Category: NFL News

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Earlier this week, NFL Media reported that the Minnesota Vikings were exploring veteran wide receivers on the trade market with Jordan Addison suspended for three games and the rest of their wide receiving core bitten by the injury bug. There was one potential target that immediately came to mind, and we now know Minnesota trading for that player is a legitimate possibility.  

The Vikings have reached out to the Carolina Panthers and inquired about trading for wide receiver Adam Thielen, per ESPN. Thielen is a Vikings legend that spent nine years in Minnesota, and he currently ranks third in franchise history in receptions (534), fifth in receiving yards (6,682) and third in receiving touchdowns (55).

The Detroit Lakes native, who played his college ball at Minnesota State, signed a three-year deal with the Panthers in 2023, and immediately made an impact with 103 receptions for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns. Thielen played in just 10 games this past season after injuring his hamstring while making a touchdown catch in Week 3, but returned later in the year and put up two 100-yard performances as Bryce Young finished out the season in strong fashion. 

Thielen may have turned 35 years old on Friday, but he has proven that he is still a reliable target. The question is what would Carolina want in return for one of its top wide receivers, and what is Minnesota comfortable giving up for a 35-year-old on a one-year deal? Regardless, reuniting the dynamic duo of Thielen and Justin Jefferson to help out new quarterback J.J. McCarthy is an exciting thought for Vikings fans. 

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The Giants put the final touches on a solid preseason campaign on Thursday night with a blowout win over the New England Patriots as starters from both teams were rested. New York scored over 30 points for the third straight game to end its preseason with a 3-0 record.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart was predictably the main story, as he started and completed 6 of 12 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown. His seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Dulcich capped off a 65-yard drive keyed by a 50-yard catch and run from Gunner Olszewski to give the Giants a lead just 2:01 into the game.

Later on in the first quarter, Jameis Winston threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jalin Hyatt to make it 14-0.

New England cut the lead to 14-10 in the closing seconds of the second quarter, following a muffed punt that set up a field goal and a 14-play drive that ended in a Ben Wooldridge touchdown pass. However, Tommy DeVito’s three-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Thomas Fidone II restored a two-score advantage on the opening drive of the second half.

Another DeVito touchdown pass to running back Jonathan Ward and a pick-six by undrafted rookie safety TJ Moore pushed the lead out to 35-10 by the end of the third quarter. Sadly, Moore was carted off with an apparent serious knee injury late in the game.

Dulcich’s second touchdown of the game, this time on a one-yard pass from DeVito, made it 42-10 with 8:22 remaining to provide the final margin.

Here are the takeaways…

-Dart was in command once again, although there was an injury scare and a valuable lesson learned when he was hit from behind on a scramble. He ended up having to go to the medical tent, although head coach Brian Daboll confirmed at halftime that he just had the wind knocked out of him. In the future, Daboll would obviously prefer for Dart to slide in such situations.

-Although he was cleared to return, Dart did not play again, as he was only scheduled to play in the first quarter. As it turned out, Winston…

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The Dallas Cowboys open up the 2025 season vs. the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles two weeks from Thursday, and their best player is still not practicing. Micah Parsons is in the midst of a highly-publicized contract holdout, as he awaits a historical deal which will make him the highest-paid pass rusher in NFL history.

With no movement on a new contract, Parsons requested a trade in the middle of training camp, claiming he no longer wants to be a Cowboy. With that said, Parsons has still been present on the sidelines at team events, such as open practice earlier this week, but it’s hard to imagine he’s in football shape with Week 1 right around the corner. 

During a recent television interview on FOX News Channel’s “FOX & Friends,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked straight-up how close the Cowboys are on getting a deal done with Parsons. Jones called Parsons a great player, and that this is a “team thing.”

“Micah’s a great player, not a good player, but a great player. He knows more than anyone that it’s a team thing,” Jones said. “And so, I know everybody is tired of hearing this, but you got to put this puzzle together so that you can have some other people out there playing with Micah. That’s the art of the deal, and that’s what we’re trying to get done and we’re trying to make this thing work. But we have all the appreciation for what he can mean for the years ahead. We’re proud to have him.”

What does “it’s a team thing” mean in this situation? Is Jones saying that you can’t build a contender while paying out multiple record-setting contracts? Should Cowboys fans expect this saga to drag out several more weeks? 

There’s no doubt the Cowboys have a history of costing themselves money…

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The NCAA recently issued the final punishment against the University of Michigan, for violations arising from the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal. The outcome included a 10-year “show cause” order against former Michigan coach, and current Chargers coach, Jim Harbaugh.

Former Ohio State coach, and former Jaguars coach, Urban Meyer, believes that there should be an NFL suspension for Harbaugh.

“There’s an elephant in the room here that no one’s talking about,” Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast, via Karl Rasmussen of SI.com. “When Jim Tressel was fired by Ohio State and he was given a suspension. Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the National Football League, came out and said that we’re going to honor that suspension. [Tressel] went to the Indianapolis Colts to work in the replay room. The Colts, because of the respect they had for the NCAA and the suspension, suspended Jim Tressel, so he was unable to perform his duties for the first six games of the year.”

Does Meyer think the NFL will come up with a way to replicate the NCAA sanction of Harbaugh?

“Any chance that Roger Goodell and the NFL . . . I don’t think so,” Meyer said.

We’ve previously pointed out the NFL’s effort to simulate punishments, both to Tressel and former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The league had no comment on the matter.

That doesn’t mean nothing will happen. It only means the league isn’t commenting.

Still, silence shouldn’t be accepted. Either they’re going to follow the precedent they’ve created, or they’re going to make it up as they go. Whatever they choose to do, they should announce it and explain it.

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The Chicago Bears sorted out their backup quarterback situation Wednesday, signing Tyson Bagent to a two-year, $10 million contract as the top option behind starter Caleb Williams. ESPN’s Tom Pelissero confirmed the signing after CHGO Bears was first to report the move. Bagent’s deal, which runs through the 2027 season, can reach $16 million with its incentive structure.

The Bears did not have to look far for their top backup. Bagent spent the last two seasons in Chicago and played a total of nine games, including four starts in 2023.

Bagent’s signing comes on the heels of a tremendous preseason showing in which he guided the Bears to a 38-0 rout of the Buffalo Bills. Taking the majority of the quarterback reps after Williams started the game, Bagent led the squad with 196 passing yards and a touchdown on 13-of-22 passing. He also ran once for nine yards. Bagent accumulated a team-high 103 yards in the preseason-opening tie with the Miami Dolphins, too.

“If everything goes well, this is it,” Bagent said of the preseason. “I’ll be watching a lot of football this year. 1-8 will go out there and do his thing. So this means the world to me. This is my life’s work being put into action right here in front of everybody. It means a lot, but I’m really just trying to continue to get better myself day in and day out, bank as many reps as possible and be as ready as I possibly can be for the long season that’s coming.”

This season is Bagent’s third in the league after he joined the Bears in 2023 as an undrafted free agent. He hails from Shepherd, a Division II program in West Virginia, and was one of the best players in the nation at that level as a two-time first-team DII All-American. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy in…

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Only one quarterback battle remains.

The Indianapolis Colts announced Daniel Jones as their starter Tuesday. The Cleveland Browns named Joe Flacco their starter Monday.

That leaves the New Orleans Saints, who are still deciding between second-year pro Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough.

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Saints head coach Kellen Moore addressed the competition Tuesday. He sounds no closer to making a decision than he was at the start of training camp.

“It’s close,” Moore told reporters. “We look at every aspect of this quarterback situation. It’s really, really close. Numbers, experience reps, everything. It’s going all the way back to the start of training camp. Everything is very, very close between this group.”

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Moore is fielding questions about the Saints’ QB1 situation not only from media. He says he gets them at home from his kids as well. Moore gives his children the same answers he gives reporters.

“There’s a lot of people who like to ask about the quarterbacks, my kids included,” Moore said. “It’s a fun conversation.

“They’ve got advice about everything. Every bad decision, every throw, every play-call. They’ve got it all.”

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Who will win the job?

So who’s got the edge? That remains a mystery with one preseason game remaining.

Rattler is more of a known commodity. The 2024 fifth-round pick started six games as a rookie last year, completing 57% of his passes for 188.1 yards per game with four touchdowns and five interceptions — not exactly inspiring starter stuff.

The Saints selected Shough in the second round of April’s draft as the third quarterback off the board amid the then-uncertain future of Derek Carr. Both are now competing for the starting job following Carr’s unexpected retirement due to a lingering shoulder injury.

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Neither has done enough to win the job while splitting starts in New Orleans’ first two preseason games.

How they’e looked

Rattler…

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Joe Flacco beat out a group of young quarterbacks to win the Cleveland Browns’ starting job for Week 1, and the most experienced option in the room is set to join a minuscule group of NFL players to extend their careers into their 40s. Flacco will be the second-oldest starting quarterback in the league this season, behind only Aaron Rodgers. The first-year Brown, who joined the franchise this offseason on a one-year, $4 million deal, said it is “special” to get the nod at his age.

Flacco emerged victorious in the position battle over contenders Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders and Tyler Huntley. None of the other quarterbacks in Cleveland are older than 27, while Flacco celebrated his 40th birthday in January.

“I don’t know if I was very emotional about it,” Flacco said of winning the job. “But, listen, you don’t take for granted opportunities in this league. Especially to get one at this point in my career is definitely special. But like I said, it’s pretty much business as usual and just kind of trying to get better.”

While he has not played a full season since 2017, his penultimate campaign with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco made starts with each of his five previous teams and is fresh off a campaign in which he took over for the Indianapolis Colts with six starts.

“You gotta give a lot of credit to obviously Tom (Brady) for anybody even thinking about doing it,” Flacco said of playing into his 40s. “Obviously there was guys before. You have Warren Moon. I talked about it a couple weeks ago. Vinny Testaverde and other guys that have done it. But, I mean, he pushed the boundaries like he did in absolutely everything. No surprise that he did it in that way, as well.

“But I don’t think it’s necessarily something I actively think about until people remind me with texts and things like that and you guys ask me about it. I don’t think it’s a huge deal right now, but I’m sure…

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The Commanders’ starting offense didn’t play long in Monday night’s preseason game, and didn’t throw a single pass. But they still got some action from quarterback Jayden Daniels and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.

Washington’s sole possession for its first-string offense started with Samuel running for 19 yards and ended with Daniels scrambling up the middle for a 14-yard touchdown. Washington coach Dan Quinn said after the game that he was glad to see Samuel’s running ability on display, but less enthused about Daniels taking off and running in a preseason game.

“I was excited to see Deebo run,” Quinn said. “I’ve been on the other side of that and know what that movie looks like, so that was cool to see.”

But Quinn was asked after the game if he would tell Daniels that running the ball in the preseason isn’t necessary, and Quinn indicated he had already done so.

“You think those conversations haven’t already been told?” Quinn said with a laugh. “It is part of who he is, but it is one of the things we’ve worked on, to say when do you take your shots and when do you go. There will be more of that, at times I’ll say less of that.”

It was an impressive run from Daniels for the touchdown, but one that saw him take contact from a defender before scoring. In the regular season, that’s part of what makes Daniels special. In the preseason, Quinn probably would have preferred to see Daniels slide around the 5-yard line.

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