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NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/8/25

January 8th, 2025 at 7:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

Wednesday’s practice squad moves around the league:

Buffalo Bills

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: T Max Pircher

Gotsis will provide veteran D-line depth for the Bucs in advance of the playoffs. The 32-year-old has 126 games and 54 starts to his name, including five appearances with the Colts earlier this year. It will be interesting to see if Gotsis makes his way onto Tampa Bay’s roster in time for the team’s wild-card round either through promotion or as a gameday elevation.

2025 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

January 8th, 2025 at 6:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans and Raiders again became part of a GM carousel in the 2020s. Tennessee canned its front office boss after two seasons, while Las Vegas moved on after one. These two joined the Jets, and after two-plus offseason weeks, the Jaguars followed suit by firing Trent Baalke. With the Titans, Raiders and Jets landing on GMs, the Jags are the only team left searching. Here is how the GM market looks:

Updated 1-27-25 (9:51pm CT)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

Kliff Kingsbury Receiving HC Interest From At Least Four Teams

January 8th, 2025 at 2:00pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has received interest from at least four teams for their head coaching vacancies, per veteran NFL insider Josina Anderson.

The former Cardinals head coach recently expressed his desire to return to a top job “at some point,” but he may not be in a rush to leave his situation in Washington. The Commanders made the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and quarterback Jayden Daniels is the odds-on favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year after blowing pre-draft expectations out of the water.

Other teams “are trying to fully ascertain how much Kingsbury really wants to be a head coach this cycle,” according to Anderson, which may be why he has yet to receive an interview request. The Bears and Jets have interviewed Kingsbury in the past and are expected to renew their interest this cycle. The Jaguars have also been mentioned as a team to watch.

Any of those teams will have to convince Kingsbury that his new situation will be comparable, if not an upgrade, over his current digs in Washington. The Bears and the Jaguars have their franchise quarterbacks, but the Jets will likely need to outline their plans under center to sway an offensive-minded coach like Kingsbury.

The Cardinals fired Kingsbury months after giving him a lengthy extension, and the former Texas Tech HC spent a year as Caleb Williams‘ position coach at USC. That tenure elevated Kingsbury’s stock, with multiple teams — including the Raiders, who offered him their play-calling job — conducting interviews. Kingsbury’s backtracking on the Las Vegas gig to coach Daniels has proven to the right play, and teams are proceeding somewhat cautiously regarding interviews for another top job.

Jaguars Preparing Aggressive Ben Johnson Pursuit; Kliff Kingsbury On Radar?

January 8th, 2025 at 1:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

1:38pm: Johnson will take the Jaguars’ meeting, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports. Also confirming Johnson will follow through with Bears and Patriots meetings, Russini adds Johnson’s Jags summit will occur during the Lions’ bye week. Johnson has since received a Raiders interview request, but no word has emerged he will take that interview. The Saints and Jets have not requested interviews.

9:05am: The Jaguars have sent out an interview request for Lions OC Ben Johnson. It is not yet known if the three-year Detroit play-caller will take the meeting; as of now, he has been tied to the Bears and Patriots’ HC openings. But the Jags do intend to make an aggressive play here.

Despite firing an offense-oriented HC (Doug Pederson) on Black Monday, Jacksonville is believed to be “all in” on Johnson, Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline notes. Johnson has been notoriously selective, and that should be expected to continue. After all, the Lions’ 15-2 season will keep the 38-year-old OC in demand despite his having jumped off the 2023 and ’24 HC carousels early.

Joe Brady, Liam Coen, Kellen Moore and Todd Monken join Johnson among offense-oriented candidates on the Jags’ radar. Although no interview request has come out, Pauline adds Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury is a name to monitor here. The former Cardinals HC said he is interested in returning to a top job, even though his first such chance ended badly. Jayden Daniels‘ presence would stand to allow Kingsbury to be choosey as well.

No Kingsbury interviews are on any team’s docket, and no team has requested one yet. That adds some mystery here, though the Bears — after meeting with Caleb Williams‘ 2023 QBs coach at USC for their OC position last year — are expected to huddle up with him once again at some point. Kingsbury elevating Trevor Lawrence would be the Jags’ hope here, as that will be perhaps the franchise’s chief aim after a 4-13 season.

One matter that could stand in the way of the Jags adding a hotshot offense-based candidate, Trent Baalke‘s status continues to be a talking point around the league. A Tuesday report indicated certain candidates would steer clear of the Jacksonville job because Baalke was retained, but Pauline indicates the fifth-year Jags GM might not be long for the position. Some around the NFL view Baalke’s retention as a way for Shad Khan to receive assistance in hiring the next HC and then see the embattled GM kick himself to another role within the organization.

GMs have transitioned to other jobs within buildings before, as Rich McKay and John Elway‘s transitions in the not-so-distant past remind. Baalke, 60, has also shown an ability to stick around when many expected an ouster. Baalke has been GM (of the 49ers and Jaguars) during the tenures of five HCs. That number reaching six should not be ruled out, but a scenario in which Baalke changes jobs while another GM is hired appears on the radar, at least.

That would stand to help the Jags with a Johnson pursuit, as a candidate with options certainly may express reservations about being tied to an in-house GM. For now, that would remain the case. But a Jags aggressive pursuit of the Lions’ OC probably includes flexibility in the GM role.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/7/25

January 7th, 2025 at 8:23pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Washington Commanders

  • Signed: DT Haggai Ndubuisi
  • Released: OT Max Pircher

To make room for veteran RB Ezekiel Elliott, the Chargers moved on from a veteran wideout. Laviska Shenault spent the majority of this season with the Seahawks, where he hauled in five catches in 11 games. The former second-round pick caught on with the Chargers practice squad in December and ended up getting into one game with the squad.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 5th, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

Once again, we saw plenty of change occur in the projected draft order after Sunday’s games. Most notably, the Patriots took themselves out of the top overall draft slot with a win over the resting Bills. While this change likely won’t hurt their ability to select one of the players that interested them most, as they likely weren’t looking to select a quarterback with rookie Drake Maye in place, New England likely could’ve benefitted from collecting some serious draft capital trading out of the top spot to any of the teams seeking quarterback help next season.

One of those quarterback-needy teams, the Titans have officially secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, tying for the worst overall record in the league with the Browns and Giants but holding tiebreakers over both franchises. The Browns and Giants, who both secured the second and third overall picks, respectively, today, are also considered top candidates to draft a passer.

With all three teams at the top of the draft interested in adding help at quarterback, the draft’s top two prospects at the position, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, saw their chances at getting selected No. 1 overall rise dramatically. Plenty could still occur to change this situation; trades could alter the draft order, and further pre-draft evaluations could change opinions on top prospects.

Still, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is how the draft order looks at the regular season’s conclusion:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Houston Texans (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  22. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  24. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  25. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  26. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  30. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  31. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)
  32. Detroit Lions (15-2)

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Injured Reserve Return Tracker

January 4th, 2025 at 10:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

This offseason brought a change in how teams could construct their 53-man rosters while retaining flexibility with injured players. Clubs were permitted to attach return designations to two players (in total) placed on IR or an NFI list before setting their initial rosters.

In prior years, anyone placed on IR before a team set its initial 53-man roster could not be activated in-season. All August 27 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. This introduces more strategy for teams, who will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.

All players designated for return on August 27 were eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5, though any player placed on IR after a team set its initial 53 has not been designated for return and therefore does not yet count toward a club’s eight-activation limit. Players who receive return designations after Week 5 also appear on this list.

This offseason also brought a second adjustment, with teams who qualify for the playoffs set to have two additional activations at their disposals. With the playoffs upon us, the two additional activations have been added to each team’s ledger. Here is how teams’ activation puzzles look going into the conference championship games:

Buffalo Bills

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return:

Activated

Activations remaining: 4

Kansas City Chiefs

Reverted to season-ending IR

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Philadelphia Eagles

Designated for return from IR (August 27):

Designated for return:

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 4

Washington Commanders

Eligible for activation:

Activated:

Activations remaining: 3

Commanders Activate Austin Ekeler From IR

January 4th, 2025 at 5:49pm CST by Ely Allen

The Commanders are getting healthy at the right time, getting an offensive reinforcement a week ahead of their first playoff appearance since a 7-9 campaign was enough to win the division in 2020. When they head on the road for the first round of the playoffs, Washington will be doing so with backup running back Austin Ekeler back on the active roster. The team has activated him off injured reserve today.

While technically a backup to starter Brian Robinson, Ekeler still holds tremendous value to the offense. Despite Robinson starting 12 games this season, the Commanders have made sure to get Ekeler on the field, as well, granting him six starts in his 11 appearances this year. The team’s leading rusher has been rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels (864), but Robinson (789), Ekeler (355), Jeremy McNichols (261), and Chris Rodriguez (173) have all contributed to a rushing attack that ranks third in the NFL behind only the Eagles and Ravens.

Ekeler’s influence also comes as the primary pass-catching back in Washington. As has been the case in Ekeler’s career, his contributions this year have come through the air as much as on the ground. In his career, Ekeler has 4,230 receiving yards to 4,710 rushing yards, and this year, his 346 receiving yards are just as much a factor as his rushing contribution.

With Ekeler returning to the fold, Washington nearly has their full offensive battery back on the field. They’re missing wide receiver Noah Brown (on IR), and starting center Tyler Biadasz is listed as doubtful for this week, but the rest of the offense is primed for playoff action.

In order to make room for Ekeler on the active roster, undrafted rookie safety Tyler Owens has been placed on IR. The Texas Tech alum has played primarily on special teams in his rookie campaign, tallying 11 tackles and a forced fumble.

Joining Ekeler on the active roster tomorrow will be offensive tackle Bobby Hart and cornerback Bobby Price, who have been promoted as standard gameday practice squad elevations this weekend.

Looking At Pro Bowl Rosters’ Impact On Fifth-Year Option Statuses

January 3rd, 2025 at 11:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL unveiled the Pro Bowl rosters Thursday. While superstars and veterans tied to big-ticket contracts headline the AFC and NFC squads, rookie-contract players are part of both sides for an event no longer featuring an actual all-star game.

While the Pro Bowl’s prestige peak occurred decades ago, the 2020 CBA still ties invites to players’ value. Players selected to the Pro Bowl on the original ballot (non-alternates) will see their fifth-year option prices change. The 2025 offseason will be the fifth year in which players will see their option values determined partially by Pro Bowl recognition, but Thursday’s results will impact the 2026 and 2027 fifth-year option outcomes as well.

Players who receive two Pro Bowl invites during their first three seasons skyrocket to the top of the four-tiered fifth-year option hierarchy, which will feature a value that matches the amount of that year’s franchise tag at each position. Players who draw one original-ballot invite during their first three seasons will be tied to the second option tier, which matches the transition tag value at that position.

This only applies to former first-round picks, as no other rookie contracts include a fifth-year option. With that in mind, here are the players from the 2022, ’23 and ’24 first rounds to be invited to the Pro Bowl. Here are the ex-first-rounders who changed their option statuses this week:

2022 draft:

Baltimore’s two-first-rounder 2022 draft, made possible thanks to the Marquise Brown trade, produced two Pro Bowlers. This marks the second Pro Bowl for both Hamilton and Linderbaum, bringing both players to the top fifth-year option tier. For Linderbaum, that will inflate his price to that of the offensive line franchise tag number, since all O-lineman are grouped together under this formula. That will make a fifth-year option call trickier for the Ravens, who will certainly pick up Hamilton’s by the May deadline.

This is Stingley’s first Pro Bowl, which will push the former No. 3 overall pick’s 2026 option price into the second tier among corners. Patrick Surtain‘s four-year, $96MM extension raised the bar at the position this summer, and the Texans will be able to negotiate with their top corner beginning later this month. This is Smith’s first Pro Bowl nod as well; he was named an alternate to the 2023 event.

2023 draft:

While Thursday’s announcement crystalized the value of the 2022 first-rounders with regards to the fifth-year option, the ’23 Round 1 crop still has more time. Witherspoon has landed in the Pro Bowl a second time, locking the former No. 5 overall pick into the top echelon of the CB option structure.

Conversely, this is the first original-ballot Pro Bowl for Carter, Flowers and Gibbs. The Lions running back was an alternate last season. The trio’s 2025 showings will determine if they can join Witherspoon on the highest level of the 2026 option hierarchy.

2024 draft:

The NFL’s top rookies have begun to raise their values. Although the Commanders, Raiders and Rams do not have to make option calls on this trio until May 2027, each player has already secured at least second-tier status for when that time comes. They are unlikely to stay on that level. Daniels is on track to claim Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, while Bowers has already broken Mike Ditka‘s longstanding record for tight end yardage by a rookie. Verse, the first Rams first-round pick since Jared Goff, is on track for Defensive Rookie of the Year acclaim.

Kliff Kingsbury Wants Another HC Opportunity

January 3rd, 2025 at 11:19pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has put together an excellent debut season in Washington; his offense is ranked fourth in yards and fifth in points, while quarterback Jayden Daniels is the runaway favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Kingsbury’s success in Washington has placed him among the top head-coaching candidates in this offseason’s hiring cycle and seems open to another opportunity after a disappointing four seasons leading the Cardinals.

When asked about the subject on Thursday, Kingsbury said that he would want to be a head coach again “at some point,” (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post), though he declined to comment on potential interviews this year.

Kingsbury is an obvious candidate for the Bears’ vacant head coaching position after serving as a senior offensive analyst at USC during Caleb Williams‘ final college season. The two have a “solid relationship,” according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, which will be crucial to getting the most out of the 2024 No. 1 overall pick after a false start of a rookie year.

Kingsbury is expected to interview in Chicago, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, though he may not be in a rush to leave Washington. His contract with the Cardinals ran through 2027, so Kingsbury is still drawing a head coach’s salary in addition to his current pay from the Commanders. That gives him the flexibility to be “selective” – like Lions OC Ben Johnson – with his next opportunity, per Fowler.

Kingsbury also enjoys working with Daniels under Dan Quinn in Washington, according to Breer, and the Commanders could be even better in 2025 after their surprising playoff run this season. That would boost Kingsbury’s coaching stock further, potentially setting him up for an even better opportunity a year or two down the line.

Kingsbury may also draw renewed interest from the Jets after interviewing for their head coaching job in 2019. He impressed the Johnson family during his interview process, per Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated, though it’s worth noting that owner Woody Johnson was serving as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time. Kingsbury opted to join the Cardinals, but he could once again find himself on the Jets’ shortlist this time around.

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