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Minor NFL Transactions: 4/15/25

April 15th, 2025 at 6:35pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s only minor move:

New York Giants

Blacklock’s time with the Giants ends after a few short months. The former second-round pick out of TCU was the Texans first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft as Houston used a pick acquired in the DeAndre Hopkins-David Johnson trade. After two disappointing seasons, Houston traded him to the Vikings with a seventh-rounder in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Since then, he has bounced around, with stops at each of the other three teams in the AFC South. He signed to the Giants’ practice squad in early-December last year, but failed to see any game action. He signed a reserve/futures deal in January, but that deal has been terminated.

Steelers Re-Sign OL Max Scharping

April 15th, 2025 at 5:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

While Max Scharping has not lived up to his second-round draft slot, the veteran offensive lineman has remained a viable swing player for a number of teams. The Steelers will continue to evaluate the well-traveled blocker in-house.

Signing Scharping off the Commanders’ practice squad last season, the Steelers agreed to terms to keep him around. The team announced the re-signing (on a one-year deal) Tuesday. Pittsburgh is the seventh-year guard’s fifth NFL destination.

A former Texans second-round pick, Scharping has now been claimed on waivers — by the Bengals — and signed off a practice squad during his NFL run. He also enjoyed a short non-playing stint with the Eagles. Last season, Scharping played in two Steelers games as a backup. He played in 31 contests as a Bengals reserve from 2022-23.

Chosen 55th overall in 2019, Scharping started 33 games for the Texans over his first three seasons. The GM who selected Scharping (Brian Gaine) was fired shortly after that draft, but Scharping joined Tytus Howard as early fixtures on Houston’s O-line. The Northern Illinois product played both guard spots regularly for the Texans, but the team waived him early during Nick Caserio‘s GM run. Scharping has played fewer than 100 offensive snaps over the past three seasons.

The Steelers let three-year guard starter James Daniels walk in free agency but will be eager to have rookie-contract cog Mason McCormick build on a season spent as a Daniels injury fill-in. The team also has left guard starter Isaac Seumalo back for a third season. Fifth-year vet Ryan McCollum and 2023 seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson in place as backup options. Scharping, 28, will attempt to stay in this mix for a second season.

LT Tyron Smith To Retire

April 15th, 2025 at 12:13pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Longtime NFL left tackle Tyron Smith is retiring, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Smith will sign a one-day contract to retire as a Cowboy, the team for which he played for 13 years before finishing his career with the Jets in 2024.

Smith will retire as one of the best offensive tackles of his generation with two selections as a first-team All-Pro and eight as a Pro Bowler. He was originally the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft after playing college football at USC. Smith started all 16 games at right tackle as a rookie in Dallas before switching to the left side in 2012. He was named to seven straight Pro Bowls from 2013 to 2019, starting 100 games at left tackle for the Cowboys in that span.

Injuries plagued Smith throughout the second half of his career. He didn’t start more than 13 games in a season after 2015 and only played in 17 games from 2020 to 2022 due to neck, ankle, and hamstring injuries. When healthy, he was still one of the best left tackles in the league, earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2021 and a second-team All-Pro selection in 2023, his last year in Dallas. That rebound came after Smith had earned All-Decade acclaim for the 2010s.

Smith then signed with the Jets in 2024, starting their first 10 games at left tackle before a season-ending neck injury landed him on injured reserve. He said that he was considering retirement after the season, a decision confirmed by today’s news. Smith will leave a $5.8MM dead cap hit on the Jets’ 2025 salary cap, per OverTheCap.

The Jets already have a replacement for Smith on their roster in 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu. He took over for Smith in Week 10 last season and started the next five games at left tackle before a bout of plantar fasciitis sidelined him for the last two games of the year. However, the Jets have little experienced depth at offensive tackle and will likely need to invest in the position before the start of the 2025 season.

The Cowboys have scheduled a press conference on Wednesday for Smith to formally announce his retirement, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. He is the second longtime Cowboys offensive lineman to retire this offseason; Smith’s former teammate, right guard Zack Martin, retired in February.

Smith, 34, will walk away having earned more than $124MM over the course of his career. Much of that came from the mammoth extension Smith signed when first eligible (2014). The Cowboys managed to lock down the Hall of Fame-level talent for 10 years — via an eight-year, $97.6MM extension being tacked onto his five-year rookie contract — and held Smith to that. Injuries played a key role in Smith being unable to land a lucrative third contract, but he became the rare player in NFL history to play out an eight-year contract.

Packers Re-Sign TE John FitzPatrick

April 14th, 2025 at 8:57pm CST by Ben Levine

The Packers are bringing back John FitzPatrick after all. The team announced tonight that they’ve re-signed the free agent tight end. Veteran reporter Howard Balzer was first with the news.

There was some uncertainty surrounding FitzPatrick’s future in Green Bay. The midseason acquisition was initially positioned to hit restricted free agency. However, the Packers never tendered him a contract, making the tight end an unrestricted free agent. Ultimately, the two sides will be looking to extend their partnership for at least another season.

A former sixth-round pick by the Falcons, FitzPatrick started last season on Atlanta’s practice squad. He was snagged by Green Bay in October as the Packers navigated Luke Musgrave‘s absence, and FitzPatrick proceeded to get into nine games (plus another playoff contest) for his new squad.

He finished his season with a single catch, with 53 of his 73 offensive snaps coming as a run blocker. The 25-year-old also got some looks on special teams. In total, FitzPatrick has appeared in 91 career offensive snaps and 133 ST snaps.

The Packers positional depth chart should look very similar next year. Tucker Kraft returns as the starting tight end following a breakout campaign, and Musgrave should also be fully healthy after returning late in the 2024 season. FitzPatrick could ultimately be competing for a roster spot with Ben Sims, who finished second at the position in 2024 with 224 snaps.

CB Patrick Peterson Retires

April 14th, 2025 at 1:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

APRIL 14: Peterson’s retirement ceremony has indeed taken place Monday, as scheduled. During his speech, he said a meeting after the Super Bowl with owner Michael Bidwill paved the way for today’s announcement occurring at the team’s facility. Peterson noted (via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss) he feels he could still play in the NFL but prefers to turn his attention to his post-playing days.

APRIL 11: A week after Julio Jones‘ retirement, the player chosen one spot ahead of him in a loaded 2011 draft is walking away as well. Like Jones, Patrick Peterson did not play in 2024. And the decorated cornerback is planning to retire with the Cardinals on Monday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports.

The former No. 5 overall pick did his best work in Arizona, which selected him in a first round that included Jones, J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Tyron Smith, Cameron Heyward, Cameron Jordan and several other standouts. Several Hall of Famers will come from that first round, and Peterson is likely among them.

Twice a first-team All-Pro as a cornerback and once as a return man, Peterson started his career with eight straight Pro Bowls. The first of those came for return-game work, but among DBs in NFL history, only a handful (Ronnie Lott, Champ Bailey, Steve Atwater, Jalen Ramsey) of post-merger cover men join Peterson as being named to seven Pro Bowls over eight seasons to start a career. Although a 2019 PED suspension brought a step back for Peterson, he did well to rebound upon leaving Arizona for Minnesota in 2021.

A lockdown boundary corner who would follow receivers more than his top peers of the period did, Peterson also displayed durability with the Cardinals. He did not miss a game due to injury in Arizona, going until his first Vikings season — which featured four absences — before seeing a health issue keep him off the field. Peterson helped the Cardinals to two playoff brackets, including a run to the 2015 NFC championship game, and was part of a 2010s defensive crew that featured fellow Pro Bowlers Calais Campbell, Tyrann Mathieu and Chandler Jones. That group splintered near the decade’s end, leaving Peterson as one of the stalwarts on a retooling team.

No second-team All-Pro honors are on Peterson’s resume, which is a bit unusual for a player with his reputation. He earned first-team All-Pro acclaim as a corner in 2013 and 2015. The first of those seasons helped Peterson score a monster extension (five years, $70.1MM) during the 2014 offseason, . The second came as Arizona journeyed to the NFC title game in a season that brought the most wins (13) in a season in the franchise’s 105-year history. Peterson joined Richard Sherman, Chris Harris and Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis on the 2010s’ All-Decade team at corner.

The Cardinals opted not to hand Peterson a second extension, having drafted Byron Murphy 33rd overall in 2019. This came during an early-2020s period that featured a host of quality defenders (Peterson, Jones, Watt, Murphy, Zach Allen) depart. The Vikings gave the LSU alum a one-year, $8MM deal. The 6-foot-1 corner stayed in Minnesota, despite the team changing HCs and GMs in 2022, but did so on a one-year, $4MM pact. Agreeing to a 50% pay cut, Peterson still intercepted five passes in 2022 — including a game-sealing theft of Josh Allen in a shootout win in Buffalo — and helped the team to a 13-4 season. Minnesota did not retain Peterson for his age-33 season, leading to a Pittsburgh one-off. The Steelers, who experimented with Peterson at safety in 2023, released him in 2024.

Peterson aimed to play a 14th season, but corners approaching their mid-30s have trouble landing deals. Peterson may well have received offers, but they clearly did not move the needle financially. He did quite well for himself there, amassing a career-earnings ledger of nearly $114MM. A lucrative rookie contract — the first in the rookie-scale era — and playing out that $70.1MM extension represented the lead drivers of Peterson’s earnings sheet.

The Cardinals cooled Peterson’s punt-return usage after the 2015 season, but he delivered one of this era’s premier seasons by returning four punts for TDs as a rookie. The former shutdown corner will retire with 36 career interceptions — including seven during a breakout 2012 season — and two pick-sixes. Peterson added a postseason INT but only wound up playing in five career playoff tilts. Nevertheless, the former top prospect will retire as one of his era’s top defensive contributors.

Browns Sign DE Julian Okwara

April 14th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Adam La Rose

Julian Okwara will play for a third career team in 2025. The veteran edge rusher signed with the Browns on Monday, per a team announcement.

[RELATED: Browns Leaning Toward Travis Hunter Over Abdul Carter?]

Okwara spent his first four years with the Lions. The former third-round pick made 38 appearances with Detroit, but only four of those were starts. His highest workload came in 2021 with a 40% snap share; Okwara notched five sacks that season, which remains his personal best.

The 27-year-old landed a futures deal with the Eagles last winter, but he was ultimately among the team’s final roster cuts. Okwara quickly found a new home with the Cardinals, though, signing to their practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster in September and remained there the rest of the way. In all, Okwara made 13 appearances with Arizona in 2024, playing one third of the team’s defensive snaps.

That usage rate translated to just one sack and four quarterback pressures, which helps explain why Okwara remained on the open market this deep into free agency. The Notre Dame product will turn his attention to landing a roster spot during the summer as the Browns aim to add depth behind Myles Garrett along the edge. Za’Darius Smith was traded away midway through the 2024 campaign, creating a vacancy in the starting lineup. Former Bucs first-rounder Joe Tryon-Shoyinka signed a one-year deal in free agency, and the Browns still have the likes of Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Alex Wright in the fold.

Okwara will now join that group as he looks to carve out a role for himself. The Browns entered Monday with roughly $19.5MM in cap space, and this deal will no doubt check in near (or at) the veteran minimum. Cleveland could still look to make further moves before the draft as a result.

Bears To Extend CB Kyler Gordon

April 13th, 2025 at 10:45pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Bears agreed to terms with cornerback Kyler Gordon on a three-year, $40MM contract extension, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Gordon, the 39th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was entering the final year of his rookie contract and Bears general manager Ryan Poles identified an extension as a “priority” at league meetings at the beginning of April. Less than two weeks later, the 25-year-old is under contract through the 2028 season as a vital piece of Chicago’s secondary.

Gordon’s $13.33MM APY and $31.25MM in guaranteed money are the highest of any nickel defender in the NFL, surpassing the deal signed by Jalen Pitre last week. Gordon’s salary still places him outside of the league’s top-20 highest-paid cornerbacks, reflecting the smaller market for players who line up almost exclusively in the slot.

Gordon hasn’t spent a significant amount of time on the boundary since his rookie year, when he started 14 games and notched three interceptions. He then moved into the slot full-time in 2023, which featured two more interceptions in 13 appearances as well as a stint on injured reserve. Gordon appeared in 15 games in 2024 and finished the year as the Bears’ second-highest-graded defender by Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

This is the second straight offseason in which Chicago extended one of its young starting cornerbacks. The team signed 2020 second-rounder Jaylon Johnson to a four-year, $76MM extension in March 2024, and another second-round corner, Tyrique Stevenson, will be extension-eligible after the 2025 season. After extending Gordon, the Bears now have all three signed through 2026.

The Bears’ remaining candidates for offseason extensions are left tackle Braxton Jones and linebacker T.J. Edwards, both of whom are entering the last year of their rookie deals.

Browns Bring Back QB Joe Flacco

April 11th, 2025 at 10:50pm CST by Adam La Rose

10:50pm: Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports the Flacco deal will pay out $6MM if he operates as the Browns’ starter and the team does not reach the playoffs. A starting gig which does produce a postseason berth, meanwhile, will see him earn $8MM. Flacco would need to earn first-team All-Pro honors to achieve the maximum $13MM, an entirely unrealistic scenario for the zero-time Pro Bowler. If he can duplicate the success of his first Cleveland stint, though, Flacco can notably add to his career earnings.

8:02am: Joe Flacco will return to Cleveland for 2025. The 40-year-old quarterback has an agreement in place with the Browns, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move is now official.

This will be a one-year deal with a base value of $4MM, per Flacco’s agency. The pact can be worth up to $13MM thanks to incentives. After taking over starting duties late in the 2023 campaign, the former Super Bowl MVP will now return to the Browns as they continue to sort out their quarterback situation.

Deshaun Watson‘s second Achilles tear threatens to keep him sidelined for the entire 2025 campaign. As a result, the Browns have been active in pursuing veteran help under center, trading for former Steelers first-rounder Kenny Pickett earlier this offseason. More moves were expected, although signs pointed against the No. 2 pick in this month’s draft being devoted to a signal-caller. This deal represents another indication that will be the case.

Flacco’s time atop the depth chart with the Ravens ended with a knee injury midway through the 2018 campaign. Then-rookie Lamar Jackson replaced him in the lineup and has remained the starter ever since. After the season, Flacco was dealt to the Broncos, although his one-and-done Denver campaign did not go according to plan. The former first-rounder then saw time with the Jets and Eagles, making nine starts between 2020-22.

Uncertainty loomed over Flacco’s NFL future, but the Browns represented an opportunity to continue his career once Watson went down in 2023. The Delaware product was initially brought in as veteran insurance, but he quickly locked down the QB1 gig and helped lead Cleveland to the playoffs. Flacco averaged 323 yards per game and threw 13 touchdown passes in five regular season games, but interceptions proved to be a problem then and in the team’s wild-card loss to the Texans.

Flacco preferred to remain with the Browns for 2024, but he wound up taking a one-year Colts deal after Indianapolis was priced out of Gardner Minshew‘s market. Anthony Richardson began the season atop the depth chart, but the former No. 4 pick was benched at one point and again missed time due to injury. That allowed Flacco to made six starts, bringing his career total to 191. That figure could rise even further in 2025.

Pickett is now joined by Flacco as a healthy Browns quarterback option. Cleveland has been linked to a pursuit of Kirk Cousins, who is seeking a fresh start after being demoted to backup by the Falcons. A trade after the draft is still possible at this point since Atlanta is open to entertaining it, but especially if the Browns add a developmental passer sometime during the draft the market for Cousins will be quite limited. In any case, Flacco – who posted a 90.5 passer rating in 2024 – will be a familiar option for head coach Kevin Stefanski and Co.

Interestingly, Schefter adds Flacco also spoke with the Steelers and Vikings prior to making his Cleveland return. Pittsburgh is of course still linked to Aaron Rodgers as the team seeks a short-term starter; Rodgers’ preferred destination, meanwhile is Minnesota. The Vikings (barring a Rodgers deal) are set to hand the reins over to J.J. McCarthy in 2025, but they are clearly on the lookout for a veteran. Flacco could have fulfilled that role, but instead he will compete for playing time in Cleveland.

QB Drew Lock Returning To Seahawks

April 11th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

QB dominoes are falling Friday, and a third reunion will take place. After Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson made return trips Friday morning, Drew Lock will follow suit.

The Seahawks are re-signing Lock, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Lock will slide in as a Sam Darnold backup, doing so after playing mostly a backup role as a Giant in 2024. Lock had served as Geno Smith‘s backup from 2022-23.

Initially obtained as part of the eight-asset package the Broncos sent over for Russell Wilson, Lock did not beat out Smith to win the Seahawks’ starting job in 2022. But he became a player the team viewed as valuable. The Seahawks initially re-signed Lock in 2023, keeping him around (at one year and $4MM) despite choosing Smith as their surefire starter. No QB controversy spawned after Smith seized the role as Wilson’s successor, but Lock stayed on after the expiration of his rookie contract. After a rather forgettable Giants one-off, the six-year veteran is coming back to the Pacific Northwest.

Although Pete Carroll is out, the GM who traded for Lock — John Schneider — is calling the shots as Seattle’s top personnel exec. Lock will play behind Darnold, who signed a three-year, $100.5MM deal to replace Smith days after Seattle traded its three-year starter to Las Vegas.

Lock had been on the Seahawks’ radar to retain in 2024, but Schneider stirred up some controversy by indicating he signed with the Giants (one year, $5MM) due partially to being told he could compete for a starting job. Big Blue pushed back on that, not seriously considering a Daniel Jones demotion during the ’24 offseason. But Lock did make his way into the lineup, as the team ultimately did jettison Jones after a six-year partnership fizzled.

Lock’s decision to rejoin the Seahawks hours after Flacco recommitted to the Browns may not be a coincidence. It is certainly possible Cleveland looked at Lock as a potential bridge starter, as he has a bit more experience at the controls than Kenny Pickett. Though, Lock has not been looked at as a preferred starter since the Broncos replaced him with Teddy Bridgewater in 2021. Given a quick hook in Denver, the former second-round pick still has made 28 career starts. A rather notable outing took place last December, helping Lock finalize his case for another QB2 gig.

In a game that dropped the Giants out of the No. 1 draft slot, Lock sliced up the Colts in a shootout win. He completed 17 of 23 passes for 309 yards and four touchdown passes. Lock did not throw an interception against Indianapolis, and while the win looks to have blocked the Giants from solving their QB problem with Cam Ward, it helped Lock secure another opportunity. He will join 2024 trade acquisition Sam Howell on Seattle’s roster. Considering Howell started 17 games for the 2023 Commanders, this represents a gradual fall for the North Carolina product.

Lock, 28, was 1-4 as a starter last season; the Giants initially went with Tommy DeVito over the veteran upon benching Jones. As a Seahawk, Lock went 1-1 as a starter. The win came during a Monday-night game against a cratering Eagles defense, but Lock has been a streaky passer — one prone to INTs — throughout his career. Like fellow Mizzou alums Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert, he continues to secure regular QB2 employment.

NFL Minor Transactions: 4/11/25

April 11th, 2025 at 6:43pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

King returned to the field last year for the first time since 2021. A former second-round pick for the Packers, King was a starter in Green Bay before deciding to sit out the 2022 season for personal reasons. He attempted to make a return in 2023, but a torn Achilles tendon prevented him from doing so.

Finally coming back to the NFL with the Falcons last year, King saw very few snaps on defense in the regular season despite being a standout in the offseason. King was praised for his defensive versatility throughout camp and the preseason, but the Falcons mostly utilized the veteran on special teams.

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