Many NFL teams entered training camp with a good idea of how they stack up in the big picture of the 2025 season. But there are still plenty of granular decisions to be made. With several key battles that could play out through camp practices and preseason games, there will be starters who are pushed out of jobs over the coming weeks and months.
How do we define a first-stringer? If a player started the majority of his team's games in 2024, or if his salary resides in the upper reaches of his position, I considered that player as a de facto starter for this exercise. And several could be at risk of keeping those jobs.
Here are 13 players who might be in danger of losing their starting roles.
Richardson’s NFL path has been anything but smooth, and he hits training camp with a lot to prove entering Year 3. Having missed time this offseason with another shoulder issue, he must battle for his job against Daniel Jones, who has started 69 NFL games compared to Richardson’s 15.
Richardson has flashed skill commensurate with a former No. 4 overall selection, but it has been too sporadic. He completed just 47.7 percent of his passes last season, the lowest number for a QB with 250 or more passes in a season since Tim Tebow’s 46.5 completion percentage in 2011.
Jones might have a leg up if Richardson can’t make more routine plays or stay healthy. This feels like a legitimate battle, and the Colts surely want to see Richardson improve, but his big-play prowess has only taken him so far to this point. He needs to make major strides to keep his starting job in Indy. Jones might not be the greatest consolation prize, but you can bet Shane Steichen won’t hesitate to make a permanent change if he’s not seeing Richardson display the proper development.
Etienne is entering the final year of his rookie deal, coming off his worst season as a pro, and there’s a new regime taking over. On the one hand, Liam Coen’s offense might actually be a better fit for Etienne if the Jaguars can find ways to get him into space. Then again, Etienne’s opportunities as a full-time back are far from guaranteed.
Etienne kept his starting role last season when healthy, but Tank Bigsby saw an increased share of the backfield time, and Jacksonville drafted two backs this spring -- speedy Bhayshul Tuten in Round 4 and LeQuint Allen in Round 7. Tuten’s explosiveness, in particular, could be a threat to Etienne’s role. If Coen believes the rookie is ready and Bigsby makes a push to start, there might only be so many opportunities for Etienne to prove himself in what could be his last year as a Jag.
Higbee has enjoyed some big moments for the Rams with Sean McVay, but the tight end is turning 33 this season and has been beaten up in his career. Returning from his 2023 playoff knee injury last year, Higbee had to gear up late in the regular season before making a strong impact in Los Angeles' two playoff games.
But the Rams are thinking long term, and they just drafted his potential replacement, Oregon’s Terrance Ferguson, in Round 2. Ferguson is a highly athletic and natural pass catcher who lacks Higbee’s blocking prowess but appears to be more explosive in the passing game at this point.
McVay showed a little more willingness to use multiple tight ends late last season, and Higbee could be a big part of the 2025 picture if he can stay healthy. Rookie tight ends also can develop slower than expected. But the Rams appear downright giddy about Ferguson, and Higbee’s durability remains a potential worry.
Calling Moore a first-stringer might be a matter of some semantics. But when the Chiefs signed the free agent to a two-year, $30 million deal this offseason, it put him in the top 15 average salaries for NFL left tackles. That’s the position he was signed to play, even though he’s only started 12 career games. But this is a starting LT salary we’re talking about, regardless of Moore's experience.
Things may have changed when the Chiefs took Josh Simmons in Round 1. There were questions about Simmons’ health and availability for the offseason program prior to the draft, but the Chiefs appear to like what they see from the rookie and plan to let him battle it out with Moore for starting honors.
Moore certainly could beat out the rookie early on. After all, the Chiefs probably regret starting Kingsley Suamataia at left tackle in the first two games of last season before benching him. Now, Suamataia is battling for the left guard spot. Moore also could win a job inside if Simmons impresses at left tackle, but at the very least, Moore’s deal is feeling a little expensive right now.
Wylie has been Washington’s right tackle in each of the past two seasons, but the results have been disappointing. What he’s added in terms of intangibles has not offset his subpar play on the field, even with the terrific success of the Jayden Daniels-led offense last year. The Commanders kept Wylie around after he agreed to a $3.75 million pay cut, but his starting job is in jeopardy.
The Commanders appear to have two options to beat out Wylie. They could move Brandon Coleman, last year’s left tackle, over to the right side, with trade addition Laremy Tunsil taking over at LT. (Coleman also could vie for the starting left guard spot.) There’s also first-round OT Josh Conerly Jr., who’s viewed as the future at the position.
Dan Quinn made Daniels earn the starting job a year ago, and he’ll treat Conerly the same. But his athleticism and light feet appear to be a fine fit in this offense, so it feels like more of a question of when Conerly will win the job than if.
Jones is the incumbent starter who has held down the Bears’ left tackle spot for the past three years -- when healthy. But he has missed big chunks of the past two seasons (six games in 2023, five in '24), is in the final year of his deal and is coming off offseason ankle surgery.
Ben Johnson confirmed that Jones, rookie Ozzy Trapilo and 2024 third-rounder Kiran Amegadjie will compete for the left tackle spot. Trapilo was Boston College’s right tackle the past two years, but he played on the left side in 2022 and might end up pushing Jones out of a job. Jones came off the PUP list to start camp but will need a ramp-up period before live action. This is a crucial camp battle many will be watching. Chicago could end up with four new starters on the offensive line in a critical season for Caleb Williams’ development.
The Panthers signed Patrick Jones II in free agency and then scooped up Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen on Day 2 of the draft, signaling a clear indictment of last year’s pass-rush unit. To be fair to Wonnum, he returned from missing nine games with a quadriceps injury to give the defense a little boost. But hardly enough to ensure his starting job in 2025.
Wonnum also dealt with a knee injury down the stretch, and he missed some time with a back issue this offseason. Wonnum had some moments in Minnesota previously, and he might not be out of the picture in Carolina, but the more the young prospects show, the more chances they’ll likely get.
The only Patriots defender to play more snaps last season than Tavai was standout cornerback Christian Gonzalez, and the linebacker has started 44 games over the past three years. There have been some high points, especially in 2023. But Tavai’s role could change dramatically if we can read anything into his offseason usage.
Reports from OTAs suggested that he’d fallen behind holdover Christian Elliss and newly signed Robert Spillane on the depth chart. Tavai played poorly last season in the spot Spillane is expected to man, but it appeared Elliss had a leg up on Tavai even prior to Tavai suffering a calf injury in early June that landed him on the PUP list.
New coach Mike Vrabel, who confirmed Tavai's return to practice this week, wants to exorcise a lot of last year’s demons -- someone else’s problem -- and change the temperature in the room. Tavai, who called out the Patriots’ fan base late last year, could fall victim to those changes.
The Cowboys made a slew of minor trades this offseason, one of which was to flip late picks with the Titans for Murray in a salary swap. Murray played only one season in Tennessee after he struggled to find consistency with the Chargers. The hope is that he can find new life in Dallas.
There was a need at the position with the consistent injuries DeMarvion Overshown has suffered. Overshown is likely to start the season on injured reserve, which might cloud this projection a bit. But I can see a world where Jack Sanborn and Marist Liufau emerge as starters, and Murray is left hanging a bit or deemed obsolete.
Murray has always played with fire, but his lack of honed instincts have held him back. New Cowboys DC Matt Eberflus relies on a lot of nickel packages, so Murray knows he must win a starting job early to make an impression. Overshown and Liufau appear to be the future at linebacker in Dallas.
The Jets gave Stephens a three-year deal averaging $12 million per season, which is a top-25 salary at the position, to replace the departed D.J. Reed. I don’t believe Stephens has played to that level thus far in his career, and I am even beginning to wonder if he might end up losing a starting job to second-round pick Azareye’h Thomas.
New head coach Aaron Glenn will start the best group, regardless of pedigree, and early reports from OTAs suggested that Thomas looked better than Stephens in non-contact drills. We’ll have to wait for the pads to come on in training camp before making any final judgements, but it might be trending in that direction.
The good thing about Stephens is that he’s played just about every position in the secondary. If Thomas beats him out for the outside CB spot opposite Sauce Gardner, maybe the veteran finds a role as a jack of all trades and the first guy off the bench. But would that be worth $12 mil?
This might be less a case of a player losing a job as it is of another one taking it. When the Broncos drafted Jahdae Barron at No. 20 overall, bolstering their already-excellent defense, it became a game of musical chairs. There’s a chance Barron won’t start immediately, but the wait likely won’t be too long.
Barron is a position-versatile defensive back, capable of playing inside or outside. He can also play safety if Denver needs it, but it appears the team wants to try him at corner first. That means that either Moss (outside) or McMillian (inside) might see a snap reduction.
Moss had some really nice moments in 2024 after a washed-out rookie season. But he also had some struggles, including in a crucial late-season loss at Cincinnati. McMillian has been a terrific find -- having originally entered the league as an undrafted free-agent signee -- and has enjoyed his share of highs, but the pressure has mounted.
If Barron is anything close to what the Broncos hope, one of last year’s starting DBs might find himself on the bench -- and it won’t be 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Patrick Surtain II.
Hamlin is an unquestioned success story, first breaking into the league as a sixth-round pick and later returning from his stunning cardiac arrest in a 2022 game against the Bengals. The fact that Hamlin started 14 games a year ago is a testament to his mental and physical strength.
But the Bills appeared open to Cole Bishop winning the job a year ago, and they might be even more so now -- even after re-signing Hamlin this offseason. Bishop started a bit slowly in his rookie-year development but began to come on by season’s end. He might not be a major upgrade over Hamlin, but considering the Bills invested a second-round pick on Bishop, it stands to reason they’ll give him every chance to beat Hamlin out.
