They were right to pursue him. The Giants need a bridge to their quarterback-to-be-drafted later. Aaron Rodgers, on paper, is perfect for the role. He’s a four-time MVP and Super Bowl champion who can still play. That wealth of information is invaluable to whomever the Giants select next month. He could have saved some jobs with his own play in the meantime.

It’s become clear that, right now, the Giants are not what Rodgers wants, though. That’s why, weeks after he could have signed, he hasn’t. That’s why he seems hellbent on finding any other opportunity. That’s why he visited the Steelers on Friday, not the Giants, despite New York having such overwhelming interest.

So, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll pivoted themselves.

Jameis Winston is officially a Giant, sources confirmed to SNY.

If Rodgers dialed up the 201 area code on Saturday and told Schoen and Daboll he wanted to accept their offer … that deal would be there to take. The Giants did not yank their contract to him after Winston accepted his. Their quarterback room, before this signing, had just Tommy DeVito in it. Now, there’s someone who’s been there and done that. They’ll be in on Rodgers until he signs with someone else.

But, in all likelihood, that call from Rodgers won’t come. New York has seriously improved their defense this offseason thanks to the additions of Paulson Adebo and Jevon Holland. They have their picks to add to their offense. They should be a better team next year than last. But there was nothing Schoen could have done this offseason to make New York a contender. That’s with Rodgers or without.

Rodgers is 41. He just spent two years getting beat up with the cross-town Jets. Does he really want to do that again?

That’s why a signing always seemed logically one-sided. The Giants were right to want him. Rodgers was justified in desiring a team closer to contention. If he changes his mind, as he sometimes does, the Giants will wait. In the meantime, they now have a…

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The New York Giants have added a quarterback, but it’s not the one folks may have been expecting. The club has agreed to a two-year deal with veteran signal-caller Jameis Winston, according to NFL Media. The deal is worth $8 million. Winston himself even confirmed the signing on social media. 

Of course, the immediate question in the aftermath of this signing is whether it has any impact on a possible pursuit of Aaron Rodgers, who is off the heels of visiting with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday. As NFL Media notes, the addition of Winston will not preclude the organization from pursuing other quarterbacks either via free agency (like Rodgers) or the NFL Draft (Shedeur Sanders) with the third overall pick. 

Given the nature of Winston’s contract (worth just $8 million total), that would appear to position him as a backup/depth piece on the roster. Before this signing, the lone quarterback on New York’s depth chart was Tommy DeVito. 

Still, Winston does give the Giants another signal-caller with starting experience. The 31-year-old has started 87 regular season games over his career, including seven starts last year with the Cleveland Browns. Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, is 36-51 in those starts and has a career passer rating of 86.4.  

Aaron Rodgers visits Steelers: QB leaves facility without agreement in place, deal not imminent, per reports

Bryan DeArdo

Stick with CBS Sports as this story develops.

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With the news that Quarterback is coming back this year (due in part to the fact that Receiver fell flat), Michael Holley and I spent time on Friday’s PFT Live looking at the NFL figures we’d most like to see on a reality show.

The picks are in the attached video. Holley led things off with Deion Sanders, who isn’t technically an NFL figure but as a practical matter is. And Deion is entertaining and compelling.

My first pick was a guy who wouldn’t be obvious but who would be a superstar: Bills receiver Keon Coleman.

Coleman is naturally engaging and hilarious. He’s authentic. He’s real. He’s effortlessly funny.

Check out the clip for the other picks. And get ready to learn plenty in July about Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins (again) on the Quarterback series.

One last point, while we have your attention. (If we do.) You can now watch PFT Live on NBC Sports Now. It’s two simple clicks to get to the content. Click here, then click “watch live.”

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Damar Hamlin wants to be a Bill his entire life and at least for now, he’s staying in Buffalo. The safety signed a one-year contract, the team announced on Wednesday.

The former sixth-rounder was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent and just finished his rookie contract. 

“It feels amazing to be back,” Hamlin said. “This is home, this is all I know as a pro. I’m connected to this place on a totally different level. So this is the place I want to be, where I want to spend my whole career if I can. It feels good to be back.”

In January 2023, Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field and was left in critical condition. He has since made an incredible recovery and started 14 games last season.

“Last year I felt like I was getting the training wheels off,” Hamlin said. “Coming back from literally dying on the field to playing a game in a significant role, a starting role, playing a full season again for the first time. I feel like I had a lot of success on the field.”

Hamlin did note that other teams were interested, as he browsed what free agency had to offer, but ultimately wanted to remain with the team that drafted him in 2021. He reflected on how it feels to go from being unsure about his health to remaining with the team of his choice. 

“We had a lot of conversations and a lot of interest, which was pretty cool,” Hamlin said. “I’m coming from not knowing if I’d be able to play football again, so to know I had what it took, go after that and chase it, go out there and for teams to respect my body of work after going through so much, I was appreciative of everything.”

The 26-year-old finished with 89 tackles and had two interceptions, tied for most on the team. He also had 15 tackles, five passes defended, a sack and a forced fumble.

Outside of football, Hamlin has helped provide access to automated external defibrillators, CPR and AED training along with…

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The Bengals are scheduled to meet with a potential addition to the interior of their offensive line.

Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reports that guard Lucas Patrick is set to arrive in Cincinnati on Thursday night and to meet with the Bengals on Friday.

Patrick signed a one-year deal with the Saints last offseason and started 10 games for the team before landing on injured reserve. He also started 54 games for the Packers and Bears over the first seven years of his career.

The Bengals released Alex Cappa and re-signed Cody Ford earlier in the offseason. They also have Cordell Volson on hand at guard while Ted Karras remains in place at center.

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There’s a lot of time between now and the start of the 2025 NFL season, which means there’s a lot of time for all 32 teams to continue tweaking their rosters. The start of free agency tends to bring most of the splashy moves, yes, but sometimes the final ingredients to a championship recipe only arrive deep into the offseason. Underscoring this reality is the fact two of the most accomplished quarterbacks of this year’s veteran market — Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson — still remain without teams for 2025.

A week after the official kickoff of free agency, however, we also have a pretty good idea of how most teams’ lineups will look come September. The heavy lifting of the veteran market is done, and now all eyes are on April’s draft, when remaining roster holes will be plugged even further. So which teams struck gold, in our eyes, during the early stages of offseason activity? Which signings and trades stand out as most likely to pay dividends? Here are 10 of our favorite player moves so far:

Imagn Images

Contract: 3 years, $54 million

Indianapolis may not be a wellspring of Super Bowl hope with Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson set to battle at quarterback, but the defense should be much more respectable defending the pass with Ward in tow as the new No. 1 cover man. Despite a trying finish with the 49ers, he turned in championship-level showings with both San Francisco and the Kansas City Chiefs. Fresh scenery should do him well.

9. Sam Darnold to the Seahawks

Contract: 3 years, $100.5 million

Don’t be too fooled by the money here. In some ways, Darnold feels less like an upgrade and more like a younger version of Geno Smith — gifted and aggressive but intermittently reckless when everything isn’t tidy in front of him. The seven-year age gap isn’t nothing,…

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The Steelers announced a new addition to their defensive line on Wednesday.

They have signed defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo to a one-year contract. No other terms of the deal were announced.

Otomewo was a 2022 fifth-round pick of the Vikings and played five games as a rookie before being in 2023. He spent that season on Jacksonville’s practice squad and played four games for the team in 2024.

Otomewo started two of those games and has nine tackles, a tackle for loss, four quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery across his nine overall appearances.

The Steelers have also added Daniel Ekuale to a defensive line that returns Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry, and Montravius Adams.

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