It is officially Week 1 of the 2025 college football season, which means that the next half-year is going to be the absolutely sickest thing that any of us have ever experienced. Buckle up, get some snacks and prepare to enjoy it all.
While we are all going to bathe in the full scope of college football kicking off later this weekend, when it comes to the NFL we have to wait just a little bit longer. This week brings roster cutdowns and finalization of rosters and practice squads in anticipation of things fully beginning. You can consider it the last bit of prep work in the study hall before the test begins.
We here at The Skinny Post, Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, have a lot of thoughts on everything going on that has brought us to this point. Let’s stop wasting time and get to it.
Is it strange how much attention the Browns quarterback room is getting?
On some level it feels obvious and predictable. Shedeur Sanders is big name and his story around the draft was all over the place so it makes sense for people to have a high level of curiosity about how all of that is going. I can wrap my head around this.
But this whole thing feels like it has reached an insane level. Kenny Pickett was traded away which takes care of part of the discussion, but does anyone legitimately think that any single decision (in terms of who Cleveland could select to start) is going to turn them into a viable contender? Let’s be serious.
Again, par for the course and all of that jazz, but I am just a little shocked at the intensity surrounding that conversation.
I am not shocked by the amount of attention the Browns quarterback room has been receiving because the world is all about hype and as we know all too well as journalists in the sports world, clicks, views, and attention are all king.
From last college football season, to the draft, all the way up through Tuesday’s final cuts, Shedeur Sanders has been at the forefront of all publications that want to maximize their traffic through the use of his name.
Once the regular season gets underway with him as one of the Browns’ backups to Flacco, we’ll finally (maybe) be past this era.
Was it smart for the Bengals to put so much money into their quartet of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson?
Paying your best is never really that bad of a strategy. However, the Bengals dropped the bag on their offense to keep Burrow, Chase, and Higgins together after that unit finished as the top passing offense in the league. Burrow led the league in yards, touchdowns, completions, and attempts all while throwing just nine picks. Chase was also the triple crown winner as he led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns.
But even with all of that, the Bengals did not make the playoffs. The defense was simply that bad, even with Trey Hendrickson recording 17.5 sacks. Now, Hendrickson is back after receiving a $14 million pay bump to his 2025 salary. That means there is an IMMENSE amount of cap space being spent on those four. But the question remains: Was it the right thing to do?
The Bengals are choosing to run it back after making minimal changes to the team as a whole. They’ve added some rookies to the defensive side in edge rusher Shemar Stewart and linebacker Demetrius Knight, but is that going to really move the needle all that much?
As of now, I don’t see it panning out that way.
You will never find me thinking that paying dudes who led to you a ton of success is anything but smart. Beyond just thinking and feeling this way in a general sense, these are players who happen to play the most important positions in the game. It is super-wise.
I know that the Bengals missed the playoffs last year, but they have earned the benefit of the doubt in a lot of ways. Specifically, this particular core has earned it. I love investing in them and more than anything I love the Bengals disproving the notion that they don’t pay anybody, even if it takes them a while to pay them.
This is a fantastic move for Cincinnati.
Do you think it is even kind of a big deal that Micah Parsons was laying down during the preseason game last week?
For those who didn’t see… Micah Parsons had a moment during last week’s preseason finale where he was lying on a trainer’s table. This was during the game and on the sidelines and given who he is and the Dallas Cowboys of it all, it drew some attention.
You had a lot of hot-take people who were saying that the move was disrespectful, but I just have a hard time going there myself. I don’t think it was wise of Micah to do that but we see people act cavalier during the preseason all of the time. His stature and his team’s are factors here and still I think that we are blowing it all way out of proportion.
I don’t think it’s a big deal at all and I’m actually pretty surprised that it’s being made into such a big deal. Is this not the team owned by Jerry Jones? The guy who loves any and all kind of attention for his team, good or bad? So now we are to believe the line has finally been crossed because Parson took a little snooze on the sideline?
It’s all nonsense. Now I do believe that if Parsons and the Cowboys were on good terms and proactively getting a deal done that this would never have taken place, but that’s not the case and it’s not surprising Parsons thought of another way to bring attention to this media circus.
Do we believe this is really Travis Kelce’s last ride?
In the days following the Chiefs’ defeat at the hands of the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, Kelce was consistently telling those around him that he “can’t go out like that,” referring to the notion that he would not feel right retiring after getting walloped in the biggest game of the year.
So one thing we know for sure is that Kelce is going to give this upcoming season everything he has in an attempt to get back to the Super Bowl and leave it victorious. I have no doubt that if Kelce and the Chiefs win it all this year that he’s retiring, but is there is any sort of ending sans confetti that could be “enough” for him?
At 36 years old, it sure doesn’t seem like there’s much room for more after this year. But Kelce is the ultimate competitor and you know he loves that winning feeling. But he’s also got Taylor freakin’ Swift waiting for him outside of football. Calling it a career doesn’t seem all that crazy with that fact thrown in there.
And also literally as we are typing this up, Kelce and Swift just got engaged (it was announced on Instagram).
CONGRATS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE!
At the end of the day, my gut says he could play in 2026. Maybe it’s because I can’t imagine an NFL or AFC West where Kelce is not a part of it. Maybe it’s something else entirely.
I fully thought that this year was going to be the last one for Travis Kelce, even though I traded for him in my dynasty league of record. Sometimes you have to be willing to take those kinds of shots.
While there is enough on-field evidence to support that this is it for Travis the fact that he and Taylor Swift announced their engagement (congrats!) on Tuesday certainly adds to the idea that 2025 is it, no?
Kelce is firmly the second-best tight end to ever play the game and I don’t know that he can really catch Rob Gronkowski. He can at least make the debate interesting I suppose, but he has more than proven himself so I totally think this could be his final
