With the calendar flipping from May to June, it’s time for organized team activities (OTAs) all around the league. All 32 teams have turned the page from 2024 and are now gathering and getting themselves ready for 2025.
This is the first time we’re getting to see or hear from a lot of veteran players since last season ended — or since they signed with or got traded to their new teams this offseason — so it’s an important time to take stock of some of the various goings-on around the league.
With that in mind, let’s highlight a few of the key takeaways from this week’s OTA action around the NFL.
Seahawks’ Macdonald endorses Darnold after shaky OTA debut
Apparently, Sam Darnold didn’t have his best day throwing the ball on the first day of OTAs open to reporters in Seattle. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald fielded some questions about Darnold’s status as the team’s definitive starting quarterback even though he is less than three months off signing a three-year, $100.5 million contract with the team.
Macdonald was emphatic in his answer. “It’s just not going to happen,” he said of the possibility of someone other than Darnold being the team’s QB, via ESPN. “Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”
While there might be some parallels to be drawn between Darnold’s free-agent contract and the presence of third-round pick Jalen Milroe on the roster and the situation that led to Russell Wilson earning the job as the team’s quarterback back in 2012, as ESPN also noted, Darnold is making considerably more money in today’s terms than Matt Flynn was back then. And he’s also coming off a much more successful season than Flynn was at the time he signed with Seattle, when he basically had one good game that earned him a sizable deal on the open market.
Travis Hunter’s inhuman ball skills on display
We knew well in advance of his being drafted that Travis Hunter was a rare football player. He was an All-American and Heisman Trophy winner at Colorado, thanks to his dynamic two-way play.
And during his college career, Hunter’s best attribute was his incredible skill with the ball in the air on both offense (where he won the Fred Biletnikoff Award last season while racking up 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns) and defense (where he won the Chuck Bednarik Award and intercepted seven passes over the last two years).
So it should come as no surprise that Hunter, who reportedly worked mostly as a wide receiver during the Jaguars’ rookie minicamp, is also showing out at OTAs as a defender. He came down with a pretty ridiculous, one-handed interception that showed exactly why he’s such a rare talent.
Texans not worried about banged-up star QB
C.J. Stroud has been sitting out of Texans OTAs with what was originally termed a pectoral issue, but head coach DeMeco Ryans now says it’s “general” soreness in Stroud’s shoulder. Ryans, though, says that it’s not a long-term issue and the team isn’t concerned.
“We’re taking extra precaution with him, but he’ll be good to go. No concerns on my end there,” Ryans told the media after practice Tuesday.
Pressed further, Ryans said, “What I said, that’s it for him. It’s general soreness, and we’re taking extra precaution with him. We’re not gonna rush him into anything. He’ll be fine. When the moment is for him to be ready to go, he’ll be ready to go.”
Eagles rookie out until camp
Jihaad Campbell fell to the end of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at least in part due to injury concerns, and it appears those injury issues will keep him out for a while longer. In fact, the Eagles don’t expect Campbell to hit the field until training camp.
“He won’t hit the practice field until sometime in August,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “We’re doing all we can, he’s doing all he can in meetings. We’re doing all we can with him on the field. I take him to the side and do an individual drill with him that’s suited to what he can do right now. He’s working good and trying to pick it up.”
Ridley embraces Ward’s ‘f— it mentality’
Anything having to do with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft is always considered notable, and that’s definitely the case when his No. 1 wide receiver is hyping up his attitude and approach to the game. So it’s worth highlighting the fact that Calvin Ridley is already a big fan of Titans quarterback Cam Ward.
“I honestly want to hear what he [Ward] thinks,” Ridley said Tuesday, via Main Street Media. “So I just want to be in the spot where he wants me. So I ask him first, ‘What did I do wrong on a play?’ no matter the throw or the catch or whatever it is. ‘What do I need to do to make you feel better,’ and then I try to pick his brain … That’s pretty much what we’re doing. It’s easier for me to relate to him. He’s easy to relate to. He’s easy to talk ball with. I just like him a lot.”
Ridley also went through what it was like to connect with Ward outside of football, and how that shed light on what it’ll be like to play with him.
“He came to my house before and my brothers met him, and the first thing they said when he left was, ‘Man, he’s just calm and relaxed,'” Ridley said. “I mean, you need that at the quarterback position. You can’t be an over-thinker, jittery guy. You’ve got to kind of be OK with f—ing up and doing good. You’ve got to have that f— it mentality, and he’s kind of got that.”
Ward definitely had that kind of mentality during his time at Miami, and prior to that at Washington State and Incarnate Word. He’s a fantastic playmaker who has the utmost confidence in himself to make any and every throw that could even potentially become available to him. Sometimes that could get him into trouble with turnovers, but he was also able to turn the page from those mistakes and still consistently lead his team to wins.
Pickens getting comfortable
The early reviews for George Pickens at Cowboys OTAs have been strong.
The mercurial wide receiver, who came out for OTAs with a new jersey number (he’s now No. 3 after trading with defensive lineman Dante Fowler Jr., who will wear No. 13), apparently made the catch of the day on Tuesday while CeeDee Lamb sat out the session. Pickens is expected to be the No. 2 target for Dak Prescott (who was back at practice after the birth of his second child) and, while it’s obviously very early, any reports of them developing an early rapport have to be welcome.
More in store for Flowers
Baltimore Ravens wideout Zay Flowers is fully healthy after the late-season knee injury that sidelined him for the playoffs last season, and it seems that offensive coordinator Todd Monken has big plans for the third-year receiver in 2025.
“We’ve just got to get him the ball more,” Monken said Tuesday, via the team’s official website. “He’s an unbelievable football player. He’s not only an outside receiver that has elite route-running skills, but he’s unbelievable with the ball in his hands. So you have a guy that really plays two spots.
“I’m not sure he can use that in his contract negotiations. But I’m just saying you can use him in a variety of roles to get him the ball, which allows your volume to go up. He’s a volume catch guy. You can use him in novelty screens, getting him the ball down the field. I expect him to take another leap. When you make it to the Pro Bowl, or you’re an All-Pro, you’re pretty good.”
Flowers is coming off a sophomore campaign where he hauled in 74 passes for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns and got named to the Pro Bowl. As Monken noted, you can use him in a variety of roles: According to Tru Media, he lined up in the slot on 41.7% of his routes and out wide on 58.2%. He was credited with 18 receptions on screens, which tied for 11th most among all wide receivers, and his 26 explosive catches ranked 13th among wideouts.
Flowers isn’t actually eligible for a new contract yet, but if he has the kind of year that Monken is expecting, then he’ll certainly have some leverage when he enters extension talks next offseason.
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