Ranking top 30 NFL players aged 30 and over, plus drama brewing for Cowboys and Bengals

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

Vacation time is officially over in the NFL. By the end of the day today, a total of 30 teams will be in training camp, and by the end of the day tomorrow, all 32 teams will be in camp. And not that anyone's keeping track, but we're also less than 10 DAYS away from the first preseason game of the NFL season and that will happen on July 31 with the Chargers facing the Lions in the Hall of Fame Game. 

I think what I'm trying to say here is that you have officially survived the offseason and football is BACK. Alright, let's get to the rundown. 

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. Top 30 players aged 30 and over: Two AFC North stars rank in the top three

They say that football is a young man's game, but there are still plenty of older players who are currently thriving around the NFL and to prove that, Jeff Kerr decided to rank the top 30 players over the age of 30. 

Let's check out the top three names on his list: 

1. T.J. Watt (30). "Watt is still considered one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, and one of the best players in the league. The Steelers pass rusher had 53 pressures, 11.5 sacks, and 27 quarterback hits last season -- in what may have been considered a down year for him."

2. Lane Johnson (35). "Johnson's game certainly hasn't deteriorated as he enters his mid-30s. He allowed zero sacks in the regular season last year, along with one quarterback hit, six pressures and a 1.4% pressure rate. ... A six-time Pro Bowler and an All-Pro selection in each of the past four seasons, Johnson is getting better with age."

3. Derrick Henry (31). "Henry had the best season ever for any running back over 30 years old, rushing for 1,921 yards last season. ... With the most rushing yards (11,423) and rushing touchdowns (106) since the start of the 2016 season by a wide margin, there's a good argument to be made that Henry is still the best running back in the NFL. He's on a Pro Football Hall of Fame trajectory."

There are 27 more names on Kerr's list and you can check out all of them here.  

2. Drama brewing in Dallas: Jerry Jones takes shots at Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons

It's not every day you see an NFL owner insult his two biggest stars, but that's essentially what Jerry Jones did with Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott on Monday. 

Here's what you need to know: 

• Jones' bizarre comment about Parsons. After getting asked about the negotiations for Parsons' contract extension, Jones brought up the pass rusher's injury history, "Just because we sign him doesn't mean we're gonna have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously," Jones said. It was a bizarre answer for multiple reasons. For one, Parsons only misses four games last season, not four. And two, it makes no sense to call out your star player like that. 
• Jones' bizarre comment about Prescott. Jones went all in talking about injuries. When talking about Prescott, he seemed to have some regret about signing the QB to a deal worth $60 million per year. "I remember signing a player for the highest-paid position in the league and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year," Jones said of Prescott. Injuries happen in the NFL, so every contract comes with some risk.  
• Jones gets called out by JJ Watt. After reading Jones' comments, the former NFL star called out the Cowboys owner on social media, "Anytime you can publicly take a dig at your star quarterback and your star pass rusher simultaneously, right before the season begins, you just gotta take it. … Nothing makes guys want to fight for you more than hearing how upset you are that they got hurt while fighting for you," Watt posted. You want more drama? Parsons RETWEETED Watt's post, so he seems to agree with the sentiment. 

Parsons reported to training camp on Monday, but it's unclear if he's actually going to practice. The Cowboys defensive star is looking to get an extension that would make him the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL. Right now, that honor belongs to T.J. Watt, who recently signed a three-year, $123 million extension. Watt will make an average of $41 million per year, which is the number that Parsons will be looking to top. 

3. Drama brewing in Cincinnati: Shemar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson situations getting uglier

When the Cincinnati Bengals report to training camp on Tuesday, Trey Hendrickson won't be there. The Bengals star is currently about 800 miles away from Ohio in Northern Florida, which means one of two things happened: Either he forgot he was supposed to report to training camp or his contract standoff with the Bengals has gotten so ugly that he decided not to show up. You can probably figure out which one it is. 

It looked like the two sides might be getting close to a deal over the weekend, but they weren't able to hammer out an extension, so Hendrickson didn't show up for camp.

Here are two things to know: 

• Guaranteed money is the problem. One major issue that's holding up the deal is the amount of guaranteed money, according to ESPN. The Bengals are only offering one year of fully guaranteed pay while other pass rushers -- like Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt -- have been given three years of guaranteed money. It has been the Bengals standard for years to only hand out one year of guaranteed pay, but they have deviated from that structure for several star players, including Joe Burrow. 
• Bengals front office actually seemed optimistic about getting a deal done. Duke Tobin, who serves as the team's de facto general manager, made it very clear on Monday that the Bengals are looking to reward Hendrickson, who led the NFL in sacks in 2024. "He's a guy who's been very valuable," Tobin said. "He's earned a raise and an extension and we'll continue to see if we can come together on that. Having good players is a good problem to have and we've got a lot of good players and we've got a lot of highly paid players and fitting together is what we're working for." 

The Bengals WANT to give Hendrickson a raise, it's just a matter of figuring out the guarantees, so this seems like a deal that could get done soon. I tried to predict when it might get done and you can check out my full thoughts here. 

As for Shemar Stewart ... Bengals owner Mike Brown generally only does one interview per year and that interview came on Monday in Cincinnati and I WAS THERE. And if there's one thing I noticed, it's that Brown is not thrilled at all with how the team's negotiations are going with Stewart. 

Here are three things to know: 

• Brown says the negotiation has turned into silliness. With rookie contracts now slotted, both sides know that Stewart will be signing a four-year, $18,969,276 deal once it gets done, so this isn't about money. It's all about the language in the contract, and Brown sounded slightly irritated that Stewart's camp won't agree to what the Bengals are offering. "It's a negotiation that has reached a level of -- I can only think of a word that I shouldn't use -- but it's silliness," Brown said. 
• Contract language is still the sticking point. The two sides are haggling over contract language that involves the voiding of future guarantees. If Stewart were to get suspended or arrested during the four-year deal, the Bengals could void the guarantees. Brown wants the language in there because he doesn't want to be paying a player "who's in jail." (Seriously, he said that and you can check out the story here). 
• Bengals are trying to 'evolve.' The Bengals' are trying to use contract language that almost every NFL team has used in their rookie deals. Basically, if Stewart had been drafted by almost any other team, he would likely have already signed a deal that includes this language. The reason he won't sign it with the Bengals is because Cincinnati hasn't been using it with its prior first-round picks and Stewart doesn't want to be the guinea pig. Tobin said the team is switching the language because almost every other team has already made the switch. "It really doesn't make any sense to say that Cincinnati doesn't get to evolve their contracts, yet the rest of the league gets to evolve their contracts," Tobin said. "I don't buy into that philosophy at all. Contracts evolve."

Based on the acrimony on both sides, it seems like a long shot that Stewart will get a deal done before the Bengals first practice of training camp, which will come on Wednesday. As a matter of fact, if Stewart doesn't back down, I won't be surprised if this drags out into August. You can check out my full take on the Stewart situation here.  

4. NFL training camp preview: Five big questions around the league

By this time tomorrow, all 32 teams will be at training camp, which makes now the perfect time to take a look at a few of the biggest storylines around the NFL.

Let's take a look at three of the top storylines (via Jeff Kerr): 

• Will the Commanders pay Terry McLaurin? "Contract negotiations between McLaurin and the Commanders haven't been ideal, as the star wide receiver revealed he was frustrated over contract talks....  There's a good chance McLaurin gets the A.J. Brown number at $32 million. Will the Commanders pay that amount? They may not have a choice with the longer he potentially holds out." Note: Commanders GM Adam Peters said on Tuesday that team is going "to do everything we can in order to get a deal done." 
• Can Anthony Richardson reclaim the starting job? "Richardson has struggled with consistency and availability since getting drafted as a top five pick. This training camp will be the biggest one of his career, an opportunity to show the Colts why they took him so high in the first place." Note: Jared Dubin broke down whether Richardson will be able to turn his career around and you can read his answer here. 
• Is J.J. McCarthy ready to seize the job in Minnesota? "The Vikings let Darnold walk in free agency in favor of McCarthy, their top-10 draft pick from a year ago that's never played an NFL snap. McCarthy tore his meniscus last season and missed all of his rookie campaign, getting the mental reps as Sam Darnold shined on the field. Now, it's McCarthy's turn. Already a cerebral quarterback and an accurate passer, McCarthy gets the opportunity to shine in Kevin O'Connell's system." Note: Cody Benjamin took a deep dive into whether O'Connell will be able to maximize McCarthy's potential and you can check out his story here. 

Kerr has a few more big questions heading into training camp and you can check them out here. 

5. Browns might use Johnny Manziel's money to build their new stadium

Johnny Manziel didn't exactly leave his mark on Cleveland during his two NFL seasons with the Browns, but he might end up leaving his mark in a different way: Johnny Football might be chipping in some money to help pay for the Browns' new $2.4 billion stadium. 

How is that possible? Glad you asked. 

• Browns will used Ohio unclaimed funds to help pay for the new stadium. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently approved a budget that will call for the state to contribute $600 million to the Browns' stadium project. The catch here is that the money will actually come from Ohio's pot of unclaimed funds. In the state of Ohio, an unclaimed fund could be anything from a dormant bank account, to an unreturned utility deposit to an uncashed check to an undelivered stock certificate. 
• Manziel has unclaimed funds in Ohio. Starting on Jan. 1, 2026, any money that has gone unclaimed for more than 10 years can be contributed to the fund that will help pay for the Browns' stadium. And well, Manziel has some unclaimed funds, including one that's worth over $100. According to the state of Ohio's website, Manziel actually has two unclaimed funds that he is eligible to cash out and if he doesn't cash them out by Dec. 31, the Browns could end up using the money for their new stadium. 

Manziel isn't the only former Browns quarterback who might end up contributing to the cost of the stadium. Baker Mayfield also has multiple unclaimed funds, but unlike Manziel, all of his claims are under $100. Former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton also has a few unclaimed funds, so there could be a few Bengals players who also unwittingly contribute to the cost of the new Browns stadium.

6. Extra points: Saints unveil a gold alternate jersey

It's been a busy 24 hours 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. 

• Saints will wear a gold alternate uniform this year. Not only are the Saints getting a new alternate white helmet this year, but the team also unveiled a gold jersey on Tuesday. Unlike the Chargers' gold jersey, which is closer to yellow, the Saints went with something that's much closer to gold and you can see it here. 
• Philip Rivers officially retires with Chargers. Did you know that Philip Rivers had not officially retired yet? Neither did I. The longtime NFL quarterback finally announced his retirement and he did it on Monday in an amazing video that you can see here.  
• Chargers set to sign Nyheim Hines. The kick returner, who spent two seasons out of football after being hit by a jet ski in July 2023, is making his return to the NFL and he's going to be doing it with the Chargers. Hines has reached a deal with the Chargers and you can check out the details here. 
• Chargers facing lawsuit. The Chargers could soon be facing a class-action lawsuit from their season-ticket holders. Apparently, fans have been charged for 10 homes games even though the Chargers will only be playing nine game in Los Angeles this year (Their home game against the Chiefs is in Brazil). The team didn't offer any type of refund for the missed game and season-ticket holders are understandably upset. PFT has the details here.