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| Tuesday, June 24, 2025 |
| Hello, fine folks of the internet! It's me, Tyler Sullivan, steering the ship of the Pick Six Newsletter as our guy John Breech is away (in all likelihood running a lemonade stand to help the Bengals pay for Trey Hendrickson's extension) and our usual fill-in guru Cody Benjamin is getting a break (probably helping Breech with his lemonade stand). |
| I'm here to help you get everything you need to know about the NFL on this fine Tuesday, and we have a good amount to get into despite it being the beginning of the league's slow period. Of course, be sure to subscribe right here to ensure you never miss a daily dose of NFL updates. Without further ado, let's dive into what's making headlines today. |
| 1. One takeaway from every AFC team's offseason workouts |
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| Now that teams have entered summer break, it serves as a great time for us to look back at all of the offseason workouts and see what's developing with each club as we gear up for training camp later this summer. I was tasked with coming away with one takeaway for every team in the AFC, which includes the Cleveland Browns unlocking a key skill from one of their rookies and the Miami Dolphins still having major question marks in one key area of the defense. |
Cleveland Browns: Dylan Sampson will be a dual-threat back. Throughout his collegiate career at Tennessee, Sampson hauled in a total of 40 catches, including 20 receptions in 2024. Despite that relatively low output as a receiver, the Browns look at Sampson as a possible dual-threat option out of the backfield who could even line up in the slot at times.
"Being able to show him as a running back and a receiver," running back coach Duce Staley said of Sampson, via Cleveland.com. "Also meeting with (wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea) in there and going over some of the receiver splits and routes and just being able to just take his game and expand it." Miami Dolphins: The cornerback position is still a major question. What is going to happen with Jalen Ramsey? That's still the biggest question currently hovering around the Dolphins. The two sides have been working to find a trade partner for the veteran corner, but no deal has come across the wire. Ramsey did not attend mandatory minicamp as this trade looms, and his absence highlights what could be a rather thin cornerback room for the Dolphins. As it stands, Storm Duck, Cam Smith and rookie Jason Marshall Jr. headline the position group outside of Ramsey. Kansas City Chiefs: Josh Simmons is impressing early. The Chiefs desperately needed to fix the left tackle position, and they may have done just that with Josh Simmons. The Ohio State product was looked at as arguably the top tackle prospect in the 2025 class, but fell to the Chiefs in the bottom of the first round due to a torn patellar injury he suffered with the Buckeyes. While that may have contributed to his fall, Simmons has been on the field throughout the offseason program, and head coach Andy Reid noted that he'll be a full participant come training camp. |
| For the rest of the AFC takeaways, click here. |
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| 2. One takeaway from every NFC team's offseason workouts |
| While I tackled the AFC, our pal Cody Benjamin rolled out his takeaways for the NFC offseason workouts. Among other items, Benjamin identified the Los Angeles Rams getting a big boost on offense, along with the Minnesota Vikings easing in their new QB1. |
| Los Angeles Rams: Davante Adams is elevating the receiver room. While Cooper Kupp was a beloved workhorse for the Rams when healthy, Adams' entry has fellow wideout Puka Nacua singing the former Packers great's praises: "I wish I could have the exact same skill set as Davante Adams," he said recently, underscoring the excitement around Matthew Stafford firing to an even more well-rounded group.Minnesota Vikings: Kevin O'Connell is easing J.J. McCarthy into his new role. Positioned as the present and future of a playoff-caliber roster, McCarthy was noticeably more conservative in some of his spring work than, say, gunslinging backup Sam Howell. But that's primarily evidence of O'Connell exercising patience with the 22-year-old quarterback, who missed his entire rookie year following knee surgery. Internal expectations are still high for the youngster.New York Giants: Jaxson Dart is closer to playing than expected. When New York moved up to spend a first-round pick on the Ole Miss quarterback in April, plenty anticipated Dart sitting most, if not all, of his 2025 rookie season behind both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. But Dart flashed his dual-threat upside as the No. 2 this spring, and now word is it's only a matter of time before coach Brian Daboll, apparently one of Dart's biggest fans, turns to the first-year passer altogether. |
| To see all of Benjamin's takeaways for the NFC offseason workouts, click here. |
| 3. Anthony Richardson injury update: Colts QB optimistic about training camp availability |
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| The Indianapolis Colts are supposed to have a quarterback battle this summer between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. However, the availability of Richardson to even compete come training camp has been put into question recently. The former first-round pick has been dealing with a shoulder injury, which forced him to miss training camp and, in turn, likely lose some ground to Jones in the upcoming battle. |
| While it remains to be seen if Richardson will, in fact, be full-steam ahead when the Colts kick off training camp on July 22, he did provide an encouraging update. |
| "I'm all good ... not really even a bump in the road," Richardson told 247Sports over the weekend. "I feel like I tripped, I fell. Just got back up and hit the ground running again." |
| Colts head coach Shane Steichen kept his cards close to the vest when previously speaking on Richardson's injury, saying that he hoped the quarterback would come back "at some point" during camp. |
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| 4. Henry Ruggs breaks silence on fatal car crash |
| Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs has made his first public comments since being arrested and later sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison for driving under the influence, driving nearly 160 miles per hour and killing both Tina Tintor and her dog in November of 2021. |
| Speaking at a Hope for Prisons group gathering in Las Vegas, Ruggs, 26, said he wishes he "could turn back the hands of time" when asked what he'd say to the Tintor family. |
| "I would love for them to meet the real Henry Ruggs and not the one that was escaping from something," Ruggs said. "I sincerely apologize for not only being a part of that situation, but the fact that ... my face is always in the news. My face is always in the newspaper. So they have to constantly be reminded of the situation, and be reminded of me and see -- those memories have to continue to rise because of all of the fanbase and notoriety that I have, which I never even asked for, I never liked. |
| "I would just tell them that I deeply apologize for just being a part of that, and I wish that they could meet the real Henry Ruggs and not one who was just running away from everything." |
| Ruggs, who is eligible for parole on Aug. 6, 2026, also said he'd "love" to return to football if given the opportunity and would also be interested in playing for the Raiders again. |
| 5. Winning the NFC North: Reasons why each team can take division |
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| The NFC North is arguably the deepest division in the entire NFL. Last year, three of the four teams made the playoffs, and the one that was on the outside looking in on the postseason, the Chicago Bears, drastically improved over the offseason. The stage is set for this to be a wildly entertaining division race, and our Cody Benjamin recently determined key reasons why each team could end up winning the NFC North when the dust settles on the 2025 regular season. |
| Why the Green Bay Packers can win the NFC North: Jordan Love has a deeper, healthier supporting cast. Remember at the close of 2023, when the young quarterback had moments of Patrick Mahomes-esque flair? His loose cannon of an arm had Green Bay surprisingly scrappy in the playoffs to end his first year as a full-time starter. Then 2024 happened, and injuries wrecked his equally youthful wide receiver corps, while Love's own inner Brett Favre occasionally exacerbated the wounds. All signs point to a big rebound at Lambeau Field, where Love's gifted arm can now feed an offense that added two weapons in Matthew Golden and Savion Williams, and still features the bruising Josh Jacobs on the ground. If the pass rush ever truly comes alive for Jeff Hafley's defense, we might be talking about a Super Bowl contender here, not just head coach Matt LaFleur's fourth career NFC North crown. Why the Detroit Lions can win the NFC North: Dan Campbell still oversees many of the NFL's best pure playmakers. Detroit's coordinator turnover isn't something to overlook; Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn were instrumental voices on Campbell's staff, bringing energy to both sides of the ball. Their exits also shouldn't be oversold to the point of discrediting the Lions' enviable skill talent. Between Jahmyr Gibbs in the backfield, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams out wide, Sam LaPorta at tight end, and a front featuring sturdy bookends in Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell, Motor City promises to remain home to track-meet-style fireworks. And that's saying nothing of Campbell's own fiery brand of aggression, which helped build the Lions into what they are today. Barring a total meltdown from Jared Goff in the pocket, this team still has the unteachable manpower to light up scoreboards. |
| To see how Benjamin thinks the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears can also win the NFC North, click here. |
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| 6. Kevin Durant teases Micah Parsons, predicts Cowboys star will join Commanders |
| There are a number of contract situations looming over the NFL at the moment, but none may prove to be more seismic than what happens with Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys. The star pass rusher has a résumé that warrants him becoming the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL with his upcoming extension, but no deal has come across the wire at this point. Of course, that has led to reckless speculation about Parsons' future in Dallas, even though it's widely assumed he'll eventually ink a deal that keeps him in Dallas for the foreseeable future. |
| But, until that deal is reached, it allows for the likes of newly acquired Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant, a noted Washington Commanders fan, to dream about his team trading for him. At Fanatics Fest, Durant was being interviewed by Kay Adams and was asked about Parsons, who was next to him. Durant teasingly predicted that Parsons would become a Commander "two years from now." When Parsons was asked for his response to that prediction, he proclaimed that he only rocks with Dan Quinn (his former defensive coordinator in Dallas and the Commanders' current head coach). To that, Durant replied, "Exactly. That's all you need to rock with." |
| Again, Parsons will in all likelihood land a monster extension with the Cowboys, but the longer it takes for that deal to be agreed to, the more we'll get fans from across the league trying to pitch him to join their clubs. |
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