NFL

Two AFC North stars skipping mandatory minicamp, plus full Aaron Rodgers contract details

by
SaC Bot
June 10, 2025

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

If you love drama, then this is probably going to be your favorite day of the offseason. After two months of voluntary practices, there will be 24 teams kicking off mandatory minicamp today, which means players are required to attend. If a player decides to skip minicamp, that’s a pretty good sign that there’s rift between that player and his team.

With minicamp getting underway around the NFL, we’ll be taking a look at the biggest camp storylines in the AFC, and of course, we’ll be keeping track of all the players who decide to sit out minicamp.

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let’s get to the rundown.

1. Mandatory minicamp is underway: Biggest storyline for each AFC team

With 24 different teams kicking off mandatory minicamp today, we thought now would be the perfect time to take a look at the biggest minicamp storylines for each AFC team. We did this last week with each NFC team, so it only made sense to do each AFC teams this week.

Let’s check out what storylines Tyler Sullivan came up with for three different teams:

Bills: Will James Cook and the Bills front office agree to a contract extension? “Sometimes the storylines surrounding minicamp don’t have anything to do with play on the field, but rather simply if a player shows up. For Buffalo, the status of James Cook could take center stage as the veteran back seeks a contract extension. Cook, who is entering the final year of his rookie deal, has not participated in OTAs thus far. If he skips out on minicamp, that’ll add even more fuel to the fire and put him in the crosshairs of a fine.” Note: Although Cook doesn’t have a new deal yet, he did show up to minicamp today.
Colts: Can Daniel Jones get a leg up on Anthony Richardson in the QB competition? “The Colts announced that Richardson will not participate in minicamp as the quarterback is dealing with a shoulder injury. … With Richardson sidelined, Jones will get the lion’s share of reps with the first team offense, and give him more time to build a rapport with some of the Colts pass catchers. This, in theory, could build momentum that he can bring into training camp to try and secure the job.”
Chiefs: Who wins the left tackle job? “The Chiefs’ issues along the offensive line were utterly apparent in their loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX. This offseason, they went out and addressed the problem at left tackle. First, Kansas City signed Jaylon Moore to a two-year, $30 million contract, and then selected Josh Simmons in the first round out of Ohio State. Those two should begin duking it out be Patrick Mahomes‘ blindside tackle, and their reps throughout minicamp will give us a barometer of who may have the inside track as we head towards the summer hiatus.”

Tyler came up with a storyline to pay attention to for each AFC team, and you can check out his full list here.

2. Unhappy campers: Several stars expected to skip mandatory minicamp

When it comes to mandatory minicamp, sometimes the biggest headlines revolve around the players who AREN’T there and that’s definitely the case this year. There are several big names who are planning to skip minicamp.

Trey Hendrickson. The 2024 NFL sack leader has been at odds with the Bengals all offseason. Hendrickson is headed into the final year of a deal that will pay him $15.8 million in 2025 and he’s not planning to show up until he gets a substantial raise. The two sides haven’t come close to hammering out a new deal, which could be an issue, because Hendrickson has already said that he’ll be willing to skip games if he doesn’t get a new contract.
T.J. Watt. The Steelers star hasn’t been as vocal as Hendrickson, but he’s also looking to get a new deal. Watt is headed into the final year of a contract that’s scheduled to pay him just $21.05 million in base salary in 2025. With the top pass-rushers now making $40 million per year, the Steelers and Bengals are both going to have their hands full when it comes to getting deals done.
Terry McLaurin. The Commanders receiver is headed into the final year of a deal that’s scheduled to pay him $15.5 million in 2025. As Washington’s No. 1 receiver, McLaurin wants to be paid like a No. 1 receiver and he likely won’t be showing up for anything until a new deal gets done.

Should any of the teams involved here be panicking? To answer that question, Tyler Sullivan got his panic meter up and running and you can check it out here. One player who isn’t skipping minicamp is Kirk Cousins, who showed up on Tuesday after skipping Atlanta’s voluntary OTAs.

Skipping minicamp can be a costly decision. Here’s what the fine schedule looks like for any player who skips any portion of camp:

Skipping Day 1: $17,462
Skipping Day 2: $34,925
Skipping Day 3: $52,381

If a player skips all three days, that means they can be hit with $104,768 in fines, although it should be noted that those fines can be rescinded.

3. Rookies with the most to prove at mandatory minicamp

Now that we’ve covered the top storylines from mandatory minicamp (and who’s not going to be there), it’s time to talk about the rookies who will be taking the field this week. NFL Draft guru Josh Edwards came up with a list of the rookies who will have the most to prove at mandatory minicamp this week.

Let’s take a look at the names that made his list:

QB Cam Ward (Titans). “Ward’s inclusion on the list is pretty straight forward; the No. 1 overall pick, especially a quarterback, is always going to have pressure.”
EDGE Mike Green (Ravens). “Green was consistently mocked among the first round leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, but slipped to Day 2. There were reasons for his Friday availability, but the reality is that he expected to be gone much sooner. He should carry that chip on his shoulder for the rest of his career.”
EDGE James Pearce Jr. (Falcons). “The Falcons traded back into the first round for the right to select a second edge rusher: Pearce. In doing so, they traded away a future first-round pick. It requires conviction to make such a move and the pressure to validate those lofty assertions are on Pearce’s doorstep.”
QB Shedeur Sanders (Browns). “He was populating first-round mock drafts before falling to a fifth-round draft pick, so Sanders has a lot to prove. His draft tumble is in the past and the former Colorado quarterback now has an opportunity to compete for the starting job in Cleveland.”

Josh came up with a list the features nine total rookies and you can find out who else will be facing pressure this week in his full story here.

4. Full details of Aaron Rodgers‘ contract: Here are the incentives he has to hit to earn every dollar

If Aaron Rodgers wants to earn the full value of his one-year contract with the Steelers, he’s going to have take home the MVP award while also winning the Super Bowl. Those are two of the six incentives that are in Rodgers’ one-year, $13.65 million deal. The contract also has $5.85 million incentives, which means Rodgers could make a total of $19.5 million in 2025.

Here’s the full breakdown of Rodgers’ six incentives:

$500,000: He’ll get this bonus if the Steelers make the playoffs
$600,000: He’ll earn this money if the Steelers advance to the divisional round (This could be a wild-card win where he plays at least 50% of the offensive snaps OR a first-round bye)
$750,000: He’ll earn this if the Steelers pick up a divisional round win as long as he plays at least 50% of the offensive snaps in the game
$1 million: He’ll get a seven-figure check if the Steelers win the AFC Championship as long as he plays 50% of the offensive snaps in the game
$1.5 million: If Rodgers leads the Steelers to a Super Bowl win, he’ll get a nice $1.5 million bonus as long as he plays at least 50% of the snaps in the game.
$1.5 million: Rodgers can also earn another $1.5 million for winning the AP MVP award

If he hits all six incentives, he’ll make nearly $6 million in bonus money. One notable thing here is that Rodgers has to play at least 70% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps during the REGULAR SEASON to be eligible for the postseason incentives.

If Rodgers earns every dollar in his deal, that means the Steelers will have won the Lombardi Trophy, and if that happens, you can bet the Steelers will try to talk him into returning for 2026.

5. Best move by each NFC team this offseason

From free agency to the draft to making trades, it’s been a busy offseason for every team in the NFC. One thing that’s always true about the offseason is that some moves are better than others, and since we wanted to know which ones were the best, we had Cody Benjamin go through each one and come up with the best move that each NFC team made this offseason.

Here’s a look at the best move made by four of the teams in the NFC (one from each division):

Bears: Hiring Ben Johnson. “His endeavor to both unlock Caleb Williams‘ backyard-style playmaking while keeping the former No. 1 pick in check will be paramount to Chicago’s dreams of a true turnaround.”
Commanders: Acquiring Deebo Samuel. “Is Samuel a durable game-breaker going on 30? Maybe. Maybe not. Still, Washington added the former 49ers star for a single fifth-round pick. That’s a potential steal given his fit as a rugged multipurpose weapon opposite the field-stretching Terry McLaurin.”
Rams: Signing Davante Adams. “The Rams will need to figure out a long-term quarterback plan someday. Until then, you might as well go all in with Matthew Stafford, and scooping up Adams fits the bill.”
Buccaneers: Drafting Emeka Egbuka. “The Buccaneers already had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jaden McMillan out wide when they picked Egbuka 19th overall. Who cares? Egbuka gives the resurgent Baker Mayfield yet another savvy outlet through the air, which could also help offset the exit of offensive play-caller Liam Coen.”

If you want to see the best move that was made by each team in the NFC, then be sure to click here.

6. Extra points: Colts formalize ownership transition

This is always a busy time in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that’s happening, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

Jim Irsay’s daughter taking over Colts’ ownership duties. The Colts unveiled their ownership transition on Monday and Jim Irsay’s three daughters will be taking over the team. Carlie Irsay-Gordon will become owner and CEO, Casey Foyt will become owners and executive vice president while Kalen Jackson will become owner and chief brand officer and president of the Indianapolis Colts Foundation. You can read more about the transition here. The transition process started when Jim Irsay passed away on May 21.
Logan Cooke becomes NFL’s highest-paid punter, but only for one day. Logan Cooke has been one of the best punters in the NFL over the past few years and the Jaguars rewarded him by making him the highest-paid punter in NFL history with a four-year, $16 million extension that will pay him $4 million annually. Unfortunately for Cooke, he only held the title of “highest-paid punter” for less than a day, because he was promptly passed by the next player on our list.
Seahawks make Michael Dickson the highest-paid punter in NFL history. Cooke got his record-setting deal on Monday and then the Seahawks followed that up by giving Michael Dickson a record-setting deal on Tuesday. The Seahawks punter signed a four-year, $16.2 million deal, which will push him just past Cooke for the title of highest-paid punter. Dickson was the NFL’s highest-paid punter before Cooke’s deal, so he only lost his title for a few hours. You can read more about his signing here.
Nick Chubb deal is worth up to $5 million. Chubb’s contract with the Texans is essentially a prove-it deal. The former Browns running back signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract that can be worth up to $5 million with incentives, according to NFL Media. It seems like a solid deal for both sides.