{"id":7293,"date":"2026-07-10T03:58:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/?p=7293"},"modified":"2026-07-10T03:58:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T03:58:45","slug":"the-daily-briefing-wednesday-june-17-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/the-daily-briefing-wednesday-june-17-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Briefing Wednesday, June 17, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AROUND THE NFL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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As you watch FIFA World Cup games in \u201cBoston Stadium\u201d, the home of the Patriots far from Boston, you will be hard-pressed to see the name of the venue\u2019s title sponsor.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com<\/a>: FIFA\u2019s take-it-or-leave-it specifications for NFL venues hoping to host World Cup matches required, among other things, the changing of the name of the stadiums to ditch any and all sponsors.<\/em> <\/em>The obligation ended up being much more precise than redacting names like \u201cLevi\u2019s\u201d or \u201cAT&T\u201d or \u201cMercedes-Benz.\u201d<\/em> <\/em>On Tuesday, an image emerged on Twitter of an individual seat at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. The name \u201cGillette Stadium\u201d was covered with a piece of blue tape.<\/em> <\/em>PFT has confirmed that, indeed, small pieces of tape were placed over the \u201cGillette Stadium\u201d label on every seat in the building.<\/em> <\/em>All branding in every World Cup venue had to be covered. And the owners and operators of 11 NFL facilities had no qualms about doing it.<\/em> <\/em>They also agreed to hold no other events in the stadiums for the duration of the FIFA takeover, and to (where necessary) remove artificial turf and install high-quality grass. To the chagrin of NFL players who will be playing on the artificial turf that will be re-installed after the World Cup.<\/em> <\/em>No one knows how much money the various stadiums will make in exchange for these extreme efforts to comply with FIFA. Surely, these stadiums wouldn\u2019t be doing it if FIFA wasn\u2019t making it well worth their while.<\/em> Every FIFA venue in the U.S. is an NFL stadium \u2013 Atlanta, GA: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (8 matches)Boston, MA: Gillette Stadium (7 matches)Dallas, TX: AT&T Stadium (9 matches)Houston, TX: NRG Stadium (7 matches)Kansas City, MO: Arrowhead Stadium (6 matches)Los Angeles, CA: SoFi Stadium (8 matches)Miami, FL: Hard Rock Stadium (7 matches)New York\/New Jersey: MetLife Stadium (8 matches) \u2014 Host of the World Cup FinalPhiladelphia, PA: Lincoln Financial Field (6 matches)San Francisco Bay Area, CA: Levi’s Stadium (6 matches)Seattle, WA: Lumen Field (6 matches) <\/td><\/tr>
NFC EAST<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 PHILADELPHIA<\/strong><\/strong>Michael Silver, writing in The Athletic<\/em>, looks at Coach Nick Sirianni with a great headline (edited version below): Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is a hothead and a lightning rod. Just don\u2019t call him a phony<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong> <\/em>Nick Sirianni strides across the asphalt at a breezy pace, seemingly as serene as an on-the-job NFL head coach can ever be. It\u2019s a beautiful early June afternoon in northwest Philly and Sirianni, brush in hand, is getting ready to help paint a mural on a brick wall bordering a classroom with fenced-in windows. He\u2019s smiling at everyone he encounters, keeping the vibes high at the 29th annual Eagles Playground Build, posing for photos and making small talk \u2014 and then, abruptly, the energy changes.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>A man passes Sirianni on the yard. He\u2019s wearing a \u201cProcess Blue\u201d T-shirt, prominent against the backdrop of white Ts bearing the Eagles\u2019 logo donned by everyone in the team\u2019s large traveling party. The sixth-year coach locks his eyes on the man\u2019s shirt and sees a Carolina Panthers insignia.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Sirianni hesitates for a moment, like the school troublemaker on the verge of another unpleasant trip to the principal\u2019s office. He\u2019s well aware of his reputation; he knows a journalist is a few feet away, notebook in back pocket. Surely, he should check himself and keep it moving. Then the coach known as the most impulsive man on an NFL sideline runs that stop sign, grits his teeth and breaks unbound into character.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cThat\u2019s the shirt you decided to wear today?\u201d Sirianni yells to the man, who continues toward the building without a reaction.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Then, more quietly, Sirianni adds the tagline.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cBozo.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Moments later, it\u2019s clear he already regrets his decision.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cSee,\u201d he says, \u201cthat\u2019s the type of interaction I need to avoid.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Yet to say he was remorseful would be a stretch. Sirianni, 45, a hypercompetitive hothead who has conspicuously engaged with players (in Eagles and opposing jerseys), coaches (Eagles and opposing), fans (same) and officials, wants to be a mature person who can rein in his emotions, but not at the expense of surrendering his essence. In his heart, he would rather be called unhinged than fake, and he\u2019d happily trade the reproach of millions for the certainty that his players understand how much he cares. As a result, he exists in a continuous state of uneasy equilibrium, purposeful in his quest to be a \u201cservant leader\u201d who models discipline while largely at peace with his propensity for tweaking, and the scrutiny that ensues.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>He runs hot and makes no apologies for his volcanic eruptions, even the most flagrant ones: the sideline jawing match with San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw; the postgame spat with Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, an Eagles legend; the mouthing off to officials after leaving the sideline box to call a timeout (\u201cI know what the f\u2014 I\u2019m doing!\u201d); the tirade toward then-New York Jets coach Robert Saleh after a late hit in a preseason game (\u201cSaleh, what the f\u2014? \u2026 That\u2019s f\u2014ing bulls\u2014!\u201d); the trash talk to a Philly fan behind the team\u2019s bench after a home victory.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Sure, he may beat himself up a bit in the aftermath, governed by his own \u201cmoral compass\u201d and rueful that he subjected his players to questions about his behavior. But mute his personality?<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cF\u2014 that,\u201d Sirianni says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be you. Especially in leadership roles. Because otherwise people are going to see through it. I\u2019m (at work) way more than I\u2019m at home. I can\u2019t possibly carry a fa\u00e7ade of being somebody else for going on six years of a job. I\u2019d (have to) be the best actor in the world. I\u2019d be a way better actor than Joey Tribbiani on \u2018Friends.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Relatable, self-effacing sarcasm is part of Sirianni\u2019s charm, yet it often doesn\u2019t translate beyond his inner circle or the confines of the Eagles\u2019 facility.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cWhen you\u2019re going against it, you can\u2019t stand it,\u201d concedes Saquon Barkley, Philly\u2019s star running back, who recalls being highly annoyed by his current coach when he played for the rival New York Giants. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know Nick Sirianni, it\u2019s easy not to like Nick Sirianni.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>That makes sense when it comes to opponents, and the fan bases that revere them. Yet even many of those who bleed Kelly green habitually express less savory sentiments toward the coach who has guided the Eagles to two Super Bowls, narrowly losing the first to the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2023 and blowing them out two years later to capture the franchise\u2019s second Lombardi Trophy.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Their gripes aren\u2019t just about Sirianni\u2019s outbursts \u2014 which, in fairness, mirror those of so many Philly fans. Perhaps, for them, watching the coach detonate is akin to staring into a mirror and not liking what they see. As one rival NFL head coach wonders, \u201cCould anyone be more perfect for Philly? He goes nuts. He loses his mind. Just like the (Eagles) fans do.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>In the City of Brotherly Love, Sirianni is stigmatized by the widespread perception of his limitations as an offensive strategist, and he\u2019s often marginalized as a glorified caretaker of an operation fueled by an elite owner, rock-star GM, brilliant defensive coordinator and talent-rich roster.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>He gets a lot of grief for someone who has a 59-26 regular-season record, ranking him fifth in winning percentage in NFL history. Sirianni, mindful of his reputational challenges and the acclaim for Philly\u2019s perpetually stacked roster, jokes that he will never be voted Coach of the Year.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cBut who cares?\u201d he says, laughing.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Well \u2014 Barkley, for starters.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cHe doesn\u2019t get enough credit at all, in my opinion,\u201d Barkley says. \u201cI don\u2019t get why he doesn\u2019t. Like, what he\u2019s doing, in real time, is legendary.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cIf we\u2019re being honest, no one talks about it enough. Like, we love to talk about me rushing for 2,000 yards, we love to talk about Jalen (Hurts), we love to talk about the Eagles. But he\u2019s like the last one to get brought up, and it doesn\u2019t really make sense.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Then again, so much about Sirianni\u2019s ascent to the top of his profession defies conventional wisdom. Consider the way he was hired by the Eagles in January 2021, shortly after the surprising dismissal of Doug Pederson, who\u2019d guided them to their first Super Bowl triumph three years earlier.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman were deep into an exhaustive search, with nine interviews already completed. On the recommendation of Pederson\u2019s former offensive coordinator, then-Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich, they reached out to Sirianni, who was vacationing with his family in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Sirianni, Indy\u2019s offensive coordinator, was not a sexy candidate. He\u2019d never called plays, nor had he been interviewed for any other head coaching jobs. The overture from the Eagles, who wanted to talk to him the following day, caught him off guard.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Fortuitously, the team\u2019s powers that be had set up shop at Lurie\u2019s lakefront mansion in Palm Beach, about 45 miles up the Florida coast from Sirianni, who was holed up at the house of his brother-in-law and sister-in-law. He didn\u2019t have a suit with him; he hadn\u2019t even packed pants. No problem, he was told \u2014 everyone will dress casually. Like many assistants who aspire to sit in the big chair, Sirianni had a \u201ccoaching book\u201d full of philosophies and values and leadership points. Alas, it was back in Indiana.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>That night, Sirianni borrowed a niece\u2019s or nephew\u2019s glittery pencil with a cartoon-animal eraser, found a blank 11-by-14 piece of paper that resembled the \u201ccall sheet\u201d he used on game days and jotted down some thoughts. The next morning, he stuck the folded paper into the pocket of his shorts, threw on a golf shirt, slipped into boat shoes with no socks and headed north in a rented minivan. He was nervous as he approached the property. The welcome was not what he\u2019d expected.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cSomebody who works for Mr. Lurie answered the door,\u201d Sirianni recalls. \u201cHe thought I was the nurse who was there to do the COVID testing.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Given the NFL\u2019s strict protocols during the previous season, Sirianni felt emboldened.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cI mean, I could do it,\u201d Sirianni answered. \u201cBut I\u2019m actually here for the interview.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Lurie, Roseman and the eight other Eagles executives in the room had a good laugh after hearing Sirianni relate the interaction, but things quickly turned serious. Sirianni unfolded the call sheet and placed it on the table in front of him, but he never even looked at it. For seven hours, he talked about his journey, core beliefs and schematic preferences. Lurie was especially moved by Sirianni\u2019s motivating force: a lifelong mission to make his father (Fran Sirianni, a longtime football coach at Southwestern High School in West Ellicott, N.Y.) proud. The owner could relate.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>When Sirianni drove away in the minivan, he called his wife, Brett, and told her he felt he\u2019d nailed the interview. That suspicion was confirmed when he got a call asking him to return the following day. He showed up in a different golf shirt and sealed the deal.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Then the scrutiny began.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>His introductory press conference was a disaster, with Sirianni mispronouncing names (including Lurie\u2019s), awkwardly fixating on the word \u201csystems\u201d and struggling to express his thoughts. He was roasted by fans and media members \u2014 and, privately, by some Eagles players.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cI was kinda like, \u2018Yeah, he f\u2014ed that up,\u2019\u201d recalls tackle Jordan Mailata. \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna lie to you. (We thought), \u2018What the f\u2014 was he saying right there?\u2019 But he saved himself, because he used that as a coaching moment (later in the season). It ended up working in our favor because we were like, \u2018All right, you\u2019re not allowed to pick on our coach. We\u2019re the only ones that are allowed to pick on our coach. F\u2014 you.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>In April, Sirianni got clowned publicly again when, at the podium, he attempted to explain one of his strategies for gauging prospects in pre-draft meetings: challenging them to a game of \u201crock, paper, scissors\u201d and talking trash to see how they\u2019d react. In late October came another rough moment: the notorious \u201cflower\u201d press conference. Attempting to relate the message he\u2019d imparted to the team earlier that day, Sirianni told reporters that he\u2019d put a \u201cpicture of a flower\u201d on the meeting-room screen and explained to them that it needed daily nurturing to mature.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>In Philly, that went over like somebody asking for Brie on a cheesesteak.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The actual team meeting had been fiery \u2014 with Sirianni using a plant, rather than a flower, as his example, and emphatically driving home his theme: You gotta f\u2014ing fertilize this shit! You gotta f\u2014ing water it! Daily deposits, every f\u2014ing day!<\/em><\/em> <\/em>After seeing footage of the news conference, Mailata was baffled: \u201cI was like, \u2018Dude, that\u2019s not what he said in the team meeting.\u2019 The intent was beautiful; the analogy of daily deposits. \u2026 It made sense for us in the meeting, then we saw the press conference, we were like, \u2018Bro, what the f\u2014?\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Eagles were 2-5 at the time. Four days later, they rolled to a 44-6 road victory over the Detroit Lions, beginning a 7-2 run that propelled them into the playoffs.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>A year later, Sirianni was coaching in Super Bowl LVII, where the Eagles suffered a heartbreaking 38-35 defeat to the Chiefs. At that point, some first-time coaches would have approached rock-star status. Much of the football world, however, tended to portray Sirianni as a character from \u201cThis is Spinal Tap.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>That was partly because of his penchant for going overboard with his emotions. He seemed to be playing a role: \u201cAgro Philly Hothead.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cHe\u2019s Philly to a T,\u201d Barkley says. \u201cThe things I disliked about Philly before I came here, he was that to a T.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Says Mailata: \u201c(People) go, \u2018How unbearable is your coach?\u2019 He\u2019s actually not that unbearable. A lot of people think it\u2019s fake. And that\u2019s one that irks me. Dude, he\u2019s like this in practice. He\u2019s like this all the time. So, it\u2019s very consistent. And I can\u2019t fault him for that. That\u2019s him. He gives a f\u2014.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cA lot of coaches try to hold in their emotions,\u201d All-Pro defensive back Cooper DeJean says. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy who lets them out and doesn\u2019t care what anybody thinks about it. \u2026 He is who he is, and no one\u2019s gonna change that.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>If Sirianni\u2019s conviction and authenticity play well in the locker room, he\u2019ll take it \u2014 but that\u2019s not the driving force behind his behavior. His nature is such that even during seemingly mundane moments, he\u2019s hellbent on victory. Three years ago, on the Fourth of July, he got so mad during a volleyball game with extended family members that he picked up the ball and punted it across his older brother Jay\u2019s backyard.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cHis niece, Jenna, yelled, \u2018Uncle Nick!\u2019\u201d Jay says. \u201cWe made him go get it.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Another recent example: While driving his 8-year-old daughter, Taylor, to her soccer game, Sirianni assured her he could shave off two minutes from the estimated arrival time. A bet was made (Taylor wagered a bag of Doritos in exchange for a potential sleepover), and Nick proceeded to \u201ccompete\u201d like Ricky Bobby. \u201cShe said, \u2018Dad, this isn\u2019t that big of a deal,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd I thought to myself, \u2018Yeah it is \u2014 I want to win.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>He didn\u2019t, but that wasn\u2019t the point. He\u2019s wired how he\u2019s wired, and if he doesn\u2019t honor that, it feels phony.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cWhat you see is what you get,\u201d says Sirianni\u2019s eldest brother, Mike. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m most proud of about him \u2014 he hasn\u2019t changed. He was ornery growing up. He\u2019s always had that little chip on his shoulder. He\u2019s still the same guy, and I hope people appreciate that.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Clint Hurtt, the Eagles\u2019 associate head coach\/defensive line, concedes that his boss is \u201cnot for everybody.\u201d Yet he believes that Sirianni\u2019s lack of pretense overrides his occasional outburst.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cYou\u2019re more patient \u2026 because he knows who he is and what he believes in,\u201d says Hurtt, who famously broke up a confrontation between Sirianni and star defensive tackle Jalen Carter during a 2024 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. \u201cA lot of coaches come from these coaching trees, and they\u2019re hired \u2018cause people want a piece of that guy \u2014 and when they try to be that guy, it doesn\u2019t work, \u2018cause they haven\u2019t figured out who they are yet. Nick knows who he is.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Though Sirianni sometimes loses himself \u2014 and loses it \u2014 in some very high-profile settings, the most important person in his current workplace can live with the emotional explosiveness.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cWithout it, he isn\u2019t as good,\u201d Lurie says. \u201cAnd occasionally, with it, he\u2019s not quite as good as he can be. But it\u2019s a good trade-off.\u201d<\/em><\/em>– – –<\/em><\/em>As the son of educators, Nick embraces player development \u2014 and the habits that translate to success. He is hyperfocused on details and drills home teaching points relentlessly. He\u2019s obsessed with ball-security techniques and is constantly exploring scenarios involving \u201csituational football\u201d for his team\u2019s consumption.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cHe really doesn\u2019t let anything slide,\u201d says Colts coach Shane Steichen, who was Sirianni\u2019s offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022. \u201cHe had a checklist that he would go over every day, and he was religious about it. He\u2019s a stickler for details, and he\u2019s really good with accountability.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Sirianni tries to keep things fresh with relatable speeches in meetings, searching for \u201cshared hardships\u201d to bring players and coaches together.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cHis team meetings are elite, and he\u2019s kind of been a driving force behind the scenes, because he\u2019s so intense about the details and the process,\u201d says Ertz, a free agent who was traded by the Eagles to the Arizona Cardinals during Sirianni\u2019s first season. \u201cHis superpower is just driving the team and weathering the pressure \u2014 in that building, in that city \u2014 and putting an emphasis on the things that drive guys to be their best.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>As Ertz suggests, the Eagles\u2019 environment is atypical, and Sirianni\u2019s skill set may be suited to it. He\u2019s able to remain assertive and secure in a building where, in the words of a person in the front office who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Sirianni freely, \u201cit\u2019s always fourth-and-1. We\u2019re just a pressure cooker. It\u2019s a high-stress place that demands excellence. It\u2019s easy to think (Sirianni\u2019s) a douchebag, and he doesn\u2019t help himself. But he\u2019s not the meathead everyone thinks he is. He\u2019s super inquisitive and he\u2019s open to learning.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
NFC SOUTH<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 ATLANTA<\/strong><\/strong>QB MICHAEL PENIX, Jr. has yet to return to practice, but he thinks he will be good to for the start of training camp.  Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com<\/a>: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. has not yet taken part in full practices, specifically 11-on-11 team sessions, after undergoing ACL surgery last fall. He expects that to change when training camp begins.<\/em> <\/em>Penix, who tore his left ACL in Week 11 last season, said Tuesday after minicamp practice that he is not yet 100%, but he is right where he needs to be at this point in his recovery.<\/em> <\/em>Penix said he plans to be a full go for practice when the Falcons return for camp in late July.<\/em> <\/em>“That’s the expectation,” Penix said. “I know I go see my doctor before all that kicks off. So, it’s really up to my doc.”<\/em> <\/em>Penix, 26, said if it were up to him, he’d be practicing fully right now. But this is also the third ACL surgery he has been through — he tore the right one twice in college — so he understands it’s a process to get back.<\/em> <\/em>“I felt confident with everything,” Penix said. “Sometimes the trainers, they stand to the side and tell me, ‘No, you can’t do it.’ And I’m like, ‘I feel like I can do it.’ But I just listen to those guys and just, like I said, continue to just trust my body, trust my knee. If it was up to me, I’d go out there and do everything. I’d do 11-on-11 now, but that’s obviously the smart thing, just understanding it’s more than just my want to play. Obviously, I got to care about my body and my future as well.”<\/em> <\/em>The Falcons signed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the offseason after his release by the Miami Dolphins to compete with Penix. Last week, Atlanta quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt said there can’t really be a true competition until Tagovailoa and Penix are on an equal footing, doing the same things in practice.<\/em> <\/em>Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski mostly reiterated that Tuesday.<\/em> <\/em>“We’re not giving out any jobs in June,” Stefanski said. … “With any competition, quote unquote, those things work themselves out down the line, but we just have to be as a team. I think we have to realize, players have to realize that we’re all working towards the same goal right now in June and that’s building a foundation for this football season.”<\/em> <\/em>The Falcons took Penix at No. 8 overall in 2024. He took over as starter from Kirk Cousins in late 2024 and remained in that role until tearing his ACL last November. Penix has started 12 games in two seasons. He has completed 59.6% of his passes for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.<\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>NEW ORLEANS<\/strong><\/strong>DE CAMERON JORDAN is going to return to the Saints this year, with plans to make it his last.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com<\/a>: Aaron Rodgers isn\u2019t the only veteran player who knows the upcoming season will be his last.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Defensive end Cameron Jordan confirmed that he\u2019s coming back to the Saints for 2026 with a video posted to social media that also includes the words, \u201cone final season.\u201d<\/em><\/em> <\/em>That\u2019s a clear indication that Jordan, who turns 37 in July, plans to retire after this year.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The No. 24 overall pick of the 2011 draft, Jordan has spent his entire career with New Orleans. He became the franchise leader in sacks back in 2023 and has extended his lead, posting 132.0 over the course of his career. He registered 10.5 last season.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Jordan is also the Saints\u2019 all-time leader in games played at 243, surpassing the 228 played by quarterback Drew Brees over 15 seasons.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Saints will begin their 2026 season with two games on the road against Detroit and Baltimore. The club will have two of its last three regular-season matchups at home, playing the Cardinals in Week 16 and the division-rival Bucs in Week 18.<\/em><\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>TAMPA<\/strong> BAY<\/strong><\/strong>Two things can be true \u2013 QB BAKER MAYFIELD is tough, not fragile, and Mayfield needs to take fewer hits.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com<\/a>: Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles has said he\u2019d like to see quarterback Baker Mayfield take better care of himself by avoiding hits in certain situations. Mayfield doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s an issue.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>When a reporter started to ask whether anyone on the Bucs said anything to him about the need to protect his body more, Mayfield answered emphatically that it\u2019s a non-issue, without even letting the reporter finish the question.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>\u201cI\u2019ve started every single game last year \u2014 for the three years. So I don\u2019t know if that should ever be a question,\u201d Mayfield said.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>It\u2019s true that Mayfield has started all 17 games in all three of his seasons as the Buccaneers\u2019 quarterback, but there\u2019s more to staying healthy than just being healthy enough to get on the field. Mayfield\u2019s play and the Bucs\u2019 performance as a team declined over the second half of last season, and it\u2019s reasonable to think that if Mayfield took fewer hits, he\u2019d be in better condition to play well down the stretch.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>So it\u2019s easy to see why Bowles would prefer that Mayfield do more to protect himself from getting hit. Even if it\u2019s also easy to see why Mayfield doesn\u2019t want to change his playing style.<\/em><\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
AFC WEST<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>DENVER<\/strong><\/strong>Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com<\/a> points out that the Broncos negotiated their turnaround despite oodles of dead Russell Wilson cap money.  It helped to have QB BO NIX: As Sean Payton strolled among his players before a recent Denver Broncos practice, he looked like a football coach who had it all.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Broncos’ new $175 million, 205,000-square-foot team headquarters, set to open later this month, sparkled in the afternoon sun, and virtually every starter from last season’s 14-3 team was back. The team had also added Jaylen Waddle to the receiver corps, further contributing to the good vibes.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>But Payton’s easy smile was also a testament to suddenly not having to worry about team finances — most notably, dead money against the salary cap. The team’s financial house is back in order, with the then-record $85 million in dead money from quarterback Russell Wilson’s 2024 release now completely off the books.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“It feels good,” Payton said. “It’s important. It’s hard to do that.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>As the Broncos get set to adjourn from their offseason work for the summer on Thursday, their present stands in sharp contrast with their past. Denver has the NFL’s second-lowest dead money charges (salary cap hits for players no longer on the roster) at about $3.4 million, with $2.16 million coming from the offseason release of linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Only the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have less.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The previous historic amount of dead money — once unthinkable to many in the league who make those kinds of decisions — didn’t set Denver back on the field. In fact, the Broncos thrived, going 24-10 in the two seasons that they dealt with the financial constraints of Wilson’s release. They broke an eight-year playoff drought, made two postseason trips and advanced to the AFC Championship Game in January. And in doing so, they might have given the NFL a template on how to separate from high-priced personnel mistakes without suffering years of losing football.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>For instance, Denver’s success post-Wilson might have helped prompt the Miami Dolphins’ housecleaning this offseason. In a much more extreme makeover, Miami has taken on a new-record $179 million worth of dead cap charges, mostly notably $99.2 million from the release of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ($55.4 million of which is going against this year’s cap). But in an informal survey among 11 coaches and personnel executives around the league by ESPN in recent weeks, many respondents believed Miami’s offseason strategy was a progression from what the Broncos did two years ago.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“Teams have had dead money issues, cut guys so they could draft or do free agency, and people have had to cut guys on big contracts,” an NFC general manager said. “But I do think [the Broncos] got everybody to kind of think you could rip the tape off if you really had to and you could work through it and it didn’t always have to be this long road back.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>THE BRONCOS RELEASED Wilson as the 2024 combine ended, the same event in which Oregon quarterback Bo Nix had shown Denver’s decision-makers that he had the composure and mental approach to step into Wilson’s void.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>And that void was considerable from a financial standpoint. His release cost Denver $53 million against the 2024 salary cap (a whopping 20.75% of their cap) and $32 million in 2025. The transaction left the league’s richest ownership group with one of the smallest budgets compared to the rest of the league.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Not only did the Broncos release Wilson, but they also accumulated dead money by cutting edge rusher Randy Gregory ($7.13 million), wide receiver Tim Patrick ($6.14 million) and safety Justin Simmons ($3.75 million). All told, the Broncos suffered a league-leading $89.1 million in dead money charges against a $255.4 million salary cap, with 13 players costing more than $1 million in dead cap.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Even with the difficulty of those decisions, the Broncos said there was universal agreement from the decision-makers — including owner\/CEO Greg Penner — on what needed to be done. Despite Denver going all in on Wilson less than two years earlier, dealing away four early picks, then signing the quarterback to a five-year extension for $245 million ($165 million guaranteed), the team had to make a change.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Over the 2022-23 seasons, Wilson was 25th in QBR (44.7), 23rd in yards per dropback (5.9) and 27th in completion percentage (63.3). The Broncos went to Wilson during the 2023 season to restructure some guarantees in his contract, a negotiation Wilson later said included a threat to be benched if he did not agree. The Broncos denied that claim.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Broncos eventually sat Wilson for the final two games of the 2023 season to ensure that injury guarantees didn’t kick in. That essentially ended the Wilson era, with Payton, Penner and general manager George Paton saying they made a clear-eyed decision and were fully prepared for the consequences.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“It wasn’t something you do lightly,” Payton said in retrospect. “I’ve said if somebody tells you that you can have $100,000 to renovate your house or half that, you’re going to choose the bigger number every time. But when people have asked, I’ve said we started at a point where we weren’t going to make excuses, we made the decision, get to work. There are a ton of built-in excuses, and if you’re going to make them, then you can’t make that kind of a decision.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>IN ESPN’S DISCUSSIONS with coaches and personnel executives, many believed the Broncos’ ability to navigate the dead money — and that of any team that would consider taking a similar approach — is based on available quarterback options. They believed having either a veteran, long-term quarterback under contract or a draft class filled with potential starters was necessary before taking a massive dead money hit.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“You can be bold, and I think more people will be if the cap keeps getting bigger … but if you do, the quarterback issue will sort of dictate how many people do something like that again,” the NFC general manager said. “[The Broncos] had some Pro Bowl-level guys on the roster, especially on defense, a really good offensive line in place and a draft with some quarterbacks.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Quarterbacks Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears), Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders) and Drake Maye (New England Patriots) went 1-2-3 in the 2024 draft. Once they became clear top-five picks — basically making them unavailable to the Broncos — Payton had zeroed in on Nix and picked him at No. 12, as Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy came off the board before him.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“It’s always the quarterback,” an AFC personnel executive said. “Any team, [the Broncos] included, you’re going to need good enough play at quarterback and a good enough team around the guy if you’re going to go to the playoffs like they did right away, especially if the move you made was [moving on from] the previous quarterback. And a rookie deal at quarterback on a playoff-worthy team, that never hurts.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>And the Broncos believed Nix was ready physically and mentally to play immediately after starting 61 college games. Payton has repeatedly said Nix’s ability to avoid negative plays (he was sacked 10 times combined in his two seasons at Oregon over 879 pass attempts), his accuracy (his 77.4% completion rate as a senior was an NCAA record) and how he managed end of half or end of game situations were selling points.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“I think we all saw Bo right away for what he is: a player who was ready to be in that job, the work ethic, competitiveness, preparation. That guy showed up and looked like he’d been here for years,” Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Certainly that’s a big part of what we can do and how we did the last couple years … but they built a team around the whole situation.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>In the two years since the Broncos flipped from Wilson to Nix, other teams similarly tried to buoy dead cap hits with cheaper QB alternatives. The Dolphins’ dead money accumulation went beyond Tagovailoa, as they took significant cap hits from releasing wide receiver Tyreek Hill ($28.25 million) and trading Waddle ($23.2 million) and cornerback Jalen Ramsey ($20.87 million). The Dolphins turned to free agency at QB after that dead money spree, signing Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million deal.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>At the league meetings earlier this year, first-year Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said the short-term salary pain was necessary — and his preferred approach — to attack the team’s roster issues.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“If you keep kicking the can down the road, you never get healthy,” Sullivan said. “I mean, there’s two philosophies that you subscribe to in the National Football League. You pay as you go or you’re living on credit. … We want the flexibility that paying as you go provides and we can’t get there unless we kind of take it on the chin this year.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Then there are the Atlanta Falcons, who signed Tagovailoa for the veteran minimum after absorbing $35.4 million in dead cap charges ($22.7 million this year, $12.7 million in 2027) for releasing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. Tagovailoa joins Penix Jr. — selected four picks before Nix — as they move to the next phase of their team building.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Arizona Cardinals also joined the ranks when they took on a $46.57 million dead money charge with the release of quarterback Kyler Murray after seven seasons. Many in the league believe teams such as the Cardinals are positioning themselves for a 2027 draft that projects to have multiple quarterbacks with first-round grades — players such as Arch Manning (Texas), Dante Moore (Oregon), CJ Carr (Notre Dame), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State), Darian Mensah (Miami) and LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina).<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Some of those surveyed offered a comparison to the Cleveland Browns, who signed quarterback Deshaun Watson to a fully guaranteed $230 million deal after a 2022 trade in which Cleveland sent six draft picks (including three first-rounders) to the Houston Texans for Watson and a draft pick. Watson has started just 19 games over the four seasons since the trade, including none last season. He served an 11-game suspension after he was accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct during massage sessions and then missed more time due to two separate ruptures of his Achilles tendon. But faced with highly punitive dead money charges, the Browns have kept Watson on the roster. First-year coach Todd Monken has said Watson is in the competition to be Cleveland’s starter this season.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Browns, who have adjusted Watson’s contract with voidable years added for cap purposes, would have taken a dead money charge of over $131 million had they released Watson this year and will still end up with a dead money charge of more than $86 million when his contract voids after the season — or roughly what the Broncos took on with Wilson’s release.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>WHILE THE QB situation is key, it’s not the only piece of the puzzle in navigating those dead money crunches. Nix had a quality first season on a 10-7 team (his 29 touchdown passes were second-best all-time for a rookie) and ran an efficient offense in Year 2 (25 touchdown throws, plus another five rushing scores). But Denver also had a great defense (No. 1 in defensive EPA in 2024) and a youthful core. And the Broncos have an ownership group flush with cash and equity, within and beyond the franchise.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Broncos have flexed that financial muscle repeatedly in the past two years, most recently giving All-Pro cornerback Pat Surtain II a $5 million raise earlier this month with the potential of another $5 million escalator next season. They have retained a core of almost two dozen players with long-term contract extensions, paying more than $325 million guaranteed at signing. And they have turned base salary into immediate signing bonuses to create cap space, utilizing the kind of resources most franchises do not have.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“I love the approach we took, which was none of us were ever going to make excuses,” Penner said. “We just look at it like, ‘We’re going to have some constraints; we’re going to have to be scrappy and we’re going to have to figure it out.'”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>It helped that the Broncos had rare injury avoidance during their 2024 revival. Denver had 18 players start at least 13 games, including three offensive linemen who started every game in front of Nix. That helped establish the foundation that drove the Broncos to the AFC’s best record in 2025.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“The offensive line permeates your whole building. … [With] a young quarterback, you can look at how the group in front of him plays sometimes when you look at development or progress,” Payton said. “… That group, the lines, has always been a priority.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>AS PAYTON WORKED his way around the practice fields at the team’s OTAs and minicamp, he was surrounded by a roster that, except for the trade for Waddle and the loss of defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers in free agency, remains mostly intact from last season. Denver has very little dead money and roughly $30 million in salary cap space, a combination that seemed far-fetched 27 months ago. The Broncos might have also blazed a path to give teams in similar situations a quicker, less painful way out of an underperforming roster with high-priced players.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“Do I think they changed how people thought about it?” the AFC personnel executive asked. “I think so. That number [$85 million] was, like, over twice what any other team had taken on for any other player, and they went to the playoffs.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“It’s not going to work for everybody, and nobody wants to have to make dead money decisions like that, but it worked and anything that works in this league is going to get a look.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>So keep an eye on the Dolphins, Falcons, Cardinals and maybe even the Browns. The Broncos proved a ton of dead money doesn’t necessarily mean prolonged rebuilding. With the right players in place and a clear plan, teams can maneuver those massive salary cap hits and still find success … and maybe even a trip to the AFC title game as the conference’s 1-seed.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“When you [execute a turnaround] with a record-setting amount [of dead money], it’s a credit to everyone: the young players, coaches, scouts,” Payton said. “I don’t know that anyone can physically feel it or see it, but certainly it exists when it pertains to your budget.”<\/em><\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
AFC NORTH<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>BALTIMORE<\/strong><\/strong>Over lunch Tuesday, it was noted that, at one prominent on-line site, the Ravens are the second favorite to hoist Lombardi in Los Angeles.  We all thought that was high. On the other hand, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is far less optimistic about Baltimore than the DB.  Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com<\/a>: It goes without saying that Ben Roethlisberger is not a fan favorite in Baltimore. As the Steelers’ quarterback, Roethlisberger handed the Ravens some gut-wrenching losses that included two in the postseason, one on Christmas Day, 2016 and another overtime in Week 18 of the 2021 season that ultimately was the final regular-season game of his 18-year career. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>Roethlisberger has once again drawn the ire of Ravens fans after he offered a very grim assessment of the current state of their team on his podcast. Baltimore, a non-playoff team in 2025, underwent drastic changes this offseason that included dismissing longtime coach John Harbaugh and replacing him with former Chargers defense coordinator Jesse Minter. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>“I think they’re falling apart. I really \u2026 I don’t think they’re the same team,” Roethlisberger said, via the Ravens’ website. “These feel different. They feel like their window closed.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“To me, losing Harbaugh \u2026 [Derrick] Henry’s a year older, his body’s taken a beating. You just feel like, ‘What was going on with Lamar [Jackson] last year?’ He just didn’t seem like the Lamar that we’ve been used to seeing. Maybe he was injured. I think he took some shots last year that we didn’t think about. So, maybe he’ll have a bounce-back year and be great again.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>With Roethlisberger could end up being right, to say that Baltimore’s window has closed may be a bit premature. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>The Ravens still have one of the league’s players in Jackson, a two-time league MVP who — as Roethlisberger alluded to — dealt with injuries last season but still managed to perform at a high level when he was able to play. In 13 games last season, Jackson threw 21 touchdowns (against just seven interceptions) and led the league in average yards gained per pass completion. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>Roethlisberger also mentioned Henry, who followed up his All-Pro season of 2024 with another big season in 2025. Henry’s 1,595 rushing yards last season was the third-highest single-season total in NFL history for a player who was over the age of 30. He did have a few critical fumbles, however, that contributed to Baltimore missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>Baltimore’s roster includes other key mainstays in linebacker Roquan Smith, defensive backs Kyle Hamilton and Marlon Humphrey, and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who recently underwent neck surgery after missing most of the 2025 season. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>During free agency, the Ravens emphatically addressed their formally meager pass rush by signing Trey Hendrickson, a four-time Pro Bowler who paced the NFL with a combined 35 sacks during the 2023 and ’24 seasons. Baltimore’s other notable offseason acquisitions included veteran offensive lineman Danny Pinter and John Simpson, veteran defensive end Calais Campbell, rookie left guard Olaivavega Ioane, rookie pass rusher Zion Young and rookie wideouts Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>In Minter, the Ravens hired a defense-minded coach who will look to restore Baltimore’s tradition of formidable defensive units. As Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2023, he overlooked a unit that allowed an average of just 10.4 points per game, the nation’s lowest. Minter’s defense gave up just 13 points during Michigan’s win over Washington in the College Football Playoff National Championship. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>Like every team, the Ravens have their question marks. Will their revamped offensive line find cohesion? Will Henry, now 32, continue to perform at a high level? Can Jackson stay healthy for a duration of a season? Did Baltimore do enough to improve what was an average defense this offseason? Will the rookies come of age fast enough to make an impact in 2026? Will Minter be up to the task as a first-time head coach? <\/em><\/em> <\/em>All of those questions — and others — will undoubtedly be answered as the 2026 season progresses. But, on paper at least, the Ravens appear to have enough talent to contend in what appears to be a wide-open AFC. And if more than a few things go their way, Jackson and the Ravens could surprise many — Roethlisberger included — by finally breaking through and reaching the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012. <\/em><\/em> <\/em>And while he clearly doesn’t expect much of them this year, Roethlisberger does have the Ravens splitting their season series against the Steelers, the team that formally sent Baltimore home for the winter during the final regular-season game of the 2025 season.<\/em><\/em> Behind the Rams (+550), DraftKings has the Ravens and Bills (+1000) just ahead of the defending champion Seahawks (+1100). <\/td><\/tr>
AFC SOUTH<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>TENNESSEE<\/strong>Questions have arisen about QB CAM WARD\u2019s basic accuracy.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com<\/a>: Tennessee Titans coach Robert Saleh brushed aside questions about Cam Ward’s accuracy issues during offseason workouts.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“Every quarterback is going to miss a couple here and there,” Saleh said Tuesday, via ESPN\u2019s Turron Davenport. “I would say Brock Purdy’s one of the most accurate quarterbacks in all of football, and he would miss a lot of throws, and that’s OK. These guys are all working on a few things here and there.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Ward has reportedly struggled with accuracy during OTAs over the past few weeks.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Saleh is right to dismiss concerns at this stage. Offseason workouts are a time to test boundaries and, particularly when learning a new offense, work out the kinks. Perfection isn’t the goal. Development is. With development comes some ugliness at times.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Having written that, it is notable in so much as Ward entered the offseason needing to improve his accuracy consistency. During his rookie campaign, Ward’s play would ebb and flow. Finding more consistency on a down-to-down basis will bring the QB to a new level. It’s something he’ll continue to work on as we get ready for training camp in late July. Davenport noted that Ward had a much better start to mandatory minicamp on Tuesday than at previous OTAs.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>In addition to learning Brian Daboll’s scheme and experimenting with it during offseason workouts, Ward is still building chemistry with new wideouts Carnell Tate and Wan’Dale Robinson.<\/em><\/em> <\/em>“We’re making good progress,” Daboll said. “You have to make the mistakes, and you have to see it. We’re still learning. But I’m very pleased with where he’s at; he understands the offense well. I think his feet are really good. His eye discipline, his vision down the field. Cam can make all the throws.”<\/em><\/em> <\/em>Come training camp and the preseason, we’ll see if that progress has been tangible. The Titans’ success in 2026 depends on it.<\/em><\/em> <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>THIS AND THAT<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>5 TEAMS THAT COULD SURPRISE<\/strong>Last year at this time, the Seahawks (as well as their Super Bowl opponent the Patriots, as well as AFC Championship Game participant the Broncos) were well down the list of Super Bowl favorites. Tom Blair of NFL.com<\/a> identifies five teams in the current middle of the pack that could emulate the Seahawks.  Without looking, we would expect to see the Bengals (and the Texans if they are deemed to have qualified as a dark horse): Let’s dive into the five teams below, who I think have a chance to follow the Seahawks’ 2025 trajectory.<\/em> <\/em>THE RULES<\/em>To be eligible, teams had to meet two basic criteria:<\/em> <\/em>I would not do a double-take if they made the playoffs.<\/em>I would do a double-take, or maybe even a spit-take, if they won 14-plus games and coasted to victory in Super Bowl LXI.<\/em> <\/em>I also looked for common threads with the Seahawks’ build-up to glory, evaluating each team by the following factors:<\/em> <\/em>* Their starting QB’s “Sam Darnold Score,” a 1-10 scale representing how much the QB has to prove himself.<\/em>* Whether the team has a unit as dominant as Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense.<\/em>* The presence of a Seahawks-ian player on the roster, which is to say, a savvy veteran addition, a breakout-bound development project or a smartly drafted potential rookie contributor.<\/em> <\/em>1  Houston Texans<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>C.J. Stroud’s Sam Darnold Score: 6\/10. As the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Stroud has less to prove than Darnold ever did. But there are still Questions About His Future. Stroud’s numbers have slipped the last two seasons, and the last time we saw him, he delivered one of the worst performances of his career in a Divisional Round shellacking by the Patriots. Is he a franchise QB, or will his next deal come with a bet-hedging early out for the team? <\/em> <\/em>Do they have a Dark Side? Do they ever. Houston’s defense was one of the most dominant units in the NFL last year, ranking first in EPA per play and fifth in yards per play allowed (4.8), and while things change from one season to the next, most of the elements behind that success remain in place. This is exactly the kind of group that — like Seattle’s own neo-Legion of Boom did in 2025 — can be the engine behind a stem-to-stern run of dominance. <\/em> <\/em>Who is their Seahawks-ian building block? Ed Ingram, OG. Like Seattle’s trade for Ernest Jones IV two years ago, it might have been easy to dismiss Houston’s swap for Ingram last year as something of a flier as it continued trying to solve its unsolvable O-line issues. Ingram finished the season with a sacks-allowed rate of 0.9%, per Next Gen Stats, halving the 2024 mark of his predecessor, Shaq Mason (1.9%), and proceeded to earn an extension this year. If Stroud is going to develop in the right direction, Ingram (along with rookie center Keylan Rutledge and veteran running back David Montgomery) will play a key role.<\/em> <\/em>Bottom line: It might seem a bit like cheating to include a team that already won 12 games last season. But this franchise has never finished higher than the third seed in the AFC or advanced beyond the Divisional Round of the playoffs. If Stroud and the offense can up their game and the defense stays elite, the Texans could truly separate themselves from the typical AFC South fray and roll into the postseason with some real momentum.<\/em> <\/em>2  Minnesota Vikings<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>Kyler Murray’s Sam Darnold Score: 8\/10. The low points of Murray’s NFL tenure so far are just about even with the pre-Vikings high points of Darnold’s, but there is one tantalizing common factor in these two players’ trajectories: Kevin O’Connell, QB-renovator extraordinaire. Unlike Darnold heading into his 2024 renewal under KOC, Murray has already played well enough to validate his selection with a top draft pick. But he’s never had a head coach with as much NFL success as O’Connell (.632 career winning percentage), and he hasn’t worked with an in-his-prime receiver even close to Justin Jefferson’s level since DeAndre Hopkins in 2020. Murray has to stay healthy and make the most of this chance, but the circumstances around him might be as favorable as they’ve ever been.<\/em> <\/em>Do they have a Dark Side? Brian Flores’ famously formidable defense was as effective as ever in 2025, ranking seventh in EPA per play (-0.14) and points allowed per game (19.6) and third in yards allowed per play (4.7), but the offense could not keep up, with a season-long point differential of plus-11 matching perfectly with Minnesota’s 9-8 finish. Like the Texans, the Vikings have a defense that could drive true dominance, with just a little more support from the offense. <\/em> <\/em>Who is their Seahawks-ian building block? Dallas Turner, Edge. Drafted 20th overall in 2023, Jaxon Smith-Njigba spent the first two years of his career sharing targets with Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Last offseason, Seattle moved on from the veterans — and JSN became a star, piling up a league-best 1,793 receiving yards. Turner’s development has been a slow burn in Minnesota, where he started out low in the pass-rushing pecking order as a rookie in 2024. Last season, his sack total ticked up to a healthy, but still modest, eight. Now he’s got two years of experience in Flores’ scheme under his belt and a clear path to a difference-making breakout, with Andrew Van Ginkel turning 31 in July and Jonathan Greenard in Philly. <\/em> <\/em>Bottom line: Like Seattle, Minnesota has been fitfully competitive over the past few years. The Vikings have plenty of talent, and I have confidence in the coaching regime. If they were also working with the same level of front-office stability that the Seahawks have enjoyed under Schneider, I’d feel better about giving them the top spot. Whoever takes over as full-time GM might knock the job out of the park, but the late-January firing of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah brings some uncertainty to the team-building portion of the equation.<\/em> <\/em>3  Los Angeles Chargers<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>Justin Herbert’s Sam Darnold Score: 1\/10. Herbert has had plenty of NFL success and is deep into a hefty second contract, but there’s still a tiny glimmer of Darnold visible in his playoff record (zero wins, three losses, 54.7 percent completion rate, 2:4 TD-to-INT ratio, 64.7 passer rating). Sure, he’s had to deal with things outside of his control, including the dissolution of his offensive line over the course of the 2025 season, and it’s tough to take too much away from a three-game sample. But it would be nice for Herbert to have proof that he is more than a top-10 regular-season QB. Giving this team its first postseason victory since Philip Rivers beat the Ravens in January of 2019 would be a good step. <\/em> <\/em>Do they have a Dark Side? It’s the defense, with a caveat: Jesse Minter is gone, having left the group he led to the eighth-best mark in defensive EPA per play last season to coach the Ravens. That said, his replacement, Chris O’Leary, has most of the same pieces to work with. The Bolts won seven of their final 10 regular-season games last season while holding all but one of those opponents to 20 points or less, a trend that continued in the Wild Card Round, when they limited the Pats to 16 points — and mustered just three of their own. <\/em> <\/em>Who is their Seahawks-ian building block? Akheem Mesidor, Edge. As my colleague Chad Reuter pointed out, Daniel Jeremiah’s 26th-ranked prospect is in exactly the right spot to make a key contribution as a rookie, augmenting the Tuli Tuipulotu- and Khalil Mack-led pass rush.<\/em> <\/em>Bottom line: Thankfully, we don’t seem to hear too much these days about the Chargers “Chargering” themselves into self-inflicted losses. And it’s tough to ding them too much for the way last season turned out, given how difficult it is to play football without a working offensive line. Herbert and Jim Harbaugh have pushed this team to 11 wins in back-to-back seasons. That’s meaningful. It would be even better if they could vault more firmly into the upper realm of conference contenders, where the franchise hasn’t truly been in nearly two decades.<\/em> <\/em>4  Chicago Bears<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Caleb Williams’ Sam Darnold Score: 3\/10. Williams is on much steadier ground now than he was coming off a somewhat spotty rookie year. For his sophomore effort, Williams won 11 games while throwing for 3,942 yards and compiling a 27:7 TD-to-INT ratio. That’s the kind of season you want to see out of a No. 1 overall pick. The trick will be performing like that again, hopefully many more times, until he’s 15 years into a Hall of Fame track. Then Bears fans will be able to breathe a little.<\/em> <\/em>Do they have a Dark Side? In Johnson’s first year at the helm, Chicago averaged 5.7 yards per play and ranked ninth in EPA per play (0.03) on offense. That might not look like much compared with what Johnson put up in his three years running the show in Detroit (the Lions averaged 5.9 yards per play or better in 2022-24, while finishing fourth, fourth and second in EPA per play, respectively), but it was downright revolutionary for the Bears, who last topped 5.5 yards per play in 2016, under the three-headed QB monster of Jay Cutler, Matt Barkley and Brian Hoyer. The offensive line is a concern, but if Johnson can keep things cooking in Year 2, this could be an attack that pushes Chicago into the upper reaches of the NFC standings again. <\/em> <\/em>Who is their Seahawks-ian building block? Montez Sweat, Edge. Sweat might be even more of a Williams-type acquisition than Williams was. When the ‘Hawks traded for Williams in 2023, they were about to begin a 4-6 slide that knocked them out of the playoffs. When the Bears acquired Sweat from Washington in October of 2023, they were 2-6 and still far from relevance — or, frankly, having an obvious pressing need for a costly (in terms of draft compensation and, eventually, an extension) mid-career pass rusher. But Sweat made an immediate difference, and when the stakes got suddenly higher last season, he was already in position to give the Bears a 10-sack effort. He’s a great example of a groundwork-laying piece who comes aboard before the final vision comes into focus. <\/em> <\/em>Bottom line: Are the Bears too good already to make this list? The results from 2025 say yes, but the previous 12 years say no. Between Lovie Smith’s last season (2012) and Johnson’s first, Chicago went 76-110, with two winless playoff appearances. There is enough youth in the mix, and the defense is worrisome enough, that the Bears might end up being a popular candidate to regress in 2026. But if the defense tightens up and Johnson’s offense helps the team win double-digit games in back-to-back seasons, it won’t be crazy to think back to the Super Bowl ceiling of the last Chicago team to pull that off, back in 2006.<\/em> <\/em>5  Cincinnati Bengals<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>Joe Burrow’s Sam Darnold Score: -100\/10. When it comes to realizing individual potential, the first six years of Burrow’s career were basically the polar opposite of Darnold’s. Health has been a persistent challenge, but the most pressing question at this point is whether the team around Burrow can reach the minimum performance level to let him drive another Super Bowl run.<\/em> <\/em>Do they have a Dark Side? Cincinnati’s offense is led by three players (Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins) who can, at any point, qualify as one of the best in the league at their position. The defense surrendered more yards (6,475) and points (492) than most offenses could compensate for, let alone one that was without Burrow for nine games. If that D can move closer to league-average performance, Burrow and Co. could really put something together. <\/em> <\/em>Who is their Seahawks-ian building block? Dexter Lawrence, DT. This is a bit of a projection, given that Lawrence was only acquired by Cincinnati in early April, but, like Seattle’s trade for Williams, this is less of a no-doubt home run than a reasonable swing on an established veteran in need of a fresh start. If Lawrence successfully transforms the defense, he could help change the complexion of the AFC.<\/em> <\/em>Bottom line: The Bengals reached the Super Bowl in Burrow’s second season and the AFC title game the year after that. They should have been in the SB picture on a regular basis over the past half-decade. Instead, injuries and defensive malpractice have consigned them to the NFL’s middle class. With a little more help from the defense, Burrow can push them to the front of the pack. <\/em>  <\/td><\/tr>
 <\/strong>TEAMS FOR BRENDAN SORSBY<\/strong>Which teams should roll the dice on QB BRENDAN SORSBY?  Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic has a list: New York Jets<\/em><\/strong>If the Jets want Sorsby, there\u2019s a solid chance the Jets will be able to get Sorsby. New York has, by a decent margin, more 2027 NFL Draft capital than any other team, including a whopping three firsts. They hold both the Cowboys\u2019 and Colts\u2019 opening-round selection next spring.<\/em> <\/em>When New York first began bulking up on draft picks last fall, conventional wisdom said it would be in great position to make a run at the 2027 draft\u2019s top QB, be it Arch Manning, Dante Moore or someone else. The Jets are in group 1 (teams with fewer than six wins the previous season) of the supplemental draft order, and several of the other organizations in that bucket \u2014 Las Vegas, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Washington \u2014 have apparent franchise quarterbacks in place.<\/em> <\/em>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong>Yes, but only if New York believes Sorsby is a can\u2019t-miss prospect, which is a pretty tough case to make.<\/em> <\/em>The Jets have four quarterbacks (Geno Smith, rookie Cade Klubnik, Bailey Zappe, Brady Cook) on their roster right now, although not one of them is going to scare a single NFL defensive coordinator this season. The Jets did just invest a fourth-round pick in Klubnik, however.<\/em> <\/em>It\u2019s debatable as to whether or not Sorsby is a better prospect than Klubnik today. They\u2019re both 22 years old, and Klubnik\u2019s college career was equal to, or more impressive than, Sorsby\u2019s. Klubnik also doesn\u2019t come with the off-field baggage Sorsby is currently carrying. New York has a chance to see what Klubnik can give the franchise this year, and if that\u2019s nothing, it\u2019ll still be in a great spot to take a talent at the top of the 2027 draft.<\/em> <\/em>Arizona Cardinals<\/em><\/strong>After spending several years in a bit of QB purgatory with Kyler Murray, the Cardinals are now officially in QB hell, with zero firm answers on their roster. I have a tough time seeing Carson Beck (the team\u2019s third-round pick) being better than either Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew in camp, although any quarterback will benefit from having running back Jeremiyah Love, the team\u2019s pick at No. 3 this April.<\/em> <\/em>If there\u2019s a tier for NFL teams at the very beginning of a rebuild, the Cardinals would be in it. What separates Arizona from some of the others in that spot, however, is the fact Arizona is a bit more strapped for future draft capital \u2014 it currently has all seven of its standard picks for next year, but that\u2019s it.<\/em> <\/em>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong>Yes, if Arizona can get Sorsby using a mid-round pick. If I\u2019m the Cardinals, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d give up more than a fourth for him, especially after just using a third-round selection on Beck (which I believe was a reach). This isn\u2019t dissimilar to the Klubnik situation in New York, though, in that the Cardinals already have a young passer they like. Spending valuable capital on another youngster, especially one in Sorsby\u2019s current situation, could be tough.<\/em> <\/em>That said, Arizona should play the game a bit here, because Sorsby is a better prospect than Beck. Arizona could be in position to snag a guy at the top of the 2027 draft, but there are no promises. Bidding a Day 3 pick on Sorsby could make sense.<\/em> <\/em>Cleveland Browns<\/em><\/strong>Speaking of quarterback hell, the Browns have been the host family for a while now. The Deshaun Watson saga continues to roll on, as Cleveland appears set to give him another shot to start in 2026 before he becomes a free agent next summer. After this season, Cleveland will finally be able to start freeing itself from Watson\u2019s disastrous contract.<\/em> <\/em>Cleveland is also set to have a solid amount of draft capital again in 2027, including its own pick in the first, second and third rounds, three fourth-rounders and two fifths. The Browns already have as many young quarterback options on their roster as any other team \u2014 Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and 2026 sixth-rounder Taylen Green are all expected in camp this summer.<\/em> <\/em>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong>It\u2019s a no for me. The Browns have already spent three draft picks over the past two years on quarterbacks, all of whom are almost certainly destined for backup careers (at best).<\/em> <\/em>Sorsby is a better quarterback prospect today than any of those three youngsters were on their respective draft days, but I\u2019m not 100 percent sure that\u2019d be the case now, especially since Gabriel and Sanders have earned NFL starts. New Cleveland coach Todd Monken told reporters earlier this month that Sorsby\u2019s unresolved situation is a \u201cslippery slope\u201d and he likes \u201cthe quarterbacks we have.\u201d<\/em> <\/em>Cleveland has a chance to get Watson off the roster next year and make a move for a legitimate starter at the top of the draft. I\u2019d keep my focus on that.<\/em> <\/em>Pittsburgh Steelers<\/em><\/strong>The Steelers have been firmly on the veteran quarterback mercenary train since giving up on Kenny Pickett two seasons after taking him in the first round (2022). After riding with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in 2024, Pittsburgh signed Aaron Rodgers for 2025 and brought the 42-year-old back in 2026 for what\u2019s expected to be the future Hall of Famer\u2019s final season.<\/em> <\/em>None of this is to say Pittsburgh has bypassed future investments at the position. Quite the contrary. The Steelers took former Ohio State national champion Will Howard in the sixth round in 2025, before taking ex-Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round this April. Howard feels more like a long-term NFL backup, but Allar has all the physical tools to be a future starter. On the field and in reality, though, he\u2019s very raw and might need multiple years of development to be starter-ready \u2014 if he ever gets there.<\/em> <\/em>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong>It might. Pittsburgh\u2019s 2027 draft capital situation is similar to that of Arizona; the Steelers currently have a pick (including multiple seventh-rounders) in every round but the sixth. Unless Rodgers changes his mind (which, it\u2019s Aaron Rodgers \u2026 ), Pittsburgh likely will need a new starter for 2027. Mike McCarthy has already admitted that Allar, while talented, is basically a teardown rebuild after playing in a Penn State offense that rarely made sense for him.<\/em> <\/em>Sorsby would hardly be entering this situation without warts. From a football standpoint, however, it\u2019s possible that after a hypothetical year of working behind Rodgers, he\u2019d be more ready than Allar or Howard for the job in 2027. This also shouldn\u2019t be your normal forward-thinking QB-needy situation, as Pittsburgh believes it still has a playoff roster right now.<\/em> <\/em>Miami Dolphins<\/em><\/strong>The Dolphins ate an NFL-record $99.2 million to get out of Tua Tagovailoa\u2019s contract (Miami will pay Tagovailoa $54 million to play in Atlanta this season) and has moved into what could be a bridge situation with Malik Willis. Willis has started just six NFL games in four seasons and has never been a full-time starter, but he was impressive enough during relief stints in Green Bay to entice new Miami head coach Jeff Hafley.<\/em> <\/em>He is on a three-year, $67.5 million deal in Miami, with a potential out after the 2027 season. The Dolphins also have one of the NFL\u2019s more crowded quarterback rooms in terms of youth, as Miami spent two Day 3 picks on quarterbacks in 2025 (Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller), then added former Iowa passer Mark Gronowski as an undrafted free agent this spring.<\/em> <\/em>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong>Not really. Miami\u2019s plan under Hafley and new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan seems to be setting up for a full rebuild. Miami did score a haul of draft picks for trading Jaylen Waddle to Denver, but all of them were 2026 selections.<\/em> <\/em>Miami is in position to potentially use the next two drafts to bulk up Hafley\u2019s defense before making a long-term decision on Willis (or someone else). I\u2019m not sure giving up a pick for Sorsby, with plenty of young QB projects already on the roster, makes much sense.<\/em> <\/em>New Orleans Saints<\/em><\/strong>For now, the Saints will move forward with second-year quarterback Tyler Shough, their second-round pick in 2025. The 26-year-old Shough had promising stretches in nine starts last season, particularly down the stretch. He was generally accurate and decisive with the football, finishing the year with a .19 EPA\/dropback in nine starts, which ranked in the top 10 among quarterbacks with at least nine starts.<\/em> <\/em>Frankly, Shough played like a first-round pick as a rookie. There were reasons he went in the second round, though, including his age and the fact he suffered three severe injuries in college (two broken collarbones and a broken leg). New Orleans also still has talented young backup Spencer Rattler on the roster, and it brought former first-rounder Zach Wilson into the building this summer.<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>Would this make sense?<\/em><\/strong><\/em>Maybe. As a roster, the Saints are closer to Pittsburgh than the rest of the teams on this list \u2014 they\u2019re talented enough to surprise some people this year, especially if Shough plays the way he did late last year.<\/em> <\/em>Sorsby is probably as talented as Shough was when he entered the draft last spring. If the Saints want to hedge their bet \u2014 and feel they might be able to get Sorsby with a mid-round pick \u2014 it could turn into a productive investment.<\/em> Jason Lloyd of The Athletic<\/em> begs the Browns not to take a chance on Sorsby \u2013 noting they have already had a gamble blow up in their faces with QB DESHAUN WATSON and others. They can\u2019t. They can\u2019t actually do this. At some point, even the Cleveland Browns have to learn from their past mistakes at the most important position and push themselves back from the table. <\/em> <\/em>Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is headed to the NFL via the supplemental draft after his college career crumbled following his admission to gambling on his team while at Indiana. No NFL general manager loves shopping in the scratch and dent aisle more than Andrew Berry, and no team could use a talented quarterback prospect more than the Browns. But they can\u2019t do it. Not this time. <\/em> <\/em>I have sympathy for Sorsby and believe he is the latest name in a growing public health crisis across the United States involving gambling addiction and young men in their early 20s. In this instance, however, he can be someone else\u2019s bet.<\/em> <\/em>If common sense isn\u2019t enough of a deterrent, if logical reasoning that drafting a quarterback who is a diagnosed gambling addict and dropping him into one of the most dysfunctional franchises of the last 30 years probably isn\u2019t an ideal business plan, all the evidence they need is 1.3 miles south of Huntington Bank Field down East Ninth St. <\/em> <\/em>On the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, the mere mention of Emmanuel Clase still turns faces green inside the Cleveland Guardians\u2019 executive offices. The most stable, high-functioning team in town over the last 30 years was rocked last summer by gambling allegations that sunk the careers of Clase and Luis Ortiz. Both men have been charged with allegedly rigging pitches and face up to 65 years in federal prison. They will stand trial separately later this year. <\/em> <\/em>The scandal shook the Guardians, infuriated team executives and created far more questions among players in the clubhouse than there were answers. <\/em> <\/em>The Browns, even with the worst quarterback room in the NFL, create enough problems without inviting anything like this into the building. <\/em> <\/em>They are finally, mercifully, entering the last season of Deshaun Watson\u2019s $230 million contract. Shedeur Sanders will likely get an opportunity to start at some point this season if he isn\u2019t the Week 1 starter, and Dillon Gabriel is still lingering, at least for now. Somehow, rookie Taylen Green is the only quarterback on this roster that doesn\u2019t elicit some polarizing response from a divided fan base that has been broken over the team\u2019s quarterback play for years.<\/em> <\/em>From Johnny Manziel to Baker Mayfield, from Watson to Sanders, the Browns haven\u2019t been able to solve their QB woes. Sorsby in Cleveland would be just another toxic dart throw, and the Browns have missed so badly over the years that they have more holes on their walls than in the cork. It\u2019s hard to imagine a Sorsby experiment ending any differently. <\/em> <\/em>Browns coach Todd Monken seems to understand this. It\u2019s tough to know with NFL teams what is real and what is bluster, but Monken was so strong in his rejection of Sorsby earlier this month as a possibility in Cleveland that it would be awkward to unite them now. <\/em> <\/em>\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a position to go down that road,\u201d Monken said. \u201cThat\u2019s my opinion, that\u2019s not (Berry\u2019s). I like the quarterbacks that we have. I think that\u2019s a slippery slope when you go down that, irrespective of talent, right? In terms of the situation he\u2019s (put) himself in, we all know what it is. He put himself in that situation. And we\u2019ve seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports.<\/em> <\/em>\u201cBut from my end of it, (it\u2019s) kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that\u2019s going to be your franchise quarterback if he\u2019s ever eligible to even play in the NFL.\u201d<\/em> <\/em>Monken is right and speaking logically. He also subtly introduced another valid concern for any team interested in Sorsby: He could still face a suspension under the NFL\u2019s broad personal conduct policy, which Browns fans know from the Watson trade. The Browns thought they had a good understanding of what Watson\u2019s suspension length was going to be when they acquired him. But as backlash mounted against Watson amid allegations of sexual misconduct from more than 20 women, the league appealed the initial 6-game ruling and increased the punishment. <\/em> <\/em>Those allegations, of course, are far different than what Sorsby admitted to doing. Nevertheless, the 11-game suspension Watson ultimately served is proof that it\u2019s difficult to know what the league will do until it does it. <\/em> <\/em>The Browns have made a complete mess at quarterback, but betting on a known gambler isn\u2019t the way out. It\u2019s hard to even type that line without chuckling. I don\u2019t believe Watson or Sanders should be on the roster, either, based on performance. The Browns should have moved on from both. <\/em> <\/em>But if forced to choose between the two, it isn\u2019t close. I\u2019d take Sanders every time. There\u2019s clearly no future with Watson.<\/em> <\/em>There isn\u2019t with Sorsby, either. Like most Browns quarterbacks over the last 30 years, he\u2019s a bad bet.<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AROUND THE NFL As you watch FIFA World Cup games in \u201cBoston Stadium\u201d, the home of the Patriots far from Boston, you will be hard-pressed to see the name of the venue\u2019s title sponsor.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: FIFA\u2019s take-it-or-leave-it specifications for NFL venues hoping to host World Cup matches required, among other things, the changing of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,7,11,8,13],"class_list":["post-7293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-daily-briefing","tag-chris-myers","tag-chris-myers-sports","tag-daily-briefing","tag-fox-sports","tag-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrismyerssports.com\/cmi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}