Cutting Rankins saves $9.6MM against the 2025 salary cap with $2MM in dead money, bringing the Bengals up to $62MM in salary cap space, per Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap. That will leave them with more than enough room to absorb an expected franchise tag for Tee Higgins and a lucrative extension for Ja’Marr Chase while still making much-needed improvements to their bottom-10 defense.
Teams will likely inquire about Rankins’ health before pursuing him in free agency. He joins a crowded defensive tackle market in which pass-rush upside will be prioritized.
The Texans were interested in re-signing Rankins last year after he recorded 6.0 sacks in Houston in 2023 and could renew their pursuit. He could also receive interest from the 49ers given his connection with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and the team’s need along the interior of their defensive line, according to the Bay Area News Group’s Cam Inman. Rankins played under new Bears DC Dennis Allen in New Orleans and could seek a reunion in Chicago.
However, the former first-round pick will be 31 when the 2025 season starts, likely putting him on the back end of his career. Rather than another multi-year contract, Rankins may have to accept a one-year deal to prove his health and rebuild his value this season.