🐺 Wolf Sports Weekly

2025 NFL Kickoff!

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Wolf Sports
September 02, 2025

🥳 We made it. The 2025 NFL season kicks off this Thursday night! There’ll be football on your screens every Sunday from now until February 2026.

Before getting into the biggest news of last week, it’s time to lock in Super Bowl LX picks. We’ll have a full season preview on wolfsports.com for Thursday, but our prediction for the Big Game is…

Lions over Ravens
Detroit has built a juggernaut of a roster, while the Ravens lit it up in 2024 and might be ready to take another step this postseason behind the duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Of course, there are plenty of worthy picks to win it all.

But can the Chiefs become just the second team in history to make four consecutive Super Bowls? Similarly, getting back to the Super Bowl alone is difficult—can the Eagles do it twice in a row? Do the Bills have enough to finally make a key stop on defense and advance to the Big Game? Does a team like the Chargers or Broncos make a push?

Ultimately, the Lions and Ravens each have elite rosters led by experienced QBs. This would certainly feel like a “fresh” matchup that many NFL fans would enjoy watching. We’ll say the secondary of the Lions becomes shutdown, helping the front be able to stuff the run and get after passers—including in an epic win over Baltimore.

Super Bowl LX Preseason Pick Poll

Do you think we'll see one of the Chiefs, Eagles, or 49ers back in the Super Bowl again? Or do we get a fresher matchup from both conferences?

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🧀 Packers get Parsons

The Packers pulled off a massive move, acquiring star defender Micah Parsons from the Cowboys for two first-round picks and DT Kenny Clark.

  • The Packers signed Parsons to a four-year extension worth $47 million per year, blowing away the NFL record salary for a non-QB.

  • It seems this deal came together in part due to a genuine inability for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Parsons’ agent to communicate—with clearly no love lost between the two sides.

  • So, Jones not only traded Parsons, but we’re also surprised at the return for Dallas, as they only got the two firsts and Clark—not even another pick on Day 2 included for a player of Parsons’ caliber.

At a somewhat defiant press conference, Jones says the first-round picks give the Cowboys the chance to acquire Pro Bowl level players.

💰 Additional contract extensions

A bit overshadowed by the Parsons news, the Ravens signed star Kyle Hamilton to a record-breaking contract for a S: Four years, $100.4 million.

The Cowboys did sign star CB DaRon Bland to a new deal, inking him to a four-year, $92 million extension through the 2029 season. The record-holder for pick-sixes in a season says he was a bit “dumbfounded” and is blessed to go from a fifth-round pick to this.

And the Steelers signed former undrafted RB Jaylen Warren to a two-year extension through 2027.

✍️ The latest player news

Chiefs star WR Rashee Rice accepted a six-game suspension from the NFL and will serve it starting in Week 1. Rice is eligible to make his season debut in Week 7 against the Raiders.

Texans S Jimmie Ward has been placed on the Commissioner Exempt list.

Veteran acquisitions: The Vikings brought back WR Adam Thielen in a trade with the Panthers; former All-Pro S Jordan Poyer is back with the Bills (starting on the practice squad); G Dalton Risner signed with the Bengals; and S Marcus Epps returned to the Eagles.

Injury news: Falcons OT Kaleb McGary (leg) is out for the season; Bills DT DeWayne Carter is out for the year with a torn Achilles; Cardinals DT Walter Nolen III (calf, PUP), Bills CB Maxwell Hairston (knee, IR), Titans RB Tyjae Spears (ankle), Panthers WR Jalen Coker (quad) out at least the first four games; Dolphins RB Jaylen Wright (leg) out a few weeks.

Late veteran cuts: The Patriots released WR Kendrick Bourne and S Jabrill Peppers, while the Saints released core special teamer J.T. Gray.

Made it: Packers CB Bo Melton made the squad after a successful transition to CB, and Bengals WR Mitchell Tinsley made the team after a tremendous preseason outing in primetime.

Full practice squad lists here.

📰 Everything else in the NFL

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is No. 1 in the NFL Top 100 as voted on by the players. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen were in the top three—full top 10 here.

The Browns announced Dillon Gabriel as their backup QB to Joe Flacco.

Free agent CB Asante Samuel Jr. is set for a CT scan on his neck injury in October and could sign shortly after that.

Uniform and jersey news:

The NFL will now allow Tom Brady, who is a minority owner of the Raiders, to participate in production meetings with other teams in his lead role with FOX. Brady was banned from doing so last season, so this is a change.

Panthers WR Hunter Renfrow missed 10 calls from the team when they were trying to re-sign him because his daughter was watching Bluey and kept declining the calls.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and pop star Taylor Swift are engaged.

Other Sports Updates

🏈 College football Week 1 highlights: No. 3 Ohio State took down No. 1 Texas in a defensive battle, No. 9 LSU beat No. 4 Clemson on the road; No. 10 Miami held on to defeat No. 6 Notre Dame; and TCU demolished North Carolina in Bill Belichick’s college football HC debut.

🫡 Legendary college football analyst Lee Corso made his final headgear pick on College GameDay—and both his final picks the schools he was associated with during his career went 6-0 on the day.

⚾️ Phillies star Kyle Schwarber clubbed four home runs in a game—becoming just the 21st player in MLB history to do so.

⛳️ The 2025 Ryder Cup teams were revealed by the United States and Europe.

📺 YouTube TV and FOX reached a deal to keep FOX channels on YouTube TV.

🐺 Found on wolfsports.com