Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com with an update on Covid procedures:

The NFL and NFLPA have agreed to extend daily COVID-19 testing of players through September 5, but it isn’t because of the number of positive tests to this point in training camp.

The NFL sent a letter to teams on Wednesday announcing the agreement on continued testing. The initial agreement was for testing to move to every other day if the positive rate was below five percent, but the league said they have extended the daily testing despite a number far below that mark.

“Although the rate of positive tests for all player and Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel across the league during this period is below one percent (and no individual club rate is greater than two percent) the parties, following consultation with their respective medical experts, have elected to continue to require daily testing of all players and Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel until further notice,” the letter said.

The letter also notes that the trailers set up for testing players and team personnel have been used by others outside those groups. While that it is not prohibited, the letter says it is “strongly discouraged” and teams are asked to discontinue the practice.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

A key late signing by the Cowboys.  Todd Archer of ESPN.com:

Before they take the field for their first practice, the Dallas Cowboys have added to their defensive line, agreeing to a one-year deal with veteran Everson Griffen, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The deal is worth $6 million, with $3 million in base salary and $3 million in roster bonuses, a source told ESPN’s Kimberley A. Martin.

The Cowboys have kept an eye on Griffen for much of the offseason and added him to the roster this week. In 10 seasons with the Vikings, Griffen recorded 74.5 sacks, including eight last season when he was named to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time.

The Cowboys lost last year’s sack leader at the start of free agency when Robert Quinn, who had 11.5 sacks in 2019, signed with the Chicago Bears. They added Aldon Smith in free agency, but he has not played in the NFL since 2015 because of myriad suspensions. The Cowboys are awaiting the possibility of Randy Gregory, their second-round pick in 2015, getting reinstated from an indefinite suspension.

DeMarcus Lawrence is a pass-rushing threat, but he had just five sacks last season after posting 25 sacks in 2017-18. Tyrone Crawford is coming off double hip surgery that limited him to four games and one sack last season. While he is currently on the physically unable to perform list, the expectation is he will be practicing during training camp.

Dorance Armstrong is the only other returning defensive end on the roster to record a sack last season.

NFL Network first reported the one-year agreement.

Upon voiding the final three years of his contract in February, Griffen put himself in line to become a free agent at the start of the new league year.

Griffen restructured his deal last offseason, signing a four-year extension that was to keep him under contract in Minnesota through 2022. But as one of two NFL players last season with a player-controlled void written into his deal, per a league source, Griffen had the option to void the remaining three years of his contract if he totaled at least six sacks and played 57% of his team’s snaps. The veteran defensive end finished 2019 with eight sacks and played 78% of defensive snaps.

At the NFL combine, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he expected the defensive end to return to Minnesota for his 11th season, but less than a month later, Griffen said goodbye to the state and Vikings fans via an Instagram post.

Coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season, Zimmer called the defensive end’s play “excellent” in 2019, “maybe as good as I’ve seen him play since he’s been here.”

Two incidents in September 2018 that drew police involvement forced Griffen to step away from the game for five weeks while seeking treatment for his mental health, but he thrived again last season and said he “learned it’s OK to seek help.”

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

Signs of an imminent long-term deal for TE GEORGE KITTLE from Nick Shook of NFL.com:

The 49ers and George Kittle have yet to strike an agreement on a long-term deal, but they’re getting closer.

NFL Network’s Michael Silver reported the two sides are “making progress” on a long-term deal, which is on track to make Kittle the highest-paid tight end in league history. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport also reported that the two sides were “very close” to a deal, according to sources.

Kittle, meanwhile, was irritated by internet rumors of an impending deal, responding to one report with a sarcastic tweet and blanked-face emoji:

Silver’s report is more significant than two participants simply “making progress” because of just how far away the parties were just two weeks ago. Silver reported July 31 “a pretty significant disconnect philosophically” remained between the Niners and the star tight end, signaling the possibility of a drawn-out negotiation process. Kittle viewed himself as more than a tight end, while the 49ers were more interested in simply making him the highest-paid tight end in the NFL.

The tight end market has essentially been stagnant since Jimmy Graham’s whopper of a deal in 2014, with Cleveland’s March signing of Austin Hooper just barely passing that mark. Passing such a mark wouldn’t exactly make Kittle among the league’s richest, even after he landed inside the top 10 of the most recent NFL Top 100.

Kittle is a catalyst in San Francisco, but it’s fair to wonder just how much value a tight end possesses. It seems as if San Francisco has come around at least a little on how important he is to their future. Niners general manager John Lynch said on July 29 it was about “finding the right number” with Kittle’s position and his contributions making that task “tricky.”

AND AS WE GO TO PRESS – this from Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

49ers tight end George Kittle dismissed a report on Wednesday that he’d come to agreement with the team on a contract extension, but signs pointed toward a deal getting done soon and word that it is complete arrived on Thursday.

NFL Media reports that Kittle and the 49ers have agreed on a five-year, $75 million extension. That marks a big jump in terms of average annual salary for a long-term deal over the contract that Austin Hooper signed with the Browns this offseason and would leave Kittle just outside the top 10 wide receivers in that category.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the deal includes an $18 million signing bonus.

Kittle was looking for something more than “tight end money” in his next deal and the numbers show that the 49ers agreed that his value to the offense put him in a different category

AFC WEST

DENVER

EDGE VON MILLER is inspired by two NBA legends.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com:

Von Miller is easily the most decorated player on the Denver Broncos’ roster as an eight-time Pro Bowl selection, Super Bowl 50 MVP and member of the All-Decade team for the 2010s. But after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year after a third straight losing season, Miller has decided he needs to make a change in how he leads the team.

“It’s never too late to change,” Miller said. “I might be 31 years old and [in] Year 10, but it’s never too late to change. I’ve identified the leader that I was before wasn’t getting it done. It wasn’t leading us in the direction that we need to be fast enough. It might have been effective, but it wasn’t doing it fast enough. I have to change.”

The losing had been weighing on Miller when he found unexpected inspiration from a pair of basketball stars: Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Bryant’s death in a helicopter accident brought to light myriad stories about his dedication to winning. The ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” did the same with Jordan, and Miller devoured all of it.

“I started to dig deeper on the person that [Bryant] was,” Miller said. “I read his ‘The Mamba Mentality: How I Play’ book and the foreword by Pau Gasol and the things Phil Jackson said about him. I want my teammates to say that kind of stuff about me. I want my coaches to say that type of stuff about me. I want to demand more from my teammates.

“In ‘The Last Dance,’ Michael Jordan said he would never demand anything out of his teammates that he wasn’t doing himself. For me, it was like, ‘I got to work harder. I’ve got to push harder. I’ve got to get back in shape. I’ve got to lead more. I’ve got to lead better.’ I felt like I was a great leader before, but I kind of shied away from the pressure of being the No. 1 leader or leading in the right direction. I feel like, especially in this offseason, pressure is privilege.”

Miller has always been an important voice in the locker room, but when it came time to push harder, to ask a little more than what was being done, those duties often fell to former players Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware. Miller has tried to find that voice. He has always been a key figure for the team’s younger players, routinely making sure they were settling in. But he has often joked about being the Broncos’ social director and said the team had a “lot of leaders” when asked if he would step forward even more.

In recent weeks, Miller said he didn’t like what he saw on the field from himself last season — his first sub-10 sack season since 2013 — or the team.

“I know he’s worked extremely hard,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said. “I do sense that he’s got a hunger to his game, and to his attitude, that I don’t think he’s had the last few years in the league.”

AFC NORTH

CLEVELAND

Jake Trotter of ESPN.com touts Browns RB NICK CHUBB as a good prop bet for the NFL rushing title or a fine addition to your Fantasy team.

On an otherwise underachieving and underwhelming Cleveland Browns offense last season, Nick Chubb was a revelation.

Despite all the erratic play around him, the second-year running back out of the University of Georgia was a consistent force. While shouldering an offense that ranked just 20th in efficiency, Chubb came within 47 yards of capturing the NFL rushing title on the way to his first Pro Bowl.

Now, as the Browns shift from a pass-happy scheme to coach Kevin Stefanski’s rush-heavy attack, Chubb could be primed for an extraordinary third season, which not only could catapult him to that rushing title but also elevate Cleveland’s offense into one of the league’s best.

“I’m excited,” the always-taciturn Chubb said this week, when asked what he could do in an offense that figures to revolve around him. “Excited about the new offense, the new coaches, the new team, the new year.”

The new year brought about big changes in Cleveland that stand to benefit Chubb, who, being extension eligible after this season, will aim to capitalize accordingly.

On the heels of last year’s disappointing 6-10 finish, the Browns brought in first-time head coach Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry.

Though it remains to be seen if he’ll call plays or hand off that duty to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, Stefanski used multiple tight ends 57% of the time last year as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, the highest rate in the league. Out of those power looks and outside zone plays, the Vikings were formidable on the ground.

Minnesota, in fact, ranked seventh in the league in EPA (expected points added) on rushes — four spots ahead of the Browns, despite Chubb’s huge year. Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, meanwhile, averaged 2.85 yards before first contact; Chubb averaged 2.76. Given that he also was second in the league by averaging 2.27 yards after first contact, Chubb stands to be even more effective out of Stefanski’s scheme, provided the Browns can create the same initial space that the Vikings delivered for Cook.

“I’ve been running that since college,” Chubb said of the outside zone. “I think it’ll be the same thing, just maybe a little bit different scheme and different guys up front touching things up.”

Those different guys up front should boost Chubb, as well.

Not long after taking the GM job, Berry set out to shore up Cleveland’s blocking, which was a mess at times on the perimeter. Berry first signed the top tight end on the free-agent market in Austin Hooper, who will start alongside returning tight end David Njoku.

Berry also spent the No. 10 overall draft pick on Jedrick Wills Jr., who will shift to left tackle after protecting the blindside of lefty quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from the right side at Alabama. Rounding out Cleveland’s major offseason moves, Berry nabbed the top free-agent right tackle, as well, in Jack Conklin, who helped pave the way for Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry to narrowly best Chubb for last year’s rushing title.

Chubb admitted that coming up short against Henry only provided “more motivation” for him to be even better — and this time potentially win that rushing title.

“Hopefully, we can do that again here,” Chubb said. “We added some great additions to the line, and I look forward to going out there and playing with them.”

Looking into Trotter’s prose we were jarred by this phrase.

“I’m excited,” the always-taciturn Chubb said…

It had us looking up “taciturn” which meant what we thought it did:

(of a person) reserved or uncommunicative in speech; saying little.

“after such gatherings she would be taciturn and morose”

It would literally seem to be impossible to be truly “excited” and yet at the same time “always-taciturn”.

Perhaps, he is “usually-taciturn” or the word is misused or his tone of voice when he said it did not sound very excited at all (which should have been explained).

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

A report from Jay Gruden on the state of his Jaguars offense.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

Jay Gruden’s offense is still at the changing-table level in Jacksonville as the disrupted offseason due to COVID-19 has hindered the new Jags offense from fully being installed on the field.

“We’re still in diapers right now,” Gruden said Wednesday of his offense, via the team’s official website.

With Gardner Minshew at the helm as the full-time starter entering the season, Gruden is confident the Jags can go from diapers to pull-ups to big-boy underwear in a hurry as training camp practices get underway. Being in diapers now isn’t a negative in Gruden’s eyes.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m excited about the guys,” he said. “You have guys who are willing to learn and willing to work. These guys are willing to learn and do things the way we want to do things now. Some things will be similar. Some things will be a little different.

“We have a long way to do, but I’ve been impressed with every one of them so far.”

AFC EAST

NEW YORK JETS

QB SAM DARNOLD proclaims that an improved diet will be a key to 2020 success – especially now that he is away from his native California.  Brian Costello of the New York Post:

Sam Darnold’s key to coming into training camp in shape is easy: avoid the double-double.

“I’m making sure I’m not eating whatever I want to eat. I’m not having In-N-Out every single day and making sure I’m eating good food,” Darnold said Wednesday. “Putting the right things in my body that’s a huge part of it. I’m working out four or five days a week. I don’t have to worry about how much work I put in. It’s really about what I’m putting in my body.”

The 23-year-old said he concentrated this offseason on a few things in his workouts.

“It’s making sure I’m doing everything I can to make my lower body as strong as possible and making sure my upper body stays loose, I guess for lack of a better term,” Darnold said. “Making sure I’m still staying strong. I want to make sure my arm is ready to go. Keep my arm in shape and keep my core right.”

Darnold won’t have to worry about In-N-Out in New Jersey. When he returns to California, he can pay a visit. He gave his go-to order: “Number 1, grilled onions, Neopolitan shake. Easy.”

Coaches and teammates say they see a difference in Darnold in Year 3 in the NFL and Year 2 in Adam Gase’s offense.

 “Sam is a lot more comfortable,” running back Le’Veon Bell said. “You can tell just by the way he’s talking to guys. It’s more of a sternness to him. … He knows he can hold guys more accountable because he’s not going to mess up. Even with coach Gase, he may call something and Sam’s correcting him now. Sam’s getting to that point where he’s really starting to understand the offense. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited.”

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains said Darnold’s grasp on the offense is clear.

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“The biggest thing I see with him is command. He can speak with more confidence,” Loggains said. “Last year he learned it. We need to see command from him now to be an extension of the coaching staff.”

THIS AND THAT

COPING WITH CORONA

Although the Saints won’t be having fans for Game 1, NFL teams are “podding” along with plans for limited admissions at some games this year.  Charles Robinson of YahooSports.com:

Get to know the word “pods” when it comes to hosting fans inside NFL stadiums during a pandemic. And be sure to read the terms and conditions on those tickets, which now contain boilerplate language protecting teams from a COVID-19 outbreak among fans.

Multiple team sources told Yahoo Sports that “podding” is gaining traction with multiple franchises aiming to safely host fans during the COVID-19 pandemic. It comes as teams have significantly beefed up protective clauses in their ticket terms during the press forward into the 2020 season.

At least three teams — the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs — have begun offering or are preparing to offer ticket packages to fans that position them in “pods,” which will be a clustered form of seating purchased by fans who will be attending games together. The difference from past years: These clustered pods will be positioned to keep them safely distanced from other pods.

“Think of it like you are going out to dinner with another couple or a group of friends,” one team source told Yahoo Sports. “That’s allowed in some places, so you go out together wearing your masks, and you sit together at the restaurant where you’re safely separated from other groups at other tables. That’s basically your pod. … You’ve committed to having dinner basically in your pod with the people you arrived with — people who you presumably know — and then you are kept separate from others who have their own pods. There are still some details to be worked out with concessions and other [stadium] facilities in terms of bathrooms and ingress and egress, but that’s pretty much the concept.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a reference to the podding system in comments to the media on Wednesday, essentially tipping the league’s hand on what has been a pressing question for months about how teams could safely design fan attendance.

He also referenced what many NFL teams are dealing with as they plan for fans on virtually a day-to-day basis: In essence, the best-laid plans now could be dramatically changed by local and state guidance by the time the season kicks off in September.

“As you know, you’re dealing with a little bit of a moving target, and I’m not trying to diminish the moving target aspect of it, but we’re very unique in we have the suite capacities we have out there that give us some extra control,” Jones said of AT&T Stadium. “We also have a stadium that has 3 million square feet in it. … When you look at a number [of fans] in the stadium, don’t think that number’s getting together out there — they’re not.

“It’ll be in pods of possibly five, 10, 15 different people. Our stadium is well-suited to put together numbers of people that have elected to come and want to watch the Dallas Cowboys play. I won’t speculate on a number.”

Fans are seen sporadically seated in their stadium seats prior to the start of Super Bowl LIV.

NFL fans who are allowed into games this fall must agreed to a COVID-19 waiver in their ticket purchase and could be seated in “pods” that are properly distanced from other “pods.” (Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

According to the teams that spoke to Yahoo Sports, the pods could range anywhere from four seats to somewhere in the teens, depending on the size of the ticket allotment purchased by groups of fans. Depending on the number of tickets purchased, NFL teams have already worked out a level of functionality that puts specific-sized groups in designated places.

One source familiar with the ticketing deck used by NFL teams said there is software that allows teams to easily break up seating sections and also provides options about how seating packages can be arranged depending on portions that you are blacking out. The source described the layout of fans as looking like “checkerboards” in the stands.

The size of the checkerboard and how the pods will be staggered is something being left up to each team — in accordance to what local and state laws will allow for assembly in stadiums. That layout could also change from one game to the next or in accordance to COVID-19 regulations that could change over time.

Two teams expressed that determining how to stage fans might be the easiest hurdle, leaving a more complicated problem of keeping fans safely distanced from each other in concourse areas, bathrooms and potential concession lines.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into preventing the traffic jams, as we call them,” one team source said. “We’ve even walked the stadium quite a bit on foot to see it with our own eyes and talk through how to attack the problem areas before they happen on a gameday. … There’s going to be a lot of manpower involved, for sure, just to keep people moving along. And I think there’s a possibility of maybe limiting movement by delivering food to people or just making concessions something we bring to the seats rather than having the fans migrating for food.”

Teams expressed the constant reach for eliminating potential liabilities in movement — but some other mitigation will have already taken place long before any fans enter the stadiums this season. As teams have rolled out potential ticket purchases, each franchise has added boilerplate “infectious disease” or “COVID” clauses in the “terms and conditions” section.

Two team sources said such language about infectious diseases is expected to remain a staple of NFL ticket waiver language moving forward.

As one source put it, “This is the new normal in our world.”

– – –

The NFL also needs “snitches” per Charles Robinson of YahooSports if its plan to proceed without strict bubbles is to succeed:

This week’s edition of “Don’t be that guy” brought us Cleveland Indians pitchers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger, who were both busted violating the team’s COVID-19 protocols last Saturday night — taking an excursion into Chicago with some friends during a road series against the White Sox. Plesac returned in the wee hours of the morning, only to be caught by MLB security that was on hand to ensure coronavirus protocols weren’t being broken. Clevinger, who didn’t even bother to return to the hotel, was busted later in the ensuing investigation.

With the possibility of having exposed himself to the coronavirus, Plesac was forced to drive back to Cleveland in a rental car. Clevinger, on the other hand, made the stupefying decision to conceal that he had been with Plesac during their night out, thus allowing himself to fly back to Cleveland (while possibly infected) on the team plane.

This is why some teams and the NFL Players Association have set up snitch lines. No matter how much teams trust their players to do the right thing, someone is almost always going to give in to the wrong thing. No matter the threat of serious fines, which the NFL and union have jointly agreed to put into place. No matter the number of impassioned speeches from coaches (see this week’s premiere of HBO’s “Hard Knocks”). And no matter the number of times professional baseball proves one enduring point: A well-constructed plan is only as strong as the willpower of the selfish fools who are responsible for following it.

And therein lies the lesson for the NFL. With well over 2,000 players and an army of coaches, personnel and support staff in the mix, the honor system is a ticking time bomb. The age-old “never ever” omertà when it comes to snitching has to be suspended in professional football. The only way to regulate the NFL’s non-existent bubble is for everyone who wants football to create one themselves. A snitch bubble, if you will.

One that is inhabited by anyone and everyone, whether they’re in the league or not. That includes players, coaches, team personnel, media, fans, family and everyone in between. If the garden gnome sees someone from an NFL team heading out for a night on the town, they had better hijack a wheelbarrow and get to a phone.

That’s the last line of defense here to ensuring an NFL season stays on the rails: the “everyone” guardrails.

As in, everyone with a phone. Everyone with a social media account. Everyone with any shred of proof that an NFL team employee is violating protocols, from the top of the food chain to the bottom. They have to air that information out. Publicly and loudly, if necessary. This includes people inside the building and out. And it requires fans who often know the faces of the players and coaches and employees who live in their town to take part in that snitching effort.

This means no crowded nightclubs without masks. Same for packed bars. No indoor entertainment venues like concerts or sporting events, unless there is some significant distance. No giant house parties. Rinse, repeat, look for a way to snitch. Even if it’s the unpopular thing to do.

As baseball has shown us with the Miami Marlins, Cleveland Indians and St. Louis Cardinals, it takes only a few guys blowing off the protocols to push an entire season to the brink. And given the NFL’s prevalence of on-field contact, senior-aged coaches and players with comorbidities, the cliff is steeper and more treacherous than any other league.

A Mike Clevinger situation needs to be avoided at all costs. He flew on a team plane with a 61-year-old manager and a teammate who was stricken with leukemia only one year ago. And he did it after having the remarkable gall to preach one month ago about players holding each other accountable for following the rules.

“This isn’t going to be a ‘run to daddy’ kind of thing,” Clevinger told reporters on July 30. “We’re going to handle it in-house. This is a player discipline thing. Keep the coaches, front office kind of out of it. It puts a little extra accountability, kind of. Just having that trust in your teammates is a big thing. It’s a big thing on the field. If you feel your teammate doesn’t trust you off the field, how are you going to feel like he trusts you when you get between the lines?”

This is a stellar illustration of how trusting a preaching player to live by his own words is a dicey proposition.

It will be no different in the NFL. That’s why everyone involved in the NFL ecosystem (and outside of it) has to be willing to snitch when they see a problem. It won’t be easy, of course. The league and most especially the players have a deeply rooted “no snitching” mentality. Violating it can make you a target. Look no further than the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal nearly nine years ago, which generated several years of wonderment about who were the whistleblowers during an intense league investigation into player-targeting.

While it has been generally wildly unacceptable to tattle in the NFL, these are also wild times. And they call for wild measures. Some of which are as simple as team employees accepting a “see something, say something” attitude; players being willing to use the snitch line set up by their union; and everyone else toeing that same kind of line.

In a season when nothing will be fair to almost anyone involved, one of the few fair things still on the table is the ability to pick up a phone, post a photo or send an email, making sure that nobody has the freedom to pick up a team or a season and foolishly carry it into the unknown any given Saturday night.

WINNING A FIRST SUPER BOWL

Now that Andy Reid has hoisted Lombardi, who is the best active coach not to win a Super Bowl and who has the best chance in 2020 wonders John Breech of CBSSports.com.  Remember – those out, besides Reid, are Belichick, Tomlin, McCarthy, Payton, Harbaugh, Pederson, Gruden and Carroll.  So we’re thinking it’s got to be Kyle Shanahan, followed by Bruce Arians (edited for space)

As for the other 23 coaches, here’s how we feel about their chances of taking home their first Lombardi Trophy as a head coach. Last year, this ranking predicted that Reid would win a Super Bowl and that’s exactly what happened, so who’s in the top spot this year? Let’s find out.

23. Joe Judge, Giants

22. Ron Rivera, Redskins

These two guys are being lumped together for two reasons: For one, they play in the NFC East, which is a division that has been dominated by the Cowboys and Eagles over the past few years, and 2020 doesn’t feel like it’s going to be any different.

21. Doug Marrone, Jaguars

Not only do the Jags feel like a team in total disarray, but they’re in a division with three playoff contenders, which means I’m giving Marrone a zero percent chance of winning his first Super Bowl this year.

20. Adam Gase, Jets

When the Jets decided to trade away Jamal Adams back in July, it basically felt like they were giving up on the season so they could start planning for the future.

19. Zac Taylor, Bengals

Any chance Taylor has of winning the Super Bowl is going to completely hinge on Joe Burrow, and unfortunately for the Bengals, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Although plenty of rookie quarterbacks have led their team to the postseason, no rookie quarterback has ever led their team to a Super Bowl win, which means it’s highly unlikely we’ll see the Bengals holding up the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season.

18. Matt Rhule, Panthers

In a normal offseason, Rhule might be slightly higher on this list, but in a pandemic offseason where teams will only be getting roughly four weeks of practice before the season starts, it just doesn’t feel like there’s any way Rhule will have his team competing for a Super Bowl.

17. Matt Patricia, Lions

Patricia might not have completely lost the Lions locker room (yet), but it feels like this is a team that’s not going to be heading to the Super Bowl this year.

16. Brian Flores, Dolphins

The NFL has been a nightmare for former Bill Belichick assistants who are trying to make it on their own, but if there’s one person who might be able to buck that trend, it’s Brian Flores. The Dolphins coach willed his team to six wins last season, which was even more impressive when you consider that everyone thought Miami was tanking. After winning six games with a below-average roster in 2019, Flores should be able to improve upon that number after an offseason where the Dolphins upgraded at nearly every position. Although the Dolphins could be a dark horse to win the AFC East, they’re likely going to have to get past the Chiefs or Ravens to get to the Super Bowl, which doesn’t seem like something they’re capable of doing just yet.

15. Vic Fangio, Broncos

14. Anthony Lynn, Chargers

The reason these two guys are lumped together is because they both coach in the AFC West and if the past five years are any indication, neither guy has any chance of winning the division.

13. Kevin Stefanski, Browns

For the past five years, it’s really felt like the Browns have been one competent head coach away from competing, and call me crazy, but I think they finally have that guy.

12. Matt Nagy, Bears

In a year where the NFC North should be wide open, the Bears will be going into the season with one huge disadvantage that the other three teams won’t have to deal with: They don’t know who their starting quarterback is going to be yet.

11. Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals

If there’s one person who shot up this list this year, it’s Kingsbury. Last year, Kingsbury was a first-year coach with a rookie quarterback, which is usually a recipe for disaster in the NFL, but somehow, the Cardinals scraped out a few wins in 2019, going 5-10-1. The most important thing for Kingsbury is that he learned this his offense can work at the pro level, which should give him some serious confidence heading into 2020. Another thing that should give him serious confidence is that the Cards added DeAndre Hopkins to an already lethal offense. Of course, the problem for Kingsbury is that he plays in the NFL’s toughest division, which is going to make it difficult to get to the Super Bowl.

10. Dan Quinn, Falcons

It might feel like Dan Quinn is a little bit too high on this list after leading his team to consecutive 7-9 seasons, but in this weird year, it feels like the Falcons could be a team that comes out of nowhere to make the playoffs.

9. Mike Vrabel, Titans

Last year, Mike Vrabel promised to cut off his manly parts if the Titans won the Super Bowl, and although he didn’t have to cut anything off after the season, I’m guessing he learned his lesson, which means we probably won’t be seeing any crazy promises from the Titans coach this year. Of course, that’s probably for the best, because after last season, the Titans should be taken seriously as a Super Bowl contender. 

8. Matt LaFleur, Packers

After a 13-3 season where the Packers finished tied for the best record in the NFC, you might be wondering why LaFleur isn’t higher on this list and the answer to that is because it’s hard to imagine the Packers doing better than they did last year.

7. Mike Zimmer, Vikings

If the Vikings hadn’t gutted their roster this offseason, Zimmer might have been slightly higher on this list.

6. Bill O’Brien, Texans

If this ranking was taking into account Bill O’Brien the general manager, then O’Brien would probably be ranked last on this list, but it’s not, which is why O’Brien is ranked so high. This is also the team that had the Chiefs on the ropes in the divisional round last year when they held a 24-0 lead over Kansas City. If O’Brien can figure out how to not a blow a 24-0 lead in a big game, the Texans could be a sleeper Super Bowl pick.

5. Sean McDermott, Bills

In three short years, McDermott has completely turned around the Bills’ fortunes.  Of course, before McDermott can win a Super Bowl, he’ll actually need to win a playoff game, something he has yet to do, and something the Bills haven’t done in 25 years.

4. Sean McVay, Rams

In some corners of the internet — cough, Twitter — Sean McVay is viewed as one of the most overrated coaches in the NFL. However, this isn’t one of those corners.

3. Frank Reich, Colts

It might seem odd to have Reich this high on the list, but let’s not forget about what he did last season. Even though his starting quarterback retired on him just two weeks before the season started, Reich still managed to lead his team to a 5-2 start, before the wheels fell off the wagon after Jacoby Brissett was injured in Week 9. During that 5-2 start, the Colts beat three playoff teams, including the Chiefs, who got manhandled by Indy during a 19-13 Colts’ win. For the 2020 season, Reich has added a quarterback in Philip Rivers who knows his system well, which is why I’m giving the Reich the best chance of any head coach in the AFC to win his first Super Bowl ever.

2. Kyle Shanahan, 49ers

Although Shanahan led the 49ers to the Super Bowl last season, he is NOT at the top of our list, and that’s mainly because Super Bowl losers almost never make it back to the big game the season after their loss. Over the past 40 years, only one team has followed up a Super Bowl defeat with a Super Bowl win the following season, and that was the 2018 Patriots. That’s not to say the 49ers won’t be good, I’m just saying that it’s going to be nearly impossible for them to be as good as they were last season, especially since they’ll be playing in arguably the toughest division in football.

1. Bruce Arians, Buccaneers

Arians has been a head coach for seven seasons and in each of those seasons, he’s come up empty in the Super Bowl department, so to fix that problem, he brought in a secret weapon for 2020: Tom Brady. If the Buccaneers are going to win their second Super Bowl in franchise history, this feels like the season where it could happen. Although the Bucs went 7-9 last year, a big reason for that was because Jameis Winston perfected the art of throwing interceptions. The former Bucs quarterback threw 30 picks in 2019, which is worth noting, because Brady hasn’t thrown 30 picks in his past four seasons combined. Not only does Brady have plenty of Super Bowl experience, but he also has the kind of leadership that a young team like the Bucs could definitely use on the field.

If Arians can somehow win the Super Bowl this year, not only would he pick up his first Lombardi Trophy, but he’d also make NFL history by doing something that not even Belichick has ever done. The Super Bowl is being played in Tampa, which means Arians would be the first coach ever to win the game in his home stadium.

We think Flores and the Dolphins, after a strong offseason and in a post-Brady AFC East, are too low on this list.

And McVay and the Rams, in a very tough division, are too high no matter how much of a genius McVay might be.

And it is good to be reminded that the mighty Chiefs, a shoo-in to repeat in some quarters, actually trailed by 24 points in a playoff game last year.

Still, we think the Gang of Nine past winners, led in 2020 by Harbaugh, Reid, Payton and, maybe, McCarthy have about an 80% chance of adding another SB title to their collection.

FILLING THE VOID

With college football at best retracting (with the abdication of the Big Ten, Pac-12 and other lesser conferences over murky “medical” reasons amidst “uncertainty”) and perhaps going away (should the doomsayers prevail), Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.comlooks at the possibilities for NFL incursions into college windows:

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays will entail football this year. The only question at this point is what kind.

The NFL likely will move some Sunday games to Saturday, if college football doesn’t happen this year. With high school football limited if not gone altogether this year, Fridays may be in play, too.

Mark Maske of the Washington Post both confirms our prior reporting regarding Saturday football, and then expands it to include Friday games.

Whether Friday or Saturday, the NFL first would need a waiver of the primary conditions for the NFL’s longstanding broadcast antitrust exemption: That the NFL televise no games on Fridays or Saturdays from Labor Day through early December. Thus, in exchange for respecting the turf of high school and college football, the NFL received the ability to market games to networks as a group, not as the individual businesses that they are.

The league also would need to get the approval of the NFL Players Association. It’s one thing to move games to Saturdays. Moving games to Fridays would potentially give rise to the same health-and-safety issues that come from playing on Thursdays.

This year, however, the NFL braces to lose billions with no fans at most games and few at the rest. Any way to rebuild the budget should be welcomed by both sides. It that means Saturday games, embrace Saturday games. If that means Friday games, find a way to make it work.

First things first, college football must clear out of Saturdays, and there must be enough of a void when it comes to high school games to justify backfilling Fridays.

R.J. White of CBS Sports.com actually has a great idea on how to pick the games that would be moved to Saturday (or we guess, Friday):

If the NFL is trying to figure out the best way to incorporate the new Saturday games into the schedule, one of our editors here at CBSSports.com, R.J. White. 

Basically, every team that plays on Thursday should have their game from the prior week moved from Sunday to Saturday so that they get one extra day of rest. In White’s example, the Bengals and Browns would play on Saturday in Week 1, which would give them five days of rest before their Week 2 Thursday game (teams playing on Thursday usually get just four days of rest).

This plan would make for some intriguing Saturday games. For instance, in Week 4, the Saturday double-header would be Colts at Bears and Chargers at Buccaneers. If the NFL uses its normal Saturday schedule that it has used for regular season games in the past, the games would kickoff at 4:35 p.m. ET and 8:15 p.m. ET.

Let’s look at the first few weeks of the White plan with some thoughts based on the assumption that FOX and CBS would each get a Saturday game.  We are not really taking into account things like baseball playoffs on FOX, Masters on CBS or any remnants of College Football (Big 12 on FOX, SEC on CBS) – although we did presume FOX would have primetime Saturday baseball obligations in October.

Wherever a network lost two games from its Sunday inventory, we flexed a comparable game back on Sunday to the other network.

From Sunday to Saturday –

Week 2, Sept. 17: Bengals at Browns

Week 1 changes –

Late aft     – Cleveland at Baltimore (FOX, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Chargers at Cincinnati (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday flex – Chicago at Detroit flexed from FOX to CBS

Week 3, Sept. 24: Dolphins at Jaguars

Week 2 changes –

Late aft     – Jacksonville at Tennessee (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Buffalo at Miami (FOX, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – Carolina at Tampa Bay flexed from FOX to CBS

Week 4, Oct. 1: Broncos at Jets

Week 3 changes –

Late aft     – Jets at Indianapolis (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Tampa Bay at Denver (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

Sunday change – none

Week 5, Oct. 8: Buccaneers at Bears

Week 4 changes –

Late aft     – Indianapolis at Chicago (FOX, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Chargers at Tampa Bay (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – New Orleans at Detroit flexed from FOX to CBS

Week 6, Oct. 15: Chiefs at Bills

Week 5 changes –

Late aft     – Buffalo at Tennessee (FOX, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Las Vegas at Kansas City (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – Carolina at Atlanta flexed from FOX to CBS

Week 7, Oct. 22: Giants at Eagles

Week 6 changes –

Late aft     – Washington at Giants (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

primetime – Baltimore at Philadelphia (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – no changes

Week 8, Oct. 29: Falcons at Panthers

Week 7 changes –

Late aft     – Detroit at Atlanta (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

primetime – Carolina at New Orleans (CBS, from FOX Sunday)

Sunday change – Chargers at Miami flexed from CBS to FOX

Week 9, Nov. 5: Packers at 49ers

Week 8 changes –

Late aft     – Minnesota at Green Bay (CBS, from FOX Sunday)

primetime – San Francisco at Seattle (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

Sunday change – Jets at Kansas City flexed from CBS to FOX

Week 10, Nov. 12: Colts at Titans

Week 9 changes –

Late aft     – Chicago at Tennessee (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

primetime – Baltimore at Indianapolis (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – no change

Week 11, Nov. 19: Cardinals at Seahawks

Week 10 changes –

Late aft     – Buffalo at Arizona (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

primetime – Seattle at LA Rams (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

Sunday change – no change

Skip Thanksgiving in Week 12

Week 13, Dec. 3: Cowboys at Ravens

No Saturday games since Cowboys and Ravens already play of Thanksgiving)

Or perhaps other games flexed not due to this formula

Week 14, Dec. 10: Patriots at Rams

Week 13 changes –

Late aft     – Rams at Cardinals (FOX, from FOX Sunday)

primetime – Patriots at Chargers (CBS, from CBS Sunday)

Sunday change – no change

There are already Saturday games in Weeks 15 and 16.

Again, the above is just meant to show some of the issues that such a change could bring.

– – –

Another idea that could make sense would be to move the game’s now scheduled for Thursday (presumably not Thanksgiving) to Friday or Saturday to allow for more preparation in an era when rosters are going to become more uncertain due to Covid and other health concerns.