The latest
Ranking NFL teams’ odds of going worst to first in 2025 season | USA Today
6.Las Vegas Raiders
What’s working for them: If the Raiders’ core aim is to establish baseline competitiveness, Pete Carroll and Geno Smith seem to be fitting leaders for that mission. With Chip Kelly designing the offense, the coach and quarterback could rekindle the spark that allowed them to defy expectations in Seattle. Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashon Jeanty’s arrival should immediately change the complexion of a historically putrid ground game, while the receiving corps added pieces to lighten the load on Brock Bowers and move on from the disappointing Davante Adams era. And the Silver and Black might be the only ones in their home city who can count on better luck in short order after their -16 turnover differential finished tied for the second-worst mark in the NFL.
What’s working against them: Chiefly (no pun intended), it’s the division. If Kansas City’s nine-year claim to the AFC West is to come to an end in 2025, the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos – both returning playoff outfits – would be the natural candidates to assume the top spot. Las Vegas was one of only two teams to go winless in its division last season, and an overall talent deficiency will be hard to compensate for. That particularly seems like the case on defense, where a unit that doesn’t offer much beyond Maxx Crosby will be relying on several veteran stopgap solutions to make up for several free agency losses, which Carroll admitted the group couldn’t afford.
Every NFL Offense’s Best- and Worst-Case Scenario in 2025 | Bleacher Report
Kansas City Chiefs
Biggest Need: Left Guard
Best-Case Scenario: Improved Protection and Receiver Health Brings Back Explosiveness
The Chiefs have learned the hard way how important pass protection is during Patrick Mahomes’ tenure. Both Super Bowl losses to the Buccaneers and Eagles could be chalked up to not protecting their franchise quarterback.
Hopefully, they’ve resolved the issues on the left side by signing Jaylon Moore, drafting Josh Simmons and moving Kingsley Suamataia inside to left guard.
Losing Joe Thuney at left guard is going to hurt, but improving the tackle spot while finding a suitable replacement on the inside could be enough. If Mahomes has time, he’s going to make up for a lot of the Chiefs’ shortcomings on offense.
Worst-Case Scenario: No Explosive Element Leaves Little Margin for Error
Just having Andy Reid and Mahomes is going to be good enough for the Chiefs to at least be above average.
However, the lack of an explosive element left the offense leaning completely on efficiency last season. The Chiefs were seventh in success rate, but 27th in passing plays over 20 yards.
Getting Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown back from injury should help with that. Xavier Worthy potentially getting better at tracking down deep balls could make a difference. But this has been an issue since Tyreek Hill left and it’s capping the Chiefs’ ceiling.
2012 NFL Redraft: Rebuilding the first round based on PFF grades and data | PFF
11.Kansas City Chiefs: LBDemario Davis,Arkansas State (Round 3, Pick 77)
Original Pick: DIDontari Poe,Memphis
Davis took some time and a few stops, including two in New York, to find his rhythm. When he did, he became one of the NFL’s best linebackers.
Since he arrived in New Orleans in 2018, Davis has earned an elite 91.4 PFF overall grade. There has been little variance in his play, as he has placed among the top 20 linebackers in PFF overall grade in each of the past eight seasons.
Derrick Thomas never stopped challenging Neil Smith (and it made them historic) | Arrowhead Addict
Before they were Pro Bowlers and certainly before they became franchise legends and faces for the dominant Kansas City Chiefs’ defenses of the ‘90s, Neil Smith and Derrick Thomas were just two young pass rushers asked to trust each other.
In 1988 and 1989, the Chiefs were picking near the top of the annual NFL Draft with a great need to build new foundations for a team that won only 8 total games in 1987-88. With the second overall selection in ‘88, they grabbed Smith as a brute force up front ouf of Nebraska. The following year, they selected Thomas at No. 4 overall and landed the best pass rusher in franchise history.
Smith said the vision all along was for the two prized prospects to “grow together”, to learn how to work in tandem to take the Chiefs to the next level.
Neil Smith recently spoke about what made Derrick Thomas so productive and how the duo pushed each other toward greatness.
“Marty [Schottenheimer] and Bill Cowher came to me and said, ‘You’re going to be special. The two of you,’” Smith recently recalled on The Chiefs Zone with Farzin Vousoughian. “They told us to grow together, learn each other, and stick with each other. And without hesitation, I did it. Derrick was my guy.”
From that moment forward, Smith and Thomas formed one of the most feared pass-rushing tandems in NFL history. Between 1989 and 1996, they combined for 171.5 sacks—90.5 from Thomas and 81 from Smith—and helped transform K.C. into a perennial playoff contender. During that span, the Chiefs ranked in the top 10 in total defense five times.
Around the NFL
Myles Garrett: Micah Parsons should get every penny he’s owed | NBC Sports
Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons said recently that the team’s decision to wait on signing him to a long-term contract extension is going to wind up costing them more money in the long run and that makes it likelier that his next deal is going to push him ahead of Garrett as the league’s highest-paid defensive player. That would make for a short reign at the top for Garrett, but he doesn’t sound like the prospect of Parsons resetting the bar is causing him any grief.
“I think he deserves whatever he’s earned,” Garrett said, via Abby Jones of DLLS Sports. “Once I got the chance to train with him. I’ve seen his work ethic. I’ve seen how he attacks. The weights. Running. He’s 100% committed to his craft and getting better every day. He has that level of dedication to the game. He should get every penny he’s owed.”
Steelers star T.J. Watt could also surpass Garrett as he pushes for a new deal with the Steelers and the top spot may come down to which player waits the longest to get their deal done. However that plays out, it’s been a rising tide for all edge rushers this offseason.
Sources - Bengals, Trey Hendrickson resume talks on contract | ESPN
The two sides have resumed communication on his contract and future with the team, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Sunday. Hendrickson, who is coming off an All-Pro season and was the NFL’s sack leader with 17.5 in 2024, says he remains steadfast in his desire for a long-term contract extension.
But this is a positive turn in what has been a fierce stalemate. Hendrickson did not participate in any of the team’s offseason workouts, including last week’s mandatory minicamp. By missing the three-day session, Hendrickson was subject to fines of nearly $105,000.
The only time Hendrickson made an appearance this offseason was to hold an extended news conference with reporters to explain his side of the negotiation process. In those comments, Hendrickson repeatedly took umbrage with the lack of communication between himself and the Bengals in contract talks.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs’ training camp profile: Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool
The prospect
Briningstool is the all-time leader in Clemson history in receptions and receiving yards by a tight end, which sounds like a big deal, until you remember the Tigers haven’t exactly built their offense around the position. His college numbers are solid, but they don’t exactly leap off the stat sheet and scream generational talent.
His best season came in2024, when he caught 49 passes for 530 yards and seven touchdowns.
Briningstool isn’t a burner. He posted a lukewarm 4.75 in the 40-yard dash at the combine, and that lack of top-end speed shows up on tape. Creating separation at the next level could be a challenge.
That said, he’s a polished route runner with a good feel for depth and spacing — someone who consistently finds soft spots in zone coverage.
While he can occasionally lose focus and drop a catch he shouldn’t, he flashes strong hands, a wide catch radius, and the ability to pluck the ball cleanly away from his body.
Social media to make you think
In 1982, BYU Head Coach LaVell Edwards had Steve Young at QB with Mike Holmgren as his QB Coach.
A young Andy Reid was the Graduate Assistant. pic.twitter.com/ckI9KMTIIz
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) June 13, 2025
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