NFL Week 6 latest buzz, questions, news and fantasy tips

We’re cruising into Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season, and insiders Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have been making calls to sources around the league for the latest news and buzz on key situations.

This week, they tried to get the pulse of the Raiders building after Geno Smith had another iffy game. He’s now up to nine interceptions on the season and hasn’t delivered on the promise of Las Vegas’ offseason trade. Are the Raiders concerned? On the flip side, Daniel Jones has wildly exceeded expectations in Indianapolis. But do people around the league think the Colts quarterback can sustain his early-season success?

Jeremy and Dan also break down what they’re hearing on players who could get contract extensions over the next few months and coordinators who are putting themselves in position to get head-coaching job interviews in the offseason. It’s all here, as our national reporters answer big questions and empty their notebooks heading into Week 6.

Jump to:
Growing Smith concern | Belief in Jones
Extension candidates | Rising coordinators

Are the Raiders worried about Geno Smith’s start to the season?

Fowler: I would classify it as mildly concerned. The Raiders know Smith has to play better — and soon — but there’s no sentiment that Smith is a broken quarterback. So I’m not expecting him to get benched or anything this week. Scouts I’ve talked to believe Smith has been too late with the ball this season and is relying on arm talent to force throws into tight windows. On the flip side, the Raiders were without their top two tight ends (Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer) and left tackle Kolton Miller on Sunday against Indianapolis. And the receiver depth is not great overall.

Also, his two picks against the Colts weren’t blatantly bad decisions. The Colts appeared offsides on one of them, resulting in a batted pass, and Smith said he threw to a spot where a receiver was supposed to sit against Cover 2 coverage on the other. The situation is obviously not good, but as was pointed out to me by someone with the team, Raiders coach Pete Carroll and Smith have enough sweat equity together from their Seattle days that Carroll could stick with him a little longer as a result.

Graziano: If the season spirals down the drain, could the Raiders look at Kenny Pickett? Possibly. That’s what the Browns were trying to do before they drafted two quarterbacks and Pickett got hurt in camp before landing in Las Vegas on a trade. But for now, it sounds like the Raiders will ride it out with Smith. What I’m hearing from a lot from people around the league is that offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s scheme isn’t creating enough advantages to overcome the Raiders’ personnel deficiencies, and there’s no margin for error if Smith keeps turning the ball over as much as he has.

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Fowler: The Raiders are operating in a weird space between rebuilding and trying to win now, and those two worlds appear in conflict. New general manager John Spytek took over a deficient roster and believes in building through the draft. That takes time. But 74-year-old Carroll was essentially a win-now hire. He doesn’t have the personnel to do that in Year 1 of this regime. The roster is lacking premier players — save for Bowers and edge rusher Maxx Crosby — particularly on defense.

Smith was a sensible offseason quarterback acquisition for a team with scarce options in the draft. But he’s quarterbacking a squad that might not be ready to win for another two seasons.

Graziano: What’s interesting to me is that the contract Smith signed with the Raiders after the trade doesn’t really tie them to him beyond this year. He has an $18.5 million salary guarantee for 2026, after making $40 million this year. If the Raiders cut him after this season, they’d have paid him $58.5 million for one (presumably disappointing) year. That’s a lot, but as Jeremy said, this team wants to win soon. If absorbing $18.5 million in dead money next year to move on helps them do that, I doubt it would stand in the Raiders’ way.

What are people around the league saying about Daniel Jones’ hot start? Are they believers?

Graziano: Most people I talk to believe Jones can continue to succeed in Shane Steichen’s system if he stays healthy. He had turnover problems early in his career, but less so in later seasons with the Giants. And with RB Jonathan Taylor running the way he’s running, a strong offensive line in front of him and Jones’ own ability to create plays with his legs, there seems to be a belief that the infrastructure around Jones is solid enough to sustain — again, assuming he stays healthy. It does feel a little bit like the 2022 Giants season where they went to the playoffs with Saquon Barkley running wild and Jones gutting out tough, low-scoring wins. Except the Colts aren’t a low-scoring team!

Fowler: Dan, the people I’ve talked to about Jones are buying the hype, though with slight apprehension. What’s becoming clear with these reclamation QBs is that belief and confidence are powerful. Steichen is a skilled playcaller with a deft quarterback touch who happens to believe wholeheartedly in Jones as a player and person. That carries a lot of weight and has helped Jones rebound.

In New York, Jones was plagued by overthinking. He’s playing more freely now. The Colts have helped him improve his footwork. And let’s be honest, he’s playing behind one of the best offensive line-tailback combinations in the league. That’s a huge aid to any quarterback. I know the Vikings were bummed to lose Jones — who has ideal size and a ton of tools — in the offseason after his short stint there.

Graziano: Yes, the way the Vikings’ season has begun makes one wonder if they have some level of regret about losing him. But that’s a story for another time. I think the best way to look at the Indianapolis situation is that Steichen seems to have a good sense of what Jones’ strengths are and how best to lean into them while minimizing the impact of his weaknesses.

There’s an easy comparison to be made to what Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings were able to do with Sam Darnold last season, and I think that’s the template. Of course, the hope would be for a stronger finish to the season than the one Darnold had. But if and when that time comes, it should help that Jones has some playoff experience, whereas Darnold did not.

Fowler: There are a few areas of apprehension. Jones’ deep ball is still a bit spotty. He’s underthrowing some of them, which resulted in a late-game interception in the Week 4 loss to the Rams. Alec Pierce’s jump-ball ability helps bail Jones out at times, but he has been out of the lineup due to concussion protocol. And there’s plenty of time (12 games) for a Jones gaffe that became a signature in New York to resurface in Indianapolis. Interceptions and fumbles were once part of the Jones experience. Can he prevent the turnover snowball when mistakes happen? The Colts believe he can.

Which player is most likely to get an extension over the next two months?

Fowler: I’m going to start on defense. Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson looks destined for a new deal. Both sides have had exploratory discussions about an extension, for which Hutchinson is eligible as a fourth-year pro. Top pass rushers now make quarterback money, punctuated by Micah Parsons’ four-year, $186 million deal with Green Bay.

While I’m not sure Hutchinson tops that number, he’ll be among the highest paid at his position whenever this deal gets done. He looked destined for a Defensive Player of the Year award last season before suffering a leg injury in mid-October, and he has picked up where he left off with five sacks and three forced fumbles through five games. Detroit has shown an eagerness to extend its marquee players, and there’s none bigger than Hutchinson.

But the real answer might be the Indianapolis quarterback whom we just discussed.

Graziano: Hutchinson is a good one, and I’m fascinated to see whether the Colts would do something with Jones in-season. That one is complicated, because the rules say you must wait a year after signing a guy if you want to adjust his contract in a way that makes his cap number go up. But there are certainly ways the Colts could do that if they chose. But what would they do with Anthony Richardson Sr. if they did?

As for pending extensions, the Eagles are always proactive, and they have a lot of young defensive players coming up for extensions over the next year or two. I have my eye on defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who’s playing well in his fourth season and is extension-eligible. The Eagles picked up his fifth-year option for 2026, so they have time to figure out what they want to do. But with fellow DT Jalen Carter eligible for an extension next offseason and defensive backs Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean the offseason after that, it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Eagles try to get ahead of things and get some cost certainty on Davis.

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Fowler: Good call on Philly. There are few other extension candidates on my radar. Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor has kept lines of communication open with New Orleans in recent months. Taylor has inside-out scheme flexibility and three pass deflections through five games. His situation could be like the 49ers’ Deommodore Lenoir, who got a five-year, $89.8 million extension last midseason. Also, Quentin Lake is a do-it-all chess piece for Sean McVay’s defense, and the Rams are interested in retaining him if a deal makes sense.

On offense, Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely and Packers receiver Romeo Doubs are on my radar in the coming weeks and months, depending how things shake out on the field.

Graziano: The Ravens were talking with at least three of their players — Likely, center Tyler Linderbaum and safety Kyle Hamilton — about extensions during camp. They got Hamilton’s done, but the other two are still on the to-do list. They also need to do something about quarterback Lamar Jackson’s contract, too, as his cap number balloons to $75 million for 2026, but there doesn’t seem to be much movement on that.

Doubs is interesting because the Packers are overloaded at wide receiver. They definitely had trade talks about Doubs this offseason, but he’s also a reliable favorite of quarterback Jordan Love. Green Bay is going to have to make some choices there in the coming year or two.

How about “Monday Night Football” hero Devin Lloyd? The Jaguars declined to pick up the linebacker’s fifth-year option for 2026, so he’s a pending free agent. Might they regret that decision and try to head off his free agency if he keeps playing at this level?

Which coordinator has boosted his head-coach candidate stock the most this season?

Graziano: I think the answer is probably Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, but the names I’m hearing in terms of coordinator head-coaching candidates aren’t necessarily new — guys like the Commanders’ Kliff Kingsbury, Bills’ Joe Brady, etc. And the Broncos’ Vance Joseph on the defensive side. But there haven’t been any out-of-nowhere, red-hot starts outside of a place like Indianapolis, where Steichen runs the offense.

Fowler: From the sleeper candidate files, it’s hard to ignore what Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile is doing. Jacksonville leads the NFL in turnovers created (14) by a wide margin. The league’s second-worst defense in 2024 is playing with a serious edge under Campanile, a first-year NFL coordinator who came up in the New Jersey prep scene. Jacksonville gave up yards against the Chiefs on Monday but was highly disruptive and confused Patrick Mahomes in the biggest moment of the game, a 99-yard pick-six from Lloyd. Campanile probably fits in that Mike Vrabel mold as a tough-minded defensive leader, so if a team is into that, he could get a few looks.

I’m really intrigued by the young defensive coaches this year. We highlighted that a few weeks ago with Minter, the Packers’ Jeff Hafley and the Rams’ Chris Shula. Add Campanile into the mix. He has juice.

Graziano: I think the key is trying to figure out what from the first five weeks is sustainable. If the Falcons or Colts have great seasons on defense, does that mean Jeff Ulbrich or Lou Anarumo will reappear on the radar? I don’t want to sit here and throw out a ton of names, since this could all look a lot different in a month, much less two or three. But we need to look at who’s winning, and which coordinators have contributed to significant improvements on those teams.

Fowler: It’s also worth noting that the Tampa Bay offensive pipeline is pipelining again. Josh Grizzard has taken over and the Buccaneers’ offense hasn’t missed a beat. It still ranks high in most offensive categories despite a rash of injuries, and quarterback Baker Mayfield is still dealing. Todd Bowles’ previous two coordinator picks — Dave Canales (Carolina) and Liam Coen (Jacksonville) — have moved into head-coaching jobs, and Grizzard has three months to show that he belongs in that group. But the early returns are good for the former Yale football captain, a status that will intrigue some owners.