With training camps underway, the NFL news cycle is spinning with clips of spectacular catches in seven-on-seven drills, detailed passing stats for every quarterback, and predictably overblown interpretations of every post-practice quote. Because I’m sure you’re just as overstimulated as we are in trying to keep pace with the start of the football season, let’s whip around the league, check in on some of the biggest panic-inducing headlines, and gauge just how concerned teams (and their fans) should be. We’re ranking on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 meaning I’m ready to throw in the towel on specific teams and players before we even get to Week 1.
Micah Parsons and the Same Old Cowboys
We’ve seen this movie before. Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons is in the final year of his rookie contract and is soon likely to become the league’s highest-paid non-quarterback. Of course, Jerry Jones is dragging his feet in getting a deal done with his best defensive player, citing Parsons’s injuries in 2024 as a reason to consider not paying him. And in response to fans chanting their support of Parsons at training camp recently, Jones’s son Stephen, the team’s executive vice president, said this: “It doesn’t change anything. We want to pay Micah too. He’s gotta want to be paid.”
Parsons hasn’t flinched or shied away from any of the Jones family’s bluster, seemingly shrugging off the whole ordeal. “At the end of the day, they sign the checks,” Parsons said at the start of training camp. “I’ve been pretty consistent. If they don’t want me here, I’ll go about my business.” This is yet another protracted he-said, they-said situation disguised as a contract negotiation, which will lead to an obvious end: Parsons being paid exactly what he wants.
If there’s any doubt, let’s use recent history to set the stage for what’s to come. In 2019, Ezekiel Elliott held out for all of training camp until Dallas gave him a six-year, $90 million extension in early September. Last August, the Cowboys waited so long to extend CeeDee Lamb’s contract that the team had to nearly match the record deal the Vikings gave Justin Jefferson earlier in training camp. And the Joneses have twice had their asses handed to them in negotiations with Dak Prescott, first in 2021 after the quarterback masterfully leveraged the franchise tag into a contract with no-tag and no-trade clauses, and again last year, when he became the league’s highest-paid player hours before suiting up for Week 1. This franchise may keep its best players, but it certainly doesn’t dictate the terms.
There is not a big range of outcomes here for the Cowboys and Parsons. They won’t trade him, and Dallas wouldn’t dare let him play out the last season on this deal and risk negotiating against the open market, so we can feel sure that this will get done before September 4, when the Cowboys play the Eagles in the season opener. The only question is how much money Parsons will get. Pass rushing peers Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt have pushed the top of the market over $40 million per year, and now the Cowboys essentially have no choice but to set the next high-water mark.
It’s like watching Dallas in the postseason: We’ve seen all these plays before. Congrats in advance on the record-setting deal, Mr. Parsons.
Panic level for the deal getting done: 1
Panic level for Jerry Jones sticking his foot in his mouth again before this is all over: The scale broke.
The Young Quarterbacks
This is a critical time in the career development of a number of young quarterbacks, so with a full week of practices in the books, let’s evaluate what we’ve heard and seen thus far out of Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Minnesota.
In Cleveland, a hamstring injury to veteran (and presumed backup) quarterback Kenny Pickett has cleared the way for rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel to compete for the second-string spot. Gabriel has spent the majority of his time with the second unit and Sanders with the third-stringers, according to Akron Beacon Journal. The reports out of camp have been pretty nondescript (an accurate representation of the talent in the room), but Sanders has received some credit for operating the offense effectively in team and seven-on-seven drills. Once Pickett is back, we’ll get more clarity about Sanders’s (and Gabriel’s) chances of making the 53-man roster, as head coach Kevin Stefanski could start reducing the reps for the rookies in order to focus on the passers who are more likely to play come September.
I’d give anything to know how coaches and team officials are treating Sanders behind the scenes—and how the decision-makers talk about the rookie quarterback behind closed doors. Sanders was the story of the 2025 NFL draft, and landing in Cleveland—a franchise with a fraught quarterback history—amid this very weird quarterback competition only increases the scrutiny of him in training camp. Earlier this week, team owner Jimmy Haslam made sure to point out that selecting Sanders was general manager Andrew Berry’s decision: a convenient bit of preemptive deflection from the top of the organization in case this whole thing doesn’t work out.
Panic level for Sanders’s (and Gabriel’s) roster chances if Pickett isn’t traded or cut: full-on 5
In Indianapolis, quarterback Anthony Richardson is finally healthy and a full participant in the competition with Daniel Jones for the starting gig. Richardson reportedly had a string of strong practices last weekend. While that probably bodes well for his chances to win the job, I’m not sure if simply beating out Jones will tell us anything about how much Richardson has actually improved, if at all.
When you watch clips of Richardson speaking with reporters, it seems apparent that he’s been working hard on his fitness, and he looks more svelte now than I remember him being in the first two years of his career. If slimming down helps him better handle the rigors of an NFL season and proves to the team that he’s serious about his conditioning, that removes the two biggest question marks outside of whether he can be a more accurate passer. If we don’t hear about him lighting up his defense in practice more regularly, though, it’ll be impossible to lend him or the Colts any more optimism.
Panic level if Shane Steichen doesn’t name a starter soon: 4-plus
For much of the offseason in Chicago, there’s been a hope bordering on expectation that new head coach Ben Johnson will bring instant improvement for second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.
We’ve seen the opposite effect through the first portion of training camp. Williams has been turning the ball over, missing throws, and struggling to get a hold on the new language of Johnson’s offense. Johnson has gone out of his way to praise Williams’s work ethic and his growing comfort in the offense, but it hasn’t manifested itself on the field. Because of how rocky last season was for Williams, it’ll be hard to keep worries at bay this preseason unless the offense turns a sharp corner and starts picking its defense apart. I’m still optimistic that Williams will figure it out with Johnson’s help, but I’m not delusional enough to pretend that turnovers and choppiness in practice aren’t something to be concerned about.
Panic level for Williams’s turnovers: hard 3
In Minnesota, J.J. McCarthy missed his entire rookie season while recovering from knee surgery, which totally halted his development. There was no way to properly set expectations for McCarthy, who came into this training camp as the Vikings’ starter. Star receiver Justin Jefferson was quick to temper any thoughts that McCarthy could replicate what we saw from the talented but flawed Sam Darnold a season ago. “You have to have that patience,” Jefferson said after last Friday’s practice. “You’re not really expecting him to have the same mindset as a veteran.”
McCarthy hasn’t had any abject disaster days in camp thus far, but he’s had some disappointing showings, particularly in seven-on-seven periods. If you’re a Vikings fan looking for a silver lining here, there are two. One, Brian Flores’s defense might be seriously good. And two, McCarthy has been protecting the ball well in practice. Either way, I’m taking it easy on the de facto rookie and waiting for preseason game action before setting expectations for him in Minnesota’s dynamic offense.
Panic level for McCarthy’s long onboarding process: definite 1
Terry McLaurin’s Hold-In
Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin ended his holdout at the top of this week, reporting to camp and hitting pause on his running tab of fines that had grown to $200,000 for the four days he had held out in July. However, he’s currently on the physically unable to perform list, nursing a reported ankle injury.
McLaurin, who will turn 30 in September, is on the final year of his contract and looking to be paid commensurate with his position. His peers in terms of age and productivity are Mike Evans, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, and Courtland Sutton. According to Over the Cap, three of these four receivers have contracts that include $13 million or more in guarantees per season and an average annual value of $20 million or more. While it’s hard to imagine the Commanders tacking on three or more years to McLaurin’s next deal, a fair contract would probably land him around $45 million over the next two years with $30 million in guarantees. That would give McLaurin comparable money to his peers and give the team enough flexibility to reset its receiver room before the time comes to pay big money to young quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Anytime we’re dealing with a contract dispute at the start of training camp, it pays to know the history of the people involved. Second-year general manager Adam Peters comes from San Francisco, and the 49ers have never been in a hurry to finish a negotiation. Team owner Josh Harris has proved he’s not afraid of paying veterans, with several players over 30 on this roster. McLaurin has also never been one to stir up drama or draw extra attention to himself, and I doubt he’ll publicly make a big deal of these negotiations. This is a man who quietly produced 900-yard receiving seasons with Taylor Heinicke and Sam Howell and Case Keenum as his quarterbacks and never made a fuss about the franchise’s direction. There’s no way this ends in a trade, and I think this franchise knows that the vibes are too strong to mess with the happiest time to be a Commanders fan in decades.
Panic level: 1 (nobody needs to fret here)
Matthew Stafford
The Rams’ blowout of Minnesota in the wild-card round and their near comeback over Philadelphia last postseason made plenty of people forget the rocky moments of the regular season. I remember this offense sputtering so badly down the stretch that quarterback Matthew Stafford needed a rest week before the playoffs to get himself back in rhythm.
Now, just a week into training camp, Stafford has yet to practice and is “week to week” with back soreness, according to head coach Sean McVay. McVay has also described Stafford’s recovery timeline as “fluid,” leaving Jimmy Garoppolo as the quarterback handling the first-team reps for the time being. Surely the Rams would like Stafford to get some practice time with new receiver Davante Adams before Week 1.
Stafford took quite a beating for his first decade-plus in the NFL, hanging in the pocket and taking big hits in order to push the ball downfield. Even though the Rams haven’t given a detailed diagnosis of what Stafford’s dealing with, we know that he broke bones in his back earlier in his career, and he missed time in 2022 due to a contusion in his spinal cord. Even without this injury history, it’s fair to assume that the general wear and tear of a 16-year career makes it tough to shake off any back soreness.
I would not be surprised if we see Los Angeles take things as slow as possible with Stafford in camp. It will be interesting to see whether McVay tweaks the offense when Stafford returns to better protect the quarterback. Like seemingly everyone else, I believe Los Angeles can beat anyone when Stafford is in a groove; I’m just not sold on his body’s ability to get him there.
Panic level: 3 and rising, as to honor De La Soul
The Chiefs Receivers
The Chiefs’ wide receiver room might have the lowest average BMI of any in the NFL, with five players on the camp depth chart weighing under 190 pounds. Lighter often means faster at that position, but it comes at the risk of durability, and Tuesday’s practice was a subtle reminder of how fraught (if not outright fragile) Kansas City’s pass catching group can be. Receivers Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy exited practice with an ankle and head injury, respectively.
Worthy eventually returned to action, but on Wednesday, the team announced that he’s been placed in the concussion protocol. Head coach Andy Reid wasn’t overly concerned about Brown’s recovery timeline, but the lack of depth in Kansas City’s offense will be magnified if any of its starting receivers have to miss practice time. Brown was out for months in 2024 while recovering from a chest injury, and he’s missed multiple games in each of the past three years. Worthy made it through his entire rookie season, but he needs time to carve out a legitimate role as a deep threat in this offense—and it’s possible that he’ll simply never become the DeSean Jackson archetype, no matter how productive the stats look.
While that pair gets back on the mend, it’s hard not to think about Rashee Rice’s promising rookie campaign in 2023 and all that’s stood in the way of his potential greatness since. Rice has recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him for most of last season and has been a full practice participant in camp thus far. But he awaits a near-certain multi-game suspension after he pleaded guilty to two felony counts related to the multicar crash he was involved in last year. It’s unclear when the NFL will issue its discipline and when Rice will serve his suspension, but the expectation is that he will miss time this season. When he is on the field, however, the Chiefs will need Rice to fill the catch-and-run role that Travis Kelce can’t handle consistently anymore, a crucial job to get the Kansas City passing game out of first gear.
While none of these situations spell doom for Kansas City’s 2025 outlook yet, all it takes is a brief glance at the roster to see that depth is a major issue for this receiving corps. While another dominant offensive season looms as long as Patrick Mahomes is under center, the Chiefs have little margin for error at receiver—especially as Mahomes is focusing on rediscovering an explosive downfield passing game.
Panic level for the passing game: 2, but never subsiding
