🏈 The Touchdown Collective: May 7, 2025
Justin Tucker, Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders all feature to keep you ahead of the game, one play at a time.
In the first edition of The Touchdown Collective there’s the latest on Justin Tucker in Press Coverage, Shedeur Sanders is the topic of Play Call, Xavier Legette chows down in Get to the Post, while Inside Zone has the scoop on new contracts for the 49ers. And it’s all about the Met Gala in Snap!
📰 Press Coverage
Baltimore Ravens
Long-time Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker has been released, the Ravens have announced. Tucker, the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL with a success rate of 89.1%, sits 16th on the all-time points scorers list (topped by Adam Vinatieri’s 2,673) with 1,775.
”Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in a statement.
Tucker is currently the subject of an NFL investigation into allegations of improper conduct during massage therapy sessions, which he has repeatedly denied.
The Ravens drafted Tyler Loop in the sixth round with pick No.186 last month.
LA Chargers
Head coach Jim Harbaugh has set his sights high for QB Justin Herbert, with a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame the target.
Harbaugh told the Rich Eisen podcast he even wakes up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘I got to get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame. Must get Justin Herbert to the Hall of Fame’.
Of course, that would likely require winning a couple of Super Bowls at minimum, which would be good news all around in LA.
Jacksonville Jaguars
General manager James Gladstone says he hopes it becomes obvious why they traded up in the Draft to take dual-threat star Travis Hunter No.2 overall.
The 2025 Draft was Gladstone’s first and, now that the dust has settled, he sat down with John Oehser on the O-Zone podcast to discuss how it went. “Travis Hunter is a rare player, rare person,” Gladstone said. “That combination in some way, shape or form makes it fairly easy. At the same time, I understand the gravity of a decision of that magnitude. It’s not without careful thought, careful consideration and a collective buy-in.”
Dallas Cowboys
Linebacker Shemar James says becoming a Cowboy is nothing but a “dream come true”.
Talking about the moment Brian Schottenheimer’s side traded up to get him, he told Cowboys reporter Patrik Walker: ”Man, that meant a lot to me, because I got the call when the Cardinals [were] on the board. My mom, she kind of yelled out the house, like, ‘The Cowboys just traded up!’
”As soon as I got off the phone, my name popped up on the screen, so I was like, ‘I’m a Dallas Cowboy’. That’s my family’s favourite team and my favourite team since I’ve been a kid. It’s a dream come true and it’s actually special for me.”
New York Giants
Jaxson Dart says he “can’t wait” to learn from his Giants team-mates. The Giants traded back into the first round of the Draft to take Dart at No.25 and the QB heads into a locker room filled with talent with starter Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito already there.
Dan Salomone on Giants.com rounds up Dart’s thoughts on sitting and learning for the first time in his career here.
Las Vegas Raiders
General manager John Spytek says the trades the Silver and Black made on Day Two of the Draft were crucial to their plans. The Raiders took running back Ashton Jeanty in the first round, making him the highest-paid player at the position – bar Saquon Barkley – in the whole league.
Spytek told Eddie Paskal on Raiders.com: “That's why those Day 2 trades, I think, were important for us. There were players on the board that we liked there at 37 and a little bit further down, and we felt like it was a great opportunity to get a few more premium picks and load up a bunch of different position groups with as much competition as possible.”
New York Jets
New wide receiver Arian Smith says Aaron Glenn’s side “see something special” in him after taking the Georgia star in the NFL Draft.
Of his pre-Draft visit he told Jets reporter Jack Bell: “They brought me out there and flew me out and showed me hospitality and stuff like that, and showed me a good time. They told me they see something special in me and if they were to draft me that they know who they were going to get.”
LA Rams
The Rams are preparing for QB Matthew Stafford to stay for “a couple more years” says head coach Sean McVay.
Stafford, 37, has signed a new deal this off-season but McVay wants the Super Bowl LVI winner to hang around for longer, telling SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio, “he can play as long as he wants, but fortunately, I’m hoping it’s a couple more years”. NFL insider Ian Rapoport says Stafford will earn $44m this season with $4m already paid and the rest fully guaranteed.
Buffalo Bills
Free agent speedster Elijah Moore has joined the Buffalo Bills on a one-year deal, saying he is “excited to be in this opportunity” after moving on from Cleveland. Moore posted on X last week that a deal had been done, but the move was made official on Monday.
🗣️ Play Call
The Touchdown Collective’s verdict
There’s only one place to start in our very first post, the NFL Draft.
And, of course, there’s only one place to start in the Draft – and that’s Shedeur Sanders.
The Colorado quarterback was eventually taken in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns after an unprecedented fall in his stock. Once touted as a high first-round pick (which obviously was also the feeling in the Sanders camp), seeing him taken at pick No.144 was a fall not many saw coming.
So much so, that there has been unfounded rumours of alleged ‘collusion’ between NFL owners to not draft Sanders early on to try to bring him down a peg or two. Let’s get this out of the way right now. Collusion? Not a chance. Consensus? Absolutely.
There is no chance all 32 owners, head coaches and anybody else in the NFL got together and all intentionally refused to pick a player in order to make a point. Why would they?
The NFL is, first and foremost, about competition. If a team can make a move to get a leg up on their rivals, then of course they will. Thinking anything else is ludicrous. The Browns even drafted another QB before the son of the legendary Deion, which tells you all you need to know about where they had him in terms of their draft board. Browns executive vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry said the cost of acquiring Sanders – who has been given the No.12 jersey – was “pretty light” in the end and that they believed he was available at a point where he can “outproduce” his draft spot and was “mispriced”. By that point, of course, the same could be said about a mountain of players.
Dropping a little further than expected happens sometimes, including the greats (Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, anybody?).
But did the people responsible at every level of every club actively make a decision to hurt a young player’s future while holding themselves back at the same time? No. Simple as that. So let the noise stop, let Sanders learn his craft in the NFL and hopefully one day become the player some believed he already was.
↗ Get to the Post
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette clearly enjoyed himself attending the Kentucky Derby as ‘NFL correspondent’…
While it’s safe to say New York Giants defensive end Abdul Carter has taken quickly to the culture in the Big Apple…
And now that the 2025 season isn’t too far away, it might be time to make a note of these 10 games when the schedule is announced next Wednesday…
Washington will host the 2027 NFL Draft, with commissioner Roger Goodell saying the event will be “an unforgettable experience as we celebrate the next generation of NFL stars”.
🤫 Inside Zone
Green Bay have signed former first-round Draft pick Isaiah Simmons. The linebacker joins after two seasons with the New York Giants and three with Arizona.
Seattle have signed 17 undrafted rookie free agents following the Draft, reports Seahawks senior reporter John Boyle.
The 49ers have signed tight end Ross Dwelley to a one-year deal, rejoining them after a season with the Atlanta Falcons. That comes just days after securing the services of All-Pro TE George Kittle to a new four-year deal which runs to the end of 2029. Kittle, meanwhile, told NBC’s Jennifer Lee Chan that a lack of off-season drama is “good for our team chemistry”.
Dalton Wasserman of PFF has 22 rookies as virtual locks to be NFL starters in Week One of the 2025 season. You can take a look at those, plus players on the cusp and some in a battle to do so here.
Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell, who tore his ACL and MCL along with dislocating his kneecap last season, is in a “really good spot” with his rehab, coach DeMeco Ryans told Aaron Wilson of KPRC.
📸 Snap!
The Met Gala took place in New York earlier this week, so feast your eyes on wide receiver Stefon Diggs of the New England Patriots sporting this fancy number.
📩 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. Write to me using this form with your thoughts on anything in this newsletter, things you’d like to see more of, or your view on anything NFL.
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