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Lions Sign S Kerby Joseph To Record-Setting Extension

April 23rd, 2025 at 11:25pm CST by Ely Allen

Just before last year’s draft, the Lions secured their future by signing both offensive tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to long-term extensions. This year, they’ve decided to do the same, rewarding a first-team All-Pro season by making Kerby Joseph the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Joseph and Detroit have agreed to a four-year, $86MM extension.

We don’t have any guaranteed numbers on the deal yet to stack against the current top deals in the league, but Joseph’s $86MM in total value is more that Antoine Winfield Jr.‘s $84.1MM. Winfield also held the highest average annual value at $21.03MM per year, which will be eclipsed by Joseph’s $21.5MM per annum.

We knew all the way back when the Lions got eliminated from the playoffs that they would be exploring an extension for their All-Pro safety this offseason. They reiterated those intentions earlier this month, as well, adding that star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson‘s expected extension was also on the docket.

The reason Joseph’s extension likely took priority over Hutchinson’s is because, unlike Hutchinson, Joseph was not a first-round pick. As a first-round selection, Hutchinson’s rookie contract includes a fifth-year option that the team can exercise to extend his obligations to the team for a year longer than the standard four-year rookie deal. Because of this, Hutchinson and the Lions will likely have plenty more time to work out an extension. Joesph, on the other hand, was headed into the final year of his rookie contract.

In just three years of play, Joseph has already established himself as one of the league’s best at the position. Not only did he lead the NFL with nine interceptions in 2024, but he also leads the league in interceptions since he entered the NFL in 2022 with 17. Add in 31 passes defensed and 247 tackles and Joseph has proven that he deserved to be awarded with an All-Pro selection and a record-setting extension this year.

The Lions will hope that securing Joseph will give them the league’s top defensive backfield duo in the NFL for years to come. Today’s extension ensures that Joseph will return alongside Brian Branch next year. Branch, a Pro Bowler last year with seven interceptions and 29 passes defensed in his first two seasons, was drafted in the second round a year after Joseph. Both safeties were ranked as top-five safeties per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) with Joseph notching the position’s highest overall and coverage grades and Branch notching the positions best run defense grade. Branch will likely be a target for extension himself in the next offseason.

For now, though, the Lions will rejoice in their securing of Joseph and the elimination of safety as a position of need in the draft. It was never considered a position that needed improvement, but with Joseph on a long-term deal, there’s no danger of needing to draft a safety to eventually take over for a free agent departure.

WR Tyler Lockett To Sign With Titans

April 23rd, 2025 at 10:42pm CST by Ely Allen

On the eve of the draft, the Titans have signed a new, veteran weapon for expected No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. According to a post on X from Tyler Lockett himself, the 10-year veteran will be joining the Titans for the 2025 campaign. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Lockett will play on a one-year, $4MM deal that could be worth up to $6MM with incentives.

Despite playing in the NFL since 2015, this will be only the second team Lockett has played for during his professional tenure. The 32-year-old entered the league as a third-round pick out of Kansas State for the Seahawks and has been in Seattle ever since. In his early years, Lockett was an effective receiver, usually active as a third receiving option behind Doug Baldwin combined with either Jermaine Kearse, Jimmy Graham, or Paul Richardson, but he made his name (as well as his Pro Bowl and three All-Pro selections) as a top return man.

As a rookie, Lockett recorded an impressive 664 yards and six touchdowns receiving, but his return abilities, which resulted in touchdowns both on punt and kickoff returns, were what earned him Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections. Similarly, over the next two years, his receiving contributions came second to his return abilities, which garnered second-team All-Pro selections in both seasons. His 2017 campaign saw him lead the NFL with 949 kickoff return yards, as well as another touchdown.

In 2018, Baldwin’s chokehold on the WR1 role finally began to falter, along with his effectiveness, and in the veteran receiver’s final season, Lockett took over the top role as the No. 1 wide receiver for Russell Wilson with 965 yards and 10 touchdowns. This would be the last time Lockett would finish under 1,000 yards receiving until five years later when he would turn 31 years old. It also kicked off a streak of five straight seasons in which he would catch between 8-10 touchdowns. As his receiving role increased, though, his return roles decreased, and by 2020 the veteran was rarely, if ever, returning punts or kickoffs.

In 2023, two years after the departure of Wilson, Lockett’s effectiveness finally began to fall as he recorded a still impressive 894 yards and five touchdowns. Last year, a breakout season by second-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba saw Lockett return to WR3 on the depth chart and record his lowest receiving total (600 yards, two touchdowns) since 2017.

One would think that if Lockett was going to leave Seattle after 10 years and play for a new team, it would be to rejoin his former quarterback in New York or his former head coach in Las Vegas. Instead, he makes his way to Nashville, where he doesn’t appear to have any notable connections (except maybe Dre’Mont Jones?). Instead, it appears that he will join a receiving corps currently manned at the top by Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson, and Treylon Burks. He’ll add experience, durability, and maturity to a group that will likely be receiving passes from a rookie starter in 2025.

Patriots Open To Trading WR Kayshon Boutte

April 23rd, 2025 at 3:27pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Patriots are open to trading wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, according to Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports, among other players from the previous coaching staff. A nugget emerged regarding Boutte’s availability earlier this week, and it now seems the Pats are shopping him.

Boutte was the Patriots’ sixth-round pick in 2023 after a somewhat disappointing career at LSU. He only saw seven targets as a rookie but emerged as the team’s WR2 in 2024, snaring 43 receptions for 589 yards. However, he had expressed frustration about his role midway through last season. With the Pats adding Stefon Diggs and likely interested in further bolstering the position in the draft, it makes sense they would shop Boutte.

The former high-end recruit may not fit into the long term vision for New England’s offense under new head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. As McDaniels prepares for his third tour of duty as the Pats’ OC, he will have a slightly less jumbled receiving corps to coach.

New England has been unable to connect on a high-level receiver investment in recent years, famously struggling in the early rounds of the draft. After waiving former second-rounder Tyquan Thornton, the Pats only saw 2024 second-round choice Ja’Lynn Polk contribute 12 receptions for 87 yards as a rookie. In addition to Diggs, the Pats also added ex-McDaniels Raiders pupil Mack Hollins in free agency.

Still rostering McDaniels 2.0-era signee Kendrick Bourne, the Pats saw Demario Douglas finish behind only Hunter Henry in receiving yards. A 2023 sixth-round pick like Boutte, Douglas posted 621 yards and three touchdowns in Drake Maye‘s debut. Two seasons remain on Boutte’s rookie contract; the Pats would save nearly $1MM by trading him. It will be interesting to hear what other pre-Vrabel players the Pats are dangling.

Sam Robinson contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/23/25

April 23rd, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

Seattle Seahawks

The Lions had added Fromm shortly after cutting Nate Sudfeld last summer. Detroit stashed Fromm on its practice squad throughout last season, keeping him as its third-stringer behind Jared Goff and Hendon Hooker. Teddy Bridgewater‘s late-season unretirement changed the Lions’ plans, but they retained Fromm and then kept him on a reserve/futures contract in January. Fromm, a 2020 fifth-round pick who has not seen game action since 2021, is again available.

Eagles To Decline WR Jahan Dotson’s Fifth-Year Option

April 23rd, 2025 at 2:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles made two pick-swap deals that involved third-round choices last year, acquiring Kenny Pickett and Jahan Dotson. Philadelphia did not need to make a fifth-year option call on the quarterback, trading him to Cleveland in March. The defending Super Bowl champions do hold the option rights on the wideout, though.

Dotson will not see his option exercised, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz tweets. Considering the ex-Commanders draftee’s production to date, it never seemed realistic the Eagles would lock him into an eight-figure guarantee for 2026. Indeed, 2025 will be a Dotson contact year.

While having a Super Bowl LIX touchdown overturned via replay, Dotson still made modest contributions to the Eagles’ cause in his debut season with the team. During the regular season, Dotson caught 19 passes for 216 yards and no touchdowns. He added three grabs for 53 yards and a TD in the playoffs, finding paydirt against the Packers. The Eagles leaned into the run game last season, having acquired Saquon Barkley, but they have funneled their pass game through A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert for years. This setup leaves little room for a No. 3 wideout to break through.

From Jalen Reagor to Quez Watkins to Julio Jones to Doston, the team has still been looking for a dependable third receiver during the Brown-Smith years. Dotson has not yet fit the bill. Seven of the Penn State alum’s regular-season receptions came in a Week 18 game featuring many rested starters. It would have cost the Eagles $16.82MM to exercise Dotson’s 2026 option. Dotson having played at least 75% of the Commanders’ snaps in 2022 and ’23 made him eligible for the third tier on the option structure.

Still, Dotson strung together two 500-plus-yard seasons for a Washington team that struggled to find a quarterback answer during that span. Catching 11 touchdown passes with Washington, Dotson is positioned to have another year to audition for other teams as a prospective 2026 free agent. He will need to fend off the likes of Ainias Smith and Terrace Marshall for the WR3 role in order to make that case. The prospect of the Eagles adding another WR in the middle or late rounds also looms, though the team devoting much to the position this weekend seems unlikely considering Brown and Smith’s contract situations.

Saints To Exercise Chris Olave’s Fifth-Year Option, Decline Trevor Penning’s

April 23rd, 2025 at 12:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints maneuvered to make two first-round picks in 2022. One has worked out, the other has not. As a result, Mickey Loomis said Wednesday the team will only pick up one fifth-year option from that first-round haul.

Chris Olave‘s contract will now run through 2026 (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport), but Trevor Penning will be thrown into a contract year by virtue of New Orleans declining his fifth-year option.

Yet to make a Pro Bowl, Olave has also seen his 2025 concussion issues impede him on the fifth-year option front. The Ohio State product failed to hit a 75% snap share in his first two seasons, but had he played at least 50% of New Orleans’ offensive snaps last year, he would have still found his way onto the third tier on the option structure. By missing nine games in 2024, Olave will land on the bottom tier here. That will place his 2026 base salary at $15.49MM.

Penning also lands on the bottom tier, which is $16.69MM for offensive linemen. Considering Penning’s uneven first three seasons, he was never a realistic candidate to see his option exercised. While Loomis stressed (via NewOrleans.football’s Mike Triplett) this does not mean the Saints do not have confidence in their 2024 right tackle starter, this does move him into a walk year.

Chosen out of Northern Iowa, Penning has been tried at LT and RT. The Saints displaced him from the blind side by drafting Taliese Fuaga in last year’s first round. While Penning did bounce back from 2022 injury trouble and a 2023 benching to make 17 RT starts, he has not justified the Saints’ No. 19 overall investment.

As the Saints are being connected to another first-round tackle pick — as they consider acquiring a quarterback in Round 2 or a via a trade-up move from that No. 40 spot — they will hope Olave and Rashid Shaheed can stay healthy in 2025. Olave has shown difference-making potential when on the field, working with Andy Dalton and Derek Carr. The 2022 No. 11 overall pick, who acquired two trades to land that year, posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to start his career but sustained two concussions last year. This shut down Olave to close what turned into a lost Saints season.

The young WR talent spoke with specialists, and the Saints exercising his option points to organizational confidence he can shake this concerning issue. The Saints may be on the lookout for more receiving help in the draft, but they did reunite with Brandin Cooks in free agency. Olave will be asked to lead the team’s first Kellen Moore-overseen receiving corps, with Cooks and Shaheed in clear supporting roles.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/22/25

April 22nd, 2025 at 8:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

  • Waived: OL Trevor Reid

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

The Steelers let Najee Harris walk in free agency, passing on re-signing their four-year starting RB despite the Chargers only giving him a one-year, $5.25MM deal. That base value is nearly identical to Warren’s 2025 compensation, set for $5.35MM by virtue of being tendered at the second-round level.

A former UDFA, Warren has served as Harris’ flashier sidekick for three seasons. The former Utah State and Oklahoma State back has proven a find, making key contributions off the bench while on a UDFA deal. Warren, 26, totaled 1,154 scrimmage yards in 2023 and 821 (in 15 games) last year. He will be set to team with Kenneth Gainwell, who is also on a one-year agreement. Pittsburgh has since been linked to adding a starter-level RB in the draft.

Eagles Extend C Cam Jurgens

April 21st, 2025 at 9:38pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles have made yet another lucrative commitment along the offensive line. Center Cam Jurgens has a new deal in place, the team announced on Monday.

This will be a four-year, $68MM extension, per Jurgens’ agent (h/t ESPN’s Adam Schefter). The pact includes $39.4MM guaranteed. As a result of the agreement, Jurgens is now on the books with Philadelphia through the 2029 season.

Jurgens did not log any starts during his rookie campaign, but he saw plenty of time in 2023, operating as a full-time starter at right guard when healthy. Last offseason, the retirement of center Jason Kelce created a vacancy at center. As expected, Jurgens took over in that role. The 25-year-old thrived while doing so, earning a Pro Bowl nod and helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl.

In the wake of that success, Philadelphia has proceeded with yet another big-ticket commitment up front. This deal carries an average annual value of $17MM, which ranks second amongst centers. Only Creed Humphrey ($18MM per season) is attached to a more lucrative pact in terms of AAV. Jurgens has moved to the top of the position’s pecking order in terms of guaranteed compensation, however.

The Nebraska product ranked 31st amongst qualifying guards in 2023 with respect to his PFF evaluation. Jurgens took a step forward last season, grading out as PFF’s 14th-best center. Continued development will be key as the Eagles look to remain dominant along the O-line. The defending champions now have four major contracts on the books up front.

Left tackle Jordan Mailata and left guard Landon Dickerson each received long-term extensions last offseason, and as a result they are set to remain in the fold for years to come. Right tackle Lane Johnson recently had one year added to his pact, putting him on track to continue playing through 2027. Jurgens will aim to remain a key figure up front moving forward as Philadelphia looks to replace Mekhi Becton at the right guard spot with incumbent Tyler Steen, trade acquisition Kenyon Green or a rookie added this week.

Jurgens played through back issues during the Eagles’ postseason run, and he underwent surgery shortly after the Super Bowl. A full recovery in time for training camp was expected at the time of the procedure, and today’s news obviously marks a sign of confidence the former second-rounder will not be affected by the injury in the future. Provided that proves to be the case, Jurgens will be counted on to operate as Philadelphia’s center for years to come.

Falcons Sign QB Easton Stick

April 21st, 2025 at 9:17pm CST by Ben Levine

As the Kirk Cousins/Falcons staredown continues, the team has added some additional depth at the position. The Falcons announced today that they’ve signed quarterback Easton Stick.

[RELATED: Falcons Unlikely To Take Day 3 Pick For Kirk Cousins]

Stick was a fifth-round pick by the Chargers back in 2019, and he ended up sticking around through his rookie contract and a pair of one-year extensions. He barely got off the bench during his first few years as one of Justin Herbert‘s backups, with the likes of Tyrod Taylor and Chase Daniel getting any leftover reps.

Stick finally got a shot to show his stuff during the 2023 campaign, when he got four starts filling in for Herbert. He showed some signs of being a capable fill-in during his brief stint as the QB1. In those four contests, Stick completed 65.3 percent of his passes, tossed three touchdowns vs. one interception, and added 144 rushing yards. On the flip side, the Chargers were winless in those four games, and Stick also lost three fumbles.

In Atlanta, Stick should have a secured roster spot, but his standing on the depth chart will continue to be in flux. Right now, he’s the QB3 behind Michael Penix Jr. and Cousins, who is pushing for an exit out of Atlanta. If the Cousins/Falcons divorce comes to fruition, then Stick could step up as the main backup to Penix. Emory Jones is also on the roster as some additional depth.

We heard just the other day that the organization was expected to add a veteran backup passer in the coming months. It’s uncertain if Stick would qualify as a “veteran” option for the organization, but he fits the bill as a potential QB2.

Zack Moss Reworks Contract, Likely Sticking With Bengals

April 21st, 2025 at 8:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Following a season-ending neck injury in 2024, Zack Moss‘s playing future was naturally in doubt. Today, the running back reworked his contract in a move that signals his return to the lineup in 2025.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Bengals agreed to rework Moss’s contract in a move that provides the veteran with more guaranteed money and job security heading into the summer. Moss was attached to $3.47MM in nonguaranteed earnings in 2025. As Garafolo notes, today’s move signals that the organization is clearly “confident in his return.”

Following a 2023 campaign with the Colts where he finished with a career-high 986 yards from scrimmage, Moss joined the Bengals last offseason. The former Bills third-round pick was expected to be part of Cincy’s solution for replacing Joe Mixon, and Moss ended up starting each of the Bengals first five games last season.

He started seeing a reduced role around Week 6, and he was officially shelved in early November with a neck issue. While the ailment never appeared to be a definitive career-ender, it easily wiped out the rest of Moss’s 2024 campaign. The running back ultimately finished his first season in Cincinnati with 429 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in eight games.

With Moss sidelined, Chase Brown easily ran with the RB1 role, so the veteran RB will likely be relegated to a backup role in 2025. Samaje Perine was also brought in for some veteran reinforcement, while Kendall Milton and Gary Brightwell are around for offseason depth. Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic also suggests that the Bengals could target the position during Day 3 of the draft.

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