Prescott in a Wednesday morning radio interview was effusive in his praise of Pickens, who was traded last week from the Steelers to Dallas in exchange for draft compensation. “You put the ball anywhere in his vicinity, very strong hands,” Prescott said of Pickens. “He’s more than a 50-50 catcher. ... I’m excited for him. I know that we need some help at that position.” Pickens, 24, has 2,841 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over three NFL seasons and is widely expected to see more single coverage in Dallas than he did as the unquestioned No. 1 wideout in Pittsburgh. Opposing coverage units won’t be able to shade safeties toward his side of the field with CeeDee Lamb threatening the middle of the field. Pickens shapes up as a volatile WR2/3 in 2025.

The Week 17 matchup between longtime NFC North rivals will be available exclusively on Netflix. Coming off a devastating Divisional Round loss to Washington last January, the Lions will be prominently featured by the league in 2025. Jared Goff and the Lions beat Minnesota twice during the 2024 regular season: a 31-29 Week 7 victory in Minnesota and a 31-9 Week 18 drubbing in Detroit. Goff combined to throw for 511 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in those games. Justin Jefferson, meanwhile, was limited to ten catches for 131 yards and a touchdown in the Vikings’ 2024 games against Detroit.

The NFL’s trickle of 2025 schedule news includes a Super Bowl rematch in Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes and company will look for a little revenge after getting bulldozed by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, 40-22. Philadelphia’s elite defense held Mahomes to a mere 226 yards on 32 pass attempts, with much of that production coming in fourth quarter garbage time. Jalen Hurts threw for two scores and ran in another as Saquon Barkley was held in check to the tune of 57 scoreless yards on 23 carries. If the Chiefs are to get back at the Eagles in Week 2, they’ll have to do a far better job of protecting Mahomes.

Johnson, a third-round draft pick who last month was listed as a co-starter alongside Jaylen Warren on the Pittsburgh depth chart, was a hyper-productive back in Iowa’s zone-based rushing scheme, a system used frequently in Arthur Smith’s run-first offense. Only three college running backs in 2024 logged more zone rushes than Johnson. Johnson’s goals in offseason practices, according to DeFabo, “are to learn the playbook and earn the coaching staff’s trust with the hope of becoming an ‘every-down back’ sooner rather than later.” That might require Johnson to improve his pass blocking. The rookie said he’s worked on that with Warren — one of the best blocking backs in the NFL — in recent days.

The Week 13 matchup will bring Patrick Mahomes and the AFC champion Chiefs to Dallas for the day’s late afternoon game. It could be a shootout if key players on both sides are healthy. Dak Prescott heads into the season with George Pickens as a legit WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb, and Mahomes — who has talked this offseason about more explosive plays for the KC offense — will have Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Hollywood Brown at his disposal. Mahomes has faced Dallas once in his NFL career, a Week 11 win in 2021 in which he threw for 260 scoreless yards. The hope for both the league and fantasy managers is that the Cowboys are still in postseason contention by the end of November.

Hendrickson showed up in street clothes at the Bengals’ offseason practice Tuesday and spoke to reporters about his contract dispute with the team. Hendrickson, who has reportedly had “no communication” with the Bengals front office this offseason, said he would refuse to suit up under his current deal, which includes a $15.8 million base salary for 2025. He did not say whether he would sit out training camp or regular season games. Hendrickson reportedly wants upwards of $30 million as he enters his age-31 season. He could be traded in the coming weeks, though that could prove tricky for the Bengals considering they want a first-round pick in exchange for the excellent pass rusher. Pro Football Focus graded Hendrickson as the NFL’s fifth best pass rusher in 2024.

The NFL appears keen on spotlighting Jayden Daniels and the Commanders after their stunning run to the NFC title game last season. Daniels will lead the hyper-efficient Washington offense into Madrid for the last of the seven 2025 international regular season games. It could be an exciting back-and-forth affair between a high-powered Commanders offense — now with Deebo Samuel — and a Miami offense led by Tua Tagovailoa, De’Von Achane, and Tyreek Hill.

They will be the first team to play back-to-back weeks in different countries outside the United States. The Vikings will face off against the Steelers in the first-ever NFL regular season game in Dublin on Stepember 28, then play the Browns in London the following weekend. It could be a tough travel schedule for the Vikings, though the Jaguars have played back-to-back international games in recent years. Those games were in the same country, however. The Vikings-Steelers game could be intriguing if Aaron Rodgers is under center for Pittsburgh after trying and failing to generate interest for his services in Minnesota this offseason.

Pickens, who was traded from the Steelers to the Cowboys last week in exchange for draft pick compensation, won’t function as the primary wideout in Dallas. Pickens’ ability to challenge secondaries deep is something the Cowboys have “sorely missed” in recent seasons, Nguyen said. “You would expect teams to continue doubling Lamb, which means Pickens could see a huge uptick in one-on-one coverage.” More single coverage could mean more explosive plays for the new Cowboys WR2. In the Steelers’ run-first scheme last season, Pickens was third in targets of more than 20 yards downfield and second in receiving yards on downfield receptions. Pickens had just one drop on 30 downfield looks in 2024.