Broncos
Talanoa Hufanga signed on with the Broncos this offseason following his time with the 49ers. Hufanga said the strength of Denver’s organization was attractive to him and feels their “defense is incredible.”
“I don’t think it was the weather,” Hufanga said, via BroncosWire. “It’s a little cold out here, but I love cold actually. I grew up in Oregon, so it rains, snows and gets all that. I think for me it was definitely just a great organization first and foremost. People that are willing to buy in to these guys, and they really want to grow. This defense is incredible. You look from top to bottom, it’s just players. So for me, I just wanted to humbly come in, earn their respect and join a crew that already did really well last year for sure.”
Hufanga is coming to the Broncos alongside former 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw and feels joining Denver was the right choice for his family.
“I’m bringing Dre, so I feel like that helped,” Hufanga said. “[I’m] super excited. I think there are guys all across the league that you could play with that are great. For me, it was just something where I was super excited to bring my family here, too. I think that’s an aspect that a lot of people almost forget. You think ball, you think you’re bringing your group. My wife and my kids and my family that gets to come support me at the game, we felt like this was the right spot. We prayed about this, and it happened.”
Raiders
Raiders DC Patrick Graham said he’s been able to “bounce ideas off” HC Pete Carroll this offseason and feels it’s been beneficial to his growth as a coordinator.
“Just in terms of being able to bounce ideas off of him, hear different ways of doing things – it’s been real beneficial for my growth if I’m being selfish, which is something really good and positive for me,” Graham said, via Levi Edwards of the team’s site. “With the track record, I mean why wouldn’t you listen? You gotta listen. It’s been great.”
Graham said they are having fun in practice under Carroll and everyone is “forming a bond.”
“Each season is so different,” Graham said. “Every season it’s 32 teams that have great optimism about the season. So, the thing I can say about the ’25 Raiders, we’re having fun out there, we’re learning how to practice at a high level in the vision of how Pete wants it. So again, there’s no certain feeling or anything, because the seasons are always different. But I just know that this group of men right here, they’re forming a bond. They’re understanding how it’s based on relationships here. And the biggest thing that we have to focus on right now, it’s not real, true football, but we’ve got to play with great effort. Great effort, communication, get our fundamentals down.”
Raiders’ new LB Elandon Roberts said he has a close relationship with Graham and can always reach out to him for advice.
“[J]ust knowing how PG came about and his pedigree and his philosophy behind the game, I just know like, it’s never moment I can’t text him or pull up on him or just ask him, ‘Man, let’s talk ball,’ because I know, man,” Roberts said. “I’m telling you, PG is the type of guy he wakes up in the morning, he thinks about football.”
Steelers
Steelers QB Skylar Thompson said he was drawn to the team’s culture and said that when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped at the chance to join the organization.
“When this opportunity presented itself to come to Pittsburgh, I was really excited, honestly, because I thought it would be a great fit for me. This organization, obviously its history and its background, but I thought the values and the way that it’s ran is very similar to myself and my core values and what I believe in. So I was really excited to have this opportunity here, and it’s been great,” Thompson said, via Penn Live.
Thompson said there are a lot of similarities with Pittsburgh’s offense compared to Miami’s, which made the transition easier.
“There are definitely some similarities. Same tree. There’s definitely some carryover and formations concepts. I think that’s helped me a lot. Just kind of getting familiar with the playbook and understanding how we do things. It’s not all brand new to me. I think having experience in the league with the scout team and all that stuff, there’s not a lot of concepts that I haven’t had reps with. I think all that just builds up over time. It’s been a great experience getting into this system with Arthur and working with him as well,” Thompson said.
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