The 2025 NFL Offseason in 5 Minutes

You’re forgiven. It’s a busy time in life, other sports are going on, it’s hard to pay attention to everything. What team is Pete Carroll even coaching now? Did the Bears draft Colston Loveland or Tyler Warren? How many quarterbacks do the Browns have?

We’re speeding toward the NFL season. OTAs have started. Fantasy drafts are kicking up. It makes sense if you haven’t kept up with everything, let’s dive in now with a crib sheet, the NFL offseason in five minutes (or, you know, less or more depending on your reading speed).

The NFL Offseason in 5 Minutes

Quarterback Movement!

Maybe no one the caliber of Tom Brady or Matthew Stafford found a new team this offseason (yet? C’mon, Aaron Rodgers, do something), but we have new starters in a lot of places. At a minimum, the Patriots (Drake Maye), Jets (Justin Fields), Giants (Russell Wilson), Vikings (J.J. McCarthy), Steelers (Mason Rudolph I guess?), Browns (Joe Flacco I double-guess?), Titans (Cameron Ward), Saints (Tyler Shough), Falcons (Michael Penix Jr.), Seahawks (Sam Darnold) and Raiders (Geno Smith) appear set to have new Week 1 starting quarterbacks in 2025, and the Colts (Daniel Jones) could join the group. Rodgers is still out there. Kirk Cousins maybe probably definitely is, too. That’s almost 40% of the league.

And yet, there’s no one there who is anything like a safe bet to even be a top-10 fantasy quarterback in 2025. Fields could, Darnold just did, Smith has in the past. Last year’s rookies (Maye, McCarthy, Penix) all have the ability. If you can figure out who gets there in 2025, you have an advantage.

The Bears Retool

It started with the hiring of Ben Johnson, but the Bears also rebuilt their offensive line (trading for Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, signing Drew Dalman, drafting Ozzy Trapilo) and drafted two more offensive weapons in TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden III. We all got excited about the arrival of Caleb Williams heralding a new era in Chicago offense a year ago and were burned then, so nothing is guaranteed, but there’s a chance this grouping can break the franchise record of 456 points in a season back in 1985.

Oh, So Do the Raiders

Antonio Pierce, Gardner Minshew, Zamir White out. Pete Carroll, the aforementioned Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty in. Oh, and that guy named Tom Brady is doing a lot as well. In an absolutely loaded AFC West, the Raiders might need more than a single offseason to make themselves into competitors, especially with plenty of question marks on defense, but even if the team can’t compete in 2025, they’ll at least be relevant and interesting. They couldn’t say that before.

Browns Go with the Cooking-Spaghetti Method

The “throw spaghetti at the wall to see if it’s done” method is actually kind of an urban legend, but it is gangbusters as a metaphor. And it’s what the Browns did this offseason. With Deshaun Watson dealing with a second Achilles tear and not actually good since before Joe Biden was president, the Browns had a desperate need at quarterback and no clear path to one. So instead of picking one dissatisfying option and hoping for the best, they picked four dissatisfying options, under the thinking that maybe something will work. Joe Flacco was successful for a few weeks in Cleveland! Kenny Pickett was once a first-rounder! Dillon Gabriel played in college since the Millard Filmore administration! Shedeur Sanders was rumored to be a top-two pick and was available in the fifth round! Surely one will work out!

I mean, no, there’s no guarantee there’s anything there that is better than “very bad.” But if you throw it all against the wall, maybe something sticks.

Seahawks Redistribute Wealth

So here at FTN, we have this photo library, and when players leave their teams, I have to put the photos in a folder for ones we can’t use anymore but don’t want to delete. And that makes this maybe the last time I’ll ever get to use this photo:

Usually I have to retire group photos because one guy is gone. But the Seahawks dumped them all this offseason, trading Geno Smith to the Raiders, trading DK Metcalf to the Steelers and releasing Tyler Lockett (who signed with the Titans). It’s the biggest set of wholesale changes we’ve seen in Seattle in a generation, with replacements (Sam Darnold at quarterback, Cooper Kupp, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and rookie fifth-rounder Tory Horton at receiver) who offer nothing like the guarantees the Seahawks have become accustomed to.

Speaking of Kupp…

The Rams got that legendary 2021 season out of Kupp, when he had 145 receptions, 1947 yards and 16 touchdowns. And then he never even got to 850 again in Los Angeles, with injuries and reduced effective keeping him down. They released him this offseason, in what you’d think would be a complete commitment to Puka Nacua as the WR1. Except, they replaced Kupp with a guy who is even older but also has been way better, signing Davante Adams off of his fifth straight season of 1,000-plus yards and at least 8 touchdowns. A Nacua-Adams-Matthew Stafford trio has a chance to be the stuff of fantasy legend.

So, He’s a Receiver … And a Corner?

Shohei Ohtani is probably going to be the gold standard for “Wait, no one can do both of those things” for a long time now, but if Travis Hunter does what Travis Hunter apparently really wants to do, he’s going to be in the conversation. Because after winning the Heisman and the Bednarik (for best defensive player) and Biletnikoff (for most outstanding receiver) in college last year, Hunter has repeatedly said he wants to do both in the NFL as well. Those talks quieted a little after the very obviously WR-needy Jaguars traded up to take him second overall, but he’s still been attending defensive meetings and such and sounds likely to play on at least some defensive packages. It’s exciting, though kind of scary — that’s a lot of chances to get injured.

And the Rest!

You remember the Gilligan’s Island theme, and how it ends with “the Professor and Mary Ann!”? Originally, it just went “…and the rest!” and didn’t name them at all. “And the rest!” works when there are, like, 20 more characters and you can’t name them all, Lost-style, but it was two more people, guys.

Anyway, that’s apropos of nothing, it’s just always bothered me. Here are other offseason moves to know! There are more than two!

• Bucs load up: Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan apparently weren’t enough, because Tampa used its first-round pick on Emeka Egbuka, which just feels kind of mean. The Panthers might be starting Jalen Coker, guys. Share.
• Pickin’ Pickens: Dallas’ claims of being all in ended up being kind of silly last year when they didn’t actually do a lot. This offseason? I mean, “all” might be a bit much, but they were sorta in, capped off by trading for George Pickens in early May. CeeDee Lamb is the top dog in Dallas, but Pickens is the best running mate he’s had since … Marquise Brown at Oklahoma in 2018?
• Bengal Bros: I guess that’s not a phrase, but it should be. Especially with the Bengals spending to keep Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together as a trio. The defense is still a monster question mark, but hey, that could be good for us in fantasy.
• Maye you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live: Was that a stretch? It felt like a stretch. But after a year behind a woeful offensive line, Drake Maye gets the top O-lineman in the draft in Will Campbell, plus a new running back in TreVeyon Henderson who has the rep of an excellent defender. Add in the potential for two good receivers in rookie Kyle Williams and veteran Stefon Diggs, and Maye-be things will turn.
• Deebo to D.C.: Terry McLaurin desperately needed a running mate, and Dyami Brown and Noah Brown weren’t that. Is Deebo Samuel? He hasn’t been in a few years, but the skill is still there.
• Vikings commit to J.J. McCarthy: It wasn’t without dalliances with Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins, but at this point, it’s clear McCarthy is going to be the QB1, and adding Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, Donovan Jackson and Justin Skule to the offensive line is giving him a shot.