NFL training camps are now just a few weeks away, which is a great time to ask some questions about how the dust is settling leaguewide from this offseason. There was a big trade this week for people to get excited about, giving us a good first question to dive into.
How much changes now that Jalen Ramsey and Minkah Fitzpatrick have traded places?
The NFL saw a strange sort of blockbuster trade when the Miami Dolphins pulled the cord on the Jalen Ramsey era and sent him, along with tight end Jonnu Smith, to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Funnily enough, Fitzpatrick started his career with the Dolphins as a first-round pick back in 2018 prior to being traded to the Steelers after just one full season in Miami. What’s also funny is that on the surface, this doesn’t appear to change much for either team.
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For the Steelers, they now have one of the best cornerbacks of this era under contract for the next few years in Ramsey, and they might even be able to play him at safety as he ages. Ramsey and Joey Porter Jr. should be one of the better cornerback duos in the league and the Steelers deserve some credit for turning a room that looked dastardly just a few years ago into a legitimate strength. The performance of free agent signing Darius Slay at this point in his career will be crucial for their pass defense, but overall it’ll be hard to find a better cornerback duo than what Ramsey and Porter Jr. can bring.
For the Dolphins, this gives them a chance to get a bit younger in the secondary, but it doesn’t fix the immediate problem that they still had with Ramsey on the roster — this secondary may be one of the worst in the league. It will help them to have an ace like Fitzpatrick patrolling the back end of the defense, but their cornerback depth still leaves much to be desired and will have to be at the top of their fix-it list for the 2026 offseason. At least they won’t have to replace Fitzpatrick anytime soon, since he’s up for an extension and turns 29 during the season.
A few unresolved big-time contracts
Even though training camp is just a couple weeks away, there are a handful of teams with star players who need their contracts handled in the near future. The Bengals are probably the biggest team in need of getting their contracts solved, with pass rushers Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart still waiting to put pen to paper. The Steelers also need pass rusher T.J. Watt to get under contract so they have a chance to have the best team possible in what’s shaping up to be an important year for them. And of course, somehow, the Cowboys still have not signed all-world pass rusher Micah Parsons to a long term deal.
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Parsons will likely become the most expensive non-quarterback in the league when this is all over, which is fine for a player of his talents — but this deal is only going to get more expensive by the day. The newest (oldest?) Miami Dolphin Minkah Fitzpatrick will need a contract extension soon as well. There’s no set deadline to get these deals done, but it’s always best to have them finished before the regular season starts to avoid distractions.
Unless you’re Jerry Jones, in which the distractions are just a part of the fun.
Is everybody going to end up playing in Cleveland’s quarterback room?
The Browns’ quarterback room continues to be the talk of the summer after adding Shedeur Sanders to the roster. In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty low stakes quarterback room. Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Sanders aren’t exactly the most fascinating or daring quarterback quartet in the league, but this is the one that people have sunk their teeth into. There’s a real chance that the Browns end up playing everyone in this quarterback room during the season just to see what sticks, but the really interesting question will be if Gabriel or Sanders can play well enough to dissuade the Browns from using one of their two first-round picks on a quarterback next year.
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Kirk Cousins appears to be headed nowhere
Speaking of quarterbacks, the Falcons still are headed toward having one of the most expensive backup quarterbacks in football on their roster. They haven’t been able to find a landing spot for Kirk Cousins, who will be taking a backseat to Michael Penix Jr. after a tumultuous end to his first season in Atlanta. There’s no quick ending to this story with just about every team settled at quarterback, increasing the chance that Cousins really does stay in Atlanta for at least the early portion of the year.
Can the Giants defense be good enough to make them a feisty team?
The Giants are in the worst spot possible for a rebuilding team: They kind of need the rookie quarterback to save everyone’s job. That’s a tough task for any rookie quarterback, let alone one like Jaxson Dart that’s going to need some time transitioning from Lane Kiffin’s playbook at Ole Miss to what’s going to be asked of him in the meantime.
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It seems likely at this point that veteran quarterback Russell Wilson is going to be the opening day starter for the Giants, but the expectations for their offense aren’t very high regardless. Their offensive line still has a lot of holes and Wilson himself hasn’t been the most efficient player in recent seasons.
They’ll need to lean on their defense, which had mixed results in 2024. When superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is on the field, they can be tough to play against as he wrecks opposing offensive lines with a generational combination of size, strength and speed. General manager Joe Schoen has added pass rushers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter with premium assets over the past two offseasons to help Lawrence carry the load. Carter is only a rookie, so he deserves patience, but this is a great situation for him to potentially have an impactful first season in the NFL.
New York’s secondary will need to improve big time, especially third-year cornerback Deonte Banks. Banks’ sophomore campaign didn’t go as many hoped after an impressive rookie year, but the traits are still there to bounce back. Joining him in the secondary were big ticket free agent signings cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland. If those guys can continue to play at a high level, there’s a chance this Giants team is just good enough to keep everyone employed for another year. That’s a lot to put on a defense, but there have been enough investments placed into it where there’s potential for a big season here.
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