Former journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played for the Dolphins, Jets, Bills, Texans, Titans and about half the league, was one of my favorite postgame interviews. He was always smart, funny and willing to share a story or two. So when I saw him asking for help on social media recently, I felt a professional obligation to dig in.
His question? The same one plenty of Patriots fans (and even Julian Edelman) have been asking: What’s up with TreVeyon Henderson’s teeny tiny nameplate? The poor letters look like they’re fighting for elbow room back there.
TreVeyon Henderson (32) has a nameplate that stands out. (Doug Murray / AP)
I was told Henderson prefers a jersey cut in which the stripes sit tight against the nameplate. To keep those stripes visible, the equipment staff has to squeeze the lettering, which is why his name looks bite-sized. Stefon Diggs is the only other Patriots player who wears that specific style of jersey, but his shorter last name means the typography isn’t an issue.
Mystery solved, Fitzy.
Now, here’s what I’m hearing around the league on:
17 days ‘til the trade deadline
Tennessee’s man in the mirror
Early coaching candidates
Tampa Bay’s swashbuckling savior
Rashee Rice’s return
Bye-bye BYE
Please Please Pees
Is the Niners’ nightmare ending?
Get your hands up (on special teams)
The latest trade deadline chatter
If it feels like NFL trade deadline season gets busier every year, with more names and more buzz, you’re not imagining it. A decade ago, just four trades were executed in October and November. Last week alone, three deals saw five players switch teams, including Joe Flacco and Odafe Oweh.
But don’t expect fireworks this time around.
Despite all the chatter and speculation, several league sources told me this week they don’t anticipate a frantic finish leading up to the Nov. 4 deadline.
“There are plenty of teams with needs,” one coach said. “Just not enough willing to give up good players.”
Many teams are still trying to figure out where they stand. The biggest challenge, as one high-ranking league source explained: “It’s easy to lie to yourself when there isn’t a clear understanding of who is good and who is bad in the league. Decision-makers have to be as honest as possible. Can we really win the Super Bowl this year? If not, let’s get ahead here and move players. It’s not an easy conversation. Even though it’s been pushed back, the trade deadline is still too early.”
Early or not, it’s coming.
While a lot can happen in 17 days, league and team sources have shared the following insights:
Bengals All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson is drawing attention around the league, with the 49ers showing the most interest. Cincinnati isn’t shopping him, and after the Bengals’ Thursday night win, most do not expect him to get moved.
The Dolphins are getting lots of calls on pass rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips.
The Titans are open for business on every player but QB Cam Ward and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. They are looking to stockpile future picks.
The Jets are already getting calls on defensive end Jermaine Johnson and running back Breece Hall. They are making calls looking for a kick returner.
The Eagles are in search of help at edge rusher and cornerback. They have received calls on A.J. Brown, and teams are being told, “We aren’t moving him now.”
Despite Texans GM Nick Caserio’s reputation for aggressively making trades, teams haven’t received calls from Houston looking to add — at least not yet.
The Chargers are exploring running back and offensive line depth.
The Chiefs are shopping for defensive linemen — but not running backs.
Detroit is making calls, looking for an edge rusher.
The Colts are looking to bolster their defense, specifically at cornerback.
The Raiders are open to moving receiver Jakobi Meyers, while making calls on defensive linemen and corners.
The Saints have been trying to work out a long-term contract for receiver Chris Olave despite his name being attached to teams looking for pass catchers.
The Jaguars are expected to get involved in some trades. They are searching for a defensive player.
The Cowboys have let the league know they are open for business. They are looking for defensive help, but one GM argued, “They actually should go get a running back.”
The Patriots are not making calls for a running back, but they have talked to teams about pass rushers. They’re fielding calls on several of their own players as well.
Despite the loss of Malik Nabers, the Giants aren’t aggressively working the phones to add talent at receiver right now.
Some of these teams might wind up doing nothing, of course, but there are enough possibilities to make for a fascinating two weeks.
Tennessee Tough
Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk won’t have to worry about former head coach Mike Vrabel embarrassing his successor when he returns to Nashville this Sunday with his first-place Patriots. Win or lose, Tennessee is in the middle of an autopsy while trying to find a pulse.
The franchise, now led by new general manager Mike Borgonzi and president of football operations Chad Brinker, is still trying to find its footing after a wild stretch of turnover. First, GM Ran Carthon was fired, just two seasons after Jon Robinson was sacked. Then came Brian Callahan’s dismissal this week following an abysmal start. When the Titans fired Callahan, they asked his father, offensive line coach Bill Callahan, to stay on. I’m told by a team staffer, “He packed his s— up and said, ‘No thanks.’”
Both Callahans are gone now.
It’s fitting that Brian Callahan won’t be on the sideline for this one — because it was never really about him versus Vrabel. It’s unfair to even compare the two. This game isn’t Vrabel versus the Titans, either. It’s a chance for Tennessee’s decision-makers to look across the field and see something that used to be a mess now reshaped into a competent operation.
Robert Kraft has his quarterback. He just needed the right man to lead his organization after Bill Belichick’s flameout and the Jerod Mayo disaster.
Vrabel was once Tennessee Tough. Now he’s returning as New England’s hero. Even though he may be downplaying it, Patriots players want to make a statement for their coach to show they have his back.
Mike Vrabel has the Patriots competing for the playoffs as he heads back to Tennessee. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Adams Strunk hired Callahan because many in the building believed he was everything Vrabel wasn’t — quieter, softer, more collaborative. She’d grown tired of Vrabel’s act, even if she respected his coaching chops. Vrabel is loud, direct and unapologetically himself. He’s not for everyone. But he never lost his locker room.
Under Vrabel, the Titans reached an AFC Championship Game, consistently overachieved and, most importantly, had an identity.
And if there’s one thing Tennessee should’ve learned from his tenure, it’s this: Nobody ever questioned who the Titans were when Mike Vrabel was their leader.
Since they fired him, that’s all anyone wants to know.
Who are the Titans now?
(For more on QB Cam Ward, my colleague Mike Silver found out what life has been like for the No. 1 overall pick.)
About that coaching vacancy …
While the Titans were the first team to fire their coach, they will almost certainly not be the last. I expect Tennessee’s early list of candidates to include:
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy
Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo
Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith
Here are some other names I’ll be keeping my eye on if and when other openings arise:
Chargers DC Jesse Minter
Jaguars DC Anthony Campanile
Rams DC Chris Shula
Vikings DC Brian Flores
Broncos DC Vance Joseph
Packers DC Jeff Hafley
Bills OC Joe Brady
49ers DC Robert Saleh
The Buccaneers’ bet
Baker Mayfield, an early MVP front-runner, has one year remaining on his contract after 2025. And I’m told any extension talks will happen after the season, giving Mayfield space to focus on his third year in Tampa and the Bucs time to evaluate what’s next.
You don’t need to be a Super Bowl-winning GM like Jason Licht to now know Baker Mayfield is a guy. But it was less obvious two years ago.
Back in 2023, the story goes, both Licht and head coach Todd Bowles made the move because they believed Mayfield had the highest ceiling of the quarterbacks available, who also included Jimmy Garoppolo, Sam Darnold and Derek Carr. Bowles was adamant that Mayfield — tough and resilient — was the type of quarterback they needed. They had connected years earlier when Bowles was with the Jets, scouting quarterbacks for that upcoming draft.
Licht still laughs thinking about the night the Bucs agreed to terms with Mayfield after Tom Brady retired. “We wanted a tougher team,” he told me. “And holy s—, did that happen. He’s still the last quarterback to win a playoff game for the Browns — and he was pretty damn close to winning two. The day we signed him, I went to my favorite dive bar to get wings. I called him from there. Looking back, it feels like the perfect setting — because I’ve always said he’s a man of the people, not about flash.”
Leave the flash to Licht, one of the best GMs in football and the guy who bet on Baker when most of the league had already folded.
Shuffling in the Kingdom
All September long, the Chiefs said the same thing over and over again: “We’ll be fine.”
Turns out, they were right.
Now 3-3 after an 0-2 start, Kansas City welcomes the Raiders to Arrowhead this weekend with a major boost: the return of Rashee Rice. After serving a six-game suspension, the team’s No. 1 receiver is back and expected to have a full workload. The Chiefs are sky-high on Rice, with one team source calling him “a top-10 wideout in this league.”
He’ll rejoin second-year receiver Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown, a trio we’ve never seen together in the regular season.
Kansas City’s talented trio of wideouts, including Hollywood Brown (left) and Rashee Rice, has never played together in the regular season. (Denny Medley / Imagn Images)
But not everything is perfect in KC. The Chiefs will again be without rookie left tackle Josh Simmons. After missing last week’s win over Detroit due to what the team described as a “family situation,” Simmons remains away for personal reasons, per sources.
Simmons, the No. 32 overall pick, returned home to California last week and has yet to rejoin the team. There’s no timetable for his return, but I’m told the Chiefs are handling the situation with patience and perspective.
Denver details
Sean Payton’s Broncos are set to make a little history, becoming the first team ever to take the field in the Mountain or Pacific time zone one week after playing in London.
Payton and GM George Paton actually asked the league not to give them a bye after the trip overseas, at a point when most teams want the rest. The Broncos, who returned late Sunday night after beating the Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, preferred a break later in the year, and they’ll get it in Week 12.
Before making the request, Payton had his analytics staff do some digging. Their research found that teams returning from London and playing at home the following week are 12-4 all-time. Payton liked those odds.
Meantime, the visiting Giants haven’t won back-to-back games since 2023. They’ve lost eight straight on the road. Here’s hoping Sunday’s matchup looks a little more like the last time Brian Daboll and Vance Joseph went head-to-head (the high-scoring Hail Murray game) and a little less like what we all witnessed in London last week.
Baltimore’s missing Pees
The Ravens are searching for answers.
One league executive told me bluntly: “Baltimore needs to bring back Dean Pees.” The 76-year-old defensive mastermind came out of retirement last season to steady the ship, and even Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin credited Pees for helping turn Baltimore’s defense around.
Now, 33-year-old Zach Orr, the Ravens’ second-year coordinator, is tasked with reshaping a unit that ranks in the bottom quarter of the league across major defensive categories.
As one opposing head coach explained, “The Ravens have built their defensive reputation on stopping the run, especially out of their signature split-safety looks. But this season, that calling card has faded. Baltimore’s struggled to consistently control the ground game, forcing them to commit more bodies to the box and lean on run pressures. They haven’t been able to take anything away, and opposing offenses are staying balanced against them.”
There was progress last week. The Ravens are coming off their best defensive performance of the season, holding the Rams to just 17 points and 241 total yards. Maybe that’s something they can build on heading into their bye.
Still, there’s another glaring problem — Baltimore’s turnover margin. The Ravens sit at minus-8 over the last four weeks, the worst mark in the league. The offense hasn’t done enough to help a defense still finding its footing.
Pees can’t fix it all and may still be sharing his opinions and thoughts with team leaders, but getting him back couldn’t hurt.
Baltimore’s bye comes at a key time, as the team is hopeful to have Lamar Jackson and Roquan Smith back to face the Bears in Week 8.
Help (finally) on the way in the Bay
The 49ers are holding on for dear life, but some help is finally on the way.
George Kittle is back. The All-Pro tight end was activated off IR and is expected to play against Atlanta after missing a month healing from a fully torn hamstring suffered in Week 1. Coaches are hopeful Kittle’s return can stabilize a passing game that’s been operating on fumes without multiple starters.
Mac Jones will make his fifth start of the season at quarterback Sunday night with Brock Purdy still battling turf toe. Inside the building, Jones has earned respect for how quickly he’s picked up Kyle Shanahan’s offense — and for keeping things afloat despite all the injuries around him.
The bad news: The list of 49ers not coming back keeps growing. Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are both done for the year, while receivers Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall remain sidelined for another week. The 49ers expect Purdy and Pearsall to be ready in Week 8.
The 49ers are hanging by a thread, but with Kittle back and Jones settling in, they might just have enough to stay in the fight a little longer.
A block party in full swing
Javon Kinlaw (99) and Daron Payne of the Washington Commanders got in on the NFL’s block party in Week 6. (Peter Casey / Imagn Images)
While it’s hard to keep up with my group chats, I can tell you the No. 1 question my football-loving friends keep asking: “Why are there so many blocked kicks this season?”
Special teams aren’t supposed to be sexy, but they’re changing games. The 16 blocked kicks through the first four weeks of 2025 were the second most to that point of any season since at least 1991, trailing just 2014.
So what’s behind the boom?
I asked around, and one assistant coach told me, “Kickers are trying to drive the ball farther than ever. But they’re sacrificing height to get that distance. That lower trajectory? It’s letting rushers get a hand/finger on it.”
A special teams coach said, “In a league where every edge matters, the kicking game has become an arms race.”
And the personnel choices reflect it. Just look at Philly, with Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter crashing through the line like freight trains to block a potential game-winner against the Rams in Week 3. Davis scooped it up and took it to the house.
It’s not just the Eagles. Around the league, coaches are rolling out starters, big bodies and quick-twitch pass rushers in spots that used to belong to special-teamers and backups.
So if your group chat is blowing up about blocked kicks, just know, the party isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Week 6 is over. Week 7 is here. Six. Seven. Six. Seven. (Ask your kids.)