On Tuesday evening, NFL teams were required to make their final cuts and set their initial 53-man rosters in preparation for the NFL 2025 season beginning next week.
With the dust now settled, 22 former Golden Gophers have made NFL rosters across 17 teams. Here’s every Gopher to make an NFL roster.
QB Max Brosmer – Minnesota Vikings
The former Golden Gophers starting quarterback went undrafted in this year’s NFL Draft but had a fantastic preseason with the Minnesota Vikings, making their 53-man roster as their third quarterback.
WR Tyler Johnson – New York Jets
The former Gophers wide receiver will be with his fourth team in six seasons after spending time with Tampa Bay, Houston, and the Los Angeles Rams. He enters his sixth season with 76 career receptions for 828 yards and four touchdowns.
WR Rashod Bateman – Baltimore Ravens
The former first-round pick is now in year five with the Baltimore Ravens. He enters the season with 138 career receptions for 1,923 yards and 13 touchdowns. He experienced a career season in 2024 for the Ravens.
TE Ko Kieft – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Kieft is now in year four with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Primarily used as a blocker, Kieft has eight career receptions for 82 yards in 50 games played.
TE Brevyn Spann-Ford – Dallas Cowboys
After a nine-reception, 88-yard rookie season, Spann-Ford will look to carve a bigger role for the Cowboys in his second season.
TE Nick Kallerup – Seattle Seahawks
Another undrafted free agent this season, Kallerup cracks the Seahawks’ week one roster.
OL Aireontae Ersery – Houston Texans
The 2025 second-round pick will be the Texans’ starting left tackle this season as he’ll look to keep the face of the franchise quarterback C.J. Stroud off the ground.
OL John Michael Schmitz – New York Giants
The Giants’ starting center, the former Gopher, is now in year three of his NFL career. Through two seasons, he has started in each of his 28 career games.
OL Daniel Faalele – Baltimore Ravens
After starting all of last season for Baltimore, Faalele is back for a fourth season with the Ravens and is expected to reprise his role as their starting right guard.
DE Danny Striggow – Jacksonville Jaguars
Another 2025 undrafted free agent, Striggow’s hard work paid off on Tuesday. After recording six tackles, including two sacks, this preseason, Striggow will be a part of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster.
DE Esezi Otomewo – Pittsburgh Steelers
The former Gopher is with a third team after spending the 2022 season with Minnesota, playing in five games, and spending last season with Jacksonville in 2024.
EDGE Boye Mafe – Seattle Seahawks
The former second-round pick started 11 games for the Seahawks last season as an EDGE rusher and once again will be a starter for Seattle. He entered year four with 48 games played, 30 starts, 133 career tackles, and 18.0 sacks.
LB Jack Gibbens – New England Patriots
Gibbens enters his fourth year in the league but first with New England. In three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Gibbens made 20 starts in 29 games and recorded 167 tackles, including five tackles for loss.
LB Blake Cashman – Minnesota Vikings
Cashman is among the most tenured Gophers in the NFL, entering year seven. Through six seasons, the Eden Prairie native has played in 58 games, making 35 starts. He has 293 career tackles to his name, including 24 career tackles for loss. He’s been a starter each of the last two seasons for the Texans and Vikings.
LB Cody Lindenberg – Las Vegas Raiders
The seventh-round draft pick makes the Raiders’ initial 53-man roster after recording nine tackles this preseason, including seven in their final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
CB Justin Walley – Indianapolis Colts
A third-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft, Walley suffered a torn ACL in the preseason and will be out for the 2025 season.
CB Terrell Smith – Chicago Bears
Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason.
CB Benjamin St-Juste – Los Angeles Chargers
After a four-year stint with Washington, St-Juste will begin his first season in Los Angeles with the Chargers. In 54 career games, the former Gopher star has 206 tackles, 34 pass deflections, and one interception.
S Jordan Howden – New Orleans Saints
Howden enters year three with the New Orleans Saints. In his first two seasons, he appeared in 33 games, making 11 starts. He enters the season with 93 career tackles, including one tackle for loss, and two career interceptions.
S Tyler Nubin – New York Giants
The 2024 second-round pick had a fantastic rookie season for the Giants with 98 tackles and will look to follow that up this fall as their starter at free safety.
S Antoine Winfield Jr. – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Widely considered one of the league’s top safeties, Winfield Jr was limited to nine games last season but is expected to return to form in 2025. He’ll be the Buccaneers’ starting strong safety and has nearly 450 career tackles in 68 games played. He also has seven career interceptions and 30 pass breakups.