Category: NFL News

(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

Justin Tucker’s release by the Baltimore Ravens offers a glimpse into the team’s culture and how the NFL tends to handle uncomfortable or controversial situations — especially when legal or personal conduct issues are involved.

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From the “Inside Coverage” podcast, Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, Frank Schwab and Jori Epstein discussed the complexity of the decision and what it really says about the Ravens and, by extension, the league.

The trio agreed: this situation will be quietly swept under the rug, and once Tucker is out of sight on the field, he’ll quickly be out of mind for the league and most fans. It’s a process we’ve seen before, and, barring any criminal developments, the Ravens and the NFL will likely move on with little more said.

The Ravens were very deliberate in labeling Tucker’s release a “football decision,” repeating that language in their official statement. As Epstein pointed out: “When people actually make football decisions, they don’t usually say this is a football decision.” This suggests the organization was using that phrase to avoid directly addressing the serious off-field allegations against Tucker (multiple accusations of improper conduct from massage therapists, which is being investigated by the league).

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Epstein also highlighted that the Ravens have a history of employing players with sexual assault or domestic violence allegations. This paints a picture of a team that often chooses to manage and sidestep these issues rather than taking a clear moral stance.

Schwab noted the “coldness” and legal calculation behind the Ravens’ language, emphasizing they want to avoid liability or being caught in denial if it turns out they knew something.

Justin Tucker is no longer with the Ravens. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)

(G Fiume…..

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Justin Simmons said at the start of 2025 NFL free agency that the Philadelphia Eagles were high on his wish list of prospective teams. Months later, the All-Pro safety remains unsigned, but he’s apparently even more convicted about wanting to join the reigning Super Bowl champions for his 10th season.

“He wants to come to Philadelphia,” NFL Media’s Brian Baldinger said of Simmons this week. “He wants to be there. … Just find him a house in South Jersey. He’s gonna be here.”

Baldinger is a former Eagles offensive lineman who still regularly contributes to team broadcasts and media. Yet he’s not the only one to connect the dots between Simmons and Philadelphia, where the Eagles employ the safety’s former Denver Broncos head coach in Vic Fangio. Remember, Simmons himself identified the Eagles as a top potential landing spot upon his…

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In the NFL, no deal is ever done until it’s done. Now that quarterback Matthew Stafford’s new deal with the Rams is officially done, the two-year deal will once again tee up the question, after the next season, of whether the Rams and Stafford are done.

He ends up with $44 million this year, with no guarantees beyond 2025 — for injury or otherwise. The Rams will have until the fifth day of the next league year in March, when his 2026 salary of $40 million becomes fully guaranteed, to cut him. The Rams also will have the ability to trade Stafford, since they’ll hold his contractual rights through 2026.

We don’t, and won’t, know whether the Rams have informally agreed to grant Stafford his outright release, if he decides he wants to finish his career elsewhere. If a new team can sign him without giving the Rams a draft pick or two, that’s more money they’ll be willing to pay Stafford next year.

He could have gotten a firm $90 million (or more) on a two-year deal with the Raiders or Giants. But Stafford seems to be content to go one year at a time with the Rams, confident that another team (if not the Rams) will pay him fairly in 2026.

It’s a good deal for the Rams. At $42 million per year on his new contract, Stafford currently ranks 15th in the NFL. And he’s still better than the 15th best quarterback.

And Stafford, unlike plenty of starting quarterbacks, is willing to play in the current year with no financial security beyond it.

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Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

If you’re like me and you like to plan everything two years in advance, I have some good news for you: We now know the location of the 2027 NFL Draft. It will be in Washington, D.C. and although the event is still two years away, I’d go ahead and book a hotel now just to be safe. 

In today’s newsletter, we’ll be taking a look at the new draft location, plus we’ll be ranking every NFC team and examining which draft classes could have the most impact in 2025.  

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

1. NFL Draft heading to D.C. for first time since 1940: Three things to know

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Last Monday, the Commanders opened the week by making a big announcement, and today, they’re doing the same thing. This team loves big announcements. For the first time in more than 85 years, the NFL Draft is going to be headed to Washington, D.C. 

Here’s what you need to know: 

Washington, D.C. to host 2027 NFL Draft. Commanders owner Josh Harris is heading to the White House today to make an announcement with President Donald Trump to announce that D.C. will be getting the draft in two years. This will mark the first time that the nation’s capital has hosted the NFL Draft since December 1940, which means by the time April 2027 rolls around, D.C. will have gone 86.5 years without hosting a draft. For you trivia buffs out there, the Chicago Bears selected Tom Harmon with the No. 1 overall pick the last time Washington hosted the draft. D.C. beat out one other city. Denver was believed to be the only other city in the running to host the 2027 draft. One huge advantage that Washington, D.C. has over…..

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On the doorstep of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers were crystal clear about their quarterback situation. One way or another, additions — plural — were going to be made.

“We go to camp with four quarterbacks,” Steelers general manager Omar Khan said, prior to the first day of the draft. “Right now we have two on the roster. All options are on the table in how we acquire those last two. I assure you we’ll have four when we get to [training camp in] Latrobe [Pennsylvania].”

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The draft has come and gone, with the sixth-round selection of Ohio State’s Will Howard adding to that room. This was an Aaron Rodgers move in a Steelers draft that was stacked with Aaron Rodgers moves. We’ll get to that in a second. First, the bottom line: Roughly five weeks from the team’s mandatory attendance full-squad minicamp in June, Pittsburgh remains on schedule to get Rodgers into the fold.

However, that schedule won’t include a clock or deadlines, no matter how many times the outside world tries to nail one down. That’s for the very much intended purpose of eliminating more stories about Rodgers’ existence in Pittsburgh’s orbit, eliminating questions about why he is not taking part in organized team activities and even leaving the door open for him to potentially miss the June minicamp, if it ultimately comes to that. So long as Rodgers isn’t signed, there is no room for questions about why he’s signed but not in the building, or a running timeline of when he is going to show up.

It also eliminates Pittsburgh getting pulled into any of the side stories that often follow Rodgers — the most recent being speculation about his Kentucky Derby attendance Saturday, which appeared to reveal a ring on Rodgers’ left-hand, wedding-band finger. The development set off social media and immediately summoned theories that part of the reason Rodgers is taking his time marrying the Steelers this offseason is because he’s been busy marrying someone…

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One of the biggest questions currently surrounding the Baltimore Ravens is the future of Justin Tucker, the former All-Pro kicker who is currently under investigation by the NFL after he was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct by several massage therapists over multiple Baltimore area spa locations. 

Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked to provide an update on Tucker, who has vehemently denied the allegations made against him while proclaiming his innocence. As part of his response, Harbaugh alluded to the team’s decision to draft a kicker for the first time in franchise history when Baltimore selected former Arizona kicker Tyler Loop in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

“As you know, Justin has been in the building the last couple of weeks, kicking and everything,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN. “Got a chance to talk a little bit. Been working hard. 

“I would just say like, from the standpoint of the investigation and all that, we don’t know anything. We haven’t been given any information, as it should be. It’s all done the way it’s done. So we don’t know anything along those lines. So, we can’t make any decisions based on that. Every decision we make has to be made on football. There’s a lot of layers to that. 

“You’ve got a rookie kicker in here, took him early in the sixth round. He’s a talented guy. From a football standpoint, salary cap and all the different things that you take into consideration, everything we decide to do over the next few weeks will be based on football.” 

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Cornerback Shavon Revel’s bid to be a first-round pick in the 2025 draft hit a significant road bump when he tore his ACL while playing for East Carolina last September.

Revel’s inability to get on the field helped cause him fall to the third round, but his surgeon might have been part of the reason his slide stopped at that point. Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper did the operation and the Cowboys snagged Revel to help their secondary. At this weekend’s rookie minicamp, Revel updated where he is in his recovery.

“Right now I can pretty much do everything,” Revel said, via the team’s website. “Running straight line, cutting, haven’t gotten too much into that, just trying to take it day by day, trying to take it slow.”

Revel was able to participate in walkthroughs during rookie minicamp and he’ll continue his rehab work this spring with an eye on being ready to go for the start of his rookie season in Dallas.

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Kirk Cousins has reportedly been trying to leave the Atlanta Falcons for months. And the Minnesota Vikings were rumored as a potential reunion spot for the quarterback ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. That dream appears to be fully dead now: Not only did the Vikings acquire a new backup in Sam Howell during the draft, but Howell has since been issued Cousins’ old jersey — the same No. 8 he wore for six seasons as Minnesota’s starter.

That’s not to say Cousins is completely tied to No. 8; in fact, he’s worn No. 12 since signing with the Falcons in 2024. Yet the digit was practically synonymous with Cousins during his time with the Vikings, and the veteran also donned No. 8 while playing for Washington from 2014-2017, and at Michigan State from 2008-2011.

Howell’s arrival probably spelled the end of any potential Cousins homecoming, giving presumptive starter J.J. McCarthy an experienced backup. The fact he’ll wear Cousins’ old number may just be added confirmation. It’s also not entirely clear if Cousins would’ve waived his no-trade clause to facilitate a return to Minnesota, given that Vikings brass has been upfront about turning the top quarterback job over to McCarthy, the club’s 2024 first-round pick.

Howell’s turn in No. 8 will be his first at the NFL level, as the former North Carolina standout wore No. 14 with the Washington Commanders to open his career, then No. 6 with the Seattle Seahawks in 2024. He was acquired by the Vikings as part of a swap of fifth-round picks during the second day of this year’s draft.

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