PFR Originals: Bolts, WRs, Cardinals, Vikings

Here’s a rundown of recent PFR originals:

• With the initial rushes of free agency coming to a close, Ben Levine took a look at where each team ranks in projected salary cap space for the 2025 season with the help of OvertheCap.com. A few teams at the bottom of their divisions like the Patriots, Cardinals, and Commanders are all projected to have the ability to be big spenders in the next offseason.
• Sam Robinson continued our Offseason in Review series with a look at the offseason activities of the Chargers. Now led by college football’s most recent national championship-winning head coach Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles will field a new-look offense coached by new offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Roman’s new-look offense will be without recent offensive staples Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler but adds some former Roman associates in Gus Edwards and J.K. Dobbins.
• I continued our work on the Offseason in Review series with a dive into the Cardinals’ activities for the past few months. After some losses in the trenches and in the receiving corps, Arizona made moves to reinforce those areas of loss with a number of free agency signings on both the offensive and defensive lines. The team also made two serious investments for quarterback Kyler Murray, drafting legacy wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 4 overall and trading for backup quarterback Desmond Ridder as an upgrade in case Murray misses any more time.
• Sam followed this up with the Offseason in Review series’ edition of the Vikings’ offseason activities. Third-year general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah‘s main focus this offseason was the big-money extension for star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, while other key offensive contributors like Kirk Cousins, Alexander Mattison, and K.J. Osborn found themselves headed to free agency. Minnesota will hope that their two first-round picks, J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner, will help offset some of the losses, but the team’s third pick in the draft, Khyree Jackson, tragically lost his life in a car accident days ago.
• We’ve seen a number of star veteran cornerbacks push the market in recent offseasons and some young players set a slightly lower market for some of the best, young corners in the game. The latest of those players vying for a new deal is former first-round pick AJ Terrell for the Falcons. Ben laid out the case for Terrell to get a big, new contract extension before “negotiations get tense.”
• There are several key wide receivers pushing their clubs for new contracts this offseason. New deals for players like Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, A.J. Brown, Calvin Ridley, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, and others have made things even tougher for receivers like Brandon Aiyuk, Amari Cooper, Tee Higgins, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb, and Courtland Sutton, all of whom are looking for some kind of update to their current situation, as Sam detailed here.
• Carolina passer Bryce Young had a rocky rookie season as Adam Thielen was the only receiver to truly contribute to the offense in a big way in 2023. I broke down what the upcoming season will look like for the Panthers’ wide receiving corps with the additions of Diontae Johnson, Xavier Legette, and Daewood Davis.
• After watching Bill Belichick part ways with the Patriots this offseason, the top of the list of the NFL’s longest-tenured head coaches looks slightly different, with Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh sitting alone atop the list now. Sam ran through the entire list, noting when each coach was hired and for how much longer they’re going to be under contract.
• Lastly, Ben noted that it was three years ago yesterday that wide receiver N’Keal Harry requested a trade from the Patriots. Harry’s struggles on the field continued that season and, after having his fifth-year option declined, he saw his trade-request fulfilled as New England shipped him off to Chicago. Now with the Vikings and making a transition to tight end, Harry is still working to make his impact on the NFL.