Three NFL rule changes that could be coming, top combine sleeper prospects plus why JJ Watt might unretire

Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

I feel like I’ve been talking about the NFL Scouting Combine for two weeks now and the event HASN’T EVEN STARTED, but that will be changing today with the on-field activities finally kicking off. The on-field workouts will run from Feb. 27 thru March 3 (You can see the full schedule here). 

With the combine kicking into high gear, we’ll be taking a look at some sleeper prospects today, plus we’ll be breaking down some huge rule NFL changes that could be coming in 2025. 

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. 

1. Major NFL rule changes could be coming in 2025

The NFL rulebook usually undergoes a few changes every offseason and it looks like there could be some big ones heading into 2025.

Let’s take a look at a few changes that the NFL is considering for the upcoming season:  

• Regular-season overtime could be modified. Under the current rules for regular season OT, each team is guaranteed an offensive possession in overtime UNLESS the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on its opening possession, then the game is over. In the postseason, both teams are guaranteed at least one possession even if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown on its opening possession. It’s not yet clear what the OT change will be, but the NFL is thinking about having the regular-season rule mirror the postseason rule (You can read more about the possible OT changes here). 
• Virtual measurement could finally be happening. CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported that the NFL plans to recommend the use of virtual measurement as the primary way to measure first downs for the upcoming season. The NFL would be using Sony’s Hawk-Eye SkeleTRACK system, a 14-camera system that specifically monitors more than two-dozen skeletal points on a player’s body. “That system, along with the chips in the footballs and the 18 other specific cameras strategically placed around the stadium, can all be combined to harvest a fully computerized model that potentially tracks where the ball is when players are down, if someone has achieved a first down or if they have scored,” Jones writes. You can read more about the technology here. 
• Replay assist could soon have more power. For the 2025 season, replay assist might be able to step in for objective penalties like a facemask. This version of replay assist would only apply if a flag is thrown that should NOT have been thrown. Replay assist won’t be able to throw a flag on a facemask penalty that wasn’t called, such as the one that happened against Sam Darnold back in Week 8 (You can see it here). 

You can check out our full story on possible rule changes here. 

2. NFLPA survey: Players love playing for Dolphins and Vikings, hate playing for the Patriots

If we learned one thing about the NFL this week, it’s that everyone hates playing for the Patriots. The reason we know that is because the NFLPA released its annual survey on Wednesday where players were asked to grade the working conditions of their current team. The NFLPA had 1,695 players rate how their current team handles 11 specific categories, including: treatment of families, food/cafeteria, nutritionist/dietician, locker room, training room, training staff, weight room, strength coach, team travel, head coach, ownership. 

The players were asked to assign their team a letter grade from A+ to F- in each category. We’re going to take a look at the three teams that scored the best and the three teams that scored the worst. 

TOP GRADES

1. Dolphins. Of the 32 teams in the NFL, the Dolphins were the ONLY team to score straight As. There were 11 categories and the Dolphins were ranked FIRST in seven of them. It seems that Stephen Ross definitely takes care of everyone in the organization because he was rated the best owner in the NFL. This marks the second year in a row that the Dolphins’ scored the highest in the survey. 

2. Vikings. The Vikings didn’t earn straight straight As: They got an ‘A’ in 10 of the 11 categories. The Vikings also ranked first overall in the NFL in two categories: Best locker room and best treatment of families. The only category where the Vikings didn’t earn an ‘A’ came in the nutritionist/dietician section, so players clearly aren’t happy with the nutritional situation in Minnesota. 

3. Falcons. A big reason the Falcons came in third is because they ranked second overall in five of the 11 categories. Raheem Morris, who just finished his first year with the team, was definitely popular with his players as he ranked second overall in the NFL in the head-coaching category (Only Washington’s Dan Quinn was higher). Arthur Blank also ranked second overall in the ownership category. 

And now, here are the three worst scores:

30. Browns. The Browns are a disaster. They ranked in the bottom three of four different categories, including head coach, so it seems that Browns’ players didn’t really like Kevin Stefanski. Browns players also hate the team’s locker room, giving it a grade of an F-. The Browns also earned a D+ in the ‘treatment of families’ category and that’s because the players apparently feel that that the coaches’ families are treated better than players’ families. 

31. Patriots. For the first time in 24 years, the Patriots didn’t have Bill Belichick and everything absolutely fell apart. The Patriots were given a D or worse in three different categories, including ownership and team travel. Apparently, Robert Kraft isn’t very popular with the players because he ranked as the fourth-worst owner based on his grade, which was a D. The Patriots were given an F in the team travel category and that’s because the players seem to hate the team plane that Kraft bought. “Players want an upgraded team plane. The current plane is too small, there is no Wi-Fi available, and there are seats with ashtrays in the armrests,” the report states. That’s a big yikes. 

32. Cardinals. Things are getting ugly in Arizona. The Cardinals came in last because they received a D or an F in six of the 11 categories. The Cardinals locker room and training room both ranked dead last in the NFL. The locker room got an F- grade because most players don’t feel like there’s enough space. The weight room was also give an F because players don’t feel like there’s enough room in there, either. Owner Michael Bidwill was given a D- grade, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that the players don’t feel like he’s investing enough in facilities.  

If you want to see the full rankings from the player survey, then be sure to click here.

3. Breaking down the top sleeper prospects at the NFL combine

After waiting all week, the NFL combine is finally going to kick into high gear today with some actual on-field workouts. Starting today at 3 p.m. ET on NFL Network, you can watch the linebackers and defensive linemen hit the field for their drills (We’ll also have plenty of live coverage on CBS Sports HQ, and you can check out our free streaming site here). 

With players now hitting the field, we thought now would be a good time to give you a few sleeper prospects to watch out for over the next few days. 

This list of sleepers comes from Josh Edwards: 

1. QB Dillon Gabriel, Oregon. “The rookie quarterbacks who had the most success last season — Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix — have played an extensive amount of football. … Gabriel has his own story having started at three different schools. “
2. RB Bayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech. “Tuten spent two seasons at North Carolina A&T before transferring to Virginia Tech ahead of the 2023 season. At 5-feet-11 and 209 pounds, he has the size that would allow him to be a feature back in the NFL. He rushed for nearly 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns last season — all made possible by his speed. “
3. WR Kyle Williams, Washington State. “Williams is a natural playing the position. He is a good route runner whose super powers are creating separation in the short-to-intermediate portion of the field. Although a bit smaller, there is some Randall Cobb to his game. Williams amassed 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns on 70 receptions last season.”

If you want to see Josh’s full list of sleeper prospects, then be sure to click here. 

4. JJ Watt might be coming out of retirement: How an English soccer star could make this happen

JJ Watt has been happily retired for two years now, but he might soon be making a return to the NFL thanks to a wild bet he made back in December. 

Here’s what you need to know:

• The bet. Watt and his wife, Kealia, own a stake in Burnley FC, a soccer team that plays in the English Football League’s (EFL) Championship division. The goalkeeper for Burnley is James Trafford, who just happens to be a huge fan of the Cincinnati Bengals, which is a very notable aspect of this story. Back in December, Trafford asked Watt if he’d be willing to come out of retirement to play for the Bengals and Watt half-jokingly responded that he would do it, but only if Trafford went the rest of the EFL season without surrendering a single goal. 
• Trafford is now having one of the best seasons in English soccer history. Considering the all-time English record by any keeper is 14 shutouts (clean sheets) in a row, it didn’t seem like Watt would have anything to worry about since Trafford would need to record 24 shutouts. However, that’s suddenly changed, because Trafford is now on one of the hottest streaks of any goalkeeper ever in England: The 22-year-old goalkeeper has recorded 12 straight clean sheets for Burnley, which is the second most by ANY keeper in English soccer history. 
• Watt is standing by his word. With Trafford now halfway to winning the improbable bet, Watt was asked this week by Dan Patrick if he would actually come out of retirement and the answer is yes. “I’ll do it,” Watt said of returning to the NFL. “If he does that, which is insane. We have 12 or 13 games left. If he does it, it’s insane enough and respectful enough that I will absolutely follow through. Who knows if the [Bengals] even want me? I don’t even know. I haven’t talked to them, but I’m in shape, I’ll go play.”

I covered all the details of this wild story, and you can check those out here. 

5. Free agency needs for every NFC team

Over the next two months, every NFL team is going to be looking to fill multiple needs in free agency and the draft. Since it’s hard to keep track of every need that every team has, we decided we’re going to do it for you, and we’re starting that today with Garrett Podell going over the needs for every NFC team. 

COWBOYS
Team needs: DT, CB, DE, RB, OG/C, WR, LB, S
Cap space: -$1,714,316 (Yes, that’s a negative sign)
Outlook: “The Dallas Cowboys front office needs to come to the conclusion that being the league’s lowest spender in free agency — $20.47 million spent in free agency in the 2024, per OverTheCap.com — isn’t a viable approach to win football games. They have too many needs to exclusively build the team through the draft. If the Cowboys aren’t aggressive in free agency, the 2025 season could go a lot like the 2024 season did.”

LIONS
Team needs: DE, CB, OG, WR, DT
Cap space: $49,194,317 
Outlook: “Detroit has needed to acquire a legit edge rusher rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson for years now, and it should be their top priority in 2024. Hello, Myles Garrett? The Lions were also extremely young at corner opposite CB1 Carlton Davis, who is set to hit the open market. Reinforcing that spot will be key as will retaining right guard Kevin Zeitler, who was PFF’s third-highest graded offensive guard in 2024 (86.8 PFF offensive grade).”

SAINTS
Team needs: EDGE, WR, TE, CB, OG
Cap space: -$52,578,803 (Nope, you’re not crazy. That’s a negative sign)
Outlook: “In order for the Saints to really get out of NFL purgatory, they’ll need to let to rip off the bandage and cut a slew of veterans in order to free up cap space and let young guys develop, for better or worse, in 2025. Cameron Jordan, Taysom Hill, Demario Davis, Ryan Ramczyk and Tyrann Mathieu simply don’t make sense for the Saints anymore at their respective ages and costs for a New Orleans franchise that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2020 when Drew Brees was last in uniform.”

If you want to see the needs for EVERY NFC team, you’ll have to check out Garrett’s full story here. 

6. Extra points: Top NFL Draft prospect dealing with injury

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

• Abdul Carter has foot injury. Earlier this week, Penn State’s Abdul Carter was touting himself as the top player in the NFL Draft, but his stock might now be falling due to a foot injury he recently suffered. Medical testing at the NFL combine this week revealed that Carter has a stress reaction in his right foot. This means he won’t be working out at the combine, but he’s hoping to be ready for PSU’s Pro Day on March 28. If Carter is forced to undergo surgery to fix the issue, he could be sidelined for eight weeks. You can read more about his situation here. 
• Matthew Stafford drama continues. On Wednesday, it was reported that Matthew Stafford met with Tom Brady, and now, it’s also been reported that Stafford’s camp met with the Giants at the NFL combine. At this point, it seems like the Giants and the Raiders are the two leaders in the clubhouse to land Stafford if he doesn’t stay in Los Angeles. On the Raiders’ end, there’s actually been a dispute about whether Brady invited Stafford to a meeting in Montana or whether they “accidentally” bumped into each other. That’s only notable because if Brady planned the meeting, it could potentially be tampering. It’s also notable because it started a media fight that you can read about here (And seriously, you should definitely click over and get all the details). 
• Saints likely sticking with Derek Carr. The Saints have been mostly noncommittal about Carr’s future in New Orleans over the past month, but that changed on Wednesday. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis made it sound like the team is planning to move forward with Carr as their QB for 2025. “I think we feel like we’ve got a guy we can win with,” Loomis said, via ESPN. New Saints coach Kellen Moore also added that the team is “fortunate” to have a “big-time quarterback” like Carr. The other part of this is that the Saints can’t really afford to cut Carr. By keeping him around, they’ll be able to restructure his contract, which will save just over $30 million in cap space, which is a lot of money for a team that’s $50 million over the cap right now. 
• Jaire Alexander landing spots. The Packers are open to trading Alexander, who’s played well when he’s healthy, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. The cornerback has missed 18 games due to injury over the past two seasons and it seems Green Bay is now ready to move on. We took a look at five possible landing spots, including the Falcons, and you can check those out here. 
• Rob Gronkowski not coming out of retirement. A report came out this week that Gronk was thinking about coming out of retirement, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. In an interview with Fox Sports, Gronk called the report “crazy.” You can read his full comments here.