🐺 Wolf Sports Weekly

Summer blockbuster

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Wolf Sports
July 01, 2025

🕙 There will be football this month, with the Hall of Fame Game on July 31. This week’s newsletter begins with a massive NFL blockbuster trade between the Steelers and Dolphins.

🍿 The NFL’s summer blockbuster

Just when you felt like it was the dead period in the NFL offseason, the Steelers and Dolphins pulled off a rare huge trade involving multiple Pro Bowl players. Pittsburgh acquired All-Pro CB Jalen Ramsey, TE Jonnu Smith, and a 2027 seventh-round pick while sending Miami All-Pro S Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

  • Ramsey, who announced the trade yesterday morning, had been on the trade block for weeks; and the Steelers came out of nowhere as his landing spot while giving him a pay raise.

  • Smith is someone Pittsburgh has reportedly been targeting dating back to last season, and they finally reunite him with OC Arthur Smith (for the third time) in this deal.

  • Meanwhile, the Dolphins brought back a star player they drafted in the first round back in 2018 in Fitzpatrick.

Overall, this was obviously a highly notable transaction and an uncommon one on a few levels—including the Steelers continuing an extremely aggressive offseason that’s included adding QB Aaron Rodgers, WR DK Metcalf, CB Darius Slay, and now Ramsey and Smith.

🏈 More big news

The NFL suspended K Justin Tucker for the first 10 weeks of the 2025 regular season under the league’s Personal Conduct Policy. Currently a free agent, Tucker will serve the suspension—which begins August 26—even while not being under contract with a club.

One and done with Pittsburgh: Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers told Pat McAfee that he’s “pretty sure” this will be his last season in the NFL.

Locked up: The Buccaneers extended HC Todd Bowles and GM Jason Licht. Tampa Bay has won three consecutive NFC South titles and is the only team in the NFC to reach the postseason in each of the past five years—with Bowles as the HC for each of the past three years after serving as the DC under Bruce Arians.

2019 Pro Bowl CB Shaquill Griffin is back with Seattle; he played for the team from 2017-2020 after getting drafted in the third round.

The Browns released DE Ogbo Okoronkwo, who signed a three-year deal with the team in 2023, and thanked him on social media.

The Bengals announced that they’ve reached an agreement with Hamilton County to renovate Paycor Stadium and extend their lease through 2036, keeping the franchise in Cincinnati.

📰 NFL news and notes

The NFL Top 100 is premiering on X and began yesterday with Chargers WR Ladd McConkey at No. 100. The top 10 will be revealed on NFL Network on Monday, September 1 at 8:00 PM ET.

Cowboys star Micah Parsons finally got a jersey from Tom Brady, which he’d been requesting for years.

Netflix released the trailer for American’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, a documentary on the Dallas Cowboys premiering August 19. The series focuses on the 90s teams.

This week’s Consigliere Corner highlights one undervalued fantasy football option at each position as the calendar turns to July.

QB: Dak Prescott, DAL
Prescott is often drafted outside the top 15 at quarterback, but that seems like a complete steal for a guy who had 4,516 passing yards and a 36:9 touchdown-interception ratio in his last healthy season two years ago. We are expecting a pass-heavy Dallas offense with a chance for 600+ pass attempts and increased firepower throwing to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.

RB: Travis Etienne Jr., JAX
Currently going as the RB34 in 0.5 PPR leagues, Etienne is getting discounted because the possibility of a committee alongside Tank Bigsby and rookie Bhayshul Tuten. We would bet on the talent, though, and Etienne has a skillset that fits nicely in Liam Coen’s offense with the ability to damage both as a runner and receiver.

WR: Jameson Williams, DET
We have touched on the potential of Williams in the past, and the Lions have made no secrets about expecting a big season out of him in 2025. Looking way ahead to Week 1, Jamo will arguably be a WR1 play versus a Green Bay defense that appears very thin at cornerback.

TE: Travis Kelce, KC
Age and the presence of Rashee Rice are the obstacles for Kelce—but the four-time First-team All-Pro going close to pick No. 100 in fantasy drafts feels like one of the more obvious values of the summer. Despite his struggles last year, Kelce still caught 97 passes, and he’ll be determined after admittedly not playing up to expectations.

As a bonus, the Pittsburgh Steelers D/ST should be a top-three unit with Jalen Ramsey now in the fold—as the former All-Pro should provide increased playmaking ability with usage in the slot.

Other Sports Updates

🙏 Rest in Peace: Two-time World Series champion and 1978 NL MVP Dave Parker passed away ahead of his 2025 Hall of Fame induction.

🏒 NHL Draft: The Islanders selected D Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick.

👏 Three-time All-Star and two-time MLB leader in hits Whit Merrifield announced his retirement after nine seasons.

📰 Wander Franco, former star for the Rays, received a suspended two-year prison sentence in the Dominican Republic—and he’s unlikely to be able to acquire a visa to return to the MLB soon.

🫡 The NHL is ending EBUG (emergency backup goaltender) with their next CBA. EBUG was essentially emergency goalies as amateurs (almost just everyday people with goalie experience) instead of full-time NHLers.

💾 Backyard Baseball ‘01 is making a comeback and will be available on July 8.

🏎️ Sports hit F1 reached a phenomenal $144 million at the box office for its opening weekend.

🐺 Found on wolfsports.com