The latest
2025 NFL QB Power Rankings: Rating all 32 starters before minicamp | FOX Sports
1. Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Mahomes might not finish the season with a stellar record, but his individual performances will look a whole lot prettier than last year. The Chiefs invested in the left tackle position in both free agency (Jaylon Moore) and the draft (Josh Simmons). I’m willing to bet that position holds solid throughout the season. If the line keeps it together and the young wideouts (Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy) continue to ascend, Mahomes can finally do more with his offense. Which means he’ll be the best QB in the NFL again.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Age When 2025 Playoffs End: 36
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is already a first-ballot Hall of Famer and might have retired in February had he won his fourth Super Bowl. He already has three rings to go with 12,151 regular-season receiving yards, 2,078 postseason receiving yards and 10 Pro Bowls.
However, a win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX would have made Kansas City the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. That didn’t happen, of course, and we may never know how seriously, if at all, the 35-year-old pondered retirement.
Now, Kelce is back at work and preparing himself for his 13th NFL season.
“The way he’s talking about football. The way he’s talking about working and trying to be even better this year than he was last year. He doesn’t seem like a guy like it’s his last ride, like he’s tired of the job,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes told reporters during organized team activities (OTAs).
While Kelce may be preparing like he always has, it’s fair to wonder if he can still play like it, too. He’s seen a dip in statistical production in each of the past two years and caught just three touchdowns in 2024—his lowest total since becoming a starter in his second season.
Now entering the final year of his contract, the 10-time Pro Bowler may indeed make 2025 his last run, especially if the Chiefs again manage to win the Lombardi Trophy.
If there’s a franchise practically guaranteed to be in the championship mix in any given year, it’s Kansas City.
NFL minicamp 2025 — Teams, rookies veterans we’re watching | ESPN
How much of a participant can Josh Simmons be?
The Chiefs drafted Simmons in the first round this year to solve their long-standing problem at left tackle, even though he’s coming off a torn patellar tendon injury.
If Simmons is a full participant, that bodes well for his chances to start when the regular season begins. If not, his situation remains one to watch. The Chiefs signed Jaylon Moore in free agency and he would step in if Simmons isn’t ready to play. — Adam Teicher
Biggest camp storyline: Who wins the left tackle job?
Player(s) to watch: Josh Simmons, Jaylon Moore
The Chiefs’ issues along the offensive line were utterly apparent in their loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. This offseason, they went out and addressed the problem at left tackle. First, Kansas City signed Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract, and then selected Josh Simmons in the first round out of Ohio State. Those two should begin duking it out be Patrick Mahomes’ blindside tackle, and their reps throughout minicamp will give us a barometer of who may have the inside track as we head towards the summer hiatus.
Why the Chiefs Will Be Better in 2025 | SI
The Chiefs still have to go on the field in 2025 and prove it. But the reason why many feel optimistic about the Chiefs being a top contender again next season is the ability to regroup and find the right players to replace the ones that left. And the Chiefs did that, and their coaching staff will make sure these players are ready for whatever comes their way next season.
We have seen it before, so what makes the people who say that the Chiefs are going to take a step back next season? Many think the Chiefs are not going to be the team that wins games easily next season.
Around the NFL
1 – Atlanta Falcons
Last playoff season: 2017
The Falcons have had golden opportunities before to snap their now seven-year playoff drought — and they’ve come up just short. Atlanta faced the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL the last two seasons but responded with two sub-.500 campaigns, finishing two games behind the NFC South-champion Buccaneers each time. The Falcons’ seven seasons without postseason action is their longest such streak since 1990. But it’s poised to end in 2025. In their second season under Raheem Morris and their first full campaign with highly touted southpaw Michael Penix Jr. under center, the Falcons figure to be Tampa Bay’s main competition in the division. Additions of veteran Leonard Floyd and first-rounders Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. to the pass rush should bolster Atlanta’s longtime Achilles’ heel. Their schedule isn’t a cakewalk (.478 SOS), but it’s manageable; a run of six road games in eight weeks late in the year, Atlanta’s toughest stretch, includes just one ‘24 postseason team (at TB in Week 15). The NFL currently has the Falcons set for seven standalone games (six prime-time, one in Berlin), including two in the last four weeks — a sign from the omniscient powers at league headquarters that Atlanta is a team worth watching deep into the season. Put your trust in the schedule-makers, Falcons, and win your first NFC South title since 2016.
Bengals to release LB Germaine Pratt | NBC Sports
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Cincinnati will release the veteran linebacker on Monday.
Pratt, 29, requested a trade from Cincinnati back in February. But the Bengals held onto him until the tail end of the offseason program.
Pratt was set to make $5.2 million in base salary for the last year of his contract. By releasing him, the Bengals will save $5.85 million against the cap.
A third-round pick in 2019, Pratt had spent his entire career with the Bengals. He registered 143 total tackles with five tackles for loss, four QB hits, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles in 2024.
Source – Packers to release CB Jaire Alexander after 7 seasons | ESPN
The Packers informed Alexander on Monday that he would be released, a source told ESPN, ending an offseason saga in which the two sides tried to find a middle ground.
Packers president Mark Murphy appeared to confirm Alexander’s release while at a charity golf outing Monday.
“First of all, he’s been a great player for us,” Murphy told WBAY-TV. “Obviously, an elite talent and, you know, unfortunately just injured a lot. Unfortunately that’s a big part of our game.
“The reality is for the last four years for Jaire, it’s about half of the games he’s been able to play,” Murphy added. “So we kind of have been used to it.”
Alexander had planned to report for the Packers’ mandatory minicamp starting Tuesday after skipping all of the in-person, voluntary workouts this offseason.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Chiefs Roster: Trent McDuffie will be a key factor in the 2025 defense
During the offseason, the team signed former Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. But speaking to reporters last week, Kansas City defensive backs coach Dave Merritt said that while defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could still have some tricks up his sleeve, nothing about McDuffie’s situation has changed.
“Trent is still our No. 1,” he confirmed, “and so he’s at the outside position.
“I’m quite sure Spags will put a little more emphasis on possibly trying to move Trent around if we can,” said Merritt. “But right now Trent is our No. 1 outside corner. [But] if we get to a chance — or a point during the season — where we can slide him inside, that’d be great.”
Spagnuolo agreed with Merritt’s assessment of McDuffie’s situation.
“I thought in the past when we’ve had Trent inside, he’s done some really good things,” observed the coordinator. “He’s effective covering [and] blitzing.
“[But] where anybody will be will be determined by how it all shapes up at the corner spots. Trent’s pretty legit at that spot… when LJ [L’Jarius Sneed] was here and we moved Trent inside a little bit more, I thought he made a lot of plays in there.”
Social media to make you think
“I mean, he looks like Rashee.”
Patrick Mahomes says that Rashee Rice has worked extremely hard this offseason. Mahomes notes that there are no limitations. pic.twitter.com/w05GU6sqsL
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) May 29, 2025
Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media