🏈 The Touchdown Collective: Minicamp madness
JJ Watt, Trey Hendrickson and Jalen Ramsey all feature to keep you ahead of the game, one play at a time
Welcome to The Touchdown Collective where I break down all the biggest news from the NFL. In today’s edition I cover the return of stars (or not, as the case may be) to minicamps around the league, my view on Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh, plus insider knowledge and some fun stuff from socials.
🏠 A bit of housekeeping…
The Touchdown Collective has just ticked over 100 subscribers, so welcome everybody and thank you, it’s great to be around so many like-minded people who love the NFL just as much as I do.
If you have any feedback or thoughts, please write to me using this form with your views, things you’d like to see more of, or your takes on anything NFL. I’d love to hear from you.
The Touchdown Collective exists to serve people looking for an easy way to stay on top of the NFL news agenda, so if you’re enjoying what I’m doing here, please share with your friends and family. Thanks, it means a lot. Right, off we go…
📰 Press Coverage
Minicamp madness
It’s that time of the year once again where players seeking new deals either are, or (more likely) are not attending minicamps across the league.
Kevin Patra takes a look at Miami’s situation here with TE Jonnu Smith and CB Jalen Ramsey the two Dolphin holdouts. Ramsey’s absence is excused according to head coach Mike McDaniel, while Smith will be subject to more than $100,000 in fines if he misses the three-day shakedown.
NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported that two other stars – namely Trey Hendrickson of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt – are also missing their respective minicamps as they seek new deals.
Two-time Pro Bowl star Terry McLaurin is also expected to miss Washington’s minicamp, while Buffalo running back James Cook did attend the Bills’ camp.
Elsewhere, Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons is also attending camp as he seeks a new deal in the region of $200m, while Trevon Diggs also reported for the Cowboys as he continues his recovery from injury.
Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins also reported for camp as his future remains up in the air following a poor end to last season and the naming of Michael Penix Jr as the starter “moving forward” at the end of the last campaign.
Maybe coincidentally, maybe not, “moving forward” was the same phrase Cousins used yesterday when asked about working as Penix Jr’s backup with all trade talks having ceased.
Cincinnati Bengals
First-Round pick Shemar Stewart is still not taking part in practice as his contract dispute rumbles on, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway reports.
Stewart continues to negotiate his rookie deal and the issue seems to be around a training camp roster bonus as reported by Mike Florio, which would see Stewart given a larger chunk of his deal earlier in the season.
The defensive end will still be at minicamp, but will watch from the sidelines until a deal is agreed. But that doesn’t mean he’s keeping quiet.
“I’m 100 per cent right. I’m not asking for nothing y’all have never done before," he said yesterday, referring to the team, according to SI.com. “But in y’all case, y’all just want to win arguments (more) than winning more games.”
One word. YIKES.
Houston Texans
Texans fans can rejoice as QB CJ Stroud was back and throwing once again at minicamp after taking a break through the spring season.
The third-year QB did not throw in any of the Texans’ six OTAs with “general soreness” in his throwing shoulder but “is fine, really OK” now.
Take a look at Get to the Post below for more from the Texans.
Washington Commanders
Luke McCaffrey is the younger brother of Christian – and it’s clear a strong work ethic runs in the family.
Entering his second season in the NFL, the third-round Draft pick knows what he has to do in order to improve on the 36% of offensive snaps he played in his first campaign.
“It’s going to be, ‘Put your nose to the grindstone, put your head down and enjoy the process,’” McCaffrey said. “That’s the only way to success, and that’s the only way I’ve been able to see guys succeed.”
San Francisco 49ers
Things were wrong from the beginning for the 49ers last season, says head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Having lost the previous year’s Super Bowl in overtime to the Chiefs, Shanahan says his team just weren’t ready to mount a serious challenge while dealing with contract disputes and injuries.
A 4-4 start turned into a 6-11 campaign and is likely part of the reason they have been so proactive this off-season in securing deals for Brock Purdy, Fred Warner and George Kittle. And Shanahan says there are no excuses this time around.
“I felt guys weren’t ready to come back,” Shanahan said about the 2024 season, reports AP’s Josh Dubow. “I understood that. But I told them how I won’t really understand it this year.
“Not that that was right or wrong, but I couldn’t comprehend it. We’re off five weeks earlier. We all know how disappointed we are and a lot of us have played a lot of football here. But we’re going to have a team that doesn’t know what we’ve done in the past or how you guys have earned a lot of stuff, we need to show them.”
New England Patriots
Drake Maye says he is making huge strides as he enters his second season in the league – and head coach Mike Vrabel agrees.
Vrabel, returning to New England as head coach after a storied playing career there under Bill Belichick, has been impressed with his young QB’s ability to take the reins.
“It’s a unique position being 22 [years old]”, Vrabel said. “There's a lot of natural leadership qualities. I have to encourage him, continue to encourage him and to put him in those positions to do that so that the players understand that there's a different version of all of us.
“There's one that's maybe off the field, there's one in the meeting room, and then there's a version on the field, which we all have to understand is somewhat different than what it may be off the field."
Maye, meanwhile, is delighted to keep making progress, especially where the language of the game is concerned, adding: “I’m starting to really find a stride. It’s all the same concepts in the league, but it’s different words, different verbiage. It’s mostly the same guys running [routes], but just feeling out how they run it and timing when you get into different concepts. It’s been good.”
LA Chargers
Greg Roman is backing Justin Herbert to go off for a massive season in 2025 and expects him to be in the MVP conversation when votes are being cast.
Speaking to Matt Smith on Chargers Weekly, Roman said: “This guy is a sniper. I think he should be in the MVP discussion every year and I know he was last year. He’s that type of player, an MVP type of player. He doesn’t care about all that, he just wants to go out and win. But as far as his mind, it’s highly impressive.
“His ability to take in a ton of information and disseminate it quickly? A-plus. His ability to throw the ball? A-plus. Toughness? A-plus. This guy is a special person, special player and we’re looking forward to really trying to push the envelope this year.”
🗣️ Play Call
The Touchdown Collective’s verdict
Two people who have been around the NFL for a long time, have done all there is to do in the game and yet somehow still have it all to prove this season?
You guessed it, let’s talk Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin.
Rodgers’ move to the Pittsburgh Steelers was confirmed as expected and he will suit up in the Black and Gold for 2025, a decision he “made for his soul” - and to play for Tomlin.
Rodgers seems to be looking at the big picture, which is exactly what he and Tomlin should be doing.
A combined return of two Super Bowls as starting QB and head coach for two of the most well-respected people in the league over the course of the past 20 years is a short return on both of their undoubted talent.
Myles Garrett might think Rodgers coming to the AFC North is “a good opportunity to put him in the graveyard” but the QB showed glimpses of his greatness in the Big Apple again last season after returning from injury. But he won his single Super Bowl title before landing any of his four MVP titles - and those individual accolades have been all that have come his way since Super Bowl 45.
Now 41 years old and having not won a play-off game since 2020, there is plenty of doubt about his ability to climb the mountain again. But he must believe the Steelers have the weapons to compete at the highest level, even if they did trade George Pickens to Dallas.
Tomlin’s career as head coach has mirrored Rodgers’ in some ways in that he got off to a hot start – reaching two Super Bowls in four years to begin his time with the Steelers, winning one. Ironically, the one he lost was the one Rodgers won back in 2010.
Tomlin, famously, of course, has never had a losing season but has now gone nearly a decade without a win in the post-season. It’s too long for a coach of his talent and speaks to how the game has moved on since his arrival in it.
Neither Rodgers or Tomlin has made it back to the game’s biggest showcase since they faced off against each other but can they do it again – this time together?
Time is certainly running out for Rodgers, who contemplated retirement this off-season but if he is fit, healthy and motivated there are not many QBs in the league who could live with him in terms of talent.
Tomlin will provide him with a defense capable of keeping games close and there is no doubt Rodgers has the ability to win one-score games time and time again.
But I fear their crusade for glory this season will end in yet more bitter disappointment.
Winning close, one-score games can get you to “The Show” – just ask the Kansas City Chiefs. But what happens when you get there? Well, if last year’s Super Bowl is anything to go by, you get exposed by powerhouses simply not content with playing it safe.
Your luck has to run out eventually. As they say, the house always wins. And the NFL house decided long ago that points make prizes.
Bringing Rodgers in is a throw of the dice from ever-the-pragmatist Tomlin but in the crapshoot that is the NFL these days, it’s one that is destined to come up short.
And for two people used to being No.1 in their building, that might be hard to take when the numbers start rolling in come September.
↗ Get to the Post
Nick Chubb will be hoping to run it back this season after he signed from Cleveland and left this message for H-Town fans…
Marvin Harrison is The Incredible Bulk…
Money, money, money…
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
The Indianapolis Colts have confirmed the ownership transition to Jim Irsay's daughters after he died last month.
🤫 Inside Zone
Miami, San Francisco, Philadelphia, LA Rams, Baltimore, Minnesota, Dallas and Atlanta are all potential landing spots for released Green Bay CB Jaire Alexander, according to CBS Sports.
The Bills have signed former Panthers LB Shaq Thompson to a one-year deal, reports CBS’ NFL Insider Jonathan Jones.
The Seattle Seahawks have signed punter Michael Dickson to a record-breaking deal with a four-year, $16.2 million extension. Jacksonville also secured their punter, Logan Cooke, to a four-year extension.
📩 Who am I? I’m Michael Ham, the Daily Star Sunday and Sunday Express Sports Editor – and an avid NFL fan. I have almost 20 years of experience in sports news journalism and I’m the writer behind The Touchdown Collective.
The Touchdown Collective: Your go-to NFL source to
stay one step ahead of the game