HEADLINES

Transactions News & Rumors

Vikings Trade G Ed Ingram To Texans

March 13th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Cutting Shaq Mason and trading both Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green, the Texans are remodeling their offensive line. A recent second-round pick will also be part of this equation.

Ed Ingram is heading from Minnesota to Houston, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The Vikings will collect a sixth-round pick in this trade, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds. One season remains on Ingram’s rookie contract. The trade is now official.

The Vikings were considered likely to either adjust Ingram’s contract or cut him altogether. Instead, they found a trade partner and collected value above the pick-swap level. Minnesota will save $3.4MM by making this trade, and Ingram will secure another chance after being benched last season.

This trade helps bring the Texans’ O-line plan into focus. Most significantly, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson reports Tytus Howard is likely to shift to left tackle. Roving between left guard and right tackle recently, the former first-round pick has some LT experience from earlier in his career.

As Howard shifts to the other side, 2024 second-round pick Blake Fisher is expected to take over at RT. Reuniting with DeMeco Ryans, Laken Tomlinson is expected to man one guard spot after signing a one-year, $4.25MM deal that can max out at $5MM. Ingram may not be guaranteed another, as Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson — whichever player does not become the team’s starting center — will be in the mix for the other guard post.

Ingram, 26, has made 41 career starts. The LSU alum won the Vikings’ starting right guard job out of training camp in 2022 and held it throughout the 2023 season. Last year, however, Minnesota parked the struggling blocker before Week 11. Ingram did not play an offensive snap after that point. Pro Football Focus graded Ingram 66th among guard regulars last season. The advanced metrics site was kinder to the former No. 59 overall pick in 2023, ranking him 38th, but this trade continues to frame the Vikings’ 2022 draft as a dud.

The Vikings chose safety Lewis Cine in Round 1; they cut him last year. Minnesota took cornerback Andrew Booth several spots before Ingram in Round 2 that year; they traded him for a player (DB Nahshon Wright) they cut weeks later. While Wright remains on a reserve/futures deal, Minnesota has achieved success largely in spite of its first Kwesi Adofo-Mensah draft. Ingram has been the most successful of the Vikes’ top three picks that year, and he will attempt to rebound in Houston.

In part because Ingram did not pan out in the Twin Cities, the Vikings signed Will Fries to a five-year contract. Fries joins ex-Colts teammate Ryan Kelly as starters-to-be with the Vikes, and this duo gives Minnesota four veteran contracts along its offensive line. The team has Brian O’Neill at $18.5MM per year and gave Christian Darrisaw a $26MM-AAV extension last summer.

Howard replaced an injured Tunsil at LT during the second half of the 2021 season, impressing at the position en route to Houston picking up his fifth-year option and then extending him a year later. As Howard again moved inside last season, Fisher logged 291 snaps at RT as a rookie. The Texans appear set to move the Notre Dame product into their starting lineup on a full-time basis soon.

The Texans designated Mason as a post-June 1 cut, which will spread out the $12.48MM dead money over two offseasons. The twice-traded guard had started two years for the Texans, but a knee injury ended a lengthy ironman streak last season. Mason, 31, will be on the lookout for a fourth team.

49ers To Sign LS Jon Weeks, Cut LS Taybor Pepper

March 13th, 2025 at 9:48pm CST by Ben Levine

The 49ers have landed a new long snapper. The team is signing veteran Jon Weeks, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. This news follows a report from earlier today that the 49ers were cutting Taybor Pepper, per Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area.

Weeks is inking a one-year deal worth $1.422MM, according to Wilson. The deal contains $200K in guaranteed money.

Weeks was the longest-tenured player in Texans history, as the long snapper had been with the organization since the 2010 season. Over that time, he’s appeared in 244 games for Houston, including a 2015 season where he earned his lone Pro Bowl nod. According to Wilson, the 39-year-old was hoping to stick with the Texans, but the organization is apparently content moving forward with Tucker Addington.

Weeks will be replacing Pepper, who spent the past five seasons as the 49ers long snapper. After getting into 20 games with the Packers and Dolphins to begin his career, Pepper got into 80 games during his stint in San Francisco. The veteran was set to enter the final season of a three-year extension he inked in 2023.

“Wanted to end my career with the 49ers, but I’ve still got some years left in the tank,” Pepper wrote on X. “Love all the amazing players I’ve gotten to share the field with during my time. I’ll deeply miss all of the amazing support staff that continue to keep the org moving.”

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/13/25

March 13th, 2025 at 9:32pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Buccaneers To Sign OT Charlie Heck

March 13th, 2025 at 9:13pm CST by Ben Levine

The Buccaneers have added a new swing tackle. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, the Bucs are signing Charlie Heck to a one-year deal. The deal is worth $1.6MM.

A former fourth-round pick out of North Carolina, Heck spent the first four seasons of his career with the Texans. He got into 41 games during his stint in Houston, with 32 of his appearances coming between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The veteran re-signed with the organization last offseason but was cut at the end of the preseason. He quickly caught on with the Cardinals practice squad, and he proceeded to get into seven games for his new squad. He was snagged by the 49ers off Arizona’s taxi squad in December, and he garnered a pair of late-season starts for San Francisco.

The Buccaneers have their two tackle spots secured with Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke. Heck will provide the team with an experienced backup option, with 2023 UDFA Elijah Klein representing the team’s only other in-house option at the moment.

Patriots To Release C David Andrews

March 13th, 2025 at 8:55pm CST by Adam La Rose

TODAY, 8:55pm: The Patriots officially released David Andrews, with the move coming with a failed physical designation, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.

TODAY, 8:25am: After 10 years and nine seasons with the Patriots, David Andrews‘ tenure in the organization is coming to an end. New England will release the veteran center, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports.

The move will take place today, Reiss adds. Andrews is rehabbing the shoulder injury which kept him out of the lineup for all but four contests this past season. If today’s news winds up being followed by a retirement decision, this situation will come to a close in the same fashion as Julian Edelman‘s in 2021.

Indeed, Jeff Howe of The Athletic notes it is not currently known if Andrews intends to continue his playing career. The two-time Super Bowl winner had one year remaining on his contract, with part of his scheduled base salary guaranteed. This release will yield $2.68MM in cap savings for New England while generating a dead money charge of $4MM.

Andrews has made 136 combined regular and postseason appearances in his career, starting all but five of them. The 32-year-old has remained a mainstay along the offensive line during his Pats run, consistently drawing positive PFF evaluations. Even if the final remaining holdover among offensive players from New England’s most recent Super Bowl suits up in 2025, though, the team will move in a different direction under center.

Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal recently reported Andrews was seen as a cut candidate during the Combine. Upgrading along the offensive line is known to be a major priority for the team, and that effort will now include finding a replacement center. The likes of Drew Dalman (Bears), Ryan Kelly (Colts) and Josh Myers (Jets) have found new teams in the early stages of free agency. The Patriots may need to wait until next month’s draft as a result to find a new starter in the middle.

New England’s right guard spot is accounted for with Michael Onwenu, and the team worked out a deal with veteran right tackle Morgan Moses on Monday. The left tackle and guard positions are still unaccounted for at this point in the offseason, and the same is now true at center as well.

Seahawks, Steelers Agree To D.K. Metcalf Trade

March 13th, 2025 at 8:50pm CST by Adam La Rose

TONIGHT, 8:50pm: We’ve got more details on the picks involved in the D.K. Metcalf trade, via veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer. The sixth-round pick heading from Seattle to Pittsburgh is No. 185 overall (from the Bears). The seventh-round pick that’s going from Pittsburgh to Seattle is No. 223 overall (from the Saints). The main draft pick, the second-round selection heading to Seattle, is Pittsburgh’s own (No. 52).

SUNDAY, 6:50pm: The D.K. Metcalf situation has been sorted out prior to the start of the new league year. The Pro Bowl wideout is headed from the Seahawks to the Steelers, as first reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

Providing details on the move, Pelissero notes Seattle is acquiring a second-round pick from Pittsburgh. Regarding the extension Metcalf will sign upon arrival, an historic financial commitment has been made. The Steelers are authorizing a four-year, $132MM deal which will tie him to the team through 2029, per Pelissero. Sixth- and seventh-rounders will also be flipped, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds.

One year remained on Metcalf’s pact, and a massive raise on his next deal was expected to come on a new team. The 27-year-old had been connected to an asking price of $30MM, and he has comfortably been able to reach it. This new deal carries an AAV of $33MM, making this an abnormally lucrative receiver investment on the part of the Steelers.

Not long after Metcalf’s trade request was issued, it was reported Seattle was aiming for a first-round pick and more in a swap. Finding a suitor willing to pay that and commit to an extension near the top of the market was always going to be difficult, though, and early today it was revealed the Seahawks’ asking price had come down. Wiling to accept a second-round selection, the team has now met its goal of working out a deal prior to the draft.

Prior to today, six receivers were attached to a deal averaging $30MM or more. Metcalf – who has recorded at least 900 yards in each of his six seasons to date – is the latest member of that group. He will face major expectations upon arrival in Pittsburgh, a team which was connected to a high-profile receiver pursuit all of last offseason. The Steelers were unable to land Brandon Aiyuk or other impact players at the position, and a deal ahead of the trade deadline for Christian Kirk fell through due to his season-ending injury. Now, though, general manager Omar Khan has pulled off a major acquisition.

George Pickens has flashed considerable potential during his first three years in the league, but issues related to effort and character have been raised inside and outside the organization. Pickens is a pending 2026 free agent, and his departure would lead to Metcalf being increasingly relied on as the focal point of Pittsburgh’s passing attack. While the likes of Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson are slated to operate in the slot, Metcalf and Pickens will each offer Pittsburgh’s to-be-determined quarterback with a pair of notable deep threats on the perimeter.

Of course, this move will lead to questions about Seattle’s WR setup moving forward. As expected, the team released longtime pass-catcher Tyler Lockett (not long before Metcalf’s trade request), leaving the latter along with Jaxon Smith-Njigba in place as options for at least 2025. Now that Metcalf is on the way out, though, Smith-Njigba is joined by Jake Bobo and Dareke Young as the only receivers currently on the roster.

Metcalf was linked to preferring a destination with a warm climate, with QB stability also being named as a factor. Considering the other suitors likely in play, Pittsburgh does not check either of those boxes as things stand. A Justin Fields re-signing could be in play, but he is set to test the market. The Texans were recently named as a landing spot Metcalf would have welcomed, and earlier Sunday Schefter’s colleague Jeremy Fowler reported the Chargers were also high on his list. Rather than being paired with C.J. Stroud in Texas or Justin Herbert in Los Angeles, however, the Ole Miss product will head to Pennsylvania and await Pittsburgh’s QB move(s).

This move will free up $10.88MM in cap space for the Seahawks while generating $21MM in dead money (h/t Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap). Metcalf will become one of the Steelers’ top cap commitments – on offense in particular – over the course of his deal, although the structure of the extension will dictate the changes made to his scheduled 2025 cap hit. For Seattle, this move shortly follows not only the Lockett release but also the trade which will send quarterback Geno Smith to the Raiders. While the Steelers’ offense will have a notable addition in 2025, it very much remains to be seen how the Seahawks’ attack will appear next season.

Lions To Sign QB Kyle Allen

March 13th, 2025 at 8:10pm CST by Ben Levine

The Lions have added a veteran to their quarterbacks room. The team has agreed to terms with quarterback Kyle Allen, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Since catching on with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2018, Allen has bounced around the league a bit. In addition to Carolina, the quarterback has had stints with Washington, Houston, Buffalo, and (most recently) Pittsburgh.

He got his longest look as a starter with the Panthers in 2019. He went 5-7 in 12 starts that season, completing 62 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. Since then, Allen has gone 1-5 in starts with Washington and Houston.

After serving as the Bills’ victory cigar in 2023, Allen caught on with the Steelers last offseason. He spent the season behind Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, completing his only pass attempt (to George Pickens for 19 yards) in Week 5.

In Detroit, he’ll be joining a depth chart that still features Hendon Hooker and Jake Fromm as Jared Goff‘s backups. A 2023 third-round pick, Hooker got all the looks as QB2 in 2024, completing six of his nine pass attempts in three appearances. Fromm earned two starts with the Giants in 2021 and hasn’t made a regular-season appearances since that time.

Chargers Re-Sign QB Taylor Heinicke

March 13th, 2025 at 7:43pm CST by Ben Levine

Taylor Heinicke is sticking in Los Angeles for at least one more season. The quarterback has signed a one-year deal with the Chargers, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. The deal is worth up to $6.2MM.

Heinicke made a name for himself in 2021, when he guided the Commanders to a 7-8 record in his 15 starts. Despite his solid showing, he entered the 2022 campaign as a backup to Carson Wentz. Predictably, the new starter eventually went down with an injury, allowing Heinicke to start another nine games for Washington.

After finishing his Commanders stint with 33 touchdowns vs. 21 interceptions, he inked a two-year contract with his hometown Falcons ahead of the 2023 season. The free agent addition was expected to provide former third-round pick Desmond Ridder with some competition, but Heinicke got only four starts for Atlanta, going 1-3 while completing a career-low 54.4 percent of his passes.

The veteran took a pay cut from $5MM to $1.21MM to stick in Atlanta for 2024, but in the meantime, he was pushed further down the depth chart following the additions of Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr.. As a result, Heinicke found himself on the trade block, and he was dealt to the Chargers for a conditional seventh-round pick before the start of the 2024 regular season.

Justin Herbert was limited to 13 games in 2023, but the Chargers franchise QB managed to get into all 17 games for his squad in 2024. As a result, the new backup was limited to only four appearances and five pass attempts. The organization is surely hoping for similar usage in 2025, but they can rest easy knowing they have a former starter locked in as their QB2.

Bears Extend OL Jonah Jackson

March 13th, 2025 at 7:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Jonah Jackson was traded to the Bears last week, and the lineman earned an extension along the way. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Jackson got a one-year extension that will keep him in Chicago through the 2027 season.

[RELATED: Rams, Bears Agree To Jonah Jackson Trade]

Besides handing Jackson a contract for the 2027 campaign, Garafolo notes that the Bears also guaranteed more of the player’s 2026 salary. This includes $7MM fully guaranteed and an additional $5.25MM for injury. Jackson is set to earn all of the $17.5MM he was attached to in 2025, part of the three-year, $51MM pact he signed with the Rams last offseason.

Jackson has clearly landed on his feet following a forgettable stop in Los Angeles. There were high hopes for the free agent acquisition, but he quickly landed on IR with a fractured scapula. When he returned, he saw time at both guard and center, but he was eventually benched towards the middle of the season. The Rams quickly looked to move on from the veteran, as the organization granted him permission to seek a trade.

Ben Johnson is more than familiar with the former Lions standout, and the new Bears head coach is showing his faith in the trade acquisition. The team was expected to actively seek reinforcement along the interior of the O-line, and it’s no surprise that the organization landed on a player who’s familiar with Johnson’s offensive approach.

Assuming Jackson returns to his former production, the Bears will be more than happy with their good-faith extension. Jackson started all 57 of his appearances with Detroit, including 2020 and 2021 campaigns where he topped 1,000 offensive snaps. He’s been hit by injuries in each of the past few seasons, but the Bears are clearly hoping he’s past his injury woes.

Load More Posts