The last two teams standing in the 2025 season will kick off their 2026 training camps on Friday. Veteran players for the Seahawks and Patriots will report to camp and both teams will hold their first practices of the summer on Saturday. The Cardinals and Panthers, who play in the Hall of Fame Game, became the first two teams to open camp earlier this week. The Seahawks and Patriots are reporting ahead of other teams because they will play the first game of the regular season on September 9 in Seattle . The Seahawks are hosting the game because they beat New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. The Rams and 49ers will have their full squads in camp on Saturday and the remaining 26 teams will get things going on July 28
The article humorously frames a potential dispute between George Kittle and Kyle Shanahan as the "real fight of the century," contrasting it with a hypothetical Logan Paul vs. Tom Brady match
Other NFL team previews: 32. Dolphins | 31. Jets | 30. Cardinals | 29. Browns | 28. Titans | 27. Raiders | 26. Falcons | 25. Giants | 24. Saints | 23. Panthers | 22. Buccaneers | 21. Colts | 20. Steelers | 19. Vikings | 18. Commanders | 17. Bengals | 16. Jaguars | 15. Packers | 14. Chargers | 13. 49ers | 12. Chiefs | 11. Bears When C.J. Stroud 's historic rookie season was wrapping up, imagining the Houston Texans quickly becoming a Super Bowl contender wasn't a stretch. The Texans doing it in spite of Stroud is the surprise. Nobody foresaw the situation the Texans find themselves in going into Stroud's fourth season. Houston has built what might be the best defense in the NFL. Edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. proved to be worth every bit of what the Texans gave up when they traded up to draft him, and Houston is physical and fast at all three levels. Ask Josh Allen . The Texans abused Allen in a way he had never been before in his career during a 23-19 win over the Bills last season. The defense is stellar. And if Stroud had maintained or improved upon his rookie season level until now, the Texans would almost certainly be the best team in football. That hasn't happened. They weren't even the best team in the AFC South last season. Play Yahoo's new College Fantasy Football game: Create or join a league now! Stroud's rookie season wasn't fluky. He was really good. There are three players to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and also touchdown-to-interception ratio in the same season. The first two were Joe Montana in 1989 and Tom Brady in 2007. Those are two of the most famous single seasons in NFL history. The third member of that group is Stroud, and he did so as a rookie. It was probably the greatest rookie season a quarterback has ever had, until Jayden Daniels usurped him a year later. Now Stroud's rookie season seems like a hallucination. Stroud hasn't reached that level since, though the Texans have not done enough to help him either. Stroud's four interception game in a playoff loss to the Patriots brought forth the predictable and hyperbolic talk that Houston would trade Stroud. "It's moronic. We're not trading the guy," Texans general manager Nick Caserio said at the NFL scouting combine, according to NFL.com . "He's our quarterback. He's gonna be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026. Anything beyond that, that's your world. You guys can speculate on that. But we're not trading C.J. Stroud." That seemed obvious all along, but it's not like the concern about Stroud is invalid. After Stroud's rookie season, anyone would have bet on the Texans already signing him to a big long-term extension by now. But Stroud is still waiting for that second deal, which is telling. Stroud hasn't been bad, aside from that playoff loss, but he has been league average. It's hard for a team to know what to do, contract-wise, with an average quarterback. For this season, there's still the dream that the defense maintains its elite level while Stroud rediscovers his rookie form. Maybe that happens with new addition David Montgomery helping out in the running game, a young receiver or two leveling up and perhaps some offensive line additions helping what has been a bad unit. The Texans don't need Stroud to be 1989 Montana or 2007 Brady with the defense they have. But they do need him to be a little better. And we've seen Stroud be a lot better in the NFL already. A top-10 Texans offense paired with their scary defense can win a Super Bowl. That would be enough to get Stroud a top-end extension. But the team and everyone else is waiting for the rookie version of Stroud to show up again. The Texans' latest attempt to fix the offensive line centered around the signing of offensive tackle Braden Smith (two years, $20 million) and guard Wyatt Teller (two years, $16 million) and drafting guard Keylan Rutledge with the 26th overall pick. The Texans' line ranked 27th last season, according to Pro Football Focus , but all t
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Speculation suggests Tom Brady might be positioning himself for a presidential run, with his ventures into pro wrestling and business connections to Sam Bankman-Fried potentially aligning with political ambitions. The article explores how his fame and resources could translate into a political base, bypassing traditional political career paths
A potential reunion between the Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald appears to be on pause. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed how the Rams are handling their pursuit of a Donald reunion on “Get Up.” “The Rams are giving him his space to make the decision on his own,” Schefter said. “They don’t want to say ‘We really want you back. Come back.’ And all of a sudden, midway through the season, he’s saying, ‘Why did I come back?” Schefter went on to say that Donald has been back at the Rams facility, training while trying to decide whether or not he wants to come out of retirement. “The Rams want him back, it’s an open invite,” Schefter said. “He has to sign off on coming back, and we’re waiting to hear whether he does.” Since the Rams traded for Myles Garret in a blockbuster deal that sent Jared Verse and three draft picks, including a 2027 first-round pick, rumors have been circulating on a potential reunion between the Rams and Donald. Once the trade became official, Donald started posting workout videos on social media accounts more frequently than usual and has also been seen participating in football drills. Of course, working out is a part of Donald’s identity. Since he retired from the NFL in 2023, Donald has still maintained his playing form and has frequently posted videos of himself working out from home. This past January, Donald made a TikTok that had over 3.6 million views of himself doing an insane workout. Before his retirement, Donald was considered one of the best defensive lineman to ever play in the NFL, having a total of 111 sacks and 260 hits on the quarterback. Donald is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2018, 2020) and had his best season rushing the quarterback in 2018 when he had 20.5 sacks. The Rams would fall to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53. In 2022, the Rams won Super Bowl 56 over the Bengals , where Donald had an iconic third-down sack on Joe Burrow to lift the Rams to a 23-20 victory, becoming the second NFL team to win a Super Bowl in their host city
New York Giants fans might be flipping out over what they saw on Saturday. Budding running back Cam Skattebo had his 2025 rookie season cut short by a devastating ankle injury . The Arizona State product was a bright spot on an otherwise dismal Giants team, with 401 rushing yards on 100 carries (4.1 yards per carry) in limited action. While Skattebo has been transparent with his injury, recovery and rehab, the running back again showcased the health of his ankle with a backflip gone awry during Fanatics Fest this weekend. The Giants running back took the stage a WWE event at the convention, showed off the surgically repaired ankle and proceeded to execute a nearly flawless backflip. Instead of landing securely on his feet, however, Skattebo fell, but would jump back up quickly. The East Rutherford judges might give it a 5. MORE: Tom Brady slaps Logan Paul in WWE-adjacent move On Sunday, Skattebo wanted to ease the minds of fans, making a guarantee that they will see him on the turf come the start of the season. "I'm gonna address the elephant: I will not hurt myself before the season," he said , before continuing to explain what went wrong on the backflip. "When I took off, I was mid-air like, 'holy cow, I'm not gonna land this, I'm way too high,'" he said. "Landed, but it had too much cushion. It wasn't a stiff, firm ground. ... "Nothing came out from that, I'm perfectly fine. Nothing happened. We're good." It's not the first time that Skattebo has backflipped this offseason. Another public attempt happened at teammate Brian Burns' celebrity softball game in May after hitting a home run. The Giants are hoping he hits a lot more home runs for them, this time on the field, in 2026. With new head coach John Harbaugh's reputation of installing bruising, run-first offenses, a healthy Skattebo is expected to factor into that equation. The Giants running back is expected to be ready for Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. NorthJersey.com's Art Stapleton reported on Friday, May 29 that the running back "snuck into some positional drills" at Giants OTAs, signaling that the running back should be good to go for training camp, barring an unforeseen setback. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cam Skattebo calms Giants fans flipping out over failed stunt
Tom Brady and Logan Paul were beefing at Fanatics Fest on Friday. Whether it was real or staged, the moment appeared to have Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns shaken as the three were together in front of a live audience at the Javits Center, as Brady appeared to slap Paul with his throwing hand. Brady also posted the apparent incident afterward, calling Paul a “dork.” Fanatics also posted the back-and-forth, calling it “Round 100” of a “never-ending beef.” On another post that went up rolling the video, Paul reshared and wrote , “This happened bc I was roasting Tom for beating him in flag football. And he tries to smack me ?? Horrible example for the kids Aura -100 + Blocked. With a torn tricep.” Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback, responded, “I tried America… will try again next time I see this nerd.” The two were linked at another Fanatics event, a flag football game earlier this year. In the game, Brady — who was not Paul’s teammate — chucked a football at him following the conclusion of a play. The influencer, celebrity boxer and WWE star took exception to it — or at least appeared to — and confronted the future Hall of Famer. Brady had been seen moving away from a charging Paul at the time with a wide ear-to-ear grin on his face. In March, the two had another exchange at a Fanatics Flag Football event where Brady trolled Paul about the latter’s high school football career. “Logan pulled out of a lot of fights this week. You scored 19 TDs in high school. No one cares,” Brady said to Paul after apparently ducking fights with former All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell — who actually is 2-1 as a pro boxer — and Rams pass rusher Myles Garrett , the single-season NFL sack leader. Friday’s flap the latest in the ongoing saga between Brady and Paul, a bizarre beef on paper, but one that no one would be surprised to see spill onto a WWE ring, given that it’s SummerSlam season. Brady said he’s looking to have a WWE moment someday. “I need to get an invite. I’ve been waiting for [WWE president] Nick Khan to come up with some storyline for me to get in the mix,” Brady said on Thursday to Cody Rhodes on a live taping “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” “I feel like I’m retired from football, and I have an opportunity to go out there and still showcase that I’m a little bit of an athlete,” Brady added
Ten years ago (or thereabouts), stories began to emerge about NFL quarterbacks using virtual reality to augment their training. The talk quieted fairly quickly, apparently because teams that were using it didn’t want to publicize how well it works. That’s what made the inclusion of an extended look at Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels using a VR headset in the new season of Quarterback on Netflix a bit surprising. “They select the play and I’ve got seven seconds to kind of process what coverage I think they’re in and the ball snaps and you’ve got to go out there and make a quick decision,” Daniels said. The two-plus-minute segment includes both head coach Dan Quinn and then-quarterbacks coach (now offensive coordinator) David Blough talking about the benefits of the system. “I can say, ‘Hey, we’re expecting this play against three coverages. Can I get these three coverages brought into the system,’” Blough said. “And then he’s able to see different defenses and operate from there.” “You might have not had that exact play at practice,” Quinn said, “but now that you do, there’s recall that goes with it.” It also gives a quarterback a chance to see, as explained by Cognilize CEO Verena Krakau, everything in the next stadium where a team will be playing, such as the location of the play clock. One coach who, in recent years, was fairly talkative about the VR system was former Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. In June 2019, he expressed hope that then-starter Jameis Winston had embraced it. (Given that Winston threw 30 interceptions in his first and only season with Arians, Winston possibly didn’t.) The next year, Arians said new starter Tom Brady was “ falling in love ” with the VR system Arians had brought with him from Arizona. And the 2020 season culminated in a Super Bowl win. Basically, any team that isn’t using VR for quarterback training should be. Which further explains the general reluctance of teams that are using it to zip it
The Patriots' training camp preview focuses on the offensive line and tight end positions, with notable mentions of Hunter Henry, Julian Hill, and Jared Wilson. Discussions also touch upon Mike Onwenu's overlooked value, Drake Maye's potential, and potential wide receiver pairings. Rookies Namdi Obiazor and Karon Prunty are highlighted for their potential impact, while Brenden Schooler is recognized for his special teams contributions. Marcus Jones is lauded as a dual-threat superstar, and a controversial ranking of Tom Brady is also discussed
When the Los Angeles Rams sent Jared Goff (and three draft picks) to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford, Sean McVay and company thought they were acquiring the missing piece for their championship dreams. Not only were they right, but Stafford almost certainly surpassed their loftiest hopes. By leading the Rams to a Super Bowl and winning an MVP over the past five seasons, Stafford has gone above and beyond to establish his place among the NFL’s most-respected pivots, transforming his own narrative from that of a compiler with minimal success to a legitimate Hall of Fame contender. He’s not the first high-profile quarterback to move to another team in the second half of his career, but there aren’t many who come remotely close to matching his success. In fact, you can easily argue no quarterback has positively impacted the outside world’s perspective of their career during a second act more than Stafford has since joining the Rams. The list below dives into the notable quarterbacks in NFL history who established a legacy with one franchise, only to make a move elsewhere to play their final seasons. Drew Brees is notably excluded because he left the Chargers after his age 26 season and spent three times as many years in New Orleans as he did San Diego. Fran Tarketon also changed teams twice and won his lone MVP at 35 years old, but spent that final tenure with the team that originally drafted him, the Vikings, so he’s out as well. You will notice quickly that the sublist of quarterbacks even in the same zip code as Stafford’s Rams tenure is tiny. Brady led the New England Patriots to two different dynastic championship runs, one in each half of his career with the franchise, but he departed for Tampa Bay after turmoil became too much to handle with the team that drafted him. Like Stafford (in fact, the year before Stafford did), Brady won a ring in his first year with his new team, the seventh of his career. He put up gaudy passing numbers in his three seasons with the Bucs, too, helped in large part by incredible volume; he led the NFL in pass attempts in the last two years of his career at 44 and 45 years old. Brady didn’t rack up crazy individual honors in his second act, earning one Pro Bowl nod and a second-team All-Pro honor, both in 2021. Whenever someone compares a modern “will he, won’t he” contract/retirement saga to Brett Favre, they’re underrating how all-consuming Brett Favre’s last days in Green Bay were. But after finally committing to play and getting shipped out, Favre was unremarkable with the Jets, starting out hot but fizzling out late in an 8-8 season. He was legitimately great in his first year in Minnesota, finishing fourth in MVP voting and leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game, but he was a sad shell of himself in 2010, turning into an all-time example of a former legend who hung on to past glory for too long. Peyton Manning joins Stafford as the only quarterbacks here with a Super Bowl title and an MVP at their second stop, but the way Manning got to those achievements came in stark contrast to one another. He led the Broncos offense to two of the best single seasons in recent memory in 2012 and 2013, winning MVP in the latter season. The Super Bowl win was a different Peyton Manning, though. His arm strength was completely shot at this point, and for the first time since his rookie season he threw more interceptions than he did touchdowns. He was benched for Brock Osweiler midseason. Denver won the title that year, and Manning did enough in the postseason to keep the train on the tracks, but it was the defense that won that ring for the Broncos. Manning is the most obvious other contender for the honor of best quarterback second act, with a championship, and MVP, two first-team All-Pros and three Pro Bowls in Denver. Montana’s best days obviously came with the San Francisco 49ers, but he was a solid starter for two years in Kansas City , a franchise that, other t
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Football is the ultimate team sport, but some positions are still more important than others. You won't be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with lackluster quarterback play. We've seen Patrick Mahomes power a dynasty that reached the Super Bowl five times over a six-year span, while the greatest player of all time, Tom Brady , won a record seven Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame career. A quarterback room is more than just the starter. Half of the starting quarterbacks around the NFL can't stay healthy for a full season, and it's up to the backup to come in and guide the offense. The Indianapolis Colts weren't prepared for Daniel Jones going down, and it sank their season. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers fared just fine when Brock Purdy was forced to miss some time. The second-string quarterback is the most overlooked position in today's NFL . Which NFL teams have the best quarterback situations and which have the worst? Below, we will break down the five worst and five best QB rooms in the league. QBs: Michael Penix Jr. , Tua Tagovailoa , Trevor Siemian , Jack Strand One of the more strange moments from this offseason was when the Atlanta Falcons immediately pivoted to Tua Tagovailoa after the Miami Dolphins made the decision to take on an NFL-record $99 million in dead cap just to get rid of him. Tagovailoa led the NFL in passer rating in 2022 and passing yards in 2023, but has struggled with both consistency and injuries since signing that massive $212.4 million extension. It's also understood that he's not an electric playmaker who can carry offenses alone with his arm. He played his best football in a Mike McDaniel scheme that relied on timing, yet Miami reached the postseason just twice. Tagovailoa threw a career-high 15 interceptions last year while averaging a career-worst 6.9 yards per attempt. Can he resurrect his career under Kevin Stefanski? If it's not Tagovailoa, then it will be Michael Penix Jr. under center for Atlanta. The former No. 8 overall pick is recovering from the third torn ACL of his football career, and is just 4-8 as a starter. Penix is averaging one touchdown pass per start and has completed fewer than 60% of his passes. As a prospect, it was hard not to be intrigued by his arm, but Penix just hasn't been good enough. His bad throw percentage (24%) ranked worst in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Reference. The Falcons' offense features several fun weapons, including Bijan Robinson , Kyle Pitts and Drake London . However, if this group doesn't have a legitimate starting quarterback that can get them the ball, Atlanta is in for its ninth-straight losing season. QBs: Malik Willis , Quinn Ewers , Cam Miller , Mark Gronowski The Dolphins secured the most intriguing quarterback in this free agency class with Malik Willis. It wasn't a surprise, as Miami hired a general manager and head coach that Willis was familiar with. Jon Eric-Sullivan, Jeff Hafley and Willis all come over from the Green Bay Packers . Willis completed 79% of his passes while averaging 10.9 yards per attempt with six touchdowns and zero interceptions in his two seasons with the Packers. He became the first quarterback to complete 85% of his passes in a game while averaging 13+ yards per attempt and rushing for 60 yards. If you want to extrapolate his numbers over three starts, Willis would be a franchise quarterback. The problem is our sample size for Willis is very small. According to Kurt Warner , Willis had just 28 dropbacks over the past two seasons if you take out screen plays, "pick-n-stick" throws at five yards and quick scrambles. He will also be quarterbacking for what is expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. De'Von Achane is a fantastic running back, but Malik Washington , Jalen Tolbert and Tutu Atwell are not exactly elite wideouts. Willis is a huge question mark in general, but even if you're optimistic about his talent, you have to admit that the rebuilding Dolphins are not in a great [... truncated ...]
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on whom they hope will be the future of the franchise in quarterback Fernando Mendoza . The Indiana signal-caller cemented himself as a college football legend, as he led the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and College Football Championship while picking up the Heisman Trophy along the way. Only three other players have ever won the Heisman Trophy and were selected No. 1 overall: Cam Newton , Jameis Winston and Joe Burrow . All three players were immediately thrown into the starting lineup for their respective teams, but that will not be the case for Mendoza. The Raiders went out and signed veteran Kirk Cousins to start the season, and mentor the young Mendoza. Some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL did not start right away. Patrick Mahomes sat almost his entire rookie season while learning behind Alex Smith , Aaron Rodgers sat for three years behind Brett Favre, and Jordan Love behind Rodgers for two seasons. Even the great Tom Brady sat for over a full year backing up Drew Bledsoe. So, what is the best course of action? Former Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, who coached Philly to its Super Bowl LII victory against Brady's New England Patriots in 2017, believes that Mendoza should start right away. Pederson faced this same dilemma in 2016, when his Eagles drafted Carson Wentz No. 2 overall. It appeared Wentz was going to sit behind Sam Bradford as a rookie, but the Eagles changed course and shipped Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings prior to the start of the regular season. That opened the door for Wentz to play immediately. As Pederson explains it, he truly believed Wentz was going to be his franchise quarterback, and he wanted to get the growing pains out of the way early. He believes the Raiders should do this with Mendoza. "Let's get this guy out there Week 1, let's start having our growing pains Week 1," Pederson said. "Let's not prolong it into October or November or later in the season. Let's get him out there now. Let's get him working with the guys that he's going to be working with. Making the calls at the offensive line, getting Ashton Jeanty the ball. I think Klint Kubiak's system is going to allow for that, with the play-action pass, the run game, all these things that helped Seattle win a championship last year. But let's get Fernando on the field. I think it's very beneficial..." Pederson said Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott called him in 2018 to ask for advice on how to handle his new quarterback, Josh Allen . Pederson told him if McDermott was completely sold on Allen being the future of the franchise, he should play right away. "I think you put him on the field Day 1." Doug Pederson thinks the Raiders should start Fernando Mendoza at QB Week 1. pic.twitter.com/dfjB8Emd9e Wentz went 7-9 for the Eagles as a rookie, and then started his second season 11-2 before tearing his ACL. Wentz looked like an MVP candidate during that 2017 campaign prior to his injury with 33 passing touchdowns in 13 games. He clearly built confidence after playing a full year in the NFL. If there's one former player you should listen to when it comes to handling quarterbacks, it's Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is a proponent of sitting and developing young quarterbacks. He lamented the state of the quarterback in today's NFL during a 2024 interview. "I didn't start my first year. I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these rookies to play early," Brady said. "But the reality is, the only reason why they are is because we've dumbed the game down which has allowed them to play. It used to be thought of at a higher level..." . @TomBrady on the tragedy that is being forced on rookie QBs in today’s NFL pic.twitter.com/IReSLdYL1R Since 2020, we've seen 11 rookie quarterbacks start immediately, and every single one of them had growing pains. Even the great Burrow, [... truncated ...]
Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, but not the NFL’s best quarterback, at least in the eyes of the league personnel who was polled by ESPN. In a top 10 ranking posted by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Stafford ranked as the third-best quarterback behind Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes . Stafford’s MVP campaign vaulted him into the top three in convincing fashion. Stafford earned an impressive 17% of the first-place votes. He has not been a fixture in the top half of the voting since the inception of our top 10 lists in 2020, but Stafford produced the fourth season in NFL history with at least 45 touchdown passes (46) and fewer than 10 interceptions (eight). The others were executed by Aaron Rodgers (2020, 2021) and Brady (2007). “Nobody played better than him last year, and it wasn’t even close,” an NFL head coach said. Stafford definitely improved in the eyes of the league, and has a completely reputation with the Los Angeles Rams than he had over 12 years with the Detroit Lions . In five seasons with the Rams, Stafford has gone from “talented but doesn’t win and makes too many mistakes” to becoming a fixture in the top 5 for most people. That’s thanks to Stafford leading the Rams to the playoffs in four of five seasons and winning MVP last season. Not even a down season and a torn ACL could rip Mahomes out of the top-two, apparently. Mahomes posted a career-worst 62.7 percent completion rate in 2025, as the Chiefs went 6-8 in his 14 starts. He tore his ACL and is looking to be ready for Week 1. It’s actually been four years since Mahomes had a truly dominant statistical season, as 2022 was the last time he threw more than 27 touchdowns. “He still puts fear in people like no other quarterback — gives you a shot in every game,” an NFL quarterbacks coach said. “His skill set combined with his will to win puts him at the top.” Josh Allen moved up from 2 last season to 1st this year: “He’s the most singularly unstoppable player at the position when you get his A-game,” the GM said. “And he has cut down on the turnovers the past two seasons.” Should Stafford be ranked first? Being in the top 3 means that Stafford is practically interchangeable with number one. So while he doesn’t get that title, the Rams are well-positioned to win the Super Bowl title
The Los Angeles Rams must feel pretty good about the success of their monumental 2021 trade that swapped Jared Goff and a cache of picks for Matthew Stafford. The move resulted in a Super Bowl championship at the team’s home in SoFi Stadium. Years later Stafford is finding new heights in his career. He just put a bow on his most productive season yet and earned the NFL’s Most Valuable Player honors. Even with things going so well, the Rams understand quarterback is the most important position in football. Stafford’s career continuation is on a year-to-year basis. He could easily decide to call it quits after 2026. LA decided now is the time to prepare for the future. They drafted Ty Simpson with the thirteenth overall pick earlier this spring. There is plenty of time to discern what Simpson brings to the table and whether he’s someone that the Rams can be trusted with the keys as soon as 2027. As training camp approaches, now seems like a good moment to ponder on Simpson’s NFL ceiling. For as good as Stafford is, could Simpson one day surpass him? For most of Stafford’s NFL tenure, he was often the 8th to 12th best quarterback in the league. Many in front of him have hung up their cleats: Peyton Manning , Tom Brady , Drew Brees , Matt Ryan , Philip Rivers , Ben Roethlisberger , Eli Manning , Andrew Luck , and others. The league’s new elite quarterbacks are stylistically very different from those who have come before. There is a significant difference in the way they play the game from what makes Stafford successful. I’m thinking of Patrick Mahomes , Josh Allen , Lamar Jackson , Joe Burrow , Drake Maye , Caleb Williams , Jordan Love , and more. The NFL is in good hands with this emerging crop. But modern professional football almost requires quarterbacks to be able to win with their legs. You can get by with a savvy pocket passer, although in short-yardage and goal line situations you may be leaving meat on the bone if your signal caller can’t pick it up himself. This alone is one of the biggest changes the Rams will see when they one day transition from Stafford to Simpson. And certainly Stafford brings a headiness to his play that is unrivaled by the next generation. His no-look passes and ability to quickly progress through the defense gives Los Angeles a massive inherent advantage. There are tradeoffs for nearly any player teams decide to put under center. At least on the surface the Rams seem to understand where the quarterback position is headed. Simpson fits that bill from a stylistic standpoint. A common draft season knock against both Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson was that they are probably NFL starters but may be not better than mid-tier. Simpson has frequently been compared to Brock Purdy , a former seventh round pick and someone who may never become elite himself. But Simpson has Sean McVay’s seal of approval. That is meaningful for nearly anyone on the offensive side of the ball. While seeing Simpson in such a favorable light does require some hand waving and looking past a small sample size, you can certainly see why the Rams felt he was a fit for their system and that he has the potential to grow into a difference maker. One of the main concerns with Simpson is his frame. He stands 6-1 and weighed 211 lbs. at the NFL scouting combine. That weight is likely significantly heavier than where he played at last season while he was battling gastritis. For example, the below list of quarterbacks have a earned reputation for missing time. Being slight of frame is a real concern. Brock Purdy, 212 lbs JJ McCarthy, 219 lbs Jayden Daniels , 21o lbs Lamar Jackson, 216 lbs Kyler Murray , 207 lbs Joe Burrow, 221 lbs Josh Allen is pushing 240 pounds. Caleb Williams and Drake Maye are in the mid-220’s. Even 10 additional pounds may make a big difference in terms of sustaining hits over the course of a season. With an opportunity to observe one of the most savvy passers in football, time to build out his ph
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The potential unretirement of Aaron Donald has been one of the bigger offseason storylines across the NFL. The speculation started around when the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett . Until that trade, there was no real sense that Donald had any plans to suit up in the NFL again, but after that move, fans speculated, talking heads speculated, and Donald still hasn’t given a hard “no” or a hard “yes” to lining up with Garrett in 2026 as the speculation continues. Until Donald says, “no” (if he says no), the speculation isn’t going away. Though Donald has been retired for years, when there is a chance that one of the greatest NFL players ever will come back and suit up to do it again, that gets noticed. You of course will recall Tom Brady unretiring for his final ride with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . That decision didn’t only impact the NFC South. It impacted the NFL. With 32 teams, every decision impacts every team, but some stories get more mileage than others. To no surprise, the potential unretirement of Donald is getting plenty of mileage. Will Donald unretire? How will Donald perform? How will Donald and Garrett mesh together? How much can Donald give at age 35? Rams fans are not the only fanbase who want answers to these questions, as a Donald unretirement isn’t just a story for the Rams, it’s an NFL story. Everyone is watching. Naturally, it’s different for the Rams because the headlines involving Donald are all publicity for L.A. And whereas you can push back on the notion that “any publicity is good publicity”; the publicity the Rams would get if Donald actually rejoined them for a Super Bowl push, would seem anything but negative for the Rams, and maybe anything but positive for the rest of the NFL. This story isn’t going away, not yet. In fact (and however unlikely), this story has the chance to explode even further if Donald says that magical and affirming 3-letter word to Sean McVay and the Rams: Yes
Reports indicate that Mike Macdonald, the new Seattle Seahawks head coach, clarified that he was not referencing Tom Brady when he spoke about receiving Super Bowl advice from a prominent figure. The identity of this individual remains a mystery, fueling speculation
Data comes from cached Sleeper and KTC snapshots. Values update when the sync jobs run.
