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Minor NFL Transactions: 4/2/25

April 2nd, 2025 at 8:23pm CST by Ben Levine

Just one minor move to pass along:

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: TE Jordan Petaia

New York Jets

Xavier Newman-Johnson was tagged as an exclusive rights free agent last month, so his return to New York was all but inevitable. A former UDFA, the lineman has spent the past year-plus with the Jets, including a 2023 campaign where he started four of his seven appearances.

Newman-Johnson didn’t have nearly as big of a role in 2024. After getting into 280 offensive snaps in 2023, he was limited to only 11 reps in 2024. However, he did garner 31 snaps on special teams this past season. The 25-year-old will likely be eyeing a similar role if he sticks on the roster for the 2025 season.

Jordan Petaia was signed by the Chargers via the NFL International Player Pathway program. A native of Melbourne, Petaia has appeared in a pair of Rugby World Cups, including a 2019 showing where he became the youngest Australian player to ever suit up in the event.

Cardinals Reunite With DL Calais Campbell

April 2nd, 2025 at 4:52pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

APRIL 2: The Dolphins offered Campbell the third-most money of the teams pursuing him, per Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald. The Ravens were also in the mix, but the Cardinals offered more bonus money and Campbell and his family preferred to return to Arizona.

APRIL 1: The Cardinals are signing six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Calais Campbell to a one-year deal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The signing, which was confirmed by Cardinals team reporter Darren Urban, will bring Campbell back to the team that originally drafted him. The 38-year-old is set to earn $5.5MM in 2025 with an additional $2MM available via incentives, according to Schefter and Rapoport.

Campbell entered the offseason as an unrestricted free agent weighing retirement against a return to the field for his 18th season in the NFL. He had offers from the Dolphins and the Ravens, but chose to return to Arizona where he started his career as a second-round draft pick in 2008. All three options offered familiarity; Campbell spent his college career and the 2024 season in Miami, and he also played in Baltimore from 2020 to 2022. The Cardinals, however, are closer to Denver, where he was born and raised.

Campbell is the Cardinals’ second addition to their defensive line this offseason. They signed Dalvin Tomlinson in March to join Dante Stills and Bilal Nichols in the trenches. Campbell will give Arizona a four-man rotation to which they can still add via the draft.

Campbell’s departure leaves the Dolphins precariously thin along the interior of their defensive line. Zach Sieler and Benito Jones are the only returning starters from last year’s unit.. Neil Farrell and Matt Dickerson combined for just 11 appearances and 80 defensive snaps. That will likely force Miami to scour the league’s remaining free agents and invest in at least one defensive lineman in April’s draft, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

The new contract will bring Campbell’s career earnings over $150MM, per OverTheCap, the third-most of any defensive linemen in NFL history. He has remained an effective defender into his late-30s, with 17.0 sacks and 26 tackles for loss since 2022.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/1/25

April 1st, 2025 at 6:48pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s only minor move in the NFL:

Carolina Panthers

Although Blackshear didn’t get much run on offense as RB3 behind Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders in 2024, and despite the addition of Rico Dowdle and the health of Jonathon Brooks for this upcoming season likely pushing him to RB4, the signing of Blackshear shores up an important position on special teams for the Panthers.

Blackshear served as Carolina’s regular return man on kickoffs and punts. In a year where the league was trying out something new with the kickoff rules, Blackshear led the NFL with 31 returns. He added 17 punt returns in 2024, as well. He ends up returning to Carolina after the team chose not to tender him as a restricted free agent a month ago.

Titans Re-Sign Justin Hardee

April 1st, 2025 at 2:33pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Titans have re-signed special teams ace Justin Hardee to a one-year deal, as first reported by FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz and confirmed by senior team writer Jim Wyatt.

2024 was Hardee’s first year in Tennessee, where he appeared in nine games with 185 snaps exclusively on special teams. He will take up a similar role in 2025 under new special teams coordinator John Fassel, according to Main Street Media’s Terry McCormick.

Originally a wide receiver at Illinois, Hardee converted to cornerback as an undrafted rookie in 2017. He didn’t make the Texans’ 53-man roster, but carved out a special teams role in New Orleans where he made 14 appearances. He remained with the Saints through the 2020 season, playing a handful of snaps on defense while continuing as a core special teams contributor.

Hardee’s reliability on special teams earned him a three-year, $6.75MM contract with the Jets in 2021. He played in every game in his first two seasons, but missed six games in 2023 due to a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. Hardee was also named to his first career Pro Bowl in 2022.

He then signed with the Browns in 2024, but was released during final roster cuts. He bounced around a few practice squads – first in Cleveland, then in Carolina – before signing with the Titans at the end of October.

As an eight-year veteran, Hardee will receive a salary of at least $1.255MM. His success on special teams throughout his career could earn him a better contract with a higher base value and/or additional guarantees.

Giants Re-Sign LB Ty Summers

March 31st, 2025 at 8:09pm CST by Ben Levine

Ty Summers is sticking in New York. The Giants announced today that they’ve re-signed the free agent linebacker.

After getting cut by the Lions at the end of the 2024 preseason, Summers quickly caught on with the Giants practice squad. He ended up having one of the most productive seasons of his career, compiling 29 tackles in 16 games (two starts). While the majority of his playing time came on special teams, Summers still garnered more than 100 defensive snaps over the final three weeks of the campaign.

The 29-year-old has traditionally been a special teams piece throughout his career. A former seventh-round pick, Summers spent the first three-plus seasons with the Packers. Since getting waived by Green Bay in 2022, the linebacker has spent time with the Jaguars (two stints), Saints, Lions, and Giants. He’s appeared in 83 games with 89 career tackles.

Summers will likely have a tougher path to defensive playing time in 2025. The team returns their same ILB corps from 2024 (Bobby Okereke, Micah McFadden, Darius Muasau), and they added veteran Chris Board on a two-year deal.

Bills To Sign P Brad Robbins

March 31st, 2025 at 2:55pm CST by Adam La Rose

Brad Robbins did not have a long tenure as the Bengals’ punter, but he has landed a new opportunity. A deal is in place with the Bills, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Robbins was drafted in 2023, and during his rookie season he played all 17 games for Cincinnati. The sixth-rounder averaged 44.3 gross yards per punt, along with an average of only 40.1 net yards per attempt. The Bengals brought in Ryan Rehkow as competition last offseason, and he won the job.

In spite of that development, Robbins was retained through roster cutdowns and activated from injured reserve in September this season. The move could have set the stage for an in-season contest for punting duties, but instead he was waived one day later. Rehkow continued as the Bengals’ punter through the rest of his rookie campaign, and he will be expected to do so again in 2025.

The Bills used Sam Martin as their punter from 2022-24, and he missed only one game during that span. Martin took a deal with the Panthers in free agency, however, leaving Buffalo in the market for a replacement. The team already had Jake Camarda attached to a futures deal prior to today’s move.

He and Robbins, 26, will now be set up for an offseason competition in Buffalo. Both punters will look to secure a gig for the 2025 campaign, but teams often only carry one option on their active roster during the season. As a result, the runner-up of the upcoming contest could very well be on the move again this summer.

Broncos, QB Sam Ehlinger Agree To Deal

March 31st, 2025 at 12:29pm CST by Adam La Rose

Sam Ehlinger spent his rookie contract on the Colts, but he will be on the move for the first time in his career this offseason. The former sixth-round quarterback is signing with the Broncos, as first reported by Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz.

This one-year pact will allow Ehlinger to round out Denver’s quarterback depth chart for 2025. Zach Wilson took a deal with the Dolphins in free agency, ending his single season spent with the Broncos. Bo Nix will again lead the way under center for Denver in 2025, but Ehlinger will now be in position to compete with Jarrett Stidham for QB2 duties.

Schultz notes Ehlinger had other offers, but he has elected to join Sean Payton and the Broncos. The 26-year-old made a total of eight appearances during his tenure in Indianapolis, the most recent of which came during the 2023 campaign. One season prior, as the Colts cycled through numerous combinations on the depth chart, Ehlinger made the only three starts of his career. The team lost all three of those contests, and he threw as many touchdown passes (three) as interceptions.

Ehlinger’s deal will no doubt check in at the league minimum as a result, and he can be expected to enter training camp third in the QB pecking order. The Texas product could find himself on the roster bubble at the end of the offseason if Stidham outperforms him, meaning a practice squad deal could be necessary (unless Denver elects to carry three signal-callers on the active roster).

Nix flashed considerable potential during the latter stages of his rookie season in particular, and he will be expected to remain a key member of Denver’s offense in 2025. As the team aims to once again qualify for the postseason next year, Ehlinger could find himself in the mix.

Bills, Christian Benford Agree On Extension

March 29th, 2025 at 10:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

An offseason spree of Bills extensions will continue with a Christian Benford payday. Buffalo’s top cornerback is re-signing with the team on a four-year deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

The Bills will lock down the former sixth-round pick for less than $20MM per year, with Schefter adding the contract checks in at $76MM in total. Benford’s deal follows those given to Khalil Shakir, Gregory Rousseau and Terrel Bernard, as the Bills are showing tremendous faith in the emerging standouts from their early-2020s drafts.

[RELATED: Bills Bring Back CB Dane Jackson]

Buffalo has convinced each of these performers to agree to four-year deals. Doing so as the salary cap continues to rise by more than $20MM annually could represent good business for the perennial AFC East champions. While James Cook remains an extension candidate, the team has taken care of the other core homegrown performers it wanted to extend this offseason.

Like Shakir and Bernard, Benford was entering a contract year as a player the team wanted to pay. The Bills will reward a player who had taken an unlikely route to becoming their No. 1 cornerback. Benford’s emergence helped bail the Bills out on their Kaiir Elam miss, with the former No. 185 overall pick usurping the ex-first-rounder and helping Buffalo cover for Tre’Davious White‘s injury trouble as well. While the Bills’ pattern of having key CB personnel unavailable for Chiefs playoffs games has persisted, Benford has still brought the team strong value on what amounted to a late-round flier.

In addition to coming from Round 6, Benford has become a Bills pillar after emerging from the Division I-FCS ranks. Playing at Villanova, Benford started five games as a rookie but turned into a full-timer in his second season. Starting 29 games over the past two years, Benford teamed with Rasul Douglas to give their Bills their post-White CB duo. White did not return from his Thanksgiving 2021 ACL tear for an entire year, and he was not the same upon coming back. White later went down for the season in October 2023, leading to the Douglas trade. Benford, however, grew into Buffalo’s top option on the outside in that time. Douglas remains in free agency, creating a need for the Bills, but the team locked down its younger perimeter starter.

The 2024 season brought more growth from Benford, who graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 6 overall corner. The 6-foot-1 defender allowed merely 5.4 yards per target last season, and his passer rating-against numbers have never surpassed 89.0. Yielding an 86.6 number last season, Benford intercepted two passes, forced two fumbles and notched 10 pass breakups for the second straight season.

Moving early on Benford makes sense, as he will not turn 25 until September, and finalizing this extension for less than $20MM AAV could age quite well for the team — especially after Derek Stingley Jr. just took the market to $30MM per year. As Sauce Gardner undoubtedly angles for a similar number, Benford’s $19MM AAV — if that is the deal’s true base value — checks in only 13th among corners.

Ill-timed Benford injuries have brought a key footnote in the Bills-Chiefs rivalry. After seeing Benford help Buffalo to regular-season wins over Kansas City in 2023 and ’24, the five-time reigning division champs did not have him available for the bulk of the two playoff matchups. Benford missed the Bills’ 2023 divisional-round Chiefs outing — a 27-24 Kansas City road win — due to a knee injury sustained in the wild-card round. Benford then suffered a concussion on a Baltimore onside-kick attempt to close a divisional-round win last season. He left the subsequent Kansas City outing early with a head injury. As the Chiefs picked on Elam — who has since been traded to the Cowboys — another Benford “what if?” loomed for the Bills after another three-point loss ensued.

The Bills will attempt to move past their persistent Missouri-based roadblock again in 2025, and they will have several well-paid young performers rostered upon doing so. While Cook’s contract now shifts to the forefront, the Bills have locked down their 2021 first-round pick (Rousseau) along with 2022 third- (Bernard), fifth- (Shakir) and sixth-round choices, doing so after giving Josh Allen a record-setting raise.

Dolphins Restructure Austin Jackson’s Contract; Team Could Make OL Additions

March 29th, 2025 at 8:07pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Dolphins have made a number of moves aimed at carving out 2025 cap space. That process has included a restructure of right tackle Austin Jackson‘s deal, as detailed by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

$9.71MM of his Jackson’s base salary for next season has been converted into a signing bonus; as a result, his 2025 cap hit has been lowered by $7.8MM down to $5.79MM. The move sets him up for a $15.77MM cap charge next year, but it helps Miami’s efforts to bring in further additions up front in the near future. The Dolphins have brought in guard James Daniels as well as tackle Larry Borom so far in free agency, and more moves could be coming.

Jackson notes Daniels – who inked a three-year, $24MM pact – has been told by the team it is unclear at this point whether he will play left or right guard. The former Steeler will be counted on to operate as a starter at one of those spots, but his remarks suggest Miami plans to make other moves along the interior. That could include bringing in a rookie fairly high in next month’s draft; the Dolphins own 10 selections as things stand, including one in each of the first three rounds.

With roughly $16.5MM in cap space, Miami also has the financial means to sign a veteran blocker before or after the draft takes place. At this stage of free agency, of course, expectations would be limited for any signing to step into a first-team role. Nevertheless, it would come as little surprise if the plan in place (as mentioned to Daniels) includes at least one notable addition.

The Dolphins expect to be without left tackle Terron Armstead in 2025, and his absence could thrust Patrick Paul (selected in the second round last year) into a full-time starting gig. Along the interior, Daniels is slated to start at one guard spot with center Aaron Brewer still on the books for two more seasons. Jackson – who was limited to eight games in 2024 – will reprise his starting role at right tackle, but it remains to be seen who will occupy the other first-team guard role. Veteran Liam Eichenberg represents the top in-house option, but competition could be added later this offseason.

Texans To Add LB E.J. Speed; Cowboys, 49ers Expressed Interest

March 29th, 2025 at 11:53am CST by Sam Robinson

E.J. Speed will follow Azeez Al-Shaair in making an intra-AFC South free agency move. After six Colts seasons, Speed is moving south.

The Texans are bringing in the veteran linebacker on a one-year deal worth $5MM, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz tweets. Although Speed is coming off his most productive season, the former Indianapolis starter remained in free agency for nearly three weeks. He ended up costing the Texans far less than bringing in Al-Shaair from the Titans did. Speed’s deal includes $3.25MM guaranteed, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets. Negotiations began yesterday, per Wilson, who adds that the 49ers and Cowboys were also vying for Speed’s services (video link).

Dallas’ DeMarvion Overshown plans to suit up in 2025, but after suffering a brutal knee injury in December, it is unclear exactly when he will return to the field and if he will ever be able to realize his considerable potential. We recently named the Niners as a potential Speed suitor after the club was unable to re-sign Dre Greenlaw this offseason, but according to Wilson, Speed wanted to play for Houston HC DeMeco Ryans. He also saw the Texans as a more playoff-worthy outfit.

Previously re-signing with the Colts on a two-year, $8MM contract, Speed became important insurance for a Colts team that saw injuries sidetrack Shaquille Leonard. As the latter ended up an in-season 2023 release, Speed’s play factored into that decision. The Colts turned to Speed as an every-down player following the Leonard release, and that trend continued last season.

After a 102-tackle 2023 slate that included a career-high 12 TFLs, Speed posted a career-best 142 tackles last year. Helping to replace Bobby Okereke, Speed added seven TFLs and intercepted a pass last season. The Colts had already extended Zaire Franklin on a deal averaging more than $10MM per year, and the team’s much-rumored philosophical shift did include two big-ticket DB additions (Camryn Bynum, Charvarius Ward). The Colts will opt not to pay a second linebacker, letting Speed walk.

Pro Football Focus viewed Speed as a better linebacker in 2023, ranking him 48th among off-ball regulars in 2023. Last season, PFF slotted Speed 67th out of 84 qualified options. Despite making 26 starts on his $4MM-per-year contract, Speed did not walk into a strong market this offseason. His age (30 in June) undoubtedly contributed, but the Texans will see if the special-teamer-turned-starter can contribute in an Al-Shaair-fronted LB cadre.

Houston, which lost role player Devin White to Las Vegas on Friday, has Al-Shaair under contract through 2026. The defending AFC South champs have Christian Harris and Henry To’oTo’o rostered as well. Harris missed most of last season due to injury, and To’oTo’o led the team’s LBs with 936 defensive snaps. Speed played 1,011 — third-most among off-ball LBs in 2024. If nothing else, the Texans have high-end insurance against another LB injury and figure to give Speed a long look as an Al-Shaair three-down complement.

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

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