The NFLPA agrees to a time certain for the opt outs, even as lawyers haggle over the final details of the revised CBA.  By 4 p.m. Thursday, we should know who is up for the challenges of 2020 NFL football.  Dan Graziano of ESPN.com:

The deadline for NFL players to opt out of the 2020 season will be Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, the league said in a letter to the NFL Players Association..

Tracking NFL players opting out of the 2020 season because of coronavirus concerns

The NFLPA agreed to shorten the window between the finalizing of the agreement and the opt-out deadline (which was originally supposed to be seven days) in exchange for some concessions on the final language, sources said on Monday.

The league’s COVID-19 protocols, officially an amendment to the new collective bargaining agreement signed in March, were agreed to by players and team owners July 24, but it took until Monday night for attorneys for the two sides to finalize the formal language of the deal. The original agreement stipulated that the opt-out deadline for players would be seven days after the attorneys finished that work, but as the process dragged on, owners wanted the deadline to be set sooner than that.

The union agreed, sources said, because the new Aug. 5 deadline is still a couple of days later than the originally projected Aug. 3 deadline, but the union also got the owners to agree to a number of changes to the final language they feel are beneficial to the players. Changes include, among other things:

* Better protection for players in the discipline process for “high-risk” behavior away from the facility. Per the agreement, players can be disciplined for engaging in activity that could increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, such as attending a concert or other indoor gathering with more than 15 people. Discipline in those cases would be decided by an arbitrator. The final agreement also includes a stipulation that front office employees and coaches can face discipline for similar behavior, one source said.

* More favorable language governing the calculation of potential revenue shortfalls due to COVID-19 and how those are made up in future years. The union had wanted to spread salary cap reductions that resulted from lost 2020 revenue out over the life of the new CBA, which runs through 2030, while the owners wanted to take the hit in 2020 and 2021. The July 24 agreement stipulated that there would be no cap impact this year, that the 2021 cap could be no lower than $175 million per team, and that further shortfalls would be made up over the years 2022-24.

No major material changes were made to the July 24 terms, but sources said some of the arguments over the final language of the deal were conceded to players by the owners in return for agreeing to the shorter window between the finalizing of the deal and the opt-out deadline.

On Sunday, New England Patriots safety and longtime captain Devin McCourty reacted strongly to the notion that the league was moving up the opt-out deadline.

“I think it is an absolute joke that the NFL is changing the opt-out period, mainly because they don’t want to continue to see guys opt out. I’m sure they’re shocked about how many guys have opted out,” McCourty said in a video conference with Patriots reporters. “I think it’s terrible. I think it’s B.S. that the league has changed that date.”

As we go to press, comes word from Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that the deal is signed:

It took 10 days, but it’s finally done.

The NFL and NFL Players Association have hammered out, finalized, and signed the formal document revising the Collective Bargaining Agreement in light of the realities of the pandemic. The tentative agreement was reached on Friday, July 24.

The actual agreement likely will be published sooner than later, allowing for full review and analysis of all terms.

Some will say the league won. Others will say the union won. By getting this behind them and allowing a mutual focus on finding a way to play the 2020 season during an unprecedented public-health crisis, they both won.

It seems the opt out “deadline” has some wiggle room.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

According to the document outlining the final opt-out procedures, a copy of which PFT has obtained, a player may opt out after August 6 if he he receives a new diagnosis that he suffers from one of the “Higher Risk” factors. If that occurs, the player will have one week after receiving the new diagnosis to opt out.

Also, if a player has a family member die or become hospitalized due to COVID-19 after August 6, the player will be eligible at that point to opt out.

Beyond those two categories, players can’t opt out after August 6. Technically, they can still retire and un-retire; however, some players may have to refund teams for unearned signing bonus payments.

Ideally, players would have two more limited windows to decide whether to opt out: (1) after padded practices begin; and (2) after games begin. That’s when all players will have a chance to see whether they feel safe and comfortable playing 11-on-11 football in a pandemic, and that’s why they all should get extra opportunities to tap out.

NFC NORTH

GREEN BAY

QB AARON RODGERS artfully sidesteps a response on his future.  He also says he never had any doubt about committing to playing in a Covid NFL.  Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

Aaron Rodgers isn’t into conjecture — whether it’s about his future with the Green Bay Packers, the possibility of getting through a season without a positive COVID-19 test or whether quarterbacks should operate in their own mini-bubble.

No, Rodgers doesn’t know how his time with the Packers will end — an ever-present topic since the team traded up to take quarterback Jordan Love at No. 26 in April’s NFL draft — and he made it sound like he’d prefer not to answer that question anymore.

Rodgers’ answer on a Zoom call Monday resembled what it was the first time he spoke publicly after the draft and what it was last week during an interview with Kyle Brandt on the Ringer Podcast Network that reintroduced the topic into the NFL vernacular.

“There’s been a lot of hypothetical questions on here; I’m not always a huge fan of guessing those things,” Rodgers said Monday during a 26-minute virtual session with reporters on the first day of player availability during training camp. “But obviously, I’ve said that before: I think if I retire on the team’s timeline, then all is well. If they’re looking to move on before I’m done playing, there becomes an impasse at that point. I can control my play and my performance and my approach and my leadership, but at some point, there’s other factors involved. It’s what I said to you guys Day 1 when we talked about this, and that’s what I said to Kyle. That’s the facts to me at this point.”

Just a day earlier, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he envisions Rodgers as the Packers’ quarterback for “a really long time” but acknowledged that no one knows how long that would be.

“Nothing’s guaranteed in this league,” LaFleur said Sunday. “But I feel so lucky to be able to work with him on a daily basis. I don’t see that changing for a really long time.”

When asked what his definition of “a really long time” is, Rodgers, in part, chose to focus mostly on the present.

“I savor every moment, every season,” Rodgers said. “I don’t take any of it for granted. I don’t know what the future holds. I know I can control this year and my play and my approach and my attitude. And I’m enjoying being back with the guys. It’s fun to see them. Different, obviously, circumstances. There’s a lot of things that are strange compared to the last 15 years I’ve been here, but I’m really enjoying being back here with the guys and being back in meetings and workouts and just seeing the energy and the smiles and the laughs. That really makes it fun.”

The Packers signed Rodgers, 36, to a contract extension worth $134 million in August 2018 that runs through the 2023 season. Love’s rookie contract, without the fifth-year option, runs concurrent to Rodgers’ deal.

The Packers could begin to save salary-cap space on Rodgers’ deal if they moved on from him after this season, but it would be a small gain; they would save only $4.76 million on the cap and have $31.556 million in dead money. After the 2021 season, the Packers would save $22.648 million in salary-cap space by making a move but would have to count $17.204 million in dead money.

As for this season, Rodgers said he never considered opting out, but he doesn’t hold anything against players who have. So far, only one Packers player, receiver Devin Funchess, has taken that option.

“I was always gonna play,” Rodgers said. “I respect any person who decides to opt out. There’s a lot of different circumstances around, I’m sure, each individual case. … I respect all those guys who decided to make that decision, even Devin. We had a conversation before training camp started and he talked to me before it had kind of gone public. I just told him I respect his decision. I have a lot of appreciation for how difficult that must be to weigh the love of playing with football with the safety of your family. So I have an appreciation for that and absolutely zero judgment.”

MINNESOTA

While the rest of Minneapolis seems in transition, the Vikings are staying the course with the triumvirate of GM Rick Spielman, Coach Mike Zimmer and QB KIRK COUSINS.  Analysis from Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com after Monday’s announcement of an extension for Spielman:

If there was ever a time for the Wilf family to consider taking the Minnesota Vikings franchise in a different direction, now is not it.

A global pandemic is threatening the 2020 NFL season. A host of players are choosing to sit out, and others are being moved to the reserve/COVID-19 list almost daily. Change isn’t what the Wilf’s were looking for when faced with executing critical decisions that will affect the short- and long-term health of their team.

When coach Mike Zimmer received a three-year contract extension at the end of July, it was only a matter of time before general manager Rick Spielman got the same deal. On Monday, the Vikings announced Spielman’s extension, continuing the practice of having the coach and GM contracts synced up since Zimmer was hired in 2014.

Their seven-year working relationship has included three postseason appearances, a trip to the NFC Championship Game, roster turnover and franchise-altering free-agent decisions with the signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2018. With their deals, Zimmer and Spielman have been given time to see their vision through over the next four seasons.

For better or worse, Spielman and Zimmer are bound to each other. And their legacy, at least at this stage, will be defined by the success of the quarterback they hedged their careers on.

If they discover Cousins ultimately isn’t the answer, they both have one last shot to figure out the quarterback position on the final year of their contracts. Cousins received a two-year contract extension in March that keeps him with the Vikings through the 2022 season. If the Vikings move on after that point, Spielman and Zimmer will need to act quickly to find the right quarterback to lead Minnesota to a championship.

If it doesn’t happen by then, it may be the end of this long-tenured partnership.

Still, the way the Wilfs see it, the Vikings are good enough to win a Super Bowl under this leadership.

“Rick has been outstanding in his role as Vikings general manager,” Minnesota co-owner/team president Mark Wilf said. “We are excited and honored to have him continue to lead our efforts to build a championship roster and first-class organization. With Rick’s and Coach Zimmer’s leadership in place, we are in a great position to continue to compete for a Super Bowl.”

The list of coaches and general managers who have both been with the same team since 2015 is relatively short. The six years Zimmer and Spielman have had together is the longest for any current duo that hasn’t won a Super Bowl, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. In fact, every other duo on this list — Sean Payton/Mickey Loomis (Saints), Mike Tomlin/Kevin Colbert (Steelers), Pete Carroll/John Schneider (Seahawks) and Dan Quinn/Thomas Dimitroff (Falcons) — has made a Super Bowl appearance, and every duo except Quinn and Dimitroff has won.

Those figures don’t matter much to the Wilfs, who had the opportunity to start over fresh after the 2020 season with both positions if they wanted. Zimmer and Spielman were entering the final year of their deals in 2020.

They have the belief from ownership, and now the duo needs to carry out their vision to get this franchise over the hump, starting with consecutive playoff appearances for the first time in the Zimmer era.

Spielman says their vision is the “same” entering the 2020 season.

“When Coach Zim came in and we hired him as our head coach, we had a vision of how we wanted to build this team,” Spielman said. “I know this year we have a lot of new faces that are coming into the organization, a lot of new players, a totally different challenge because the coaches haven’t been able to work with these players until this time when we’re technically kind of opening up training camp. But I think it’s sticking to your principles, sticking to everything that you believe in on how you build a winning culture.

“He’s talked about it numerous times, from the type of players that we want to bring in that are smart, very passionate, high-character guys off the field. But also I think it’s not only the players, but there’s gotta be that culture with the coaching staff, there’s gotta be that culture with everybody under the football operations umbrella. And when you can bring all that together with the same goals, the same common vision, I think that’s where you hopefully will make the breakthrough.”

It takes time to win a Super Bowl — see the 21 years Andy Reid spent as a head coach before winning his first with the Kansas City Chiefs last season. Zimmer knows that all too well, having won a Super Bowl as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys during the 1995 season and not getting back since.

It’s something that hasn’t happened for Spielman in his career. With several more years added to his Minnesota tenure, the general manager’s window to build a Super Bowl caliber team is the only thing he’s focused on.

“I know every day we come to this building, and the only thing that we want to accomplish is to win a Super Bowl,” Spielman said. “There’s no one that deserves that honor more than our ownership, this organization and especially our fans. I promise you that when we come in here every day, that is our ultimate goal.”

The belief in Zimmer and Spielman by Vikings ownership is at a high point. By committing to the duo on with the aim of winning the team’s first Lombardi Trophy, the Wilfs believe the body of work they’ve witnessed from both is more than good enough. Ownership expects that a Super Bowl is not just a possibility, but something that will come in due time.

– – –

DT P.J. HALL is now a Viking – after veteran DL coach Rod Marinelli didn’t like the cut of his jib.

The Las Vegas Raiders traded defensive tackle P.J. Hall to the Minnesota Vikings for a conditional 2021 draft choice on Monday, the teams announced.

A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that it’s a seventh-round selection that the Raiders will receive if Hall is on the Vikings’ 53-man roster for six games this season.

The trade comes after a source confirmed to ESPN earlier Monday that the Raiders were ready to cut Hall, two years after selecting him in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Minnesota found itself in the market for a defensive tackle after Michael Pierce opted out of the 2020 season last week due to respiratory concerns that put him in the high-risk category during the coronavirus pandemic. Pierce, the Vikings’ biggest free-agent acquisition of the offseason, signed a three-year, $27 million contract in March and was set to replace Linval Joseph at nose tackle.

“Michael called and he explained to us his situation, as far as having asthma, and a couple of years ago he had pneumonia, so it just wasn’t safe for him to play, and really, honestly, if a player doesn’t think he’s safe and should do this, I’m with him 100%,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “But we’ll figure it out. Without going into too much detail, we’ve got a plan and will stick to it.”

Hall played defensive end for three seasons at Sam Houston State before moving inside for his senior year. His experience with the Raiders playing both nose and three-technique defensive tackle puts him in line to compete for a job on the interior of the Minnesota defensive line.

The 25-year-old Hall played in 30 games (18 starts) over the past two seasons but had just 1.5 sacks in that time.

He took to Twitter late Sunday night, writing, “One thing I know is God got me.” Hall also had tweeted about his inglorious arrival in Southern Nevada last week.

Raiders coach Jon Gruden had mentioned Hall on Thursday as a player who needed to step up in training camp when asked about second- and third-year defensive linemen.

The Raiders added veteran defensive coach Rod Marinelli this offseason.

“Getting Rod Marinelli is the best thing I can do to allow that to happen,” Gruden said last week. “I really believe he’s as good of a coach as I’ve ever seen when it comes to developing defensive line. I saw him do it with Simeon Rice, I saw him do it with a number of players along his career, and I’m counting on that happening.”

NFC WEST

SEATTLE

The Seahawks seem to be deciding which troubled receiver they should bring to Seattle.  Joe Kinsey of Outkick.com:

Pete Carroll has confirmed interest in both Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon for the 2020 season. If the Seahawks are going to get weird, they might as well get real weird and add a couple of guys who have direct lines to commish Roger Goodell’s office. Brown’s already facing an eight-game suspension and Gordon has applied for reinstatement after an indefinite suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances and substances of abuse policy.

But Pete says the Seahawks are still interested and willing to work with the players and the league.

“What I’d say to you is what we always say because it’s what we always do and who we are,” Carroll said when asked about the Seahawks’ rumored interest in Brown. “John is competing at every turn. There’s never been a process, unless we just missed it, that we weren’t involved with to understand what the chances were of helping our club. He’s all over it. He understands what’s going on right now, as much as you can. It’s a very complex situation. We just need to see where it fits somewhere down the road. That’s all I got for you.”

Pete’s starting lineup includes Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, but he seems hellbent on adding a piece at that position as the team appears poised to make a Super Bowl push with the addition of Jamal Adams from the Jets.

It was no secret during the offseason that Russell Wilson and Antonio Brown held workouts together and there seemed to be a multiple admiration society thing going on between the two. “Who would like to see this on Sundays 🤔 ? that was fun !!!!!!!!!!,” Brown wrote after an early July workout.

This from Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com on Antonio Brown:

Carroll said General Manager John Schneider is “all over it” and indicated that the team is open to the possibility even if it isn’t rushing to seal a deal right away.

“It’s a very complex situation. We just need to see how it fits somewhere down the road. That’s all I got for you,” Carroll said.

The NFL isn’t done looking into Brown’s off-field behavior, so the eight-game suspension might not be the end of discipline handed down by the league and that possibility could still impact whether or not Brown lands a job in the league this season.

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

The Raiders have traded DT P.J. HALL to Minnesota for a pittance, two years after the prior scouting regime made him a 2^nd round pick.  See MINNESOTA for more.

– – –

Apparently the Raiders have crossed the Rubicon and decided to proceed throughout the fall without fans in their new home, no matter what other teams decide, no matter how Wuhan Covid-19 might vanish in November.  Frank Schwab of YahooSports.com:

When Mark Davis decided to move the Raiders to Las Vegas, he certainly didn’t envision an empty stadium in his first season there.

The Raiders informed season-ticket holders on Monday that there will be no fans in new Allegiant Stadium this season. Nevada taxes paid $750 million toward the stadium, which cost an estimated $2 billion.

Plenty of teams will have to make the difficult decision to hold 2020 home games without fans, due to COVID-19. Only one of them is in a new market, however.

An email signed by Davis went to season-ticket holders and was tweeted out by Vince Sapienza of Fox 5 in Las Vegas, the Raiders said they were making the decision to exclude fans due to health concerns. The team also cited fairness to the personal-seat license holders, because the team was going to have to pick and choose which fans got into games if there were limited crowds.

The Raiders didn’t want to start their time in a new city this way, but there wasn’t much choice.

Other teams like the New York Giants and Jets have already announced they won’t have fans in the stadium this season.

Those teams have years, often decades, of history in their cities. Every team in any sport that changes cities, with the rare exception like the Los Angeles Chargers, experiences a rush of interest and excitement from their new market. Las Vegas instantly became a big hockey town with the expansion Golden Knights, and the Raiders were going to be a big hit, too. The new stadium, across the freeway from the Las Vegas Strip, looks phenomenal.

In time, Las Vegas will get a chance to embrace the Raiders in person. For now, they’ll have to do it from their homes.

For the last month, during the Sun Belt outbreak, Nevada has been averaging about 1,000 positive tests per day and roughly 15 fatalities per day.

AFC NORTH

CLEVELAND

WR ODELL BECKHAM, Jr. now says he’s fine with playing in a Covid NFL in 2020.  Ryan Glasspiegel of Outkick.com:

The Wall Street Journal published an interview with Odell Beckham Jr. with the headline “Odell Beckham Jr. Doesn’t Think The NFL Should Come Back This Season”. Of course, that’s going to make waves. Here is what he specifically said in the interview in response to a question about his having expressed doubts the NFL wouldn’t come back this season:

That’s how I feel. Obviously with everything that’s going on, it doesn’t make sense why we’re trying to do this. I can understand basketball was already in the playoffs. Five-on-five basketball in an arena is going to be more intense than regular-season games. Hooping is different than playing an eleven-on-eleven contact sport where there’s 80 people in a locker room. We’re not ready for football season. So why are we trying to push forward? It’s obviously for their money. And that bothers me because there’s always been this—and I hate saying it like that—but the owners’ [attitude is], Oh we own you guys, and just kind of that unfairness going on that they don’t see us as human. I just feel like the season shouldn’t happen and I’m prepared for it to not happen and I wouldn’t mind not having it.

But, not so fast. Mary Kay Cabot, a reporter for Cleveland.com who has been covering the Browns for a long time, tweeted the following:

@MaryKayCabot

Odell Beckham’s Jr.’s interview with WSJ was done 2 weeks ago before he saw how safe the #Browns facility was, and he has no plans of opting out, multiple sources tell me

The WSJ story does say that the interview took place before the NFL announced their extensive Covid-19 protocols on July 24th, and Beckham Jr. reported to camp on July 28th. It’s weird that they had this type of newsworthy interview with a newsmaker and held it for this long.

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

QB GARDNER MINSHEW’s stay in Covid jail was short-lived.  Liz Roscher of YahooSports.com:

The Jacksonville Jaguars activated their 24-year-old starting quarterback from the list on Tuesday, just two days after they placed him on it. Safety Andrew Wingard was also activated from the list.

The Jaguars have been hit hard by COVID-19. By Monday morning they had placed 12 players on the COVID-19 reserve list, which is the most of any team in the NFL. With Minshew and Wingard activated, that leaves 10 players on the list, which is still the most of any NFL team.

Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone told ESPN that he doesn’t believe any of his players were negligent with their personal safety, and that being placed on the list “can happen to any of us.” The COVID-19 reserve list isn’t just for players who have tested positive, but also for players who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive.

AFC EAST

NEW ENGLAND

The Patriots are interested in veteran TE DELANIE WALKER.  Zach Cox of NESN.com:

The New England Patriots have shown interest in free agent tight end Delanie Walker, according to a report Monday from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Walker, who turns 36 next week, has yet to sign with a new team since the Tennessee Titans released him in March. He’s “received levels of interest from several teams, including the Patriots,” Fowler reported.

Ankle injuries have limited Walker to just eight games over the last two seasons, but he was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and surpassed 800 receiving yards in four consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2017. During that four-year span, Walker ranked second among tight ends in receptions behind Travis Kelce, third in receiving yards behind Kelce and Rob Gronkowski and seventh in touchdowns.

Walker, who began his career with the San Francisco 49ers, appeared in seven games for the Titans last season, catching 21 passes on 31 targets for 215 yards and two scores.

With Matt LaCosse opting out of the 2020 NFL season, the Patriots are extremely young at tight end. That position group — overhauled after ranking last in the league in receptions last season — currently features four rookies (third-round draft picks Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene and undrafted free agents Jake Burt and Rashod Berry) and Ryan Izzo, who has appeared in just six NFL games.

Adding a proven veteran to that unit — even one with Walker’s injury history — would be a smart move for New England. The Patriots entered the week with six open roster spots following eight player opt-outs.

THIS AND THAT

COPING WITH CORONA

The Miami Marlins, having had 21 positive Covid tests (18 players), are resuming play today. GM Derrick Jeter said Monday that of the 18 infected, all either had mild or no symptoms.

The St. Louis Cardinals, with 13 positive Covid tests, are still in limbo. Cardinals president of operations John Mozeliak reported – 5 of the people who tested positive are asymptomatic. 8 are showing signs: “headache, coughs, sniffle, low-grade fevers.”

So while baseball is being derided for these two “outbreaks” – of the 34 positive tests, none produced hospitalization or even severe bedrest.

Basically, baseball and other sports are being required to have a complete defense against an ailment that produces flu-like at worst, in rare cases, symptoms among the targeted class.

How often in the old days did we see a player missing a game or questionable for an NFL game with flu-like symptoms?  But if said flu carries the label “Covid”, existence must stop.

Will the NFL be held to the same standard by those doing the holding?  We expect so.

This from YahooSports.com is typical, calling what has happened as “outbreaks” that put the season at risk – despite not one hospitalization.

A second outbreak puts more pressure on MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to determine whether the season should continue. When the Marlins outbreak occurred, Manfred said it was not a “nightmare” scenario, and that he wouldn’t cancel the season unless a team was “completely non-competitive” as a result of coronavirus.

Manfred seemed to hint he was getting closer to that point Friday, when a report leaked that Manfred told MLBPA leader Tony Clark the season could be canceled as early as Monday if positive tests continue to pop up. Manfred immediately walked that back Saturday, saying “we are playing,” and that he is “not a quitter.”

MLB’s statement Monday indicates the league will continue playing despite another series getting postponed due to the coronavirus.

PLAYOFF TURNOVER

Even with 14 teams in this season’s playoffs, Patrik Walker of CBSSports.com thinks these four 2019 playoff teams are headed home after the final week.  He makes his decision despite two of them having elite quarterbacks (if you believe in CARSON WENTZ you would say a third does):

As the world begins to slowly smile at the thought of an NFL season that not only gets underway, but also as scheduled in September, they do so knowing the next postseason might even be more wild than any that have come before it.

That’s because as a part of the new collective bargaining agreement, the playoffs have been expanded from 12 to 14 teams, with one additional club from each conference being allowed in. That’s good news for teams on the fringe who might otherwise be left out in the cold, and the new format amplifies late-season competitiveness more than ever. Obviously, however, there will still be nine teams from each conference who’ll see their season end in December, and there’s a good chance at least four total will be a bit of a surprise to many.

For although these clubs made the playoffs in 2019, and many times prior, they have an uphill climb in 2020 that’s just steep enough to potentially cost them a seat in the race to Super Bowl LV.

New England Patriots

Bill Belichick is a future Hall of Famer who has been known to make his team walk on water, but 2020 might be asking too much of even one of the greatest coaches ever. I don’t subscribe to the belief Belichick can’t win games without Tom Brady any more than I believe the opposite is true, for as long as there’s a capable quarterback in New England, the wins will come. The problem is while it’s quite possible a hyper-motivated Cam Newton returns to form in 2020, it’s also possible he doesn’t and continues battling durability demons. But, assuming the latter isn’t the case, there’s also the fact eight Patriots have opted out of the season thus far over COVID-19 concerns — the most in the league by far — and that list includes playmakers like two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Dont’a Hightower.

Hightower helped cornerback Stephon Gilmore lead a defense that carried the Patriots for much of the 2019 season, when the offense continuously stalled despite having Brady at center and offensive tackle Marcus Cannon helping to keep him upright. Newton, however, will not have Cannon in front of him, the veteran OL having also opted out. And while safety Patrick Chung’s decision to opt out isn’t as ground-splitting, it still matters. Add in durability concerns on offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel, along with the team still having not yet identified a dominant wideout outside of Julian Edelman, and Belichick is up against it like he’s never been before.

Only months after Belichick lost to former pupil Brian Flores to lose home field advantage throughout the playoffs, followed by being upset on his home field by the red-hot Tennessee Titans, the deck is absolutely stacked in his opposition. In the end, it might just be too much. But if the Patriots do miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008 (when Brady missed 15 games due to injury), it won’t be because Brady isn’t in Boston, even if the timing suggests it. It’ll be because the football gods simply deemed it so, considering it’s routinely felt like nothing can best Belichick without the approval of Mount Olympus.

Philadelphia Eagles

The NFC East is the NFL equivalent of the wild, wild west, and that doesn’t bode well for the Eagles in 2020. The reason why is a glaring one, because there hasn’t been a repeat division champ since Philadelphia dominated the scene from 2001 through 2004 — the division crown having since been volleyballed back and forth between them and the Dallas Cowboys with the New York Giants and Washington Football Team peeking their head in once or twice. And so it goes, with the Eagles having won the East in 2019, it feels like the Cowboys are primed to take it back from them yet again in 2020 — seeing as they have fewer question marks at key positions than their rivals in Eastern PA.

Doug Pederson and general manager Howie Roseman took a ton of flak following the NFL Draft, wherein they refused to trade up a bit to land CeeDee Lamb (which was the win-win of fixing a top need while also keeping him out of Dallas) and instead stood pat to select Jalen Reagor. This isn’t to say Reagor isn’t talented, because he is, but Lamb is a readymade WR1, whereas many view Reagor as a slot guy who’ll now be asked to be much more, and quickly. Yes, there are rumors Alshon Jeffery is refocused, but there are also still reports the Eagles are willing to trade him after having battled through a mercurial last several months of him.

The addition of Darius Slay will do wonders for helping a porous secondary and the already impressive defensive front is that much more so with an addition like Javon Hargrave, but when Carson Wentz — who still needs to prove he can stay healthy — takes the field, will he have the weaponry (outside of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert) to stave off a potent Cowboys team that also now includes Lamb? And if he can’t stay healthy, could Jalen Hurts instantly locate some Foles Magic in Year 1 and with limited or no first-team work prior? Both logic and the recent history within the division suggests the answer is no, especially considering the Slay-led defense still has question marks at safety as well.

Green Bay Packers

All the Packers had to do was the right thing but, by most accounts, they did the exact opposite. It’s a team that surprised many in the first year under head coach Matt LaFleur, who led the team to a 13-3 record and an appearance in the NFC Championship Game. It was clear why they fell short against the San Francisco 49ers in that affair, being much the same reason they couldn’t defeat Kyle Shanahan’s and Robert Saleh’s defense earlier in the season — they couldn’t put up points. The Packers scored only eight points in the first contest and 19 in the second, far more important one, and that was a bad sign for on everyone in the receiving corps not named Davante Adams.

This made for an easy enough fix, yes? Either grab another dynamic wideout in free agency or, at minimum, save your pennies and use your first-round pick on one, considering the 2020 draft was roundly considered the deepest WR talent pool in history. So when the Packers went on the clock with the 26th-overall pick, and chose quarterback Jordan Love instead of another much-needed weapon for Aaron Rodgers, it’s understandable why two-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers was … miffed. Barring an injury to Rodgers, Love does nothing for the Packers in 2020, and the glaring hole opposite Adams still exists. Only now, it exists with a rift between Rodgers and the Packers that could create a distraction, and make stacking wins that much more difficult this season.

The good news for the Packers is their pass rush is stellar, led by the Smith Bros., and you have to like the progression of players in the secondary like Kevin King and Adrian Amos, but it still feels like they’ll end up relying too heavily on getting takeaways or exhausting said pass rush over the course of four quarters.

And when they do take the ball away, will it be the same WR-needy Packers of 2019 who averaged only 23.5 points per game? Nothing yet indicates it won’t be, and with an already peeved Rodgers rolling his eyes with every offensive failure — knowing he needed another threat at wideout but instead getting another body in the QB room — en route to watching the Minnesota Vikings remain the frontrunner in the division and likely bumping them out of playoff contention in the process.

Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson is a man amongst boys, and that’s a scientific fact. What he does on a regular basis to will the Texans into wins that should’ve easily been losses makes him one of the best quarterbacks in the sport, and he’ll soon be compensated as such. What works against Watson, however, are variables outside of his control, as in general manager Bill O’Brien and the roster moves he’s made that puts the team seemingly behind the eight ball in its attempt to three-peat as the AFC South champs. Of course you know I’m referring to the decision to ship out three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals, in a move that was roundly criticized as a completely fleecing of O’Brien.

Kudos to the Texans for attempting to patch the dam with the addition of Brandin Cooks, but Cooks delivered only 583 yards and two touchdowns in 14 starts for the Los Angeles Rams last year, and his prime seasons — while impressive and deserving of a hearty salute — don’t hold a candle to what Hopkins did and became for the Texans in his time with the club. It’s big shoes for Cooks to fill, and he’s to figure out how to do so without the benefit of a traditional training camp (or preseason) to build needed chemistry with Watson, and the same goes for Randall Cobb, who signed a big money deal in free agency to leave the Cowboys and head to South Texas. And then there are continued questions about the availability of Will Fuller, a dynamic talent who has had more than his share of battles with the injury bug as of late.

The DB would wonder about the Vikings who traded away SHELTON DIGGS and are re-tooling their defense.

FAN STATUS

ESPN with a handy accounting of what teams might still allow fans to bravely see their heroes play in person.  We have abridged the full piece slightly with limited fans possible the most-frequently reported update.  The Raiders seem to have a hard “no fans”.  The Governor of New Jersey has told the Giants and Jets “no fans” until he dictates otherwise.  The Eagles, Bears, Lions and 49ers also appear to have significant government roadblocks to overcome whatever the team’s desires might be.

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills

What we know: New York State issued a guideline last month prohibiting fans not only from attending live sporting events but also from tailgating around the stadium. The Bills have given season-ticket holders the option to suspend their commitment until the 2021 season but are ready to offer priority seating to season-ticket holders who maintain their commitment, in the event limited seating is allowed.

Miami Dolphins

What we know: The Dolphins haven’t officially decided whether they will have fans in the stadium and at what capacity. That info will come in the weeks ahead in consultation with health experts and government officials. In early May, Dolphins CEO and vice chairman Tom Garfinkel released a mock-up for Hard Rock Stadium to hold approximately 15,000 fans with social distancing, masks, touchless entry and cashless payment methods.

New England Patriots

What we know: The Patriots previously announced that Gillette Stadium will be limited to about 20% capacity this season, pending state and local approval.

New York Jets

What we know: No fans are permitted to watch the Jets at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced recently in conjunction with the Jets and Giants. They said the order is in place “until further notice,” leaving some wiggle room.

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens

What we know: If fans are permitted to attend under state and local government rules/regulations, the Ravens announced that a significantly reduced seating capacity at M&T Bank Stadium would be necessary.

Cincinnati Bengals

What we know: In July, the Bengals told season-ticket holders that Paul Brown Stadium will have “greatly reduced” seating if the team is allowed to have fans this season.

Cleveland Browns

What we know: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recently said it’s “too early” to determine what will be safe regarding fans in the Buckeye State. Ohio State announced it will cap fan capacity at 20,000 at Ohio Stadium. The Browns, however, continue to call the situation fluid.

Pittsburgh Steelers

What we know: The Steelers are planning to have a limited number of fans at Heinz Field, but that reduced capacity hasn’t been determined yet.

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans

What we know: The Texans have not announced a plan for fan attendance, but according to their team website, if there are fans at games, NRG Stadium’s capacity will be reduced to approximately 14,000.

Indianapolis Colts

What we know: The Colts have announced that they will have no more than about 25% capacity during games at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Jacksonville Jaguars

What we know: The Jaguars told season-ticket holders they will be able to seat approximately 25% of TIAA Bank Field’s capacity at each home game in 2020.

Tennessee Titans

What we know: The Titans plan to have fans at Nissan Stadium in a limited capacity. They are working with state and local government officials to determine the number.

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos

What we know: Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis said this past week that no decision had been made if the Broncos would have a limited number of fans at their home games or no fans, but that the decision would be made in conjunction with both local and state officials.

Kansas City Chiefs

What we know: The Chiefs are planning for home games with reduced capacity, though details of their plan have not been released.

Las Vegas Raiders

What we know: Raiders owner Mark Davis followed through on an earlier feeling by emailing Raiders season-ticket holders on Monday to tell them that fans will not be allowed at home games this season.

Los Angeles Chargers

What we know: The Chargers have not officially announced capacity restrictions, but they expect theirs to be similar if not the same as the Rams’, as the teams share SoFi Stadium.

NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys

What we know: The Cowboys plan to have fans in the stands in 2020, but the exact total has not been made public. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said stadiums can have up to 50% capacity, which would peg the attendance at 40,000; however, in following CDC guidelines, the figure would be much less than that. The Cowboys will not have their field suites in use and the NFL is putting tarps over the first eight rows of the stadium, which would eat up some significant seating

New York Giants

What we know: No fans are allowed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey “until further notice.”

Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia prohibits outdoor events involving more than 50 people, meaning no fans in the stands for now. The mayor’s office called it a “fluid situation,” though, leaving open the possibility that fans could be allowed to attend at some point this season should circumstances change for the better. — Tim McManus

Washington Football Team

What we know: Washington has a tentative plan for fans to attend, but there has not yet been any decision on how many fans would be able to attend. It likely would end up to be 25,000 at most,

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears

What we know: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has not signed off yet on legislation that would permit fans to attend Bears home games at Soldier Field.

Detroit Lions

What we know: The Lions have said they are waiting on regulations and guidance from the state of Michigan before making any official announcements.

Green Bay Packers

What we know: The Packers still haven’t decided whether they will allow fans, but if they do it will be no more than 12,000 in the 80,000-plus capacity Lambeau Field.

Minnesota Vikings

What we know: The Vikings have not announced a specific attendance figure for home games but acknowledged that games will be played at “a significantly reduced capacity and include a different in-stadium experience.”

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons

What we know: The Falcons are preparing for a limited capacity of 10,000-20,000 inside 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Carolina Panthers

What we know: The team has made no official statement, but owner David Tepper has said publicly that he believes fans should be in the stands this season. There have been discussions of about 20,000 fans in the 75,000 seat stadium.

New Orleans Saints

What we know: The Saints have not yet finalized a plan as they continue to work with city and state officials, medical experts and the CDC to find the safest way to have a reduced number of fans in the Superdome. They are targeting the middle of this month to submit a plan to the governor and New Orleans mayor for approval, though that plan remains a work in progress. –

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What we know: The Bucs are still determining at what capacity they can safely operate at in 2020.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

What we know: In an email telling season-ticket holders that their ticket plans will be canceled for the 2020 season, the Cardinals said “it is not clear at this point how many spectators — if any — will be permitted to attend Cardinals home games in 2020.”

Los Angeles Rams

What we know: The Rams announced that the capacity at SoFi Stadium will be capped at 15,000 fans this season, and the possibility remains that no fans will be allowed to attend games in 2020.

San Francisco 49ers

What we know: Given the state of things in California, it’s hard to imagine the 49ers having fans at games this year even in a limited capacity, though no official decision has been made yet on that front.

Seattle Seahawks

What we know: The Seahawks have not announced a range of fans they plan on allowing at each home game, but all signs point to a significantly reduced capacity being the best-case scenario. King County is paused in Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s four-phase reopening plan.