Winners and losers from cutdown day in NFL, plus Saints name QB and Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift engaged

I have good news for you, fine folks of the internet. Not only are you halfway through the work week, but we're all one step closer to the start of the regular season. A week from tomorrow, we will have the much-anticipated opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. I don't know about you, but I've been doing my best SpongeBob impression and sitting at my kitchen table with my coffee, simply watching the time pass, waiting for kickoff. It's agonizing and exciting all at the same time! 

While our buddy John Breech continues ironing his Joe Burrow jersey in anticipation of Cincinnati's regular-season opener, you get me, Tyler Sullivan, to guide you through the latest happenings in the NFL on this Wednesday. And there's a boatload of news to get to, ranging from roster cuts to cut, clarity and carats if Taylor Swift's engagement ring from Travis Kelce. 

Of course, be sure to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter in anticipation of the upcoming season. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let's dive in. 

1. Winners and losers from cutdown day

Cutdown Day is a weird mile-marker on the NFL calendar. While it debuts the opening 53-man rosters all across the NFL and fans have a better sense of who they'll see take the field in Week 1, it also means hundreds of players who were on the 90-man squads are out of a job. With that in mind, there are different angles to take a look at, and our own Jeff Kerr identified a handful of winners and losers from cutdown day in the NFL, which includes a Browns rookie QB. 

• Winner: Dillon Gabriel. The Browns initially appeared to be carrying four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, as Gabriel was set to be the QB3 behind Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett. Cleveland then flipped Pickett to Las Vegas in exchange for a fifth-round pick, opening up the QB2 job for Gabriel. After a strong preseason which Gabriel took advantage of Pickett's hamstring injury and Sanders' oblique injury, Gabriel set himself up to be the top backup behind Flacco. Gabriel will get the first shot to start whenever the Browns decide to move on from Flacco as the starting quarterback. 
• Loser: Commanders WR Room. There's a legitimate reason for concern in Washington. Terry McLaurin did sign a contract extension to end his contract dispute, but he hasn't practiced all summer. While McLaurin may not be a concern in Washington, the depth at the position is not there. Deebo Samuel still has a lot to prove, and all the veterans they brought in this summer didn't pan out. Michael Gallup didn't make the team and neither did Chris Moore. The other wide receivers on the roster are Noah Brown, Luke McCaffrey and fourth-round rookie Jaylin Lane -- not exactly the deepest unit. There are only five wideouts on the Commanders roster. They could use an upgrade at the position. 

To see all of Kerr's winners and losers from Tuesday, click here.

2. Saints name Spencer Rattler as Week 1 starter

One of the side stories from cutdown day in the NFL was that the New Orleans Saints finally named their starting quarterback. Coach Kellen Moore announced that Spencer Rattler has won the job, beating out second-round rookie Tyler Shough. New Orleans was the last team to name its starting QB and decided to go with Rattler, who did start six games for the franchise last season. Here's a little bit more about the Saints' QB1: 

• Rattler was a fifth-round pick (No. 150 overall) in 2024.
• The 24-year-old played his final two years of college ball at South Carolina after transferring from Oklahoma. 
• Rattler was 0-6 as the Saints starter last season and completed 57% of his passes for 1,317 yards, four touchdowns, and five interceptions. 
• This preseason, Rattler completed 30 of his 43 pass attempts (69.8%) for 295 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. 

"Really, really excited for him," Moore said of Rattler. "He's done an awesome job this offseason. He's just been consistent. He's made some really good decisions throughout this whole entire process. His ability to make plays with his arm and his feet have certainly shown up. Really, really excited about Spencer. He's earned this opportunity and is going to do a tremendous job for us." 

Rattler and the Saints will host the Arizona Cardinals in the Week 1 opener on Sept. 7. 

3. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are engaged

Alright, let's get to the big news: TRAVIS KELCE AND TAYLOR SWIFT ARE ENGAGED! 

The Kansas City Chiefs star tight end popped the question, and the couple made the joint announcement on social media with the caption, "Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married." Pictures from the engagement show the couple in a garden surrounded by an array of flowers that went up and around a giant arch. After the news got out, Kelce's father, Ed, revealed some more details of the proposal during an interview with News 5 Cleveland on Tuesday, saying that the proposal happened either on Aug. 9 or 10 and took place near Kansas City. 

The proposal comes roughly two years after Kelce mentioned on his New Heights podcast that he tried meeting the Grammy award-winning singer while attending one of her Era's Tour shows. For a full timeline of the Kelce-Swift relationship, click here. 

4. Ranking best available QBs from roster cuts

One of the more interesting aspects of cutdown day in the NFL centers around which players landed on the cutting room floor. Specifically, our friend Cody Benjamin took a look at the best available quarterbacks following roster cuts, and there are a dozen notable names to be had as depth pieces around the league. Here's Cody's top five quarterbacks: 

1. Tyler Huntley (formerly of the Cleveland Browns)
2. Tommy DeVito (formerly of the New York Giants)
3. C.J. Beathard (formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars)
4. Desmond Ridder (formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals)
5. Easton Stick (formerly of the Atlanta Falcons)

Outside of the top five, you can find former Eagles quarterback Kyle McCord. His release was a bit of a surprise given that Philadelphia just drafted him in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Benjamin on McCord: Again, the Eagles aren't quick to part with meaningful quarterback prospects, so McCord's uninspiring summer as a sixth-round rookie is a concern. Still, he's 22 years old, fresh out of Syracuse as a mercurial but confident pro-style passer. Someone will -- and should -- bite on the potential, even as a deep reserve or practice-squad project.

To see his full rankings, click here. 

5. Predicting last-place teams in each NFL division for 2025

In the lead-up to the start of the regular season, a lot of attention is paid to a given team's ceiling. As we all know, however, there's also a floor. Trying to identify those clubs that may hit that floor was the task put in front of our own Garrett Podell, who predicted which teams would come in last place in their respective divisions. 

You'd probably be able to guess most of the teams that Podell mentioned as last-place candidates, but he also threw out some curveballs, including two playoff teams from a year ago! 

Minnesota Vikings: "... The problem is McCarthy's draft profile entering his rookie year was that of a bust, and then he became the first quarterback taken in the first round in the common draft era (since 1967) to miss his entire rookie season with an injury. McCarthy tearing his meniscus last preseason prevented him from developing while on the bench as a rookie. He is also the first first-round quarterback drafted with zero collegiate seasons with either 3,000 passing yards or 500 rushing yards since these Vikings selected Christian Ponder 12th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft out of Florida State. The most recent passer selected in the top 10 like McCarthy without either such season at the college level was Detroit Lions 2002 third overall pick, Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington -- he was a complete bust. The NFC North is one of the best divisions in football, and having an unproven passer who didn't produce at a high level in college could spell a last-place finish for Minnesota in 2025. 

Denver Broncos: Yes, 2024 first-round pick quarterback Bo Nix produced an outstanding regular season as a rookie, joining 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels as the only rookies with 10 or more wins (10), 4,000 (4,207) or more total yards and 30 or more total touchdowns (34) in a season. However when the lights became bright in the postseason, they froze in a 31-7 blowout defeat at the Buffalo Bills in the opening round. Perhaps the Bills put something on tape about how to defend Nix that the rest of the league can latch on to in his second season. Also, the Las Vegas Raiders aren't a doormat anymore after acquiring two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith, running back Ashton Jeanty and hiring Super Bowl champion coach Pete Carroll this offseason. The 2025 AFC West is way more challenging than the 2024 AFC West, and Denver made the fewest improvements to its roster of any squad in the division this offseason.

To check out Podell's entire list of predictions, click here. 

6. Extra points: Adam Thielen heads back to Minnesota, Bills first-rounder lands on IR

It was 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. 

• Adam Thielen heads back to Minnesota: The Vikings have acquired the veteran wide receiver in a deal with the Carolina Panthers. Minnesota will receive Thielen, a 2026 conditional seventh-round pick, and a 2027 fifth-round pick, while the Panthers get a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick. Thielen signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and played nine years for the team before being released after the 2022 season. 
• Bills first-round corner lands on IR: As part of getting down to the 53-man roster, Buffalo placed rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston on injured reserve. The team did designate him to return, so he is not out for the season, but he will miss at least the first four games of the season. The 30th overall pick at the 2025 NFL Draft suffered a knee injury early in training camp. 
• Lions trade Tim Patrick to Jaguars: Detroit traded veteran receiver Tim Patrick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. Patrick joins a Jags receiver room that has Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, and Dyami Brown atop the depth chart, so he should be looked at as a depth piece. Meanwhile, this move does seem to pave the way for rookie wideout Isaac TeSlaa to be the WR3 in Detroit after an impressive summer.