NFL returning to London with 2 games in October
LONDON — The NFL is returning to London in October for its first games in the city since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Atlanta Falcons will play the New York Jets on Oct. 10, and the Jacksonville Jaguars face the Miami Dolphins a week later. Both games will be...
2021 NFL schedule release: What to know
Some of the biggest news of the NFL offseason is coming Wednesday: the 2021 NFL regular-season schedule. Next season’s schedule will be released at 8 p.m. and broadcast on NFL Network, NFL.com and the NFL app. The league is touting the upcoming campaign as the “biggest season ever” with the...
NFL renews 9 social justice grants totaling $2.5 million
The NFL has renewed nine grants totaling $2.5 million through its social justice platform Inspire Change. The renewals announced Monday were recently approved by the Social Justice Working Group comprised of five team owners and five current and former players. Since 2017, the grants have been awarded to nonprofit organizations...
Report: Tim Tebow-Urban Meyer reunion on verge of becoming official for Jaguars
Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer are apparently getting back together, this time in the NFL. The former Florida star and 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback is expected to team up with his college coach by signing a one-year contract to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the NFL Network reported Monday. The...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Aaron Rodgers is a Hall of Famer and a giant diva
ESPN’s Mike Greenberg is one of the nation’s top sports media personalities. But even the best of us can drop a clanger, as Greenberg did when he said any team in the NFL would be a legitimate Super Bowl contender if it added quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Roll over, Jacksonville, and...
Jets kick off rookie camp with ‘high energy’ Robert Saleh in charge
NEW YORK — Robert Saleh wrapped up his first practice with the New York Jets by taking his usual spot behind the huddle and waiting for the head coach to address the team. Then it quickly dawned on him. “Oh, shoot,” Saleh said Friday with a big grin and laugh....
AP source: NFL teams cannot cut players because they are unvaccinated
An NFL team can’t release a player simply because he is not vaccinated for covid-19, a person with direct knowledge of the league’s directive told The Associated Press on Friday. Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane hypothetically suggested this week that he’d do so if it would provide more freedom...
NFL sets offseason schedule, still plans mandatory minicampsVideo
NEW YORK — The NFL has set its schedule for offseason workouts and still plans to have mandatory in-person minicamps, something the players’ union has opposed. The league released the schedule through mid-June, with all 32 teams listing required-attendance minicamps next month. NFLPA president JC Tretter, a center for the...
Bills GM Brandon Beane would consider cutting unvaccinated playerVideo
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane theoretically would consider cutting an unvaccinated player if it meant the team being able to lift NFL covid-19 protocols restricting in-person team meetings. “Yeah, I would,” Beane told the team-sponsored ” One Bills Live” broadcast Wednesday. “You guys saw it in...
Steelers cornerback Justin Layne takes plea deal in Ohio case, felony gun charge dropped
Steelers cornerback Justin Layne on Wednesday had a felony gun charged dismissed as part of a plea deal in Ohio, landing him probation and a suspended jail sentence, court records show. Layne was pulled over early April 23 for speeding in Willoughby, a Cleveland suburb, and cited for speeding, driving...
Browns sign veteran DT Damion Square, formerly with Chargers
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns bulked up their defensive line Tuesday, signing veteran tackle Damion Square. Square spent the past seven seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. The 32-year-old hasn’t missed a game the past four years. Cleveland’s interior was getting thin after the departure of Larry Ogunjobi as a...
Analysis: After draft, some obstacles ahead for NFL in 2021Video
With a successful in-person draft in Cleveland behind it, the NFL inexorably moves on. What’s ahead might not go so smoothly as the selection process did on the shore of Lake Erie. For one, the league and the players’ union likely will be haggling over offseason programs for, well, the...
Lower-round QBs face long odds to make it in NFLVideo
The five teams that took quarterbacks in the first round of the NFL Draft head into the offseason program full of optimism that they have found the franchise cornerstone that will lead to great success for the next decade. History indicates at least a couple of those teams will be...
Browns take chance on Malik McDowell, DT with troubled pastVideo
CLEVELAND — The Browns are giving Malik McDowell the chance to revive an NFL career stopped by some serious legal trouble. Cleveland signed the free agent defensive tackle and former Seattle draft pick and five undrafted free agents Monday. Selected in the second by the Seahawks in 2017, McDowell was...
Amazon to take over ‘Thursday Night Football’ package in ’22Video
Amazon Prime Video will become the exclusive home of the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” package a year earlier than originally anticipated. Amazon and the league announced Monday that Prime Video will take over the entire package in 2022, which will make it an 11-season deal through 2032. It originally was...
Former Pitt player Rashad Weaver charged with assault in April incident on South Side
Former Pitt defensive end Rashad Weaver — drafted into NFL by the Tennessee Titans over the weekend — is facing assault charges related to an incident last month on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The alleged assault — an altercation with a woman on East Carson Street — happened April 18, according...
Super Bowl champ Bucs pick ex-Gateway OL Robert Hainsey in 3rd round
Gateway graduate Robert Hainsey is going home — to Florida. Before matriculating to Notre Dame to play offensive tackle, Hainsey transferred from Gateway to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. And, now, he’s moving on to the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who drafted him Friday night in the third...
SEC, Alabama places to go for NFL Draft picksVideo
One thing didn’t change on the second night of the NFL Draft. The SEC and, specifically, Alabama was the place to go. Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell to Jacksonville and Mississippi wide receiver Elijah Moore to the Jets were the top two selections of the second round Friday night. Soon after,...
Sam Darnold to make $18.9 million after Panthers pick up option
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers upped their commitment to Sam Darnold on Friday, picking up the fifth-year option on the quarterback’s rookie contract. He will now make $18.9 million for the 2022 season. Darnold’s contract would have expired after the 2021 season, and he would have become an unrestricted...
Jim Litke: Betting millions on QBs who can turn clubs around on a dime
Last season wasn’t just the strangest in the 100 years of pro football, it was also the highest-scoring by almost any measure — average score, total points and especially passing touchdowns. And because the NFL is a copycat league, you didn’t have to be a general manager, scout or even...
Packers stay committed to Aaron Rodgers amid report QB wants outVideo
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst reiterated Thursday that the team remains committed to quarterback Aaron Rodgers amid a report the reigning MVP doesn’t want to return to Green Bay. “As we’ve stated since the season ended, we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond,” Gutekunst...
As expected, QBs take top 3 spots as NFL Draft gets underway amid some normalcyVideo
No suspense at the top of this NFL draft: Quarterback, quarterback and, yep, quarterback. With fans in attendance, prospects on hand and commissioner Roger Goodell dispensing greetings to players being selected Thursday night, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence went to the Jacksonville Jaguars to get things started. Next was BYU’s Zach Wilson...
NFL Draft: Players selected in the first round
1. Jacksonville Jaguars Trevor Lawrence, QB, 6-foot-6, 213 pounds, Clemson Breakdown: Lawrence has been the presumptive No. 1 pick in this draft since his freshman season. Prototypical size, top-notch speed and athleticism and rare arm talent. Want to pick some nits? His delivery is a little long and deep ball...
Broncos acquire quarterback Bridgewater from Panthers
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Drew Lock didn’t have to wait around for the NFL Draft to get the serious competition for his starting job new general manager George Paton has been promising for months. Paton traded a sixth-round pick in this weekend’s draft to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for veteran...
NFL seeks return to normalcy with draft on Lake Erie shores
Return To Normalcy! That’s not exactly the slogan for the NFL draft being staged Thursday through Saturday in Cleveland. It’s more at the top of the league’s wish list as it allows some prospects and fans to attend the festivities — yes, there are those going on by the shores...
