NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/6/25
Seahawks Rework Leonard Williams’ Deal
With the new league year approaching, teams on currently on pace to be over the 2025 salary cap have work to do on the cost-cutting front. The Seahawks are among them, and they have manufactured some breathing room through simple means. 
Seattle has restructured defensive lineman Leonard Williams‘ contract, as detailed by Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald. The team converted $18.75MM in base salary into a bonus while adding two void years to the pact. As a result, Williams’ 2025 cap charge has been lowered from $29.1MM to $14.06MM.
The Seahawks pulled off a midseason trade for Williams in 2023, and he had a strong 10-game run to close out the campaign with his new team. That resulted in a three-year, $64.5MM deal being worked out last offseason to keep him in the Emerald City. The former Jet and Giant delivered a strong season in 2024, racking up 11 sacks and 16 tackles for loss en route to the second Pro Bowl nod of his career.
Given his production, Williams represented a logical candidate for such a financial move aimed at creating immediate cap space. The downside to this reworking, of course, is the effect it will have next offseason. Williams is now set to carry a 2026 cap hit of $29.64MM, something which could lead the team down the restructure path once again or lend itself to an extension. A decision on that front will be informed by the 30-year-old’s level of play on a defensive line which also includes veteran Dre’Mont Jones and 2024 first-rounder Byron Murphy.
While this Williams move helps Seattle’s immediate financial outlook, the team is still projected to be more than $13MM over the cap for 2025. More maneuvering will therefore be needed, especially once the official cap ceiling for next season is unveiled.
Patriots Announce 2025 Coaching Staff
Along with the hiring of new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel came the addition of two new coordinators, as well, in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. Each coordinator went about building their new staffs, with lots of new names arriving in New England over the past few weeks. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported the final lineup today. 
On offense, we had already heard about the hirings of quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant, wide receivers coach Todd Downing, and offensive assistant Riley Larkin. We had also been informed that Thomas Brown, Doug Marrone, and Jason Houghtaling had been hired, but we weren’t yet made aware of their positions. Reiss’ report tells us that Brown will serve as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator, Marrone will be offensive line coach, and Houghtaling will be assistant offensive line coach under Marrone.
New information tells us that, joining Houghtaling as an assistant offensive line coach under Marrone, Robert Kugler has been retained from last year’s staff. Kugler held the same position with the Texans and Panthers before joining the Patriots as an assistant offensive line coach last year. We also learned that Tony Dews has been hired as running backs coach. Dews served the same position under Vrabel during his tenure in Tennessee (including one year as tight ends coach) before spending last year as running backs coach for the Jets. Lastly on offense, Chuckie Keeton‘s coaching journey continues in New England after he debuted for the Seahawks as an offensive assistant last year.
On defense, we had already heard of the hirings of Zak Kuhr, Scott Booker, and Clint McMillan, as well as the retention of Ben McAdoo, but thanks to Reiss, we now know that Kuhr will serve as inside linebackers coach, Booker as safeties coach, and McMillan as defensive line coach. McAdoo served last year as a senior offensive assistant for the team, and in 2025, he will switch sides of the ball as a senior defensive assistant. Reiss also informed us that defensive assistant Vinny DePalma was retained in the same role. Last year was his first year in the NFL — or coaching period — after finishing his collegiate playing career as a linebacker at Boston College.
Reiss also reported four defensive hirings. We had heard that the Patriots were targeting Colts assistant defensive backs coach Justin Hamilton, and Reiss has him listed as the team’s new safeties coach. Hamilton held a defensive quality control coaching role on the Titans during Vrabel’s last year in Tennessee before landing his role in Indianapolis last year. The Patriots have also hired Mike Smith as outside linebackers coach. Smith has held the same role previously with the Chiefs, Packers, and Vikings but spent last year away from coaching. Lastly, the Patriots announced the hirings of Milton Patterson and Kevin Richardson as defensive assistants. Patterson makes his NFL coaching debut after five seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Florida A&M. Richardson is likewise debuting as a coach in the NFL following two seasons as assistant defensive backs coach at Illinois.
Finally, on special teams, we learned that Tom Quinn has been retained as assistant special teams coach. We knew that special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer had been retained, and while we don’t know his exact fate, Coby Tippett, a special teams assistant coach last year, was not included in today’s staff announcements. We also learned that Deron Mayo was retained as strength and conditioning coach despite his brother’s dismissal as head coach.
There you have it: the Patriots 2025 coaching staff. There are lots of areas that need improvement in order for the Patriots to see success next season, but it all starts with the coaching staff. Vrabel returns with head coaching experience under his belt, and he will try to bring some of the success he had as head coach at Tennessee with him to New England.
Texans Announce New President, Other Staff Updates
About two weeks ago, the Texans announced that they were parting ways with team president Greg Grissom after 23 years with the franchise. It didn’t take long for Houston to identify his replacement, announcing early the following week that Mike Tomon would be stepping into the role.
Tomon was a 2015 winner of the Sports Business Journal’s “40 under 40” award and was recognized as a Top 500 Business Leader by Dallas Magazine in 2024. Before all that, Tomon held senior roles with three NBA franchises (the Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, and Phoenix Suns) with a focus on premium ticketing, partnerships, and strategy, before serving as senior vice president of global partnerships at AEG. All of this led to his addition to Legends in 2014.
At Legends, where Tomon most recently served as co-president & chief operating officer, he was responsible for global operations, including domestic and international revenue generation. His time at Legends saw the company establish partnerships with soccer brands Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and FIFA, as well as the Rugby World Cup. He’s also been involved in commercial engagements for NFL venues like SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, Highmark Stadium, and The Star in Frisco. He also lent a hand with the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Tomon’s myriad business experience will serve him well in his new role atop the team’s business operations. As team president, Tomon will be tasked with overseeing the direction and management of said operations, specifically with marketing, communications, broadcasting, ticket sales and services, event services, corporate sponsorship, community relations, accounting, legal, human resources, and general administration.
In addition to the announcement of their new team president, Ian Rapoport reported yesterday that assistant offensive line coach Cole Popovich has been promoted to offensive line coach and run game coordinator. This was a predictable outcome following the team’s firing of former offensive line coach Chris Strausser. Popovich had drawn offensive line coach interest a year ago from other teams, but the Texans were able to hold on to him as assistant offensive line coach with a “revamped contract.”
Lastly, we saw news yesterday from Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 that Rams senior offensive assistant Jerry Schuplinski is expected to be hired by Houston. Schuplinski is most notably known as a former assistant quarterbacks coach with the Patriots over Tom Brady. Since leaving New England, Schuplinski has bounced around with time as the Dolphins assistant quarterbacks coach, the Giants quarterbacks coach, and the Raiders tight ends coach before landing in Los Angeles last year. His experience could be valuable to a talented, young offensive group in Houston.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/5/25
Wednesday’s only reserve/futures deal around the NFL:
Cincinnati Bengals
- CB Jalen Davis
The veteran undrafted cornerback has spent the last five years in Cincinnati after originally signing with the Dolphins and spending a year with the Cardinals, as well. He’s served mostly as a depth corner and special teamer in the past, and spent last year on the practice squad, getting elevated twice for game action.
Eagles Designate Brandon Graham, C.J. Uzomah For Return
FEBRUARY 5: Graham views it as likely he will suit up for a third Super Bowl. It should be expected the Eagles activate Graham by Saturday’s deadline, as the 15th-year defensive end said (via FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz) he is on track to play against the Chiefs.
JANUARY 30: Viewed as likely to miss the rest of the season upon suffering a torn triceps muscle in November, Brandon Graham held out hope for a return if the Eagles booked a Super Bowl trip. Now that Super Bowl LIX will feature Philadelphia, the Eagles will see about a potential comeback.
Graham, who had said before this season he would retire after it wrapped, will practice Thursday. The Eagles designated the 15th-year defensive end and tight end C.J. Uzomah for return. Additionally, the Eagles signed running back Lew Nichols to their practice squad and released tight end Nick Muse.
A Graham comeback would be significant for the Eagles, who have dealt with injuries to both he and Bryce Huff this season. Huff has since returned, though he is playing behind starters Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith in Vic Fangio‘s defense. Graham, 36, had already topped his 2023 full-season totals for sacks and QB hits in 11 games this season. The longest-tenured player in Eagles history was sitting on 3.5 and seven, respectively, in those categories when he went down against the Rams.
As PFR’s coaching trackers have become more prominent, revisiting our IR Return Tracker shows the Eagles with four IR activations left. Teams received two more in the playoffs this year, marking a change from the NFL’s 2022 and ’23 setups under its current format. Graham and Uzomah join return man Britain Covey in the practice window. The team will not activate defensive lineman Byron Young, whose practice window expired this week.
Philly has not produced the prolific sack numbers it carried into Super Bowl LVII, but Fangio’s defense has improved significantly from where it was under Sean Desai and Matt Patricia last season. The Eagles led the league in yards allowed and finished second in scoring. While the Chiefs have not closely reminded of their 2022 offense this season, only eclipsing 30 points one time, the Patrick Mahomes-led unit proved it still had firepower last week by hanging 32 on the Bills. The Eagles having one more pass-rushing option could be significant, as the Chiefs have proven historically reliable in close games.
The Eagles re-signed Graham on a one-year, $4MM deal last March. Having broken Chuck Bednarik‘s record for service time as an Eagle, Graham said to start training camp he would make this season his last. After the injury, Graham was less definitive. But returning in time for the Super Bowl could provide a fitting conclusion — well, should it go the Eagles’ way.
Graham, of course, delivered his signature play in a Super Bowl by forcing a Tom Brady fumble to set up Philly’s game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII. The Patriots entered that game having qualified for seven straight conference championships; the Chiefs are now riding the same streak, and the Eagles are all that stand in the way of Kansas City becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. That stands to make a potential Graham return a closely monitored situation.
Uzomah sustained an abdominal injury in Week 17. The former Bengals Super Bowl starter has not played a regular role with the Eagles. A Jets cap casualty in 2024, Uzomah has played in seven Eagles games but has not caught a pass. He would serve as depth behind Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/4/25
Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts signed around the NFL:
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Washington Commanders
- OT Bobby Hart
Hart has not played in the NFL since 2022, but he played 98 games over the preceding eight seasons. He has 67 career starts, mostly at right tackle, but only has one year with a Pro Football Focus grade above 60.0 (subscription required).
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 2/3/25
Today’s reserve/futures contracts:
New England Patriots
Seattle Seahawks
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 2/1/25
Some practice squad transactions for today:
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: TE Nick Muse
- Released: RB Lew Nichols
Chris Hewitt Parts Ways With Ravens, Joins Colts
The Ravens defensive staff was ransacked by opposing coaching staffs last offseason as they lost former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald (Seahawks head coach), defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson (Titans defensive coordinator), and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver (Dolphins defensive coordinator). Baltimore was able to hold on to inside linebackers coach Zachary Orr by promoting him to defensive coordinator, but with so many departed pieces from his staff, a bit of a drop off was expected. 
One area in which the Ravens weren’t expecting a drop off was pass defense. Although, like Wilson, Weaver, and Orr, pass-game coordinator & secondary coach Chris Hewitt also received some defensive coordinator interest last offseason, Baltimore was able to retain Hewitt by granting him the additional title of assistant head coach. Unfortunately, after watching an abysmal pass defense handicap the team for the first 10 weeks of the season, the Ravens and Hewitt “agreed to mutually part ways,” per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Viewed as a strength of the defense coming into the season, the Ravens secondary returned starting safeties Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams and starting cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens while also adding veteran safety Eddie Jackson in free agency, rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins through the draft, and nickelback Ar’Darius Washington in return from injury. With such outstanding depth, the Ravens looked forward to being able to use their defensive ace Hamilton as a utility defender all over the field and being able to employ Washington in the slot, giving them the potential to field an effective dime personnel most of the time.
Unfortunately, Williams and Jackson took major steps backwards in 2024, both ending the season among the 10 bottom-ranked safeties in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Stephens similarly struggled in 2024, ranking as the 100th-best cornerback in the league out of 118 players graded by PFF and getting targeted frequently as a result. Through 10 weeks, Baltimore’s defense ranked dead-last in total defense, despite fielding a league-best rushing defense.
Eventually, the team was able to turn things completely around, but it required the team to cut Jackson and bench Williams. This moved Hamilton and Washington back into the safety positions and moved Humphrey more into a nickelback role, opening the door for more opportunities for Wiggins on the outside. The defense ranked at the top of the league in many categories over the last seven weeks of the regular season as a result, but it appears the damage was already done.
Following the rocky start to the 2024 campaign, Hewitt’s time in Baltimore came to an end. Hewitt had been in Baltimore since 2012, when he was first hired as defensive backs coach. After eight years in that role, he was promoted to pass defense coordinator for two years before adding secondary coach to his title for two more. This was his first and only season with the assistant head coach moniker, which he took over from Weaver.
Luckily, Hewitt has quickly rebounded. Three days after Pelissero’s initial report, the NFL Network reporter has followed up with the announcement that Hewitt has been hired as pass game coordinator/secondary coach for the Colts. It will be only the second NFL franchise Hewitt has worked with in his long coaching career.
Hewitt will fill the role left vacant when defensive backs coach Ron Milus was dismissed. He joins defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and linebackers coach James Bettcher as new additions to the defensive staff in Indianapolis.