Tag: 2025 season

NFL announces key dates for 2025 draft, start of free agency

The Saints will have some high-profile free agents in 2025 like Paulson Adebo and Rashid Shaheed. The NFL just announced when they could hit the market:

Yes, 2025 is still a long ways away — but it’s important to keep an eye on the future. That’s how the New Orleans Saints operate, and so does every other NFL team. The league office announced key dates for the 2025 offseason this week, highlighting the 2025 NFL draft and the start of free agency.

Here’s what we learned:

  • Feb. 18 to March 4: This is the window for teams to use the franchise tag (or the less-common transition tag).
  • March 12: This is the start of the new league year and free agency signing period.
  • April 24-26: The three-day 2025 NFL draft, which will be held in Green Bay.

We can infer some other things, like the real start of free agency being March 10. That’s when the legal tampering period opens, where teams court free agents and discuss contracts, but deals may only be agreed to, not signed. Every year a couple of players renege on those handshake agreements so nothing is guaranteed until pens go to paper a few days later.

Will the Saints use the franchise tag in 2025? Maybe. They’d like to avoid it given their complex salary cap situation, but they have several high-profile players headed for free agency after the 2024 season: Paulson Adebo, Pete Werner, Chase Young, Willie Gay, Juwan Johnson, Payton Turner, and Rashid Shaheed (who will be a restricted free agent, making him ineligible for the tag but easier to re-sign).

No one expected the Saints to use the franchise tag the last time they brought it out, at least not the summer before. It certainly wasn’t expected to be such a difficult decision between tagging Marcus Williams or Trey Hendrickson. Letting Hendrickson walk away in free agency (while tagging Williams only to fail to re-sign him later) has turned out to be one of Mickey Loomis’ biggest blunders, but going into his breakout season with the Saints he had just 6.5 sacks in three years. We’re in the same position now that we were then. Maybe one of those players we just listed performs so well in 2024 the Saints can’t afford to let them go in 2025.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Alabama pitcher Riley Quick announces return for 2025 season

The Alabama baseball program will return a key pitcher for the 2025 season. Redshirt-freshman Riley Quick announced that he would be returning to Tuscaloosa next season.

The Alabama Crimson Tide baseball program received some positive news on Friday afternoon regarding the 2025 season. Right-handed pitcher Riley Quick announced that he would return to the Crimson Tide via social media.

Quick was an impactful arm for Alabama during the 2023 season. Quick finished with a 1-1 record and a 3.68 earned run average as a freshman. In 22 innings pitched, Quick struck out 26 batters. He also held opponents to a .244 batting average.

Quick was expected to be a key arm in Alabama’s starting rotation for the 2024 season. However, the Alabama native suffered a season-ending injury following his first career start against Manhattan. The injury required him to have Tommy John surgery.

Alabama head coach Rob Vaughn is optimistic about the future of the Alabama baseball program. Quick’s return could create even more intrigue in Tuscaloosa for the 2025 season and beyond.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding the Alabama baseball program.

Saints plan on returning to New Orleans for their 2025 training camp

The Saints plan on returning to New Orleans for their 2025 training camp, with more amenities for fans attending practices in the works:

It’s safe to say the New Orleans Saints moving their 2024 training camp to California isn’t a very popular move. Taking one of the most accessible events for fans and sending it halfway across the country, where NFL rules may not even allow fans on the West Coast to attend practices, has drawn a lot of criticism.

Ongoing renovations to the team headquarters and the construction of a new cafeteria meant the Saints would be taking their training camp on the road this summer. But the plan is to be back for 2025 and beyond. Team president Dennis Lauscha addressed that during a Saturday press conference.

“No one wants to be back more, I can promise you, than Ms. Benson, Mickey (Loomis), myself,” Lauscha said. “We get it. We love having our fans there. It stinks when we don’t have our fans here. That’s kind of why we put off this construction as long as we did, to be perfectly honest with you. Because we were hoping there were perhaps a better way not to impact our training camp. But at some point you have to suck it up and you do it, and that’s where we are.”

Obviously there are lot of unknowns when you’re talking about things more than a year away. A severe weather event like a major hurricane could change the plans at the last minute. We just don’t know. We don’t even know if  Dennis Allen will be head coach or if Derek Carr will be the quarterback in 2025. But right now the plan is for the Saints to take training camp to California in 2024 before returning in 2025 with plenty of opportunities for fans to come out and support the team.

There are plans for more fan amenities in the works like permanent bleachers with shading and cooling areas to help manage the Louisiana summer heat and humidity. But that’s all part of the next phase after they complete renovations to the cafeteria and indoor practice facility, among other projects (with similar upgrades breaking ground next door at the New Orleans Pelicans’ base of operations). The Saints are making a ton of off-field investments to improve the fan experience. Hopefully their efforts on the field line up with it to give those fans something to cheer for.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Saints announce 2025 Saints Legends Fan Cruise

The New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025:

Here’s a new one. On Monday, the New Orleans Saints announced their partnership with Seaside Events to launch the Saints Legends Fan Cruise in April 2025, which you can read more about here. The seven-night cruise on the Norwegian Getaway will tour the Western Caribbean with stops in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.

What’s unique is that this gives diehard Saints fans the opportunity to interact with some of their favorite players at meet and greets, group dinners, panel discussions, and autograph sessions, among other events. Additionally, the first 50 cabin bookings will receive seats at the Suite or Club level for a 2024/2025 Saints home game.

Saints owner Gayle Benson announced the cruise in a statement from the team: “We are thrilled to join forces with Seaside Events for this exciting venture, offering Saints fans an exclusive opportunity to interact with our Legends in a vibrant and exclusive atmosphere, fostering memories that will endure for a lifetime.”

So who will be in attendance? Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson has already committed for the cruise, and so has fan favorites like Pat Swilling, Michael Lewis, Joe Horn, and Fred McAfee, and many other former Saints players. There aren’t many other events like this one, so be sure to check it out.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Cowboys willfully living in No Man’s Land with Prescott makes little sense

The Cowboys continue to talk in circles about Prescott and what they’ll do with his contract this offseason. | From @BenGrimaldi

While the options have been laid out and nothing has changed in the last few months, the Dallas Cowboys continue to operate in no man’s land with their All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys don’t have a clear answer as to what they are going to do as the veteran careens towards 2025 free agency, but as the days pass it’s increasingly unlikely the team works out an extension with Prescott any time soon. The latest update from Jerry Jones doesn’t paint a pretty picture for those hoping for Prescott to stay in Dallas with an extension.

The options for Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones are simple:

  • Sign their franchise QB to an extension.
  • Attempt to trade him, which would need Prescott’s approval.
  • Let the 2024 season play out, allow Prescott to hit free agency in 2025, and then see what happens.

Despite the Cowboys’ brass saying they believe in Prescott numerous times over the past few years, and despite the QB saying he wants to stay in Dallas for the entirety of his career, there has been little movement on getting a new deal done.

The team claims they want him to stay and Prescott wants to remain with the Cowboys, so what’s so hard about getting a deal done? Make it make sense.

With the lack of quality quarterback play in the NFL, one would think the team wouldn’t want to gamble with their future and keep Prescott for years to come. That doesn’t appear to be the case. The Joneses continue to use the salary cap as an excuse, ignoring the fact an extension could open up space for this year’s cap and give the team some flexibility to add free agents.

Instead, Jerry Jones is asking Prescott to “win with less.” What sense does that make?

The Cowboys haven’t gotten over the hump with Prescott under center with the team employing the same free agency and team-building strategy since the QBs arrived apparently hasn’t entered his mind. How about helping the quarterback out.

Again, make it make sense.

Reading the tea leaves and it looks like the organization is preparing to move on from Prescott after this season, or at least allow him to test free agency next offseason. If that’s the case, and the Cowboys don’t want to pay Prescott now, it’s reasonable to assume they won’t want to pay him next year either.

If the organization doesn’t want to keep Prescott long-term, then they should explore trading him now, before the draft. The team could get maximum value from dealing him in April. Quarterback needy teams are willing to pay up for a good QB who is still in his prime and if Prescott OK’d the location, the Joneses could get their precious draft capital in return.

A trade would mean eating up Prescott’s dead cap money of over $66 million, but if the Cowboys are fine with getting his cap hit off the books after this season anyway, they should be willing to trade him if they can find the right deal.

The worst-case scenario is letting Prescott his free agency next offseason, where the Cowboys aren’t likely to match an offer. If the team isn’t willing to pay Prescott now, they aren’t going to like the price anymore next year when the cost goes up. It’s something the Joneses continuously fail to realize, the price on good players, especially quarterbacks, never goes down, it always goes up.

These are the same choices they’ve had since the team was blown out in the playoffs, yet nothing has happened. No major talks, no proposals on an extension, nothing. Just empty words about believing in a player they don’t feel the need to pay.

If they want to keep Prescott, they should be negotiating a new deal with him. Ditto for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. If they don’t want a future with their quarterback, move on and don’t wait for the 2026 third round compensation pick they’ll receive if he leaves in free agency.

Just do something. Make a decision, any decision, and stick to it. Anything is better than this dance they’re doing with their franchise player, where the Joneses talk in circles looking inept every time they speak.

In this offseason of misery, at least give the fans that, they deserve it. And so does Prescott.

NFL is considering moving to an electronic first down system in 2025

The NFL could be saying goodbye to the chain system and saying hello to an electronic system to mark first downs in 2025:

In the 2025 season, the NFL could be measuring first downs electronically. This initiative is in its infancy, but the NFL is currently gauging how interested teams would be in implementing an electronic system. If the teams are interested, you could be saying goodbye to 10-yard metal chains as soon as 2025.

This electronic system’s usage would include first downs, sidelines and goal lines. In theory, this should provide a more accurate determination of if a player reached the line to gain for first downs and touchdowns. That same certainty should extend to reviewing a player possibly stepping out of bounds.

An interesting question is how will this new system change the responsibilities of the officials. Obviously, referees won’t be erased from the game. In these specific situations, though, it’s still unclear if they will spot the ball first or if the system will track the player’s movement. The latter seems the most likely in order to gain the most accurate results.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

What Payton Turner would make on his 5th-year option

What would Payton Turner would make on his fifth year option in 2025? The Saints have to make a decision on the backup defensive end by May:

Decision time is approaching for the New Orleans Saints and the fifth-year option for 2021 first-round selection Payton Turner. On paper, it has looked like an easy to decision to not pick it up and just give him this next season to break through and earn another contract.

What would it look like if the Saints were to pick up his option, though? The NFL recently released the fifth-year option amounts along with the updated salary cap, which could make the Saints’ decision easier.

Turner would be due $13,387,000 in 2025 if the Saints decided to pick his option up — and every dollar would be guaranteed. If it wasn’t clear before, it’s crystal-clear now that the Saints will very likely not exercise that option before the May 2 deadline. In his first three seasons Turner has racked up 29 tackles and just three sacks. He just hasn’t done enough to justify being tied to him for another season with a significantly higher salary cap hit than he has had up to this point in his career.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

NFL salary cap may see another huge jump again in 2025

The NFL salary cap may see another huge jump again in 2025. ESPN reports that league personnel see 2025 as another year helped by new broadcasting revenue:

The NFL announced good news for the New Orleans Saints and every other team on Friday with its historic salary cap: a $255.4 million spending limit per team that soared past projections that fans, media and the teams themselves had been working with to start the offseason.

While that’s huge for 2024 in itself, it might not be the last time the salary cap grows beyond expectations. This comes from ESPN senior NFL reporter Dan Graziano, who shares an interesting nugget about the future of the league:

“Since the league signed new deals with its broadcast partners in 2021, there has been a belief that 2024 and 2025 would be the first years in which the new TV revenue would really have a noticeable impact on league revenue.”

This lines up with past reporting; on top of the influx of money from the league’s broadcasting partners, deferred costs that kept the NFL going during the 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 pandemic-impacted seasons finally ran out in 2023. There’s nothing holding back the cap from climbing higher but team owners’ greed in keeping a larger share of profits for themselves than what goes to the players.

So where could the cap climb to in 2025? The experts at Over The Cap have not updated their initial projection of $260 million, which was based on past years’ recovery and growth after the pandemic. But that doesn’t reflect the unprecedented leap forward in 2024.

A better estimate comes from the analysts at Spotrac, who are working with a $273.3 million salary cap for 2025. That’s not as great an increase as we saw this offseason, but it does line up with what we’ve seen in recent years. And as ESPN suggests, NFL personnel are anticipating another unexpected leap ahead.

It’s early, and things will change as contracts are reworked and free agents are signed, but right now the Saints lead the league in players under contract for the 2025 season (44 of them). They’re also tapped to spend more money ($325.7 million) than anyone else, putting them further in the red than any team. But that’s always the case. So long as the salary cap continues rising — and by all accounts, it will — you can kick the can down the road.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Fifth-year option price set for Cowboys’ Micah Parsons

From @ToddBrock24f7: Exercising a 5th-year option on Parsons will cost the team $24M and lock him in for 2025 while they work toward a long-term extension.

Among the Cowboys players awaiting a big decision from the club this offseason is Micah Parsons.

The linebacker/edge rusher isn’t going anywhere (except in the most wildly radical of what-if hypotheticals), but the former first-round draft pick is now entering the fourth year of his rookie deal. The decision for the front office is whether to exercise a fifth-year option on him to lock him in through 2025.

They almost certainly will. And with the 2024 salary cap set, the Cowboys know how much a fifth year of paying for Parsons’s services will cost them.

Several factors go into the calculation. Parsons’s three original-ballot selections to the Pro Bowl translate to a salary equal to that of a franchise tender at the position in question. That means Parsons stands to make $24.007 million in 2025 once the Cowboys elect to exercise his option.

Talk of a Parsons extension is expected to be a hot topic this offseason, although the team does have several other big-money deals to work on, too. It’s widely thought he’ll end up being the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history with his next contract, and his price tag will only go higher the longer the Dallas front office waits as they take care of other business.

Wideout CeeDee Lamb saw his fifth-year option exercised last offseason. The two sides were unable to work out a longer extension prior to the 2023 campaign. Lamb had a record-setting season, and now a new deal that will likely reset the receiver market is a priority in Dallas.

Expect the Cowboys to similarly pick up Parsons’s option and continue to work toward a longer-term deal.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

The Cowboys, technically speaking, could also pick up the fifth-year option on quarterback Trey Lance, who was also a first-round pick- by the 49ers- in that same 2021 draft and has a rookie deal entering its fourth season. But while the third-stringer may remain an intriguing project for the team, he hasn’t done nearly enough to warrant a $22.408 million fifth-year salary.

Teams have until May 2 to exercise their fifth-year options on 2021 first-rounders.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=video id=01hq3wk5j612j9vyx80p playlist_id=01eqbwens7sctqdrqg player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01hq3wk5j612j9vyx80p/01hq3wk5j612j9vyx80p-8817698ee12f865edf2b67920915c5d0.jpg]

[lawrence-newsletter]