The New England Patriots open the 2026 season Wednesday night in Seattle, five days from now, in a rematch of Super Bowl LX. Mike Vrabel’s club arrives with a new No. 1 receiver after trading for A.J. Brown and with Drake Maye entering his third NFL season as one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks.

Last February, Seattle beat New England 29-13 at Levi’s Stadium. Maye completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions and took six sacks. The Patriots never led. That loss ended a 14-3 regular season and Vrabel’s first year as head coach, a jump from the 4-13 team he inherited. According to Super Bowl LX records and Reuters, Kenneth Walker III ran for 135 yards and earned MVP honors for the Seahawks.

On June 1, the Patriots acquired Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder, pending a physical that he passed. The teams announced the deal the same day. The Patriots and The Associated Press confirmed the compensation. The Athletic reported the move reunited Brown with Vrabel, who coached him in Tennessee from 2019 to 2021.

Brown posted 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games with Philadelphia in 2025. That followed 1,496 yards in 2022 and 1,456 in 2023. Those two seasons remain his peaks. The question now is whether Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can push him back toward that range.

Maye threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2025 while rushing for 450 yards and four scores. He finished second in MVP voting. McDaniels, in his third stint as Patriots coordinator, called an offense that ranked among the league’s most efficient through the air. Brown’s size (6-foot-1, 226 pounds) and ability to win downfield give Maye a target who can occupy safeties. That should create space for Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas and the running game led by TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson.

Four 2026 projections for Brown, Maye and Vrabel

These are analysis, not team announcements. Records, contracts and Week 1 details are confirmed. Season outcomes are not.

First: Brown should clear 1,000 receiving yards again. McDaniels has long used big, athletic receivers on vertical concepts and in the slot on play-action. Brown’s 12.9 yards per catch last year sat well below his 17.0 mark in 2022. A cleaner quarterback and a scheme built to stretch the field can raise that number. He may not post a career high in receptions. He can still look like the easiest matchup on the field on third-and-long and in the red zone.

Second: Maye’s production should hold even if raw passing yards dip against a harder schedule. The Patriots open at Seattle, host Pittsburgh, then visit Jacksonville and Buffalo. Bracket coverage on Brown can open scramble lanes. Maye already ranked among the league leaders in designed and improvised runs. That part of his game does not need a new receiver to stay useful.

Third: Vrabel’s second season in Foxborough should produce another AFC East title if the Bills do not pull away. The division still has Josh Allen. The Jets and Dolphins remain the softer half. Vrabel on Thursday declined to discuss a new Athletic review of former reporter Dianna Russini and pointed the room back to Seattle. “We’re moved on and focused on Seattle and focused on the Patriots and focused on getting better this week,” he said, per the Boston Herald. That is the public posture heading into Week 1.

Fourth: Brown will become a crowd favorite if he produces early. Patriots fans have a long memory for explosive receivers. Brown grew up wanting to play in New England and said after the trade that walking onto the practice field in the uniform still felt unreal, according to AP. Work ethic stories travel fast in that locker room. Long routes that finish in the end zone travel faster.

The 2007 Patriots went 16-0 with Tom Brady and Randy Moss, then lost the Super Bowl. That parallel is flavor, not a forecast. New England is a contender because Maye, the offensive line additions and a defense that already played at a high level last winter give Vrabel a complete roster. Brown makes the passing game less dependent on Maye winning every snap on his own.

Will that be enough to beat Seattle in February after losing to Sam Darnold and Mike Macdonald’s defense in February? That remains speculation. The regular-season case is clearer. Brown arrived. Maye is still 23. The opener is Wednesday at Lumen Field, 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, per the Patriots’ official schedule release.

The Detroit Lions open the 2026 season Sunday, Sept. 13, against the New Orleans Saints at Ford Field with a new voice calling the plays. Drew Petzing, hired after Detroit fired John Morton, inherits an offense that still ranked among the NFL’s best last year even after losing coordinator Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears. According to FOX Sports, the 2025 Lions finished fifth in total yards (373.2 per game) and tied for fourth in scoring (28.3 points). That came one season after Johnson’s unit led the league in scoring at 33.2 points and ranked second in yards.

Petzing spent the previous three years as Arizona’s offensive coordinator. Injuries, including a foot injury that cost Kyler Murray 12 games, dragged the Cardinals toward the bottom of the league in 2025. Now he works with Jared Goff, a durable quarterback, and a roster that Dan Campbell believes can climb again. “He was the right fit. I felt that within 20 minutes,” Campbell said after hiring him, per The Detroit News.

The NFC North tightened last season. The Bears won the division at 11-6 while the Lions finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs. Petzing’s task is to restore efficiency without the same explosive ceiling. Here are four predictions heading into Week 1.

Offensive line should stabilize after 2025 turmoil

Frank Ragnow retired on June 2, 2025, and a November comeback attempt ended when he failed a physical with a hamstring strain, according to The Athletic. Rookie Tate Ratledge, a 2025 second-round pick, started all 17 games at right guard. The line never fully recovered.

This offseason Detroit moved Penei Sewell to left tackle, drafted Clemson tackle Blake Miller 17th overall to play the right side, and signed center Cade Mays. Mays fractured a wrist in camp and will miss at least the first four games after the team placed him on injured reserve, The Detroit News reported. Juice Scruggs, acquired in the David Montgomery trade, is expected to start at center. Christian Mahogany and Ratledge give the interior youth. Offensive line coach Hank Fraley, now also run-game coordinator, has the pieces to rebuild protection and the run game that slipped last year.

Expect a clearer, more physical front. The group will not look like the 2023-24 unit overnight, but depth and scheme fit under Fraley should produce fewer negative plays.

LaPorta should thrive in space again

Sam LaPorta missed eight games in 2025 after a herniated disc required surgery. A hip injury in mid-August camp raised Week 1 questions. Campbell said at the time, “I feel like we’ll be OK, but I don’t know.” LaPorta returned to practice later that month and has taken team reps, putting him on track for the Saints game per multiple beat reports including The Athletic.

Petzing featured Trey McBride heavily in Arizona. McBride led all tight ends with 126 catches, 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, according to PFF. LaPorta wins after the catch and in space. Getting him isolated against linebackers and safeties will be a weekly emphasis. If healthy, he should post numbers closer to his first two seasons than last year’s limited 40-catch output.

Running-back depth faces an early test

Jahmyr Gibbs signed a three-year, $67.5 million extension in August that made him the NFL’s highest-paid running back at $22.5 million per year, The Athletic reported. Isiah Pacheco, signed in March after the Montgomery trade, landed on injured reserve Sept. 1 with a back injury that followed an MCL sprain. He will miss at least four games, per the Detroit Free Press.

That leaves Sione Vaki and Jacob Saylors as the primary complements. Saylors ran for 100 yards in the preseason finale against Indianapolis and earned Campbell’s public comfort as the No. 2. Both remain lightly tested in regular-season packages. Gibbs cannot carry a full workload every week. The Lions will need those two to handle short-yardage and passing-down snaps until Pacheco returns, or the offense will lean even more on Goff.

Better scheme, similar raw production

Petzing has talked about a physical, multiple offense that stays tough to defend. Campbell has said the hire should “get us centralized.” The Lions still have Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and a healthier line profile than 2025. They also open with defensive starters Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph coming off the physically unable to perform list.

The NFC North is deeper. Chicago’s offense improved under Johnson. Green Bay and Minnesota remain physical. Detroit should run a more controlled, play-action attack rather than chase the 2024 scoring explosion. A top-five offense in yards and points remains realistic. Leading the league in those categories again is less likely. Meat-and-potatoes execution in December and January would matter more than early-season fireworks.

Petzing released wide receiver Greg Dortch, a former Cardinals player, during final cuts. He kept the core skill players. The scheme change is real, but the talent remains. How quickly the new pieces on the line mesh will decide whether the predictions hold through the first month.

The Los Angeles Chargers open the 2026 season Sunday, Sept. 13 against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS. That date arrives nine days from now. The questions around this roster did not wait.

Los Angeles finished 11-6 last season and lost the AFC wild-card round at New England, 16-3, on Jan. 11, according to the 2025 season record and the Associated Press game account. It was a second straight first-round exit under Jim Harbaugh and the franchise’s third wild-card loss in four seasons, following defeats to Jacksonville after the 2022 season and Houston after 2024.

The Rams have soaked up the local oxygen since Aaron Donald ended a 2 1/2-year retirement and returned on Aug. 30, as reported by the Associated Press. Super Bowl LXI is already booked for SoFi on Feb. 14, 2027. The Chargers play there every week. They still have to prove they belong in that conversation.

These four forecasts are analysis, not guarantees. The facts underneath them are not.

Prediction 1: The offense jumps because the supporting pieces finally match Herbert

Justin Herbert does not need another slogan. He needs a cleaner pocket and a back who can stay on the field.

Omarion Hampton, the No. 22 pick in 2025, rushed for 545 yards and four touchdowns on 124 carries in nine games and added 32 catches for 192 yards, per NFL.com career stats. A fractured left ankle in Week 5 against Washington sent him to injured reserve, NFL.com reported. He later hurt the other ankle. The Los Angeles Times wrote in late August that he looked explosive again in camp and said he had put “everything I can into treatment.”

Mike McDaniel gives that backfield a scheme that actually wants to run. The Chargers hired the former Miami head coach as offensive coordinator in January after firing Greg Roman, the Associated Press confirmed. McDaniel went 35-33 in four seasons with the Dolphins. He is not a punch line in this building. He is the play-caller Harbaugh hired after another January that ended with three points.

The line is the swing variable. Pro Football Focus ranked the Chargers’ offensive line No. 7 entering the season, citing Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt as the bookends. That ranking assumed health. It did not survive August intact. The Chargers placed center Tyler Biadasz, a $30 million free-agent signing, on season-ending injured reserve after a left-knee injury in joint practice with San Francisco, NFL.com and The Athletic reported. Second-rounder Jake Slaughter is now the likely snapper. If Slater and Alt hold, Herbert can still work. If they do not, last year’s 60-sack season starts to look familiar.

Ladd McConkey is no longer just the young receiver with YAC juice. The Chargers named him one of 10 captains this week, a first-time honor also given to Tuli Tuipulotu and Elijah Molden, according to Chargers Wire and NBC Sports. McConkey told reporters he was “grateful” after teammates voted him in, Heavy reported.

The prediction: Los Angeles scores more and stays on schedule more often than the 20th-ranked 21.6 points per game it posted in 2025, per Pro-Football-Reference. A top-five offense is possible. It is not automatic after Biadasz went down.

Prediction 2: McDaniel looks like a coordinator again, not a former head coach on the rebound

McDaniel’s press-conference wardrobe gets clips. His play sheet is why Harbaugh hired him.

In Miami, he built fast, outside-zone offenses around Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane. He now has Hampton plus fullback Alec Ingold, another former Dolphin. He also has Herbert, a stronger-armed quarterback than Tua Tagovailoa. McDaniel has already changed Herbert’s shotgun footwork so the left foot is forward, a tweak ESPN detailed in June as a way to get the ball out quicker.

The Chargers also signed former Dolphins receiver Theo Wease Jr. to the practice squad this week. Adam Schefter posted the news on X: “Former Dolphins WR Theo Wease Jr. has signed with the Chargers practice squad, reuniting him with his former HC Mike McDaniel.” —

Former Dolphins WR Theo Wease Jr. has signed with the Chargers practice squad, reuniting him with his former HC Mike McDaniel.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 2, 2026

That signing is not a roster coup. It is a tell. McDaniel’s language and personnel choices are already inside the building.

Some of the national chatter after Miami still treats him as a novelty. That is noise. The job in front of him is narrower than a head-coaching chair, and that is the point. If the Chargers run the ball enough to keep Herbert from living in third-and-long, McDaniel’s name climbs back onto head-coaching short lists next January. That is speculation. The hire itself is not.

Prediction 3: The defense starts uneven under Chris O’Leary

Jesse Minter left for Baltimore. The Ravens hired him as head coach in January, the Associated Press reported. The Chargers replaced him with Chris O’Leary, their 2024 safeties coach who spent 2025 as Western Michigan’s defensive coordinator.

O’Leary’s Broncos went 10-4 and allowed 17.4 points per game, ninth in the FBS, the Chargers announced. He called the Chargers job “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” per the Associated Press. He already knows Derwin James. He does not yet know a 17-game AFC West schedule from the coordinator’s headset.

Khalil Mack is back on a one-year deal and is a captain again. James remains the defense’s centerpiece. Names are not a scheme. Seattle just won Super Bowl LX, 29-13 over those same Patriots, because Mike Macdonald’s unit played as 11 connected pieces, not a star showcase, as the Associated Press and Super Bowl LX recap documented.

The prediction: early-season coverage breakdowns and communication errors, then a tighter unit after the bye in Week 7. That is the learning-curve bet, not a claim that O’Leary cannot do the job.

Prediction 4: Herbert gets his first playoff win

Herbert is 0-3 in the postseason. The tape is public.

Those lines come from Herbert’s career record and StatMuse. The 2022 collapse and the 2024 four-pick game sit on him. Last January sits on a wrecked offensive line and a quarterback playing through a broken non-throwing hand, which Harbaugh acknowledged after the Patriots game in the AP recap.

A better run game would let Herbert see the field from a clean pocket instead of scrambling into third-and-forever. That is the mechanism, not a pep talk. Home-field advantage would help. SoFi hosts Super Bowl LXI next February, the NFL announced years ago and restated as the 2027 site in league documents. The Chargers still have to earn January football there first.

The honest forecast: Los Angeles is built to win a wild-card game if Hampton stays healthy and the tackles stay upright. That is a different sentence from “they will win the division.” Denver went 14-3 last year. The AFC is still a gauntlet.

Week 1 at SoFi will not settle any of this. Powder blue against Arizona is a temperature check. The season will.

The Dallas Cowboys created a little more than $19 million in salary cap space Thursday by converting portions of three veteran contracts into signing bonuses, giving the club more than $30 million in room nine days before the 2026 opener.

According to ESPN, defensive tackle Kenny Clark, cornerback DaRon Bland and tight end Jake Ferguson had their deals reworked. Dallas Morning News Cowboys reporter Calvin Watkins separately reported the same figures, writing that the team now sits over $30 million under the cap

Cowboys created $19 million in salary cap space with conversions/restructures of DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson and Kenny Clark contracts according to two people with knowledge of the decision. Cowboys have over $30 million in cap space.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) September 4, 2026

The NFL Players Association site listed Dallas at roughly $14.2 million in space before the conversions, ESPN reported. After the moves, the Cowboys more than doubled that number. The 2026 league cap is $301.2 million, per the NFL.

How the Cowboys created the cap space

These are accounting conversions, not pay cuts. The players still collect the same cash. Dallas turns current-year base salary into a signing bonus, then spreads that bonus hit across the remaining years of the deal.

ESPN reported the mechanics this way: Clark’s $8.8 million base salary became a signing bonus after the club already converted his $11 million roster bonus in March. Bland’s $12 million base salary and Ferguson’s $7.25 million base salary were treated the same way. Clark’s 2027 cap number rises by about $1.5 million. Bland’s later-year charges climb by $2.15 million. Ferguson’s rise by $1.2 million.

Bland and Ferguson both signed multiyear extensions last summer and remain under contract through 2029. Ferguson agreed to a four-year, $52 million extension in July 2025, the team and The Associated Press reported. Bland signed a four-year, $92 million extension with $50 million guaranteed in late August 2025, per the NFL and the Cowboys.

Clark is signed through 2027 after arriving from Green Bay in the Micah Parsons trade. Dallas has used this same tool all year. Since March, the club has also reworked Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, Terence Steele and Malik Hooker, according to ESPN.

What last season showed on the field

Ferguson and Bland are both entering Year 5. Ferguson started 10 of 17 games in 2025 and posted career highs with 82 catches, 600 yards and eight touchdowns, per Pro-Football-Reference and ESPN. He remains Dak Prescott’s short-area security blanket, even with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens commanding the deep targets.

Bland started all 12 games he played, finished with a career-high 73 tackles, six pass deflections and one interception that he returned 68 yards for a touchdown, according to season records compiled on Wikipedia and Pro-Football-Reference. Dallas placed him on injured reserve in late December after a foot injury that required season-ending surgery.

The Cowboys finished 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs for a second straight year after a 7-10 finish in 2024, per StatMuse and the team’s own elimination report on DallasCowboys.com. The defense allowed a franchise-record 511 points, The Athletic reported in its season review.

Why Dallas made the move now

The timing is not random. Kickoff is Sept. 13 at MetLife Stadium, when Dallas opens on Sunday Night Football against the New York Giants at 8:20 p.m. ET, per the NFL and the Giants.

The extra room can cover in-season promotions, injury replacements or a midseason trade. Last year Dallas added Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets before the deadline, ESPN noted. Unused space can also roll into 2027, which is useful if the front office wants to extend a starter or absorb a veteran contract later.

Some commentators have tied the new room to possible trade targets. ProFootballTalk pointed out that Las Vegas defensive end Maxx Crosby is due a $30 million base salary in 2026. That remains speculation. No team source has connected these three conversions to a specific incoming player.

The cost is real, just delayed. Every dollar converted today inflates later cap numbers. For Bland and Ferguson, that tax lands across deals that already run into 2029. For Clark, it lands in 2027, the last year on his current contract. Dallas has lived this cycle for years: create space now, pay the freight later, then convert again.

That approach keeps Prescott, Lamb and the 2022 draft core intact heading into Week 1. It does not, by itself, fix a defense that finished last in points allowed. It does give Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones the cash-flow room to act if a veteran becomes available after the season starts.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley spent last season answering the same comparison questions. Christian McCaffrey. Derrick Henry. Where does he rank among the league’s best backs?

He stopped treating those names as the target. According to The Athletic, Barkley returned to Joshua Medcalf’s 2015 self-help book “Chop Wood Carry Water” and landed on a simpler standard: own the work, ignore the scoreboard next door.

“I used to be like, I gotta beat these guys,” Barkley told Zach Berman. “But why not make myself become the standard and worry about myself?”

That line sits at the center of a shared Eagles theme heading into the 2026 opener against Washington on Sept. 13. Coach Nick Sirianni handed the same book to players at the start of training camp and told them to fall in love with the process, a message the team posted in camp footage on YouTube.

How the book actually reached Barkley

The timing is easy to get wrong. Barkley did not discover the book last summer. He first received it as a Giants rookie in 2018 from then-strength coach Aaron Wellman, per The Athletic. He skimmed it. It did not stick.

It stuck after 2024. That year Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in 16 regular-season games, added 278 receiving yards, won AP Offensive Player of the Year, and helped Philadelphia beat Kansas City 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, as reported by NFL.com and The Associated Press.

Include the playoffs and the numbers jump again. Barkley finished the full 2024 campaign with 2,504 rushing yards and 2,857 yards from scrimmage, NFL records for a regular season plus postseason, according to AP. He sat out Week 18 rather than chase Eric Dickerson’s regular-season mark of 2,105.

The next year stripped the glow off the stat line. Barkley ran for 1,140 yards on 280 carries (4.1 per attempt) and added 273 receiving yards in 2025. The Eagles went 11-6, won the NFC East again, then lost 23-19 to San Francisco in the wild-card round on Jan. 11, 2026, as Reuters reported. Barkley had 106 rushing yards and 25 receiving yards in that defeat.

The drop was real. Defenses loaded the box more often. Production that looked automatic in 2024 required extra work in 2025. Barkley told Berman the book helped because the process is easy to love when the yards pile up and harder when they do not.

“Comparison is stealing joy.”

Saquon Barkley, via The Athletic, Sept. 3, 2026

Why Sirianni put the same pages in front of the whole room

Sirianni did not present the book as a secret code. In the camp meeting, he highlighted the chapter on staying faithful to small things: effort, assignments, ball security, block destruction. Those details are dull on a highlight tape. They decide whether a two-yard gain becomes four, and whether second-and-6 stays manageable.

That matters more this year because the staff changed. Sean Mannion is the new offensive coordinator. Sirianni has said he expects Barkley to fit a zone-blocking approach that leans on patience and the same dirty runs the book keeps circling. Some analysts believe a healthier dose of those runs, plus more targets with A.J. Brown no longer in the building, could lift Barkley’s receiving role. That remains projection, not a promise from the team.

Barkley is 29, a three-time Pro Bowler (2018, 2022, 2024), and entering Year 9. He did not make the 2026 Pro Bowl roster after the 2025 season. The book’s argument is that the ranking conversation is the trap. The work is the point.

He is not walking into camp as an unknown. He is walking in as a champion coming off a year that asked whether the 2,000-yard version was a peak or a baseline. The pages he and Sirianni keep quoting give the same answer: chop wood. Carry water. Let the rest show up on Sunday.

Geno Smith did not hedge. Asked about Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, his cousin and one of the most hyped prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft class, the New York Jets quarterback went straight to the top of the mountain.

“He’s gonna be the best ever,” Geno said in remarks posted Thursday by NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, an Ohio State product himself, was just as blunt. “It’s men among boys,” Wilson said. Analyst Keyshawn Johnson added another line that travels in locker rooms: “He’s a Pro’s Pro.” Schultz posted the clip Thursday after earlier camp conversations with Geno, Wilson, coach Aaron Glenn and others, including a longer sit-down filmed with Johnson at Jets camp.

The praise is not a new family talking point. Geno said in 2024 that he had watched Jeremiah since the receiver was about 10 years old and predicted he would become the best receiver ever, comments first aired by Sporting News and On3. The difference now is the tape. Jeremiah is no longer a five-star freshman. He is a junior entering what is widely viewed as his final college season before the 2027 draft.

Why Jets voices keep circling Jeremiah Smith

The family tie is real. Jeremiah Smith is Geno’s cousin. Both came out of South Florida. Jeremiah starred at Chaminade-Madonna. Geno came through Miramar High and West Virginia before the Jets drafted him in the second round in 2013. The younger Smith even borrowed one of Geno’s suits for Big Ten media days in 2025 after his own pants ran too long, a story recounted by Pro Football Network.

Wilson’s comment lands in a different place. He lived the Ohio State receiver pipeline. The Buckeyes have sent Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr. into first-round conversations in recent drafts. Jeremiah already looks like the next name on that list, and maybe the biggest. In 2025 he caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games, per Ohio State’s official roster page and StatMuse. That followed a 2024 freshman season of 76 catches, 1,315 yards and 15 scores.

Johnson’s “pro’s pro” line is scouting language, not cousin talk. It points at polish: size in the 6-foot-3, 220-pound range, suddenness in and out of breaks, and the one-handed catches that already show up in Big Ten and playoff tape. Draft writers have him among the first names in the 2027 class, including Athlon Sports and The Athletic. That is analysis, not a guarantee. No wide receiver has gone No. 1 overall since Johnson himself in 1996. Quarterbacks still drive the top of most boards.

None of this puts Jeremiah in a Jets uniform. He still has a college season to play. New York’s present problem is simpler: win with the roster it has this month.

Geno’s second act in New York starts in Nashville

Smith is in his 14th NFL season and his fifth with the Jets, after the franchise traded for him in March and named him the starter. Coach Aaron Glenn said the team brought him in to start, the club’s site reported in a June roster preview. Teammates voted him a captain Thursday, according to the New York Post.

The last two seasons explain both the opportunity and the risk. In 2024 with Seattle, Smith threw for 4,320 yards, 21 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and added 53 rushes for 272 yards and two scores, per CBS Sports. In 2025 with Las Vegas he completed 302 passes for 3,025 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions on 41 carries for 109 yards. The Raiders went 2-13 in his 15 starts and 3-14 overall, as The Athletic reported after the season.

The Jets finished 3-14 in 2025, last in the AFC East, per StatMuse. They have not made the playoffs since the 2010 season, a drought ESPN framed as 15 years after last season. Their last AFC East title came in 2002. They have now posted 10 straight losing records, from 2016 through 2025.

Week 1 is on the road. New York plays the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET at Nissan Stadium, on CBS, according to NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.

That game will decide more about Geno’s return than any clip about his cousin. Jeremiah Smith can wait until 2027. The Jets cannot. They need the veteran who just called a college receiver the best ever to play like a quarterback who still belongs in this building.

Stan Kroenke is adding baseball to a sports portfolio that already includes the Los Angeles Rams. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment announced Tuesday that it has agreed to buy a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno, with the sale expected to close in the first quarter of 2027 if Major League Baseball owners approve it, according to ESPN.

The purchase price was not listed in the team release. Multiple outlets, citing league sources, put the valuation at $4 billion, which would set an MLB record and edge the San Diego Padres’ recent $3.9 billion sale. The Athletic first reported that figure, and the Los Angeles Times independently confirmed the same valuation through a person with knowledge of the deal.

Kroenke, 79, built his fortune in real estate. Forbes now lists his net worth at $24.3 billion. Through KSE he already controls the Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, MLS’s Colorado Rapids, the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth, Arsenal F.C. and Arsenal W.F.C. Baseball was the missing American major-league piece. He tried for the Dodgers more than a decade ago and came up short. The Angels give him a Southern California foothold in Orange County, not just Inglewood.

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market. We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”

Stan Kroenke, in the KSE statement published Sept. 1

Why Moreno sold, and what Kroenke actually inherits

Moreno bought the club from The Walt Disney Co. in 2003 for about $184 million, as reported by USA TODAY. He will keep a minority stake. The exact percentage has not been disclosed. MLB.com said the 23-year run produced six division titles early on, then a long slide.

The Angels have not reached the postseason since 2014. They finished 72-90 in 2025, last in the American League West. This season they entered Friday’s series opener in Pittsburgh at 53-87, again last in the division, with the longest active playoff drought in the majors. Mike Trout is still here. Shohei Ohtani is not. The two-way star left for the Dodgers after 2023, and Anaheim never converted those prime years into October baseball.

That gap is the job. Kroenke’s other clubs have delivered titles: Super Bowl LVI with the Rams, a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche, an NBA championship with the Nuggets, and a Premier League crown with Arsenal in 2025-26. Those results do not transfer automatically to a last-place roster. They do change the checkbook and the front-office mandate.

Trout’s first reaction, reported by the Los Angeles Times, was blunt: “Wherever he buys, he wins.” That is a player talking about a track record, not a guarantee for 2027.

Magic Johnson’s prediction, and the approval path still ahead

Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a Dodgers part-owner and a longtime Los Angeles civic voice, posted his congratulations on Thursday. He called Kroenke a “good friend” and listed the Rams, Avalanche and Nuggets titles before writing that he expects the same result in Anaheim. Johnson posted on X: “Stan has been a winner with his current teams… I’m sure he will do the same with the Angels.” —

I want to congratulate my good friend Stan Kroenke on becoming the new owner of MLB’s Los Angeles Angels! Stan has been a winner with his current teams – a Super Bowl Championship with the Rams, a Stanley Cup Championship with the Avalanche, and an NBA Championship with the…

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 3, 2026

The deal is not final. MLB.com laid out the process: the league’s ownership committee reviews the finances, then owners vote. Approval requires 75 percent, or 23 of 29 clubs. Team president Molly Jolly and interim general manager John Mozeliak have said day-to-day operations stay the same until closing. Mozeliak also said the new owner will eventually set the direction of the baseball operations search.

The stadium file may matter as much as the roster. Anaheim owns Angel Stadium and the surrounding land. The current lease runs through Dec. 31, 2032, with options that could stretch the stay through 2038. Kroenke’s pattern at Hollywood Park was to control the real estate around the building, not just the team inside it. Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has already said the sale reopens talk of a land deal, per reporting summarized by the Sports Business Journal. That is city politics, not a signed development plan.

For Rams fans, the story is simpler. The same owner who moved the franchise back to Los Angeles and built SoFi Stadium now owns the other major club in the market that is not the Dodgers. Cross-sport ownership does not create a shared roster. It does create a shared Southern California business machine, from Inglewood to Orange County, pending that owners’ vote next year.

Lane Kiffin’s first LSU roster fight just moved from rumor to the courthouse. East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction Thursday night that gives more than 40 athletes, including former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, a fifth year of eligibility, according to The Athletic. Both players told reporters they expect LSU to list them on Friday’s roster, with No. 11 LSU opening Saturday night against Clemson at Tiger Stadium.

Wright spent camp with the Cleveland Browns after an undrafted stop with the Philadelphia Eagles. Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints and was waived in August. A Louisiana court had already given the Class of 2022 group temporary cover. Thursday’s order converted that protection into a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and the SEC, On3 reported. Jorden also barred LSU from using the threat of conference sanctions as a reason to keep the players off the team.

The timing is brutal. LSU has to submit its 105-man roster by Friday night. Kickoff against Clemson is Saturday on ABC. Wright said after the hearing that he wants the college uniform back on. “Just putting on a college uniform again,” Wright told reporters, per The Athletic.

SEC sues LSU and Kiffin the same day

The conference did not wait for the ruling to land. While Greg Sankey testified in Baton Rouge, the SEC filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Alabama against LSU, Kiffin, athletic director Verge Ausberry, and university president Wade Rousse, according to the Associated Press. The league wants an injunction that would stop LSU from putting former NFL contract players on an SEC roster.

SEC presidents had voted last week to bar athletes who signed with the NFL, NBA, or WNBA. The threatened penalties, reported across multiple outlets, include a fine equal to half a sport’s budget and a half-season suspension for the head coach. After Jorden ruled, the conference said it disagreed. “We disagree with the court’s decision,” the SEC said in a statement published by On3.

That is the confirmed legal picture as of Friday morning. Whether a federal judge in Alabama later undercuts the Louisiana order remains unresolved. Treat any claim that LSU will be fined or that Kiffin will be suspended as speculation until a court or the league actually imposes it.

Blake Cotton is a target, not a signed Tiger

Wright and Harris are not the last names on Kiffin’s board. Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported overnight that LSU is working to add former Utah and Denver Broncos cornerback Blake Cotton. A deal is not finalized. Obstacles remain before he can go on the roster. Zenitz posted on X: “LSU is working to add ex-Utah and Denver Broncos cornerback Blake Cotton” —

LSU is working to add ex-Utah and Denver Broncos cornerback Blake Cotton, sources tell @CBSSports.

Not finalized and there are still things being worked through before he can be added to the roster but he’s a target. Spent the offseason with the Broncos before being released in… pic.twitter.com/miN6jrvuf8

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 4, 2026

Cotton started his college career at UC Davis, then started eight games for Utah in 2025. He finished with 22 solo tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and seven passes defended, per ESPN. The Broncos signed him as an undrafted free agent and waived him in August. Court filings earlier listed him among the Louisiana plaintiffs seeking a roster spot at a Division I school in the state, The Times-Picayune/The Advocate reported. That is not the same thing as an LSU signing. Until LSU announces him, Cotton stays in the reported-but-unconfirmed bucket.

Why Kiffin keeps pushing the door

The NCAA changed eligibility this summer to five seasons in five years. It did not grandfather the high school Class of 2022. Players who had already used four seasons, then signed NFL deals, got left on the wrong side of the line. State-court injunctions filled the gap. That is the legal hook Kiffin has used since late August, when he told reporters the players would “play for you or they’re going to play somewhere else around the country,” a line carried by Reuters.

The football reason is simpler. Wright gives Kiffin a second proven tight end next to Trey’Dez Green, which lets LSU live in 12 personnel and stress Clemson’s linebackers in the passing game. Harris, listed around 6-foot-8, is an interior run-fit for a defensive line that still needed a veteran body. Cotton, at 6-2, fits the tall-corner profile LSU secondary coach Corey Raymond has used for years and would add depth behind DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland if the paperwork closes.

Saturday is the catch. Wright told ESPN he has practiced two days this week and plans to play. Harris said he needs time and is pointing toward the Sept. 19 trip to Ole Miss. An earlier AP account noted the NCAA’s seven-day acclimatization protocol could still block a Week 1 appearance even if the court clears eligibility. LSU has not confirmed who will dress. Wright’s Saturday status should be treated as his stated intent, not a locked lineup card.

Kiffin has not slowed down because the SEC is angry. He met with team leaders before bringing recent pros into the building and said the players in the room wanted help if it could win games, per the AP. That matches the way he has coached the portal since he left Oxford: take the available player, dare the league to stop it, keep recruiting while the lawyers talk.

Friday’s roster submission is the next hard fact. If Wright and Harris are on it, LSU has accepted the court order and the federal case that comes with it. If Cotton’s name appears, the Tigers will have turned a late August rumor into a third ex-NFL addition in the same window. If any of those names are missing, the injunction still stands, and the fight moves to Alabama.

Bijan Robinson wanted Drake London’s jersey. He said so out loud this week, nine days before the Atlanta Falcons open the 2026 season in Pittsburgh.

The request was not new. Robinson wore No. 5 at Texas. London, drafted a year earlier, already had that number in Atlanta. In a camp interview later clipped by NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Robinson described the text he sent after the Falcons took him eighth overall in 2023.

“Yo, Drake, can I get number five?”

Bijan Robinson, to Jordan Schultz

London did not slam the door. Robinson said his teammate told him to “let me see about something.” The number never moved. London still wears No. 5. Robinson still wears No. 7. The official roster published this week lists them that way on AtlantaFalcons.com.

How Robinson landed on No. 7

The backup plan required two conversations. According to The Athletic, kicker Younghoe Koo held No. 7 in 2022. Robinson asked for it. Koo agreed. The coaching staff also checked with Michael Vick, the most famous No. 7 in franchise history, before handing the jersey over.

Robinson told the team site at the time that he picked seven because it is “a biblical number,” per AtlantaFalcons.com. He also said he hoped to “wear it the right way.” Three seasons later, London is the one selling the lineage.

In the same Schultz sit-down, London tied Robinson’s number to Vick and to the look of the uniform itself. See No. 7 in red and black, he said, and wrap your ankles. He compared that Falcons line to the Cowboys’ long run of receivers in No. 88. The point was not history class. It was a compliment dressed as a warning.

Schultz first recorded the conversation at training camp in August, then posted the numbers exchange on Sept. 3. The full sit-down is on his channel from that camp visit

I went to #Falcons camp and sat down with Bijan Robinson and Drake London together for 30 minutes!

🔴The 2026 Falcons
⚫️Their mega extensions
🔴New coaching staff
⚫️Plenty of fun banter!

This went in a lot of different directions!

📺 WATCH NOW: https://t.co/sBpaf3sgYB

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 21, 2026

The numbers on the field now match the ones on their backs

The joke works because both players produce. Robinson finished 2025 with 287 carries for 1,478 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns, plus 79 catches for 820 yards and four receiving scores, per his NFL.com career stat line. That 2,298 yards from scrimmage led the league and set a Falcons record, the team noted when he made the AP All-Pro first team.

London missed time and still posted 68 receptions for 919 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games, according to NFL.com. The per-game clip (76.6 receiving yards) was a career high. The Falcons just did not have him for a full season.

Those individual lines did not buy January football. Atlanta finished 8-9 in 2024 and 8-9 again in 2025. The last playoff game was a 2017 divisional loss, and the last NFC South title came in 2016, per the franchise’s season record on Wikipedia’s Falcons seasons list and Champs or Chumps. That is an eight-season playoff gap and a nine-season division-title gap heading into Week 1.

This is where the jersey story stops being trivia. London is the fixed point in the passing game. Robinson is the offense’s volume engine — runs, screens, checkdowns, the third-down dump that turns into 15 yards because a linebacker takes a bad angle. If Atlanta is going to break that 8-9 loop, those two have to stay on the field together more often than they did last fall.

The next test is on the road. The Falcons visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, per the NFL.com 2026 team schedule.

Robinson never got No. 5. He got the number Vick made famous, a running mate who would not give his college digits away, and a season that starts in nine days. The text did not change the jerseys. The tape now has to change the record.

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans used a charity night in his own city to draw a hard line before Week 1. The talking is over. The Buffalo Bills arrive Sunday, Sept. 13.

Ryans spoke Thursday at the team’s annual Season Premiere event at the Houston Methodist Training Center, an evening the club framed as a 25th-season fundraiser for the Houston Texans Foundation. The team’s event page listed a 6 p.m. start, a red-carpet entrance, and chairs that included Hannah McNair and Jamila Ryans. KPRC 2 Texans reporter Aaron Wilson, on site for the night, posted the coach’s message from the room.

I’m proud of the group we have. I think we have a really strong team this year. Now, it’s time for us to stop all the talking and go show people what we’re all about. So I’m excited for kickoff vs. Buffalo next week.

https://x.com/AaronWilson_NFL/status/2095658980064338314

Wilson also posted video of owner Cal McNair and Hannah McNair at the same Methodist training-center event. —

#Texans Cal McNair, Hannah McNair at annual season premiere charity event tonight at Methodist @MethodistHosp training center@KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/mbwz3drVfu

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 3, 2026

What Ryans is actually asking this team to prove

This is Year 4 for Ryans as Houston’s head coach. The regular-season ledger is already the best in franchise history: 32-19, with at least 10 wins in each of his first three seasons, per Football Database. The postseason mark is 3-3. Every January has ended in the same room. Houston has won a wild-card game under Ryans each year, then lost the AFC Divisional Round — to Baltimore in 2023, Kansas City in 2024, and New England in 2025.

The franchise still has never reached an AFC Championship Game. Pro-Football-Reference lists Houston 0-7 all-time in the divisional round.

Last season raised the floor and left the same ceiling. Houston finished 12-5 and made the playoffs for a third straight year, a franchise first, as The Associated Press reported in December. The Jaguars took the division at 13-4. The Texans entered as the AFC’s No. 5 seed, beat Pittsburgh 30-6 on the road in the wild-card round, then fell 28-16 at New England, according to the 2025 season record.

A fourth straight playoff trip in 2026 would be another first. Houston’s previous streaks never stretched past three seasons.

Why the defense can carry Week 1 — and why it may not be enough in January

The unit Ryans built is the reason Houston stays in every conversation. In 2025 the Texans allowed 277.2 yards per game, fewest in the NFL, and 17.4 points per game, second in the league, the Houston Chronicle reported in its end-of-season defensive review. Will Anderson Jr. and Derek Stingley Jr. both made first-team All-Pro. That group is why analysts can talk about a Super Bowl window without sounding reckless.

The offense is the other half of Ryans’ Thursday sentence. Two days earlier, after roster cuts, Wilson relayed Ryans saying the offense has to go show it, not describe it. — unconfirmed exact status ID not reused Wait I should NOT include a fake tweet. I don’t have the exact Sept 2 tweet ID for the offense quote in a clean captured ID from the tool except fragments. Skip that claim with a link. I already have the Sept 2 content in search snippets without a stable status ID I fully captured. Do not invent. Drop the Sept 2 offense tweet link.

Correction in final: I will not include the Sept 2 tweet URL since I don’t have a verified status ID from the tool results (the snippets mentioned the quote but not a reliable ID I copied). Phrase without that link.

Rewriting that paragraph cleanly in the published body below.The Week 1 opponent is not a soft landing. Buffalo also went 12-5 last season and made the playoffs. Houston hosts at 1 p.m. ET (noon CT) on CBS, the Texans’ official schedule and the NFL.com team schedule both list. The club announced in May that this is only the second season-opening meeting with Buffalo in franchise history, and the first since 2005, per the Texans’ schedule release.

Some of the night in Houston was not about scheme at all. Local station KHOU 11 aired Ryans on Thursday talking through the team’s Rivalries uniforms, saying his Houston-born wife had to explain what “Houston blue” means to the city, and that his kids were already fired up about the gear. That is the version of Ryans the charity crowd sees: a former Texans linebacker who still lives in the market he coaches.

The next test is simpler than the speeches. Josh Allen and Buffalo walk into Reliant Stadium in nine days. Houston’s defense has spent three years proving it belongs on that stage. The question Ryans put on the table Thursday is whether the rest of the roster will meet it.

Houston still has C.J. Stroud under team control through 2027. That is why the Texans can wait. The quarterback’s camp can wait, too. With nine days left before the season opener, general manager Nick Caserio made the waiting official.

Speaking Tuesday, Caserio said extension talks with Stroud will not roll into the regular season. “If we don’t get it figured out before the season starts, then it’ll be something we address in the offseason,” he told reporters, according to ESPN. Houston opens Sept. 13 against the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium, per the league schedule listed by FOX Sports.

That line is the wall. It is not a denial that talks happened. It is a calendar.

What Caserio actually said — and what he would not

Caserio described the spring and summer conversations as productive. He did not put a dollar figure on the table. He did not confirm or deny any specific offer. Reuters quoted him saying the sides will “either get it figured out before the season starts,” and if they do not, the file moves to next offseason.

That matches the posture he took when camp opened July 29. He called the discussions productive then, too, and said there was a “possibility” a deal could come together, according to ESPN. KHOU’s Luis Ortiz posted video from that session in which Caserio said the club was taking the situation “one day at a time” —

Caserio talks about CJ Stroud’s contract status and expectations heading into the season “we don’t known what’s going to happen. Taking it one day at a time” #texans @KHOU pic.twitter.com/TAGRorjILR

— Luis Ortiz (@OrtizSportsTV) July 29, 2026

The team already bought time in April. Houston picked up Stroud’s fifth-year option for 2027, a move first reported by ESPN’s Field Yates and detailed by ESPN. That option is fully guaranteed at about $25.9 million. The Texans do not need a new contract to keep him on the roster this year or next.

The $50 million report, carefully framed

The money talk is coming from reporting, not from an official term sheet. On Sept. 2, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote that several people with knowledge of the situation believe Stroud is prepared to play 2026 without a new deal “despite Houston making what it considered a competitive offer.” Fowler added that, in his understanding, the Texans are prepared to place Stroud “in what it feels is a strong place among the 12 quarterbacks in the $50 million club.”

That is reported, not confirmed by the club. No public document shows a signed offer, a rejected counter, or an exact average annual value. Pro Football Rumors, citing Fowler and the Houston Chronicle, said the sides are “not far off” on value and that neither party is rushing to close before kickoff.

Stroud has kept the business talk off his own plate. At camp he said, “You have to keep the main thing the main thing,” according to ESPN. Football got him to the second-contract conversation, he said. Football is what he intends to play.

Where $50 million sits in today’s quarterback market

Sports Illustrated’s Jared Koch mapped the current tiers after Fowler’s report. Five quarterbacks sit in the $51 million to $53 million range. Five more are at $55 million a year: Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence and Matthew Stafford. Only Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott have crossed $60 million, Koch wrote.

Those comps matter because they explain the leverage on both sides. Houston already paid Will Anderson Jr., drafted one pick after Stroud in 2023, a three-year, $150 million extension that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, Reuters reported. The front office has shown it will spend on core players. It has not shown it will spend at the top of the quarterback board before it sees another regular season from Stroud.

Salary figures above are drawn from reporting by USA Today and Sports Illustrated. They are market context, not the Texans’ offer sheet.

Why Houston can wait — and why Stroud might, too

The scheme argument cuts both ways. Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 and has taken Houston to the divisional round in each of his three seasons. ESPN lists him at 28 regular-season wins since 2023, 10,876 passing yards and 62 touchdown passes. That résumé is why a $50 million conversation exists at all.

The other tape is the January tape. Stroud threw four interceptions in a 28-16 divisional-round loss at New England, a result confirmed in multiple game reports including FOX Sports. He also turned the ball over in the wild-card win over Pittsburgh. Those two weeks are why Caserio can pick up a $25.9 million option and still decline to lock in a long-term number before Week 1.

Fowler’s analysis is the cleanest read of the bet. If Stroud waits six to eight months and plays well, an expanding quarterback market can do the negotiating for him. If he repeats last January, Houston’s patience looks like discipline. That is speculation based on the reporting. It is not a prediction dressed up as fact.

The human piece is simpler. Stroud has said he is leaving the numbers to agent David Mulugheta. Caserio has said the club talks to a lot of players the same way. Neither man is performing urgency in public. Camp chatter in Houston this summer was about Stroud’s leaner frame and pocket work, not about a signing press conference, as ESPN detailed in late August.

Until Sept. 13, a deal remains possible. After kickoff, Caserio has already told everyone where the file goes.

The Washington Commanders offensive line is the problem that follows Jayden Daniels into Week 1. Nine days before Washington opens at Philadelphia, the unit that is supposed to keep him upright sits last in Pro Football Focus’s 2026 rankings. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil is on injured reserve. The five men projected to start have barely worked together. And the first two games are on the road against the Eagles and Cowboys.

That is not a secret inside Ashburn. General manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn have spent the last week selling the next-man-up version of the same group. Outside the building, the grades and the snap counts tell a harder story.

Tunsil’s injury flipped the Commanders offensive line overnight

Tunsil tore his triceps in an Aug. 8 training-camp one-on-one against Odafe Oweh, according to The Athletic and ESPN. Surgery followed. Recovery for that injury typically runs four to seven months. Washington placed him on injured reserve on Aug. 31, a move NBC Sports reported leaves a late-season return possible but far from likely.

Adam Schefter posted the transaction on X: “Commanders placed DT Jer’Zhan Newton and T Laremy Tunsil on injured reserve.” —

Commanders placed DT Jer’Zhan Newton and T Laremy Tunsil on injured reserve.

Commanders re-signed CB Fabian Moreau and DT Shy Tuttle.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 31, 2026

Washington had just made Tunsil the first $30 million-a-year offensive lineman on a two-year, $60.2 million extension. The plan was simple: put a five-time Pro Bowler on Daniels’ blind side after a 2025 season in which the quarterback was limited to seven starts by a knee sprain, a hamstring strain and a dislocated left elbow, as detailed by The Athletic. That plan is gone.

PFF’s Gordon McGuinness moved Washington from a projected top-20 line with Tunsil to No. 32 without him. “Before the injury to left tackle Laremy Tunsil, this was a group set to rank just inside the top 20,” he wrote on Aug. 12. “But the loss of Tunsil for a significant amount of time is a huge blow to the group.”

What the Commanders are starting in front of Daniels

The projected Week 1 five, per PFF and Washington’s post-cut roster, is Brandon Coleman at left tackle, Chris Paul at left guard, Nick Allegretti at center, Sam Cosmi at right guard and Josh Conerly Jr. at right tackle.

Coleman is the cleanest internal answer. He started most of 2024 at left tackle on the team that reached the NFC Championship Game, then slid inside when Tunsil arrived, according to The Athletic. He is not Tunsil. In 474 pass-blocking snaps as a rookie he allowed 30 pressures and nine sacks, per PFF figures cited in that same report. Washington is asking him to hide a Pro Bowl hole against Philadelphia’s edge rush in 10 days.

Allegretti is the other swing piece. He missed nearly all of camp with a calf injury, returned this week and told 7News he has stacked good days. The team still lists him as the starter. The concern is chemistry, not the press-conference line. Centers call the protection. A center who missed the summer does that work in real time against Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith.

Conerly is the second-year bet. His 59.9 overall PFF grade in 2025 was acceptable for a first-round rookie who faced Micah Parsons and Maxx Crosby early, per his PFF player page. It was not a finished product. He allowed eight sacks and 43 total pressures. Washington needs a jump. It does not have Tunsil next to him to cover the mistakes.

Peters and Quinn are selling the group they have

After final cuts, Peters pointed to snap counts instead of new names. “First, losing LT was a big deal, but very fortunate to have Brandon, who’s played a lot of snaps out there at left tackle,” he said in remarks transcribed by Sports Illustrated.

Quinn struck the same note on the right side and on Allegretti’s return. He also praised rookie reserve center Matt Gulbin as a “tough competitor” who has stopped repeating mistakes. Gulbin is depth. He is not the starter on a line PFF just ranked last.

Washington did not replace Tyler Biadasz with a high-end free-agent center. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, cited in March, listed the Commanders among the teams expected to chase Tyler Linderbaum. Linderbaum signed a three-year, $81 million deal with the Raiders, per The Athletic. Peters later declined to relitigate that market. A later “handshake agreement” claim circulated in August; that remains unconfirmed, single-source rumor.

Right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. waved off the noise this week in an interview with Scott Abraham of ABC 7, published by Commanders Wire. “I think it’s a huge misconception because I know how much we work,” he said. He argued the public only saw a handful of starter snaps in the Lions preseason game and the Ravens joint practice.

He is right about the sample. He is wrong if the argument is that extra work separates this line from everyone else. Every NFL starting five works. The question is whether this five can pass off stunts and set a firm pocket before Sept. 13.

Why this matchup is larger than a ranking

Daniels does not need a pretty line. He needs a line that does not put him on the ground. In 2025, several of his injuries arrived after pressure collapsed the pocket or after he scrambled to escape it. A year later, Washington is asking a reconstructed front to open a season against two fronts that win with speed off the edge and violence inside.

On-site reporting from the Ravens joint practice described the offense as stuck, with the interior rotating while Cosmi sat and Allegretti was out, per The Athletic’s Sept. 3 mailbag. That was a practice. It was also the last long look at a group that still has not logged a full dress rehearsal with its projected starters.

The scheme asks the line to be clean in the run game and on play-action. New coordinator David Blough wants more under-center work and more designed answers so Daniels is not forced to create every first down. Those answers die if the first two steps up front lose.

Peters said this week the club is not afraid to add someone if the right player appears. That is the honest tell. Washington is walking into Lincoln Financial Field with the line it has, not the line it paid for in March. The ranking is last. The protection for Daniels is the season.

The Las Vegas Raiders added former New York Giants first-round pick Evan Neal to the practice squad Thursday, giving the 25-year-old guard a new landing spot four days after New York cut him.

The club also signed former Giants defensive end Azeez Ojulari and former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Ronnie Bell, according to the team’s official transactions list. Las Vegas released defensive end Jahfari Harvey, tackle Kamar Missouri and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. from the practice squad to open the spots. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the three additions on X: “Raiders signed former Saints WR Ronnie Bell, former Giants G Evan Neal and former Giants DE Azeez Ojulari to their practice squad.” —

Raiders signed former Saints WR Ronnie Bell, former Giants G Evan Neal and former Giants DE Azeez Ojulari to their practice squad.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2026

The Raiders’ current roster page lists Neal, Bell and Ojulari on the practice squad. The moves come nine days before Las Vegas hosts the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 13 at 4:25 p.m. ET, per the NFL’s 2026 schedule.

How Neal went from No. 7 overall to the practice squad

The Giants selected Neal seventh overall in the 2022 draft out of Alabama, according to Pro-Football-Reference. He is not a seventh-round pick. He started 13 regular-season games at right tackle as a rookie and also started both of New York’s playoff games that winter.

The rest of the run never matched the draft slot. Neal started seven games in 2023 and seven more in 2024. New York moved him inside to guard before the 2025 season, but he did not play a regular-season snap. The Giants placed him on injured reserve in November 2025 with a hamstring injury, per contract and injury records compiled by Spotrac. His Giants ledger closed at 29 games and 27 starts, all at tackle.

New York declined Neal’s fifth-year option in 2025, then brought him back on a one-year veteran-minimum deal in March 2026. The Giants’ transaction log shows the team released him on Aug. 30 during final cuts. He will not play in the John Harbaugh era in New York. Harbaugh is the Giants’ head coach after New York hired him in January, as documented by public coaching records.

According to NBC Sports, Neal has not played since 2024. That is confirmed fact, not rumor. Whether another team can get useful interior snaps from him remains an open football question.

Why Las Vegas made the call

The Raiders hosted a large tryout group Thursday before keeping three players, NBC Sports reported. Pro Football Rumors noted that Las Vegas already carried nine offensive linemen on the 53-man roster and that practice-squad blockers Niklas Henning and Will Putnam have little NFL experience. The starting five is healthy right now. The signing reads as injury insurance, not a starter change.

That matters with Kirk Cousins opening the season under center. Head coach Klint Kubiak named Cousins the Week 1 starter on Wednesday over No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, NFL.com reported. Kubiak said Cousins “played really good football” and that he “earned it” after camp.

A 6-foot-7, 340-pound former first-rounder who can slide between tackle and guard gives the staff a different body type if a starter goes down. Practice-squad players can be elevated two times per week under current NFL roster rules. Neal still has to earn those elevations. Nothing in the official announcement places him on the 53-man roster.

Ojulari fills a different hole. The Giants took him in the second round in 2021. He spent 2025 with the Philadelphia Eagles and signed with Atlanta in March before the Falcons waived him at cuts, per the Falcons’ roster announcement. NBC Sports listed his career line at 49 games, 113 tackles, 22 sacks and 38 quarterback hits. Las Vegas has already placed rookie defensive end Keyron Crawford on injured reserve, which helps explain the look at veteran edge depth.

Bell is the third piece. San Francisco drafted him in the seventh round in 2023. He finished last season with the Saints and owns 10 catches for 113 yards and four touchdowns in 28 career games, according to NFL.com.

None of the three is a finished answer. Neal’s tape in New York showed a massive frame that too often lost leverage and collected penalties. The move to guard never reached a regular-season snap. Las Vegas is betting the problem was fit and health as much as talent. That is analysis, not a medical claim. The only confirmed medical item on the 2025 season is the hamstring that put him on injured reserve.

For now, Neal’s job is to practice, stay available and wait for a roster ripple. The Dolphins game will not wait with him. If the Raiders need an extra body on the line in September, the former No. 7 pick is on the building. That is the entire opportunity.

Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift left Thursday’s practice after a late carry and walked off holding his midsection. Reporters on site described him as being in significant discomfort. Hours later, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the issue as a cramp, not a structural injury.

The scare landed nine days before Chicago opens the 2026 season at Carolina. Swift is the lead back in Ben Johnson’s offense. His primary complement, Kyle Monangai, is already week-to-week with a hyperextended right knee.

What happened at Thursday’s practice

The session ran a little more than two hours at Halas Hall. The Bears even stepped into the air-conditioned Walter Payton Center for a 10-minute break meant to mimic halftime, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Swift’s exit came near the end of a full-team period. Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune reported that Swift took a first-and-10 carry from the offense’s own 1-yard line, then came off the field holding his midsection or core. Dan Wiederer of The Athletic, cited across multiple outlets including Bears Wire, wrote that Swift appeared to be in “significant discomfort.”

Schefter followed with the first diagnostic update. He posted that Swift, “who left Thursday’s practice and was said to be in significant discomfort, was said to be experiencing ‘a cramp’, per sources.”

Bears RB D'Andre Swift, who left Thursday’s practice and was said to be in significant discomfort, was said to be experiencing “a cramp”, per sources. pic.twitter.com/SVfRslTmAf

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2026

That is reported, not confirmed by the club. The Bears have not issued an official statement. Johnson is not scheduled to meet with reporters again until next week, and the first league-required injury report arrives Wednesday, Sept. 9, per Bears Wire.

Rome Odunze also left the same practice with an apparent right-leg issue. Wiederer indicated preliminary signs pointed toward Odunze being all right. That remains unconfirmed by the team as well.

Why a cramp still matters in this backfield

A cramp is the best version of this story. Soft-tissue tightness can still linger into game week, and Chicago cannot treat Swift as a luxury piece.

Monangai hyperextended his right knee in an Aug. 16 practice and has been week-to-week since Johnson confirmed the timeline, ESPN reported. If both backs are limited Sept. 13, the next option is Roschon Johnson, who finished last season with almost no rushing volume.

Johnson kept Swift off the preseason field. Game logs show Swift did not play against Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Tennessee, per The Football Database. The point was to protect a healthy starter. Thursday was the first real health scare of his camp.

That camp had been loud in the right way. On Day 12, Swift broke a 62-yard touchdown down the right sideline against the second-team defense, the Sun-Times reported. Caleb Williams said then he was excited for Swift “whether it’s passing or short yardage and running downhill,” according to CBS Sports.

Johnson later said Swift looked as good as he has at this point in a year and called him “primed for a big year,” per Bears Wire.

Those 2025 numbers, listed by NFL.com and the Bears, were career highs on the ground. Chicago won the NFC North at 11-6, beat Green Bay 31-27 in the wild-card round, and lost to the Rams 20-17 in overtime in the divisional round, per the 2025 season record.

Swift signed a three-year, $24 million deal in March 2024, The Associated Press reported. This is the final year of that contract. In February he said he wanted to stay in Chicago, and general manager Ryan Poles said this week an extension is “something we need to look at,” according to NFL Trade Rumors, citing USA Today’s Randy Holt.

What it means for Week 1 at Carolina

The Bears play the Panthers on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium, per the NFL schedule.

Johnson’s run game last season lived on complementary work: Swift as the featured back, Monangai as the physical changeup. Take either man out and the first-down math changes. Carolina does not have to guess as much on early downs. Williams then has to win more snaps from empty or obvious passing looks.

A cramp can clear in a day. It can also tighten again once full pads and two-minute periods return. Until the Bears put Swift on an official report, the honest read is this: the early diagnosis is encouraging, the timing is not, and the depth chart behind him is thinner than Chicago wanted nine days from kickoff.

The Las Vegas Raiders added another body to a thin wide receiver group Thursday, signing former San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints wideout Ronnie Bell to the practice squad nine days before they open the season against the Miami Dolphins. The club confirmed the move on its official transactions log, listing Bell with former New York Giants guard Evan Neal and former Giants defensive end Azeez Ojulari.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter first reported the three practice-squad signings on X: “Raiders signed former Saints WR Ronnie Bell, former Giants G Evan Neal and former Giants DE Azeez Ojulari to their practice squad.” —

Raiders signed former Saints WR Ronnie Bell, former Giants G Evan Neal and former Giants DE Azeez Ojulari to their practice squad.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2026

This is a depth add, not a Week 1 starter announcement. Bell is not on the 53-man roster. NFL rules let teams elevate two practice-squad players for a game each week, so Las Vegas can put him in a helmet against Miami if an injury or a matchup calls for it. Until that happens, he is extra work in practice for four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins.

What Bell actually brings Cousins

The 26-year-old Michigan product is not the volume receiver some early reports made him out to be. Official NFL.com career stats show 10 catches for 113 yards and four touchdowns in 28 games. His Saints production last season was two receptions for 23 yards and one score in two games, not a larger seven-catch line.

The 2023 tape is why the Raiders took a look. As a seventh-round pick under Kyle Shanahan, Bell scored three times on six catches. He knows the timing of a West Coast-style passing game, the same family of offense first-year Raiders coach Klint Kubiak learned in Minnesota and Seattle. Last year in New Orleans, Bell spent a short stretch in head coach Kellen Moore’s system before the Saints waived him on Aug. 29, per the club’s roster announcement.

According to NBC Sports, the Raiders worked out 16 players Thursday at Intermountain Health Performance Center and kept three. In corresponding moves, Las Vegas released defensive end Jahfari Harvey, tackle Kamar Missouri and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. from the practice squad.

Why Las Vegas is still shopping the perimeter

Cousins won the job over No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza this week. Kubiak said Wednesday, per NFL.com, “Kirk’s had a really good offseason, very good camp and he’s earned it.” Cousins starts Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium against Jeff Hafley’s Dolphins.

The receiver room behind him is young and banged up. Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech, Malik Benson and Dareke Young are the healthy names on the 53. Second-year wideout Dont’e Thornton Jr. is on injured reserve and will miss at least the first four games, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported after final cuts. After the second preseason game, Kubiak said the staff was “still looking” for a receiver who can be counted on on Sundays, according to The Athletic.

Las Vegas did not land a splash free-agent wideout. Stefon Diggs signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders in August, The Athletic reported. Deebo Samuel returned to the 49ers on a one-year contract worth up to $7 million after Ricky Pearsall’s knee injury, an AP source said. The Raiders’ biggest offseason receiver addition remains Nailor’s three-year deal.

That is the context for Bell. He is a special-teams and scout-team option who has scored in the red zone when given a clean look. He is not a replacement for a missing No. 1 wideout. Tight end Brock Bowers remains the offense’s most reliable target. If Bell sees the field in Week 1, it will be because Kubiak used one of two weekly elevations, not because the depth chart suddenly changed.

Miami arrives in a reset year under Hafley, who the Dolphins hired in January after firing Mike McDaniel, the AP reported. Both first-year coaches will spend the next week deciding which practice-squad names are worth a gameday jersey. In Henderson this week, Bell is one of those names.

Cleveland’s quarterback room still draws questions 11 days before the regular-season opener. Assistant general manager Catherine Hickman faced one of them Wednesday and chose not to answer it.

Asked whether the Browns had received any trade offers for their quarterbacks, Hickman said, “Not that I will comment on.” She later added that the topic belonged to general manager Andrew Berry. The exchange, first reported by Mary Kay Cabot and detailed by Bleacher Report, immediately circulated among fans already unhappy with the team’s direction.

The Browns carry three quarterbacks on the active 53-man roster: starter Deshaun Watson, backup Shedeur Sanders and rookie Taylen Green. Second-year passer Dillon Gabriel sits on injured reserve with a back injury and a designation to return, according to the team’s official announcement. That IR move lets Cleveland keep all four arms in the building without using four roster spots. Watson won the job after an open competition with Sanders that new coach Todd Monken settled in late August.

Keeping four quarterbacks is uncommon. Most teams prefer to use the extra spot on a specialist or extra lineman. Cleveland’s choice looks like a hedge. Watson is in the final year of a massive contract that makes him nearly impossible to move. Sanders and Gabriel remain on inexpensive rookie deals through 2028. Green, a sixth-round pick out of Arkansas, offers size and running ability that the staff likes for gadget plays and short-yardage work.

Gabriel’s strong showing against New England in the preseason finale raised the possibility he could have drawn interest if healthy. Instead he will miss at least the first four games. Some around the league have viewed both Sanders and Gabriel as potential trade chips if another team needs a young backup. Hickman’s non-answer left that door cracked, even if she pointed the question upstairs.

The same press conference produced a separate flashpoint. Hickman wore a distressed gray sweatshirt that read “Los Angeles Made Me Do It.” Fans immediately connected the wording to the June 1 trade that sent Myles Garrett to the Rams for Jared Verse plus draft picks, a deal the Browns announced in an official release. The reaction on X was blunt.

JayyBiird15 posted: “Who decides she should be put in front of the press?”

Who decides she should be put in front of the press? 😂

— Jay #ExileBerry/Haslam (@JayyBiird15) September 2, 2026

TheRyanStanko wrote that the franchise looked like a joke after the outfit choice. —

This is your assistant GM. An idiot wearing a Los Angeles Made Me Do It sweatshirt with knife cuts all over it. This franchise is such a fucking joke

— Ryan James (@TheRyanStanko) September 3, 2026

JabroniFromCLE added: “jesus christ take the mic away from her.” —

jesus christ take the mic away from her

— JabroniFromCLE (@JabroniFromCLE) September 2, 2026

WillofthePeepo asked whether Hickman was the assistant GM or the GM’s assistant. —

Is she the Assistant GM or the GMs Assistant 🤣

— Will of the People (@WillofthePeepo) September 2, 2026

Rapidreactionz said he could be an NFL GM after watching the session.

Damn, I really could be a NFL GM at this rate, after seeing this shit

— Rapid Reactionz (@rapidreactionz) September 2, 2026

Hickman joined the Browns in 2022 as assistant general manager and vice president of football operations after four seasons with the Eagles, where she rose from football operations coordinator to vice president. She previously worked in the CFL. Her role includes roster construction and player-acquisition strategy, which placed her in the conversations that produced the Garrett deal.

No trade has been confirmed. Watson’s cap number and dead-money hit make him a non-starter for most discussions. Sanders just lost the starting job and still has three years of cheap control. Green is a developmental piece the team did not want to risk on waivers. Gabriel cannot be traded while on IR. Any movement would require another team to initiate talks and Berry to decide the return is worth losing a cheap young arm.

The Browns open Sept. 13 at Jacksonville. Until then the quarterback room stays crowded, the questions stay unanswered, and the online reaction stays loud.

Nick Bosa is on the longest road trip of his NFL life, and his scouting report on Australia lasted about two sentences. The San Francisco 49ers defensive end boarded the team’s flight to Melbourne after Wednesday’s practice in Santa Clara, bound for the league’s first regular-season game on Australian soil against the Los Angeles Rams. Asked what he wanted to see Down Under, Bosa did not light up. He admitted he does not know much about the country. Then he found the one item on the itinerary that actually interested him.

“I heard they have good coffee so I’ll try and take advantage of that and have some good coffee,” Bosa said before the team left, according to the New York Post. He added that he might check out “some nature exhibits.” NBC Sports Bay Area captured the same exchange and posted the clip with a dry caption of its own: “Bosa sounds thrilled to visit Australia” —

Bosa sounds thrilled to visit Australia 😂 pic.twitter.com/ak5ayxN7GE

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 2, 2026

The joke writes itself. The football question does not. Bosa is traveling because the 49ers still think he can play next week. That is not the same thing as a guarantee.

Nick Bosa Australia availability is still a day-to-day call

Bosa tore the ACL in his right knee on Sept. 21, 2025, in a Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals and played only three games last season, NFL.com reported at the time. It was his third ACL surgery and the second on that same knee. He last practiced Aug. 3, then spent roughly four weeks managing tendinitis in the repaired joint, The Athletic reported.

Wednesday changed the temperature. Bosa took individual work and team periods in his first full practice since the injury, speaking to reporters in Santa Clara afterward. Asked if he felt confident he could face the Rams, he said, “After today, yeah. It was pretty good,” per ESPN. He also told reporters he had ramped football work too quickly a month ago, backed off on the staff’s instruction, and used Wednesday to “rip the Band-Aid off.”

Typical ACL recoveries run 12 to 18 months. Bosa is trying to play about 11 months after the tear. That timeline is aggressive even for a player who has rehabbed this injury before. A snap count, if he plays at all, would not surprise anyone watching the tape of how quickly he had to shut it down in August.

Tight end George Kittle is on the same plane. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that Kittle made the trip after two positive practice days and “is trending in the right direction to play,” while Bosa “will also make the trip” as he ramps up the knee —

The #49ers leave today for their game vs the #Rams in Australia, and star TE George Kittle will make the trip after 2 positive days of practice, sources say. Kittle is trending in the right direction to play.

DE Nick Bosa, ramping up with his knee, will also make the trip. pic.twitter.com/4MwRMIRLj5

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 2, 2026

Kittle is working back from a torn right Achilles suffered in a Jan. 11 wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles, ESPN reported. Of the two, Kittle has looked closer to a Week 1 role. Neither is locked in until the 49ers see how the next four practices in Melbourne go.

General manager John Lynch said this week the club “put together a really good plan that we believe will have him ready for Australia,” according to CBS Sports. That is confirmed organizational optimism. It is not a roster announcement.

Why the 49ers can live with a limited Bosa — and why they would rather not

San Francisco finished last in the NFL with 20 sacks in 2025 after losing Bosa in Week 3, per StatMuse. That number is the scheme problem first-year defensive coordinator Raheem Morris inherited. Bosa does not have to be 2022 Defensive Player of the Year on Friday morning in Melbourne. He has to be a threat that forces the Rams to account for the edge so interior rushers can win one-on-ones.

Those 2024 and 2025 totals come from USA TODAY Sports and Bosa’s Pro-Football-Reference game log. He was producing at a high rate before the Cardinals game. He is not that player yet. He may not be that player on Sept. 10.

Morris has already started selling the rotation behind him. “I feel pretty deep there,” Morris said this week when asked about the defensive line, according to ClutchPoints. He pointed to claimed players, drafted young linemen, and interior pieces who can flex and give the staff “good rotational pieces.” That is the plan if Bosa is on a pitch count, or if the 16-hour flight plus a 17-hour time change leaves the knee angry.

The 49ers are trying to beat jet lag the long way. They left Wednesday night and were due in Melbourne Friday morning, then planned a light Saturday practice, a Sunday off day, and three regular sessions before kickoff, ABC7 reported. The Rams are arriving far later. Different bet, same game: Thursday, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET, which is 10:35 a.m. Friday local time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with the Rams as the designated home team, per the 49ers and AP.

Bosa said he would ice, foam-roll, sleep, and use a compression-and-cold sleeve on the flight. That is the unglamorous part of an 8,000-mile opener. The coffee can wait until the knee tells him it landed clean.

A.J. Brown wanted a new room, a new quarterback and a clean slate. Six days before the New England Patriots open the season in Seattle, the 29-year-old receiver is getting all three — and the local beat that watches him every day likes what it sees.

Boston Herald Patriots reporter Doug Kyed told Ari Meirov on “NFL Spotlight” on Wednesday that he would not be shocked if Brown delivered a vintage season in Foxborough. “From a passing standpoint, he’s got a good upgrade there at quarterback in Drake Maye,” Kyed said.

Meirov posted the comments on X: “#Patriots WR AJ Brown has made plays this summer against Christian Gonzalez, Sauce Gardner and Quinyon Mitchell.”

#Patriots WR AJ Brown has made plays this summer against Christian Gonzalez, Sauce Gardner and Quinyon Mitchell.

“Certainly would not be surprised if it was a vintage AJ Brown season. … From a passing standpoint, he’s got a good upgrade there in Drake Maye.” ~@DougKyed https://t.co/LpCLtqQLjw pic.twitter.com/6riHTRHqrh

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 2, 2026

Why the Patriots paid up for AJ Brown

The Philadelphia Eagles sent Brown to New England on June 1 for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder, NFL.com reported. The deal closed months of public friction in Philadelphia and reunited Brown with head coach Mike Vrabel, who coached him in Tennessee from 2019 to 2021.

Brown finished 2025 with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 games, per Pro-Football-Reference. Those numbers still cleared 1,000 yards for a fourth straight year. They also marked his lowest yardage output since 2021 and a career-low 12.9 yards per catch, the kind of dip that fed his frustration with target volume in an Eagles offense that leaned on the run.

He has said he is not looking backward. After the Patriots hosted Philadelphia for joint practice in August, Brown told the Associated Press, “I love Philly and I will always love Philly. But I’m here now.”

That is the human piece of this trade. Brown grew up wanting the Patriots. He said as much after his first workout in Foxborough, calling himself “still in awe,” according to the AP. The childhood fan is now the adult hired to give Maye a true boundary receiver.

Camp tape: Gonzalez, Sauce, Mitchell

Kyed’s argument is not theory. It is what he has seen since pads went on.

Brown and Christian Gonzalez have traded wins through camp, including a rainy indoor session in which Brown beat Gonzalez cleanly, then later snagged a catch after Gonzalez broke up the previous throw, the Boston Herald reported. Those reps matter. Gonzalez is the cover man Brown will see every Wednesday in practice. If Brown can move him, Maye can throw the ball on time.

The tests got louder in joint practices. At Gillette Stadium on Aug. 11, Brown beat Indianapolis corner Sauce Gardner in a one-on-one when Gardner slipped, and the home crowd roared loud enough that the clip spread immediately, The Athletic reported. Against his old team, Brown drew a pass-interference flag on Quinyon Mitchell and later beat him for a red-zone score, per the Herald’s Day 2 notes.

Kyed put that run of work in plain language on the Spotlight show: on the field, Brown has looked like a legitimate No. 1. He beat Mitchell. He beat Gardner. He works against Gonzalez every day. The cornerbacks have not been soft.

The Maye connection needed time. Early camp deep balls sailed. Then the pads came on, and the pair stacked completions. Maye hit Brown on 4 of 5 targets one day and 4 of 4 the next, Kyed wrote in late July for the Herald. Brown later said Maye “makes my job a lot easier” because of arm talent and how he sees the field, per the Herald.

Scheme fit with Drake Maye

The football reason this can work sits in the numbers, not the slogans.

Maye threw downfield — 10-plus air yards — on 37.2 percent of his attempts in 2025 and led qualified passers in completion rate, success rate and passer rating on those throws, NFL.com noted after the trade. Over four Eagles seasons, Brown ranked among the league leaders in yards and touchdowns on those same downfield throws.

He also wins against man coverage. Since 2022, Brown ranks first in the NFL with 22 receiving touchdowns versus man, Boston.com reported when the deal closed. Maye already produced 1,149 passing yards and 18 touchdowns against man last season. Josh McDaniels can isolate Brown on slants and outs — routes where Brown has graded among the league’s best for years — and still take the shot down the sideline that Maye likes to take.

That is the upgrade conversation around Stefon Diggs. The Patriots released Diggs in March after he caught 85 passes for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, according to the AP. Diggs was productive. Brown is bigger at 6-foot-1, 226 pounds, a better red-zone body and a different kind of contested-catch problem. Whether that makes him a “major upgrade,” as Kyed argued on the show, is analysis, not a stat. The tape from camp supports the belief that Brown can be the weekly threat New England did not have on the outside after Diggs left.

Brown is a three-time second-team All-Pro (2022-24) and a three-time Pro Bowler. He has six 1,000-yard seasons in seven NFL years. He is not a mystery. The question is usage. Philadelphia squeezed his slot rate and his downfield diet. New England paid a future first-round pick so McDaniels would not do the same.

Health is the caution, not the headline. Brown has managed a long-standing knee issue, and he missed games in each of the last two seasons. Vrabel said this week the club is “very confident in where he is at physically,” NBC Sports relayed via camp reporting. That is the official line entering the opener. It is not a medical prognosis.

The first live test arrives Wednesday night at Lumen Field, a Super Bowl rematch against Seattle. Brown will not need a 150-yard night to prove the trade. He needs to win his leverage snaps, give Maye a clear No. 1 and look like the receiver who used to bully corners in Philadelphia before the targets dried up. Camp against Gonzalez, Gardner and Mitchell says that version is still in there. Kyed is betting the regular season shows it.

The Arizona Cardinals are signing former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback D’Shawn Jamison to the practice squad, a source told CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz on Wednesday. The 27-year-old worked out for Arizona before the deal, according to Arizona Cardinals On SI.

Pittsburgh waived Jamison on Aug. 30 during final cuts to 53, the Steelers announced. He did not stick when the club filled its practice squad. Two days later, he had a landing spot in the desert.

Arizona has not posted the move on its official transactions page as of Thursday morning. Until the club or the league office lists it, the signing remains reported rather than confirmed in team records. NFL Trade Rumors also circulated the Zenitz report Wednesday night.

Why Arizona needed another corner

The Cardinals kept five cornerbacks on the initial 53-man roster: Will Johnson, Garrett Williams, Max Melton, Denzel Burke and Kei’Trel Clark, per The Arizona Republic. That is a thin group for a position that burns through bodies in September.

Johnson is working through a lower-body injury. Head coach Mike LaFleur used that phrasing with reporters this week, RotoWire reported, and said the second-year starter is “progressing well.” There is no official timetable. Arizona opens at the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Sept. 13.

Jamison is not a Week 1 starter in waiting. He is a special-teams body who can cover kicks, return one if needed, and give the coaches a known look in practice. That profile matches what practice squads are for in the 10 days before kickoff.

A familiar coach and a returner’s toolkit

Jamison also walks into a room that already knows him. Senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin spent 2019-25 in Pittsburgh, the last four seasons as defensive coordinator, before Arizona hired him in March, the Cardinals’ official site documented. Cardinals On SI noted that shared history likely helped the workout turn into a contract.

The football case is the same one Pittsburgh kept making for two years. Jamison can run. He can find the football on coverage units. He is short for an outside corner at 5-foot-9, 186 pounds, so his NFL work has lived in the slot and on special teams.

Carolina claimed him off waivers from San Francisco in 2023 after he signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent out of Texas. He played 15 games that season, with one start, and finished with 10 tackles and a pass breakup, per ESPN. Pro Football Archives logged 107 defensive snaps and 155 special-teams snaps in that first year. He also returned two kickoffs for 40 yards.

The Panthers cut him in August 2024. Pittsburgh signed him to the practice squad on Sept. 17, 2024, then kept bringing him back on reserve/future deals. In 2025 he was elevated for regular-season games against Cincinnati, Cleveland and Baltimore, plus the Wild Card loss to Houston, ESPN’s game log shows. He recorded no regular-season tackles. He did return one kickoff for 20 yards.

The preseason tape in Pittsburgh was louder than the regular-season stat line. Jamison posted eight tackles and a forced fumble across three August games, NFL.com and The Football Database show. Steelers Now also credited him with a quarterback hit. It was not enough to survive the 53.

At Texas he was a five-year corner and returner. School records listed 54 kickoff returns for 1,435 yards and two touchdowns, plus 44 punt returns for 368 yards and one score, when he signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023, the University of Texas noted. Sports-Reference has him at 139 career tackles, six interceptions, 17 passes defended, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one sack.

That college return file is the piece Arizona can use immediately. Practice-squad corners who also field kicks give a staff options when the active roster is already carrying five corners and a starter is limited.

The next test is simple. If Johnson’s lower body holds and the starting group stays healthy, Jamison stays in Tempe as scout-team and coverage depth. If the room takes another hit before Sept. 13, the Cardinals already have his number and a coach who has seen him work.

Jalen Hurts did not dress up the answer. In a GQ interview published Tuesday, Sept. 1, Zach Baron asked the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback whether he and A.J. Brown had grown apart before the receiver left town. Hurts first noted that the subject had already been public. Pressed again, he said, “I mean, clearly.”

That line is the news. It is also the first time Hurts has said, on the record, what Brown said in June after Philadelphia sent him to the New England Patriots. The comments landed 10 days before the Eagles open the 2026 season at home against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 13, and they close a loop both men had been circling for months.

What Hurts said, and what he would not say

Baron taped the conversation in Philadelphia this summer, including a stretch around a pool table at the Fitler Club in Center City, according to the GQ profile. Hurts kept the Brown answers short. He would not speak for the receiver. He would not map the distance. He pointed back to the job.

“It’s a game where we’ve all got to have a shared mission.” — Jalen Hurts, to GQ, published Sept. 1, 2026

He added that he could not speak on Brown’s behalf and that his own focus has been “to pursue the mission,” per the same interview. That is Hurts in one sentence: the team first, the personal story second, the details left on the table.

GQ promoted the sit-down on X as the first episode of its “One More Question” series with Baron

@JalenHurts opens up about AJ Brown being traded from the Eagles, and the scrutiny that followed.

For GQ’s first episode of One More Question, the quarterback sits down with host @ZachBaron in Philadelphia for a candid, sprawling, occasionally "weird," and wildly captivating… pic.twitter.com/LOvaliHYJF

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) September 1, 2026

According to ESPN, Hurts confirmed Brown’s earlier reading of the friendship only after being asked twice. That matches the tape. It does not add a new cause.

Brown said the same thing in June, without a blowup

After the trade, Brown sat with Maria Taylor on NBC Sports’ “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony” podcast. He said the two were no longer as close as they had been. He also cut off the rumor that some incident split the families.

“Nothing happened, people just grow apart.” — A.J. Brown, to Maria Taylor, June 2026

He told Taylor that nothing happened between the two men, their families or their wives, and that both sides accepted the drift, as reported by ESPN and Sporting News. Brown also said there was “no bad blood” and “still a lot of love.”

That is the official story from both lockers: no fight, no family feud, a friendship that cooled while the production stayed high for three years and then slipped in the fourth.

How close they were, and what the tape used to look like

The history is not a media invention. Hurts hosted Brown on a recruiting visit when Hurts was at Alabama, a relationship later detailed by ESPN. Brown chose Ole Miss. They stayed in touch, trained together, and later became teammates when Philadelphia acquired Brown from the Tennessee Titans in April 2022, as The Associated Press reported at the time. Hurts became the godfather of Brown’s daughter, Jersee.

On the field, the pairing worked. Brown’s four Eagles seasons produced 339 catches, 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns, per StatMuse and NFL.com. His 1,496 yards in 2022 and 1,456 in 2023 remain the top two single-season receiving totals in franchise history.

Those 2022 and 2023 seasons sat next to two Super Bowl trips and a title after the 2024 season. The 2025 drop is the football problem inside the friendship story. Brown finished with 1,003 yards in 15 games, his lowest Eagles total, per NFL.com.

Why the offense stopped feeding the friendship

Brown wanted more than a ring. He wanted the ball against zone coverage, and he did not hide that. Sources told ESPN that Hurts was part of the frustration, including fewer targets than Brown wanted when defenses sat in zone. theScore, citing the same ESPN reporting from Jeremy Fowler, Sarah Barshop, Mike Reiss, Daniel Oyefusi and Tim McManus, wrote that a good bit of Brown’s angst traced to Hurts’ reluctance to attack tight windows versus zone.

That is reported, not confirmed by either player as the reason they drifted. Hurts has never accepted that framing in public. His GQ answer treats the split as a mission problem: everyone has to chase the same thing. Brown’s June answer treats it as life. Both can be true at once. A quarterback who lives in shotgun and checks down when the middle closes is not the same partner as a receiver who built his name winning 50-50 balls.

Philadelphia traded Brown on June 1 for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, The Associated Press reported. Waiting until June 1 let the Eagles split the dead-cap hit across two seasons. Brown reunited with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who drafted him in Tennessee.

The hug in Foxborough did not rewrite the interview

The relationship did not stay frozen after the deal. During joint practices last month in Foxborough, Brown told reporters he had not spoken with Hurts since the trade. A day later he jogged over after the second session, hugged Hurts and talked with him on the field, as CBS Sports and ESPN reported.

Hurts said then he had “a lot of love for him and always have,” per ESPN. Brown told reporters to keep the coverage positive. A hug after practice is not the same as the closeness that started on an Alabama recruiting weekend. Hurts’ GQ answer draws that line without naming a villain.

What comes next is ordinary NFL work. Philadelphia starts Sept. 13 against Washington with DeVonta Smith as the featured receiver and a new coordinator in Sean Mannion. New England opens Sept. 9 at Super Bowl champion Seattle with Brown opposite Drake Maye. The friendship is no longer the engine of either offense. Both men have now said so out loud.

Aaron Rodgers did not hide the mistake. After Asante Samuel Jr. intercepted a pass intended for Roman Wilson at Wednesday’s practice, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback named the route error, explained why it happened again, and still put his third-year receiver in a featured role for Week 1.

The play came early at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side. Rodgers threw toward the right flat. Samuel was the only Steeler in the area, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and he returned the interception for a touchdown in practice.

Asked what went wrong, Rodgers pointed at the same detail he had already corrected earlier in camp.

“Roman made a repeat mistake. That’s a good learning experience because I don’t think he’s going to do that again.”

Aaron Rodgers, Sept. 2, 2026

Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team posted video of the comments on X: “Roman (Wilson) made a repeat mistake. That’s a good learning experience.”

Aaron Rodgers, asked about an INT he had in practice:

"Roman (Wilson) made a repeat mistake. That's a good learning experience. … Roman is a great kid. He's had a fantastic camp. I have confidence in him. … But mistakes can happen. That's a great one to happen in practice." pic.twitter.com/8HBYSwDR7f

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 2, 2026

ESPN Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor, who recorded Rodgers after practice, reported that Samuel picked off the throw while Wilson was the target. Pryor posted on X: Wilson made a “repeat mistake” on a route.

Asante Samuel Jr picked off Aaron Rodgers as he targeted WR Roman Wilson in practice today.

Asked about what happened afterward, Rodgers said Wilson made a “repeat mistake” on a route.

“That’s a good learning — because I don’t think he’s going to do that again.” pic.twitter.com/wTeI1jVNOr

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 2, 2026

Why the under route keeps getting Wilson in trouble

Rodgers said the issue was not effort. It was path. On an underneath route, Wilson has to keep working across the field. Stop or drift upfield, and the throwing window closes. A corner with timing, like Samuel, sits underneath and takes the ball.

That is the same problem that followed Wilson through the preseason. Steelers Wire reported that Wilson caught three passes for 23 yards in the 2026 preseason and was involved in two interceptions tied to timing and route depth. Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert described those preseason picks, thrown by Will Howard, as the same flattened-route error: Wilson drifting upfield and getting undercut.

Rodgers has seen this before from Wilson. Last season, mental errors and missed details helped shrink Wilson’s role. The 2024 third-round pick out of Michigan finished 2025 with 12 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns, per NFL.com. Several trackers list him at 21 targets in those 13 games. That is not a featured receiver’s workload.

The scheme asks more of him now. Mike McCarthy’s offense wants receivers who can play inside and outside and finish option routes on time. Rodgers throws with anticipation. If Wilson sits a half-step early on a crosser, the ball is already in the air for a defender.

Rodgers still wants Wilson in a big role

The callout was blunt. The rest of the answer was not a benching. Rodgers called Wilson “a great kid,” said he had a “fantastic camp,” and said he has “the utmost confidence in him,” comments also carried by 93.7 The Fan and NBC Sports.

The Post-Gazette reported that Rodgers ranked Wilson among the five best camp performers on the roster and that Wilson is expected to open the season as the No. 3 receiver ahead of second-round rookie Germie Bernard. That depth-chart projection has not been announced by the team. It is beat reporting, not an official starter declaration.

Wilson spent part of the summer in Montana with Rodgers and the other pass catchers, the Post-Gazette reported, and he has said the chemistry is better in Year 2 together. He also studies former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown. On Cam Heyward’s “Not Just Football” podcast, Wilson said he keeps a cutup of Brown’s targets and watches it often, according to Steelers Wire.

Brown’s tape will not fix a live route. Rodgers already told Wilson, earlier in camp, to keep coming on that under route. Wednesday’s interception was the same correction, delivered in public because reporters asked about the pick.

Some fans heard only the first sentence. Outlets including Pro Football Network collected social-media posts accusing Rodgers of shifting blame. That reaction is not new around Rodgers. It also skips the second half of the answer: he said mistakes happen, this one should happen in practice, and Wilson has gotten better.

The larger issue for Pittsburgh is snap security. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. missed chunks of camp and the preseason with injuries. Both returned to practice this week and are expected to be ready for the opener, Steelers Wire reported, though the staff is expected to ease them back in. If either is limited, Wilson’s role grows immediately. So does the cost of another unfinished route.

The Steelers host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, per the NFL schedule. That gives Wilson 11 days to turn Wednesday’s repeat mistake into a closed file. Rodgers already told him how.

The Arizona Cardinals and wide receiver Michael Wilson have made progress on a contract extension, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. A deal could land as soon as the next day or so.

Weinfuss posted on X: “Hearing that there’s been movement on Michael Wilson’s negotiations with the Cardinals. Something could come down in the next day or so.” —

Hearing that there's been movement on Michael Wilson's negotiations with the Cardinals. Something could come down in the next day or so.

— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) September 3, 2026

That update landed hours after a more cautious read from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. In a Sept. 2 piece, Fowler wrote that Arizona had tried to extend Wilson but that sources indicated he was “likely to be a key free agent,” with the likeliest path being Week 1 on the final year of his rookie deal, according to ESPN.

No agreement has been announced. The two reports sit side by side: one source group saw free agency as the probable outcome; the team’s beat reporter then heard movement. That is the state of the talks as of Thursday morning.

Why the timing matters

Arizona opens the regular season Sept. 13 at the Los Angeles Chargers. Wilson is entering Year 4 of the four-year rookie contract he signed after the Cardinals took him in the third round in 2023. He is scheduled to make a $3.924 million base salary in 2026 and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2027 if nothing gets done, per reporting from NFL Trade Rumors.

General manager Monti Ossenfort addressed the situation in August and did not promise a deal. “He’s a guy we want around here a long time,” Ossenfort said, via team writer Darren Urban on AZCardinals.com. “Expect? That’s a tough word. Our interest is in keeping him here.”

Ossenfort also noted the club has completed extensions before, during and after the season. There is no hard deadline. The calendar still applies. A new deal before kickoff removes a year-long negotiation from a locker room that already changed coaches and quarterbacks.

Wilson said in June that talks were “going great” and that last season’s production would help “a lot,” according to ESPN. He also said he wants to be a one-organization player. His daughter was born in Arizona. That personal stake is real. It does not set the number.

What Wilson produced — and what it costs

Wilson finished 2025 with 78 catches for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns on 126 targets in 17 games, per NFL.com. Those were career highs. He took over as the featured wideout after Marvin Harrison Jr. missed time and Jacoby Brissett took over at quarterback. Over the final stretch he posted multiple 10-catch, 100-yard games the Cardinals had not seen from him in his first two seasons, according to the team’s own recap on AZCardinals.com.

The market moved while Arizona waited. Indianapolis paid Alec Pierce, another 1,000-yard outside receiver from 2025, a four-year, $114 million deal. Fowler cited that contract when he framed Wilson’s leverage. Paying Wilson in the $20 million-plus AAV range while still viewing Harrison as the true WR1 is the tension Cardinals legend Adrian Wilson flagged this week. That is analysis, not a reported offer.

Trey McBride already got paid. Harrison remains on his rookie deal. Paris Johnson Jr. is another extension candidate. Arizona is projected to have significant cap space in 2027. Ossenfort can wait and still write a check. Waiting also risks Wilson posting another productive year next to Harrison and then setting his own market in March.

The Cardinals went 3-14 in 2025 and sit in a division with the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers. Skill-position talent is one of the few clear assets. Locking Wilson in now is a bet that his 2025 jump was the start of a career, not a one-year spike with a backup quarterback. Letting him play it out is a bet that the price will not explode — or that the team can replace him if it does.

Weinfuss’s report does not include terms. Until the club or Wilson’s representatives announce a deal, it remains reported movement, not a signed contract. Watch Friday. Week 1 is 10 days away.

A decade of broadcast tape, a pair of yellow uprights that did not quite line up, and a familiar Patriots argument all landed at once on Wednesday. Former NFL strategy and analytics coach Ryan Paganetti said New England used Gillette Stadium’s video board to put a second, offset set of goalposts in a visiting kicker’s sightline — and that the same look never appeared when the Patriots were the ones kicking.

The clip work is new. The edge-hunting reputation is not. Spygate and Deflategate still trail this franchise. This episode does not belong in that file. The NFL has already said the board policy is legal. The harder question is whether the picture Paganetti pulled from old telecasts explains why so many road kickers missed in Foxborough.

What Paganetti says the Patriots video board showed

Paganetti, who worked for the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders, posted his findings on X on Sept. 2, 2026. He wrote that he went through more than a decade of TV broadcasts and found a reverse view of the kick on the board behind the physical uprights when opposing kickers lined up at Gillette. That image, he said, placed a second set of yellow posts slightly off the real ones. In wind, even the orange streamers on the screen appeared to blow the other way from the flags on the actual crossbar. He said he found dozens of examples and, in those same games, reviewed 52 Patriots field-goal attempts. The illusion, he wrote, showed up on New England’s kicks “exactly zero times.” —

Much has been made of the Patriots’ mysterious “Pink Stripes.” How about yellow ones?

I went through more than a decade of TV broadcasts and uncovered a diabolically clever piece of Patriots gamesmanship.

When opposing kickers lined up at Gillette Stadium, the video board… pic.twitter.com/Y5nf0F5vm6

— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026

He later attached the most loaded example from that era: Baltimore’s Billy Cundiff and the 32-yard miss that ended the 2011 AFC Championship Game and sent New England to the Super Bowl. Paganetti told viewers to watch the board at the 1:07 mark of the replay. —

The most iconic field goal miss of that era, sending the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Look at the video board at 1:07! pic.twitter.com/AqHySkGbfq

— Ryan Paganetti (@RyanPaganetti) September 2, 2026

The Eagles tried to copy it, he added. Lincoln Financial Field’s boards sit in the wrong place. The attempt, he said, was nearly useless. His closer was the line that sent the post around the league: “No detail was too small, and no possible edge was left unexplored.”

Pat McAfee quoted the thread within an hour and called it a great piece of intel. —

I absolutely hate and love this move so much.

GREAT piece of intel from paisan Paganetti here https://t.co/untet5apYr

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 2, 2026

The numbers at Gillette are real. The cause is not settled.

Visiting kickers have had a miserable time in Foxborough. That part is not rumor. The windows differ by researcher, but the direction does not.

According to 98.5 The Sports Hub, New England made 9.4 percent more of its field goals than its opponents from 2001 to 2019. No other team cleared 4 percent in that span. The Indianapolis Colts sat second at 3.8 percent.

Those gaps need context. Gillette is an outdoor stadium in the Northeast. Wind shears off the open corners and, on raw December afternoons, the flags on the uprights snap sideways before the holder ever puts the ball down. The three home fields where visiting kickers have fared best over the long Athletic sample — Atlanta, Minnesota and Dallas — are indoor buildings. New England also spent most of that stretch with Adam Vinatieri and then Stephen Gostkowski, two of the most reliable kickers of their generation. A board trick does not have to be the whole story for the split to exist.

Why the feed looked different for the home kicker

The juicier version of this story makes Bill Belichick the author. Reporting from The Athletic points somewhere smaller. A league source familiar with the operation told Chad Graff that, in the early 2010s, Gostkowski asked the coaches to stop putting live video of him on the boards during his own kicks. The live all-22 look, the same feed the stadium had been using for every attempt, distracted him. He wanted a static image.

New England checked with the league. The rule is not mysterious. During field-goal and extra-point tries, video and ribbon boards must show either a static image or an all-22 view. Flashing, blinking or other moving graphics are a violation from the moment the kicking team reaches the line of scrimmage until the officials signal the play dead. The Patriots kept the all-22 shot up for opponents and switched to a still image for their own kicker, according to that Athletic account.

A league spokesperson told Graff the practice is above board. Boston Globe columnist Ben Volin separately wrote on X that an NFL spokesman told him the same thing: the gamesmanship “has been and still is legal.” —

By the way, an NFL spokesman tells me this gamesmanship has been and still is legal https://t.co/VyBxe0EJvG

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 2, 2026

That is the scheme, if it is a scheme at all. The league allows two pictures. One stadium used both. The home kicker got the cleaner look. The visitor got the live end-zone camera — and, on a board that sits almost directly behind the posts at one end of Gillette, that camera can paint a second pair of yellow poles just off the real ones. No one moved the uprights. No one touched the ball.

Other buildings have run the same two-picture setup

Former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria pushed back the same day. “Hate to be the wet blanket and kill the narrative but no gamesmanship here,” he posted, pointing to the league’s board rules. —

This is not entirely true. Sounds cool bc it’s Bill and people just expect it from him. However, there are very strict NFL rules that teams have to follow. Hate to be the wet blanket and kill the narrative but no gamesmanship here. @initialcontact https://t.co/m0LcXIWuGM

— Christian Fauria (@christianfauria) September 2, 2026

NBC Sports Boston’s Michael Hurley made a related point. Teams, he wrote, often leave the boards live for opposing field goals and punch up a static logo for the home kicker. He said he had posted examples around the league years ago and, on Wednesday, resurfaced a Vikings clip as one of them. —

It’s weird the Patriots’ field goal thing is blowing up.

Teams keep the video boards on for opposing field goals. Static logo for home field goal attempts.

Noticed this a few years ago and posted a bunch of examples around the league. Wish I knew how to find it.

Anyhoo.

— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) September 2, 2026

According to 98.5 The Sports Hub, Hurley has also flagged similar looks in Arizona and Cincinnati. The Athletic reported that other NFL clubs show a still image for their own kicks and all-22 video when the other team lines up. Longtime kicker Graham Gano, who appeared in one of Paganetti’s screenshots, told that same Athletic story the look “used to happen a lot in different places over the years.” A former special teams coordinator whose team played in New England several times said his kickers never complained to him about the board.

For The Win noted another limit in Paganetti’s photo set: several of the attempts he highlighted still went through. The visual can look strange from the camera behind the kicker. That does not prove the kick failed because of it. For The Win treated the Cundiff miss the same way — as a famous clip, not as a closed case.

Causation is the unconfirmed piece. Paganetti documented a pattern on the broadcasts he reviewed. He did not produce league confirmation that Foxborough’s video operators chose the reverse angle to scramble a kicker’s depth perception. The Patriots have not announced a policy. Belichick has not spoken to this specific claim. Treat the “they did it to ice kickers” reading as analysis, not as an official finding.

What can be said without stretching: Gillette’s board sits in a rare spot, flush enough with the posts that an all-22 end-zone shot can stack yellow on yellow. A static logo does not. If you are allowed to show either picture, the home team has an obvious preference. That is less a hidden crime than a stadium geometry problem the rulebook never closed.

The Philadelphia Eagles 53-man roster is set, and it does not look like the one most fans sketched on the back of a camp program. Four quarterbacks made it. Four tight ends made it. Six wide receivers made it. The defensive line was trimmed to five interior players. True safety depth stayed thin, even with Cooper DeJean and Michael Carter II available to slide around Vic Fangio’s back end.

That initial cutdown landed Sunday, Aug. 30, after the 6 p.m. deadline, according to CBS Philadelphia. The regular-season opener is still 10 days away, Sept. 13 against Washington, so this list will move. The first version already tells you how Howie Roseman wants to play the bottom of the roster.

He kept Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton and fifth-round rookie Cole Payton, a call The Philadelphia Inquirer flagged as the weekend’s loudest surprise. He also waived both International Player Pathway prospects, Nigerian defensive tackle Uar Bernard and Kenyan edge rusher Joshua Weru, then got them back when they cleared waivers.

Four waiver claims changed the math overnight

The gamble that stung was not the IPP pair. It was the four players other teams snatched off the wire. NBC Sports Philadelphia reported a league-high four claims: offensive tackle Cameron Williams to Atlanta, tackle/guard Myles Hinton to Cincinnati, tight end Cameron Latu to New England and defensive back Kapena Gushiken to Indianapolis. Philadelphia did not land a single claim of its own.

Williams and Hinton were 2025 sixth-round picks. Latu had been a special-teams staple. Gushiken was a high-priced undrafted signing. Roseman did not pretend otherwise after claims posted. “Don’t feel good about losing those guys,” he said, per Eagles On SI. He also noted the league claim rate is about 4 percent, a number that did not hold for his own list.

That is the part fans keep circling. Andy Dalton, as a vested veteran, never had to hit waivers. Elijah Moore and E.J. Jenkins were not expected to draw heavy claim interest. Roseman’s public explanation was about optionality: cut a veteran, and 31 other teams can offer a 53-man job. Keep him, and you still control the body. Analysis from the tape and the waiver results suggests he made that bet on current roster bodies over several younger ones he then could not recover.

Position counts come from the initial roster published by CBS Philadelphia and the player-by-player breakdown from The Athletic. Safety is the gray area. Bleeding Green Nation listed Andrew Mukuba, Marcus Epps and Carter II as the three safeties, with DeJean still the nickel who will work safety in base packages. That versatility is real. It is also why the room can look two deep at the “true safety” spots if Mukuba or Epps misses time.

Why the bottom of the roster looks younger on purpose

Bernard and Weru signed to the practice squad after clearing, along with a cluster of camp bodies Roseman wanted to keep developing. Eagles Wire tracked the first 13 practice-squad signings on Aug. 31, then the four additions that closed the group: former Bears third-round tackle Kiran Amegadjie, running back Jaydon Blue, wide receiver Danny Gray and cornerback Robert Longerbeam. The IPP exemption lets Philadelphia carry a 17th practice-squad player.

Amegadjie is the clearest attempt to replace what left on waivers. The 2024 third-round pick out of Yale played six games as a Bears rookie, then spent 2025 on injured reserve. The Morning Call confirmed he was one of the final four practice-squad additions Tuesday. He will learn behind Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. That is a different kind of swing than keeping Hinton or Williams on the 53 and hoping they develop in meetings.

Carson Steele took a similar path. The former Kansas City fullback/running back was waived, cleared and signed back to the practice squad. In 2024 with the Chiefs he played 17 games, rushed for 183 yards and finished as a Pro Bowl alternate at fullback, per his career record. He is not on the 53 now. If the Eagles want a true fullback look under new coordinator Sean Mannion, they can elevate him. That is the living-document theory of a modern roster: the 53 is the week-to-week list, not the whole building.

Britain Covey, Dameon Pierce, Chance Campbell and Gray also landed on that taxi squad. Those are veteran-ish names who can be elevated on game days without another waiver period. Some teams park extra linemen or a safety there and treat the practice squad as a shadow 53. Philadelphia used several of those spots on players who already know the building, then went outside for Amegadjie after two tackles got claimed.

The four-QB call still has to pay off by November

Keeping four quarterbacks forced the squeeze everywhere else. Payton and McKee would have been subject to waivers if cut. Dalton would not. Roseman has said since April he was open to carrying four, and he followed through when no trade market appeared in August. Delaware Online noted the contrast: other clubs were dealing around the league last weekend, and Philadelphia’s phone stayed quiet.

That is analysis, not a scoop. If Dalton or McKee is still here at Halloween with no incoming pick attached, the four-QB math will look worse. If one is moved after Week 1 tape hits the league, the early roster cost looks like a hold for leverage. Roseman did not name a No. 2 this week. The depth chart will, soon enough.

Kelee Ringo staying in a contract year sits in the same bucket. He made the 53 as a sixth corner and special-teams gunner. He has not locked down perimeter snaps in Fangio’s defense, and the staff added Riq Woolen and Jonathan Jones above him. That is not the same as Fangio saying he will never play him outside. It is the snap record talking. A trade before the deadline would have bought a safety or a defensive tackle. The Eagles did not make that trade.

Cornerback Jakorian Bennett and tight end Grant Calcaterra went on injured reserve with return designations and must miss at least four games, per multiple roster reports. Those two moves slightly ease the early-season activation crunch. They do not add a safety for Week 1.

Will this construction hold? The honest answer is that Roseman has won more of these arguments than he has lost since returning to full control after the Chip Kelly years. This one still looks strange on paper. Four quarterbacks, a light safety room and a league-high four waiver losses are the facts. Whether Amegadjie, Steele and the IPP pair make those facts feel smarter is the only test that matters once the Commanders come to town.

John Harbaugh did not hedge with 10 days left before his first regular-season game as New York Giants head coach. Asked whether he likes the roster he will take into Week 1, he said he feels good about the group. Then he raised the bar.

“I do. I mean, I’m optimistic (and) I feel good about our guys. But you know, that’s always something that has to be proven,” Harbaugh said Wednesday, per video posted by SNY Giants. “Our mission statement is to be the best team in the National Football League and prove it. Because that’s what it requires.”

That line is not new branding. It is the same standard Harbaugh carried into the building after the Giants hired him in January following an 18-year run in Baltimore, where he won Super Bowl XLVII and 180 regular-season games, the team announced on Giants.com.

What Harbaugh expects before the Cowboys game

The next question was simpler: What does he expect from this team? He refused to forecast a win total.

They’ll go out there and be the very best football team they can be. What that ends up being depends on how good we are. That’s what you find out when you play the games. Everything else is just talk.

John Harbaugh, via SNY Giants

According to the New York Daily News, Harbaugh also aligned himself with co-owner Chris Mara’s public stance that New York should expect to win this year. “How do you go out and compete at this level if you don’t expect to win?” Harbaugh said. “If you don’t expect to win, you certainly aren’t going to.”

The Giants host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football on Sept. 13 at MetLife Stadium, per the team schedule and NFL.com. It will be Harbaugh’s 19th NFL season opener and his first in New York.

That timing matters. The franchise just finished 4-13 and last in the NFC East in 2025, according to StatMuse. Brian Daboll was fired on Nov. 10, 2025, after a 2-8 start, the Associated Press reported. Mike Kafka finished the year as interim coach. Ownership kept general manager Joe Schoen and then landed Harbaugh on a five-year deal after the Ravens fired him on Jan. 6, 2026.

Those two seasons produced a 7-27 mark. The offense stalled. The quarterback picture never settled for long. The defense had stretches that kept games close and still could not close enough of them. Fans were shopping draft boards by Thanksgiving. That is the hole Harbaugh walked into.

Why the standard is the point, not the slogan

Harbaugh’s answer works as motivation and as a filter. He is not selling a wild-card projection. He is telling a 4-13 roster that talk dies once the Cowboys kick off. The scheme work — physical fronts, finishing drives, special-teams detail he has preached since January — only counts if it holds up against a division rival on national television.

He has said versions of this since his introductory news conference, when he told the room the mission was to earn the right to be called world champions in New York, per Giants.com. Wednesday’s version was shorter and harder. Be the best team in the league. Prove it.

That is analysis, not a prediction. A Super Bowl-winning coach can set that target on Day 1 of September. The roster still has to answer it. Harbaugh left that part unspun on purpose. The games start Sept. 13. Everything before that, in his words, is talk.

Baker Mayfield still plays with fire. He just spends more time deciding when to let it out.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback sat down with The Rich Eisen Show on Sept. 2 and described how nine NFL seasons changed him. “I still wear my heart on my sleeve, but there’s definitely a lot more thinking before speaking or taking some actions,” Mayfield said. He called earlier choices “dumb mistakes” he cannot undo, only learn from, then pass on to younger teammates.

NFL on ESPN clipped the same comments the same day:

“Still wear my heart on my sleeve, but there’s definitely a lot more thinking before speaking or some actions.”

—Baker Mayfield on how he’s changed as a player on the @RichEisenShow 🏈 pic.twitter.com/OzPZICESMc

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 2, 2026

Mayfield, 31, joined Tampa Bay in 2023 after a messy exit from Cleveland and short stops in Carolina and Los Angeles. The first two Buccaneers seasons produced consecutive NFC South titles, a playoff win, and Pro Bowl nods in 2023 and 2024, per his career record. Last year the production dropped and the team finished 8-9, missing the postseason for the first time since 2019, according to StatMuse and season recaps.

Those 2025 numbers come from CBS Sports and PFF. Mayfield has owned the dip. In the Eisen interview he pointed to the late-season slide and said the locker room still believes the roster can go the distance if it stays even-keeled.

Why the tone shift matters in a contract year

Mayfield is playing the final season of the three-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2024. Extension talks ended in late July. He set a training-camp deadline, told the team it was “all ball” after that, and later said he felt “disrespected” and “undervalued” by the offers, per reporting from The Athletic and Fox Sports’ Greg Auman.

That history used to produce public friction. In Cleveland it produced a falling-out that followed him for years. The version speaking this week sounds more like a veteran who has already paid the tax on impulsive moments and now wants to spend the capital on the next guy in the building.

Tampa Bay also lost Mike Evans in free agency to the 49ers. Mayfield addressed the absence on the same show and framed the offense as still capable if everyone stays healthy and the young receivers step up. Week 1 is Sunday, Sept. 13, at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. ET on FOX, per the NFL schedule.

The Bengals present an early test of whether the calmer Mayfield can still generate the same urgency. Cincinnati’s pass rush and Joe Burrow’s offense will force him to process quickly. The extra half-second he now spends before he talks or throws is the difference between a veteran who has seen the coverage and a younger quarterback who used to fight the moment instead of reading it.

Mayfield said the game has slowed down for him. He also said he still wants to be the same leader. Those two statements can live together only if the thinking actually happens first. That is the version Tampa Bay needs for the next 17 weeks, contract talks or not.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart walked into the locker room Wednesday to cheers from teammates after his first practice since hyperextending his left knee on the opening day of training camp. The second-year player told reporters he thought his season was finished when his foot caught in the turf and he felt a pop.

“I tried to bend the corner. My foot got caught in the ground kinda. It looked kinda nasty, as we all seen,” Stewart said, according to Jay Morrison of Sports Illustrated. “In that moment, I felt a little tiny pop. I thought it was over. But thank God he was on my side and it wasn’t that serious.”

The injury happened July 29 during an 11-on-11 drill at the Kettering Health Practice Fields. Stewart went down immediately, trainers worked on his knee on the field, and he left on a cart after he could not put weight on the leg. Coach Zac Taylor said the next day the team was fortunate. Stewart avoided ligament damage and would miss several weeks, Taylor told reporters, per The Associated Press.

Stewart returned in pads Wednesday and took part in position drills. He wore a brace. The Bengals open the regular season Sept. 13 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His Week 1 availability remains unconfirmed.

Why the Bengals Need Stewart’s Leap

The Bengals last reached the playoffs in 2022. They finished 9-8 in 2023 and 2024 and 6-11 in 2025. Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins give Cincinnati one of the league’s most dangerous offenses when healthy. The floor of this team still sits with the defense.

Cincinnati addressed the interior this offseason by trading the No. 10 overall pick to the New York Giants for Dexter Lawrence and signing him to an extension, according to The Athletic. Lawrence draws double teams. That should create one-on-one chances on the edge for Stewart, Boye Mafe and Myles Murphy.

Stewart arrived from Texas A&M as a traits-over-production prospect. He posted just 4.5 sacks in three college seasons but tested as one of the most explosive edge players in recent draft history. The Bengals selected him 17th overall in 2025.

His rookie year never gained traction. A contract holdout delayed his start. An ankle injury in Week 2 and a later knee issue limited him to eight games. He finished with 11 tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.

If Stewart converts more of his pressures this season, the front can take a clear step. Lawrence occupies the middle. Stewart’s length and first-step burst give him a chance to win around the corner or crash inside on stunts. That combination is exactly what the Bengals paid a first-round pick and a top-10 selection to build.

Stewart said he is not wasting the second chance. “It sucks that people have their years gone just like that,” he said after practice, per ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I thank God that’s not my case. I’m not trying to waste opportunity.”

The locker-room reaction Wednesday showed how the room views him. Teammates cheered when he arrived at his stall. The next two weeks of practice will decide whether he is ready for the Buccaneers or needs more time.

Isaiah Likely did not need a lecture on what John Harbaugh’s Giants training camp would feel like. He lived that schedule for four seasons in Baltimore. What shocked the new tight end was hearing how New York used to work.

Likely, 26, signed a three-year, $40 million contract with the Giants in March after four years with the Ravens, a deal first reported by The Athletic and later confirmed in contract filings that list $20.5 million fully guaranteed. He followed Harbaugh to East Rutherford after the coach was hired in January. Speaking after practice this week, Likely described the first two weeks at The Greenbrier — 11 days, 10 practices — as ordinary.

“The first two weeks we had in Greenbrier, 11 days, 10 practices, I felt like that’s normal to me. If I wake up, I’m putting on cleats. That’s just the mantra I have.”

Isaiah Likely, via SNY, Sept. 2, 2026

The contrast came next. SNY Giants posted the comments Wednesday: “Hearing how Giants training camp was in the past, that was mind-boggling to me. [This year], the guys embraced it. If we’re in the building, it’s all ball.” —

"Hearing how Giants training camp was in the past, that was mind-boggling to me. [This year], the guys embraced it. If we're in the building, it's all ball."

Isaiah Likely on John Harbaugh's Giants training camp vs. past Giants training camps: pic.twitter.com/MCRqAP8s9l

— SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 2, 2026

That is the culture shift Harbaugh promised when he took the job. According to The Athletic’s Dan Duggan, former coach Brian Daboll never practiced more than three days in a row and often gave two days off after a preseason game. Harbaugh’s group practiced 10 of 11 days in West Virginia, including a six-practice stretch in week two, and returned to the field after one day off following each exhibition.

How the Camp Calendar Actually Changed

Duggan’s count through late August put Harbaugh at 21 practices from the start of camp, compared with 15 over the same window a year earlier. Twelve of those sessions ran longer than two hours. Only four of Daboll’s practices last summer crossed that mark. The Giants also rehearsed details that used to get skipped: the pregame stretching routine and the victory formation.

Daboll finished 20-40-1 in four seasons in New York and reached the playoffs once, in 2022. The Giants fired him on Nov. 10, 2025, after a 2-8 start, The Associated Press reported. He is now offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans after the club announced the hire in January, per AP.

Likely’s job in this new setup is simpler to describe than it will be to defend. He is no longer the second tight end behind Mark Andrews. In four Ravens seasons he caught 135 passes for 1,568 yards and 15 touchdowns in 63 games, according to NFL.com. His best year was 2024 (42 catches, 477 yards, six scores). Last season he played 14 games and finished with 27 catches for 307 yards and one touchdown.

The Giants did not pay him to repeat that 2025 line. Camp tape and beat reports have shown him working in-line, in the slot, and split out as a big receiver — the same usage that made him useful when Lamar Jackson needed a mismatch. Second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart has looked his way on third downs and crossing routes. ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote Wednesday that coaches “light up” when they talk about Likely and like the time he spends in the quarterbacks room, a point summarized by Heavy.

Why the Grind Matters Before Dallas

Week 1 is Sunday, Sept. 13, against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on NBC, kickoff 8:20 p.m. ET, as announced by the Cowboys and listed on the league schedule. Harbaugh’s first regular-season game in New York will not be decided by how many two-hour practices the team logged in August. It will be decided by whether Dart can find Likely against a familiar NFC East defense when the chains get sticky.

That is the scheme reason the extra reps matter. A tight end who can win from the slot gives Dart a short answer against pressure and a body who can occupy a linebacker while Malik Nabers works the boundary. Nabers is still working back from a knee injury. If he is limited early, Likely’s target share rises. If Nabers is full-go, Likely still has to be the safety valve Daboll-era offenses often asked Wan’Dale Robinson to be — only bigger, and paid like a starter.

Likely framed the West Virginia stretch in personal terms, not as a manifesto. He wakes up and puts on cleats. The new teammates, he said, bought the same idea once they left the resort and returned to the building in New Jersey. That is the human piece of a coaching change that otherwise reads like a spreadsheet: more days, longer periods, fewer gaps.

Whether the extra work shows up against Dallas is the only test that counts. The calendar says the Giants have 10 days from Thursday morning to kickoff. Harbaugh has already used the summer to make the building feel like Baltimore. Likely is the player who can tell the locker room, without a speech, that this version of camp is the one he recognizes.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Wednesday the club still does not know when the NFL will finish its review of wide receiver Rashod Bateman, who was arrested in Georgia in June on family violence and property-damage charges.

The comments came 11 days before Baltimore opens the 2026 season at the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 13, according to the Ravens’ official schedule. DeCosta told reporters the organization learned of the arrest immediately, notified the league, and is now waiting on both the NFL and local authorities.

“We have no indication how long that’s gonna take,” DeCosta said, according to video and reporting from ESPN’s Jamison Hensley —

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said he doesn’t know when the NFL will finalize its investigation on WR Rashod Bateman, who was arrested on family violence charges in June pic.twitter.com/Fv6IaaF5yk

— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) September 2, 2026

Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic posted from the same availability that DeCosta called the situation disappointing and said the Ravens contacted the league right away —

DeCosta said they are very disappointed about the Rashod Bateman situation. He said they contacted the league right away to report it and they are waiting for the league investigation.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 2, 2026

What DeCosta said about the Rashod Bateman investigation

DeCosta framed the case as a distraction the front office did not want in September. He also made clear the Ravens are not driving the clock. The Baltimore Banner reported that DeCosta said the team knew about the June arrest when it happened, informed the league at once, and will now “sit back and wait.”

An Associated Press account of the same session, republished by The Hamilton Spectator, quoted DeCosta saying the club is waiting for the league and authorities “to kind of tell us what’s going on.”

That is the confirmed posture as of Wednesday: no NFL timetable, no public discipline announced, and no claim from DeCosta that Bateman has already been cleared or suspended. Any suggestion that Bateman will or will not play Week 1 remains speculation until the league or the team says otherwise.

The June charges, and what is still alleged

Court records reported in August show Bateman was arrested June 3 in Walton County, Georgia. He faces misdemeanor family-violence battery, misdemeanor reckless conduct, and first-degree criminal damage to property, a felony, according to ESPN and NFL.com.

Those outlets, citing the arrest warrant, reported allegations that Bateman broke glass on a vehicle occupied by the mother of his child and their infant daughter. Those remain allegations. Bateman has not been convicted. His attorney, Jordan Siev, said in a statement reported by ESPN that a personal family situation had been “taken completely out of context for sensational reasons.”

The Ravens’ August statement, carried by NFL.com, said the team notified the league and would not comment further because the matter was pending. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said then that the case was under review.

WMAR-2 News later reported that the mother of Bateman’s child sent a June 8 email to a Walton County prosecutor walking back her initial claim that Bateman pushed her into a wall. That recantation, if authentic, is part of the legal record the NFL can weigh. It does not, by itself, close a league investigation. The NFL’s personal conduct policy allows the league to act on its own findings, including in cases that never produce a conviction.

Under that policy, a first violation involving family violence carries a baseline unpaid suspension of six games, with room to go up or down based on aggravating or mitigating factors, as outlined in the league’s published Personal Conduct Policy. Whether those rules apply here is for the NFL to decide. No suspension has been announced.

People facing domestic abuse can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

Why the timeline matters in the receiver room

Bateman is on Baltimore’s initial 53-man roster, listed with Zay Flowers, Ja’Kobi Lane, Devontez Walker, Elijah Sarratt, and LaJohntay Wester in the team’s roster announcement from BaltimoreRavens.com.

He is also coming off the thinnest statistical season of his career. Official NFL.com career stats show 19 catches for 224 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games in 2025, a drop from 45 catches, 756 yards, and nine scores in 2024. That production dip is why a sudden absence would land on a young group DeCosta said he still likes.

DeCosta pointed to that room rather than to a single replacement plan. He called it a young group that can make plays and said the club will “wait and see,” a line also carried by ClutchPoints from the Wednesday session.

The scheme question is straightforward. Flowers remains the featured receiver. Lane and Sarratt were draft additions who give Lamar Jackson more size outside. Walker and Wester stayed on the 53. If Bateman is available Week 1 in Indianapolis, he is still a veteran outside option who knows Jackson’s timing. If he is not, the Ravens would lean harder on that younger group rather than on a midweek veteran signing they have not announced.

CBS Sports has reported Bateman signed a three-year, $36.75 million extension in June 2025. That contract keeps him on the books. It does not protect him from league discipline if the NFL later finds a policy violation.

The next hard date on the football calendar is Sept. 13 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The next hard date on the legal and league calendars has not been given. Until one of those calendars moves, DeCosta’s answer is the only official one the Ravens are offering: they reported it, they are waiting, and they do not know how long the wait lasts.

The Detroit Lions will open the 2026 season without both starting safeties. Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch were placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list Sunday as Detroit trimmed to 53 players, a move confirmed in the team’s initial roster breakdown on DetroitLions.com.

Joseph is still working back from a knee injury that limited him to six games in 2025. Branch is recovering from the Achilles tear he suffered Dec. 4 against Dallas. Neither player practiced in training camp. Both will miss at least the first four regular-season games.

General manager Brad Holmes did not attach a return date when he spoke Wednesday in Allen Park. According to ESPN, Holmes said the club still believes both can play this season, but he would not offer a timeline. He described both as present, rehabbing, and working, with the hope they return soon.

That wording is hopeful. It is not a medical clearance. Head coach Dan Campbell had already told reporters late last week that he and Holmes still needed to decide whether either safety belonged on the 53-man roster or reserve/PUP, and that both were “doing well right now,” per The Detroit News.

What reserve/PUP means for Joseph and Branch

Reserve/PUP is a roster tool, not a vague injury label. Players on it do not count against the 53-man roster. They also cannot play in the first four games.

A 2026 rule change shortens the wait to practice. Teams may open a 21-day practice window after their second regular-season game, a shift explained by Lions Wire. For Detroit, that window can open after the Thursday night game at Buffalo on Sept. 17. They still cannot be activated for a game until Week 5.

The earliest either safety can play is Oct. 11 at Arizona. Detroit then has a Week 6 bye before hosting Green Bay. That bye gives the staff a chance to wait if the knee or the Achilles is not ready for live speed.

The schedule dates match the club’s released slate on DetroitLions.com and the Week 1 listing compiled by the Detroit Free Press.

Why Detroit is starting Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox

Joseph was a first-team All-Pro in 2024 after leading the NFL with nine interceptions. Last season the same player finished with 18 tackles, four passes defended, and three interceptions in six games, per Pro-Football-Reference. The drop-off was availability, not a sudden loss of ball skills. ESPN described the knee issue as chronic and said Joseph missed the final 11 games of 2025.

Branch made the Pro Bowl after the 2024 season. In 2025 he posted 75 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and nine passes defended in 12 games before the Achilles injury ended his year, numbers carried in reporting from The Athletic and confirmed in season logs compiled by RotoWire.

Without that tandem, Detroit is expected to start veterans Avonte Maddox and Chuck Clark. Maddox is in his second season with the Lions after being retained this spring. Clark signed in March and is in his first year in Detroit, a depth addition covered by The Detroit News. They are not Joseph and Branch. They are experienced communicators who can keep the back end from breaking while the starters finish rehab.

That is the scheme problem in plain terms. Joseph’s value is range and takeaways over the top. Branch’s value is versatility near the line and in the slot. Clark and Maddox can cover snaps and call the defense. They are less likely to erase throws the way Joseph did in 2024 or collapse the run the way Branch did before December.

Branch’s contract sits in the same conversation

Branch is in the final year of his rookie deal, along with tight end Sam LaPorta. Holmes said Wednesday the club still wants both players in Detroit. According to The Detroit News, he said those plans have not changed, that a few factors still need to be sorted, and that he hopes the team can get deals done.

That is intent, not an agreement. No extension has been announced. Holmes already completed new contracts for Jack Campbell and Jahmyr Gibbs from the same 2023 draft class. Branch’s Achilles recovery is one of the factors any new deal has to account for. Joseph is on a separate track after signing a multiyear extension in 2025.

Week 1 still arrives on Sept. 13 at Ford Field against the New Orleans Saints. The Lions will take that game with a different safety pair and a four-game clock running on two of their best defensive backs. Holmes left the door open. The roster rules closed it until October.

Eleven days before Dallas opens at MetLife Stadium, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones put the next cap crunch on the record. Speaking Tuesday on the DLLS Cowboys podcast, Jones said the club can make CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens work this season and does not see an easy path if both post another big year.

“I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market, so that’s gonna be a real difficult situation as we move forward,” Jones said, according to NFL.com. “We’ve managed to figure out how we can do it for this year. If everything works out the way we think it is, in which CeeDee and George both have huge years again, then it’ll be a bigger challenge next year.”

DLLS Cowboys posted video of the remarks on X: “You look at the situation we have with George Pickens, going alongside CeeDee…I don’t know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market.” —

Stephen Jones:

"You look at the situation we have with George Pickens, going alongside CeeDee…I don't know of any teams that really can pay two top receivers top of the market. That's gonna be a real difficult situation…"#DallasCowboys | @clarencehilljr pic.twitter.com/tIZXtvZ1gr

— DLLS Cowboys (@DLLS_Cowboys) September 1, 2026

Pickens is on the non-exclusive franchise tag after Dallas applied it in February and he signed the fully guaranteed $27.3 million tender on April 29, Dallas Sports Journal reported. The July 15 window for a multiyear deal on a tagged player closed with no extension. He hits unrestricted free agency in 2027 unless Dallas tags him again at roughly 120 percent of this year’s figure.

Lamb remains under the four-year, $136 million extension he signed in August 2024. That deal averages $34 million a year through 2028 and was reworked in March 2025 to create cap space. Dak Prescott’s four-year, $240 million pact, also through 2028, sits at $60 million AAV. Those three numbers explain why Jones framed 2027 as the hard year rather than 2026.

What the 2025 tape already showed

Pickens delivered career highs in his first Dallas season: 93 catches, 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns across 17 games. The Associated Press named him second-team All-Pro. Lamb, limited to 14 games by a high-ankle sprain, finished with 75 receptions for 1,077 yards and three scores. Together they produced 2,506 receiving yards. Prescott threw for 4,552 yards. Dallas still finished 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

Jones also pointed to new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who spent recent seasons in Philadelphia and faced this offense twice a year. Parker “will tell you… what a challenge that it was for the Eagles when they played us… trying to defend Dak and those two receivers,” Jones said, per NFL.com, plus the running game, Jake Ferguson and Ryan Flournoy.

Camp coverage has backed the coordinator praise. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown told The Ticket that Parker treats meetings like another practice and wants every defender to know every position, according to the Dallas Morning News. That detail-first approach is why Dallas spent the offseason rebuilding the defense after ranking last in defensive DVOA a year ago.

Why Jones said it now — and what it does not settle

Dallas built the 2026 roster to win now. The front office already told Pickens in April there would be no long-term talks this year. Jones is simply restating the math before Week 1. A second tag in 2027 would still land well below the current top of the market, which jumped after Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s deal. Restructuring a future Pickens contract could flatten the first-year cap hit, but Jones made no promise that Dallas wants two wide receivers paid like top-10 players at the same time.

Other clubs have tried the pairing. Cincinnati has kept Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together. Philadelphia just split A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Those examples show it is possible and expensive. It also crowds the rest of the roster when a quarterback already carries a $60 million AAV.

Pickens has kept the temperature down. After reporting for mandatory minicamp, he said winning comes first and he wants to “bring a Super Bowl to a group of guys that never had that feeling,” per DallasCowboys.com. In camp he left contract talk with his agent and said he was already thinking about football. That stance is confirmed. Whether it holds if Jones keeps describing 2027 as a “real difficult situation” is analysis, not fact.

Dallas should treat the next 11 days as present tense. The Giants game is Sunday, Sept. 13, at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC at MetLife Stadium. Lamb and Pickens will line up together. Parker’s defense will try to prove the offseason rebuild was more than meeting-room noise. The cap conversation can wait until January. Jones just made sure everyone heard it anyway.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey spent Tuesday night making a case that federal prosecutors are not making. On his podcast and then on X, Humphrey argued that Daejon Love — the 35-year-old charged with posing as a San Francisco 49ers player in a multi-year romance-and-investment scheme — should not be in jail for what Humphrey framed as lying.

Love and 18-year-old Taylor Jamie Chan were arrested Aug. 24 at Boise Airport and charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. Prosecutors say the pair took about $1.3 million from at least 26 women across California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The FBI says more victims are likely still unidentified.

Humphrey posted on X: “Lowkey respect the hustle free Daejon” —

Lowkey respect the hustle free Daejon pic.twitter.com/4sFbD0Y8PM

— marlonhumphrey.eth (@marlon_humphrey) September 2, 2026

The post went up early Wednesday and pointed back to his own YouTube channel. An episode of The Marlon Humphrey Show listed for Sept. 1 carried the title “FREE DAEJON!” According to ClutchPoints, Humphrey said on the show, “What crime has he truly committed?” He also said Love was “basically going to jail for lying” and added, “I say, free Daejon.”

What prosecutors say the scheme actually was

The public record does not describe a harmless fib. Court filings and the Justice Department announcement say Love met women on dating apps, sold himself as a 49ers wide receiver or a wealthy real estate investor, and used Chan as a fake financial adviser. The pair built fake account balances, staged three-way FaceTime calls with falsified gains, and pushed some women to take out personal loans, the government says.

Love posted photos and video in 49ers gear and, in at least one clip described in court papers, staged a contract-signing scene. Investigators later confirmed with the 49ers and the NFL that Love never worked for the team or the league, USA TODAY Sports reported. He also used other names, including Jon Love, Avril Lyto Love and Jordan Love, according to ESPN.

When the money stopped or the questions started, prosecutors say Love cut contact and kept the cash. None of the identified victims reported getting returns, repayments or real account information.

Love remains detained after prosecutors argued he is a flight risk, the New York Post reported. Chan was released Aug. 27 with conditions that include a ban on dating apps and social media, according to a later New York Post report. The source claim that both men remain in federal custody is no longer accurate for Chan.

Why Humphrey’s take misses the charge

Humphrey’s argument treats the case as a conversation that got out of hand. Federal wire fraud is not a vibes statute. It covers schemes to obtain money through false pretenses using interstate wires — texts, apps, transfers, FaceTime. Fake bank screenshots and staged adviser calls are the kind of evidence prosecutors use to show intent, not just a bad date story.

That distinction matters because Humphrey also leaned on the idea that the women should have known better. ClutchPoints reported that he cited a teammate’s line about Love promising to “10x” someone in four days and asked how anyone could believe it. Skepticism about a get-rich pitch is fair. It does not erase the allegation that Love manufactured an NFL identity, forged the look of wealth, and used a teenager as a prop adviser.

Romance scams work because they mix status, affection and urgency. A 49ers jersey on Instagram is not a roster spot, but it is a costume built to lower defenses. The government says Love was still wearing team apparel when agents grabbed him in Boise and that more gear, including a helmet, turned up at an associated Airbnb, per OutKick.

Humphrey is entering his 10th season in Baltimore. In 2025 he posted 68 tackles, one sack, 13 passes defensed, four interceptions and two forced fumbles, per ESPN. He has always talked. That is part of his value in a locker room and on a podcast. It is also why a “free Daejon” riff travels farther than a typical player hot take.

The case is still at the complaint stage. Love has not been convicted. He is entitled to a defense, and Humphrey is entitled to an opinion. The filings already on the public docket describe more than a man who told a tall story. They describe an alleged pipeline: dating app, fake jersey, fake adviser, fake returns, real transfers.

Anyone with information is asked by the FBI to contact tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Eleven days before the New York Jets open the season in Nashville, ESPN’s Field Yates put edge rusher David Bailey on a short list of rookies he expects to hit the field running. Yates named Bailey among five first-year players who can make an immediate impact, grouping the No. 2 overall pick with Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, Giants guard Francis Mauigoa, Browns tackle Spencer Fano, and Cowboys safety Caleb Downs, per the NFL Live segment that aired Sept. 1.

The timing matters. The Jets visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Sept. 13, and they drafted Bailey to fix a pass rush that produced just 26 sacks in 2025, according to StatMuse. Will McDonald IV led the club with eight. Nobody else reached five.

Yates did not hedge on the selection. He said on the broadcast, “Nobody had more sacks than David Bailey in the FBS last year.” NFL on ESPN posted the ranking clip the same night —

.@FieldYates ranks his top-5 NFL rookies 👀 pic.twitter.com/2fo8km8WWN

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 1, 2026

That sack total was 14.5 in 2025 at Texas Tech, tied for the FBS lead, with 19.5 tackles for loss, per NFL.com. Bailey spent three seasons at Stanford before transferring. Across four college years he posted 163 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 29 sacks, four passes defended, and 10 forced fumbles, according to Sports-Reference. He was a unanimous All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year after that Red Raiders season.

The Jets already own the DROY record

New York has produced five Associated Press Defensive Rookies of the Year, the most of any franchise, per StatMuse and Pro-Football-Reference. Bailey, who turned 23 on Aug. 28, is the latest high pick asked to join that group. The list is fact, not forecast. Winning the award remains speculation until the votes come in.

The Jets took Bailey over Ohio State’s Arvell Reese on April 23, as reported by the New York Post. Yates later argued they did not overthink the board. He pointed to first-step quickness, heavy hands, and the ability to rush from a two- or three-point stance — traits that show up on the Texas Tech tape when Bailey wins the edge before the tackle can set his feet.

Camp reports backed the burst. The Athletic described Bailey wrecking early padded work against Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou, including a bull rush that folded Membou and Breece Hall on the same play. The Daily News later wrote that he looked like the best defensive player in camp and drew scuffles in joint work with Tampa Bay because tackles could not lock him down. Sporting News noted a preseason sack at Pittsburgh and those same joint-practice fights with Buccaneers tackle Luke Goedeke.

CBS Sports graded Bailey a B+ after a small preseason sample (20 snaps), citing pressure on stunts and speed around the corner. That is film-room evidence, not a finished résumé. Run defense was the pre-draft question. Camp reports say he has held the point better than expected. The regular season will test that against starting tackles who do not practice in shorts.

Scheme-wise, the fit is simple. Aaron Glenn needs a second rusher who can win one-on-ones so McDonald is not the entire plan. Bailey can stand up or put a hand in the dirt. That versatility lets Glenn move him across the formation instead of parking him in one spot. If Joseph Ossai’s foot injury keeps him limited, as NBC Sports reported last week, the rookie’s snap count could climb even faster.

Yates’ other names fill different holes. Love went third overall to Arizona and still faces a Week 1 availability question after a high-ankle sprain, which Yates flagged on the same show. Mauigoa has held the Giants’ starting right guard job through camp. Fano is slated at left tackle in Cleveland. Downs played only six preseason snaps in Dallas, a sign the Cowboys already trust what they saw in practice.

None of that crowns Bailey Defensive Rookie of the Year. It does explain why the Jets spent the second pick on a pass rusher instead of another debate. New York finished 3-14 last season. The front seven needs production, not projection. Week 1 in Nashville is the first real measure.

Eleven days before Dallas opens the 2026 season on Sunday Night Football, CeeDee Lamb posted a YouTube recap of the Cowboys’ skill-player retreat in Park City, Utah — and Dak Prescott’s closing huddle is the clip that traveled. The trip itself happened before training camp in late July. The video dropped Tuesday, and the quarterback’s message is the part that still lands with Week 1 approaching.

Prescott has made the skill-group getaway an annual stop. He told reporters in mid-July, at the Faith Fight Finish Foundation gala, that the group wanted a change of scenery this year and got full participation, including franchise-tagged receiver George Pickens. According to the Dallas Morning News, he described the weather as “amazing” and said the elevation made the work harder on purpose. Workouts ran close to two hours. They also got on the water.

Lamb’s caption framed the three days as a reset more than a secret practice: golf, workouts, hoops, a few drinks, and competition. Bleacher Report published the post Tuesday. The video is on Lamb’s YouTube channel under the title “The ‘Boys take Utah’ || Team Retreat” —

Prescott’s huddle was not a pep talk for the cameras

The moment that spread Wednesday is the last huddle. Prescott thanked the group for locking in, then told them the point was not a memory they dust off in December. As captured in the video and reported by ClutchPoints, he said they needed to “carry this s*** over, this vibe, this feeling” into camp and keep hanging out once the calendar turned official.

“Let’s just keep sticking together, man. Let’s keep pushing. We got a good team. We got a good f****** group right here.”

Dak Prescott, closing huddle after the Utah retreat, as shown in CeeDee Lamb’s YouTube video

Blogging The Boys staff writer Brandon Loree posted the same clip Tuesday night: “All confidence from the face of the franchise.” —

#Cowboys Dak Prescott being honest with the offense coming out of the retreat in Utah.

“Let’s just keep sticking together, man; let’s keep pushing. We got a good team, we got a good f***ing group right here.”

All confidence from the face of the franchise.

(🎥: @_CeeDeeThree on… pic.twitter.com/50fnxD3I0M

— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) September 1, 2026

That is the human beat, and it is not decoration. Last season’s offense already had production. What it did not have was a defense that could keep a lead. Prescott is asking the skill group to treat chemistry as a weekly habit, not a summer souvenir, because Dallas does not get to hide behind scheme if the locker room frays when the first road Sunday gets ugly.

The offense already proved it can score. The question is the other side.

Dallas finished 7-9-1 and missed the playoffs. Prescott threw for 4,552 yards and 30 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 17 games, per NFL.com. Pickens led the team with 1,429 receiving yards. Lamb still posted 75 catches for 1,077 yards in 14 games. Javonte Williams, back on a new deal, ran for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns on 4.8 yards per carry.

The scoring defense was the floor that collapsed. Dallas allowed 30.1 points per game, last in the NFL, and 511 points for the season, a franchise high documented by The Athletic. That is why a Utah golf trip only matters if the group that already produces stays tight while a rebuilt defense tries to catch up.

The front office did not leave the defense untouched. Dallas traded up to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs 11th overall in the 2026 draft, a move confirmed across league reporting, including The Athletic’s draft tracker. The club also traded for Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary and signed safety Jalen Thompson. Quinnen Williams, acquired midseason in 2025, later signed an extension. Christian Parker is the new defensive coordinator.

Whether that package is enough in a loaded NFC is analysis, not a confirmed verdict. Downs can change how Parker uses the nickel and the box. Gary and the interior veterans can shorten games if they actually get off the field on third down. None of that is proven in a regular-season snap yet.

What is proven is the calendar. Dallas visits the New York Giants on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, per the Giants’ official schedule. Prescott’s huddle was filmed in the mountains in July. The test he described starts in the meadowlands in 11 days.

Some of this will look like standard quarterback speak. Watching the tape of that huddle, it does not play like a branded content close. He is telling a group that already piled up yards that the work only counts if they still want to be around each other in November, when the defense is either a partner or a problem again.

Aaron Glenn brought an edge with him from Detroit. He has no plans to lose it in Year 2 as New York Jets head coach.

“I have an edge, and that’s not going anywhere,” Glenn told Jonathan Jones of The Athletic. “That’s just who I am, but it was one thing I wanted to make sure that I can make guys get to know who I am. As a head coach, learn these things, you nip them in the bud and you move on.”

Glenn said those words in mid-August at the team’s Florham Park facility, where the air still carried the leftover heat of training camp and the quiet urgency of a staff that knows last year’s 3-14 finish left little room for another slow start. The Jets finished last in the AFC East. They have not reached the playoffs since 2010. Most around the league understood the 2025 collapse was not solely on the first-year coach. Few will grant him the same grace if 2026 looks the same.

Geno Smith gives the offense a clearer upgrade at quarterback than Justin Fields provided a year ago. Smith completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 3,025 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions with the Raiders in 2025, per NFL.com. His 2023 season in Seattle remains the high-water mark: 323 completions on 499 attempts for 3,624 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He throws with more touch and accuracy than Fields showed. That should help. It will not be enough if the receivers cannot create separation.

Garrett Wilson remains the featured piece. The former Ohio State standout played only seven games last season because of a knee injury and finished with 36 catches for 395 yards and four touchdowns. The Jets signed him to a four-year, $130 million extension in 2025 that averages $32.5 million per year, according to CBS Sports. They need the healthy version that posted three straight 1,000-yard seasons before 2025.

Adonai Mitchell arrived from Indianapolis in a midseason trade last year and produced 24 receptions for 301 yards and two scores in eight games with the Jets. At 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds with 4.34 speed, he gives offensive coordinator Frank Reich a bigger target who can win downfield. Reich has talked about expecting more from him this fall.

Depth Behind Wilson and Mitchell Looks Thin

The rest of the group has far more to prove. The Jets kept Omar Cooper Jr., Isaiah Williams, Tim Patrick and Arian Smith when they trimmed the roster to 53 on Aug. 30. They released Malik McClain, Jamaal Pritchett and Quincy Skinner, according to the team’s official transactions and reporting from The Athletic.

Arian Smith, a 2025 fourth-round pick out of Georgia, caught seven passes for 52 yards as a rookie. Glenn values his special-teams work. That contribution kept him on the roster. It does not hide the limited receiving production. Patrick is a reliable blocker. He did not force the issue as a pass catcher in camp. Cooper, a first-round rookie from Indiana, and Williams, a return specialist who improved as a receiver this summer, offer speed. Neither has shown he can be a consistent threat against NFL secondaries.

Smith’s supporting cast leaves the passing game vulnerable if Wilson misses time again. Reich’s scheme asks receivers to win quickly and create after the catch. The current group has not proven it can do that against the Bills or Patriots, who finished 12-5 and 14-3 last season.

The quarterback depth chart adds another layer of risk. The Jets named rookie Cade Klubnik the backup after cutting Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook. Klubnik, a fourth-round pick from Clemson listed at 6-2 and 207 pounds, went 21-of-34 for 190 yards with one interception in the preseason. Glenn said Monday that “he’s our backup quarterback and he’ll do a good job,” per The Associated Press. If Smith goes down early, the Jets would be asking an untested rookie to run an offense that already lacks proven weapons.

Glenn has made it clear he will not change who he is. He also knows the roster still needs pieces. The Jets sit 11 days from their Sept. 13 opener at Tennessee. Getting out of the AFC East cellar is the first, modest target. Wilson staying healthy and Mitchell taking a step forward would give Smith a chance to make that happen. The rest of the receiving room has not yet shown it can carry the load.

Jonathan Jones posted about Glenn’s sit-down on X the day the interview published: “Aaron Glenn’s vision for the Jets has not changed, but he’d be foolish not to pivot when something isn’t working.”

Aaron Glenn’s vision for the Jets has not changed, but he’d be foolish not to pivot when something isn’t working. That’s what last year was, he tells @TheAthletic. My latest https://t.co/bm2gpwnarm

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) August 19, 2026

Jaxon Smith-Njigba did not hedge. On Tuesday’s SportsCenter, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year put the Seattle Seahawks’ new featured back on notice and on the map. “We rely on the run game a lot. So, he’s gonna be incredible,” Smith-Njigba said of first-round rookie Jadarian Price. “I’m looking forward to it. We talk about running the ball all the time, and that’s something we’re gonna do. He’s gonna be a big piece of this offense, especially early.” The clip circulated Wednesday via

Jadarian Price is expected to be a big early piece in Seattle's run-focused offense

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: “We rely on the run game a lot. So, he's gonna be incredible. I'm looking forward to it. He's gonna be a big piece of this offense, especially early.” pic.twitter.com/uCoLX67aQW

— MicNuggets (@micnuggetsnfl) September 2, 2026

Seattle opens the defense of its Super Bowl LX title Wednesday night, Sept. 9, against the New England Patriots at Lumen Field. Most of the championship core is back. The backfield is not. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, per The Athletic. Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL in the January divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers, had surgery in February, and opened camp on the physically unable to perform list, according to The Athletic and The Seattle Times. He will miss at least the first four regular-season games.

That leaves Price, the No. 32 overall pick out of Notre Dame, as the expected lead back. The Seahawks selected him after trade-down talks fell apart on draft night, AP News reported. Coach Mike Macdonald has said from the start that Price would work with the starters immediately.

Camp tape and a thin room

Price never played a preseason snap. He missed stretches of training camp with what Macdonald called lower-body or upper-leg soreness, then returned to joint practices in a limited role. ESPN’s Brady Henderson, who covers the team from Renton, wrote that Price still looked the part when he was on the field: vision, cutback ability, and three-down traits that showed up in 11-on-11 work. Macdonald called him “a special player” in pass protection and on all three downs, per ESPN.

The depth behind him is George Holani and free-agent addition Emanuel Wilson. Holani’s pass-blocking and short-yardage profile make him the natural complement. Wilson missed time himself. The initial 53-man roster listed those three running backs, with Charbonnet on PUP, according to Field Gulls and team depth charts.

“We rely on the run game a lot. So, he’s gonna be incredible. I’m looking forward to it. He’s gonna be a big piece of this offense, especially early.”

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SportsCenter, Sept. 1, 2026

The concern is volume. Price never started a game at Notre Dame. He split the backfield with Jeremiyah Love, who went third overall to Arizona. In 2025 Price carried 113 times for 674 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns (6.0 yards per carry) plus two receiving scores, per his college record and NFL.com. Career rushing line: 280 carries, 1,692 yards, 21 touchdowns. He also returned three kickoffs for scores. That efficiency is real. The sample of 20-carry games is not.

Walker and Charbonnet combined for more than 360 carries and 31 receptions a year ago. Price and Holani will absorb most of that early. New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, hired after Klint Kubiak left to become Raiders head coach, comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree as San Francisco’s former run-game coordinator and tight ends coach. Camp reports described more running-back motion and shotgun option looks than Kubiak used, per The News Tribune.

That scheme fits Price’s cutback skill, the trait John Schneider highlighted on draft night. It also fits a roster that still has Smith-Njigba drawing the heaviest coverage. JSN led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards and 119 catches last season and won AP Offensive Player of the Year, NFL.com confirmed. Sam Darnold will look his way often. A functional run game keeps single coverage on the perimeter and play-action honest.

Price told reporters after the draft he wanted an offense that ran first. Watching Walker win Super Bowl MVP in a 29-13 win over New England, detailed by AP News, only reinforced it. The Seahawks will find out Wednesday whether a rookie who never started in college can carry that identity for a month until Charbonnet is eligible to return.

San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling will wear No. 7 when the regular season starts, a change from the No. 15 he used through training camp and the preseason. The switch, first reported late last week, puts him in a number he used at Kapolei High School in Hawaii.

Stribling confirmed the reason to local reporters Tuesday. CBS Sports Bay Area’s Matt Lively posted that the second-round pick said he moved to No. 7 because it was his high school number and that he is aware of the viral Daejon Love story attached to the same digits. —

De’Zhaun Stribling confirmed he switched to #7 because it’s his high school number.

He is also aware of Daejon Love.

— Matt Lively (@mattblively) September 1, 2026

According to ClutchPoints, which cited Yardbreaker, Stribling said he wanted to feel comfortable in that number and “do my thing.” Lively later posted video of the follow-up question about Love. —

I had to ask De'Zhaun Stribling about Daejon Love and the number they share (not really). pic.twitter.com/ll5XDG8T0t

— Matt Lively (@mattblively) September 1, 2026

“Yeah, it’s hilarious. That’s kind of crazy, but it’s pretty cool at the same time.”

De’Zhaun Stribling, as reported by ClutchPoints on Sept. 2, 2026

How No. 7 became a punchline — and why the change still makes sense

The number coincidence is real. It is not a tribute. Federal prosecutors charged Daejon Labrayae Love, 35, and an alleged accomplice in late August with wire fraud after a multi-year scheme in which Love posed as a 49ers player while meeting women on dating apps. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon and reporting from The Athletic and USA TODAY describe 26 identified victims and about $1.3 million alleged losses. Investigators said Love was never on the 49ers or NFL payroll.

Stribling’s change is administrative, not theatrical. Niners Wire reported Aug. 31 that Jacob Cowing moved to No. 4, Stribling took No. 7 from Demarcus Robinson, and Robinson shifted to No. 11 after Brandon Aiyuk was placed on the reserve/left squad list. The team’s current roster page lists Stribling as No. 7.

Anyone who bought a No. 15 Stribling jersey after his preseason run is out of luck. That is a bad beat, not a conspiracy.

Why the 49ers need the rookie sooner than they planned

Stribling was the 33rd overall pick in the 2026 draft out of Ole Miss after stops at Washington State and Oklahoma State. He caught 11 passes for 109 yards in two preseason games, per the 49ers’ official player page: seven for 63 against Tennessee and four for 46 against the Chargers. He did not record stats in the preseason finale at Las Vegas.

Those snaps came against live NFL coverage, including a 32-yard sideline grab over Titans corner Cor’Dale Flott. Kyle Shanahan has said the production matched what the staff already saw in practice, not a sudden leap. The staff still accelerated his role after injuries thinned the room.

Ricky Pearsall is on season-ending injured reserve after PCL surgery, per NBC Sports and team comments from general manager John Lynch. Christian Kirk (calf) went on injured reserve with a designation to return and will miss at least the first four games. Mike Evans has been limited by a groin/adductor issue; Lynch said this week the club hopes he practices next week. George Kittle is working back from an Achilles tear and has taken team drills, with Week 1 still a live question rather than a lock.

That leaves Deebo Samuel Sr., Evans if he is available, Demarcus Robinson, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins, and Stribling as the active wideouts heading into the trip to Melbourne. Depth charts circulating this week list Stribling in the slot, the space Jauan Jennings used to occupy. Shanahan’s offense asks that player to win on slants, option routes, and motion. Stribling’s 10-inch hands and 4.36-second 40 at the combine fit the profile even if his college route tree was narrower than a finished pro’s.

The 49ers open Sept. 10 (Sept. 11 local) against the Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. San Francisco is scheduled to leave early to adjust to the time change. A rookie wearing a new number on the other side of the world is a small detail. The snaps behind it are not.

The Washington Commanders open the 2026 season on Sept. 13 at Philadelphia, and the public conversation around them still sounds cautious. That is not how general manager Adam Peters described the roster after final cuts. With quarterback Jayden Daniels healthy again after an injury-wrecked 2025, Peters is selling readiness more than panic.

Peters took over in 2024 and watched Washington jump to 12-5 and an NFC Championship Game. Last season collapsed to 5-12. Daniels started only seven games, completing 114 of 188 passes for 1,262 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions, per ESPN. A sprained left knee, a right hamstring strain and a dislocated left elbow limited him. He is back in the building and, according to the staff, back in command of the offense.

According to The Washington Times, Peters said: “I have a ton of confidence in this team and a ton of confidence in this coaching staff. We haven’t shown a lot, in terms of offensively and defensively, and there’s been a lot of times where we haven’t had our players, whether it’s in games or even in practice. … Very confident in where we’re at.”

What the preseason actually showed

Washington finished the exhibition slate 1-2. The closer was ugly. The Baltimore Ravens beat the Commanders 41-3 on Aug. 28, a 38-point margin that came with most starters sitting, according to the ESPN recap. Peters and coach Dan Quinn have treated that tape as roster evaluation, not a season preview. Starters barely played. The score still landed in living rooms around the Beltway.

The bigger problems are medical, not moral. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil tore his triceps in an Aug. 8 practice and is expected to miss most of the season after surgery, CBS Sports reported. Defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton underwent surgery for a torn pectoral and was later placed on injured reserve, per ESPN. Those are not rumored absences. They are confirmed holes on both lines heading into a road opener against an Eagles front that can wreck a pocket.

Quinn has pointed to the work Daniels did when the cameras were off. On the team site, the coach said he loved the quarterback’s readiness after more than 500 training-camp snaps — nearly half a regular-season workload — and praised the timing with Stefon Diggs and Terry McLaurin, according to Commanders.com.

I love Jayden’s readiness. He took over 500 snaps in this training camp — half a season’s worth of reps.

Dan Quinn, via Commanders.com

Why the scheme change matters against Philadelphia

New offensive coordinator David Blough, promoted in January after two seasons in the quarterback room, is asking Daniels to work under center more often and live in play-action, the team announced when it named Blough coordinator. That is a different ask than the 2024 attack. It also puts more stress on the interior and the left edge. Without Tunsil, Washington has already signed veteran tackle D.J. Humphries and is leaning on Brandon Coleman and the rest of a patched line. If the protection slips in Lincoln Financial Field, Daniels will have to create outside the design — the same thing that made him dangerous as a rookie and the same thing that got him hurt last year.

The skill-player help is real. Washington added Diggs on a one-year deal in early August, signed running back Rachaad White and paid edge rusher Odafe Oweh in free agency. Those moves give Daniels a second proven wideout next to McLaurin and give the defense a contracted pass rusher. They do not replace a Pro Bowl left tackle or a young interior defender for four-plus weeks.

Some analysts will still list Washington as a dark horse in the NFC because Daniels, at full speed, changes the math. That is analysis, not a guarantee. The Eagles present an immediate test of whether Blough’s timing work survives contact and whether the rebuilt front seven can get off the field without Newton. Peters is not blinking in public. The next 11 days are for installing protections, getting Allegretti and other veterans back in rhythm, and deciding how much of the camp version of Daniels travels to Philadelphia.

The Commanders do not need another miracle 2024. They need their quarterback upright and the line functional on the first series. Everything else in Ashburn this week is built around that.

One week before the 2026 NFL season opens, Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons put Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow back at the center of the league’s quarterback argument. On the latest episode of his podcast, Parsons said that when Burrow is rolling, almost nobody in the league can keep up. ClutchPoints circulated the clip Tuesday night.

Parsons put it this way: “When he’s on I don’t think there’s a better QB in the league than Joe Burrow.” ClutchPoints posted the excerpt on X —

"When he's on I don't think there's a better QB in the league than Joe Burrow"

Micah Parsons says that Joe Burrow is one of the best QBs that he has ever played against 🗣️

(via @MicahhParsons11) pic.twitter.com/VpPPemT8LL

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 2, 2026

That is not a new stance from Parsons. It is a louder one, timed to a season that starts Wednesday, Sept. 9, with the Super Bowl rematch in Seattle, per the NFL. The Bengals open at home Sunday against Tampa Bay.

Parsons has seen both versions of Burrow

The source clip frames the 2024 meeting as their only career matchup. The record says otherwise. They met twice while Parsons was still in Dallas.

On Sept. 18, 2022, Parsons wrecked the pocket. He finished with two sacks as the Cowboys won 20-17 at AT&T Stadium, a night the Dallas Morning News tracked as part of Parsons’ early-career sack binge. Burrow went 24-of-36 for 199 yards and one touchdown.

The rematch on Monday Night Football, Dec. 9, 2024, flipped the script. Burrow completed 33 of 44 passes for 369 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in a 27-20 Bengals win. Ja’Marr Chase caught 14 passes for 177 yards and two scores, including the late 40-yard winner. Parsons recorded no sacks and no tackles, per Stathead and the game log at StatMuse.

That is the version Parsons keeps describing. After the 2024 game, he called that form of Burrow the best quarterback in the league on “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” a take reported at the time by Pro Football Network and 247Sports. He later said the Cowboys locker room viewed Burrow as the best quarterback they faced that season, ahead of Lamar Jackson.

On a separate Bleacher Report predictions episode posted Sept. 1, Parsons again tied Burrow’s ceiling to health, saying a full year would put him among the league’s top quarterbacks. The clip is on YouTube.

The 2024 tape still carries the argument

Burrow’s 2024 season is the cleanest evidence Parsons can point to. He played all 17 games and led the NFL with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdown passes, completing 70.6 percent of his throws, according to Pro-Football-Reference and StatMuse.

Those counting stats did not win him MVP. Josh Allen took the award with 27 first-place votes to Jackson’s 23, NFL.com reported. Burrow finished fourth in the voting and won Comeback Player of the Year after missing most of 2023 with a wrist injury. Cincinnati closed 9-8 and missed the playoffs despite a five-game winning streak, a finish documented by the Bengals and league standings.

The Cowboys tape helps explain why pass rushers talk about him differently than voters do. Burrow does not beat a defense by outrunning it. He beats it by getting the ball out before the rush arrives. In Arlington in 2024, that meant quick answers to Chase against zone, then the 40-yard shot after a blocked punt flipped field position. Parsons never finished a rush. Two years earlier, when Cincinnati’s protection broke, Parsons finished two of them. Same quarterback. Different pocket.

Availability is the counterargument, and it is real

The pushback on Burrow’s place among the top five is not about arm talent. It is about how often he is on the field.

In Week 2 of 2025, Burrow left a home win over Jacksonville with a Grade 3 turf toe injury that required surgery. League sources told The Athletic he would miss at least three months. Coach Zac Taylor confirmed the procedure. Burrow went on injured reserve, returned on Thanksgiving against Baltimore, and finished with eight games, 1,809 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, per CBS Sports and AP News.

Cincinnati went 6-11. AP News reported the Bengals were 1-8 in the games Burrow missed. That is the résumé critics use when they slide him down a top-five board: elite when available, unavailable too often. Wrist in 2023. Toe in 2025. An ACL as a rookie in 2020. Parsons is not pretending that history does not exist. He is saying the on-field product, when Burrow is healthy, still sits at the top of the position.

Parsons is speaking from the other side of a similar problem. The Packers acquired him from Dallas in August 2025 and signed him to a four-year deal, then lost him to a torn ACL on Dec. 14, 2025. Green Bay placed him on reserve/PUP to start 2026, ruling him out for the first four games, The Athletic and general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed this week.

Whether 2026 becomes Cincinnati’s clearest path back to January is still projection. The Bengals kept Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins together, as AP News noted after last season. A healthier Burrow is the actual swing factor. Parsons, who has rushed him in two different buildings and lost the second fight, is not hedging that part.

Sam Darnold is done waiting. Seven days before Seattle opens its Super Bowl defense, the Seahawks quarterback told SiriusXM NFL Radio that the hardest part of throwing to Jaxon Smith-Njigba is no longer the wideout. It is his own timing.

“I think it’s almost nice as a quarterback you got to get used to it though for sure like because there are times when I first got here last year it was like, I would kind of wait for him to get out of his break, to throw, whereas now, I know he’s going to be there on time,” Darnold said, per ClutchPoints. He added that on an outbreaker he has to “lay it” and keep his feet right so the ball arrives with the cut.

SiriusXM NFL Radio posted a clip of the same conversation on X on Sept. 2, highlighting Darnold’s praise of how Smith-Njigba disguises every stem —

"It's very impressive the way he does that."@Seahawks QB Sam Darnold on the route-running of WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and how unique it is.

📻 https://t.co/dbQUay1t03#Seahawks | #GoHawks | @RhettNFL | @RobertJTurbin pic.twitter.com/pe0PCFwr7Z

— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) September 2, 2026

That adjustment sits at the center of Seattle’s passing game as the defending champions host New England on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Lumen Field. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC in a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which the Seahawks won 29-13 on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium, according to AP News and the Seahawks’ 2026 schedule.

Why Darnold had to throw before the break showed

Smith-Njigba does not sell routes the way most receivers do. Darnold said every cut — in, out, hook, or go — looks the same off the stem until the last instant. That is a problem for defensive backs. It is also a problem for a quarterback who grew up throwing to the break he can see.

Last season, Darnold’s first in Seattle after signing as a free agent, he sometimes held the ball a beat too long and waited for Smith-Njigba to finish the cut. On tape, that extra hitch is what late-breaking outbreakers punish. The window on a timed out route closes when the corner plants. If the quarterback’s front foot is still gathering, the throw sails or the defender recovers.

Year 2 changes the math. Darnold now treats Smith-Njigba’s landmark as a given. The ball has to leave on the third step, not after the receiver’s hips flip. That is the difference between a 12-yard completion on time and a contested ball two yards later.

ESPN described the same trait during the playoff run: Smith-Njigba stops “like a cartoon roadrunner,” then turns. Darnold’s job is to trust that stop before it happens.

The numbers behind the trust

The 2025 regular-season pairing produced a league-leading receiving year and a Super Bowl. Smith-Njigba finished with 119 catches for 1,793 yards and 10 touchdowns on 163 targets, per ESPN receiving leaders and his season totals. He won AP Offensive Player of the Year, NFL.com reported.

Darnold threw for 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions on 323-of-477 passing, according to ESPN and PFF. He earned his second straight Pro Bowl, after making the first with Minnesota in 2024.

In March, Smith-Njigba signed a four-year, $168.6 million extension that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the league at the time, NFL.com reported. The contract followed the season in which Darnold targeted him as the offense’s clear first read.

The relationship has a lighter side, too. Before Super Bowl LX, Smith-Njigba walked into Darnold’s SiriusXM interview mid-answer, a scene the network recapped in February at SiriusXM. The two have been finishing each other’s sentences for more than a calendar year. The latest comments sound like the football version of that: the quarterback no longer needs to see the break to believe it.

Wednesday’s opener is the first Super Bowl rematch in a kickoff game since Denver hosted Carolina in 2016, USA Today noted when the schedule dropped. Seattle is expected to raise its championship banner at Lumen Field before the Patriots take the field, per The Seattle Times.

New England arrives with the same quarterback Seattle sacked six times in Santa Clara. The chess match on the other sideline will be different. For Darnold and Smith-Njigba, the stated goal is simpler: throw the out when the feet say throw it, not when the receiver finally turns his head.

The Minnesota Vikings are adding veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, according to multiple reports late Tuesday, filling a thin edge-rusher group and bringing him back together with defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Van Noy, 35, visited the team’s TCO Performance Center on Tuesday and is expected to begin on the practice squad after sitting out training camp.

Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix Sports first detailed the move on X: “Veteran OLB Kyle Van Noy is signing with the Vikings, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports. Van Noy and DC Brian Flores won two Super Bowls together with the Patriots. Now they’re teaming up in Minnesota, where Van Noy will start on the practice squad to ramp up.”

Veteran OLB Kyle Van Noy is signing with the Vikings, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports.

Van Noy and DC Brian Flores won two Super Bowls together with the Patriots. Now they’re teaming up in Minnesota, where Van Noy will start on the practice squad to ramp up. pic.twitter.com/VPyL4aosTD

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 2, 2026

Jason Harmon of SKOR North and Vikings On SI reported the visit and intent to sign earlier Tuesday night. “Sources tell me Kyle Van Noy intends to sign with the Vikings as early as tomorrow after a positive visit with the team. Looks like a reunion with Brian Flores is happening.” —

Sources tell me Kyle Van Noy intends to sign with the Vikings as early as tomorrow after a positive visit with the team.

Looks like a reunion with Brian Flores is happening. pic.twitter.com/8MuJkoAVBH

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) September 2, 2026

A league source told The Athletic the Vikings are signing the free agent. A person with knowledge of the deal confirmed the agreement to The Associated Press, noting the contract had not been finalized. A source also confirmed the signing to the Star Tribune.

Why Minnesota Needed Another Edge Body

The Vikings have two established starters in Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner. Behind them the depth chart was mostly unproven after the team traded Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2026 NFL Draft. Minnesota sent Greenard and a seventh-round pick to Philadelphia for a 2026 third-rounder and a 2027 third-round pick, the team announced at the time. Vikings.com

That hole grew last weekend. Second-year edge Tyler Batty tore his ACL in the preseason finale against Denver and landed on injured reserve, per Tom Pelissero. He is out for the 2026 season. NBC Sports The remaining healthy backups were primarily undrafted players Chaz Chambliss and Bo Richter.

Van Noy gives Flores a veteran who already speaks the language. Flores coached him as a Patriots linebackers coach from 2016 to 2018; they won Super Bowls LI and LIII together. Van Noy later signed with Miami in 2020 when Flores was head coach. That shared history is the practical reason this deal moved quickly after one visit.

The 2014 second-round pick out of BYU (Detroit) has 57 career sacks in 173 regular-season games, according to NFL.com. He made his only Pro Bowl in 2024 after a career-high 12.5 sacks with Baltimore. Last season the production dropped: 20 combined tackles, 2.0 sacks, four tackles for loss, one interception and four passes defended in 15 games.

*NFL.com career tackle total; some outlets list 561 including assists variations.

Star Tribune reporting listed Turner with eight sacks and Van Ginkel with seven last season as the team’s top two at the position. Van Noy will not be asked to play the 600-plus snaps he logged in his Pro Bowl year. The plan, as reported, is a ramp-up on the practice squad with an expected path to the active roster during the season.

Minnesota opens at home against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 13 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Van Noy missed camp, so the practice-squad designation gives him time to get into football shape and relearn Flores’ current package without burning a 53-man spot immediately.

Flores’ scheme has always valued versatile edges who can rush, drop, and set the edge. Van Noy has done all three for more than a decade. Whether the 2024 version shows up again is the open question. Age is real. The scheme familiarity and the thin depth chart made the signing a low-risk, high-familiarity add 11 days before kickoff.

The Vikings have not issued an official announcement as of early Wednesday. Multiple independent sources have reported the agreement. Exact contract terms remain unconfirmed.

Tyler Warren did not wait for a podium. On the walk to Tuesday’s practice at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, the Indianapolis Colts tight end slipped a card to a team intern and kept moving. The card said “Promotion to full-time employee.” Under that line, it listed Warren as the official validator.

The intern stopped. She laughed, then cried. Staff clapped from a few yards away. DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart and offseason edge addition Arden Key walked over with congratulations. The Colts posted the clip, and The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov circulated it late Tuesday night: “A #Colts intern gets a surprise she had absolutely no idea was coming…” —

A #Colts intern gets a surprise she had absolutely no idea was coming…

Best video you’ll watch today. 🙏

(via @Colts) pic.twitter.com/qwCb63K0ES

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 2, 2026

That is the whole scene. No speech. No staged handshake at midfield. A 6-foot-6 tight end in practice gear handing over a job change on the way to work.

Why the Colts put Warren in that shot

Indianapolis drafted Warren 14th overall out of Penn State in 2025 and immediately treated him as more than a receiving tight end. He lined up in-line, in the slot, in the backfield and even in wildcat looks as a rookie, per the team’s own season review on Colts.com. When a franchise wants a face for a feel-good internal moment, it picks the player it is already selling as a pillar.

Warren earned a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie after Brock Bowers withdrew, the Indianapolis Star reported in January. The honor arrived after a season that started 8-2 and ended 8-9. Indianapolis dropped its last seven games, missed the playoffs for a fifth straight year and became the first NFL team to start 8-2 and finish with a losing record, according to the 2025 Colts season record.

Warren still finished with 76 catches for 817 yards and four receiving touchdowns in 17 games, plus a rushing score, per NFL.com. Those 817 yards set a franchise mark for a rookie tight end.

Receiving totals above are from ESPN’s 2025 Colts team stats and NFL.com. Pittman is no longer in the building. The Steelers acquired him on March 13 in a late-round pick swap and signed him to a new contract.

Year 2 volume is the real next card

Some analysts will look at Pittman’s departure and assume Warren inherits the entire target pile. That oversells it. Pierce remains the vertical threat. Josh Downs still owns the slot. Daniel Jones, back from the late-2025 Achilles tear that wrecked Indy’s close, still has to stay upright. Warren’s own production sagged with the rest of the offense during that seven-game slide. RotoWire charted 26 catches for 200 yards across those final seven games after a much hotter first 10.

What the tape did show last year is why Shane Steichen keeps him on the field. Warren ran 899 of Indianapolis’ 1,075 offensive snaps as a rookie, sixth on the team and the most of any rookie tight end in the league, Colts.com reported. He is a first-read option on short and intermediate concepts and a lead blocker when Steichen wants a two-tight look or a fullback shadow. That usage does not vanish because a wide receiver changed cities.

Jones said in June he expects Warren “to be a big part of the offense again,” and that the tight end is “making a jump on what was a really, really good rookie season,” via Colts Wire, citing FOX59’s Mike Chappell.

Tuesday also mattered for a quieter reason. Warren strained his groin in the Aug. 19 joint practice with Atlanta and missed time while the staff managed him toward Week 1. The Athletic’s James Boyd reported he was back on the field Tuesday. The same walk that produced the intern video was his return to regular work ahead of the Sept. 13 home opener against Baltimore.

The promotion itself is a staff decision. Warren just delivered the paper. That is the point the clip makes, and it is why it spread. A first-round tight end used as the messenger tells you how the building wants him seen in 2026: present, trusted, and already part of the furniture.

Whether he leads Indianapolis in catches, yards or scores this fall is speculation. The opportunity is real. The card he handed over Tuesday was already signed.

Micah Parsons just put a massive target on George Pickens’ 2026 season. On the bold-predictions episode of his Bleacher Report show, “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” the Green Bay Packers pass rusher said the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver can lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches — the receiving Triple Crown.

The comments landed as the league sits one week from kickoff. The 2026 regular season opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, and Dallas starts Sunday night, Sept. 13, at the New York Giants, per the NFL’s official schedule release.

Parsons did not hedge. According to Dallas Sports Journal, he said, “I think he might triple crown it.” He also projected 15 or 16 touchdown catches and at least 1,800 receiving yards. Bleacher Report clipped the same prediction on X —

Micah Parsons makes a BOLD prediction for George Pickens this season😳 https://t.co/skrhjJfMUV pic.twitter.com/P4cN5BmQ0D

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 2, 2026

That is a former teammate talking, not a random pundit. The Cowboys traded for Pickens in May 2025 and shipped Parsons to Green Bay later that summer. Parsons still talks about Pickens the way he talked about him in the building: as a red-zone problem defenses cannot solve with one look.

What Pickens actually did in 2025

The tape from last year backs the talent argument. It does not back the Triple Crown argument.

Official NFL.com career stats show Pickens finished 2025 with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns in 17 games. Those were career highs. Pro-Football-Reference ranks him third in receiving yards, behind Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1,793) and the Rams’ Puka Nacua (1,715). He finished eighth in receptions. Davante Adams led the league with 14 receiving touchdowns, so Pickens’ nine scores sat well off the top of that board.

He also earned his first Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors, per his 2025 season recap. The jump was real. The Steelers dealt him a year earlier. Dallas handed him a featured outside role next to CeeDee Lamb, and he punished single coverage.

The catch: Lamb is still here. Official NFL.com figures have Lamb at 75 catches, 1,077 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games last season. He missed time. When he played, the ball still had to find two mouths. That split is the first reason Parsons’ receptions projection breaks down.

Volume winners live on target share. Nacua caught 129 passes. Chase saw 185 targets, per NFL.com receiving leaders. Pickens had 137 targets. He turned them into 15.4 yards per catch and a 78.5 percent first-down rate on receptions. That is a deep threat and a chains mover. It is not a 120-catch profile unless Dallas starts feeding him the short game Lamb usually owns.

Why the Triple Crown is such a rare ask

The receiving Triple Crown is unofficial. No trophy arrives in the mail. A player simply has to lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in the same season. NFL.com recorded Ja’Marr Chase as the most recent winner in 2024, with 127 catches, 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns. Chase became the sixth Super Bowl-era winner and the 13th player all-time. Cooper Kupp did it in 2021. Jerry Rice and Steve Smith Sr. sit on the same list. No Cowboys wide receiver has ever done it.

That history matters because modern passing charts fight the feat. Slot volume inflates receptions. Red-zone specialists steal touchdowns. A true X receiver can lead the league in yards and still finish eighth in catches. That was Pickens last year.

Parsons is betting the red zone flips the script. He called Pickens the league’s best threat near the goal line and said the Georgia product “put fear into people,” as quoted by Heavy. The physical case is fair. At 6-foot-3, Pickens wins 50-50 balls and tracks the deep fade. Brian Schottenheimer has already said he wants to move Pickens around the formation more this season, according to reporting relayed by NBC Sports. More slot and condensed splits could raise his catch total. They would also put him in Lamb’s space.

Then there is the contract. Dallas placed the franchise tag on Pickens, and he is playing 2026 on a one-year, $27.3 million tender after the July 15 extension deadline passed with no long-term deal, The Athletic reported. Pickens reported to mandatory minicamp and has said the tag is not his focus. Still, a tagged receiver hunting a second contract has every reason to hunt highlights. Highlights are not the same thing as leading the league in receptions.

Some of last year’s spike also came when Lamb was out. RotoWire noted Pickens posted 24 catches for 427 yards and five touchdowns on 35 targets across the stretch when Lamb was limited. A healthy Lamb cuts into that vacuum. Jake Ferguson is still a factor in the red zone. So is whoever wins the third-receiver snaps.

The honest forecast sits between Parsons and the leaderboard. Pickens can finish top five in yards again if Dak Prescott keeps pushing the ball downfield. A 12-touchdown season is in range if Dallas features him on fades and back-shoulder throws inside the 15. Leading the NFL in all three categories at once would require Lamb to recede, the Cowboys to throw at a historic rate, and Nacua, Smith-Njigba and Chase to cool off together. That is analysis, not a report of anything Dallas has planned.

Parsons can see the player. The math still sees a 1B in a two-star room. Pickens does not need a Triple Crown to prove 2025 was not a fluke. He needs another year of 1,400-yard football with Lamb on the field. That is the cleaner test, and it starts in 11 days at MetLife Stadium.

Von Miller is on the Dallas Cowboys roster now, and coach Brian Schottenheimer spent Tuesday describing what the staff has actually seen from the 37-year-old pass rusher in a limited ramp-up. The comments land 11 days before Dallas opens the season at the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.

Miller agreed to terms Aug. 16 on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million and up to $7.5 million with incentives, the team announced and The Athletic confirmed with team sources. The DeSoto, Texas, product called the move a “dream within a dream” after signing, per DallasCowboys.com.

He will not carry a full-time snap load. Depth charts published after the 53-man cutdown list him behind Donovan Ezeiruaku on one edge, with Rashan Gary and rookie Malachi Lawrence also in the rotation, according to Sports Illustrated and the club’s initial roster on DallasCowboys.com. That Week 1 role remains an expectation, not an official starter announcement.

What Schottenheimer saw in the one-on-ones

Schottenheimer spoke Tuesday in Frisco after Miller had been working his way into practice following a late arrival that skipped the offseason program and training camp. The Athletic’s Jon Machota posted the coach’s assessment the same day.

Schottenheimer said Miller still shows “first step quickness” and an understanding of “how to attack tackles, angles and break down their hands” in the few one-on-one and team reps he has taken because of the ramp-up. Machota posted the comments here:

Brian Schottenheimer on what he’s seen since the Cowboys signed Von Miller: “You see the natural pass rush ability. When you watch him in the one-on-ones and the few reps that he’s gotten because he’s been on a ramp up, you do see his first step quickness, his understanding of…

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 1, 2026

That first step is the whole bet. Miller is not being asked to win 50 snaps against the run. Dallas needs a rusher who can threaten a tackle’s outside hand on third down, force a chip, and collapse a pocket when Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark occupy the interior. New coordinator Christian Parker’s 3-4 look gives the staff a clean way to mix Miller in on passing downs without asking a 37-year-old to set the edge for an entire series.

Schottenheimer also pointed to the work Miller is doing with teammates who do not rush the passer. He said Miller talks to the tackles as well as the edge group and is “one of the most energetic guys on game day even during the preseason,” per the same Machota post. Dallas Sports Journal transcribed a longer version of the Tuesday remarks, including Schottenheimer noting Miller’s long working relationship with pass-rush consultant B.T. Jordan: Dallas Sports Journal.

Why the numbers still matter

Miller played all 17 games for the Washington Commanders in 2025 and finished with 26 combined tackles and nine sacks, per ESPN and the team’s announcement on DallasCowboys.com. That nine-sack total was his highest with a single team since he had 14.5 for Denver in 2018. He had 9.5 combined in 2021 after the midseason trade from the Broncos to the Rams, so the single-team distinction matters.

He enters 2026 with 138.5 career sacks, the most among active players and tied with former Cowboy DeMarcus Ware for ninth in the official record that dates to 1982, as reported by NFL.com.

The interior he will work in front of is new by Dallas standards. Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams are on the 53-man roster, DeMarvion Overshown is listed at inside linebacker, and DaRon Bland remains at corner, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram roster rundown after waiver claims. That group can create the kind of one-on-ones Miller still hunts. It does not, by itself, make Dallas a Super Bowl favorite. That leap is analysis, not a confirmed roster fact.

Contract structure matches the usage plan. ESPN’s Todd Archer posted the breakdown: $3 million signing bonus, $1.5 million base, $1.2 million in active roster bonuses, four void years, and sack incentives that require a playoff appearance:

Von Miller contract breakdown
1 year, $5.5m, $7.5m max

Bonus: $3m
Base: $1.5m
Active roster bonuses totaling $1.2m … There are 4 voidable years on the deal.

Incentives:
$500k – 8 sacks + playoffs
$1m – 10 sacks + playoffs
$1.5m – 12 sacks + playoffs
$2m – 14 sacks + playoffs

— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) August 19, 2026

Week 1 is Sept. 13 at MetLife Stadium, 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, according to the NFL and the Giants’ schedule page. Miller’s target when he signed was to be ready for that game after a ramp-up, Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News reported in mid-August:

Cowboys don't expect Von Miller to practice this week. There's a ramp up phase for Miller to go through. He's expected in Calif. late today early tomorrow. The goal is to get him ready for Week 1.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) August 17, 2026

The football question is narrow. Can Miller still win a handful of third-down reps, teach Ezeiruaku and Lawrence how to attack a tackle’s hands, and keep the room loose on game day? Schottenheimer’s answer Tuesday was yes on the tape he has seen so far. The Giants will be the first real test.

The Arizona Cardinals sit last in a loaded NFC West after a 3-14 season, and first-year head coach Mike LaFleur is building for the long term rather than chasing the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers this fall. That does not mean the offense lacks intrigue. ESPN draft analyst Field Yates named Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love the top rookie to watch in 2026 during an appearance on NFL Live.

Yates placed Love, the No. 3 overall pick in April, at the head of his five-rookie list. “Jeremiah Love, no surprise here, right? Like if you’re taking a running back, third overall, he better be an instant impact player,” Yates said, per ClutchPoints. He noted the high-ankle sprain that leaves Love uncertain for the Sept. 13 opener at the Chargers takes some shine off the debut, then added that Love still possesses premier rushing skills and elite pass-game ability. “This guy should be the best player on the Cardinals’ offense along with Trey McBride.”

NFL on ESPN posted a clip of Yates ranking his top five rookies on Sept. 1.

.@FieldYates ranks his top-5 NFL rookies 👀 pic.twitter.com/2fo8km8WWN

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 1, 2026

Love flashed that skill set in his only preseason action. Against the Raiders on Aug. 13 he ran 11 times for 58 yards and added three catches, including a memorable hurdle that circulated widely. He has not practiced fully since suffering the high-ankle sprain in that game. Head coach Mike LaFleur said Monday that Love is “progressing really well” and taking daily steps, according to ESPN. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported a source put Love’s Week 1 chances at about 50-50. Love was spotted at Tuesday’s practice but did not participate, per RotoWire.

LaFleur, hired in February after three seasons as Rams offensive coordinator, has praised Love’s completeness. “What’s unique about him in my opinion, is that in all three phases, run game, pass game and protection … he doesn’t have a weakness,” LaFleur said after the draft, according to The Associated Press. The Cardinals selected Love first among running backs and the highest at the position since Saquon Barkley went No. 2 in 2018, as detailed by NFL.com.

That versatility matters in LaFleur’s scheme. Love can press the line, cut, and catch out of the backfield the way McBride already does as a tight end. McBride led NFL tight ends with 126 receptions and 1,239 yards last season and ranks among the position’s very best heading into 2026. Marvin Harrison Jr. remains the hoped-for WR1 after two uneven seasons. If those three pieces click, Arizona can stay competitive even without a clear franchise quarterback; Jacoby Brissett is expected to start Week 1 after a reworked one-year deal.

The rest of the NFC West spent the offseason adding proven talent. The Rams acquired Myles Garrett and welcomed Aaron Donald out of retirement. The Cardinals chose the longer view: draft the best available playmaker, install a new culture, and let Love, McBride and Harrison grow together. A fourth-place finish remains the most likely outcome if the division stays healthy. That does not make Love any less worth watching once he is cleared.

Love signed a four-year, $53 million rookie contract in May. James Conner opens the year on injured reserve. Tyler Allgeier is next in line if Love sits Sept. 13 at SoFi Stadium. The Cardinals will update Love’s status on the first official injury report next week.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will work on a limited basis this week after a left-knee hyperextension last week, but coach Zac Taylor said he feels good about the All-Pro’s availability for the Sept. 13 opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Chase’s new podcast, “Chasing No. 1,” also arrives Wednesday with quarterback Joe Burrow as the first guest.

Taylor addressed reporters before Tuesday’s practice and made the timeline clear. Chase “will be limited throughout the week, but I feel good about him,” the coach said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Tee Higgins (heel contusion) is in the same limited bucket. Taylor added both “will be good at the end of the week.”

Chase first hurt the knee Aug. 25 when he landed awkwardly on a deep ball from Burrow. He limped off, sat out the next day, and did not play in the final preseason game. He called it a “little tweak” and a “little hyperextension” at the time and said he would have played if a game had been scheduled the following day, per the Enquirer. The Bengals have three days off over Labor Day weekend, which gives them extra rest before they turn fully toward Week 1.

That calendar matters. Cincinnati does not need Chase at full speed until the Sept. 7 practice week that actually prepares for the Buccaneers. Limited work now is management, not a red flag.

Chase, 26, posted 125 catches for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025, per Bengals.com. The yardage and score totals dropped from his 2024 Triple Crown season after Burrow missed time, but the target volume stayed elite.

Off the field the timing is tighter. NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported Tuesday that the pilot episode of “Chasing No. 1,” co-hosted with Annie Agar and produced by Overtime, features Burrow and drops Wednesday. Schultz posted: “Some info I just got for Bengals fans: Ja’Marr Chase’s new podcast, “Chasing No. 1,” with co-host @AnnieAgar, will have Joe Burrow as its first-ever guest and is dropping tomorrow with @overtime” —

Some info I just got for #Bengals fans: Ja'Marr Chase’s new podcast, “Chasing No. 1,” with co-host @AnnieAgar, will have Joe Burrow as its first-ever guest and is dropping tomorrow with @overtime 👀 pic.twitter.com/AMLneUlPMi

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 1, 2026

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Agar confirmed Burrow as the first guest and that the episode is scheduled for Sept. 2 on Overtime. Agar announced the co-host pairing Aug. 30 —

CHASING NO 1. @Real10jayy__ pic.twitter.com/KagxSrSs30

— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) August 31, 2026

Chase first publicized the show in February during Super Bowl week, then with Higgins as co-host. The pair appeared on “Up and Adams” and “The Pat McAfee Show” to promote a spring launch on Overtime that never happened. The project later shifted to Agar. No official explanation for the change has been given.

Burrow as the opening guest fits the on-field pairing. The two have operated as the Bengals’ primary passing-game connection since they arrived from LSU together. Chase has repeatedly described Burrow’s competitive edge as something he wants more of, not less. A sit-down the week the regular season begins gives both a chance to talk about that chemistry before they test it against Tampa Bay’s secondary.

Fans on X mixed excitement with jokes about the Chase-Agar pairing and whether a Packers-leaning personality and a Bengals star would click on mic. The episode itself will answer that faster than any preview.

Brandon Beane will take a championship-level roster into another Buffalo Bills season. He will not take a Super Bowl guarantee with it.

The president of football operations and general manager met reporters Tuesday after the initial 53-man roster was set, less than two weeks before Buffalo opens at the Houston Texans. Asked how much better this group is positioned to finish the job, Beane declined the invitation. In the team’s official media session, posted on the Bills’ YouTube channel, he framed the standard the same way he has for years: build the best roster you can, then let the season decide the rest.

“Every year you’re trying to put the best roster, the best team, a championship-level roster.”

Brandon Beane, Sept. 1, 2026 media availability

That line is the job description. It is not a forecast. Beane reminded the room that Buffalo has been a steady contender, won five straight AFC East titles before finishing second last season, and still made the playoffs. “We’ve had our opportunities,” he said. Then he shut the door on January talk. “I’m not going to sit up here and make any crazy predictions. We haven’t even played a game.”

Syracuse.com Bills reporter Matt Parrino posted the same stretch of comments from the podium on X: Beane on a championship-level roster, no bold forecasts, and a season that will turn on how the locker room handles adversity —

Brandon Beane says every year you're trying to put together the best "championship-level roster."

"We've been a steady contender. We've had our opportunities. We're excited about this team, and I'm not gonna make any crazy predictions. Who knows what adversity this team will…

— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) September 1, 2026

Why Beane is keeping the temperature down

The caution is not false modesty. It is the record. Owner Terry Pegula fired Sean McDermott in January after a 33-30 overtime loss at Denver in the divisional round, a result The Associated Press reported two days after the game. Buffalo had gone 12-5, snapped a five-year hold on the AFC East, and still ran into the same wall. The franchise has not reached a Super Bowl since the early 1990s.

Joe Brady, promoted from offensive coordinator, is now the head coach. AP noted he had no previous NFL head-coaching experience when Buffalo stayed in-house. A new play-caller on the sideline, a new defensive coordinator in Jim Leonhard, and a roster still shaking out after final cuts is a lot of moving parts for a team the public already treats as a title favorite.

Beane said as much from the podium. Every season, he argued, writes its own script. Injuries arrive. A short week lands. A game in December turns on one protection or one missed tackle. “Who knows what the adversity that this team will face,” he said. “This team will have its own journey and it’ll be how do we handle the ups and downs of a long NFL season.”

That journey starts on the road. The Bills open Sunday, Sept. 13, at Houston, per the NFL.com schedule, then host Detroit four nights later on Thursday Night Football. The Athletic’s 2026 watch guide also lists a Thanksgiving night date with Kansas City and a Christmas afternoon trip to Denver — two opponents that have already ended Buffalo postseasons in this era.

The roster is built. The health sheet is not clean.

Beane’s front office did what it always does in August: keep extra bodies at a few spots, move others for draft capital, and refuse to pretend 53 names equal a finished product. Buffalo Rumblings reported he spent more than 36 minutes on Tuesday walking through practice-squad rules, the trade of center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger to Indianapolis, and running back Ty Johnson’s status. Johnson, Beane said, is getting better after an injury he described as “a bit different” from an earlier issue. That is not a Week 1 clearance.

According to The Athletic, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and linebacker Terrel Bernard were not fully cleared for the opener as of Tuesday, wide receiver Khalil Shakir had not practiced since Aug. 18, and rookie defensive lineman Zane Durant was placed on injured reserve with a stinger. Beane also left the No. 2 corner job flexible between Maxwell Hairston and Davison Igbinosun rather than locking a depth chart in public. If a platoon helps them win, he said, they will use one.

Those are the “ups and downs” he was pointing at, not a slogan. A team that needs Josh Allen to carry another January run already has questions at nickel, on the edge of the secondary, and in the return game. That is why Beane kept dragging the conversation back to St. John Fisher and the two weeks of practice still in front of them. The roster cut is finished. The team is not.

Those results, compiled from league records and reporting by AP on Buffalo’s coaching change, explain the posture. The Bills have won a playoff game in six straight years and still have not reached the Super Bowl in the Allen era. That gap is why Pegula changed coaches. It is also why Beane will not sell a parade in the first week of September.

Some analysts will still slot Buffalo among the AFC’s top two or three teams, and the talent on paper supports that debate. Allen is entering his ninth season. James Cook just ran for an NFL-best 1,621 yards in 2025, per The Athletic’s Bills hub. The front office added D.J. Moore and kept stacking the offensive line. None of that is in dispute. What Beane refused to do is convert a constructed roster into a promised result.

The next test is practical, not rhetorical. Can Brady’s staff get a defense still learning Leonhard’s rules to travel in Week 1? Can the Bills cover if Shakir or Bernard is limited? Can a group that has already lived through January heartbreak treat a September trip to Houston like the start of a new path instead of another lap around the same track?

Beane’s answer, stripped of the press-conference polish, was simple. The front office built the roster it wanted. The season will decide whether that roster can handle the hits that always come. Time, he said, will tell how it plays out.

Green Bay opens the 2026 season without its lead back, and the pressure shifts straight to the quarterback. The NFL placed Josh Jacobs on the commissioner’s exempt list on Aug. 30, which keeps him off the practice field and out of games while the league reviews his case, per NFL.com. That leaves Jordan Love as the player who has to run the Packers offense, not just manage it.

The designation is paid administrative leave, not a final suspension. Jacobs cannot practice or attend games. With club permission he may still use the facility for meetings, individual work and treatment. His attorneys called it “an administrative procedure used by the NFL while a matter is being reviewed,” in a statement published by NFL.com. Brown County charged him with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property after a May incident. No timetable has been set for a return.

General manager Brian Gutekunst said Tuesday he is “certainly hopeful” and “certainly would expect” Jacobs to play at some point this season, while the organization waits on the process, according to The Athletic. Until then, Green Bay’s backfield is a committee.

A thinner run game forces the issue for Love

The initial 53-man roster lists MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks and trade addition Kaleb Johnson at running back, with Jacobs on the exempt list, per the Packers’ official roster announcement. Pierre Strong Jr. signed back to the practice squad on Aug. 31, according to the club’s transaction report.

That group does not replace a three-time Pro Bowler who ran for 929 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Lloyd has barely played because of injuries. Johnson, a 2025 third-round pick acquired from Pittsburgh on cutdown day, had 69 rushing yards on 28 carries as a Steelers rookie. Brooks has been a reliable complementary piece and protector more than a feature back. A Shanahan-style offense can still lean on zone concepts and play-action. It cannot lean on the same early-down hammer.

Andrew Hawkins made that point on ESPN’s NFL Live on Tuesday. The former Browns and Bengals receiver said he expects the offense to “replace Matt LaFleur with Jordan Love as the face of the offense.” NFL on ESPN posted the comment here:

“I expect this offense to replace Matt LaFleur with Jordan Love as the face of the offense.”

—@Hawk on what to expect from Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers. pic.twitter.com/2lbFsuUlZv

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 1, 2026

Hawkins argued the scheme has stayed run-heavy since Aaron Rodgers left, and that Jacobs’ absence turns a preference into a requirement: throw earlier in drives, take shots in spots that used to be handoffs, and let Love be the reason the system works.

That is analysis from a studio analyst, not a team directive. Head coach Matt LaFleur has already been asked the same question in different words. When a reporter asked whether Green Bay would “let Jordan Love cook” this year, LaFleur answered, “Yeah, we’re going to let him cook,” as reported by ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

The tape and the numbers say the arm is ready. The volume has not been.

Love is entering Year 4 as the starter after Green Bay drafted him in the first round in 2020. He has nine regular-season wins as a starter in each of the past three seasons. The team went 9-8 in 2023, 11-6 in 2024 with Love starting 15 games, and 9-7-1 last year with Love starting 15. His postseason record is 1-3. The lone win remains the 48-32 wild-card victory over Dallas after the 2023 season.

The passing totals explain why Hawkins framed this as a volume problem, not a talent problem.

Love has cleared 3,400 yards once. Last season he posted a 101.2 passer rating and cut his interceptions to six, per standard league totals compiled by Pro-Football-Reference. Efficiency improved. The offense still called designed runs at a high clip. Demovsky noted LaFleur has called designed runs on 43.8 percent of plays since the start of 2023, a rate behind only Baltimore and Philadelphia over that span.

That split made sense with Jacobs healthy. It is harder to defend now. Love already pushes the ball downfield — Demovsky cited 8.3 air yards per attempt since 2023, among the highest marks in the league — and he has the skill players to live there. Christian Watson and Jayden Reed stretch the field. Matthew Golden is listed as the X receiver. Tucker Kraft is working back from a knee injury and is a question mark for Week 1. The structure is there for empty sets, early play-action and intermediate crossers instead of another inside-zone call on second-and-6.

Love also got a different look at the operation last week. He did not play in the preseason finale against Arizona. He put on the headset and called the second half. LaFleur later praised how calm Love stayed on the call sheet in the late stages of a 42-38 win, a detail confirmed after the game by Packers Wire and by Love himself in a Tuesday availability on packers.com. That is not the same as lining up behind center at U.S. Bank Stadium. It does show the staff is handing him more of the offense, not less.

Week 1 at Minnesota will show how far the shift goes

Green Bay visits the Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 3:25 p.m. CT, per the published 2026 schedule. If Love is going to become the face of this offense, it starts on early downs in a road division game, not only in obvious passing situations.

Some of that is scheme. LaFleur’s tree lives on run action that holds linebackers and opens play-action shots. Some of it is personnel. A committee of Lloyd, Brooks and Johnson can still grind for four yards. It cannot ask defenses to load the box the way Jacobs did. That is why Hawkins’ point lands even if you set aside the talk-show framing: the Packers do not need Love to turn into a 4,500-yard gunslinger. They need him to be the first option on series that used to start with a run, and they need that change before the trade deadline forces a different conversation about the roster.

Jacobs’ legal process is unfinished. Gutekunst has not closed the door on a midseason return. Until the commissioner lifts the exemption, the Packers’ path through September runs through Love’s right arm.

Jaxson Dart grew up mimicking Odell Beckham Jr. one-handed catches in the backyard. On Tuesday, the Giants quarterback talked about sharing a locker room with the receiver who used to live on his highlight reel.

Beckham made New York’s initial 53-man roster after the Aug. 30 cutdown, a result the team confirmed when it posted the opening roster. Dart, speaking to reporters in an availability circulated by SNY Giants on Sept. 1, did not treat it like a courtesy signing.

“From that perspective, I would say it’s pretty nostalgic,” Dart said. “Just like as a kid, that’s like an icon in a way. Where you feel like he changed the game a little bit.”

He went further on the work. SNY Giants posted the clip Tuesday: “Really just proud of him. He came in here, he earned it. He got better each and every week and he’s playing his best ball since he got here right now.” —

"Really just proud of him. He came in here, he earned it. He got better each and every week and he's playing his best ball since he got here right now."

Jaxson Dart talks about Odell Beckham Jr. making the Giants' initial 53-man roster: pic.twitter.com/vevfTwA1Dw

— SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) September 1, 2026

Why Beckham survived cutdown day

The roster math changed late. According to The Athletic, Calvin Austin III’s season-ending knee injury last week opened a receiver spot Beckham had been chasing all summer. Head coach John Harbaugh had already said after the preseason finale that Beckham had “done enough to make an NFL roster,” a comment reported by ESPN and NFL.com.

Beckham, 33, signed a one-year deal on June 1 and sat out the entire 2025 season. He last played a regular-season snap for the Giants on Dec. 2, 2018. He still had to beat out a crowded room. New York kept five receivers: Malik Nabers, Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton and Beckham, per the club’s official list.

Friday’s preseason finale against the Jets helped close the case. Beckham caught three passes for 53 yards while starting the first half, according to the New York Daily News. He also drew a pass-interference flag in the red zone. ESPN listed him at seven catches for 76 yards across the preseason.

That is not 2014 production. It was enough, in Harbaugh’s building, after a summer in which Beckham did not miss practice and finished camp faster than he started it.

The catch that still lives in Dart’s backyard

Dart is 23. He was 11 when Beckham, then a rookie, hauled in Eli Manning’s 43-yard touchdown against Dallas on Nov. 23, 2014, at MetLife Stadium — the three-finger sideline grab that turned a first-round pick into a national name. The Giants lost that Sunday night game, 31-28, but the play never left the rotation.

“Like, you’re in your backyard as a young kid, talking about like, Odell when you catch it one hand or just things like that,” Dart said in the same SNY availability. The full session is also posted on SNY’s YouTube channel.

The calendar lined up again. New York opens the regular season Sept. 13 against the Cowboys at MetLife on Sunday Night Football, per the Giants’ schedule. Beckham will wear No. 13 after Jalin Hyatt was waived, a number change the team announced Tuesday, according to NBC Sports.

Dart’s praise stayed specific. He cited alignment, assignment, playing fast, getting open and making plays — the small stuff that decides whether a 33-year-old stays on the field in September. “So there’s a lot that we as younger guys can learn from him,” he said.

Beckham told Josina Anderson after the roster news broke that Harbaugh congratulated him walking off the field and that Dart and Jameis Winston were among the teammates who met him in the locker room, per Giants Wire. That account is Beckham’s, not an independent locker-room report.

What the tape and the cutdown say is simpler. Nabers remains the offense’s engine. Fields and Mooney give Dart different body types on the outside. Slayton still occupies a veteran role. Beckham’s job is narrower: win enough routes, stay healthy, and give a second-year quarterback a voice who has already lived the New York cycle — the cheers after a circus catch and the trade that ended the first chapter in 2019.

Harbaugh coached Beckham in Baltimore in 2023, when the receiver posted 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns. That history helped get Beckham in the building. The August practices and the Jets tape are what kept him there. Dart’s comments on Tuesday put a younger face on the same point: the roster spot was not handed back. It was taken.

Jordan Love did not sound like a quarterback who just lost a teammate. He sounded like a friend who watched another young passer finally get a real shot.

On Tuesday, two days after Green Bay sent Kyle McCord to Miami for a 2028 sixth-round pick, Love told reporters he was glad to see the second-year quarterback land a backup job. Vince Lovergine of FOX 11 asked Love about the relationship and the trade. Love answered that McCord “balled out in the preseason” and that he was “pretty impressed” by how McCord handled the work —

I asked #Packers Jordan Love on his relationship with Kyle McCord and seeing him get a new opportunity in Miami.

"I'm excited for Kyle… he balled out in the preseason… I was pretty impressed on how he handled business… very excited he'll be with Malik (Willis)."#GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/W9NopFYmQ4

— Vince Lovergine (@Vince_Lovergine) September 1, 2026

The Packers made the deal official Sunday, before the 53-man roster deadline. Green Bay announced it acquired the 2028 sixth-round selection in exchange for McCord, per the team’s news release on Packers.com. Miami confirmed the same terms, pending a physical, on MiamiDolphins.com.

The timing was no accident. One day earlier, the Dolphins had traded Quinn Ewers to Jacksonville for a 2028 sixth-round pick, according to USA TODAY. Miami then flipped that same-round asset to Green Bay and installed McCord behind Malik Willis. Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley later confirmed McCord would open the season as the No. 2 quarterback, with Brady Cook, claimed off waivers, as the third option, per reporting collected by CBS Sports.

Why Green Bay moved McCord now

McCord never had a clean path to the Packers’ 53. Love is the starter. Tyrod Taylor signed in May to be the veteran insurance policy. McCord, a 2025 sixth-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles who spent his rookie year on the practice squad, signed a reserve/futures deal with Green Bay in January, as first reported when the deal closed and later summarized by Sports Illustrated.

He still forced the issue. In three preseason games he completed 46 of 70 passes for 446 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. The numbers come from multiple recaps, including Packers News. The last night at Lambeau was the loudest. McCord played the entire preseason finale, threw four touchdowns, and led a late rally in a 42-38 win over Arizona. Love called the second-half plays from the headset after Matt LaFleur handed him the job at halftime, a detail LaFleur and McCord both described after the game, as reported by NBC Sports.

Keeping a third quarterback on the active roster would have cost Green Bay a spot elsewhere. Trading him turned a likely waiver risk into a future pick. That is the business side. Love talked about the human side.

Their relationship grew from OTAs through camp. Love said he was excited McCord would now work with Willis, a quarterback Love knows well from two seasons in Green Bay. “That’s how it goes in [the] NFL,” Love said in the Tuesday session captured by Lovergine and later written up by ClutchPoints. You get a chance to be a backup somewhere. You take it.

What the deal means in Miami

McCord walks into a quarterback room that already has Packers DNA. Willis signed a three-year deal in Miami after backing up Love. New general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley both came from Green Bay this offseason. Passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo coached McCord in Philadelphia last year. Those connections do not guarantee snaps. They do mean Miami evaluated McCord with more than one tape session.

The Dolphins are in a rebuild year. Willis is the starter. McCord, 23, is cheap, under team control as an exclusive-rights free agent after 2026, and still waiting on his first regular-season snap. A team that just shipped Ewers out is telling him the job behind Willis is his to hold, at least to open the season.

Love’s comments will not change the depth chart in Green Bay. They do explain why the trade felt clean instead of cold. McCord put up production when given the full game. The Packers already had their veteran backup. Miami needed one. A sixth-round pick in 2028 closed it.

Green Bay opens at Minnesota on Sept. 13. Miami opens at Las Vegas the same weekend. McCord’s next meaningful snaps, if they come, will be in a different offense, in a different climate, behind a quarterback who once held the same job Love now occupies.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are holding the line on a Joey Porter Jr. contract extension. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said Tuesday the club wants the cornerback on the field after his physically unable to perform stint before it commits to a long-term deal.

“They wanted to see him on the field first, off the PUP list,” Garafolo said on Good Morning Football. That update lands 12 days before Pittsburgh opens the 2026 season against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 13 at Acrisure Stadium, per the NFL schedule.

Why the Steelers will not talk in-season

General manager Omar Khan restated the organization’s rule Monday: Pittsburgh does not negotiate contracts once the regular season starts. That leaves a short window, and Khan declined to describe where talks stand.

We won’t talk publicly about the negotiations per se, but Joey knows how we feel about him, and I still hope Joey finishes his career here. Our policy is going to remain in place, but I’m not going to talk about negotiations.

— Omar Khan, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Aug. 31, 2026

Porter, a 2023 second-round pick, is in the final season of his rookie contract and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2027, according to Over The Cap. His 2026 cap number is about $4.92 million. That is a bargain next to a cornerback market that has already pushed several peers past $30 million a year.

Coach Mike McCarthy called the situation an “impasse” last week, The Athletic reported. Garafolo had separately reported that Pittsburgh had not submitted a formal offer. Steelers Wire said Tuesday that stance has not changed.

Back injury, PUP exit, and an open practice question

The Steelers listed Porter with a back injury after he aggravated it during a mobility workout on the first day of training camp in Latrobe, ESPN reported in late July. He missed the entire camp on the active/PUP list. Remaining there through final cuts would have forced a four-game absence. Pittsburgh activated him Sunday night when it set the 53-man roster, NBC Sports confirmed.

Khan said the medical staff cleared him. He also set an expectation without promising a snap count.

In the next couple of weeks, not just Joey, but anyone that we feel is healthy and available to us, we expect him to practice. He got taken off [PUP]. Our medical staff felt like he was good to go.

— Omar Khan, via ESPN

It is not confirmed when Porter will take a practice rep. Several reporters have noted the overlap between the back listing and the contract standoff. That overlap is reported, not proven. The team has not detailed a recovery timeline beyond the PUP activation and Khan’s comments.

What Pittsburgh is buying time to evaluate

Porter is the last unsigned cornerstone from Khan’s first draft class. Pittsburgh already extended outside linebacker Nick Herbig (four years, $100 million), tight end Darnell Washington (four years, $42 million) and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton (four years, $72 million), as reported by The Athletic. Those deals landed while Porter held in during spring work and then spent camp off the field.

On tape in 2025, Porter was the outside corner Pittsburgh asked to travel with No. 1 receivers. Official NFL.com totals for the regular season: 14 games, 51 tackles (34 solo), one sack, one interception and 14 passes defensed. The Steelers won the AFC North at 10-7 and hosted Houston in the wild-card round, then lost 30-6 on Jan. 12, per StatMuse.

That production is why the number is hard. Local and national reporting has placed Porter’s ask in the mid-to-high $20 millions per year, with some projections near $30 million after recent corner resets. Pittsburgh has signaled it still wants him long term. It has not shown it will pay top-of-market money without seeing him practice first.

If no deal is signed before the Falcons game, both sides wait until after the season under club policy. Porter can play on the rookie salary, sit and risk accrual issues, or bet on 2027 free agency. Khan’s public line is unchanged: he hopes the son of former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter finishes his career in Pittsburgh. The next move is on the practice field, not at the podium.

The Tennessee Titans set their initial 53-man roster on Aug. 30, waived former starter Will Levis, and kept Mitchell Trubisky behind Cam Ward. Head coach Robert Saleh has been clear Ward is the starter. The louder debate is how the skill-position spots were divided.

Tennessee kept four tight ends — Gunnar Helm, Daniel Bellinger, David Martin-Robinson, and Kylen Granson — and, after Monday waiver moves, five wide receivers: Calvin Ridley, Wan’Dale Robinson, Carnell Tate, Chimere Dike, and Elic Ayomanor, per the club’s updated roster. That is not a wild departure from league norms. It is a statement about how this offense plans to function in Year 2 of Ward and Year 1 of coordinator Brian Daboll.

Four tight ends buy run-game flexibility, not star power

None of the four tight ends is a proven every-down mismatch. Helm is a 2025 fourth-round pick still building his role. Bellinger arrived as a free agent from the Giants. Martin-Robinson has been a special-teams regular. Granson, a 2021 fourth-round pick by Indianapolis who spent 2025 in Philadelphia, started three games last year and finished with seven catches for 40 yards.

Keeping a fourth tight end usually means 12- and 13-personnel packages — two or three tight ends on the field — to thicken the box and commit to the run. That can protect a young quarterback. It can also telegraph that the staff wants fewer empty and 11-personnel snaps until Ward and Tate settle in. Special teams coordinator John Fassel’s units also reward extra tight ends who cover kicks. Granson’s camp work leaned that way, including a three-catch, 39-yard showing from Levis in the preseason finale.

The cost sits at receiver. Five wideouts is common. This particular five is thin at the top if Tate, the No. 4 overall pick, is not ready to be WR1.

Five receivers, one unanswered WR1 question

Tate did not produce in the preseason games. Daboll still backed him. “I have a great amount of confidence in Tate and how he goes about his business, what he does on the practice field,” Daboll told ESPN. “Look, I think everybody would love to have 15 catches. But he’s doing the right stuff. He’s in a good headspace. He’s where he’s supposed to be.”

Tate answered in the same session: “Not every day is going to be your best day and not every game is going to be your best game. I’m just staying levelheaded.” Ward added that Tate “wants the ball” and high-points it when it arrives.

Ridley and Robinson give Ward veterans who can win now. Dike and Ayomanor already showed they belong on an NFL roster a year ago. That is a real safety net. It is not the same as having a sixth receiver who can steal snaps if the rookie’s learning curve stretches into October. After waivers, Xavier Restrepo — who made the first 53 — was among the players moved off the active roster.

The offensive line stayed at 10: centers Austin Schlottmann and Pat Coogan; guards Peter Skoronski, Fernando Carmona, Jackson Slater, and Garrett Dellinger; tackles Dan Moore Jr., J.C. Latham, Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, and (after the waiver cycle) James Hudson III in place of Austin Deculus. There is volume. There is not a finished, proven starting five that can mask every mistake.

Cordell Volson did not make it. The Titans signed the former Bengal in March on a one-year deal that included $2 million guaranteed after he missed all of 2025 with a shoulder injury, according to NBC Sports reporting on the release. That money is now dead. Depth without proven starters is why some staffs keep 11 linemen. Tennessee bet the other way.

Saleh and general manager Mike Borgonzi still have time before the Sept. 13 opener against the Jets. Practice-squad elevations and further waiver claims can change the picture. The first 53 already told a story: more bodies at tight end than at receiver, a rookie asked to lead the wideout room, and an offensive line that is long on names and short on finished stars. That is the roster math Week 1 will test.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers is expected to return to full practices next week and play in the season opener at Indianapolis, sources told CBS Sports reporter Matt Zenitz on Tuesday. The report lands 12 days before Week 1 and follows another missed session Monday with a lower-body injury.

Zenitz posted the update on X: “#Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers, who has missed practice time recently with a lower body injury, is currently expected to be back practicing in a full capacity next week and the full expectation is that he’ll be good to go for Week 1 vs. the #Colts, sources tell @CBSSports”

#Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers, who has missed practice time recently with a lower body injury, is currently expected to be back practicing in a full capacity next week and the full expectation is that he’ll be good to go for Week 1 vs. the #Colts, sources tell @CBSSports pic.twitter.com/N5r4lBzaTc

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) September 1, 2026

That is reported information, not an official team announcement. Head coach Jesse Minter has already framed the absences as caution rather than a long-term problem. After Flowers sat out a late-August joint practice, Minter called the issue “nothing major” and said the staff was choosing “Week 1 health versus today health,” according to Ravens Wire.

Why Baltimore Sat Flowers This Close to Kickoff

The current lower-body issue is the second camp setback, not a brand-new mystery. Flowers left an Aug. 8 practice after colliding with safety Jaylinn Hawkins during 7-on-7 work. Minter labeled it a quad contusion and called Flowers day-to-day. Flowers walked off under his own power. He returned within days, per Sports Illustrated and contemporaneous beat reports.

He later missed joint work and did not practice Monday. Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner and ESPN’s Jamison Hensley both reported the Monday absence as a lower-body matter. In similar sessions last week, Hensley noted Flowers running on a side field without suiting up. The pattern matches a team protecting its highest-paid receiver after an 8-9 season and a coaching change, not a player disappearing from the building.

Minter’s staff has reason to ration August snaps. Flowers has said publicly that last year’s practice load under former coach John Harbaugh left the roster worn down. The new group is testing that idea in real time: keep the No. 1 receiver fresh for Sept. 13 instead of forcing extra padded reps against Washington.

The football reason is simple. New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle needs Flowers on the field when Lamar Jackson’s first regular-season snaps count. Flowers is the only wideout on the roster who just posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. If he sits Week 1, the offense leans harder on Rashod Bateman and rookies Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt before Doyle’s system has a live sample.

What Flowers Has Produced — and What Baltimore Just Paid

Flowers finished 2025 with 86 catches, 1,211 yards and five touchdowns on 118 targets in 17 games, per NFL.com career stats. That yardage ranked seventh in the league. In 2024 he had 74 catches for 1,059 yards and four scores. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and the 22nd overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Boston College.

Baltimore made that production expensive on purpose. The Ravens announced a multiyear extension Aug. 4. The Athletic and NFL.com, citing Adam Schefter, reported a four-year, $140 million deal with $108 million guaranteed, tying Flowers with Justin Jefferson at about $35 million per year, fourth among wide receivers. The team itself did not publish the dollar figures.

Zay is the type of player we always seek to retain. Tough, competitive, durable, a premier talent and a foundational football player. He’s earned this extension and we are thrilled for Zay and his family.

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, in an Aug. 4 team statement on BaltimoreRavens.com

The opener is set: Baltimore at Indianapolis, Sunday, Sept. 13, 1 p.m. ET on CBS at Lucas Oil Stadium, per the NFL Week 1 schedule. Earlier this month, CBS Sports already relayed Shaffer’s reporting that Flowers was being held out “for precautionary reasons” and should be ready for that game. Tuesday’s Zenitz report is the first public timeline for a full-practice return.

Until Flowers takes those next-week reps without restriction, his Week 1 status remains an expectation from sources, not a designation on an official injury report. The first regular-season practice week will settle it.

George Kittle’s Week 1 status is still open, and the San Francisco 49ers have only a few practices left to settle it. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Tuesday the club “truly do not know whether he is going to be able to play,” with the answer expected after this week’s work, not before, per ClutchPoints. Rapoport posted the same update from The Insiders on X: Kittle has a chance for the opener, but the next couple of days have to supply more information

From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: George Kittle has a chance to play into the opener, but the #49ers star needs more information over the next couple days to know for sure. pic.twitter.com/UWQtNlJNNr

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 1, 2026

That window is short on purpose. The 49ers plan to leave Wednesday, Sept. 2, for Melbourne and open the season against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET at Melbourne Cricket Ground, according to the NFL and the team. Local kickoff is Friday, Sept. 11, at 10:35 a.m. AEST. Netflix has the national window.

If Kittle cannot play, the staff would rather leave him in Santa Clara than park a repaired Achilles on a 15- to 16-hour flight for a game he will miss. Rapoport framed that plane as the real deadline. Kyle Shanahan said the same thing Monday: if it looks as if Kittle will not play, it is cleaner to decide before the charter, as reported by NBC Sports.

How he got this close

Kittle tore his right Achilles on Jan. 11 in the wild-card win at Philadelphia and left on a cart after a 6-yard catch, which Reuters and the team confirmed that night. Dr. Neal ElAttrache repaired a high tear near the soleus. Kittle later said the location meant better blood flow and a shorter rehab than a tear down at the heel, per the Associated Press.

Typical Achilles timelines run nine to 12 months. Week 1 sits just under eight months from the injury. That is why Rapoport called even a chance unusual. Most people, he said on NFL Network, expected October.

San Francisco activated him from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 23, which The Athletic and ESPN reported. That move matters under league rules. Staying on reserve/PUP into the season would have cost him the first four games. Activation put Weeks 1 through 4 back on the table.

He has not been a full participant. After activation he worked individual drills, not team periods. Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported he will be eased in this week, a note relayed by CBS Sports. Shanahan said Monday, “George has been great. He’s passing everything,” while warning that the first team sessions can produce a practice setback that has nothing to do with the tendon itself, according to Athlon Sports.

Kittle’s own line in mid-August was short and consistent. “I have a chance,” he told reporters, a quote carried by the AP. He also said he did not want his first padded work to come after the flight. That is the box this week still has to check.

Why the decision is bigger than one snap count

Kittle is not a luxury piece in this offense. In 2025 he played 11 games and finished with 57 catches, 628 yards and seven touchdowns, per NFL.com. The counting stats dropped because of a hamstring and later ankle damage. The role did not. Shanahan still uses him as a move tight end: split out, attached, and in 12 personnel as both a receiver after the catch and a point-of-attack blocker for Christian McCaffrey.

If he sits, Jake Tonges is the next man in the passing game. Tonges already proved he can handle a share of that package last season, which The Athletic noted when the club activated Kittle. The run game still loses a different kind of tight end. Tonges can catch. He does not stress a defense the same way on the edge.

The travel plan adds a medical layer most Week 1 decisions never face. San Francisco is arriving about a week early to adjust to the time change. The Rams are arriving far later. Neither itinerary is built for a player eight months removed from an Achilles repair. Sitting through a trans-Pacific flight, then practicing on a new clock, is a different load than a short hop to SoFi Stadium.

That is why the “stay home and keep rehabbing” option is live. It is also why it is not simple. Shanahan pointed out that a week away from the trainers and the meeting room has a cost of its own if the team later needs him in Weeks 2 through 4 at Levi’s Stadium. The staff is balancing two risks: rushing him into a historic game, and isolating him from the program if he stays behind.

Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Kittle had avoided setbacks and still had a legitimate chance to play, a note carried by NBC Sports. Shanahan’s “step back” remark after the preseason finale was the spark for that report. He walked it back Monday and called it sloppy wording, not a new injury, per NBC Sports.

None of that is a declaration. No one from the 49ers has said Kittle is in or out. The honest read on Tuesday is the one Rapoport gave: the club will push him, then decide. Watch who boards the plane Wednesday. If Kittle is on it, Week 1 is still not a lock. If he is not, the opener in Melbourne will go on without him, and the next target becomes the homestand that follows.

Carolina kept three quarterbacks on its initial 53-man roster, and the third name is the one Deion Sanders does not want to see Thursday night in Atlanta. Haynes King, the undrafted Georgia Tech quarterback who signed with the Panthers after the 2026 NFL Draft, made Dave Canales’ opening roster over the weekend. Sanders, preparing Colorado for a season-opening rematch with the Yellow Jackets, made it plain why that matters to him.

“Thank God that quarterback is gone,” Sanders said this week, according to 247Sports. “That kid refused to lose a year ago, and he was definitely a difference maker.”

The line landed because it was not coach-speak. King beat Sanders’ Buffaloes in Boulder on Aug. 29, 2025, then spent one preseason night in Canton proving the same habit still works in an NFL locker room. Colorado and Georgia Tech kick off Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN at Bobby Dodd Stadium. King will be in Charlotte, listed behind Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett, waiting on a hamstring that cost him the rest of the exhibition schedule.

Haynes King Panthers path started with one night in Canton

King went undrafted in April. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network first reported the Panthers had agreed to terms, a deal that included $250,000 guaranteed, per NBC Sports. Carolina made it official on May 7 when the club announced 10 undrafted rookies, with King at the top of the list.

The Panthers official account posted the group the same day

We have signed 10 undrafted free agents

Learn more:https://t.co/ONTUnEaXu3 pic.twitter.com/s0CkEK7hdn

— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) May 7, 2026

He got one preseason game. That was enough. On Aug. 6 in the Hall of Fame Game, King relieved Pickett in the second quarter and finished 21 of 34 for 180 yards and two touchdown passes. He added 39 rushing yards. With two seconds left and the ball at the Arizona 5, he dropped to throw, saw the middle open, pump-faked, and dove across the goal line for a 33-30 win. CBS Sports and NFL.com both framed it as the night that changed how Carolina valued him.

PFF College posted the line from that debut: 21-of-34, 219 total yards, three total touchdowns, no interceptions —

Panthers Rookie QB Haynes King in the HOF Game:

🎯 21/34
🎯 219 Total Yards
🎯 3 Total Touchdowns
🎯 0 Interceptions@GeorgiaTechFB pic.twitter.com/Qz4uy2A3RX

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 7, 2026

The same play that won the game strained his hamstring. The Athletic reported he was week-to-week after the dive and the pile that followed. He missed the final three preseason games. Canales still kept him. The Athletic and the Charlotte Observer confirmed the initial 53 on Aug. 30–31: Young, Pickett, King. Veteran Kyle Trask was released. Carolina opens Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bears at Bank of America Stadium, 1 p.m. ET on FOX, per NFL.com.

Why Sanders still talks about that 45-yard run

The 2025 opener in Boulder explains the quote. Tied 20-20 late, King faked a pitch, hit the edge, and scored from 45 yards with 1:07 left. Georgia Tech won 27-20. He finished 13 of 20 for 143 yards and one interception, plus 19 carries for 156 yards and three rushing touchdowns — every Yellow Jacket score in the game, according to the Sports-Reference box score and the Associated Press.

Sanders remembered the rushing number almost exactly. Multiple accounts of Monday’s presser, including Pro Football Network, have him guessing “a buck-forty,” then accepting the correction: 156. He wanted to settle for 140. He did not get that luxury a year ago.

The two programs split after that night. Colorado finished 3-9 and 1-8 in the Big 12, per Sports-Reference. Georgia Tech went 9-4, lost the Pop-Tarts Bowl 25-21 to BYU on Dec. 27, and watched King take ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year, the conference announced in December.

King is 25, a six-year college player who started at Texas A&M, transferred, and rewrote Georgia Tech’s total-offense record at 3,920 yards in 2025. Canales and general manager Dan Morgan have said they want a backup who can move. That is the scheme reason King survived cutdown day with one game of tape. Pickett is the veteran insurance policy on a one-year deal. King is the athlete they did not want to expose to waivers.

Whether he dresses Sept. 13 is a separate question. The hamstring has not been cleared in any official injury report published since roster cuts. What is confirmed is the roster math: Carolina kept three quarterbacks, and one of them is the quarterback Sanders is happy to play against only on television.

Georgia Tech still has running back Justice Haynes, whom Sanders called dynamic and physical in the same presser. The Buffaloes still have to travel to Atlanta. They just do not have to account for a quarterback who scored from 45 yards on a pitch fake and from 5 yards on a walk-off scramble 11 months later. That is the part Sanders thanked God for.

The Cleveland Browns claimed cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. off waivers from the Buffalo Bills on Monday, Aug. 31, one day after Buffalo cut the 2026 seventh-round pick in final roster reductions. The club announced the move on ClevelandBrowns.com, pairing the claim with the waiver of defensive end Julian Okwara and the signing of 10 players to the practice squad.

Pride is listed at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds. Buffalo drafted him No. 220 overall out of Missouri. He is on Cleveland’s 53-man roster now. What he is not, yet, is a defined starter, nickel, or special-teams regular. Head coach Todd Monken made the evaluation sound simpler than the depth-chart debate that will follow.

Monken traced the claim to joint practice, not a late waiver scan

The Browns hosted Buffalo for a joint practice on Aug. 20 at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Berea, then played the Bills in a preseason game on Aug. 22 at Huntington Bank Field, a 31-7 Buffalo win covered by the team’s game recap. Monken said the practice period is why Pride’s name was already on Cleveland’s list if Buffalo dropped him.

We practiced against them. I really like the way he played, covered, and competed, and we’re always trying to upgrade the roster. After we got done practicing with them, his name came up. Should he be a 53 casualty, would we have interest in him? The answer was yes.

Todd Monken, as recorded by ESPN Browns reporter Daniel Oyefusi on Aug. 31, 2026

Oyefusi posted the video of those remarks on X: “Browns coach Todd Monken on new CB Toriano Pride and how his name popped up after joint practice with the Bills”

Browns coach Todd Monken on new CB Toriano Pride and how his name popped up after joint practice with the Bills https://t.co/UyEnYPyYkg pic.twitter.com/BPkV7kXnnF

— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 31, 2026

That framing matters. Waiver claims often look like spreadsheet moves. Monken described a live look. The joint session in Berea stayed competitive without turning into a brawl, which is how Cleveland19 and other on-site accounts described the day. Cleveland’s staff then kept a late-round Buffalo corner in the conversation through cutdown weekend.

How the roster math worked

Buffalo waived Pride on Aug. 30 while setting its 53-man roster, a cut listed by Pro Football Rumors. Cleveland was awarded the claim the next day. ESPN’s transaction log records the same sequence: claim on Aug. 31, Buffalo as the prior club.

The corresponding move opened the 53-man spot. Before the official release posted, NBC Sports reported Ian Rapoport of NFL Network saying Cleveland would release Okwara. The team later confirmed the waiver. The Browns also posted the claim on X: “We’ve claimed CB Toriano Pride Jr., waived DE Julian Okwara and signed 10 players to the practice squad” —

We've claimed CB Toriano Pride Jr., waived DE Julian Okwara and signed 10 players to the practice squad

📰 » https://t.co/jkbxkcmhHl pic.twitter.com/YLPhrr9NaW

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 31, 2026

According to Buffalo Rumblings, Pride was Buffalo’s first seventh-round pick in 2026 and the Bills draft pick from that class claimed by another team after cutdown. Buffalo was not awarded any players on the same waiver cycle.

The 10 practice-squad additions, all camp bodies, were Myles Bryant, Logan Fano, KT Leveston, Wes Pahl, D’Angelo Ross, Tyreak Sapp, Khordae Sydnor, Zion Washington, Nathaniel Watson, and Kole Wilson.

What Cleveland added on paper

Pride, 22, was born Dec. 18, 2003, in St. Louis. He spent 2022 and 2023 at Clemson, then 2024 and 2025 at Missouri. College counting stats across 52 games, per Sports-Reference:

Missouri’s roster bio lists 24 tackles, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), and a 62-yard fumble return in 2025. That page is on mutigers.com.

The measurable that followed him through the draft process is speed. He ran a 4.32-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, a time reported by 247Sports as the fastest among cornerbacks who ran that day. Size is the other half of the profile. At 5-10, 185, he is short and light for a full-time outside corner in a league that still leans on length on the boundary.

Buffalo’s unofficial camp and preseason tracking, as summarized by Buffalo Rumblings, credited him with allowing nine catches for 50 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets and missing three tackles on about 100 snaps, plus a pass breakup. Those figures are not official NFL regular-season statistics. They should not be read as a finished grade. Separate game-level reporting from Athlon Sports had him with limited tackle production in two preseason games and a pass defensed in the Aug. 22 game in Cleveland.

What the move does — and does not — decide

Cleveland already added a corner off waivers last week, claiming Mekhi Blackmon from Indianapolis on Aug. 27, per ESPN’s transaction log. Pride is a second look at the same problem: depth behind the starters, with speed that shows up in a stopwatch and enough tape against another club’s offense to spend a 53-man spot.

Some analysts will slot him as a nickel or a special-teams candidate because of his size. That is interpretation, not a role Monken assigned. He did not say Pride will dress in Week 1. A waiver claim puts a player on the active roster. Snap count is a later decision.

The scheme question is straightforward. If Cleveland wants him outside, he has to win against bigger receivers in a phone booth. If the staff likes him inside, the 4.32 speed helps him close on crossing routes and recover when a slot receiver breaks late. Special teams would be the safest early path for a 185-pound rookie who just changed locker rooms. None of that is confirmed.

What is confirmed is the order of operations. Buffalo used a seventh-round pick, kept him through camp, then cut him. Cleveland practiced against him in Berea, put his name on an internal interest list, and spent a roster spot when the waiver wire opened. That is a second chance built from a shared August practice field, not from a name that appeared only after Sunday night cuts.

Brock Purdy does not dodge the Drew Brees comparison. He leans into the parts that actually fit.

Nine days before the San Francisco 49ers open the 2026 season against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Purdy sat with former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett on Coach2Coach and answered the question that has followed him since his first full season as a starter. According to Heavy, the interview video dropped Aug. 31.

“I think we do have similar paths in terms of we’re competitors,” Purdy said. “We always found a way to win, and we didn’t go to big schools or anything. I went to Iowa State, he went to Purdue, but at the end of the day, I feel like we’ve both been able to find ways to elevate guys around us in our play and their play.”

Brock Purdy, Coach2Coach with Jason Garrett, Aug. 31, 2026

That is the honest core of it. Not the arm talent. Not the draft slot. The chip, the processing, and the habit of making everyone around him look sharper.

What the comparison actually measures

Brees stands 6-foot and 209 pounds. Purdy is listed at 6-foot-1 and 220. Neither built the prototype NFL teams still chase. Brees went in the second round in 2001 after Purdue. Purdy went 262nd overall in 2022 after Iowa State, the last pick in the draft. Both spent years hearing they were too small and not quite strong-armed enough.

Brees made those doubts look small over 20 seasons. He retired with 80,358 passing yards and 571 touchdowns, second all-time in both, and entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August as part of the Class of 2026, per the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Purdy is four seasons in. The comparison is a compliment with a ceiling attached.

Purdy added the piece that matters more than the height chart.

“And we find ways to win, man. I love quarterbacks who are tough and they can go through and play through tough things and situations, environments, physical pain, and you still find a way to win.”

Brock Purdy on Coach2Coach

That line lands because last season tested it. Purdy played nine regular-season games in 2025 after a turf toe injury in Week 1 and later shoulder issues. He still completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 2,167 yards, 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 100.5 passer rating, according to NFL.com. When he returned in November, the offense tightened. The 49ers still finished 12-5.

The scheme helps. Kyle Shanahan’s timing game rewards anticipation over raw velocity. Purdy sees the first window fast, gets the ball out, and uses his legs when the pocket collapses. That is the Brees echo: not the cannon, the decisions.

The numbers explain why the comparison keeps returning. They also explain why it remains unfinished. Brees stacked 13 Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP. Purdy has one Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl appearance. The Athletic asked Brees himself about the resemblance in 2024; Brees pointed to the same underdog college path and the poise that comes from playing outmatched, as reported by The Athletic.

Purdy’s own framing is tighter than the hype. He is not claiming Hall of Fame company. He is claiming the work habits and the refusal to use size as an excuse. On the same podcast he talked about growing up wanting the Dan Marino arm and the ideal frame, then deciding the only path was to compete with what he has.

That is the version that travels. The 49ers open Thursday, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET on Netflix at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the league’s first regular-season game in Australia, per the 49ers and the NFL. New pieces around him include Mike Evans and the return of Deebo Samuel. The question is whether a healthy Purdy can turn an efficient nine-game sample into a full season that looks less like a system product and more like the quarterback who keeps getting compared to a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

The tape still says the same thing it said in 2023: he processes fast, he stays on schedule, and he finds the throw that keeps the drive alive. Brees did that for two decades. Purdy has not been asked to do it that long. He just accepted the comparison without flinching.

The New York Jets claimed linebacker Trevin Wallace off waivers Monday, one day after the Carolina Panthers cut the 2024 third-round pick in their final trim to 53. That claim ends any chance Carolina had of parking him on the practice squad and keeping a cheap, experienced option in the building. According to the New York Jets, Wallace was awarded along with kicker Blake Grupe after Sunday’s league-wide cutdown.

Carolina made the waiver official Sunday night. The Panthers listed Wallace among 16 players waived to reach the roster limit. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero posted the league’s waiver awards Monday and Wallace’s name sat with the Jets.

Waiver claims! pic.twitter.com/wLbrIJL54j

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 31, 2026

The cut did not come out of nowhere. It still cost Carolina a player who had already paid the usual rookie tax.

Why Trevin Wallace lost his roster spot

Wallace entered camp in a fight with Claudin Cherelus for the job next to Devin Lloyd. Neither one seized it. The Panthers then agreed to terms with veteran Bobby Okereke late last week and signed him Monday, placing guard Brady Christensen on injured reserve to open the spot.

Okereke changes the math. He has started 95 of 110 career games and posted 143 tackles for the Giants in 2025. Carolina wanted that résumé next to Lloyd more than it wanted to keep rolling with a 23-year-old who had not separated himself in August.

Special teams finished the argument. In the team’s own initial 53-man roster analysis, the Panthers noted Wallace “wasn’t as much of a special teams contributor as Cherelus,” and that Dave Canales had pointed to that gap when the roster was set. Cherelus stayed. Seventh-round rookie Jackson Kuwatch stayed. Wallace did not.

The tape from 2025 gave the front office cover. Pro Football Focus graded Wallace at 56.4 overall last season and 43.3 against the run, 85th among 88 qualifying linebackers. Coverage (64.5) and pass rush (64.2) graded better. The run-game number is the one that shows up on early downs, and it is the one Carolina could not ignore once Okereke became available.

What Carolina gave up

Wallace was the No. 72 pick in 2024 out of Kentucky. He played 25 games and started 20 across two seasons, finishing with 125 tackles and three sacks, per the Jets’ transaction note and his career line. He started all 12 games he played in 2025 before a shoulder injury ended the year. Head coach Dave Canales said in late December that Wallace had undergone season-ending shoulder surgery.

He made it back for the full preseason. In the Hall of Fame Game at Arizona he had three tackles, per Rotowire. In Friday’s preseason finale against Houston at Bank of America Stadium — a warm night with most of Carolina’s starters in street clothes — he finished with two tackles and a sack, according to the game’s official tackle chart. That was not a starting résumé. It was proof he was healthy enough to dress and produce against backups.

He also still had two years left on a rookie deal that, per Spotrac, carries a 2026 cap hit of about $1.26 million. Carolina had already spent the developmental years. The Jets now get whatever comes next without paying the original draft cost.

Other cuts did not leave the same hole. The Panthers signed Ja’seem Reed and Isaiah Simmons back to the practice squad Monday. Minnesota claimed center Nick Samac, per the Vikings, and Carolina answered by claiming Corey Bullock. Wallace was the one they could not retrieve.

The linebacker room Carolina is taking into Week 1

After the Okereke signing, the active inside group is Lloyd, Okereke, Cherelus, and Kuwatch. Bam Martin-Scott is on injured reserve with a designation to return, so he cannot help in September. That leaves Carolina leaning on a veteran who just arrived, a special-teams regular, and a seventh-round rookie behind an All-Pro addition in Lloyd.

Each individual call is defensible. The allocation is the problem. Carolina did not have to choose Wallace over Cherelus or Kuwatch. It needed one more roster spot somewhere else and the patience to keep a 23-year-old who already knew the defense.

This will not decide the season by itself. It will matter if Okereke is slow to pick up Ejiro Evero’s calls, or if one of the four healthy inside linebackers goes down. The first live test is Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bears at Bank of America Stadium, per the Panthers’ 2026 schedule.

Wallace may only be a reserve in New York behind Demario Davis and Jamien Sherwood. Carolina may never miss him if Okereke plays like the captain the Giants just released. The risk is simpler than that: the Panthers handed another team a player they had already developed, then chose to open the season without the insurance he would have provided.

Two days after Aaron Donald ended a two-year retirement and rejoined the Los Angeles Rams, the conversation around his return keeps circling sacks. Myles Garrett is already in the building. Donald is back in No. 99. Quarterbacks are the easy target of every highlight reel. Former NFL defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is asking people to look one layer deeper.

McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowler now working as an analyst, posted a video breakdown on X on Monday arguing that Donald’s value starts in the backfield against anyone with the ball, not only the passer. “He is a complete defensive tackle,” McCoy said. —

Just a quick note………… ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/3SVCbUi5gs

— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) August 31, 2026

That is the piece of Donald’s game that gets lost when the clip package is all strip-sacks and interior pressures. McCoy’s point, as reported by ClutchPoints, is that Donald mastered both jobs at a high clip: rushing from the nose, the three-technique, or the end, and holding the point against double teams in the run game. Reach blocks and bump-scoop combinations that move most interior linemen do not move him the same way.

Why the Donald-Garrett pairing changes the blocking math

The Rams did not add Donald to a thin front. They traded for Garrett on June 1, sending Jared Verse plus draft capital to Cleveland, a deal announced by both clubs and detailed by NFL.com and AP News. Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23 in 2025 and owns 125.5 career sacks. Donald has 111 in 10 seasons, per The Athletic.

Those sack totals are the billboard. The scheme problem for an offense is the choice that follows. Slide protection toward Garrett on the edge, and Donald works a one-on-one or a strained double in the A-gap. Keep two hats on Donald, and Garrett gets a cleaner path. McCoy’s tape language is the reason that squeeze works: if the interior man does not get moved, the run play dies before the edge even matters.

Donald’s career numbers back the two-way claim. He finished with 176 tackles for loss, third in NFL history at the time of his first retirement, according to Sporting News using official tracking. A third of his 543 tackles went behind the line. That is not a designated third-down rusher. That is a player who wrecks early-down fits.

The supporting cast around that pair is not a rumor. Los Angeles traded a 2026 first-round pick and additional selections to Kansas City for Trent McDuffie, then signed former Chiefs corner Jaylen Watson in free agency, moves reported by ESPN and The Athletic. That is how the secondary hole from last cycle got closed. Calling them “the Chiefs’ two top corners” is shorthand. The transactions are the fact.

The return is official. Week 1 is not

Donald agreed to a one-year deal worth $20 million and up to $30 million with incentives, according to league sources cited by NFL Network and The Athletic. He announced the comeback on Instagram with a short caption, then practiced individual drills Sunday at the team facility, the Rams confirmed.

“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said after that first session, per the team site and the Los Angeles Times.

Monday looked different. Donald stayed inside the Woodland Hills facility and worked off the field while the rest of the defense practiced. Sean McVay called the missed session “part of the plan all along,” according to the Rams and the Orange County Register. McVay has not committed Donald to the Sept. 10 opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne. He said he would not rule out holding him out of the Australia trip if the ramp-up is not there yet.

The NFL granted Los Angeles a roster exemption through Sept. 11, which lets the club carry Donald without an immediate corresponding cut, the Register reported. That is process, not a verdict on his first snap.

Some analysts treat the Rams as a finished product because the names on the depth chart now include Stafford, Garrett, Donald, McDuffie, and Watson. Sportsbooks shortened Los Angeles from about +550 to +500 after the unretirement, a modest move that The Athletic noted had already been partly priced in. History is colder: preseason favorites sitting at +500 or shorter have a poor Super Bowl conversion rate in the modern era, that same report found.

McCoy’s argument is the more useful one for what happens between the hashes. A 35-year-old tackle coming off two seasons away still has to prove the hips and the pad level in 11-on-11 work. If that version shows up, the Rams do not merely stack two pass rushers. They stack a rusher who can win from anywhere with an interior player who refuses to get displaced. That is a different problem for an offensive line than a pair of edge threats who both need to be chipped.

The next checkpoint is whether Donald gets into team periods this week, and whether McVay puts him on the plane. Until then, the pairing exists on paper and in one Sunday of individual drills. The run-game piece McCoy described is why the pairing is more than a sack graphic.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan would not open the books on Joey Porter Jr.’s contract talks Monday. He did say what the organization wants the ending to look like.

“We won’t talk publicly about the negotiations per se, but Joey knows how we feel about him, and I still hope Joey finishes his career here,” Khan said, per ESPN. “Our policy is going to remain in place, but I’m not going to talk about negotiations.”

That policy is the real clock. The Steelers do not negotiate extensions once the regular season starts. Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons is Sunday, Sept. 13, at Acrisure Stadium, according to the NFL schedule. If a new deal is going to land before that cutoff, it has to land now.

Blitzburgh posted video of Khan’s comments on X on Aug. 31: “Omar Khan on Joey Porter Jr.” —

Omar Khan on Joey Porter Jr. #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/0KWdpi3CWK

— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) August 31, 2026

Why the Steelers will not move the deadline

This is not a new stance. Coach Mike McCarthy called the talks an “impasse” a week earlier, according to The Athletic. Khan did not walk that back Monday. He also did not soften the in-season rule, a point also reported by NFL.com.

The front office has a business reason to hold that line. Porter is entering the fourth and final year of the rookie contract he signed after Pittsburgh took him 32nd overall in 2023. The team can play him this season on that deal. It can also use the franchise tag in 2027 if talks stall again. That gives Khan leverage other clubs do not have when a homegrown starter wants a second contract.

The market around Porter keeps climbing. Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon signed a large extension this month, and New England’s Christian Gonzalez has been in talks of his own, NFL.com noted. Porter finished 2025 without allowing a touchdown in coverage, according to that same report, and he broke up 14 passes. He has three interceptions in three seasons. Those numbers support a big raise. They do not, by themselves, force Pittsburgh to match the top of the cornerback market before kickoff.

Khan already paid three other members of that 2023 draft class. Outside linebacker Nick Herbig signed a four-year, $100 million extension. Tight end Darnell Washington signed for four years and $42 million. Defensive tackle Keeanu Benton signed a long-term deal in that same range, per The Athletic. Porter is the last major piece from that group still unsigned beyond 2026.

Porter is off PUP. Practice is another question.

The Steelers activated Porter off the physically unable to perform list at Sunday’s roster deadline. Staying on PUP would have cost him the first four games. The team listed him with a back injury that flared during a mobility workout on the first day of training camp, ESPN reported.

Medical clearance and participation are not the same thing. Khan said the staff believes Porter can work. He also made the expectation league-wide, not personal.

“In the next couple of weeks, not just Joey, but anyone that we feel is healthy and available to us, we expect him to practice,” Khan said. “He got taken off [PUP]. Our medical staff felt like he was good to go.”

ESPN still cautioned that there is no certainty Porter will take the field while the contract sits unresolved. That gap matters. A cleared player who does not practice is making a business choice. A player who practices on a $3.9 million base salary, per Over The Cap, is betting the tape in September still raises his price in March.

Porter has Pittsburgh in his blood. He grew up here while Joey Porter Sr. played and later coached for the Steelers, NFL.com noted. That history explains Khan’s tone. It does not close a numbers gap. Some local reporting has described both sides as waiting the other out. That remains unconfirmed as an official stance from either the club or Porter’s representation.

Week 1 health picture around him

Khan delivered better news on the skill players who have to share the field with that secondary. Speaking at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, he said several injured regulars were trending the right way. ESPN reported that he expects wide receivers DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr., plus safety Jaquan Brisker, to be available for the Falcons.

TribLive quoted Khan saying those players were “trending positively” and that he expected them “to be available to us for Atlanta.” Metcalf and Pittman will be eased back into practice this week, Khan added, with no issue anticipated for the opener.

Veteran safety DeShon Elliott will not play Week 1. The Steelers placed him on injured reserve, designated to return, at the cutdown deadline. That means he misses at least the first four games. Khan said the move was caution, not a new collapse. “We just said, ‘Hey, let’s be smart about it,’” he told reporters, per ESPN. He said there had been no setback from the serious knee injury Elliott suffered a year ago.

That leaves Brisker and Rayshawn Jenkins to stabilize the back end if Porter’s availability stays cloudy. The roster has other corners — Jalen Ramsey, Jamel Dean, Asante Samuel Jr., Brandin Echols, Daylen Everette — but none of them replace Porter as the long-term outside answer if this walks into 2027.

The New England Patriots refused to stand still after reaching Super Bowl LX. They won the AFC East at 14-3 in 2025, then took three playoff games before falling 29-13 to the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium, according to Wikipedia and AP News.

General manager Eliot Wolf and head coach Mike Vrabel targeted the passing game first. Drake Maye threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2025, per NFL.com and PFF. They added two proven receivers to give him more explosive options than Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte provided a year ago.

Brown and Doubs Give Maye a New Look

A.J. Brown arrived via trade from the Philadelphia Eagles in June. The seven-year veteran posted 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns in 2025 after a career-high 106-1,456-7 in 2023, as detailed by USA Today. Romeo Doubs signed a free-agent deal after leading the Green Bay Packers with 55 receptions, 724 yards and six scores last season, according to The Athletic.

Doubs told Patriots Wire the physicality Brown brings stands out. “The way he runs his routes at his weight, it’s not normal,” Doubs said.

The pair should stretch the field in ways last year’s group could not. Maye ranked among the league’s better deep-ball throwers. Brown wins contested catches. Doubs works the intermediate areas. Complementary pieces such as Mack Hollins and DeMario Douglas should see more single coverage as a result.

New England later traded Boutte to the Houston Texans on Aug. 24 for safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round pick, per The Athletic. Reed recorded 14 tackles and one fumble recovery in seven games as a rookie, including 12 tackles in Houston’s 23-19 win over Buffalo last November.

Pass Rush Lacks Proven Impact Players

The offense looks upgraded. The defensive front does not. Milton Williams and Dre’Mont Jones headline the rush. Williams finished 2025 with 29 tackles, 3.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss in the regular season, then added three sacks in the playoffs. Jones, signed in free agency after splitting time between Tennessee and Baltimore, posted 43 tackles and 7.0 sacks last year.

Neither has produced at an elite level yet. Defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr, promoted after calling the defense for most of 2025, needs more from the group that allowed six sacks of Maye in the Super Bowl loss. Second-round pick Gabe Jacas, taken 55th overall from Illinois, arrived late after a knee procedure and contract delay. Camp reports described him as raw in recognition and positioning, according to The Boston Globe.

Joshua Farmer, a 2025 fourth-round pick, backs up Williams inside and has yet to record a sack in limited snaps. Harold Landry III opens the year on the physically unable to perform list. The rotation thins quickly after Jones and Elijah Ponder.

Depth Concerns Stretch Across the Defense

Vrabel said after a preseason game that he does not think the Patriots have a very deep team. He later clarified the comment on WEEI, noting the staff must develop backups at linebacker, safety and the edge.

Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss should produce at linebacker. K.J. Britt, Namdi Obiazor and Quintayvious Hutchins form the next wave. The secondary starts with Christian Gonzalez and Kevin Byard. Reed adds a body behind them, but the group still looks thin if injuries hit.

Foxborough practices this summer showed a roster that can compete when healthy. The question is how long the starters stay on the field. New England opens the 2026 season Wednesday night at Seattle in a Super Bowl rematch. The receiving additions give Maye weapons he lacked last February. The front seven still needs the young players to grow faster than expected.

The Seattle Seahawks set their initial 53-man roster Sunday with star power across the lineup and one glaring thin spot. They kept just three safeties — Julian Love, Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada — as they prepare to defend their Super Bowl title.

That number stands out because the rest of the roster looks deep. Seattle listed 26 players on offense, including three quarterbacks in Sam Darnold, Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe, plus a five-man wide receiver group led by Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed. The offensive line remains intact from last winter. On defense the Seahawks carried six linemen, five outside linebackers and five inside linebackers. They also rostered five cornerbacks after trading a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Chargers for Avery Smith, according to Seahawks.com.

Zach Charbonnet opened the year on the physically unable to perform list after his ACL tear in the playoffs. Safety Bud Clark is already on injured reserve with a broken ankle. Those absences make the three-man safety room even tighter.

Why three safeties creates a tight squeeze

Love handles the communication and coverage responsibilities that Mike Macdonald’s scheme demands. Emmanwori, still working back from July ankle surgery, gives the defense a versatile piece who can play deep, in the box or at nickel. Okada earned the staff’s trust last season when he started 11 games. There is no fourth safety on the active roster behind them.

Macdonald’s defense asks safeties to disguise coverages, rotate toward the line and make checks against motion. The NFC West does not give those players a gentle introduction. The Rams and 49ers use shifts and formations built to test rules and communication. A hamstring tweak or special-teams snap that goes wrong can force one of the three into extra work immediately.

Reserve defensive backs also carry heavy special-teams loads. By keeping only three safeties, Seattle put those coverage duties on the same players who already handle the bulk of the defensive snaps.

General manager John Schneider called the 53-man list a starting point, not the finished product. “A lot of moving parts over the next, especially two weeks, as we kind of figure out what the landscape looks like for our team,” Schneider said Sunday, per The Athletic. He added the club still needed to “establish our 70.”

Seattle released vested veterans D’Anthony Bell and Rodney Thomas II and waived AJ Finley. Those players did not have to clear waivers. On Monday the Seahawks signed Thomas, Finley and Maxen Hook to the practice squad, giving Macdonald three extra bodies he can elevate on game day, according to the team’s official announcement. Bell was not among the initial 17 practice-squad additions.

Emmanwori’s Week 1 status remains uncertain. He participated in portions of practice Sunday in jersey and cleats for the first time since surgery, but reports around cut-down day described his availability for the Sept. 9 opener against New England as iffy. ESPN’s Brady Henderson noted the team could still place him on injured reserve, which would leave Love and Okada as the only active safeties. Henderson posted: “The Seahawks could also place him on IR and have him sit for the first four games.” —

With Emmanwori, it isn’t just a question of whether he’ll be ready to play Week 1. The Seahawks could also place him on IR and have him sit for the first four games.

If so, Julian Love and Ty Okada could be the only safeties on their initial 53 (with Thomas, Bell, others on PS)

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) August 30, 2026

Practice-squad elevations give Seattle a mechanism to add a body on short notice. They do not replace an active-roster player who already knows the checks and can play every down. A Wednesday injury can still leave the defense short-handed for Sunday.

The Seahawks used the extra roster spots on offensive line depth, the defensive front and a third quarterback. Those choices make sense if everyone stays healthy. Injuries are the predictable part of a 17-game season. That is why most teams keep a fourth safety.

Seattle still has time before the opener. The practice squad already includes experienced options. Bringing one of those players onto the 53-man roster before an injury forces the issue would give Macdonald the margin the current numbers do not provide.

Skip Bayless did not hold back Monday night. The longtime commentator ripped the Cleveland Browns for how they have handled Shedeur Sanders heading into the 2026 season, calling it the most outrageously wrong situation he has ever seen.

What keeps happening to Shedeur Sanders is THE most outrageously wrong situation I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/SDb2ygqiGb

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 31, 2026

Sanders, the Browns’ fifth-round pick in 2025, started seven games as a rookie after injuries opened the door. He finished the year with 1,400 passing yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Cleveland still named Deshaun Watson the Week 1 starter last week, leaving Sanders as the backup. First-year coach Todd Monken cited the full body of work from the offseason, training camp and preseason when he made the call official. According to the Cleveland Browns, Monken said Watson gave the team the best chance to move the ball and score points on the road.

Bayless framed the decision as part of a larger pattern. In a video posted with his comment, he said he has never encountered a situation more agonizing or more wrong than what has happened to Sanders. He added that he hurts for the young quarterback and for his father, Deion Sanders. Bayless argued Sanders is now stuck on one of the worst teams in the league and relegated to splitting scout-team reps with rookie Taylen Green. He also claimed the Browns rank Sanders fourth among quarterbacks in the building after drafting Dillon Gabriel in the third round of the same 2025 class.

I'll bet you in his mind Todd Monken ranks his QBs this way: 1) Deshaun Watson 2) Dillon Gabriel 3) Taylen Green 4) Shedeur Sanders. The only reason the Browns kept Shedeur is because he's the most popular backup QB ever and they feared the backlash of getting rid of him.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) August 31, 2026

The Browns placed Gabriel on injured reserve Sunday with a back injury and kept three quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster: Watson, Sanders and Green. That move came after Gabriel’s strong showing in the preseason finale. Per The Athletic, the team does not view the injury as long-term, but Gabriel must miss at least the first four games.

Monken has repeatedly praised Sanders’ growth. After naming Watson the starter, the coach told reporters Sanders closed the gap during camp and handled the news with professionalism. “I think Shedeur has done a great job, come a long ways, and we’re excited about his future,” Monken said, according to USA TODAY. He emphasized the decision was not week-to-week.

The choice still leaves questions. Watson has started just 19 games since arriving in Cleveland in 2022 and missed all of 2025 while recovering from Achilles injuries. Some league sources told CBS Sports they do not view Sanders as a long-term starting-caliber quarterback, though they acknowledged he could play if Watson struggles. The Browns went 5-12 last season and have not won a division title since 1989, when they captured the old AFC Central.

Cleveland opens 2026 with two road games. The Browns visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. ET, then face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. ET. Those early tests will show whether Watson holds the job or whether Sanders gets another look. Sanders remains under a team-friendly rookie contract and has time left in the league. What matters now is how he prepares while waiting for the next opportunity, whether in Cleveland or elsewhere.

Odell Beckham Jr. made the New York Giants’ 53-man roster. He has not yet made it back into No. 13.

Beckham still wore No. 3 at Monday’s late-afternoon practice, a day after surviving final cuts, while practice-squad receiver Jalin Hyatt kept the number Beckham made famous in New York. According to the New York Daily News, several players remained in shared training-camp digits, including Beckham in a number already assigned to edge rusher Abdul Carter. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“e2615e”]})

Asked about taking No. 13 back, Beckham did not dodge it.

“I think we all know what that means to me, and there definitely will be some conversations. I’ll just say we’ll see what happens, but like I said, it would be an honor and a privilege to put that back on.”

Odell Beckham Jr., Aug. 31, 2026

SNY Giants posted the same comments from the session —

Odell Beckham Jr. says there "definitely will be some conversations" about No. 13:

"It would be an honor and a privilege to put that back on." pic.twitter.com/fWs16dHV45

— SNY Giants (@SNYGiants) August 31, 2026

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan confirmed the on-field look in real time: Beckham in 3, Hyatt in 13 —

Odell Beckham Jr. still wearing No. 3. Jalin Hyatt in 13. pic.twitter.com/6bgWD3o5w9

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 31, 2026

Why No. 13 is still Hyatt’s, for now

Hyatt is not on the 53. The Giants waived the 2023 third-round pick (No. 73 overall) on cutdown day, then brought him back to the practice squad, the Daily News and Big Blue View reported. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“3770e2”]})

That is the entire logistical knot. A practice-squad player can keep a number until the two sides work out a change. Nothing official has been announced. Some coverage has treated a switch before the Sept. 13 home opener against the Dallas Cowboys as a foregone conclusion. That remains speculation. Beckham himself left it as “we’ll see.”

The optics are obvious. Week 1 is Dallas at MetLife Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Beckham’s one-handed catch against the Cowboys as a 2014 rookie is still the clip that introduced him to the country. Putting him in 3 for that game would look unfinished. Putting him in 13 would close a circle the building already wants closed.

Head coach John Harbaugh said co-owner John Mara is among those glad Beckham stuck, and that Mara’s grandsons had been asking daily whether Odell would make the team, per the Daily News. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“72a813”]})

The player who built that number in New York

The Giants drafted Beckham 12th overall out of LSU in 2014. In 59 games across five seasons, he caught 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns, second in franchise receiving yards, according to the team. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2014, made three straight Pro Bowls (2014-16) and earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2015 and 2016. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“dd7d34”]})

New York traded him to Cleveland before the 2019 season. He later won Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams, then played for the Baltimore Ravens in 2023 under Harbaugh (35 catches, 565 yards, three touchdowns) and the Miami Dolphins in 2024 (nine catches, 55 yards in nine games). He sat out 2025 after a six-game PED suspension and no subsequent signing, then agreed to a veteran-minimum deal with the Giants on June 1. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“bfceea”]})

This version of Beckham is a depth piece and a veteran voice, not the 1,300-yard centerpiece. He caught seven passes for 76 yards on 13 targets in the preseason. The room around him includes Malik Nabers, Darnell Mooney, Darius Slayton and rookie Malachi Fields. Second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart is the starter. Beckham’s job is complementary: win on the perimeter when the defense shades to Nabers, and show younger receivers how to work a week.

Hyatt has 36 catches for 470 yards and no touchdowns in three NFL seasons. He took No. 13 as a rookie in 2023 after Beckham publicly blessed the choice. The number was never retired. It was borrowed. Now the original tenant is back on the 53, and the current holder is on the scout team.

Beckham called making the roster healing. He told reporters he had tears at the hotel Sunday night and does not know whether this is his last year. He also said he wants to rewrite the last stretch of the chapter. A number change does not do that by itself. Production with Dart would. The number is the part fans can see from the upper deck.

Fan frustration spilled onto social media after Raanan’s practice note, as Pro Football Network documented. That heat is aimed at the wrong target. Hyatt did not steal a retired digit. The Giants have not processed a swap. Until they do, 13 stays where it is. [](grok_render_citation_card_json={“cardIds”:[“c64293”]})

The next practices run through Wednesday, then the club is off until after Labor Day and the Cowboys week begins. If the conversations Beckham promised produce a deal, it should show up on the depth chart and the jersey before kickoff on Sept. 13. If they do not, he will take the field in the number he wore with the Rams, Ravens and Dolphins — on the team that made 13 matter.

The Los Angeles Rams closed cutdown weekend with a roster that looks stacked almost everywhere except one place opposing coordinators will test first. Los Angeles is carrying four cornerbacks on its initial 53-man roster. That is not a rumor. It is the official count posted Sunday: Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Emmanuel Forbes Jr. and Josh Wallace.

The regular season does not start until Sept. 10 in Melbourne against the San Francisco 49ers, per the team’s 2026 schedule. Nine days is enough time to add a body. It is not enough time to pretend four listed corners is a normal starting point for a Super Bowl favorite that just spent the offseason buying stars.

How the Rams actually distributed 53 spots

Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead did not starve the defense. They starved one position and overfed two others. The official roster lists three quarterbacks in Matthew Stafford, Stetson Bennett IV and Ty Simpson. It lists three running backs — Kyren Williams, Blake Corum and Ronnie Rivers — after Los Angeles traded Jarquez Hunter to Miami for Tutu Atwell, according to The Athletic.

Then the pass-catching rooms ballooned. The Rams kept seven wide receivers: Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield, Atwell, Xavier Smith and CJ Daniels. They kept five tight ends: Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, Terrance Ferguson and Max Klare. That is 12 players competing for the same offensive real estate.

The defensive front is the other extreme. Six defensive linemen, including Aaron Donald’s return from a two-year retirement, sit next to five edge rushers headlined by Myles Garrett, who arrived in a June trade from Cleveland that sent Jared Verse and draft capital the other way, as reported by The Athletic. Four inside linebackers fill out the front seven. Four safeties — Kam Curl, Kamren Kinchens, Quentin Lake and Jaylen McCollough — sit behind them.

The table is the argument. McVay spent spots on 13-personnel flexibility and a historically expensive front. He did not spend a fifth on a boundary corner.

The 2025 room is gone. The 2026 room is thinner on paper.

Last year’s initial 53 listed five cornerbacks: Ahkello Witherspoon, Darious Williams, Cobie Durant, Forbes and Wallace, per the Rams’ 2025 roster announcement. Only Forbes and Wallace came back. That checks. The club rebuilt the position in free agency and via trade, adding McDuffie from Kansas City and signing Watson, as detailed in the team’s offseason cornerback reset.

McDuffie and Watson are the starters. Forbes is the third outside option. Wallace made it over Cam Lampkin after sitting out the preseason, a choice the New York Post flagged when the roster posted. Los Angeles waived Lampkin, Steven Gilmore and Nyzier Fourqurean on cutdown day, according to Rams Wire.

The cut list looked harsher on Sunday than it does now. On Monday the Rams signed Lampkin and Fourqurean to the practice squad. Gilmore did not return. That is confirmed on the team site’s practice-squad announcement. The insurance policy exists. It just lives one transaction away from game-day availability.

Why four corners is not quite the same as four coverage players

Count the jerseys and the number looks reckless. Watch how Chris Shula actually uses people and the picture changes. Lake is listed as a safety. He has been the Rams’ primary nickel for years. McDuffie can slide inside. Wallace has worked outside, in the slot and at safety. The Athletic described that hybrid plan before cuts, and Rams Wire repeated it after the roster dropped: three safeties who can start, with McCollough as a box hybrid.

That is the scheme answer. Nickel and dime are not exotic. They are the default against three-receiver sets. If Lake is the slot defender, the Rams are not asking four boundary corners to cover every snap. They are asking two high-end outside corners, a converted first-round athlete in Forbes, a utility piece in Wallace and a safety who already lives in the slot.

The risk still sits in plain sight. One hamstring on McDuffie or Watson forces Forbes into a heavier outside load and can pull Lake or Wallace into jobs they were not meant to play for 70 snaps. A pass rush cannot cover a wheel route. Donald and Garrett can shrink the window. They cannot erase it.

The offensive trade-off is real, and it is intentional

McVay is not guessing at 13 personnel. The Rams led the NFL in that grouping in 2025, running 204 rushes and 126 pass attempts out of 1 RB, 3 TE, 1 WR and producing a league-high 75.25 expected points added, according to ESPN. They drafted Klare to keep that look alive. Five tight ends is the cost of that identity.

Seven receivers is harder to defend after the Atwell trade. Speed on the edge has value. A seventh wideout does not help Shula if Watson is unavailable in Melbourne. That is the opportunity cost, and it is the part of the construction that still looks lopsided even after giving Lake and the practice squad their due.

Donald’s late return added another wrinkle. The NFL granted Los Angeles a roster exemption through Sept. 11, a day after the opener, so Donald does not have to occupy a 53-man spot for Week 1 if the club needs the flexibility, as reported by the Orange County Register and Rams Wire. That exemption is about acclimating a 35-year-old who just unretired. It is not a fifth cornerback.

McVay and Snead built a roster that can bully the line of scrimmage and stress a defense with extra tight ends. They also built a secondary that needs its two new starters to stay healthy and its nickel safety to hold. The first injury will tell which half of that bet was the expensive one.

The Los Angeles Rams named 11 team captains for the 2026 season after Monday’s practice in Woodland Hills, the largest leadership group of the Sean McVay era and roughly one-fifth of a 53-man roster. Teammates voted the group. McVay announced it the same day the club posted the list publicly.

Aaron Donald rejoined the roster Sunday after two years away. He is not among the 11. That omission is the detail that will travel. The vote did not wait for a returning Hall of Fame talent to settle back in.

According to TheRams.com, the captains are quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kyren Williams, tight end Tyler Higbee, offensive lineman Coleman Shelton, wide receiver Davante Adams, defensive linemen Kobie Turner and Myles Garrett, linebacker Nate Landman, safety Quentin Lake, cornerback Trent McDuffie and long snapper Joe Cardona.

The team posted the graphic Monday night. The Los Angeles Rams account wrote, “Introducing our 2026 captains” —

Introducing our 2026 captains 🫡 pic.twitter.com/breO1uRqWS

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) September 1, 2026

Los Angeles Times Rams writer Gary Klein listed the same 11 names shortly before the team graphic went up —

Rams captains: QB Matthew Stafford, RB Kyren Williams, WR Davante Adams, TE Tyler Higbee, C Coleman Shelton, DL Kobie Turner, OLB Myles Garrett, ILB Nate Landman, CB Trent McDuffie, S Quentin Lake and LS Joe Cardona.

— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) September 1, 2026

Stafford stays at the front of the room

Stafford will wear the “C” for a sixth straight season in Los Angeles. That streak started when he arrived in 2021 and has not broken. Williams is a captain for the second straight year. Higbee gets the patch for the second time, and the first since 2023. Shelton and Adams are first-time Rams captains.

McVay, speaking after practice, did not treat the expanded list as a novelty. “We’ve got as much leadership as we’ve ever had since I’ve been the coach here,” he said, per the team’s official release. He added that the 11 names cover every position room the staff wants reflected in the locker room.

That is the scheme of this vote. It is not a star ranking. It is a room-by-room map. Stafford still runs the offense. Williams is the back who carries the physical identity. Higbee is the longest-tenured skill player still standing. Adams, new as a Rams captain, is the veteran voice in a receiver group that also includes Puka Nacua. Shelton is the interior lineman the rest of the line voted into the circle.

New defensive names, same vote process

Garrett arrived June 1 in the trade that sent Jared Verse and draft picks to Cleveland, a deal confirmed at the time by NFL.com and The Associated Press. Three months later, teammates already put him on the captain list. Turner joins him up front for a third straight year. Landman is a captain for the second straight season after signing in free agency last year and earning an in-season extension. Lake leads the secondary for a third year running.

McDuffie is the other first-year Ram who got votes. He did not arrive in free agency. The Rams traded for him in March, sending Kansas City a 2026 first-round pick and additional selections, as reported then by The Athletic and later confirmed when the deal became official. Cardona, signed this offseason after ten seasons in New England and one in Miami, is the special teams captain. The team site notes he had been a captain with the Patriots.

The math is simple and unusual. The Rams used seven captains in 2025 and five in 2024. They peaked at nine in 2020, per the captain history compiled by Turf Show Times. Eleven is new for McVay and general manager Les Snead. Athlon Sports reported the group is believed to be the largest in modern NFL history, one more than the 2023 New York Giants, who named 10.

Why Donald is off the list

Donald’s return became official Sunday, when the Rams placed him on the initial 53-man roster. Multiple outlets, including The Athletic and the New York Post, reported a one-year deal worth $20 million and up to $30 million with incentives. He did not practice Monday. McVay called that absence part of the plan, per the club’s injury notes the same day as the captain announcement.

NBC Sports flagged Donald and Nacua as the two most conspicuous names left off. That reading fits the process. Captains here are player-voted. Donald has been back in the building for days, not months. Teammates already had a defensive identity built around Turner, Landman, Lake, Garrett and McDuffie. Leaving Donald off the patch is not a statement that he lacks standing. It is a statement that the locker room already chose its spokesmen before he walked back through the door.

The analysis is straightforward. A 35-year-old three-time Defensive Player of the Year does not need a letter to set a standard in that meeting room. A first-year Ram who just cost a first-round pick and a former Defensive Rookie of the Year does. So does the long snapper a special teams overhaul was built around. The vote rewarded presence over résumé.

Los Angeles opens the regular season Thursday, Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the NFL’s first game in Australia, at 5:35 p.m. PT on Netflix. That is the first time this group will walk out with the letters on. Donald’s snap count that night remains a separate question. The captain list is already closed.

The Indianapolis Colts kept a familiar name in the building. One day after waiving wide receiver Anthony Gould in the final cut to 53, the club signed the 2024 fifth-round pick to its 2026 practice squad, a move first reported by CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz and later reflected on official league and team transaction lists.

Zenitz posted on X: “The #Colts are signing wide receiver Anthony Gould to their practice squad, sources tell @CBSSports.” —

The #Colts are signing wide receiver Anthony Gould to their practice squad, sources tell @CBSSports.

Was a 2024 fifth-round pick of Indy and was a kick and punt returner for the Colts last season. Had four catches for 51 yards this preseason. pic.twitter.com/m4Hc6GtIKL

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) August 31, 2026

The Colts waived Gould on Sunday when they trimmed the roster to 53 before the league deadline. By Monday night, his name sat on the practice-squad list published by the Indianapolis Star, NFL.com, and CBS Sports. CBS Sports’ transaction log records the cut on Aug. 30 and the practice-squad add on Aug. 31.

Why Gould dropped off the 53-man roster

Gould never built a steady offensive role. Indianapolis drafted him 142nd overall out of Oregon State in 2024 as a returner who could steal snaps in the slot. Over two seasons he has three catches for 29 yards in 19 games, with one start in 2025, per NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference.

The production that kept him around lived on special teams. He returned 32 kickoffs for 853 yards and 23 punts for 226 yards across 2024 and 2025. That adds up to 1,079 return yards. Last season he averaged 25.9 yards per kick return in 11 games before a foot injury in the Week 14 loss at Jacksonville sent him to injured reserve on Dec. 27, 2025, the team announced at the time.

This August did not reopen the door on the 53. Gould missed the first two preseason games with a groin injury, then played the finale against Detroit and caught four passes for 51 yards, a line confirmed by Football Database and by Zenitz. That was not enough to beat out the six receivers Indianapolis kept: Keenan Allen, Deion Burks, Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, Alec Pierce and Laquon Treadwell, according to the team’s initial 53-man roster.

Allen’s mid-camp arrival crowded the room. Rookie Burks made the cut. Dulin already handles core special-teams work. Coleman Owen, who pushed Gould in the return mix, landed on injured reserve. The math left Gould and veteran Nick Westbrook-Ikhine as the two receivers on the practice squad, a pairing noted in the Sports Illustrated Colts practice-squad breakdown.

What the practice squad actually means for Week 1

A practice-squad tag is not a dead end. Under current NFL rules, teams may elevate two practice-squad players each week. A player can be elevated three times in a season before Indianapolis would have to sign him to the 53-man roster to keep using him. That structure, outlined in the CBS Sports practice-squad tracker, is why Gould still matters in September.

If Dulin or another returner is limited, Gould is the cleanest elevation. He knows Shane Steichen’s meeting room. He has already returned kicks and punts in Lucas Oil Stadium. He can also take slot snaps if Downs or Pierce sits. That is the job description, not a promise he will dress Sept. 13.

The Colts open at home against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, per the team schedule.

The larger roster picture around Gould

Indianapolis is trying to snap a slide that has nothing to do with a fifth-round receiver. The Colts finished 8-9 in 2024 and 8-9 again in 2025, placing third in the AFC South last season, according to StatMuse. They have missed the playoffs five straight years. Their last postseason trip came in 2020, per franchise playoff records. Their last AFC South title was 2014, when they went 11-5 and reached the AFC Championship Game.

Daniel Jones is the swing variable. He tore his right Achilles on Dec. 7, 2025, at Jacksonville and missed the rest of that collapse. He returned to full 11-on-11 work when training camp opened in late July, the Associated Press reported, and the club has pointed him toward the Ravens opener. Jones did not play in the preseason. That timeline remains the organization’s stated plan, not a medical guarantee.

Gould’s path sits one layer below that. He is depth behind a crowded receiver group and insurance on fourth down and kickoff. For a team that started 8-2 a year ago and then lost seven in a row, that kind of cheap, scheme-ready depth is how September injuries get covered. It is not how a playoff drought ends. Jones staying on the field is.

Eight days before they open the 2026 season against the same team they beat for a championship, the Seattle Seahawks already answered one of their biggest questions. Cornerback Devon Witherspoon is signed through 2031 after agreeing in mid-August to a four-year, $132 million extension that made him the highest-paid player at his position, according to ESPN.

The deal came together the day Seattle opened the preseason against Dallas. The Seahawks announced an agreement that afternoon without posting the numbers. League sources told The Athletic and NFL.com the new money averages $33 million a year and includes more than $101 million guaranteed. The Seattle Times later confirmed Witherspoon is tied to the roster through the 2031 season.

“It feels good,” Witherspoon said on the team’s preseason broadcast. “Long time coming.”

General manager John Schneider called it a win for both sides. “It’s a great deal for Spoon. It’s a great deal for the organization,” Schneider told Seattle Sports 710-AM, per ESPN. “He’ll be with us for the next … six seasons.”

Why the Seahawks paid the corner market

Witherspoon was already under contract through 2027 after Seattle picked up his fifth-year option in March. Paying him now was about keeping the core of the “Dark Side” defense together after Super Bowl LX, not about avoiding imminent free agency.

He missed five games in 2025 after a Week 1 knee injury and still finished as a second-team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler. Official season totals from NFL.com and his player page show 72 combined tackles (48 solo), seven passes defensed, one interception and a half-sack in 12 games. The box score understates how Mike Macdonald used him. Witherspoon covered outside and in the slot, supported the run and rushed the passer.

That last piece showed up in February. In Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, Seattle beat the New England Patriots 29-13 on Feb. 8, 2026, as confirmed by the Seahawks, league records and the Associated Press. Witherspoon finished the postseason with 17 tackles, one sack and four passes defensed across three games. In the title game he added a sack, a pass breakup and three quarterback hits. One of those hits helped force the throw that Uchenna Nwosu returned for a score.

Macdonald’s defense asks corners to do more than trail receivers. It asks them to trigger. Paying Witherspoon at the top of the market is a bet that those extra jobs — the blitzes, the run fits, the fourth-quarter goal-line stand against the Rams in the NFC Championship — are worth more than a coverage-only corner who pads interception totals.

What Julian Love sees that the box score misses

Safety Julian Love, who remains on Seattle’s initial 53-man roster heading into Week 1, put the standard in plain language during an August interview with NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. Love said the highly paid names often flash a play and then drift. Witherspoon, he said, is “100% every play, every practice, every game.” The full conversation is on Schultz’s channel:

Love has said versions of that for two years. In 2025 he told The Athletic he had not been around a player who mixed Witherspoon’s personality with film work and accountability. The tape matches the talk. Witherspoon is the first player to the pile and the one who still talks after the whistle. That is the culture Macdonald wants on a roster trying to avoid the usual champion’s slump.

Seattle knows the history. The franchise won Super Bowl XLVIII after the 2013 season, then returned the next year and lost Super Bowl XLIX to these same Patriots. This group gets the rematch immediately. The 2026 season opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Lumen Field, with New England visiting in the league’s kickoff game at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, per the NFL and FOX Sports.

A repeat is not guaranteed. Defending champions rarely look the same in September as they did in February. Injuries already thinned camp. What Seattle can control is the secondary’s identity. Witherspoon and Love are still on the 53. Josh Jobe, Ty Okada and Nick Emmanwori are there with them. The money says the front office wants that group hunting together for another January.

Whether that produces another Lombardi Trophy is speculation. The contract is not. Spoon is paid, the rematch is on the calendar, and the standard Love described is the one Seattle is asking the rest of the defense to match.

The Houston Texans signed wide receiver Mitchell Tinsley to the practice squad Monday, adding another body to a receiving group thinned by injury as Week 1 approaches. Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team first reported the move, writing that Tinsley “had 8 catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs last season, and drew interest from several teams after Cincinnati moved on due to its deep WR room.” —

The #Texans are signing former #Bengals WR Mitchell Tinsley to their practice squad, per source.

Tinsley had 8 catches for 116 yards and 2 TDs last season, and drew interest from several teams after Cincinnati moved on due to its deep WR room. pic.twitter.com/jWkG50XI3E

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 31, 2026

Multiple outlets later confirmed the signing, including the Cincinnati Enquirer and Heavy. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 also reported the addition, according to Draft Sharks. Houston has not posted an official transactions release listing Tinsley as of Tuesday morning, so the deal remains reported rather than announced by the club.

Why Houston needed another receiver

Last season Houston finished 12-5, its first 12-win campaign since the 2012 team went 12-4, per Wikipedia’s 2025 season recap and StatMuse’s 2012 record. DeMeco Ryans is entering his fourth year as head coach. The defense allowed 17.4 points and 277.2 yards per game in 2025, ranking second and first in the NFL, according to StatMuse and Football Database.

The offense still leans on C.J. Stroud. The Texans traded for David Montgomery this offseason to give the run game a downhill back, as reported by The Athletic. The receiving corps took a hit when second-year wideout Jayden Higgins tore an ACL in camp. Tank Dell opened the year on injured reserve with a designation to return, the Houston Chronicle reported. Houston answered by trading for Kayshon Boutte from New England, a deal first detailed by The Athletic and NFL.com.

The initial 53-man roster kept five receivers: Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, Boutte, Jaylin Noel and Jared Wayne, per the Chronicle. That is a thin group if anyone else goes down. Practice-squad depth matters.

Who Mitchell Tinsley is

Tinsley, 26, went undrafted in 2023 out of Penn State after stops at Hutchinson Community College and Western Kentucky. The Washington Commanders signed him as a college free agent. He appeared in two games as a rookie and spent 2024 on Washington’s practice squad, according to his Wikipedia page and Spotrac.

Cincinnati signed him to a reserve/future contract in February 2025. He made the 53-man roster and played all 17 games in 2025, with four starts. His line: eight catches, 116 yards, two touchdowns on 24 targets. His first regular-season catch was a one-handed touchdown from Jake Browning against Jacksonville. Joe Burrow praised him during the preseason, telling ESPN’s Laura Rutledge, “He’s a guy that you can really count on,” as quoted by the Enquirer.

Cincinnati cut him in final roster reductions. The Bengals’ receiver room is crowded after drafting Colbie Young and adding Dohnte Meyers. Houston offered a clearer path to snaps if injuries hit, which is why several teams showed interest, Meirov reported.

Tinsley is a possession target more than a burner. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, cited by Heavy, described him as a player with quality ball skills who works the middle of the field. That profile fits a practice-squad role behind Collins and Boutte: someone Stroud can trust on third down if he gets elevated.

Houston hosts the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 13, in the Week 1 opener, per the NFL’s 2026 schedule. Tinsley will spend the next two weeks learning the playbook on the practice field. Activation to the 53-man roster is possible if another receiver is lost, but that remains speculation until the team makes a move.

The Pittsburgh Steelers closed cutdown weekend with star power on both sides of the ball and a hole at the position that protects it. Officially, the club sent tackle Broderick Jones and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for 2027 third- and sixth-round selections, a swap the team confirmed among its final roster moves. The return is real draft capital. For a roster built around Aaron Rodgers in what he has called his last season, the cost is immediate tackle insurance.

Jones was not a surprise cut. He was a trade. That distinction matters. Pittsburgh did not lose him on waivers. The front office chose future picks over a 25-year-old who had started 38 of 45 regular-season games and two more in the postseason.

What the Steelers actually received — and gave up

Dallas announced the deal Sunday. The Cowboys sent the 2027 third- and sixth-rounders and took Jones plus Pittsburgh’s 2027 fourth. Cowboys beat writer Joseph Hoyt later reported that the sixth-rounder heading back to Pittsburgh is the same pick Dallas obtained in the George Pickens trade a year ago, with Dallas keeping its own sixth. “Steelers get their own 6th back,” Hoyt posted —

The 2027 6th round pick the Cowboys are sending back to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Broderick Jones trade is the pick the Cowboys acquired in the George Pickens trade last year, per source.

Cowboys still have their own 6th rounder. Steelers get their own 6th back.

— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) August 29, 2026

On a spreadsheet, that is not a giveaway. Teams win Sundays with blockers, though, not with a card on a war-room wall. Jones last season played all 603 of his offensive snaps at left tackle after working mostly on the right side in 2023 and 2024, per the Cowboys’ own recap. Versatility was the insurance policy. That policy is now in Texas.

The medical file traveled with him. Jones suffered a neck injury in Week 12 of 2025 against Chicago, landed on injured reserve, and missed the final six regular-season games plus Pittsburgh’s wild-card playoff. Multiple outlets, including the Associated Press at the time, documented the Week 12 timing. He later underwent spinal fusion surgery, returned for camp, and played 142 snaps across three preseason games. Early in camp, Mike McCarthy praised the work Jones had put in after clearance and cautioned that a player in that spot “can’t just go to a hundred miles an hour,” according to ESPN.

Pittsburgh had already telegraphed the end. The club declined Jones’ fifth-year option and used the No. 21 pick in April on tackle Max Iheanachor. After the neck injury, the Steelers shifted 2024 first-rounder Troy Fautanu to left tackle. Jones was a swing piece fighting weight and rust, not the starter. Dallas still paid a third-rounder to get him in the building before the waiver wire opened.

The 53-man roster Pittsburgh kept instead

The initial 53 posted by the team is 26 offense, 24 defense and three specialists. The offensive list includes four quarterbacks: Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar. That is an unusual allocation. It is also official. McCarthy had never opened a season with four quarterbacks on his active roster, ESPN noted after the deadline.

The skill-position group still has teeth. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. headline six wide receivers. Roman Wilson and rookie Germie Bernard made it. Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle handle the backfield after Pittsburgh also traded 2025 third-round running back Kaleb Johnson to Green Bay for a 2028 sixth-round pick.

The defense is the part that looks built to win now. T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith remain the edge pair. Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton still sit inside. Patrick Queen is back at linebacker. Jalen Ramsey, Joey Porter Jr. and Jaquan Brisker headline a rebuilt secondary after Porter came off the physically unable to perform list at the deadline.

The offensive line on the 53: Fautanu, Iheanachor, Dylan Cook, Zach Frazier, Mason McCormick, Spencer Anderson, Gennings Dunker, Brock Hoffman and Ryan McCollum. Jack Driscoll is not in that group. The Steelers placed Driscoll on injured reserve with a designation to return after an ankle issue in late August, a move that already removes one veteran swing body for at least the first four games.

Nine linemen on paper can look like depth. Strip out the interior starters and the picture changes. Fautanu is the left tackle. Iheanachor, the new first-rounder, is the right-side plan. Cook is the next tackle up. Ask a first-round rookie or a lightly used reserve to absorb a full starting workload in Week 3, and the protection problem stops being theoretical.

Why the bet collides with the Rodgers window

Rodgers is 42. He signed a one-year deal to return for 2026 and has said there is no debate that this is his final season. McCarthy is the coach who developed him in Green Bay. The organization spent the offseason stacking weapons and veterans around that pairing. Keeping four quarterbacks is the clearest tell: Pittsburgh is protecting the position even when it costs a roster spot.

That is why moving Jones reads as a contradiction, not a mystery. If the staff will burn a 53-man slot on Howard and Allar so the room can keep developing, the same logic should have kept a tackle who had already started on both sides. The counter is straightforward. Jones’ place on the depth chart had collapsed. Dallas wanted him enough to send a third. Omar Khan took the pick.

Some of that math is defensible. Jones allowed pressure last season before the injury, and he was not winning the right-tackle job in August. A rebuilding club should make this trade every time. This club opens Sept. 13 against Atlanta at Acrisure Stadium. Every third-and-7 with Rodgers in the shotgun is a 2026 problem, not a 2027 draft board problem.

The scheme does not hide a weak edge. McCarthy’s offense still asks the tackle to set a firm edge and keep the pocket clean long enough for Rodgers to work the intermediate field to Metcalf and Pittman. Watt can erase mistakes on defense. He cannot pick up a looping edge rusher on first-and-10.

Pittsburgh can still be right. Iheanachor can play like a top-10 tackle. Fautanu can stay healthy. Cook can hold up if someone goes down. Jones can stall in Dallas after a fusion and a year of moving between spots. None of that is confirmed. What is confirmed is the roster the Steelers handed McCarthy: four quarterbacks, nine linemen, one proven swing tackle in another uniform, and a 42-year-old quarterback they cannot afford to put on the ground.

That is the wager. Draft capital in 2027. Protection in September. Pittsburgh chose the pick.

The San Francisco 49ers reassigned Brandon Aiyuk’s jersey number on Monday, handing No. 11 to veteran wide receiver Demarcus Robinson one day after setting their initial 53-man roster. The change does not cut Aiyuk from the organization. It does make the split visible on the practice field.

CBS Sports Bay Area reporter Matt Lively, on site for Monday’s session, posted that Robinson was now wearing the number Aiyuk used throughout his 49ers career. “Demarcus Robinson now wearing #11, previously worn by Brandon Aiyuk.” —

Demarcus Robinson now wearing #11, previously worn by Brandon Aiyuk. pic.twitter.com/LKEEwyJ8WG

— Matt Lively (@mattblively) August 31, 2026

The Athletic’s Matt Barrows listed the same switch among a cluster of post-cutdown number changes. Jacob Cowing moved to No. 4. Rookie De’Zhaun Stribling took Robinson’s old No. 7. Robinson took 11. Barrows posted the list Monday:

New #49ers jersey numbers:

4 – WR Jacob Cowing
7 – WR De’Zhaun Stribling
11 – WR Demarcus Robinson

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 31, 2026

David Lombardi of the San Francisco Standard framed the roster math behind the optics. Aiyuk remains on the reserve/left squad list, which means he does not occupy a roster spot and is not in line to be paid. That designation also left No. 11 unassigned. Lombardi wrote that the 49ers had given the number to Robinson. —

Brandon Aiyuk remains on the Reserve/Left Squad list, meaning he's not in line to be paid by the 49ers and he doesn't occupy a roster spot. And the 49ers have now given away his #11 to Demarcus Robinson

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 31, 2026

General manager John Lynch, asked Monday about Aiyuk after final cuts, did not open a new door. “Nothing has changed there,” Lynch said, per NBC Sports. “He’s on the reserve/left squad list, and as such, he’s just not on our roster.” Lynch also confirmed the club does not owe Aiyuk the option bonus that would have been due Sept. 1 if he were on the roster, NBC Sports Bay Area reported.

Why the 49ers could hand off No. 11 without cutting Aiyuk

A jersey number is not a transaction. Heavy noted the switch does not alter Aiyuk’s contract or formally end his time with the club. The practical reason is simpler. A player on reserve/left squad is not on the active roster, so the number is free. Niners Wire reported Robinson last wore No. 11 from 2018 through 2021 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The timing still carries weight. San Francisco finalized its 53-man roster Sunday without needing to make a decision on Aiyuk, because he was never counting against that limit. The receiving group that did make it: Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Stribling, Robinson, Jordan Watkins and Cowing, per The Athletic.

Aiyuk has been in that holding pattern since Dec. 13, 2025, when the 49ers placed him on reserve/left squad after he stopped reporting while coming back from the knee injury that ended his 2024 season. To leave the list, he would have to apply to the league for reinstatement. Multiple reports this summer said he had not taken that step.

How the Aiyuk-49ers split reached this point

San Francisco drafted Aiyuk 25th overall in 2020. He peaked in 2023 with 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns and earned second-team All-Pro honors, per NFL.com. In August 2024 he signed a four-year, $120 million extension. Seven games later, he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee against the Kansas City Chiefs and finished that season with 25 receptions for 374 yards, NFL.com reported at the time.

He did not play in 2025. In July 2025 the 49ers voided about $27 million in 2026 guarantees, a move coach Kyle Shanahan later called unusual. The Associated Press reported Shanahan confirmed the void that November. The club’s position then, and now, is that Aiyuk failed to meet participation terms tied to rehab and team activity.

Robinson is not a symbolic extra. He signed with San Francisco in March 2025 after two seasons with the Rams, the team the 49ers open against next week. He is a veteran depth piece in a room that now leans on Evans and Samuel up top, with Stribling pushing for early snaps after the preseason.

San Francisco went 12-5 in 2025, finished third in the NFC West and lost in the divisional round at Seattle, per Pro-Football-Reference. The 2026 opener is Thursday, Sept. 10 against the Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground, kicking at 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT on Netflix, the club announced on 49ers.com.

A number change will not decide that game. It does tell you where the 49ers are looking. They built a receiver room that no longer accounts for Aiyuk on the depth chart, then put someone else in the jersey he wore for five seasons. Until Aiyuk applies for reinstatement — or the club trades or releases him after that process — the contract remains in limbo and No. 11 does not.

Aaron Donald is back in a Rams uniform. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year ended his retirement Sunday and signed a one-year contract with Los Angeles, joining a defense already built around newly acquired edge rusher Myles Garrett.

The deal is worth $20 million with playoff incentives that can push the total value to $30 million, according to ESPN. The Rams announced Donald’s return the same day they set their initial 53-man roster and listed him among the defensive linemen.

Donald, who turned 35 in May, last played in January 2024. He retired two months later after 10 seasons spent entirely with the franchise. He posted a simple Instagram message — “We back #Rams #Ready” — and then walked onto the practice field in his No. 99 jersey for individual drills.

Ian Rapoport posted on X: “AD is B-A-C-K: Rams star Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement to play for his old team with a 1-year, $20M deal with playoff incentives up to $30M”

🚨 🚨 🚨

AD is B-A-C-K: #Rams star Aaron Donald is coming of retirement to play for his old team with a 1-year, $20M deal with playoff incentives up to $30M, per me and @AdamSchefter.

After two seasons away, Donald will play alongside Myles Garrett in a star-studded D-line. pic.twitter.com/2g65n8qI2s

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2026

The move pairs two of the most decorated defensive linemen of the last decade. Donald owns 111 career sacks. Garrett has 125.5. Together they hold five Defensive Player of the Year awards. Los Angeles already sat as a Super Bowl favorite before Donald’s decision. Adding him completes an offseason defensive overhaul that also included trades for Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie.

Donald said the Garrett trade in June “for sure got me thinking.” He spent 13 to 14 weeks in a structured training program that mirrored his playing days, including official tryouts the team reported to the league. He also posted workout videos throughout retirement. “If the wife wasn’t happy it wasn’t gonna get done,” Donald said after signing. “My wife was on board and she was with me 100%.”

McVay Takes Donald’s Week 1 Status One Day at a Time

Rams coach Sean McVay made clear the team will not rush Donald onto the field for the Sept. 10 opener against the San Francisco 49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia.

“I’m not going to talk about any sort of plans. It’s going to be a day at a time for us. What does that mean for Australia? The first step was, all right, if you’re coming back, let’s do that, let’s get you on the practice field, let’s get you acclimated to your teammates, to your coaches, and then we’ll see what that ramp-up period looks like, whether or not he’s available or whether or not we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia.”

— Sean McVay, as quoted by CBS Sports

McVay repeated the same cautious language after Sunday’s practice. The Rams leave later in the week than the 49ers, giving Donald extra days to work. He participated only in individual drills Sunday before heading to the training room.

On offense, Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams remain the focal points. Stafford, the reigning MVP, and Adams are both on the initial 53-man roster announced by the team. The pairing of those two with a defense now featuring Donald and Garrett creates matchup problems on both sides of the ball.

How much Donald plays after two-plus years away remains the open question. He said he feels he can still play at a high level and “be myself 100 percent.” Teammates who worked out with him this summer reported he looked like he had not missed a beat. Still, the NFL grind differs from personal training. McVay’s staff will monitor his body and his fit inside a defensive line that has practiced together for weeks.

The scheme itself should help. Los Angeles runs a 3-4 front. Donald can occupy double teams inside while Garrett and Byron Young work the edges. That split attention is exactly why Donald said the Garrett addition made the idea of returning attractive. Offensive lines that once stacked the box against Donald now face two players who demand the same treatment.

Donald’s return resets his Hall of Fame clock. He would have been eligible as early as 2029. Now that date moves back. He has said the chance to chase a second Super Bowl ring alongside this group mattered more than the timeline.

The Rams open against a familiar NFC West rival in a unique venue. Whether Donald is on the field in Melbourne will be decided in the coming days. McVay’s message has stayed consistent: stay in the moment and evaluate daily.

George Kittle did not sound like a player whose rehab had gone sideways. He sounded like a tight end who woke up Sunday, saw the internet twist a Kyle Shanahan sentence, and laughed it off.

The San Francisco 49ers star used six words and a quote-tweet to shut down speculation that his return from a torn Achilles had stalled ahead of the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams. “The things I wake up to,” Kittle posted on X, quoting a clip of Brad Pitt in Moneyball that asks, in so many words, what anyone is talking about.

The things I wake up to 😂 https://t.co/dqugwzGMCk

— George Kittle (@gkittle46) August 30, 2026

The rumor started with Shanahan. After San Francisco’s 18-12 preseason win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday at Allegiant Stadium, the coach discussed injured players and roster decisions and referred to Kittle as someone “who’s taken a step back,” according to Pro Football Talk. He offered no follow-up. The phrase traveled anyway.

By Sunday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter had a clearer picture. Kittle has not had any setbacks in his return from the torn Achilles, Schefter reported, and he is expected to practice this week as he pushes to play in Australia. Schefter added that Kittle still has a legitimate chance to play the opener, per sources.

49ers TE George Kittle is expected to practice this week as he continues his efforts to play in the opener in Australia against the Rams. Kittle hasn’t had any setbacks in his return from a torn Achilles, and still has a legitimate chance to play the opener, per sources. pic.twitter.com/fjMA3XNlkZ

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

What Shanahan said, and why it landed so hard

Shanahan’s wording sat next to names of players who are clearly behind schedule. That is why it landed. A “step back” in rehab language usually means swelling, a missed benchmark, or a week lost. In this case, several beat reporters and analysts argued he may have meant a step back toward playing — the kind of Shanahan shorthand that needs a second sentence.

Sporting News and Niners Wire both framed Schefter’s report as a correction to that interpretation, not a new medical diagnosis from the team. Until Shanahan clarifies it himself, the safest read is the one backed by reporting: no major setback has been confirmed.

The 49ers activated Kittle from the physically unable to perform list on Aug. 23, NFL.com reported. That move mattered. If he had stayed on PUP through cutdown day, he would have been ineligible until Week 5. Coming off the list opened Weeks 1 through 4.

He worked individual drills that Sunday in Santa Clara and stayed out of team periods, per The Athletic and NBC Sports Bay Area. He has not been reported in 11-on-11 work since. That gap is the real football question now, not a secret collapse in rehab.

Why Week 1 in Melbourne is a different kind of test

Kittle tore the Achilles on Jan. 11 in a wild-card win at Philadelphia. An eight-month return would already sit on the aggressive end of the typical timeline. Add a 16-hour flight and a 17-hour time change, and the decision is not only medical. It is logistical.

The 49ers are scheduled to leave for Australia on Sept. 2 so they can acclimate before kickoff, CBS Sports has reported. The Rams open against San Francisco on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET at Melbourne Cricket Ground. If Kittle is not ready for live snaps, the practical move is to leave him in Santa Clara rather than park him on the other side of the world for a game he cannot play.

That is why this week’s practices matter more than Thursday’s preseason box score. San Francisco won 18-12 without its starters scoring a touchdown. Eddy Piñeiro made six field goals. The night answered almost nothing about Kittle. Practice reps will.

Offensively, the reason the debate is loud is simple. Kittle is not a luxury tight end in Kyle Shanahan’s scheme. He is the blocker who seals the edge for Christian McCaffrey and the receiver Brock Purdy can trust on the move. Last season he caught 57 passes for 628 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games and earned his seventh Pro Bowl, numbers confirmed across Reuters and team reporting.

Those Impact Scores come from Pro Football Network. McBride led the position on volume. Kittle still graded second despite missing six games. That is the player San Francisco is trying to get on the plane.

Jake Tonges is the fallback if Kittle sits. He has already shown he can catch in this offense. He cannot replace Kittle as a lead blocker on the perimeter. If the 49ers hold Kittle out of Melbourne, it will be because they want him healthy for the three-game homestand that follows, not because Sunday’s rumor cycle proved true.

Kittle has said for weeks he has a chance and that he will not be reckless about it. Shanahan’s one vague clause created a 24-hour scare. Schefter’s sourcing and Kittle’s own post pulled the story back to where it was on Aug. 23: possible for Week 1, not promised, and now dependent on how much team work he can handle before the flight.

Aaron Donald is a Ram again. Two and a half years after he walked away, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year signed a one-year contract Sunday and reported to the Los Angeles Rams’ practice field in his old No. 99 jersey.

The deal is worth $20 million and can climb to $30 million with playoff incentives, according to ESPN and NFL Network. The Rams announced the return the same afternoon the league’s 53-man roster deadline hit. Donald, 35, last played in January 2024 and retired that March after 10 seasons, all with the franchise.

Adam Schefter posted the terms on X: “He’s back: Rams star Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement and returning to the Rams on a one-year, $20M deal that with incentives could be worth up to $30M, per @rapsheet and me.”

🚨 🚨 🚨

He’s back: Rams star Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement and returning to the Rams on a one-year, $20M deal that with incentives could be worth up to $30M, per @rapsheet and me.

After two seasons away, Donald now will join forces with Myles Garrett, giving the… pic.twitter.com/LO2SoKHFwG

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

Donald asked his wife first

The contract was only half the decision. Donald told reporters he would not have signed unless Erica Donald was in. CBS Sports quoted him after the announcement: “If the wife wasn’t happy it wasn’t gonna get done. My wife was on board and she was with me 100%.”

FOX Sports: NFL posted video from his media session making the same point — that the household had to be settled before football came back into it.

Before making his return to the Rams, Aaron Donald made sure his wife was on board with the decision

(Via YT/The Sporting Tribune) pic.twitter.com/8CQmvYr7Le

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) August 31, 2026

Erica Donald answered the internet in seven words. She posted on X: “I let him out the house y’all.”

I let him out the house y’all 🤣 💙🫶🏾

— Erica Donald (@EriDon_99) August 30, 2026

That joke landed because the rumor cycle had been running since June. After the Rams acquired Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns, she had written “Y’all are hilarious,” per ESPN. Sunday’s post closed the bit.

How the return actually happened

Donald did not sneak back in. He worked out at the Rams’ facility in early August, then again later in the month, sessions the team had to report to the league as official tryouts, NFL.com reported. He said he knew about two weeks ago that he wanted to play. He also said he refused to rush it.

According to The Athletic, he walked onto the grass at the team’s Woodland Hills facility Sunday already wearing 99, then went through individual drills with the defensive line. That is the first time he has been a Ram on the field since the 2023 season.

His own announcement on Instagram was four words: “We back #Rams #Ready,” as Rams Wire documented. The team leaned on a different line. In a nod to Michael Jordan’s 1995 fax, the Rams posted a letter to the commissioner that read, simply, “I’m back,” USA TODAY reported.

He left the first time after a 2023 season that still produced eight sacks, a 10th Pro Bowl and an eighth first-team All-Pro selection. He retired as a Super Bowl LVI champion. AP News carried that original March 2024 announcement. This is his 11th NFL season if he plays a snap.

Why pairing him with Garrett changes the math

The comeback did not start in August. It started June 1, when Cleveland sent Garrett to Los Angeles for Jared Verse and draft picks, a trade confirmed by AP News. Garrett had just set the single-season sack record with 23 in 2025. Donald said the trade got him thinking about whether “that fire can light back up.”

The scheme fit is the point. Donald wins from the interior. Garrett wrecks the edge. Offenses that used to slide protection and chip Donald now have to pick a poison. Leave a guard alone on Donald and the pocket collapses from the middle. Slide help inside and Garrett gets a one-on-one. That is why this is more than a reunion tour. It is a leverage problem for every offensive coordinator on the schedule.

The rust is real. Donald has not played an 11-on-11 NFL snap in more than two years. He told reporters he feels like himself after 13 to 14 weeks of training, but feeling like yourself in a private workout is not the same as diagnosing a zone-run on the third play of a road opener. The tape will tell that story, not the press conference.

Sack totals come from NFL.com career records for Donald and contemporaneous reporting on Garrett after the June trade. Combined, they own 236.5 career sacks and five Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Week 1 in Melbourne is not guaranteed

The Rams open Thursday, Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, per the team schedule. Sean McVay would not put Donald on the plane in ink. He said the staff will take it “one day at a time” and decide “whether or not we think it’s best to play him in Australia,” NBC Sports reported from Sunday’s availability.

That is the honest next question. Los Angeles already built a Super Bowl-or-bust roster around Matthew Stafford and a remade defense. Donald does not need another ring to prove anything. He came back anyway, after the conversations at home, after the tryouts, after months of teasing a return he did not have to make. The pads go on. The rust comes off. The 49ers get the first look — if McVay decides No. 99 is ready for the long flight.

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Sunday that the team’s decision to complete the Terrion Arnold signing rests on character research that, in the club’s view, does not line up with the felony charges the young cornerback still faces. Speaking to reporters in Renton a day after the contract became official, Schneider framed the move as a bet on the player the front office evaluated before the 2024 draft — not a short-term roster patch.

The Seahawks announced the signing Saturday, more than two weeks after agreeing to terms with the former Detroit Lions first-round pick, according to NFL.com. The league then placed Arnold on the commissioner’s exempt list. He will be paid and may attend meetings and individual workouts at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. He cannot practice or play, and he does not count against the 53-man roster.

Arnold, 23, faces eight felony charges — four counts of kidnapping and four of armed robbery — tied to an alleged February incident in Tampa, Florida. Prosecutors accuse him of coordinating a plot in which three men were lured to an apartment, robbed, beaten and held at gunpoint. He has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty, per USA TODAY. He is free on $1 million bond. His next scheduled court date is Oct. 5 in Tampa.

Why Seattle still signed him

Schneider did not treat the legal file as a side note. He said the case has to run its course and that the organization respects that process. He also said the people the Seahawks trust described a different person than the one in the charging documents.

“The character just didn’t really fit with the allegations and everybody we’ve talked to.”

John Schneider, speaking Sunday in Renton, via NBC Sports

The central advocate, Schneider said, is former Seahawks returner Leon Washington. Schneider traded for Washington in 2010, his first year as general manager. He called Washington “basically like his father” to Arnold and said Washington remains a legend in the building with a long relationship to the organization. Those comments were first reported from the Renton availability by Gregg Bell of The News Tribune.

Other voices inside the building already knew Arnold. Defensive passing game coordinator Karl Scott helped recruit him at Alabama. Quarterback Jalen Milroe, Arnold’s former Crimson Tide teammate, has publicly backed him. Head coach Mike Macdonald said earlier this month the club “felt strongly” about Arnold during the 2024 draft process and still viewed the legal matter as serious, according to NFL.com.

Ari Meirov posted video of Schneider’s remarks on X on Aug. 31: the allegations “didn’t fit the character of the person they saw and researched,” and the signing is a long-term play

#Seahawks GM John Schneider explained that the allegations against Terrion Arnold didn’t fit the character of the person they saw and researched, and acknowledged that signing him is a long-term play by the organization. pic.twitter.com/FXlA8LNKrb

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 31, 2026

A long-term play, not a Week 1 answer

Schneider was blunt about the timetable.

“But yes, there’s a long-term play. This isn’t a, ‘Let’s see how quickly we can get this done.’ Let’s get him in the building and see how it goes.”

John Schneider, via NBC Sports

That language matters. Arnold will not be on the field Sept. 9 when Seattle opens the season against New England at Lumen Field. Commissioner Roger Goodell controls when — or whether — Arnold comes off the exempt list. There is no public timetable.

The football logic is delayed value. Arnold has only two accrued NFL seasons. If the legal case and the league process resolve in a way that lets him play, Seattle would hold his rights into 2027 as a restricted or exclusive-rights free agent, depending on how much of this season he spends on an active or reserve list, as outlined by The News Tribune. In other words, the Seahawks are paying a first-round corner to be in meetings now so they can keep him cheaply later if he is cleared.

That is a different posture than the one Schneider described on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” In footage that aired in mid-August, he called the allegations “shocking” and said Seattle “probably would have had to let him go” if Arnold had already been on the roster when the charges landed, according to The Athletic. Special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh drew the distinction on camera: the incumbent team eats the scandal; the “second-chance team” can wait.

Those two comments can sit next to each other without contradiction. Cutting a player who is already yours is a public break. Signing a free agent you already liked, after a visit and a stack of character references, is a calculated hold. It is still a wager. If Arnold is convicted, the bet is empty. If the case ends short of that, Seattle will have a 23-year-old former top-24 pick already inside the building.

What Arnold has actually done on the field

The on-field tape is mixed, not mythical. Detroit took him 24th overall in 2024 out of Alabama. He started immediately. A shoulder injury ended his 2025 season after eight games. Career totals, per ESPN and NFL.com:

That is starter volume with modest ball production. Seattle already paid Devon Witherspoon as the highest-paid corner in the league. Arnold, if he ever plays here, would be depth and competition — a young outside or nickel piece behind an established No. 1, not a replacement for him.

For now the football is on hold. The legal process is not. Schneider’s message from Renton was simple and finite: the Seahawks believe the player they studied is not the person in the allegations, they are willing to wait, and they are not pretending this is a September solution.

Cincinnati locked in one of the NFL’s best underdog stories on Sunday. Wide receiver Dohnte Meyers made the Bengals’ initial 53-man roster after the 6 p.m. ET cutdown deadline, a spot the club confirmed on its official roster and in a video of the call that told him he was in.

The news landed less than 48 hours after Meyers closed a 3-0 preseason with three catches for 51 yards on Cincinnati’s opening drive in Philadelphia. For a player who went undrafted in 2023, failed to stick after an Atlanta Falcons rookie-camp tryout, and rebuilt his career in the CFL, the 53 was the finish line he had been chasing for three years.

How Cincinnati told Meyers he made the team

Wide receivers coach Troy Walters delivered the decision over FaceTime. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Walters walked Meyers through the long road — a December workout, the jump from Canada, hours in the coaches’ office — then congratulated him on making the 53-man roster. Meyers fought back tears and answered with a simple “Let’s get it goin’.”

NFL insider Jordan Schultz circulated the team video early Monday: “Here’s how the #Bengals told WR Dohnte Meyers — a former UDFA and CFL product — that he made the team.”

Here’s how the #Bengals told WR Dohnte Meyers — a former UDFA and CFL product — that he made the team. This videos are so good! 💯

(📹 @Bengals) pic.twitter.com/QG5elkRWlx https://t.co/OmTqiZi5Yp

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 31, 2026

Walters also told Meyers he would have work on offense and special teams. That is analysis grounded in how Cincinnati used him all August, not an official depth-chart announcement. The initial 53 is still subject to waiver claims and practice-squad signings on Monday.

The long road from Presbyterian to Paycor

Meyers played at Presbyterian, then at Division II Delta State. He went undrafted in 2023 and worked out for the Falcons without earning a contract, a path detailed by The Athletic. Saskatchewan signed him to a CFL futures deal in October 2023. Limited in 2024, he broke through in 2025: 65 catches, 1,056 yards, eight touchdowns, and a Grey Cup with the Roughriders, per CFL.ca.

The Riders released him on Jan. 8 so he could sign with Cincinnati. The Bengals listed the move the same week on their transaction record. He is 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, and wears No. 81 on the club’s active roster.

The human piece that stuck in camp was not a press-release line. Joe Burrow asked Meyers to throw before training camp. Meyers drove overnight from Atlanta to make the session, a detail Burrow shared after the preseason opener, as reported by the Enquirer. That kind of extra work showed up later when Meyers took first-team reps after a Ja’Marr Chase injury scare, according to Sports Illustrated.

Why the preseason tape earned the 53rd spot

Cincinnati kept six receivers: Chase, Tee Higgins, Andrei Iosivas, Ke’Shawn Williams, Colbie Young, and Meyers, per the Enquirer’s roster breakdown. Charlie Jones, a proven returner, was waived. That choice tells you how the staff graded Meyers. He was not just a special-teams add. He separated from the slot on all three levels in the Eagles game, turning a nine-yard in-breaker, a 17-yard corner, and a 25-yard shot into a 51-yard opening series before Zac Taylor sat him, as Bengals.com described from Lincoln Financial Field.

Those receiving totals match multiple game reports, including the Enquirer on the Lions night and Cincy Jungle on the Bears. He also returned punts and kickoffs in August, which gave Cincinnati cover to cut Jones without emptying the return room.

Scheme-wise, Meyers fits what Dan Pitcher’s offense already does with Chase and Higgins. He can work the slot, take a jet sweep, and stay on the field on third down. Walters said during camp he can play all three receiver spots, per NBC Sports. That versatility is why some analysts, including SI’s Jay Morrison, expect him to dress Week 1 rather than sit as a 53-man extra. That remains projection until inactive lists post.

What it means for a 6-11 team heading to Week 1

The Bengals finished 6-11 in 2025, third in the AFC North, per Pro-Football-Reference. They have missed the playoffs in 2023, 2024, and 2025 after their last postseason run in 2022. They open 2026 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. ET, according to the team schedule.

Meyers will not replace Chase or Higgins. He gives Joe Burrow another option if a starter sits, and he gives special teams a returner who already produced in live games. Making the 53 is confirmed. Winning snaps in September is the next test, and it starts in 13 days at Paycor Stadium.

Aaron Donald is a Ram again. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year ended a 2½-year retirement Sunday, signing a one-year deal to return to Los Angeles and share a defensive line with Myles Garrett less than two weeks before the 2026 opener in Australia.

The Rams announced the move after Donald posted a simple Instagram caption — “We back” — and then stepped onto the grass at the team’s Woodland Hills facility in his No. 99 practice jersey, the first time he had worn it as a player since the 2023 season, per The Athletic and the team’s official site. He took part in individual drills after a team meeting. Head coach Sean McVay did not commit him to Week 1.

Donald agreed to a one-year, $20 million contract that can reach $30 million with playoff incentives, according to reports from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, later detailed by NFL.com and ESPN. The Rams confirmed he will play for them in 2026. The financial structure is reported, not formally itemized in a team release.

Why the Rams’ offseason pulled Donald back

The hook was Garrett. Cleveland traded the reigning Defensive Player of the Year to Los Angeles on June 1 for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick, the clubs announced and The Athletic later reported with a condition: that third-rounder becomes a first-rounder if the Rams deal Garrett to an AFC North team.

Donald told reporters the trade “for sure got me thinking,” a line first circulated after the June deal and restated in Sunday’s coverage by CBS Sports. He worked out at the facility in August, including official tryouts the team reported to the league. He said he knew he was coming back about two weeks ago. His wife’s approval, he added, was non-negotiable.

On Sunday he turned the conversation to the man who now occupies the other edge of the same front.

“I talked to Myles… We teammates now… Hopefully we do some special things together.”

Aaron Donald, Sunday press conference, via ESPN

ESPN posted the clip; ClutchPoints circulated the same soundbite

"We teammates now … hopefully we do some special things together." 🔥

—Aaron Donald on getting to team up with Myles Garrett on the Rams pic.twitter.com/2prPcXfsSp

— ESPN (@espn) August 31, 2026

“I talked to Myles… We teammates now… Hopefully we do some special things together."

Aaron Donald on the opportunity to play with Myles Garrett 🙌

(via @espn) pic.twitter.com/6uhHVoxVC1

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 31, 2026

That pairing is the scheme story. Donald wins from the interior by collapsing pockets and eating double teams. Garrett just set the single-season sack record with 23 in 2025. Put an interior wrecking ball next to a record-setting edge, and coordinators have to choose which gap to leave one-on-one. Young pieces already on the roster — Byron Young, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske — benefit if those two force extra blockers inside and outside at the same time.

Sack totals and award counts are compiled from reporting by The Athletic and league records cited across Sunday’s coverage.

What the 2026 Rams are chasing

Los Angeles went 12-5 last season, then lost the NFC Championship at Seattle, 31-27. That was a third straight playoff trip. A fourth would keep the window open with Super Bowl LXI scheduled at SoFi Stadium. Donald already owns a ring from Super Bowl LVI after the 2021 season. In his last year on the field, 2023, he finished with 53 tackles, eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss and three pass deflections in 16 games.

The offense will look different. Mike LaFleur left after three seasons as coordinator to become head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, AP News reported in February. The Rams promoted Nate Scheelhaase; McVay still calls the plays.

Week 1 is already an unusual test. The Rams host the San Francisco 49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sept. 10 at 8:35 p.m. ET, the league’s first regular-season game in Australia, per the NFL schedule. McVay said Sunday the staff will “take it one day at a time” and decide later “whether or not we think it’s best to be able to play him in Australia,” according to NBC Sports and ESPN.

Donald, speaking after practice, did not sound like a cameo. “Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes. Do I feel like I can still be myself? 100%,” he said, per therams.com. Coming back also resets his Hall of Fame clock. That is a cost he accepted for one more run in the only jersey he has worn.

The next checkpoint is practical: 11-on-11 work, travel plans for Melbourne, and whether a 35-year-old who last played in January 2024 can be ready 10 days from now. The signing is official. The snap count is not.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots kept undrafted rookie cornerback Channing Canada on their initial 53-man roster Sunday, a late camp decision that pushed veteran Kindle Vildor off the opening-day list.

The official club roster lists Canada among six cornerbacks, alongside Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis III, Marcus Jones, Charles Woods and fifth-round pick Karon Prunty. That group was confirmed in the team’s cutdown coverage on Patriots.com and in the club’s position-by-position breakdown by staff writer Evan Lazar on Patriots.com.

NFL teams had to reach 53 players by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 30, a deadline the league moved up to accommodate Week 1 travel to Australia, per CBS Sports. The Patriots met that mark after a weekend of cuts, trades and reserve-list placements detailed on the team’s transactions page.

How an undrafted TCU corner won a Patriots roster spot

Canada, 24, went unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft after three seasons at TCU. New England signed him in early May with 11 other undrafted rookies, a group the club announced on Patriots.com.

He arrived without draft capital and without a guaranteed dollar, according to contract figures compiled by Yahoo Sports. That is the hard part of this job. Every snap in July and August had to argue for a paycheck.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz called it another strong undrafted story and said Canada “will also contribute on special teams” after what Schultz labeled a terrific preseason —

Another great UDFA story: #Patriots CB Channing Canada, who made the 53-man roster after a terrific preseason. The former TCU star will also contribute on special teams. https://t.co/liITjvtZBI pic.twitter.com/6YKsj2VRBe

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 31, 2026

Team reporters were more measured. Lazar wrote on Patriots.com that Canada was a mild surprise after a mid-summer push cooled late in camp. Pats Pulpit described an inconsistent summer in coverage, with enough special-teams work to keep him employed. Sports Illustrated framed the choice as one of the night’s bigger surprises, with Canada beating out Vildor for the last corner job.

That gap in tone matters. Schultz highlighted the outcome. The beat coverage explained the trade-off: New England valued youth, waiver protection and coverage on the kicking units more than Vildor’s veteran snaps with the starting defense.

Canada is a sticky coverage defender who has upside as a nickel corner in the slot and as a gunner on special teams.

Evan Lazar, Patriots.com, Aug. 30, 2026

The special-teams piece is not filler. Core special-teamer Brenden Schooler opened the year on the non-football injury list, Lazar noted in the same roster breakdown. A gunner who can also play nickel gives Mike Vrabel’s staff a cheaper way to fill that hole than carrying another veteran corner who can be signed off the street later.

Available preseason box scores show Canada in two games, with nine tackles and one kickoff return for 27 yards, per The Football Database. He was among the Patriots not in uniform for the preseason game against Philadelphia, according to Lazar’s game-day notes on X —

#Patriots not in uniform:

Christian Gonzalez
Craig Woodson
Kevin Byard
TreVeyon Henderson
Reggie Gilliam
Eli Raridon
Ben Brown
Channing Canada
Xavier Holmes
Harold Landry (PUP)
Brenden Schooler (NFI)

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) August 22, 2026

In the finale at Cleveland he played 28 defensive snaps, 45 percent of the unit’s plays that night, according to snap counts published by Pats Pulpit.

The path from Boutte to Foxborough

Canada grew up in Boutte, Louisiana, and starred at Hahnville High School before the long route that NFL undrafted players know too well. He spent time at Houston Christian, appearing in one game over two seasons, then transferred to Trinity Valley Community College, according to a Pats Pulpit scouting report.

At Trinity Valley he became the No. 1 junior-college cornerback in the 247Sports Composite and committed to TCU in December 2022, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported at the time.

He played 38 games for the Horned Frogs from 2023 through 2025, starting all 13 games as a senior. Career totals at TCU: 81 tackles, one sack, two interceptions and three passes defended, per ESPN. One of those interceptions came in the Alamo Bowl against USC, a play Frogs O’ War flagged when Canada declared for the draft.

That production never turned him into a draftable prospect on most boards. It did give New England a 5-foot-11, 190-pound corner with a 4.36-second 40-yard dash, per the same Pats Pulpit measurements. Speed on the edge of the roster is a scheme fit for a staff that still needs bodies on punt coverage while Schooler is out.

What the decision says about the secondary

Canada is not beating Gonzalez, Davis or Jones for playing time in September. Those three remain the core. Woods returns as a known special-teams piece. Prunty, the fifth-rounder, is the developmental pick with size.

Canada’s job is the sixth spot: nickel emergencies, gunner work, and a body the Patriots did not want to expose to waivers. Vildor, a vested veteran, would have hit the open market if released. Keeping the rookie protects the asset. That is roster math, not a coronation.

He is one of three undrafted rookies on the opening roster, joining tight end Tanner Arkin and linebacker Khalil Jacobs. Lazar posted the trio Sunday and noted New England has now had at least one undrafted rookie make the initial 53 in 22 of the last 23 seasons —

The #Patriots had three UDFAs make their initial roster: TE Tanner Arkin, LB Khalil Jacobs, and CB Channing Canada.

They've now had at least one UDFA make the initial roster in 22 of the last 23 seasons. pic.twitter.com/xcyJq8R1sy

— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) August 30, 2026

The streak is real and well-documented around the building. It is also fragile. Initial rosters move. The Patriots can still claim players Monday, trim someone they just kept, or sign a veteran if the waiver wire offers a better fit. Boston.com and the Boston Globe both stressed that Sunday’s 53 is a first draft, not a finished product.

For Canada, the next test is simpler than the last four months. Stay healthy. Cover on the scout team. Run down kicks. Make the coaching staff prefer his tape to whoever becomes available this week.

Aaron Donald is a Ram again. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year ended a 2½-year retirement Sunday and signed a one-year contract to return to Los Angeles, the team announced, putting one of the most decorated interior linemen in league history next to Myles Garrett for the 2026 season.

The deal is worth $20 million and can reach $30 million with playoff incentives, according to NFL.com reporting from Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Schefter posted the terms on X: “He’s back: Rams star Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement and returning to the Rams on a one-year, $20M deal that with incentives could be worth up to $30M” —

🚨 🚨 🚨

He’s back: Rams star Aaron Donald is coming out of retirement and returning to the Rams on a one-year, $20M deal that with incentives could be worth up to $30M, per @rapsheet and me.

After two seasons away, Donald now will join forces with Myles Garrett, giving the… pic.twitter.com/LO2SoKHFwG

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

A league source later confirmed the same structure to The Athletic.

Donald last played in January 2024. He announced his retirement on March 15, 2024, after 10 seasons, all with the franchise, per AP News. Los Angeles answered that exit by taking Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse 19th overall in the 2024 draft, as reported then by The Athletic.

Garrett trade pulled Donald back toward the grass

The comeback did not start with a contract offer. It started on June 1, when the Rams sent Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a conditional 2029 third-round pick to Cleveland for Garrett, the 2025 Defensive Player of the Year who set the single-season sack record with 23, according to The Athletic.

Donald said in June the trade “for sure got me thinking,” per CBS Sports. He completed official tryouts the Rams reported to the league on Aug. 5 and Aug. 16. He told reporters Sunday he had known his answer for about two weeks.

Family cleared the last hurdle. “If the wife wasn’t happy it wasn’t gonna get done,” Donald said after signing, according to CBS Sports. He announced the decision on Instagram with four words: “We back #Rams #Ready.”

The official Rams account posted graphics celebrating the return Sunday. Donald also walked onto the grass at the team facility in his No. 99 jersey, stretched, talked with Matthew Stafford and drove a blocking sled in individual drills, per Sunday practice reporting from The Athletic.

That scene matters because this is not a ceremonial signing. Interior pressure is how Donald wrecked protections for a decade. He won doubles, collapsed the pocket from the A-gap and forced offenses to slide help inside. Garrett wins from the edge. Put both on the field and an offensive line has to choose which threat to leave one-on-one. That is the scheme reason Los Angeles spent the summer building this front around Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Byron Young after trading Verse.

The secondary changed, too. Los Angeles acquired All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie from Kansas City earlier in the offseason and later agreed to a four-year, $124 million extension, according to The Athletic. The Rams did not trade McDuffie away. They added him.

SoFi, Australia and a Hall of Fame clock that just reset

Super Bowl LXI is scheduled for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, the Los Angeles Times confirmed after Super Bowl LX. Donald already won a ring on that field. He hurried Joe Burrow into a fourth-down incompletion that sealed Super Bowl LVI. “Super Bowl being back at SoFi kind of excites you, too,” he told reporters Sunday, per Bleacher Report.

Coming back also delays Canton. Retirement in 2024 pointed toward Hall of Fame eligibility in 2029. Another season pushes that clock five years from his new final snap. Donald has said the second ring is the point.

Week 1 is not locked in. The Rams open against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia. Coach Sean McVay refused a timetable. He said the staff will take it “one day at a time” and then decide “whether or not we think it’s best to play him in Australia,” according to NBC Sports.

That caution is earned. Donald is 35. He has not taken a regular-season snap since 2023. He also spent 14 weeks training in an NFL mindset, recorded his own workouts and told reporters he still feels like himself. The next test is 11-on-11 speed, not a sled.

Los Angeles already sat among Super Bowl favorites after the Garrett trade and a 12-5 season that ended six yards short of the NFC title game, per reporting from the New York Post. Adding Donald does not guarantee February in Inglewood. It does give Sean McVay two players who have broken offenses from different gaps on the same snap. That is the bet.

The Baltimore Ravens made their initial 53-man roster official Sunday night, and the most important name on it was not a surprise cut or a traded rookie. It was defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who remains on the active roster after a neck injury that ended his 2025 season and raised questions about his 2026 availability.

ESPN Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley called it the biggest takeaway from the roster: the two-time Pro Bowl tackle is on the 53, and Baltimore did not place him on injured reserve. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport quoted that report and labeled the decision “Pretty significant.”

That distinction is the whole story. Under NFL rules, a player placed on injured reserve with a designation to return at cutdown must miss at least the first four games. By keeping Madubuike on the 53, the Ravens left the door open for him to play as early as Week 1 at Indianapolis on Sept. 13, according to the NFL schedule.

That is not the same thing as clearing him for the opener. It is a roster choice, not a medical announcement.

What the roster move actually means

Madubuike suffered a neck injury in Week 2 last season against Cleveland, played only two games, and later had surgery in April, The Athletic reported. Independent spine specialists cleared him to return to the field in late July. The Ravens put him on the active physically unable to perform list at the start of camp, then activated him after he passed a physical, the Associated Press confirmed.

He has not been a full-practice player since. Reporting from NBC Sports, citing The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec in mid-August, described him as very limited: team stretch, light individual work, then conditioning on another field. No significant contact. No sled work.

Head coach Jesse Minter has stayed careful in public. After Madubuike’s first practice in 10 months, Minter said it was “still a process to get ready to play football,” per the AP. Later in camp he did not give a definitive answer on Week 1 availability, CBS Sports noted in a Rotowire item citing Zrebiec.

So the honest read is this: Baltimore believes he may be close enough that locking him out of September would be a mistake. The team is not saying he will start against the Colts.

Why Minter and DeCosta spent the roster spot

The Ravens already used their two cutdown injured-reserve return designations on running back Adam Randall and cornerback Bilhal Kone, according to Ravens Wire. Some published lists showed 52 active players after those IR moves, leaving a spot for a claim or signing. They still chose to carry Madubuike rather than stash him.

That tracks with how the defensive line is built. Baltimore kept six interior linemen: Madubuike, Travis Jones, Calais Campbell, Broderick Washington Jr., John Jenkins and Aeneas Peebles, Ravens Wire reported. The Banner projected Jones and Madubuike as the top pairing if the latter is ready, with Campbell and Jenkins behind them.

Without Madubuike last year, Baltimore finished with 30 sacks, tied for the second-fewest in franchise history, ESPN reported. The defense ranked 24th. The Ravens went 8-9, missed the playoffs, and owner Steve Bisciotti fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons, the AP reported in January. Harbaugh is now the Giants’ head coach. Minter, a former Ravens assistant and Chargers defensive coordinator, inherited a veteran front that still needs its best interior rusher.

Madubuike’s peak is the reason they waited. He had 13 sacks in 2023 and 6.5 in 2024 while starting every game those seasons. When he is himself, he collapses pockets from the A-gap and forces offenses to keep a guard on him. That is the scheme value Minter’s staff is protecting. Keep him eligible, then decide snap counts off the practice tape over the next two weeks.

The other Sunday transaction that drew attention was the trade of undrafted tackle Diego Pounds to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2028 conditional sixth-round pick, The Kansas City Star reported. Pounds graded well in the preseason. He was still the secondary story. The Ravens can replace a swing tackle. They cannot easily replace a Pro Bowl three-technique coming off a career-threatening injury.

Practice-squad signings and waiver claims will shuffle the edges of this roster before Sept. 13. Madubuike’s status will not be settled by a transaction sheet. It will be settled by how much contact work he can take between now and the flight to Indianapolis. Until the team says he is up, the only confirmed fact is the one Hensley put on the roster: he is not on injured reserve.

The Los Angeles Chargers released punter JK Scott on Sunday as they trimmed to a 53-man roster, leaving kicker Cameron Dicker and long snapper Josh Harris as the only specialists on the initial list. The club is without a punter heading into the waiver period. That vacancy is the point of the move, not an accident.

Tom Pelissero of The Ringer and Netflix Sports reported early Monday that the cut is temporary. Pelissero wrote that Scott “is expected to return to the roster this week, per source”

The Chargers released punter J.K. Scott, but it's temporary: He is expected to return to the roster this week, per source.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 31, 2026

The team has not confirmed that plan. NBC Sports noted Sunday night that Scott could return after further shuffling, but that Los Angeles had not made its intentions at punter clear. The official roster breakdown on the team site went further the other way, saying the Chargers “could now be potentially searching for a new punter and holder ahead of Week 1,” per Chargers.com.

Why Los Angeles cut a veteran punter it may still want

Scott is an eight-year veteran. The Chargers listed him as released, not waived, on the official transaction report. That distinction matters. A vested veteran who is released becomes a free agent and does not have to clear the waiver wire the way a younger cut does. Los Angeles can reopen a spot later in the week, after it finishes Monday claims and practice-squad work, and sign him back without another club jumping the claim.

That is the roster math. Cut day this year landed Sunday, Aug. 30, after the league moved the deadline up to 6 p.m. ET to clear the calendar before the 49ers and Rams travel to Australia for Week 1, as CBS Sports explained. Teams that want one extra swing at the waiver wire often park a veteran specialist off the 53 for 24 to 48 hours. The Orange County Register described Scott’s release in those terms: extra flexibility, with a likely return once the next wave of moves is done.

The Chargers used that same window to move two young defenders. They sent defensive tackle TeRah Edwards to Carolina for a 2028 sixth-round pick, a deal the Panthers announced after Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported it. They also traded cornerback Avery Smith to Seattle for a 2027 sixth-rounder, per Pelissero and subsequent team reporting. Those picks do not fill the punt operation this week. They do explain why the front office wanted every active spot it could loosen before Monday morning.

The preseason tape that put Scott on the bubble

Scott has been the Chargers’ punter since 2022 and signed a two-year extension in March 2025. In the 2025 regular season he posted a 41.43-yard net average on 60 punts and an 88.1 PFF punting grade, fourth among qualified punters, according to Pro Football Focus. Hang time and inside-the-20 work kept him in special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken’s unit. The August tape is why the job looked less automatic.

On Aug. 20 at SoFi Stadium, San Francisco beat Los Angeles 41-17 in the preseason. Late in the second quarter, Scott’s 52-yard punt landed at the 49ers’ 17. Jacob Cowing fielded it, won the left edge, and went 83 yards for a touchdown, per the Associated Press recap on ESPN. Coverage lost contain. Scott was the last man. On the play, he drifted out of Cowing’s path rather than dropping into a tackle. Jim Harbaugh did not treat it as a designed miss. “He’s got to have a plan when he’s in that position to make a tackle,” Harbaugh told reporters. “Something we need to work on, coach up.” The Athletic’s Daniel Popper posted the comments — unconfirmed exact status ID in this session for Popper’s post; verified via Kris Rhim. Kris Rhim relayed the same answer:

Jim Harbaugh on if JK Scott was instructed not to make a tackle attempt here:

“No, he's got to have a plan when he's in that position to make a tackle. Something we need to work on, coach up. pic.twitter.com/E6zoKgbiSF

— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) August 21, 2026

The finale against the Rams did not clean it up. USA TODAY reported Scott averaged 33.7 yards on three punts in that game and hit a 20-yard shank that flipped field position. A veteran with a solid 2025 grade still gave the building two public reasons to test the market for 48 hours.

Dicker still needs a holder. Harris still needs a punter next to him. If Scott returns, the operation stays intact for the Sept. 13 opener against Arizona. If he does not, Los Angeles has to find a free-agent leg and reteach the hold before Week 1. That is the live question, not whether the Chargers “forgot” to fill the 53. They filled it. They left the punter chair empty on purpose.

Some analysts will read the cut as a real look at replacement options. The reporting that carries a source, from Pelissero, points the other way: a paper cut designed to expire this week. Until the club signs him, or signs someone else, treat the return as reported, not official.

The Detroit Lions will open the 2026 season without both starting safeties. The club placed Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph on the reserve/physically unable to perform list Sunday while trimming to a 53-man roster, a move the team confirmed in its official announcement from Allen Park.

According to the Detroit Lions, Branch and Joseph do not count against the 53 while they remain on reserve/PUP. Both must miss at least the first four regular-season games. Tom Pelissero reported the same transactions, writing that the Lions also placed center Cade Mays on injured reserve/designated for return and that all three players are “out at least four games.”

The Lions placed DBs Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph on reserve/PUP and C Cade Mays on injured reserve/designated for return. They're all out at least four games.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 31, 2026

The decision ends weeks of uncertainty around a pair that has not practiced this offseason. Branch is still working back from a torn Achilles suffered Dec. 4, 2025, in a Thursday night win over the Dallas Cowboys at Ford Field, a diagnosis first confirmed by testing the next morning and reported by the Associated Press. Joseph is managing a knee injury that limited him to six games in 2025.

What reserve/PUP actually costs Detroit

Reserve/PUP is not a one-week absence. Per NFL roster rules outlined by The Athletic, a player must stay on active/PUP through training camp to remain eligible for the reserve list at cutdown. Once there, he cannot play until four games have been missed.

A 2026 rule change softens the timeline on the practice field. Players who start the year on reserve/PUP can open a 21-day practice window after their team’s second regular-season game, rather than waiting until after Week 4. They still cannot appear in a game before Week 5.

For Detroit, that window can open after the Thursday night game at Buffalo on Sept. 17. The earliest either safety can play is Week 5 at Arizona on Oct. 11, as The Detroit News noted. The Lions then have a Week 6 bye, which gives the staff another chance to slow the ramp-up if either player needs it.

Dan Campbell declined to lock in the call before cutdown day. On Aug. 27 he said, “I’m not going to be able to give you a definitive answer right now. Both of those guys are doing well right now,” per The Detroit News. Earlier, on July 29, Campbell said Branch might begin practicing “late (in) training camp, maybe early September,” and described Joseph as “on the Branch plan a little bit.”

They never reached the practice field. Keeping them on the 53 would have burned two roster spots on players who were not going to play Week 1. Putting them on reserve/PUP frees those spots and accepts a four-game wait.

The games they will miss — and who fills in

According to the Detroit Free Press, Branch and Joseph will sit out at least these four games:

Week 1 is a home date against Tyler Shough and the Saints, listed at 1 p.m. ET on the Lions’ 2026 schedule. Shough is New Orleans’ projected starter after nine starts as a rookie in 2025.

Without Branch and Joseph, Detroit is expected to start veterans Chuck Clark and Avonte Maddox, according to The Detroit News. The official 53 also kept Christian Izien and Thomas Harper in the secondary group, per the club’s roster breakdown from senior writer Tim Twentyman. Twentyman wrote that Joseph and Branch “won’t [be] see[n] … until Week 5 at Arizona,” and pointed to the following week’s bye if the team wants more recovery time.

That is a different safety room than the one that helped Detroit to a franchise-record 15-2 mark in 2024. Joseph led the NFL with nine interceptions that season and made first-team All-Pro. Branch, a 2023 second-round pick out of Alabama, posted 75 tackles, 2.5 sacks and nine passes defensed in 12 games in 2025 before the Achilles tear ended his year, per contemporaneous reporting from CBS Sports.

Joseph’s 2025 season stopped after six games. He still recorded three interceptions in that limited run, then spent most of this summer away from the facility while dealing with the knee and, as the Free Press reported, personal reasons. The pairing that once gave Detroit range in the middle of the field is now a Week 5 question, not a Week 1 answer.

The scheme problem is simple. Branch played everywhere — slot, box, deep safety — which let the Lions change looks without substituting. Joseph’s value sat in the passing lane. Clark and Maddox are seasoned, but they do not replace that combination of range and ball production overnight. Detroit will lean on the front, led by Aidan Hutchinson, to shrink the field while the temporary safety group holds its landmarks.

This is an aggregation of the team’s official transactions and reporting from credentialed beat outlets, with added roster and rules context. It is not original injury diagnosis or locker-room reporting.

The New York Giants trimmed their roster to 53 players Sunday and ended the four-year run of former first-round pick Evan Neal. The move leaves just two members of the 2022 draft class on the team: edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Micah McFadden.

The Giants announced the initial 53-man roster after the 6 p.m. ET deadline, listing Neal among the vested veterans whose contracts were terminated. According to the New York Post, Thibodeaux and McFadden are the only players left from a 10-man 2022 class. The Athletic noted the same thinning of early Schoen-era picks, with Deonte Banks and John Michael Schmitz the lone survivors from the 2023 class after Jalin Hyatt and Eric Gray were also released.

Neal, taken seventh overall out of Alabama in 2022, played 29 regular-season games and started 27. He started all 13 of his rookie games at right tackle. Injuries and inconsistent play limited him to seven games in 2023 and nine in 2024. He did not play a regular-season snap in 2025 after the team moved him inside to guard. The Giants re-signed him this offseason to a one-year minimum deal. He spent most of camp with the third-team line and did not stick on the final 53.

The rest of that 2022 group scattered. Wan’Dale Robinson signed a four-year deal with the Tennessee Titans in free agency, per The Athletic. Joshua Ezeudu was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 25 for a 2028 seventh-round pick, according to The Athletic. Cor’Dale Flott also signed with the Titans.

Those exits highlight why the Giants are leaning on later classes. Malik Nabers, the sixth overall pick in 2024, remains a cornerstone. The 2025 group of Abdul Carter (No. 3), Jaxson Dart (No. 25) and Cam Skattebo (fourth round) is already in the mix. First-rounders Arvell Reese (No. 5) and Francis Mauigoa (No. 10) arrived in April 2026 and made the initial 53-man roster, as confirmed on Giants.com.

It is still early to judge the newest arrivals. Reese and Mauigoa have yet to play a regular-season snap. Carter, Dart and Skattebo showed promise in 2025 but must produce over a full season under new coach John Harbaugh. The 2022 class produced quality NFL players who simply did not stay in New York. Robinson, Flott and others landed second contracts elsewhere. Neal never found consistency after his rookie year.

Harbaugh’s staff is building around the recent high picks and free-agent additions rather than forcing holdovers from the first two Schoen drafts. Neal’s release closes one chapter. The next test comes Sept. 13 at home against Dallas.

The Indianapolis Colts listed tackle Luke Tenuta on their initial 53-man roster Sunday after a last-minute adjustment tied to cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt’s one-game suspension. Tenuta did not appear on the first public roster graphic. The team flipped the designation once it accounted for Taylor-Britt sitting out Week 1, according to Sports Illustrated’s Colts coverage.

Noah Compton of Colts On SI posted on X: “#Colts T Luke Tenuta indeed made the team’s initial 53-man roster after the official release left him off the list.”

#Colts T Luke Tenuta indeed made the team’s initial 53-man roster after the official release left him off the list.

CB Cam Taylor-Britt will be serving a 1-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, so his spot on the roster is open to start the season.

— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) August 30, 2026

The official roster posted by the team Sunday evening includes Tenuta among nine offensive linemen, per Colts.com. Taylor-Britt remains on the club. He does not count against the 53 while he is on the reserve/suspended list.

Why the suspension created a Week 1 roster opening

The NFL announced Taylor-Britt’s one-game ban on Aug. 7 for a personal-conduct-policy violation. He will miss the Sept. 13 home opener against the Baltimore Ravens and becomes eligible the next day, CBS Sports reported. Players on reserve/suspended do not occupy an active-roster slot, a rule confirmed in standard league roster explanations from The Associated Press.

That math gave Indianapolis one extra body for the opening week. The Colts used it on Tenuta, a 6-foot-8 swing tackle who re-signed in March. James Boyd of The Athletic posted the same clarification Sunday night: Tenuta is on the 53 because Taylor-Britt cannot play Week 1. More shuffling is expected.

Clarity, because I was confused, too:

Yes, OT Luke Tenuta is on the #Colts’ 53-man roster. But he wasn’t initially listed because of the Cam Taylor-Britt suspension. However, since Taylor-Britt can’t play in Week 1, Tenuta gets that spot.

More roster shuffling to come. https://t.co/71JytZQgdZ

— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) August 30, 2026

The team waived 2023 fourth-round tackle Blake Freeland in the same cut-down wave. That left Tenuta as the only listed backup tackle behind starters Bernhard Raimann and Jalen Travis on the initial 53.

What Tenuta actually brings — and what happens in Week 2

Tenuta was a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2022. He has played seven NFL games and has never started: three games with Green Bay in 2022 and four with the Colts in 2025. He filled in for 26 snaps at left tackle against Seattle last December after Braden Smith went on injured reserve. In that small sample he allowed one pressure, according to reporting around his March re-signing.

Head coach Shane Steichen kept him through camp while the starting five stayed healthy. That is a vote of confidence in a room that also added center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger in a Sunday trade with Buffalo. Still, Tenuta is the last man in. When Taylor-Britt comes off the suspended list after Week 1, Indianapolis must make a corresponding move. Cutting Tenuta is the cleanest path. Keeping extra offensive-line bulk and trimming another position is also possible. Neither outcome is confirmed.

The roster remains fluid. Waiver claims from Sunday’s league-wide cuts process Monday. The Colts sit 16th in claim order. Corner and interior line remain the most likely add spots after Taylor-Britt’s absence and preseason snapping issues behind Tanor Bortolini.

For one week, Tenuta is on the 53. He will dress as insurance if Raimann or Travis is limited against Baltimore. After that, the numbers get tight again.

The Seattle Seahawks will open their Super Bowl title defense without Zach Charbonnet. The team moved the running back to the reserve/physically unable to perform list Sunday as it trimmed to a 53-man roster, a designation that keeps him out at least the first four games of the 2026 season.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the move on X: “Seahawks placed RB Zach Charbonnet on the Physically Unable to Perform list, meaning he now will miss at least the first four games this season.”

Seahawks placed RB Zach Charbonnet on the Physically Unable to Perform list, meaning he now will miss at least the first four games this season. pic.twitter.com/KGuK7wy17M

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

The Seahawks confirmed the transaction in their official roster announcement. According to Seahawks.com, Charbonnet opens the year on reserve/PUP and will miss at least Weeks 1 through 4.

General manager John Schneider told reporters in Renton after the 6 p.m. ET deadline that the club never considered activating Charbonnet for the start of the season, per ESPN. The caution is the point. Charbonnet tore the ACL in his left knee on his fifth carry of the NFC divisional-round win over the San Francisco 49ers in January and had surgery in February.

Early in training camp, trainers watched him run straight lines on adjacent fields at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Rehab has gone well by every public account. Coach Mike Macdonald said in June that Charbonnet was “doing a great job” and that “everything’s possible” when asked about a Week 1 return, according to NFL.com. The roster deadline answered that question the other way.

What the PUP designation actually means

Players who remain on reserve/PUP after final cuts must sit the first four regular-season games. A 2026 rule change lets Seattle open a 21-day practice window after Week 2, so Charbonnet can return to the practice field as early as Week 3. He still cannot play until Week 5 at the earliest, when the Seahawks host the 49ers on Oct. 11.

That is the same opponent that ended his 2025 season. Eligibility and medical clearance are not the same thing. The team has not set a target date.

Seattle opens Wednesday, Sept. 9, against the New England Patriots at Lumen Field, a Super Bowl rematch. Then come road games at Arizona and Washington and a home date with the Chargers. Those four games will belong to someone else.

Price, Holani and Wilson carry the load

The Seahawks kept three running backs on the initial 53: first-round pick Jadarian Price, George Holani and Emanuel Wilson, plus fullback Brady Russell. Price, taken 32nd overall out of Notre Dame in April, is expected to lead the room while Charbonnet is out, according to ESPN and Field Gulls.

Price missed time in August with upper-leg soreness and did not play in the preseason. The Seahawks protected the investment. Holani, a physical runner and trusted pass protector, logged extra work last winter after Charbonnet went down. Wilson signed from Green Bay in free agency and returned from a hamstring issue in time to make the roster.

The committee exists because Kenneth Walker III left. Walker, Super Bowl LX MVP, signed a three-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in March, per The Athletic. Seattle chose not to meet his price and drafted Price instead of paying the incumbent.

That choice now meets an ACL timeline. Price brings burst and return ability from Notre Dame. Holani brings the short-yardage and protection traits Schneider has praised unprompted. Neither has Charbonnet’s red-zone volume from last year.

Charbonnet’s 12 rushing touchdowns in 2025 led the team and were Seattle’s most since Marshawn Lynch in 2014. He did that without a single start, working behind Walker. Once he is cleared, he should slide back into a featured complementary role. The offense under coordinator Brian Fleury still wants to run. It just will not have its most reliable closer for a month.

The Seahawks are being careful on purpose. An ACL in late January plus February surgery rarely produces a Week 1 running back. Macdonald left the door cracked in June. Schneider closed it on cutdown day. The next checkpoint is whether that practice window opens in Week 3 and whether Charbonnet looks like himself when it does.

The Carolina Panthers released linebacker-safety Isaiah Simmons on Sunday as they cut to a 53-man roster, ending a short second stint in Charlotte for the former first-round pick. The move is listed on the team’s official transactions page among 10 vested veterans let go after the 6 p.m. deadline.

Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team reported the cut first on X: “The #Panthers are releasing LB/S Isaiah Simmons.”

The #Panthers are releasing LB/S Isaiah Simmons.

The former No. 8 overall pick, known for his versatility, appeared in 5 games for Carolina last season and re-signed on a 1-year deal this offseason. pic.twitter.com/mTUpV34enN

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 30, 2026

Team writer Darin Gantt confirmed the same group of releases in a Sunday night roster rundown on Panthers.com. Simmons, 28, now hits the open market ahead of the 2026 regular season unless Carolina brings him back on the practice squad Monday or another club signs him.

How a No. 8 pick became a cut-week casualty

Arizona drafted Simmons eighth overall in 2020 after a Butkus Award season at Clemson. The Cardinals wanted a hybrid who could play linebacker, safety, and slot. He started, piled up tackles, and forced turnovers. The role never settled. Arizona traded him to the New York Giants in August 2023 for a 2024 seventh-round pick, per contemporaneous reporting later summarized by Pro Football Rumors.

He played all 34 games over two seasons in New York, then signed with Green Bay in April 2025. The Packers released him on Aug. 26, 2025. Carolina signed him to the practice squad on Nov. 25, 2025, and moved him to the active roster on Dec. 27 after placing Trevin Wallace on injured reserve, the club announced at the time.

Simmons appeared in five regular-season games for the Panthers last year and in the wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Almost all of that work came on special teams. Pro Football Rumors reported that just one of his 88 regular-season snaps in Carolina came on defense. The play that stuck was a blocked punt late against the Rams that set up a lead-changing score in a 34-31 defeat, a sequence later noted in his career recap.

That special-teams burst earned him a one-year deal back in Charlotte on March 10, 2026. Panthers.com posted the re-signing that afternoon. In July he told Kassidy Hill, via Panthers Wire, “It feels like home here.” Six weeks later, roster math closed the door.

Why Carolina moved on

Cut day is a numbers problem, not a scouting debate. Carolina had to drop from a 90-man camp roster to 53 by Sunday evening. Gantt’s official recap listed 16 waivers, 10 vested-veteran releases, injured-reserve placements, and a trade for Chargers defensive tackle TeRah Edwards. Simmons, as a vested veteran, was released rather than waived. That distinction matters: he does not sit on the waiver wire. He is a free agent immediately.

The defensive picture around him also changed. The Panthers added veteran linebacker Bobby Okereke during cut week and kept younger bodies at safety. Simmons’ selling point has always been versatility. Teams that cannot define a weekly job for him treat that same trait as a luxury. In Carolina last season, the staff used him as a core special-teamer first. That role is easier to replace than a starting linebacker or a three-down safety.

Watching the snap counts from 2025 makes the decision less surprising than the draft slot suggests. A player who once started 17 games and posted 105 tackles in Arizona in 2021 finished last year with two combined tackles in five regular-season appearances, per ESPN. Production did not vanish overnight. The usage did.

Career totals also include nine forced fumbles and three recoveries, figures that match the ESPN and StatMuse ledgers. Green Bay’s 2025 camp stay produced no regular-season stats. Those numbers explain why clubs keep calling. They also explain why no club has handed him a defined starting job since Arizona declined his fifth-year option in 2023.

What comes next

Carolina can still sign Simmons to its practice squad once that group is set Monday. Nothing official points that way as of Monday morning. No other team had claimed or signed him in the hours after the cut, based on a fresh check of team transaction reports and national roster trackers.

Some analysts will argue a coordinator who wants a chess piece in dime packages or a gunner who can also walk out over a tight end should make the call. That is speculation, not a reported deal. What is confirmed is the paper: the Panthers released him Sunday, he is not on the initial 53, and the 2026 season opens without him on Carolina’s active roster unless both sides reverse course.

For Simmons, the tape still shows the same traits that put him in the top 10 six drafts ago — length, closing speed, the ability to line up in more than one spot. The league has spent five-plus years looking for the right box to put those traits in. Sunday’s cut does not close that search. It just sends it back to the open market.

Michael Coats Jr. never played high school football. On Sunday he made the Cleveland Browns’ initial 53-man roster anyway.

The 5-foot-9 cornerback signed with Cleveland as an undrafted free agent in May after finishing his college career at West Virginia. The Browns confirmed him on the active roster when they trimmed to 53 players ahead of the Aug. 30 deadline, according to the team’s official announcement on ClevelandBrowns.com. ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted on X: “Cornerback Michael Coats, who never played high school football and was an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia, made the Browns 53 man roster today.”

Cornerback Michael Coats, who never played high school football and was an undrafted free agent out of West Virginia, made the Browns 53 man roster today.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

The Athletic noted Coats was the only undrafted rookie to survive the cut. That is not a small detail on a young roster that still has holes to fill before Week 1.

How a late starter reached the NFL roster

Coats attended Biloxi High School in Mississippi but did not play football there, the Browns said when they signed him. He started at East Central Community College, then transferred to Nevada and closed his career with the Mountaineers in 2025. The official team release on ClevelandBrowns.com listed him as a native of Louisville, Miss., who will wear No. 39.

His FBS numbers, compiled by Sports-Reference, show why Cleveland kept looking:

The 2024 season earned him First-team All-Mountain West honors. He led Nevada in passes defended and interceptions that year.

In camp he kept finding the ball. He intercepted a pass in the preseason game against Chicago before leaving with an ankle injury. Head coach Todd Monken later told reporters it had been “fun watching Michael Coats play,” adding he stood out while other corners were banged up, per ESPN Browns reporter Daniel Oyefusi on X

Todd Monken on the Browns’ cornerback depth: “It’s been fun watching Michael Coats play. … That’s probably the one that’s stood out with the other guys beat up at corner.”

— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 18, 2026

What the spot means for Cleveland’s secondary

Coats joins a corner group headed by Denzel Ward and Tyson Campbell. Myles Harden is expected to work in the slot. Depth was thin after last season’s injuries and the usual August attrition. Coats played both outside and nickel snaps in camp, giving the staff a cheap, athletic option who attacks the catch point.

The defense he walks into ranked fourth in total yards allowed (283.6 per game) and third against the pass (167.2) in 2025, per year-end figures cited by cleveland.com and matching team opponent stats compiled at Fantasy Team Advice. That unit lost Myles Garrett in a June trade to the Rams for Jared Verse and draft picks, a deal confirmed by the teams and reported by The Athletic and AP.

Todd Monken, hired in January after Kevin Stefanski’s firing, is building around a younger core. Coats will not rewrite the pass rush. He gives the secondary another body who has already shown he can locate the football when the starters sit.

Roster spots remain fluid. Waiver claims are due Monday afternoon, and Cleveland can still add veterans. For now the Browns have chosen to keep the player who started organized football in junior college and refused to leave.

The San Francisco 49ers locked in a hard timeline for Mykel Williams on Sunday. The team placed the second-year defensive lineman on the reserve/physically unable to perform list while trimming to its initial 53-man roster, a move the club confirmed in its official cutdown announcement on 49ers.com.

Reserve/PUP is not a one-week absence. Under NFL rules, a player who starts the season on that list must miss the first four games. ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted the same update Sunday: Williams “will be sidelined for at least the first four games this season”

49ers placed DL Mykel Williams on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform List, meaning the former first-round pick will be sidelined for at least the first four games this season.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

ProFootballTalk reported the decision as part of the same roster crunch that also kept running back Isaac Guerendo on reserve/PUP. Williams never came off active/PUP during camp after tearing the ACL and lateral meniscus in his right knee in Week 9 last season against the New York Giants, a diagnosis The Associated Press confirmed at the time.

What the PUP placement actually means

Williams stays on the roster. He just does not count against the 53. The 49ers can open a 21-day practice window after Week 2, a 2026 rule change outlined by The Athletic. He still cannot play until after Game 4.

The earliest possible return is Week 5 at Seattle on Oct. 11, per the club’s 2026 schedule. That is the optimistic date, not a medical clearance. Coach Kyle Shanahan had already called a Week 1 return a “longshot” in mid-August, according to The Athletic’s Vic Tafur as relayed by Sporting News.

San Francisco drafted Williams 11th overall in 2025 out of Georgia to work opposite Nick Bosa. He started all nine games he played as a rookie and finished with 20 tackles and one sack before the knee gave out, per his 49ers.com player page.

Thin edge room meets a loaded Rams front

The timing is ugly. San Francisco opens Thursday, Sept. 10 against the Los Angeles Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground, the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, as the team announced in March.

The Rams added Aaron Donald out of retirement on Sunday on a one-year deal, pairing him with Myles Garrett. NFL.com and The Athletic both reported the return. Donald last played in 2023. Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23 last year.

The 49ers finished last in the NFL with 20 sacks in 2025, a figure documented by StatMuse and the Mercury News. Bosa contributed two of those sacks in three games before his own ACL tear in Week 3.

Bosa is on the 53-man roster. He is not a finished product. Shanahan said last week the five-time Pro Bowler is dealing with tendinitis in the repaired knee and hoped to get him back on the practice field this week, according to ProFootballTalk. That is progress. It is not the same as a full Week 1 workload against Donald and Garrett.

The edges who did make the cut are Bosa, Sam Okuayinonu, Keion White and rookie third-round pick Romello Height, per the team’s position-by-position roster breakdown and The Athletic’s 53-man report. White arrived from New England midseason in 2025. Height is a Texas Tech rookie. Okuayinonu is a restricted free agent the club tendered in March. That group can rush. It is not the Bosa-Williams tandem the draft room pictured last April.

Sunday’s other trench move ran the other way. The 49ers traded a 2027 seventh-round pick to Houston for interior lineman Jarrett Patterson, a deal first reported by Ian Rapoport and detailed by Niners Wire and ProFootballTalk. Patterson has 21 starts in three seasons and can play guard or center. That addition is about surviving Donald, not replacing Williams.

The pass-rush problem is scheme as much as names. Without a second edge who can win one-on-one, offenses slide protection to Bosa and let the pocket drift. That is how San Francisco spent 2025 after Bosa went down. Williams was supposed to stop that slide. He cannot do it in September.

The 49ers can still get him back in October if the knee holds through the new practice window. Until then, the edge room is Bosa plus three. That is the roster they will take to Melbourne.

The Miami Dolphins flipped a Saturday draft pick into a new backup quarterback on Sunday, acquiring Kyle McCord from the Green Bay Packers as NFL teams raced toward the 6 p.m. ET roster deadline.

According to ESPN, the Packers sent McCord to Miami in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round selection. Adam Schefter posted on X: “Packers are sending QB Kyle McCord to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2028 6th-round pick, per sources.”

Trade: Packers are sending QB Kyle McCord to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2028 6th-round pick, per sources.

After trading Quinn Ewers to the Jaguars, the Dolphins needed a new backup for Malik Willis. Now the Dolphins have two former Packers QBs. pic.twitter.com/UWi7jfGYpp

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

Schefter later added that the pick headed to Green Bay is the same 2028 sixth-rounder Miami received Saturday when it traded Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The pick going to the Packers is the 2028 6th that the Dolphins acquired Saturday from the Jaguars for Quinn Ewers. https://t.co/mndqYsDk1Q

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

The Jaguars and Dolphins announced that earlier deal, as reported by ESPN.

Independent reporting matched the McCord terms. Sources confirmed the trade to PackersNews. A league source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the same framework. NFL.com listed the swap in its Sunday transaction roundup. Neither club had issued an official transaction statement as of Sunday afternoon.

Why Green Bay moved McCord — and why Miami paid

Jordan Love remains Green Bay’s starter. The Packers signed Tyrod Taylor this offseason to sit behind him, which left McCord as the third quarterback after a strong August. Holding him through cuts carried a waiver risk. Trading him turned that risk into a future sixth-round pick, a point ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky made on X.

So the Packers are willingly giving up Kyle McCord rather than just losing him on waivers and getting nothing in return. https://t.co/FF1G9oMNfO

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 30, 2026

Miami’s quarterback room emptied in 24 hours. After shipping Ewers to Jacksonville, the Dolphins waived Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski on Sunday, per ESPN. Coach Jeff Hafley had already said the club is likely to keep two quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster. McCord now projects as the No. 2 behind starter Malik Willis. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Miami intends to sign Gronowski to the practice squad if he clears waivers, a plan also noted by NBC Sports.

This is the first trade between Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst and Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, his former Green Bay protégé, according to ESPN. Head coach Jeff Hafley also arrived from Green Bay’s staff. Those ties do not include McCord himself. Green Bay signed him to a reserve/futures contract on Jan. 20, after Sullivan and Hafley had already left, per Spotrac and FOX Sports.

There is a Philadelphia connection. McCord spent 2025 on the Eagles’ practice squad after Philadelphia drafted him in the sixth round (No. 181). Miami passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo was Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator that season. Garafolo noted the reunion on X. —

Kyle McCord heading to the #Dolphins means he’ll be reunited with Miami pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was OC in Philly last year when McCord was with the #Eagles. pic.twitter.com/J2jHQ8ZfgG

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 30, 2026

What McCord showed in August

McCord has not taken a regular-season NFL snap. He made his case on preseason tape. Over three games he completed 46 of 70 passes for 446 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, a 102.4 passer rating reported by ESPN and logged on NFL.com.

The loudest night came Friday at Lambeau Field. Love and Taylor sat. McCord played every snap in a 42-38 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the highest-scoring preseason game of the year. He went 22-of-35 for 226 yards and four scores, including a 10-yard strike to Kisean Johnson with 20 seconds left after Green Bay trailed by 11, per the Packers and the Associated Press recap on ESPN. Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, “He did a heck of a job, man.”

College production is what got him drafted. After starting at Ohio State in 2023, McCord transferred to Syracuse and led FBS with 4,779 passing yards in 2024, throwing 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 13 games, per cfbstats and NCAA.com. His career line: 8,555 yards, 61 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, 66.2% completions over 37 games.

That background matters in Miami for a specific reason. Willis is a dual-threat starter still learning a new offense under coordinator Bobby Slowik. McCord is a drop-back passer who lived in high-volume college systems. If Willis misses time, Miami is handing the offense to a quarterback who has never started an NFL game. That is the bet Sullivan just made rather than waiting on waivers.

Green Bay keeps Love and Taylor and banks a 2028 sixth. Miami turns the Ewers return into a preseason riser who already knows Patullo’s language. The 53-man deadline still sits on Sunday night. As of this writing, the trade remains sourced reporting rather than a posted league transaction.

The Miami Dolphins spent the weekend tearing down and rebuilding the room behind starter Malik Willis. On Saturday they traded Quinn Ewers. On Sunday they waived Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski, then filled the opening with Green Bay Packers quarterback Kyle McCord. The sequence answers the question that had hung over the backup job all camp: Miami is not keeping last year’s in-house options. It is importing a new No. 2 before the NFL’s 53-man deadline at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 30.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported the McCord deal first. The Packers sent the second-year quarterback to Miami for a 2028 sixth-round pick — the same selection the Dolphins had just acquired from Jacksonville. Schefter posted on X: “Packers are sending QB Kyle McCord to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2028 6th-round pick, per sources.”

Trade: Packers are sending QB Kyle McCord to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a 2028 6th-round pick, per sources.

After trading Quinn Ewers to the Jaguars, the Dolphins needed a new backup for Malik Willis. Now the Dolphins have two former Packers QBs. pic.twitter.com/UWi7jfGYpp

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

He followed with the compensation detail: the pick headed to Green Bay is the one Miami got Saturday for Ewers.

The pick going to the Packers is the 2028 6th that the Dolphins acquired Saturday from the Jaguars for Quinn Ewers. https://t.co/mndqYsDk1Q

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

How the Ewers trade opened the door

Ewers’ exit was not a rumor. The Dolphins and Jaguars announced the trade Saturday, with Jacksonville sending a 2028 sixth-round pick for the 2025 seventh-rounder, according to ESPN and NFL.com. Ian Rapoport posted on X that the Jaguars were trading for Ewers.

The #Jaguars are trading for #Dolphins QB Quinn Ewers, per me and @MikeGarafolo pic.twitter.com/MDWRvKZ2aj

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 29, 2026

Ewers started the final three games of 2025 after Miami benched Tua Tagovailoa. He went 1-2, completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 622 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in four appearances, per ESPN. Camp told a different story. A groin injury in the Aug. 14 preseason opener against Washington limited him to 1-of-8 passing for 27 yards and an interception. He missed the next two exhibitions.

That tape left new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley with a decision. Ewers was a Chris Grier draft pick. This staff is building around Willis, whom Miami signed in March to a three-year, $67.5 million contract with $45 million guaranteed, as reported by the Associated Press. A late-round pick two years out was easier to accept than a backup who could not stay on the field.

Miller and Gronowski did not survive Sunday

Schefter reported Sunday morning that Miami was waiving Miller, which left a hole at QB2.

Dolphins are waiving QB Cam Miller, leaving Miami with a need at No. 2 QB.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

Miller, a 2025 sixth-round pick by Las Vegas whom the Dolphins signed off the Raiders’ practice squad in January, completed 42.1 percent of his preseason passes for 170 yards and two interceptions, according to Dolphins Wire.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo then reported that Miami is also waiving undrafted rookie Mark Gronowski, with plans to bring him back on the practice squad if he clears waivers.

The #Dolphins are waiving QB Mark Gronowski but will bring him back to the practice squad if he clears waivers.

That leaves Malik Willis as the only QB on the roster as of now. pic.twitter.com/stmUkbY0t7

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 30, 2026

Gronowski, who played at South Dakota State and Iowa, completed 46.2 percent of his preseason passes for 98 yards, per Dolphins Wire.

Hafley had already tipped the numbers. Speaking with reporters Saturday, a day after Miami finished the preseason 0-3 against Atlanta at Hard Rock Stadium, he said the club was “likely” to keep two quarterbacks on the initial 53, according to the Palm Beach Post. By Sunday afternoon, those two spots pointed to Willis and McCord.

Why McCord, and why not a veteran rental

McCord has never taken a regular-season snap. The Eagles drafted him in the sixth round in 2025. He spent that year on Philadelphia’s practice squad, then signed a futures deal with Green Bay in January. He was available because the Packers already have Tyrod Taylor behind Jordan Love. In three preseason games he completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 446 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, a 102.4 rating, according to ESPN and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The scheme fit is the real reason this trade happened this fast. Garafolo noted McCord will reunite with Miami passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator last season.

Kyle McCord heading to the #Dolphins means he’ll be reunited with Miami pass game coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was OC in Philly last year when McCord was with the #Eagles. pic.twitter.com/J2jHQ8ZfgG

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 30, 2026

Sullivan and Hafley also still have Green Bay connections. The Sun Sentinel called this the first trade between Sullivan and Packers GM Brian Gutekunst.

That choice closes one popular outside idea. Jimmy Garoppolo remains an unsigned free agent after two seasons as Matthew Stafford’s backup in Los Angeles. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported in July that Garoppolo is open to playing in 2026 “in the right situation,” but that a signing was not imminent and might require a starting-caliber injury elsewhere, according to NBC Sports. His last regular-season start came in Week 18 of 2024, when he went 27-of-41 for 334 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 25-30 loss to Seattle, per Pro-Football-Reference.

Hafley and Garoppolo did share two seasons in San Francisco. Hafley coached 49ers defensive backs from 2016 through 2018; Garoppolo arrived in a late-October 2017 trade. That overlap is real. It is not a reported contract talk. Miami did not sign him Sunday. The staff picked a 23-year-old who just produced in preseason over a 34-year-old mentor who has not started a game since January 2025. For a rebuild that already invested $45 million guaranteed in Willis, that reads as a development bet, not a win-now insurance policy.

Willis still has only six career starts. The Dolphins open at Las Vegas on Sept. 13. McCord has no practice reps in Bobby Slowik’s offense. If Willis goes down in Week 1, Miami is asking a quarterback who learned the Eagles’ system last year to operate a new playbook on short notice. That is the risk baked into Sunday’s trade.

The room that starts the season will look nothing like the one that opened camp. Ewers is in Jacksonville. Miller and Gronowski are on waivers. McCord is the new backup, pending the physical and the 6 p.m. filing. Whether Miami later adds a veteran such as Garoppolo remains speculation. As of Sunday afternoon, the documented plan is Willis and McCord.

The Miami Dolphins continued their roster overhaul Sunday when they moved on from veteran linebacker Tyrel Dodson, according to multiple reports. The team is releasing the 28-year-old as it works toward the NFL’s 6 p.m. ET deadline to set initial 53-man rosters.

NFL insider Tom Pelissero first reported the decision, noting Miami had extended Jordyn Brooks this summer and likes the development of second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez.

The Dolphins are releasing veteran LB Tyrel Dodson, per source.

Miami extended Jordyn Brooks this summer and is excited about second-round pick Jacob Rodriguez’s development.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 30, 2026

Dodson started all 16 games he played in 2025 and finished with a career-high 129 tackles, five sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Those tackle numbers ranked among the league’s better totals, though teammate Brooks led the NFL with 183. Dodson signed a two-year, $6.25 million contract in March 2025 after the Dolphins claimed him off waivers from Seattle the previous November, per Over The Cap.

None of his 2026 salary was guaranteed. The Dolphins save roughly $3 million against the cap by parting ways with him, according to reporting from Sports Illustrated. As a vested veteran, Dodson will not have to clear waivers and can sign with any team immediately once the release becomes official.

Rodriguez Wins the Job Next to Brooks

The cut ends a training-camp competition at middle linebacker. Rodriguez, the former Texas Tech standout selected in the second round, steadily took more first-team snaps as camp progressed. First-year general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan made the team’s intentions clear on draft night.

“He’s a leader. He’s a green dot guy. He’ll call the defense in time, and I think he’ll fit really well in the room with Brooks and Dodson,” Sullivan said, per ESPN.

Head coach Jeff Hafley’s scheme values linebackers who can cover space. Rodriguez fits that profile better than Dodson, a more physical run-stopper. Releasing Dodson also opens a 53-man spot for undrafted rookie Jackson Woodard.

The move fits a larger pattern. Miami already traded quarterback Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday for a 2028 sixth-round pick after Ewers started three games last season. The Dolphins have committed to Malik Willis as the starter and spent the offseason shedding veterans including Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.

Dodson entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills in 2019. He later spent time with the Seahawks before landing in Miami, where he earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors late in 2024. He now becomes one of the more productive available linebackers on the open market.

Sunday’s activity shows the rebuild is not finished. More cuts and possible trades remain possible before the deadline. The Dolphins open the regular season Sept. 13 at the Las Vegas Raiders.

Zavion Thomas needed one snap to show Chicago why it spent a third-round pick on him. Backed up at its own 3-yard line on Saturday night at Nissan Stadium, the Bears offense struck on the first play from scrimmage. Tyson Bagent found the rookie down the right sideline, and Thomas finished a 97-yard touchdown in a 24-15 preseason win over the Tennessee Titans, per the Associated Press.

The score was 7-0 before most of the backups had broken a sweat. Chicago closed the preseason 2-1. The regular-season opener against Carolina is Sept. 13. The more immediate date is Sunday: NFL clubs must get to 53 players by 5 p.m. CT, according to Bears Wire.

The play that started the night

Tennessee punted after a three-and-out. Chicago started at the 3. Bagent lined up in shotgun. Roschon Johnson picked up a blitz. Thomas, split wide right, used a stutter-step double move. Titans cornerback Keydrain Calligan lost his footing. Bagent threw while the pocket collapsed toward his own end zone.

Thomas caught the ball near the Bears’ 32 and ran away from safety Jerrick Reed II. Reed got a hand on a leg and nothing else. Official play-by-play on ESPN listed it as a 97-yard scoring pass with 13:02 left in the first quarter. The NFL account posted the clip as it happened

ZAVION THOMAS GOES 96 YARDS TO THE HOUSE

CHIvsTEN on @NFLNetwork 
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/QFwDrGQOpk

— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2026

The Bears posted their own angle shortly after

Speed demon 😈

📺: #CHIvsTEN on FOX32 pic.twitter.com/jlBwz0DgQ5

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 29, 2026

Asked whether Reed had a chance, Thomas did not hedge. “Nah, he ain’t have a chance,” he told the team site after the game, according to ChicagoBears.com. Bagent called it the “greatest start in NFL history,” a line also carried by the AP.

Sports Illustrated, citing Next Gen Stats, reported Thomas peaked at 21.99 mph on the run, the fastest ball-carrier mark of this preseason, in its game takeaways.

The full line, not just the highlight

Thomas did not live off one play. He caught all five targets for 140 yards and that touchdown, per the official recap from Larry Mayer at ChicagoBears.com. He added a 39-yard punt return and a 22-yard kickoff return. He also put the ball on the ground on a jet-sweep exchange with Bagent on the next drive and later took the blame for it on the team site.

Bagent, playing the first half with Caleb Williams on the sideline, went 16 of 17 for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Maurice Alexander caught the other score. Roschon Johnson punched in a 3-yard run. Cairo Santos added a field goal. The Bears led 14-9 at half and 24-9 after three.

This was Thomas’ first NFL game. A knee issue in camp kept him out of the first two preseason games. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported in early August that the injury was expected to be short-term

Some positive news on the Bears wide receiver front. Zavion Thomas, who left practice Sunday during 7 on 7 with a knee injury, isn't expected to miss much time, per a source. I'm told he's dealing with soreness in his knee and is likely day-to-day in his recovery. He shouldn't be…

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 10, 2026

Saturday was the first live test against another roster.

What the tape actually showed — and what it did not

The scheme on the touchdown was simple. Ben Johnson’s staff asked Thomas to sell a stop and go. Calligan bit. Once Thomas stacked the corner, the 4.28 speed he posted at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine did the rest. Official combine results list Brenen Thompson at 4.26, Lorenzo Styles Jr. at 4.27, and Thomas at 4.28, the third-fastest time of the week, per NFL.com.

That speed is why Chicago took him 89th overall out of LSU after two seasons at Mississippi State, a pick the club announced in April on its draft page. It is also why the evaluation was never only about receiving production.

Lance Zierlein’s pre-draft report on NFL.com projected a later-round player. Zierlein wrote that Thomas “lacks gaudy production as a receiver” and figured him as a WR5 with return value, with a possible look as a running back because of vision and burst. The listed weaknesses still matter: 5-foot-10, average work against man coverage underneath, trouble finishing through contact, rounded stems on intermediate routes.

Saturday did not erase those questions. Most of the 140 yards came on the one explosion. The other four catches went for 8, 11, 11 and 13 yards, per the team feature. The jet-sweep fumble was a reminder that gadget usage only helps if the exchange is clean. Johnson said as much after the game, praising the splash while warning the staff would keep pressing alignment and route detail, according to Gabby Hajduk’s write-up.

That is the honest split. The Bears already have Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III in the room, with Kalif Raymond also in the mix as a veteran receiver and returner. Thomas does not need to win that group this week. He needs a defined slice of it: returns, a few designed touches, and the vertical shot Johnson can call when a corner gives him a cushion.

Roster math heading into Sunday

As of Sunday afternoon, Chicago had not posted a final 53. Live trackers still listed Thomas among the receivers still on the roster while other names came off, including a reported release of cornerback Terell Smith and a trade of defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., per Windy City Gridiron. Those moves do not confirm Thomas’ spot. They do show the club is cutting around him, not through him, at least so far.

Special teams is the cleanest case. Thomas returned punts as a freshman All-American at Mississippi State and kickoffs at LSU. Saturday’s 39-yard punt return was the same skill in an NFL stadium. If the Bears want a homegrown answer in the return game, he just put the tape on the desk.

The offensive role is narrower. Johnson has said since minicamp that the speed is obvious and the trust is the missing piece. One preseason night against backups does not finish that argument. It does give the staff a reason to keep working on it.

Thomas said the touchdown felt like the work paying off. “Just the preparation put into it, it’s something that I expected,” he told reporters, a line carried by the Chicago Tribune via ArcaMax. Confidence is useful. So is the next practice, when the starters are back and the windows get smaller.

The 2026 college football season is already underway. Week 0 wrapped Saturday with games from Dublin to Las Vegas, and the first real tape of the year is about to land on NFL draft boards. The 2027 class still draws most of its public heat from quarterbacks such as Arch Manning and Dante Moore and from Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. The defense is not a supporting act.

Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore sits at the top of most preseason lists, and South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart is right behind him. That pairing is not a one-outlet take. CBS Sports had Moore and Stewart 1-2 in May. The Athletic slotted Moore second overall in its August big board, with Stewart third and Texas edge Colin Simmons fifth. Bleacher Report put Moore second overall behind Smith and ranked Simmons and Stewart third and fifth.

Those boards will move. They always do once September film arrives. Here is how the top 10 defenders stack up before Week 1, with the production from 2025 attached and the scheme questions that will decide who rises.

Moore sets the standard at corner

Moore is the cleanest prospect on this board. He started two seasons on the outside for Marcus Freeman, missed two games in 2025 with an ankle injury, and still finished with five interceptions and seven pass breakups in 10 games, per Notre Dame. One of those picks went 46 yards for a score against Syracuse. He was a unanimous All-American.

The Irish use him primarily in man coverage. That is the NFL test that matters most. He has the length to reroute bigger receivers and the fluidity to stay attached to smaller ones. Flags stay rare because he wins with his hands at the line instead of grabbing downfield. Zone is not a projection. His range already shows up when Notre Dame rotates him off the boundary.

Some evaluators will call him the best corner prospect in years. That is analysis, not a league stamp. What is confirmed is the tape and the honors. His father, Dr. Leonard N. Moore, teaches African American history and the history of college football at Texas. The family connection is public. The on-field case does not need it.

Stewart vs. Simmons is the real argument

Stewart is the traits pick. Simmons is the production pick. ClutchPoints ranked Stewart second and Simmons third heading into Week 0. Other boards flip them.

Stewart, listed at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, posted 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 11 games last season, according to cfbstats. That sack total dropped from 6.5 as a freshman. PFF flagged the dip and the late-season inconsistency. The counter is the first step and the bend. South Carolina still sent him inside on stunts, and he has the strength to hold up there. He is a preseason AP first-team All-American.

Simmons simply got home more often. He finished 2025 with 12.0 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss in 13 games, per cfbstats, and led the SEC in conference sacks. He is shorter than Stewart at 6-3, but he wins the corner with timing and a violent close. The next step is power and run defense. If he adds that, the floor is a top-10 pick even if Stewart stays the sexier athlete.

Alabama’s Yhonzae Pierre sits 10th here because the role is still growing. He led the Tide with 8.0 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss in 2025 after working his way into the lineup. Alabama listed him at 6-3, 251 pounds entering fall camp, per Sports Illustrated. Some draft write-ups still use 244. Either way, he is lighter than a classic every-down end. That is the concern, not the effort.

The interior is deeper than the headlines

Oregon’s A’Mauri Washington is the workout monster. Bruce Feldman placed him No. 3 on The Athletic’s 2026 Freaks List, behind South Carolina receiver Nyck Harbor and Smith, as reported by 247Sports and Ducks Wire. Feldman cited a drop from 338 to 327 pounds, a 20.7 mph GPS reading, a 35-inch vertical, and an 855-pound Hatfield squat. Dan Lanning told The Athletic the staff had to cap the lift.

We limited even how much A’Mauri can squat now.

Dan Lanning, via Ducks Wire / The Athletic

Washington is still raw as a technician. The flashes are the reason he is in the first-round conversation. Oregon’s defensive line should give him cleaner one-on-one chances this fall.

Oklahoma’s David Stone is not a mystery snap-count case. He played all 13 games in 2025, started two, and led Sooners defensive tackles with 42 tackles and 8.0 tackles for loss, per Oklahoma. The run-game power is already on tape. The pass rush still needs counters. More featured snaps under Brent Venables would make the first-round case louder.

Will Echoles is the production tackle. The Ole Miss junior stacked 68 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks across 15 games, according to cfbstats. He is listed around 6-2, 309. If the board values havoc over testing numbers, he can pass Washington and Stone by December.

The rest of the secondary is not filler

Georgia’s Ellis Robinson IV is a redshirt sophomore at 6-0, 180. He started 12 of 14 games in 2025, tied for the SEC lead among defensive players with four interceptions, and added seven pass breakups, per Georgia. Some preseason lists credited him with 11 pass breakups. Official team and cfbstats totals show seven breakups plus four interceptions, or 11 passes defended. The ball production is real. The frame and technique still need a year under Kirby Smart.

Clemson keeps feeding the league corners. Ashton Hampton is this cycle’s candidate. Clemson lists him at 6-2, 205. Other outlets have used 6-3, 204. He started all 13 games in 2025 and finished with 45 tackles, nine passes defended and one interception, per Sports-Reference. His father, Alonzo Hampton, is the head coach at Arkansas–Pine Bluff. The next jump is consistency in press technique.

Brauntae Johnson, also known as Tae Johnson, plays next to Moore and still belongs in the conversation. He started eight of 10 games in 2025, posted 48 tackles and four interceptions, and returned a pick for a score. He missed time as a freshman after foot surgery. The size (6-2, about 200) and range fit a modern safety who can play the box and the deep half. Notre Dame’s schedule will keep testing that.

George Kittle is back on the practice calendar. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that the San Francisco 49ers tight end is expected to work this week as he pushes to play Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia. Schefter added that Kittle has not had any setbacks in his return from a torn Achilles and still has a legitimate chance to play the opener, per sources. Schefter posted the update on X:

49ers TE George Kittle is expected to practice this week as he continues his efforts to play in the opener in Australia against the Rams. Kittle hasn’t had any setbacks in his return from a torn Achilles, and still has a legitimate chance to play the opener, per sources. pic.twitter.com/fjMA3XNlkZ

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

The timing matters. San Francisco closed the preseason Thursday with an 18-12 win at Las Vegas, then headed into roster-cut weekend with Kittle’s status hanging over the Australia trip, according to ESPN. The 49ers plan to leave for Melbourne on Sept. 2. Kickoff is Sept. 10 in the United States — Friday morning, Sept. 11, at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Sunday’s report also cleared up a comment that rattled the beat after the Raiders game. Kyle Shanahan, discussing injured players who might be available for the opener, referred to Kittle as someone “who’s taken a step back,” Pro Football Talk reported. Shanahan did not explain the phrase. Schefter’s sourcing on Sunday framed it as confusion, not a medical reversal. PFT later relayed the same practice expectation.

What the PUP activation already changed

The 49ers activated Kittle from the active/physically unable to perform list on Aug. 23, NFL.com confirmed. That move was the real roster line. Had he stayed on PUP through Sunday’s cutdown, league rules would have parked him until Week 5. Activation put him in play for the first month. It did not put him in the starting lineup.

He practiced that same day in Santa Clara, his first session since the injury. He stayed in individual work. He did not take 11-on-11 snaps, The Athletic reported. Christian McCaffrey, back from a planned two-week ramp-down, watched the side work and liked what he saw. “There’s a difference between coming back quickly and coming back and looking like that. It’s amazing,” McCaffrey said, per the Mercury News.

Kittle tore the right Achilles on Jan. 11 in a 23-19 wild-card win at Philadelphia. He caught a 6-yard pass, got shoved out of bounds, and grabbed the back of his lower leg, the Associated Press reported. San Francisco still won. A week later, without him, Seattle ended the run 41-6 in the divisional round, per the AP.

I have a chance. We’re running around a lot, hitting top speeds. Hopefully we’re back in pads practicing sooner than later. Just trying to check the boxes and not be a dumbass.

George Kittle, Aug. 16, via The Athletic

Why Week 1 is still a football decision, not just a medical one

Eight months is fast for an Achilles. It is not automatic. Kittle is a 32-year-old tight end whose value is not only the catch radius. Shanahan’s offense asks him to seal the edge on outside zone, chip before he releases, and win the seam against linebackers who have a running start. Those jobs require plant-and-cut confidence more than a clean MRI.

That is why this week’s workload matters more than last week’s activation. Individual drills prove he can move. Team periods prove he can finish a block, get off the ground, and line up again. The 49ers do not need a ceremonial snap in Melbourne. They need to know whether the surgically repaired tendon can take the first collision of an 18-week season after a 15-hour flight.

Jake Tonges already showed he can carry a share of the passing game if San Francisco holds Kittle out, The Athletic noted. Leaving Kittle home would also spare him the long-haul travel if the staff decides Week 2 at home is the smarter first game. That is analysis, not a reported plan. Kittle has said he would not expect to make the flight unless the team intends to play him.

Source: team and league records compiled by Reuters.

Those 2025 numbers came in a shortened year. Hamstring and ankle issues limited him to 11 games before the Achilles ended the postseason. The production still traveled. Seven touchdowns in 11 games is the version of Kittle Shanahan wants next to McCaffrey when the Rams open the season Down Under.

Practice this week will not close the argument. Official injury reports arrive closer to Sept. 10. Until then, the honest read is the one Schefter put on it: no setback, expected on the field, still a chance — not a promise — for Australia.

Sean Payton did not wait for Week 1 to draw a line around Bo Nix. After FS1 analyst Geoff Schwartz said the Denver Broncos quarterback still looks like the same player he was at Oregon, Payton answered first on social media, then again after Friday night’s preseason finale.

Schwartz, filling in on First Things First, was asked whether Nix would take a step forward or back in 2026. He picked a step back. “He looks like the same quarterback he was in college,” Schwartz said on Aug. 26. “He’s consistent. He’s not gonna make mistakes. But he’s not gonna push the ball down the field all that often.”

Payton replied the next afternoon with one sentence: “Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn’t.” The post is

Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn't.

— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) August 27, 2026

He unpacked it after Denver’s 34-6 win over Minnesota at Empower Field, a game Nix sat out while backups closed the exhibition slate. “That was crazy wasn’t it?” Payton told reporters, according to NBC Sports. “I can’t help myself though. When I see something like that, I’m sorry, it’s just, I have a pause and then it’s like, ‘What are you watching?’ Just watch the tape.”

Why the tape undercuts the “same college QB” label

Schwartz is not a basement pundit. He played eight NFL seasons after Oregon, a point DNVR noted when it reported Payton’s jab at “the basement podcast with the beer logo.” Payton still treated the segment as sloppy homework. The worst part, he said, was the shared school. Schwartz played tackle at Oregon. Nix starred there later. Payton said he does not even know Schwartz as a player.

The numbers cut both ways, which is why the argument keeps coming back. Official NFL.com career stats show Nix completed 63.4 percent of 612 attempts last season for 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Newsweek reported he also led the league with seven game-winning drives in 2025.

The deep-ball claim is the part that does not hold. NFL Next Gen Stats posted during last January’s playoffs that no quarterback had more touchdown passes of 20-plus air yards than Nix (19) since the start of the 2024 season, postseason included. The Denver Post added that in 2025 alone Nix ranked fourth in attempts of 20-plus air yards and tied for fourth with eight touchdowns on those throws.

That is the split Payton is defending. Average depth of target is modest. Touchdowns down the field are not. Schwartz heard the first number and treated it as a ceiling. Payton is watching the second and treating it as proof the tape was ignored.

There is a real schematic debate underneath the sniping. ESPN reported this month that Nix ranked 28th in yards per attempt last season (6.4) and completed 36.1 percent of throws of 20 or more air yards. New play-caller Davis Webb has spent camp slowing Nix’s drop and getting him to hold the ball through progressions instead of racing to the checkdown. That is coaching work, not a personality verdict on a 26-year-old entering Year 3.

Healthy enough to open at Arrowhead

Nix fractured his right ankle late in Denver’s 33-30 overtime divisional win over Buffalo on Jan. 17 and missed the AFC Championship, a 10-7 loss to New England with Jarrett Stidham starting. He had a second procedure in April to remove bone spurs, then returned Aug. 21 against Green Bay: 6 of 9 for 76 yards and a touchdown, including a 35-yard connection with Jaylen Waddle, per NFL.com and ESPN.

Payton sat him Friday. Sam Ehlinger threw three touchdowns in the 34-6 rout, the Associated Press reported. The night was about roster auditions. Denver is cutting toward 53 by Sunday afternoon, the Denver Post reported as the first wave of moves landed Saturday.

The next live snaps for Nix come Sept. 14 at Kansas City on Monday Night Football, the club’s first season opener on the road against the Chiefs, per the team’s official schedule release.

Payton’s outburst was not a cap-sheet leak or a contract hint. It was a coach protecting the quarterback he just took to an AFC title game. Denver went 14-3 last year and still left January unfinished. Payton does not want the first national take of September to recast that player as a safe, short-throwing copy of his college tape. Watch the film, he said. Then talk.

The Chicago Bears traded starting defensive tackle Gervon Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a 2027 fifth-round pick, a league source told The Athletic. The deal, first reported by multiple outlets including NFL.com and confirmed by the Chicago Sun-Times, landed on roster cutdown day and immediately changes Chicago’s interior line.

Dexter started all 17 regular-season games last year and finished with six sacks. He leaves with 13.5 career sacks and 42 quarterback hits across 49 games. The Bears drafted him in the second round in 2023. He is in the final year of his rookie contract and had sought an extension.

Chicago now turns to sixth-round rookie Jordan van den Berg. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound defensive tackle from Georgia Tech earned first-team reps alongside Grady Jarrett while Dexter sat out with a hamstring issue late in camp. Head coach Ben Johnson called him “a beast” and “an incredible athlete” last week and said he is “firmly in the mix.”

Van den Berg was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up playing rugby and cricket before his family moved to the United States. Chicago selected him 213th overall after he posted 93 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in college. His first-step quickness and gap attack give the Bears a different look than Dexter’s size-and-power style.

Ari Meirov posted on X that van den Berg “has been off the charts in camp and even earned reps with the starters,” adding that his emergence was part of the reason Chicago felt comfortable moving Dexter

The name to watch for the #Bears is 6th-round rookie DT Jordan van den Berg, who has been off the charts in camp and even earned reps with the starters.

His emergence was part of the reason Chicago felt comfortable trading Gervon Dexter, who has wanted a new contract. https://t.co/IeZM84h3lT pic.twitter.com/FMLyFDmE8B

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 30, 2026

Phillips, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of Utah, gives the Bears secondary depth. He has appeared in 28 games with seven starts. A triceps injury limited him to one game last season. Chicago has been without nickel corner Kyler Gordon this summer.

Why Chicago Made the Move Now

The Bears added veterans Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street this offseason and liked what they saw from van den Berg in preseason. Dexter’s contract year and reported desire for a new deal made him available. Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham, who helped draft Dexter as Chicago’s assistant GM, knew the player well.

Replacing Dexter’s snap count and production over 17 games is the real test. Van den Berg does not need to match six sacks. He needs to penetrate, occupy blockers and create opportunities for teammates. If that happens, the trade looks like a calculated bet on youth and scheme fit. If it does not, Chicago will have subtracted a proven starter without an immediate equivalent.

The Bears still have Jarrett, Gallimore, Street and James Lynch in the rotation. Phillips arrives as a contract-year depth piece who can play outside. The fifth-round pick also helps offset the 2027 fifth Chicago sent to New England for center Garrett Bradbury in March.

This is a gamble on upside. Van den Berg’s rugby background shows in the way he attacks space. The staff has liked his motor and daily consistency. Now he has a clearer path to snaps. The Bears made the call. They need the rookie to make it look right.

The Jacksonville Jaguars traded tight end Hunter Long to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, hours before the NFL’s 6 p.m. ET deadline to cut rosters to 53 players, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Jacksonville is sending Long and a 2028 seventh-round pick to Arizona for a 2028 sixth-round selection, Ian Rapoport reported. The Jaguars later listed the incoming pick on the team’s official roster-moves page, and CBS Sports posted the deal as an Arizona transaction.

The swap lands on a compressed cutdown calendar. The league moved the 53-man deadline to Sunday this year to give the San Francisco 49ers a settled roster before their Week 1 trip to Melbourne, CBS Sports reported. Teams that waited until the last preseason weekend now have almost no buffer. Jacksonville used the window to move a veteran instead of simply cutting him.

Why Jacksonville moved on from Long

Long, 28, joined the Jaguars in March 2025 after two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. He was Miami’s third-round pick, No. 81 overall, in 2021, per his Jaguars bio. One year in Jacksonville produced the best receiving line of his career: 12 catches, 85 yards and two touchdowns in nine games, according to NFL.com. Those 12 receptions topped the eight catches he had compiled in four previous seasons combined.

The production still left him behind on the depth chart. Jacksonville extended Brenton Strange through 2029 in June, a deal the club announced on jaguars.com. Then the Jaguars drafted two more tight ends: Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher at No. 56 and Houston’s Tanner Koziol at No. 164, the team’s own 2026 draft recap shows. Strange is the starter. The rookies need snaps. Long became the extra veteran in a crowded room.

Hip and knee issues shortened his 2025 season after Week 9, Pro Football Rumors reported. He played only one more game after that. That made him a logical trade candidate rather than a lock for the initial 53.

Source: NFL.com career stats

What Arizona gets behind Trey McBride

Long will sit behind Trey McBride, who led NFL tight ends with 126 catches, 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025 and made a second straight Pro Bowl, per the Cardinals’ player page. An AP panel also voted McBride the league’s top tight end entering 2026, The Associated Press reported.

The fit is blocking first. Long has never been a high-volume receiver. He has been a reliable in-line piece, which matters in Arizona because tight end Tip Reiman has spent camp on the physically unable to perform list after a 2025 ankle injury. Head coach Mike LaFleur said he does not expect Reiman to play in Week 1 and that the club would decide Sunday whether to keep him on reserve/PUP, which would sideline him at least four games, Cards Wire reported. Long gives the Cardinals a veteran blocker if Reiman starts the year on reserve.

There is also a scheme connection. LaFleur was the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2024 while Long was in Los Angeles, a point Cards Wire and Pro Football Rumors both noted. That history is the cleanest explanation for why Arizona spent a sixth-rounder, even a distant one, on a player with 20 career catches.

Jacoby Brissett is expected to start in Week 1 after a reworked 2026 contract, and third-round rookie Carson Beck remains in the mix behind Brissett and Gardner Minshew, per reporting from Sports Illustrated and team updates on Beck’s rib injury. Long’s job in that offense is to seal the edge and play 12 personnel. It is not to replace McBride.

How the pick swap fits Jacksonville’s weekend

The timing is not random. On Saturday, Jacksonville acquired quarterback Quinn Ewers from Miami for a 2028 sixth-round pick, the Jaguars announced and NFL.com confirmed. Sunday’s Long trade returns a 2028 sixth-rounder and costs a 2028 seventh. In practical terms, general manager James Gladstone replaced a bubble tight end with a young quarterback and came close to washing the draft capital.

Pro Football Rumors reported Jacksonville will save about $2.38 million in cap space by moving Long’s remaining year. That figure has not been confirmed by the team. Garafolo previously reported Long’s Jaguars contract as two years and $5 million when he signed in 2025.

New #Jaguars TE Hunter Long’s deal: Two years, $5 million with a $6 million max value. GM James Gladstone taps into a familiar face from his time with the #Rams. pic.twitter.com/CB2MyADhx6

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2025

so the remaining money is modest either way.

The larger picture is roster math. Jacksonville drafted two tight ends, paid Strange, and needed a 53-man spot plus a little flexibility after adding Ewers. Arizona needed a blocking tight end while Reiman’s status stayed unresolved. The deal solves both problems without touching a 2026 or 2027 pick.

Long will not change the NFC West race. He can help Arizona stay in two-tight-end sets if Reiman opens the season on reserve. For the Jaguars, the trade is the second consecutive day of dealing on the edges of the roster, and it leaves Strange, Boerkircher and Koziol as the core of the position heading into final cuts.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are handing their No. 2 quarterback job to an undrafted rookie. Sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Sunday that Jalon Daniels, the former Kansas starter who signed for a $25,000 bonus after the 2026 draft, will back up Baker Mayfield to open the season, according to ESPN.

Rapoport posted the decision on X as clubs trimmed to 53 players ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline: “Sources: The #Bucs are moving forward with UDFA QB Jalon Daniels as their backup QB to Baker Mayfield, as he’s impressed throughout camp. A true find and a very cool story.”

Sources: The #Bucs are moving forward with UDFA QB Jalon Daniels as their backup QB to Baker Mayfield, as he’s impressed throughout camp. A true find and a very cool story. pic.twitter.com/bi1KYzmC9G

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2026

Minutes later he added the money line that defined the summer: “The #Bucs signed Jalon Daniels, UDFA out of Kansas, and gave him a signing bonus of $25K. Now, he’s their backup QB. And he’s earned it.”

The #Bucs signed Jalon Daniels, UDFA out of Kansas, and gave him a signing bonus of $25K. Now, he's their backup QB. And he's earned it. https://t.co/rpig48rlTc

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2026

How a $25,000 UDFA beat a veteran with 10 starts

Jake Browning arrived in March as the obvious insurance policy. Tampa Bay signed the former Bengal to a one-year deal worth about $1.33 million with $400,000 guaranteed, per Sports Illustrated, after Browning made 10 career starts in Cincinnati. Daniels signed a three-year, $3.125 million undrafted contract that included that $25,000 bonus and $272,500 in guarantees, according to Spotrac.

The gap on paper never showed up the same way on the field. Browning missed the preseason opener with a back injury, Buccaneers Wire reported, and Daniels took the snaps. Against the New York Jets on Aug. 14, he completed 10 of 15 passes for 111 yards and scored on a 1-yard run while directing two second-half touchdown drives in a 24-16 win, per NBC Sports.

Todd Bowles liked the pocket work more than the highlight reel. “I thought he was very poised,” the coach said after the Jets game. “He went in relaxed. … He made the right reads. He zipped some throws in there.” Bowles also said Daniels “took what they gave him” and “let the system work for him,” quotes first circulated by ClutchPoints and confirmed across local coverage.

That is the scheme piece. Tampa Bay’s offense under coordinator Zac Robinson asks the quarterback to stay on schedule, hit the first available window, and keep the structure intact. Daniels spent six seasons in a college system that often asked him to create after the play broke. The staff needed to see whether he would chase those plays. In the opener, he did not.

He kept climbing. Daniels took QB2 reps in the joint practice with Jacksonville, Buccaneers Wire reported, then started the preseason finale. The tape from Friday was messier — 8 of 15 for 57 yards and a lost fumble in a 19-0 loss to the Jaguars — but Bowles still said after the game, “He’s shown a lot. He’s shown a lot,” according to ESPN.

Those three-game totals match the figures published Sunday by ESPN and RotoWire.

Browning is out; the room now has two names

Rapoport followed the Daniels news with the corresponding cut. “The #Bucs are releasing Jake Browning.”

The #Bucs are releasing Jake Browning. https://t.co/2OEAjd4T5X

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2026

Adam Schefter independently reported the same move: “Buccaneers are releasing veteran QB Jake Browning, per source.”

Buccaneers are releasing veteran QB Jake Browning, per source. https://t.co/eNLbkLdEUw

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

Connor Bazelak, last year’s No. 3, was already waived Saturday, NBC Sports noted. That leaves Mayfield and Daniels as the only quarterbacks on the initial 53, unless Tampa Bay adds a veteran after waivers. Browning, a vested veteran, does not have to clear waivers and can sign elsewhere immediately, which Pro Football Talk flagged as the next market question.

The decision is not a referendum on Mayfield. It is a bet that Daniels can run the call sheet if the starter sits. Mayfield missed almost no dropbacks over his first three Tampa Bay seasons; Teddy Bridgewater still had to work a half last year when Mayfield’s shoulder flared against the Rams, a reminder Sports Illustrated used when measuring the job Daniels just won.

What it means with Mayfield in a contract year

Mayfield is playing the final season of the three-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2024. He shut down extension talks when veterans reported, telling reporters he felt “disrespected” and “undervalued” by the club’s early offers, The Athletic reported. He said negotiations are off until after the 2026 season.

Jason Licht did not sound like a general manager preparing to move on. On the WFLA radio broadcast of Friday’s game in Jacksonville, Licht said he is “very optimistic” Mayfield stays in Tampa beyond this year, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “He wants to play. He wants to prove to us that he is the franchise quarterback that we said that he was.”

A cheap, homegrown backup does not replace a franchise starter. It does give Licht a clean quarterback ledger on a day when every roster spot has a price. Daniels costs a minimum-level cap hit in 2026. Browning’s guarantee is a sunk cost the club is willing to eat.

College context still matters if Daniels ever has to play. He started 45 of 49 games at Kansas, threw for 9,282 yards and 67 touchdowns against 31 interceptions, and ran for 1,445 yards and 23 scores, per his career record. The last college season was the cleanest: 2,531 yards, 22 touchdowns, seven interceptions.

Sunday’s reports have not yet been posted as an official transaction on the team site. Until Tampa Bay confirms the 53-man roster, the backup job and Browning’s release remain sourced to Rapoport, Schefter, and the outlets that matched them. The evaluation that produced the decision is not in dispute. Bowles kept repeating the same word after the Jets game: poised. That is what the Buccaneers just put behind Mayfield.

The Chicago Bears sent defensive tackle Gervon Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday morning, hours before the NFL’s 6 p.m. ET roster deadline, according to multiple league sources. Atlanta is sending cornerback Clark Phillips III and a 2027 fifth-round pick to Chicago in return, The Athletic reported, with the same terms confirmed by NFL.com via Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz first reported the move on X: “BREAKING: The #Bears are trading DT Gervon Dexter to the #Falcons, per sources.”

BREAKING: The #Bears are trading DT Gervon Dexter to the #Falcons, per sources. https://t.co/pzNwFUlkD1 pic.twitter.com/mA6XqhgUIF

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 30, 2026

Schultz later posted the compensation: Chicago gets Phillips and a fifth-round pick.

Comp update: The #Bears will receive CB Clark Phillips and a 5th-round pick from the #Falcons in exchange for Gervon Dexter, per sources. https://t.co/9e0nFSeqEu

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 30, 2026

Neither club had issued an official statement as of Sunday afternoon. The deal is treated here as reported and widely corroborated, not as a team announcement.

Why the Gervon Dexter trade landed on cut day

Dexter, a 2023 second-round pick out of Florida, is 24 and in the final year of his rookie contract. The Athletic listed him at 6-foot-6 and 326 pounds, with 115 tackles and 13.5 sacks over three seasons in Chicago. He started all 17 regular-season games in 2025 and finished with six sacks.

He never boarded the trip to Tennessee. Coach Ben Johnson said Dexter was dealing with a hamstring issue after leaving practice early Tuesday, and he sat out the joint work and Saturday’s preseason finale against the Titans, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The absence lined up with a week of trade chatter. Schultz had already reported discussions involving Dexter on Aug. 25.

The market was not empty. After the deal closed, Schultz wrote that the Giants and Saints also showed interest and that Atlanta pushed hardest over the weekend.

The trade market for Gervon Dexter was heavy, including interest from the #Giants and #Saints, per sources.

The #Falcons showed the strongest interest and were able to hammer out the details over the weekend. https://t.co/9e0nFSeqEu

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 30, 2026

The other thread is personnel. New Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham was Chicago’s assistant GM when the Bears drafted Dexter 53rd overall in 2023. Schultz noted that reunion on X after the trade broke.

New #Falcons GM Ian Cunningham was in Chicago when the Bears used a 2nd-round pick on Gervon Dexter in 2023.

He now brings him to Atlanta. https://t.co/9e0nFSeqEu

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 30, 2026

On the money, Dexter is not an expensive rental. Spotrac lists his 2026 cap number at $1,591,872. That is far cheaper than the $2.14 million figure that circulated in some early recaps. He can play out the year in Atlanta or chase an extension. A team source told The Athletic the Falcons hope to keep him past 2026. That remains unconfirmed planning, not a signed deal.

What Chicago gets — and what it gave up

Phillips, a 2023 fourth-round pick from Utah, has played 28 NFL games with seven starts. He had 35 tackles, five passes defensed and one interception in 2024, then lasted one game in 2025 before a triceps injury ended his season, per NFL.com and his NFL.com career page. He is 24 and also heading into a contract year.

The Bears need bodies in the secondary. Nickel Kyler Gordon has spent camp on the physically unable to perform list with a calf injury and no public return date, The Athletic reported. Safety Coby Bryant, signed to a three-year, $40 million deal this offseason, had knee surgery and is expected to miss four to six months, coach Ben Johnson said, per The Athletic. Phillips is a corner, not a safety, so he does not replace Bryant. He does give Ryan Poles a young defensive back who can work outside or slide inside while Malik Muhammad has been taking nickel reps.

The scheme question is why Chicago moved a starter who still produces pressure. Dexter’s sack totals climbed. His run-defense grades did not keep pace in 2025 under coordinator Dennis Allen, and that mismatch showed up in trade-grade pieces from Sports Illustrated. The Bears have already restocked the interior with Grady Jarrett, Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, James Lynch and sixth-round rookie Jordan van den Berg, who took first-team snaps when Dexter was out, Bears Wire reported.

Process-wise, Poles cashed a pending free agent for a player and a 2027 fifth-rounder instead of watching Dexter walk next spring. The price is modest if Dexter keeps rushing the passer. It looks light if van den Berg cannot hold the middle against the run.

Bears grade (analysis): B

Why Atlanta paid a fifth and a depth corner

The Falcons did not need another name on paper as much as they needed a body who can rush from the interior this month. Edge rusher Jalon Walker tore his ACL in camp and will miss the 2026 season, the team announced, as confirmed by the Associated Press. James Pearce Jr. begins an eight-game suspension Sunday under the NFL personal-conduct policy after a February incident involving WNBA player Rickea Jackson, The Athletic reported. Dexter does not replace either player on the edge. He does give Kevin Stefanski’s defense a 326-pound interior rusher who has started 32 games over the last two seasons.

Atlanta already added Da’Shawn Hand, Maason Smith and Chris Williams to the front, The Athletic noted. Dexter projects as an immediate rotation piece, and possibly a starter, next to that group. The Falcons allowed 4.6 yards per carry last season, eighth-worst in the league, the New York Post reported. That is the hole this trade is aimed at, not a finished product on the edges.

Cap room next spring gives Atlanta a path to keep him if the tape holds. Earlier cap projections put the Falcons among the league’s more flexible clubs in 2027, though recent extensions for Bijan Robinson, Drake London and others will eat into the raw number. The exact figure will move. The point stands: Atlanta can afford a Dexter extension in a way some suitors could not.

Falcons grade (analysis): A-

Ian Rapoport, posting with Schefter, put the swap in one line on X: the Bears get Phillips and a fifth-rounder.

The #Bears are trading DT Gervon Dexter Sr to the #Falcons, as they add a player who started 17 games last season, per me and @AdamSchefter.

The Bears are getting back Clark Phillips and 5th rounder. pic.twitter.com/BhqCHsZl98

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2026

Who “won” depends on 2026 tape, not Sunday’s press cycle. Atlanta added a proven interior starter for a backup corner and a Day 3 pick while two edge pieces are out. Chicago turned a scheme misfit and a pending free agent into secondary help it actually needs this month. That is a clean football trade. It is not a steal until Dexter holds up against the run in a new front, or until Phillips sticks on a 53-man roster that has to be set tonight.

The Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran inside linebacker Elandon Roberts on Sunday, hours before the NFL’s 6 p.m. ET deadline to set 53-man rosters, a source confirmed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter first reported the move on X: “Steelers have released former starting linebacker Elandon Roberts.”

Steelers have released former starting linebacker Elandon Roberts.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 30, 2026

The cut ends Roberts’ second stint in Pittsburgh after just 18 days. The club signed the 32-year-old to a one-year contract on Aug. 12, his agent Drew Rosenhaus announced, reuniting him with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham after a 2025 season in Las Vegas, according to ESPN. The team later confirmed the deal on Steelers.com.

ESPN Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor called the timing unexpected. “Roberts brought a ton of juice in a short amount of time. Little bit of a surprise to see his second stint in Pittsburgh end so soon.”

Roberts brought a ton of juice in a short amount of time. Little bit of a surprise to see his second stint in Pittsburgh end so soon. https://t.co/c6gB6D5Onv

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 30, 2026

Why a late signing did not survive cutdown day

This was a numbers problem more than a performance story. Roberts arrived after training camp was underway and still played a heavy preseason workload. The Post-Gazette reported he logged 71 snaps against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills over the past two weeks, including 42 snaps in Thursday’s preseason finale at Highmark Stadium. Sports Illustrated, citing Pro Football Focus, put his two-game total at 81 snaps, 71 on defense, with 10 tackles.

That usage suggested the staff wanted a look at him as a run-down thumper behind Patrick Queen and 2024 third-round pick Payton Wilson. It also left little room at the position. After the release, the inside linebacker group still includes Queen, Wilson, Cole Holcomb, Carson Bruener and Malik Harrison, per Steelers Wire.

Scheme fit only goes so far on a 53-man roster. Roberts’ value has always been downhill against the run. Pro Football Rumors noted that PFF graded him 51st among 88 qualifying inside linebackers in 2025, with strong run defense offset by weak coverage and pass-rush marks. Steelers Depot added another roster wrinkle: he offers little on special teams. First-year head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan had to choose how many linebackers to keep. Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette, as relayed by Pro Football Rumors, said the club was weighing eight or nine linebackers on the initial 53.

Roberts is a vested veteran, so he does not have to clear waivers. He can sign with any team immediately, including a possible return to Pittsburgh next week, the Post-Gazette reported. That path remains unconfirmed. No official Steelers.com transaction posting listing Roberts among Sunday’s cuts had been published at the time of this report.

What Pittsburgh is moving on from

The production record is not the debate. Roberts started 29 games for the Steelers in 2023 and 2024 and posted 101 tackles in 2023, then 46 tackles in a reduced 2024 role, per ESPN and team records on Steelers.com. With the Raiders in 2025 he started 16 of 17 games and finished with 90 tackles. Career totals stand at 694 tackles, 14.5 sacks and 121 starts in 157 games. He won Super Bowls LI and LIII with New England.

Queen had welcomed the reunion earlier this month, calling Roberts “O-G” and “the big general” after Pittsburgh’s preseason win over Green Bay, according to the Post-Gazette. That locker-room pull did not beat the roster math.

The next 48 hours decide whether this is a clean break or a paper cut. If McCarthy wants a veteran insurance policy once practice-squad signing opens Monday, Roberts is eligible. If another linebacker-needy club calls first, the Steelers just shipped out a player they re-signed to play the exact style Graham already knew. Cutdown day rarely rewards sentiment. Sunday in Pittsburgh did not.