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Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

For the past few weeks, NFL teams have been holding voluntary OTA sessions, but starting Tuesday, we're getting into the mandatory stuff. At least for one team.

The Bears are opening mandatory minicamp Tuesday, and it will run through June 5. After that, the Bears will be off until training camp, which is probably going to make Ben Johnson the most popular coach in the NFL since the Bears will be getting more time off this summer than any other NFL team. On the other hand, the Ravens and Seahawks will be the last ones in minicamp with their final practices scheduled for June 19. 

If the Bears win the Super Bowl this year, I'm guessing everyone will start their minicamp on June 3 next year. With minicamp getting started, we'll be taking a look at the biggest storylines in the NFC, plus we'll be ranking the top new receiver-quarterback duo's for 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. Let's get to the rundown. 

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

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There is exactly one team kicking off mandatory minicamp Tuesday and that's the Bears, so we decided now would be the perfect time to take a look at the biggest storylines for each NFC team with minicamp getting ready to begin around the NFL. 

Let's check out what storylines Garrett Podell came up with for three different teams: 

Bears: How will Caleb Williams look in his first offseason under Ben Johnson? "Caleb Williams' rookie season was mostly a wasted year of development. ... New Bears head coach Ben Johnson comes down to Chicago after his Detroit Lions offense from 2022-2024 led the league in scoring (29.0 points per game). Seeing if he can coax Williams into getting the ball out faster, taking his checkdown when it's available and throwing the ball away, aka playing the position smarter, will certainly be something to keep an eye on."

Cowboys: What will Micah Parsons' involvement be and when will he sign an extension? "There's a case to be made that Parsons, who just turned 26 years old on May 26, is the best pass rusher in football. From when he returned from an ankle injury that caused him to miss four games in Week 10 of the 2024, Parsons dominated. He led the entire NFL in both sacks (11.0) and quarterback pressures (49) to finish the second half of the season. ... However, a potential training camp holdout could be looming if a deal isn't done before the Cowboys head to Oxnard, California for training camp."

Seahawks: How will Sam Darnold's adjust to Seattle? "Darnold was in the perfect situation with the Vikings. Now, he's on a Seahawks team that had massive offensive line issues in 2024. Seattle allowed a 39.4% quarterback pressure rate in 2024, the third highest in the league last season, and Darnold melts when pressured. ... It will be interesting to see how he acclimates to becoming the Seahawks quarterback with rookie 18th overall pick Grey Zabel at one guard spot next to two other youngsters at center (third-year lineman Olusegun Oluwatimi) and at the other guard spot (second-year lineman Christian Hayes)."

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

2. Ranking the NFL's new QB-WR duos for 2025

With Davante Adams now in Los Angeles, it won't be surprising if Matthew Stafford and the Rams have a huge year on the offensive side of the ball. The Rams won their division last season without Adams, and now that he's on the roster, they should be even better. 

Stafford and Adams are just one example of a QB and WR duo that will be playing together for the first time this year. With so many new pairs playing together for the first time, CBSSports.com's Tyler Sullivan decided to rank the best new QB-WR duos in the NFL this year.

Let's take a look at his top three: 

1. Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams (Rams). "Both Stafford and Adams are a bit long in the tooth, but these two have plenty left in the tank. ... With Stafford, Adams clearly upgraded at quarterback, and with Puka Nacua lining up opposite of him within a Sean McVay-led offense, this pairing should take the league by storm in 2025."

2. Dak Prescott and George Pickens (Cowboys). "Pickens has been prolific through his first three seasons and has shown big-play ability, averaging 16.3 yards per reception for his career. And that production has come despite some questionable quarterback play. Going from what he had in Pittsburgh to Dak Prescott should be looked at as a rather sizable upgrade."

3. Jayden Daniels and Deebo Samuel (Commanders). "If offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury keeps that versatile aspect of Samuel's game intact as he joins the Commanders, it creates even more ways for him and Daniels to thrive and become a nightmare for opposing defenses."

If you want to check out Sullivan's full list of 15 duos, be sure to click here.  

3. Ranking Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates

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Over the past 12 years, the Offensive Rookie of the Year award has been almost to impossible to predict before the season, and that's because it's an award that doesn't play favorites. Although quarterbacks certainly have the upper-hand when it comes to winning the award -- because they play a high-profile position and have the ball on every play -- the award has actually been pretty evenly split by position over the past decade. 

Since 2013, we've seen five quarterbacks, four running backs and three receivers win the award. With that in mind, Chris Trapasso decided to rank his top five favorites to win it this year. You can see his list below along with their odds for winning the award (via Caesars Sportsbook):

1. Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty (+290 -- Bet $100 to win $290 in profit)
2. Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan (+1200)
3. Titans QB Cam Ward (+330)
4. Patriots RB TreVeyeon Henderson (+2000)
5. Jaguars WR Travis Hunter (+1000)

Although Trapasso has Jeanty at the top, he definitely didn't stick to the Vegas odds for the rest of his rankings. McMillan is clearly the dark horse on Trapasso's list. Last year, Jayden Daniels was ranked third on Trapasso's list, and of course, the Commanders quarterback went on to win the award. 

If you want to see the rest of Trapasso's story on who has the best chance to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, be sure to head here. 

4. Why Saquon Barkley should be worried about the 'Madden' curse: Running backs hit hard by cover jinx

If you're an NFL running back and EA Sports calls you up to be on the cover of "Madden," you might want to think about just hanging up the phone. When it comes to taking out running backs, the "Madden" curse has a perfect batting average. 

Over the past 25 years, there have been a total of six running backs on the "Madden" cover and they've ALL been hit by the curse. 

Here's a look at the running backs who have been on the cover since 2000. (Note: Madden is always one year ahead, so the curse hits the year before that. For instance, a player on the Madden 2001 cover would have been cursed in 2000): 

If you just look at last season, McCaffrey missed 13 games due to injury. Alexander was coming off an MVP season in 2005 when he was put on the cover before the start of the 2006 season. He ended up having a down year and was out of football altogether by 2009. If you want to read what happened to the other running backs, we've got that here. 

The curse doesn't necessarily hit all players -- we covered that here -- but it does have a 100% hit rate with running backs. 

5. NFC West win totals: Predicting the over/under for each team in the division

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We have finally made it to the end: Over the seven days, we've taken a look at the over/under totals for 28 of the NFL's 32 teams, and we are closing out things Tuesday by getting to our final four teams: the Rams, 49ers, Seahawks and Cardinals. 

Jared Dubin was in charge of making the predictions here. Let's check out whether he likes the over or the under for each team in the NFC West: 

NFL odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.

Los Angeles Rams
ODDS: Over 9.5 (-140) / Under 9.5 (+120)
LEAN: OVER
Dubin's take: "The defense remains young and there are questions in the secondary, and this is all built on a very thin foundation given the advancing age and health of Matthew Stafford, but this looks to me like the best team in the division."

San Francisco 49ers
ODDS: Over 10.5 (+110) / Under 10.5 (-130)
LEAN: UNDER 
Dubin's take: "The 49ers are in something of a transition season, with a ton of change on both sides of the ball and key pieces coming back from major injuries. ... The star talent is still here: Nick Bosa, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Fred Warner and head coach Kyle Shanahan will have this team in contention for a playoff spot. It just feels like it's more of a 10-win team rather than the 12- or 13-win outfit that they ran out there in 2022 and 2023."

If you want to see how Dubin feels about the Seahawks or Cardinals, you can get his take on those two teams here. 

6. Extra points: Former first-round pick might sit out the entire season

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. 

  • Jedrick Wills might not play in 2025. After missing 12 games due to injuries last season, the free agent left tackle has decided that he's going to sit out the next few months until his body fully recovers, according to Fox Sports. If he doesn't recover quickly, this could mean that Wills ends up sitting out the entire season. Wills was the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and he's spent his entire five-year career with the Browns, but after missing 21 games due to injuries over the past two seasons, it's pretty clear he wants to get healthy before he returns to the field. 
  • Ronald Darby retires. Darby, who won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017, has decided to call it quits after 10 seasons. Darby entered the NFL as a second-round pick by the Bills in 2015 and in the 10 seasons that followed, he ended up playing for six different teams (Bills, Eagles, Commanders, Broncos, Ravens, Jaguars). The cornerback did sign a one-year deal with the Texans in March, but it doesn't look like he's ever going to play a down for Houston. You can read more about his retirement here. 
  • Bryce Huff trade finalized. The 49ers are getting Bryce Huff in a trade with the Eagles, which we broke down in Monday's newsletter. At the time, we didn't know what the Eagles would be getting in return, but now we do. Philadelphia will be getting a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick that could turn into a fourth-round pick if all the conditions are met, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones has reported. 
  • Stefon Diggs shows up to OTAs. Last week, Diggs skipped OTAs and ended up making headlines for all the wrong reasons, but this week, he's decided to show up for the Patriots' voluntary workouts. Although there was a report from over the weekend that the Patriots might consider releasing Diggs, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. You can read more about the receiver's situation here.