2025 NFL Offseason Recap: News, Signings and Rumors from June & July

Most of the major NFL offseason moves happen in March and April, but that doesn't mean everything completely grinds to a halt during the summer. There were some key pieces of NFL news this June and July that impacted player valuations, including signings (Aaron Rodgers), releases (Noah Fant), trades (Jonnu Smith), legal news (Rashee Rice) and injury updates (Brandon Aiyuk). 

We'll recap all of the key summer happenings below, complete with fantasy-focused analysis and updates on how ADP has been impacted. If you're looking for more details on players that gained or lost this summer, my recent article detailing ADP changes in June and July is a good way to feel things out. The data comes from Underdog and Drafters, but it's also useful information to gauge player values and 2025 expectations for redraft, dynasty or any other format.

If you're looking for a recap of all the new offseason moves, not just the recent ones, we have a couple articles coming up soon to provide a refresher on some of the key stuff that happened back before the draft. 

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, news and everything going on around the NFL, head to RotoWire's NFL Fantasy Football News Today or follow @RotoWireNFL on X.

Signed

• QB Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers finally signed June 5, ending any chance of Mason Rudolph entering camp as QB1. DK Metcalf and Pat Freiermuth experienced ADP boosts as a result, although Freiermuth's ADP later crashed when the Steelers traded S Minkah Fitzpatrick for TE Jonnu Smith and CB Jalen Ramsey at the end of June. There's no shortage of talent on Pittsburgh's roster, but the wide receivers and offensive line are potential weak points, not to mention Rodgers himself.

• RB J.K. Dobbins

This one could be huge for fantasy, as the Broncos have a solid offensive line, a potential franchise QB and a head coach who loves throwing passes to running backs. It's a situation where a workhorse role could produce RB1 fantasy value even if the player isn't gaining many yards beyond what's blocked. And while the Broncos obviously hope RJ Harvey can be the lead guy, or at least take a big chunk of the workload, there's also a scenario where the rookie struggles and Dobbins' versatility becomes more appealing. There's even a chance Dobbins regains a bit more of his pre-surgery explosiveness, considering he's 26 years old and now two years removed from the last severe injury.

• RB Nick Chubb

Chubb signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract in early June, getting $1.5 million guaranteed. There's a decent chance he's just completely done after the second knee tear, but the guaranteed money suggests the Texans view it as a bit more than just a flier. Chubb will compete for backup roles with Dameon Pierce, fourth-round pick Woody Marks and passing-down specialist Dare Ogunbowale. It may come down to Chubb and Pierce battling for one spot as the rushing/power specialist behind Mixon — a role that won't entail much unless Mixon is injured or Chubb miraculously regains something close to his pre-injury form. Mixon did miss OTAs with an injury, but there's been no indication it's serious.

• TE Darren Waller

Waller's return from retirement and subsequent trade to Miami happened right after the Dolphins sent Jonnu Smith to the Steelers. Waller was still an effective pass catcher last we saw him in 2023, but he missed a lot of games those final few seasons and is now approaching his 33rd birthday in September. He's also different from Smith stylistically, with consistently high aDOTs by TE standards and more reliance on traditional pass-catching skills. Smith has never been a seam threat or smooth route runner like Waller, instead relying on short receptions and a ton of YAC. 

This move could reflect Miami's desire to get back to more deep passing after going extreme dink-and-dunk last year, but that might help Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle more than Waller. It's also possible the TE swap was strictly price-motivated, with Smith unhappy in the final year of his contract and Waller subsequently signing for a much lower number.

Check out our fantasy football ADP report for a comprehensive tool with live-updated ADP data for multiple league formats and sites.

Released/Retired

• Noah Fant (Seahawks)

The Seahawks are left with rookie second-round pick Elijah Arroyo and 2024 fourth-round pick AJ Barner to compete for the starting job at tight end. Arroyo is the superior athlete with more theoretical upside as a pass catcher, but his college career was largely defined by injuries until he broke out for 590 yards and seven TDs at Miami last year. The Seahawks saw enough to draft him 50th overall, even though a knee injury kept Arroyo out of predraft testing. The team's tracking data from college games reportedly suggests Arroyo could've run a 40 in the low-4.5 range. Barner held up fine as Seattle's No. 2 TE behind Fant last season, but a 4.84 40 and modest college production suggest Barner might not be a major receiving threat even if he ends up playing a ton.

• Mike Williams (Retirement)

The Chargers are left with 2023 first-round pick Quentin Johnston and 2025 second-rounder Tre Harris competing for the X receiver job, a role in which Johnston put up 55-711-8 on 91 targets in 15 regular-season games last year. It was a big step forward from Johnston's ugly rookie season, but he missed a lot of contested-catch opportunities and also had seven outright drops. Williams was essentially the insurance plan in case Johnston and/or Harris proved to not be up to the task. 

Traded

• TE Jonnu Smith & CB Jalen Ramsey   FOR    S Minkah Fitzpatrick

The Dolphins got a bit of financial flexibility (still not a strong point for them) in swapping out Smith/Ramsey for Waller/Fitzpatrick. The Steelers got two good players in exchange for one, albeit with Fitzpatrick being the youngest of the three. From a fantasy standpoint, Smith and Pat Freiermuth both took massive hits. Freiermuth sometimes goes undrafted even in deep leagues now, and Smith is taken around mid-end TE2 range after being a mid-TE1 before the trade.

Legal Updates / Potential Suspensions

• WR Rashee Rice

Rice reached a settlement in July for five years of deferred probation and a 30-day jail sentence. That's probably a good outcome for him given the serious nature of the charges he was facing, but the decision to settle instead of let things play out in court likely means he'll be suspended for multiple games this season (instead of delaying it to 2026 or beyond). Prior to the announcement, Rice had an ADP around the 2/3 turn on best ball sites. We're still waiting to see how that settles, but he'll presumably drop to at least the fourth round, and quite possibly lower.

• WR Jordan Addison

Addison resolved his DUI case from last summer by pleading no contest to a lesser charge. The NFL can still look at his situation and determine that Addison likely drove under the influence, in which case a three-game suspension has been the common punishment in recent years. Like Rice, there's a good chance Addison will serve his suspension at the beginning of the season, which can seem frustrating for fantasy but is actually better than a mid-year ban (at which point we'd have more injuries and bye weeks to work around). Addison's ADP was around the 6-7 turn before this announcement, and it may not change much given that the recent news isn't a real deviation from expectations (whereas in Rice's case the prevailing sentiment was that he might avoid suspension until 2026).

• RB Quinshon Judkins

Judkins, the 36th overall pick in the 2025 Draft, was arrested July 12 for a domestic violence allegation. Over half of the second-round picks have now signed contracts; Judkins isn't one of them.

Injury and Rehab News

• RB Christian McCaffrey

McCaffrey's ADP predictably from the 1/2 turn earlier this offseason to the middle of the first round by the start of training camp, with positive reports from OTAs and minicamp dumping gasoline on the fire. He participated in full-team drills during the offseason and should be much healthier for the start of training camp than he was last year.

• WR Brandon Aiyuk

Aiyuk, on the other hand, is still a ways away from practicing as he finishes up his rehab from ACL and MCL tears. He's on the PUP list for the start of training camp, with reports suggesting there's a good chance he'll be on PUP to begin the regular season (ruling him out for the first four games). There hasn't been any report of a setback or anything explicitly negative like that, but we also haven't seen much reason to expect Aiyuk on the field Week 1.

Fellow 49ers wideout Ricky Pearsall is also on the PUP list for the start of camp, after sitting out mandatory minicamp with a hamstring injury. Coach Kyle Shanahan said in June that Pearsall was expected to be ready for the start of camp, which didn't end up happening.

• LT Tristan Wirfs

Wirfs is arguably the best offensive lineman in the league, making his potential absence for the early part of the season a huge blow to the Bucs. His timeline is uncertain after knee surgery in early July, but it sounds like he's going to miss at least a few games — and quite possibly more than that.

• RB Najee Harris

Online rumors in early July suggested Harris had lost an eye. It turned out not to be quite that serious, but he was injured enough to open training camp on the non-football-injury list two weeks later. The Chargers expect Harris to be ready soon.

• QB Anthony Richardson

Richardson injured his surgically repaired throwing shoulder during OTAs and missed the rest of spring practices. He reportedly won't need surgery and may even be a full-go for the start of training camp, but there's definitely added injury risk when someone is still having problems at the location of a major surgery (in this case, the AC joint in his right shoulder). 

Richardson's best-ball ADP dropped by more than two rounds from May to July, while Daniel Jones' went up a bit less than that. Both now have ADPs around the 190s, not worth drafting in most single-QB leagues. Enthusiasm about Jones being the starter, rather than Richardson, also seemed to boost ADPs for Josh Downs (+12.7 spots) and Michael Pittman (+4.9), although Tyler Warren (-3.3) actually went down a bit. As bad as Jones is, the Colts offense might complete a lot of short passes (re: Downs) if he's the quarterback, whereas a Richardson-led offense would have a lower completion rate and fewer pass attempts.

• QB Will Levis

Levis initially injured the AC joint in his throwing shoulder early last season. He aggravated it later in the season, and it didn't heal the way he hoped during the offseason. Now, on the eve of training camp, he's undergoing season-ending surgery with the goal of being ready for 2026. The Titans may thus explore signing a veteran backup to put behind No. 1 overall pick Cameron Ward.

Quotes, Rumors & Chatter

• WR Jauan Jennings

Jennings missed spring practices with a calf injury, but that may have been more about his contract than his health. He signed a two-year, $15.4 million contract last offseason when he was a restricted free agent, only to blow that deal out of the water with 975 receiving yards in 15 games. Now in another contract year, Jennings reportedly wants to be traded if the 49ers won't give him the raise or extension he wants.

• RB Saquon Barkley

There's no hint of any issue coming out of Philadelphia, but many fantasy enthusiasts on twitter are worried about the possibility of Barkley's massive 2024 workload adding to his injury risk (or dragging down his performance) in 2025. He was the popular No. 2 overall pick for most of the offseason, but Justin Jefferson and Bijan Robinson both surpassed Barkley in ADP over the last few weeks. I don't really have much of an opinion here. Jefferson, Robinson, Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs are all similarly strong choices at 1.02, with their varying pros and cons more a matter of preference than anything that can be solved by looking at incredibly small samples that are obviously marked for regression to the mean.

• WR Terry McLaurin

McLaurin predictably isn't happy with his contract after scoring 13 TDs in the regular season and three more in the playoffs. He skipped mandatory minicamp in June and then said in mid-July that it would be "kind of hard to see how I step on the field" without progress toward an extension. McLaurin made it clear he doesn't want to be traded, but he sounded very unhappy about the negotiating process so far:

"When you have that type of production, when you know how people value you and see you have told you to your face and then you see how it's progressing until this point, that's very disappointing. I'm just trying to get some clarity. Shoot it to me straight."

McLaurin's best-ball ADP dropped by about five spots between mid-May and late-July, from early-to-mid Round 3 down toward the end of Round 3. 

• WR Travis Hunter

Chatter from spring practices mostly aligned with the post-draft statements from Jacksonville brass about Hunter focusing on offense, at first. Meanwhile in best-ball world, Hunter's ADP sunk from 42.7 in May to 57.9 in July, presumably reflecting concern about his defensive workload limiting his snaps on offense. ESPN's Cameron Wolfe recently said that the Jaguars think Hunter is "more of a natural cornerback" but might be able to "impact the game more as a wide receiver."

The new ADP seems like a fair middle ground. There's obvious risk Hunter won't play enough on offense to be impactful for fantasy, but it's far from a sure thing. New head coach Liam Coen is also the offensive playcaller, with his future tied to Trevor Lawrence's success in what some may view as a make-or-break year for Lawrence.

• RB Travis Etienne

Etienne said in June that he's happy with Liam Coen's offense and expects the run blocking to be better than what he's experienced so far, even mentioning that "we've been ranked 31, 32 in run blocking [the past few years]." His returning offensive linemen may not appreciate the shade, but longtime Jaguars beat writer John Shipley thinks Etienne will get the chance to keep his starting role. 

If that doesn't work out, the Jags have Tank Bigsby and fourth-round pick Bhayshul Tuten on deck. Tuten's ADP dropped 15.3 spots from May to July, down to 137.8, while Etienne's ADP rose by 22.3 spots from 121.2 to 98.9. That may seem like a drastic overreaction to June beat-writer chatter, but I think it was also partly a wise correction, with Etienne in the 10th/11th round previously being among the very best values on the board. 

• RB Jaydon Blue

Reports from spring practices unsurprisingly had Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders getting first-team reps. It's no concern for a fifth-round pick to not be taking those snaps as a rookie, but Cowboys media personality Glenn Smith recently said that the Cowboys aren't happy with Blue's work ethic. For what it's worth, Blue apparently saw the accusation that he's "borderline lazy" and responded by calling it a "fake article" for "attention".

• WRs Jack Bech & Dont'e Thornton

Thornton, a fourth-round pick, reportedly got some first-team reps during spring practices, while Bech was unsigned (see below) and thus unavailable. Bech signed July 18, and it won't ultimately matter that he missed some padless practices, but there is valid concern that his skillset overlaps too much with that of Jakobi Meyers (and, to a lesser extent Brock Bowers). Thornton, on the other hand, is a pure speed guy, who could be used to run a lot of clear-out routes and likely would have a very low target rate. They also still have Tre Turner, who was one of the least productive starting WRs in the league last year on a per-route or per-snap basis.

Second-Round Rookie Contracts Update

While players taken in other rounds mostly signed their contracts not long after the draft, 2025 second-round picks largely remained unsigned well into July in an effort to secure more guaranteed money. The tide turned in mid-July, with over half of the second-round picks then signing in a matter of days. Picks Nos. 33-40 got fully guaranteed deals, a group that includes Judkins, Texans WR Jayden Higgins, Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson, Bears WR Luther Burden and Saints QB Tyler Shough. 

Apart from Judkins, all of the QB/RB/WR/TEs in the second round ended up signing in time for the start of training camp. 

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