What are the Key Storylines Entering 2025 NFL Training Camp?

It's officially camp season in the NFL at long last, and that means we're ever closer to the start of the 2025 NFL season! It's been another newsworthy offseason in the league, with contract news and player movement aplenty, but that doesn't mean there still isn't anything significant lingering into the start of camps for some teams, some of which have already begun. Although I could definitely bring up several dozen more topics, here are a few central storylines that I'm interested in as teams start to get guys out of the field for the first time since the end of minicamp.

The Future for Terry McLaurin

Terry McLaurin, a career Washington Commander, has had what is admittedly a quieter contract dispute than what's become the norm these days in the NFL. The five-time 1000-yard pass catcher is in the last year of his deal, which only features 2.8 million dollars in guaranteed salary, and at 29, wants a bump in pay and some long-term assurances. Not much traction here in this situation, and the only public comments we've gotten out of McLaurin were on a radio spot some weeks ago, where he had some eye-opening quotes, but these two stuck out to me.

"I do want to play here and continue to be part of what is being built, but you also want to feel valued by ownership. I think there is a disconnect between the value I bring to the table and how it applies to the market." - via 106.7 The Fan

"If they don't feel I'm part of their future, that's fine, just tell me that. I'm an adult and can handle hard truths." - via 106.7 The Fan

Now with camp here for the Commanders, there's still no extension, but there was also an interesting piece dropped yesterday by Henry McKenna of Fox Sports, who confirmed from a McLaurin camp source what has been widely reported for a bit now, in that there's been no contract talk between the two sides for weeks, but more importantly, Terry is willingly to take whatever steps necessary to get a new long term deal, just not in a way that "breaks the team apart."

Just my two cents, I'd have a hard time agreeing with the Commanders, who have a real shot to win it all for these next few years and with plenty of cap space to play with for down the road, not wanting to give a standup career player like McLaurin a pay bump, realistically in the range of what DK Metcalf just got in Pittsburgh (30 million per). That'd be a pretty hard sell to fans. There's not a single guy in that receiver room who could realistically give you his level of production this year and beyond, and better yet, you're not getting a "good" return for him in a trade given the circumstances. Feels like a no-brainer to extend him, but then again, we're already this far.

The Bengals Conundrum

Not only have the Bengals failed to give last year's No. 1 sack getter across the entire league, Trey Hendrickson, but he's now effectively gone off the grid in Florida as of Tuesday, with Ian Rappaport stating that guaranteed money was a big reason why he wasn't at the opening day of Cincy's camp. Rap's coffee buddy, Jordan Schultz, also added that "both sides are dug in and frustrated," and there's no clear path to any sort of resolution here.

Given that Hendrickson has put up at least 13.5 sacks in four of his last five seasons, and three premier edge rushers in the form of Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, and T.J. Watt all got big deals this offseason as well, it's hard not to side with the player in this case. Never mind the fact that the Bengals are historically cheap. Looking at the practical guarantees in each of those three deals, each guy got 77.25%, 85.92% and 87.8% of their total deals guaranteed, respectively. With all of this said, Hendrickson's assertion that the guarantees being presented to his people at the negotiating table are atrocious is probably spot on.

Of course, the Bengals managed to screw up so bad (outside of the WR extensions) this offseason that their built-in Hendrickson insurance policy, Shemar Stewart, is also not with the team and dug in over his contract as well...yes, still. Consider the source here, but according to Bengals owner Mike Brown on Monday, things are currently held up with the rookie from A&M over his guarantees being voided in the event of something non-football related (i.e., arrested, off-field conduct issue, etc.). If this is accurate, I can at least partially understand why the Bengals are dug in. However, their defense was bad overall last year, and they are playing with napalm if neither of these guys is out there in Week 1.

Wilkins Injury Looms Large for the Raiders

IDL Christian Wilkins was one of the most high-profile free agent pickups in 2024, leaving South Beach for Sin City to the tune of $110,000,000. His first year did not go according to plan, missing the Raiders' final 12 games with a Jones fracture in his left foot. The expectation is that Wilkins would've been ready for the offseason program back in the spring; however, not only did he miss all of OTAs and minicamp, but he was also put on PUP as the Raiders officially begin camp.

Now, for whatever it may be worth, there was a video taken just a matter of days ago with Wilkins, not seen in any boot, playing around in the Raiders facility. That being a precursor to him not being on the PUP list for all that long would be gigantic, because this situation lingering into the season would be borderline catastrophic for the Silver and Black. On that defensive front, Maxx Crosby is Maxx Crosby, but having Wilkins as well as Malcolm Koonce, who missed all of last year with an injury right before Week 1, both as question marks on a defense that doesn't tout a ton of firepower behind them, would be brutal.

To put things into context, despite finishing with 38 sacks on the year, the Raiders' pressure rate of 31.5% was tied for the ninth-worst in the NFL, playing without Koonce for the entire season and Wilkins for 12 games. Additionally, they are now without two of their top five sack getters from a year ago, Robert Spillane and K'Lavon Chaisson, who both now reside with the New England Patriots. The sooner Vegas can get both of those two defenders, specifically Wilkins, up to speed, the better off they will be. It'd be hard to overstate how significant it'd be for them not to have the ex-Miami Dolphin for an extended period; a game-changing interior talent when he's firing on all cylinders.

Jerry Jones is Saying Things Again

There aren't many greater "moments" in the NFL these days than Jerry Jones talking in front of a microphone. Every word can be funnier than the last in the right setting, and that rings especially true in recent years when he's asked or indirectly buts in about players that he has to pay to play for his own team. Quite frankly, there's nothing like it, and that's great for me...terrible if you're a Cowboys fan, but more importantly, great for me. This week, Ol' Jerry, unprompted, asked by not a single soul, jumped in on a question asked to Cowboys' head coach Brian Schottenheimer regarding Micah Parsons and the possibility of him holding out/in:

"Just because we sign him [it] doesn't mean we're gonna have him. [Micah] missed six games last year, seriously!!! (A lie for the record, he only missed four.) I remember signing a player to be the highest paid at the position in the league, and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year — Dak Prescott. So, there's a lot of things you can think bout, just as the player does, when you're thinking about committing and guaranteeing money.”

At this point, you must be thinking there's no way this gets better. WRONG, it does. Not only did he take a shot at his top pass rusher unprompted, he then proceeded to bury cornerback Trevon Diggs and lineman Terence Steele, going as far as saying he overpaid both without actually saying it, then smiled eerily to a crowd of Cowboys reporters before everyone laughed as nervously as humanly possible, before Stephen Jones had to scramble to get his dad to shut up.

Also in this presser, Jones brought up Diggs' fine for not rehabbing and being with the team in the offseason, before lamenting a guy who famously lost his cool on a Cowboys beat reporter out in San Francisco for not being enough of a leader. Nowhere else in sports are you getting this level of comedic value every year at an elite clip. Truly a multi-generational run since 1996.

As for Parsons, this is ending one way and one way only: Ol' Jerry gets played like a fiddle, this gets drawn out to Week 1, and Parsons gets a market-resetting deal that could've been worth notably less had the Jones family been smart and been proactive about this whole situation. But who knows, maybe Jerry has a curveball ready to go for the masses.

Josh Simmons Ahead of Schedule?

The defending AFC Champs got on the field in front of season ticket holders today, and oh boy, did they see a massive development on the Chiefs' offensive line. Not only was first-rounder Josh Simmons out there less than 10 months after he tore his patellar tendon, he was getting first-team reps at left tackle as well. Hard to put into words how insane that is. Patriots left guard Cole Strange tore his patellar tendon in December of 2023 (ironically enough, against these Chiefs) and didn't take a snap for close to a full calendar year, and Simmons, barring any setback, feels set to make Week 1 with plenty of time to spare—superhuman stuff from the Ohio State product.

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