This from Field Yates: @FieldYates Four teams are set to gain cap space tomorrow as a result of post-June 1 cuts earlier this offseason:   * Bears: $2.8M (Trey Burton) * Falcons: $10.75M (Desmond Trufant) * Jets: $11M (Trumaine Johnson) * Rams: $5.5M (Todd Gurley) – – – Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com on how we may get Sky Judge lite: The NFL’s preseason experiment with a “Sky Judge” appears on the surface to be a half-hearted half-measure aimed at creating the impression that the league is trying to get calls right, even if the effort isn’t successful. But the mechanism that allows the referee to talk to the replay assistant opens the door for active communication between the replay assistant and the referee, communication that can (in theory) stray from the four corners of a rule that activates the process only if the referee asks the replay assistant for input.   In his weekly Football Morning in America column, Peter King addresses the dynamic — and expresses a belief that the league actually wants the replay assistant to talk to the referee, even if the replay technically isn’t supposed to speak unless the replay assistant is spoken to first.   As noted last week, the new procedure does not allow the referee to consult with the replay assistant as to whether pass interference did or didn’t happen, which necessarily puts the league back in the same posture that created the Rams-Saints NFC Championship debacle. Then, senior V.P. of officiating Al Riveron resisted any impulse to activate the audio pipeline to the referee and say something like, “Drop a flag or it’s all over, over.” The new procedure creates a more natural mechanism for the conversation to occur.   “What is to prevent the replay official from saying into the ref’s ear: ‘Hey, crew-conference with those guys on that downfield pass play. Looks like pretty obvious interference’?” King writes. “What’s to stop the referee huddling with three or four of the downfield officials and coming out of that huddle with a flag thrown? I don’t know if that would ever happen, but it sure seems like the door is ajar to allow it to happen.”   King explains that plenty of officials would take the position that this isn’t allowed, and that others would welcome the ability to avoid a bad outcome. And then King ends his point with this: “Now, I think the league wants the replay officials to alert referees about plays that should be amended.”   There’s another benefit to encouraging the replay assistant to talk to the referee. If provides a conduit for Riveron to communicate to the referee by communicating with the replay assistant. So if the replay assistant isn’t already telling the referee there’s a problem, Riveron can tell the replay assistant to tell the referee.   If the end result of this process is that more calls are right and that fewer mistakes are made, good. Getting it right is all that should matter. And if getting it right can be done efficiently and smoothly and without bogging down the game, even better. Peter King with more: I think it’s going to be interesting to see whether the increased communication between booth and field in the preseason works. The NFL quashed both proposals that would have made the Sky Judge a full-time member of the officiating crew. That’s a killer for coaches who thought this was the year they’d finally get an insurance official upstairs to fix egregiously wrong calls. But the league will allow for limited communication between the replay official and the ref onfield. Now, there will be three ways to stop a game after a close call or non-call:   • The referee could stop the play clock himself if he feels there’s a good possibility of a call or non-call that needs to be addressed, and the referee could call for a crew conference.   • An official on the crew could tell the ref he’s not sure of a call he made or didn’t make, and suggest a crew conference.   • The replay official and referee, who have an open line of communication, could discuss a close call. The ref could say to the replay official something like, If you get a good shot, tell me. And the replay official could say to the ref: Ask the side judge if he’s sure he saw both feet inbounds. Doesn’t look that way to me. The preseason is a good time to see if this all works. I could see the league urging more communication between all replay officials and refs for the regular season.   I think there is one unwritten and unspoken part of the increased communication between booth and field that interests me. Scrubbing both the 2019 pass-interference-appeal rule and the Sky Judge-as-official proposal meant there would be no insurance policy preventing another 2018 NFC Championship Game missed pass-interference debacle. But that really isn’t altogether true.   As of now, there is no mechanism in play for the replay official to “throw a flag” and correct an obviously wrong call on the field. But suppose on a crew with trust between the ref and replay official upstairs, there’s an open flow of communication. And a play like the Nickell Robey-Coleman missed PI happens. What is to prevent the replay official from saying into the ref’s ear: “Hey, crew-conference with those guys on that downfield pass play. Looks like pretty obvious interference.” What’s to stop the referee huddling with three or four of the downfield officials and coming out of that huddle with a flag thrown? I don’t know if that would ever happen, but it sure seems like the door is ajar to allow it to happen.   One more point on this issue. Over the years, there have been some officials—call them letter-of-the-law refs—who will go strictly by the book; if the rules say the booth official cannot influence a call on the field, then the referee and crew will never change a call because of the replay official’s opinion. Other refs would have their calls influenced by the replay officials and be happy about the flow of bootleg information. Now, I think the league wants the replay officials to alert referees about plays that should be amended. Last year, the DB noticed officials making bad spots – and then just when we are ready to live with it – sneakily wandering in and putting the ball at a more appropriate location without explanation.  We think the folks upstairs were whispering in their ears and we look forward to more of that in 2020.

NFC NORTH

DETROIT The Governor of Michigan has eased her LockDowns.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com: Lions head coach Matt Patricia said toward the end of last month that the team wasn’t in any hurry to get back into their facility and there wasn’t much reason for them to be hurrying because Michigan still had many closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   The Lions can now start to think about when they’d like to reopen their facility if they’re so inclined. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order on Monday loosening many restrictions and allowing for the resumption of activities at many businesses. It also allowed for the resumption of sporting events.   Per the order, outdoor sports practices and games can take place as long as individuals on the field and in the stands are able to practice social distancing. Crowds for outdoor events are capped at 100 people for the time being, so the current restrictions don’t necessarily lend themselves to an NFL practice or game environment.   While the Lions would be able to practice under such guidelines, there’s no reason to think this will make in-person activities any likelier before the end of offseason activities. All NFL teams will need to be able to access their facilities in order for such work to happen and the Lions were not the only team to do so.

NFC WEST

LOS ANGELES RAMS DT AARON DONALD is the betting favorite to return as NFL Defensive Player of the Year after a one-year absence. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com: Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has already won two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and he’s the betting favorite to win a third this year.   The odds at MGM have Donald as a +750 favorite to win the award. If he does, he’ll join J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor as the only three-time winners of the award.   Bears pass rusher Khalil Mack has the next-shortest odds at +1000, and after Mack comes Watt, who has +1200 odds to win the award for a fourth time.   Watt’s brother, Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt, is at +1500, and both Bosa brothers are on the board as well, with San Francisco’s Nick Bosa at +1300 and the Chargers’ Joey Bosa at +2500. Last year’s winner, Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore, is at +1500.   Among the interesting long shots are Washington rookie Chase Young at +5000 and Yannick Ngakoue, who is currently on the Jaguars but may be traded before the season starts, at +8000.

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS Raiders WR HENRY RUGGS was not seriously hurt in a moving accident.  Cody Benjamin of CBSSports.com: Hours after Las Vegas Raiders fans got a scare from rumors about an injury to first-round draft pick Henry Ruggs III, the team has acknowledged the rookie wide receiver was reportedly involved in an off-field accident. Though the Raiders declined comment on the situation out of respect for Ruggs’ “medical privacy,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the Alabama product was, in fact, hurt while recently helping a friend move, suffering an apparent cut or puncture.   Ruggs’ wound is “not serious,” per Rapoport. The wideout’s father, Henry Ruggs Jr., echoed the sentiment to AL.com:   “He was trying to move a trailer or something — move furniture or something — and the trailer just kind of pinned him against a car or a wall or something,” Ruggs Jr. said. “He’s pretty much OK. I’m about to go out there and see him in a little bit. It was just like a little open wound on his leg, a little incision. Like something had stuck him right there on his thigh a little bit.”   The Raiders are counting on the 21-year-old Ruggs to help inject serious speed into their restocked offense. Drafted 12th overall from the Crimson Tide, he ran the fourth-fastest 40-yard dash (4.27 seconds) in NFL Scouting Combine history in February. More importantly, he’s expected to open his career as a starter in Jon Gruden’s lineup, where quarterback Derek Carr has largely been regarded as a conservative signal-caller in recent years.   It’s unclear whether Ruggs will miss any independent workouts as a result of his injury, but all indications are he’ll be ready to go if/when the Raiders open in-person workouts either later this month or in July’s training camp.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE In the wake of the George Floyd death, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, with player input, pledges $1 million in social justice funding.  NFL.com: Amidst the country-wide protests following the death of George Floyd, the Baltimore Ravens and the Stephen & Renee Bisciotti Foundation have committed funds to support social justice reform throughout the Baltimore community.   A committee of current and former Ravens will determine the allocation of funds that directly benefit Baltimore-area programs.   “There is nothing I can say to ease the pain felt by African-American communities across our country. No words will repair the damage that has been done,” said Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti in a statement announcing the contribution.   “Like many people, I am sickened, disheartened and shaken by the acts of racism that continue to overwhelm our society. The most recent killing, involving George Floyd, is yet another tragic example of the discrimination that African-Americans face each day.   “Now, more than ever, we must all strengthen our pursuit of positive change, as we stand with peaceful protestors around the country. We must all seek to understand by listening better and learning more. We must all discover new ways to unite. We must all work to break the cycle of systematic racial injustice.   “Our players have been — and will continue to be — at the forefront of this change. We believe in their commitment to furthering social justice and invoking meaningful change. We stand side by side with them, in full support. It is for this reason that I have asked a group of former and current Ravens players to decide which organizations should receive proceeds from the $1 million donation we are making today.”

CLEVELAND It’s quiet on the surface of BAKER MAYFIELD’s pond, but Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer believes he is paddling hard for new coach Kevin Stefanski: Baker Mayfield’s revelation on a Zoom call with Browns media this week that he’s “moving in silence” this offseason is a sign that he’s buying into Kevin Stefanski’s program and has faith in the coaching staff.   Mayfield has always spoken his mind without concern to what anybody thought. But Stefanski has asked his starting quarterback and the rest of the Browns to tone down the rhetoric, and Mayfield has taken it to heart. That bodes well for the season, because it means Mayfield respects Stefanski and his approach.   That wasn’t the case last season, when it quickly became apparent that Freddie Kitchens was in over his head and didn’t play to Mayfield’s strengths. By the end of the season, Mayfield was frustrated with the dysfunction, and it showed in his crumbling statistics and 6-10 record.   With Stefanski, Mayfield can point to the success of Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum and others under his tutelage in Minnesota, and can visualize himself flourishing in this play-action scheme. He’s also working on the new footwork implemented by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, which is another sign of trust.   On one hand, Mayfield’s quiet offseason signals some maturity. On the other hand, it’s an encouraging sign that he’s sold on the new regime. – – – Mayfield provided a little lesson in economics this week on his Zoom call. He admitted about Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry “that we only have so many more opportunities together.’’   That’s because Mayfield is up for a potential big payday after this pivotal third season, and Beckham and Landry won’t count much or at all against the cap after this season, and the Browns can part ways with them if they choose to go younger and cheaper at the position.   Beckham, due to make $14 million in base salary this season, would count nothing against the cap after this season. Landry, due $13 million, would account for only $3 million in dead cap space in 2021 and $1.5 million in 2022. The end of their guaranteed money coincides with looming paydays for Mayfield, defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Denzel Ward.   If Mayfield, Landry and Beckham hope to win multiple championships together, they must prove it this season.   “They’re ready to take over, and it’s their time now,’’ Mayfield said. “They know that. We only have so many more opportunities together. They’re going to do it and everything for each other. I’m looking forward to seeing the productivity they have.”

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON “Football data scientist”: is a growth industry.  Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com: The Texans added some help for their analytics operation, bringing in a pair of employees with non-football backgrounds.   According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans hired Curtis Goodwin as a performance data scientist and Kevin Clark as a football data and applications engineer.   Goodwin was chair of the mathematics department at Boswell High School in Fort Worth. There, he supervised 14 math teachers and was an assistant basketball coach.   Clark, a former software engineer for Intel, had previously worked for the Arizona Coyotes as a research and data development data engineer.

INDIANAPOLIS Even with rookie RB JONATHAN TAYLOR, Frank Reich says he respects RB MARLON MACK and will continue to label him the starter.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com: The Indianapolis Colts sit as one of the most intriguing teams in the AFC entering the 2020 season after upgrades on both sides of the ball have fortified a stellar roster.   One addition that could boost the Colts’ offense was drafting running back Jonathan Taylor, who projects as an early-down workhorse after an impressive college career at Wisconsin.   Monday, however, coach Frank Reich noted that we shouldn’t count out incumbent starter Marlon Mack from retaining the job. The coach also underscored the importance Nyheim Hines will play.   “There’s definitely inherent respect for the starter returning,” Reich said, via Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan. “And that’s the way I see this. … I see it as a 1-1 (punch). The way the league has gone and the way role playing has been elevated in our league, it’s made it prominent. We used to say in San Diego that when we had Danny Woodhead. He was not our starter, he was our ‘role-playing’ starter. He played such a significant role. He had 80 catches in a year. You look at a guy like Nyheim Hines. We talk about Marlon and Jonathan, but what about Nyheim? He’s such a good third-down back that he’ll play a prominent (role). In some ways, (Hines) is a starter. He’s a role-playing starter.”

AFC EAST

NEW ENGLAND The Patriots did talk to QB CAM NEWTON, but opted not to close the deal.  Skyler Carlin of ClutchPoints.com: Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little, known as “the Franchise” during his career with the Denver Broncos, has been diagnosed with cancer.   A former teammate of Little’s at Syracuse, Pat Killorin, made the diagnosis public as Killorin created a GoFundMe page called “Friends of Floyd” to aid Little and his family with treatment costs. On the page Killorin said “no doubt this will be the toughest fight of his life.”   The 77-year-old Little was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010. A three-time All American at Syracuse, Little is also enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.   Always a vibrant presence at many Broncos’ reunions and functions through the years, Little has also become a fixture at recent enshrinement ceremonies in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well. He has also participated in the Hall of Fame’s Hear from a Hall of Famer program in speaking to students.   “I feel so blessed in everything, and as long as I can I will always come back [to Canton], and I always hope to see many more Broncos here with me as the years go by,” is how Little put it last summer when both Champ Bailey and Broncos owner Pat Bowlen were enshrined. “Football has given me so much and I will always try to give back in every way to young people who need our help.”   Little, who was the sixth pick of the 1967 AFL-NFL draft by the Broncos, played nine seasons in Denver as he rushed for 6,323 yards with 43 touchdowns. Those formative years of the Broncos franchise — they were one of the original AFL teams in 1960 — were often a struggle on the field as Little starred for teams that didn’t make the playoffs.   The Broncos finished with a winning record just twice in Little’s career — in 1973 and 1974. But he was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.   Between 2011 and 2016, Little worked in Syracuse’s athletic department and in the spring of 2016 Little was given an honorary doctorate degree from the school.

THIS AND THAT

ANTONIO Deion Sanders is trying to help Antonio Brown.  Justin Tasch of New York Post: Antonio Brown is training with a Hall of Famer as he continues his quest to return to the NFL.   Deion Sanders, the two-time Super Bowl-winning cornerback and NFL Network analyst, posted photos to Instagram Sunday of him working out with Brown, the 31-year-old wide receiver who is under league investigation after being accused by his former trainer, Britney Taylor, of sexual assault.   “My son came to town to WORK! On his Game,on his Life,On his Thoughts,on his Tomorrow & on ANTONIO BROWN!” Sanders wrote. “I Love him to life and I can’t wait to witness this comeback Story called A,B & See. I know what I know and I pray u all get to see what I know to be true about ANTONIO BROWN. God bless all y’all and please have a productive peaceful day we are Growing & Going ! #Truth.”   Brown was released by the Raiders before the start of the 2019 NFL season after a chaotic offseason during which Brown butted heads with the organization. After signing with the Patriots, Taylor filed a lawsuit accusing Brown of three instances of sexual assault. After playing in Week 2 with the Patriots, Brown allegedly sent intimidating text messages to a second woman who accused Brown of sexual misconduct. Brown was then released by the Patriots. He had one official workout with the Saints.   This offseason, Brown hired agent Ed Wasielewski after being dumped by Drew Rosenhaus.   Brown responded to Sanders’ post with “Love you pops.” Tom Brady, briefly a teammate of Brown’s, replied to Sanders’ post with two heart emojis.

FLOYD LITTLE Sad news about former running back Floyd Little.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com: Pro Football Hall of Famer Floyd Little, known as “the Franchise” during his career with the Denver Broncos, has been diagnosed with cancer.   A former teammate of Little’s at Syracuse, Pat Killorin, made the diagnosis public as Killorin created a GoFundMe page called “Friends of Floyd” to aid Little and his family with treatment costs. On the page Killorin said “no doubt this will be the toughest fight of his life.”   The 77-year-old Little was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010. A three-time All American at Syracuse, Little is also enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.   Always a vibrant presence at many Broncos’ reunions and functions through the years, Little has also become a fixture at recent enshrinement ceremonies in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well. He has also participated in the Hall of Fame’s Hear from a Hall of Famer program in speaking to students.   “I feel so blessed in everything, and as long as I can I will always come back [to Canton], and I always hope to see many more Broncos here with me as the years go by,” is how Little put it last summer when both Champ Bailey and Broncos owner Pat Bowlen were enshrined. “Football has given me so much and I will always try to give back in every way to young people who need our help.”   Little, who was the sixth pick of the 1967 AFL-NFL draft by the Broncos, played nine seasons in Denver as he rushed for 6,323 yards with 43 touchdowns. Those formative years of the Broncos franchise — they were one of the original AFL teams in 1960 — were often a struggle on the field as Little starred for teams that didn’t make the playoffs.   The Broncos finished with a winning record just twice in Little’s career — in 1973 and 1974. But he was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.   Between 2011 and 2016, Little worked in Syracuse’s athletic department and in the spring of 2016 Little was given an honorary doctorate degree from the school.

KAEPERNICK   Tim Kawakami of The Athletic is another scribe calling for the signing of QB COLIN KAEPERNICK to a contract: We know that Colin Kaepernick is committed to the fight for social justice, even though that has surely cost him his job in the NFL. We also know that he still very much wants to play in the NFL, even though the league, over and over through three seasons, has proven that it is not very interested in employing him.   We know that he hasn’t played a game since 2016, when he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and, of course, became an international story. We know that he has continued his training and is determined to get back into the league. I checked this week with someone in his camp, and yes, that determination remains. Maybe it’s stronger now than ever.   We know that his words and presence have never been more relevant. We know that leading figures are turning to Kaepernick’s image and his actions to emphasize that the fight must go on. We know that America feels like it’s teetering right now. You can support or oppose whichever side of this you wish, and if you dislike Colin Kaepernick, I am not here to debate with you. But whatever your political and social stance, I don’t think you can argue that American society is wobbling on the edge of something dangerous.   So wouldn’t this be an auspicious time for somebody in the NFL — it just takes a single owner, buoyed by support from his general manager and coach — to sign Kaepernick and give him a fair shot to win a roster spot in 2020? Couldn’t one team be fractionally as gutsy as Kaepernick himself has been?   Yes, over the last three seasons, NFL owners have sent a message to Kaepernick and to everybody who believes in his cause: If you protest, make things uncomfortable and rile up a large segment of the fan base that doesn’t want to hear or see any of it, you will not have a job in this league, especially at the most important position in the sport. Some of this — the raw economics of it — is logical, if you come from a certain background.   But Joe Lockhart, a political hand who was brought to the NFL in the wake of the Kaepernick controversy (and departed in 2018), just wrote something for CNN.com that crystallized some things I’d been thinking about this week while watching the coverage of George Floyd’s killing, the ripple effect of all the other killings of African Americans at the hands of police in this country and the protests across the nation. In the context of what is happening now and what has happened for years, Lockhart writes, an NFL team should sign Kaepernick.   This wouldn’t only be a gesture to, in some way, help calm a troubled nation, though I believe it would help.   Remember, Kaepernick is still only 32. True, he hasn’t taken a snap since the end of the 2016 season. But on the flip side, he also hasn’t taken a hit since the end of the 2016 season, when his body had been banged around for a few years and his play, at times, suffered for it. He almost certainly would be very rusty in any training camp situation. He might not have game reactions and game rhythm. But could he possibly be worse than, say, Nathan Peterman, who remains employed (currently by the Raiders)?   Have you seen the QBs some NFL teams threw out there last season? Including in some games they really had to win (and didn’t win)? Devlin Hodges with the Steelers. Mitch Trubisky and Chase Daniel with the Bears. And I’m not even mentioning the guys who apparently have NFL backup-QB tenure.   Well, I will mention one member of the tenured class …   If current Tampa Bay backup Blaine Gabbert (13-35 career record as a starter, career 71.7 passer rating, 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions in 272 attempts since the 2017 season started, plainly inferior to Kaepernick when they competed for the 49ers’ starting job in 2016) can essentially have a permanent spot in the NFL because he helps the QB room and makes the coach feel better about the position, why couldn’t a team consider giving Kaepernick a shot at a similar role because he might help the locker room and everybody else on the team feel better about a commitment to justice?   Kaepernick has helped take a team to the Super Bowl. He has been the starting quarterback for three road playoff victories. He wasn’t great in 2016, but he was coming off of multiple surgeries, he was the focus of incredible attention, he was playing for a coach who hadn’t picked him and a general manager who disliked him, and yet Kaepernick still produced a 90.7 passer rating. (In the same season, Gabbert had a 68.4 passer rating.)   And even after adding in the 1-10 record during Kaepernick’s starts in 2016, you can also go to his career record as a starter, which is 28-30. That means it was 27-20 before the chaotic 2016 season, when he was surrounded by what might’ve been the worst roster in the NFL. (You can ask Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch what they thought about the roster they inherited in 2017.)   So why does Matt Barkley (10 TD passes, 21 interceptions in his career and currently the Bills’ backup to Josh Allen) have a job over Kaepernick?   OK, let’s get back to the context of this: Signing Kaepernick now, of course, would also be a massive message to the world. It would be one NFL team, presumably with the backing of the commissioner (as detailed by Lockhart), providing some proof that people in power are listening to the cries of pain and anger. Why hasn’t any team done this before now? Lockhart writes that an executive once told him that his team projected losing 20 percent of its season-ticket base if it signed Kaepernick.   But what about the segments of any fan base that believe in Kaepernick and in the power of his cause? What about reaching out to someone who stands for those who have suffered from oppression? I’m not saying every team has to think like this or offer him a job. But can’t one team do it? I know there are many NFL fans who despise Kaepernick. I know there are many NFL fans who love what he stands for. I don’t think one segment is any more economically viable than the other at this moment in time. And we are in a time that seems to be about more than economics, if any owner is allowed to think this way.   Also, what about the electric jolt this would give to a team’s players and coaching staff? What about watching an owner acting at some risk to the business to do whatever it took to improve the team and carry out some degree of justice? Isn’t there some potential value in adding a person who has risked so much — his career to date, possibly his life — and yet remained so committed to playing football, if he could?   Just this week, Kaepernick started a defense fund for Minnesota protesters in need of legal assistance. He has done this in other areas, mostly out of his own pocket. Is this somebody who should be blackballed by the NFL? Is this what NFL owners are so desperate to keep out of their league?   I’m not saying anybody should hand Kaepernick a job. And I realize what owners and GMs also fear: If you bring him to camp, everything and every moment could be about him and the roster competition, which could be wearying for everybody else. And if he gets fairly beaten out, which is possible, cutting him could be quite controversial.   But I think this all can be reasonably spelled out. I think any team that signs Kaepernick should be given credit for making the move in the same way that Kaepernick gets credit for risking everything that he has. If it is a fair competition, conducted with transparency, I think it can be viewed mostly impartially from outside. By the way, this is exactly the way the 2016 competition was run and commented on by Chip Kelly, who had reason to do the opposite. It just takes a fair team with a fair coach and a fair-minded competition with fair outside observers.   For three seasons, Kaepernick hasn’t been given this chance. And don’t say that he’s demanded too much money, is a problematic locker room presence (he was voted the 49ers’ most inspirational player in 2016) or refused to work out on the NFL’s terms. These false accusations have already been rooted out and disproven by those of us who were around during his 49ers career.   You can make this about football. You make this about more than football. Better yet, you can make this about both. It only takes one NFL owner willing to take this step to try to do some healing, in some small way, by bringing Kaepernick back into the league. There has never been a better time for it.   Keeping Kaepernick out of the NFL has not made the league or the world any better, and in fact it probably helped make things worse. How about giving him a chance to win a job and seeing what might happen then?

BROADCAST NEWS As the month turned to June, two longtime African-American reporters lost their jobs. At FOX, it was Jason Whitlock who apparently would not acquiesce to a pay cut.  Jason Owens of YahooSports.com: Jason Whitlock is done at Fox Sports.   The network announced the news Monday afternoon.   “Friday was Jason Whitlock’s last day with Fox Sports,” a network statement provided to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reads. “We thank Jason for all of his hard work and dedication to the network, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”   The statement confirmed an earlier report from Outkick the Coverage, which reported that Whitlock was out after he didn’t appear on the air Monday.   Contract talks reportedly broke down The Post reports that the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a new deal after Whitlock’s contract expired. Whitlock’s show “Speak for Yourself” will continue without him as the network seeks a replacement, according to the report. Former NFL player and ESPN host Marcellus Wiley co-hosted the show alongside Whitlock.   What’s next for Whitlock, 53, is unclear. The Post reports that he may look to start his own media business.   Whitlock joined FS1 in 2016 to co-host “Speak for Yourself” alongside fellow former ESPN personality Colin Cowherd before Cowherd left the show. Whitlock made the move from his second stint at ESPN that ended with a failure to launch “The Undefeated,” a website focused on the intersection of sports and race.   The Undefeated eventually launched without Whitlock after several years of delays after he was tabbed as the site’s founding editor.   In addition to his multiple stints at ESPN and Fox Sports, Whitlock made his name as reporter and columnist for the Kansas City Star from 1994-2010. Longtime ESPN NFL reporter Josina Anderson, who had more than her share of scoops over the years, is leaving the Worldwide Leader.  Andrew Marchand of the New York Post: Longtime NFL reporter/insider Josina Anderson is out at ESPN, The Post has learned.   The move with Anderson has been anticipated since the Super Bowl when it was first reported that she and ESPN could be parting ways.   The official move with Anderson is unrelated to any cutting of personnel related to the coronavirus’ economic impact on Disney and ESPN.   ESPN declined comment, while Anderson did not return messages.   It is unclear what is next for 41-year-old Anderson. Over her nearly nine years with ESPN, she has had some good gets, including a sit down with Antonio Brown this year.   However, she ran into trouble at times with ESPN executives. After the Myles Garrett incident in which the Browns defensive lineman hit Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with Rudolph’s helmet, Anderson tweeted, “I would bet Myles Garrett will say he heard Mason Rudolph call him something egregious. Never seen Garrett act like that, ever.”   She also tweeted out an image in which she said Rudolph grabbed Garrett in a private area. She later apologized for it and said other angles proved her original tweet was incorrect.   ESPN will replace Anderson with a combination of Field Yates, Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Dianna Russini and newcomer Kimberley Martin.

UNLOCKING THE LOCKDOWNS Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com on the problems between the MLB Owners and MLBPA in terms of saving the 2020 season (edited for space):   That brings us to our central question: What is so different about baseball, as a sport and as an industry, that it seems to have split off onto a path so disparate from the ones followed by the NBA and NHL?   Factor 1: The calendar This is a simple product of chance, yet is a huge one and looms as an undercurrent to all of the subsequent factors. While the NBA and NHL are losing a lot in terms of momentum, with their season-long playoff races halted just as they were building to the climax of two months of postseason, they at least completed enough of their schedules that starting back up in postseason mode is a viable alternative. Baseball’s season was stopped in its tracks before clubs had even departed their spring training homes.   The calendar also works against baseball in another important way. As indoor sports, environmental and climatic conditions are irrelevant to the NHL and NBA, though the enclosed venues of those sports do give rise to an area of concern regarding coronavirus that doesn’t affect baseball to the same degree. However, baseball is traditionally a six-month marathon in which 162 games sort out the wheat from the chaff, setting up a postseason that runs for just a month, but even so typically finishes barely in time before the onset of autumn renders the prospect playing in some markets hard to pull off.   So baseball has two overarching problems: Playing enough of a regular season to legitimize a playoff bracket, while completing the season in time to avoid World Series snowouts. Of course, playing out the postseason in warm-weather neutral sites is a possibility. But that’s less than ideal for the markets that would lose the chance to host what would be a major civic event. In this way, the calendar serves as an hourglass for baseball’s 2020 hopes in a way that it does not for the winter sports.   Factor 2: Economic structure Even if the NHL and NBA had not already completed most of their regular seasons before the shutdown, they would still have been farther down the road than MLB in the area of player compensation. Why? The salary cap. The winter sports have one, and baseball does not, depending on how one views MLB’s luxury tax system.   Because salary-cap levels are tied to revenue, negotiations to adjust compensation based on sudden changes in teams’ income are more straightforward. It’s not entirely that simple — salary caps are set before a season, based on the previous season’s revenue — but the labor and management sides in those sports are accustomed to dealing through this paradigm.   In baseball, not only is compensation divorced from a direct relationship to revenue in the economic structures of the sport, but there is a long-standing ideological revulsion to the concept on the part of the MLB Players Association.   Factor 3: Nature of league competition If the NBA and NHL decide to return with postseason play only, while forgoing what was left of their regular seasons, the competitive aspect of their playoffs won’t be materially impacted.   To be sure, the NHL’s announced plan to return with a 24-team postseason hasn’t been universally embraced, but it has been agreed to, giving hockey a path toward resumption. To longtime hockey fans, however, the expanded postseason format might not feel that strange.   Think of it like this: The NHL first expanded to a 16-team format in 1979-80, when the league grew to 21 teams by absorbing part of the defunct WHA. That’s 76.2% of all teams going to the playoffs. As the league has expanded further, the breadth of its playoff structure has not. In fact, once the expansion team in Seattle begins play, the NHL will “only” be sending half its teams to the playoffs. In that context, one year of 24 out of 31 teams (77.4%) is not going to be completely ahistorical. Still, in a sport for which a series can be decided because a puck bounces off someone’s skate, every additional playoff team threatens the legitimacy of the eventual champion.   The NBA really doesn’t have these concerns. If the league were to adopt a short-series format (best-of-three, for example) during the early rounds of an expanded bracket, that might pose a problem. Beyond that, the nature of the competition in the NBA is that you don’t need that many games to sort out whether one team is better than the other.   Baseball has none of these advantages. The number of games needed to truly identify the best team in a series is far beyond seven games. Given the random nature of small samples in the sport, every regular-season game you play adds a fraction of credibility to the regular season, and every team you add to the postseason detracts from the legitimacy of the eventual champion. Yet, just like the NHL and NBA, the postseason is the highest revenue-generating portion of the calendar in baseball. Balancing all of this in an under-the-gun negotiation is a high-wire act.   Factor 4: Nature of on-field/court/rink competition This is the one area in which MLB has the edge on the others. Baseball games are mostly played in open-air venues during warm-weather months, and its players are mostly positioned relatively far apart during game play. (If fans aren’t allowed to attend games, would the Tampa Bay Rays simply play at their minor league complex, which is not enclosed like Tropicana Field?) There are exceptions to the general lack of proximity, and in its initial health-and-safety proposal, the league tried to account for those exceptions. Still, we’ve already seen things proceeding pretty well on baseball diamonds in South Korea and Taiwan.   Factor 5: Sources of revenue MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said that the league derives around 40% of its revenue from attendance and related income streams. That money is spread out over 81 home dates per team, about double the number of home games for NHL and NBA franchises.   Similar observations can be made about local television revenue. While there is a significant team-to-team disparity in this revenue stream in baseball, much of the sport’s engagement overall is based on regional interest. A similar and perhaps even more stark team-to-team disparity exists in the NBA, but in most markets with a major league presence in both baseball and basketball, MLB comes out ahead in the ratings. Regionally broadcast MLB games have often beaten some of the highest-stakes national broadcasts in the other sports when pitted head-to-head in certain markets.   However you slice it, baseball’s quest to outline the structure of a delayed season with no games already in the books is far more challenging than the NBA’s and NHL’s puzzles in how to determine a 2019-20 champion.   Factor 6: Minor leagues Teams used an average of about 55 players to get through the 2019 season, with most clubs shifting players to and from the minor leagues on a near-daily basis. While there wouldn’t be as many games to cover in a shortened 2020 season, pitchers would not be ramped up to full workloads, and players might be unusually susceptible to injuries after a layoff of more than three months and counting. The reported proposal to the MLBPA, which suggests expanding the active roster to 30 players with a taxi squad that will give teams access to an additional 20 players, might suffice.   The problem: How will all of those players stay ready when it’s all but certain that the minor league season will not be played? In essence, baseball will have to set up a whole new roster management system on the fly, an issue with which the NBA and NHL simply do not have to contend.   Factor 7: Timing of CBA expiration The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2023-24 season, with a possible opt-out one year before that. The NHL’s deal runs through the 2021-22 season, and last fall, the sides began discussions about extending the current agreement beyond that.   MLB’s CBA expires after the 2021 season, and the run-up to those talks has already been acrimonious.   Factor 8: Labor/management relations The NBA and NHL have had their share of labor problems in the past. The NHL is the only one of the major American team sports to lose an entire season to labor discord. Despite that, the historical relationship between the labor and management sides in baseball is far more rancorous than the other sports. After a long history of owners wielding their systemic advantages like a cudgel, the MLBPA under Marvin Miller — executive director from 1966 to 1982 — gradually grew from modest beginnings into one of the most powerful labor unions in the country, not just in sports. Miller helped accomplish this by fighting the owners on every front, and the owners of his time never hesitated to push back.   Things are different in the NBA, albeit far from perfect. NBA commissioner Adam Silver is widely admired among most of the league’s stars, and the relationship between the union and the league mostly feels like a true partnership. The same can’t really be said about the NHL. For one thing, commissioner Gary Bettman is the same guy who was in charge when the league lost a season 15 years ago. Despite that, Bettman and the union have reportedly been working well in tandem throughout the process of figuring out how to restart their season, culminating in last week’s announcement. In fact, according to the Hockey News, Bettman called relations between the sides “the best he’s seen in his career.”   It’s worth noting that the executive director of the NHLPA is Donald Fehr, who headed up the MLBPA during the labor-related carnage of 1994-95. For that matter, like Silver, Bettman got his start working in the NBA league office under David Stern. Baseball never got the benefit of Stern’s guidance and ability to balance the needs of both the players and the owners. Baseball has always succeeded despite the relations between its talent and its management, not because of them.   Factor 9: Public perception and baseball’s unique place in our culture The NBA has been viewed as an up-and-coming league for so long that it is sometimes hard to step back and behold the economic behemoth it has become. The sport has become a national entity in a way not dissimilar to the NFL, though its draw is more star-generated than team-generated. Conversely, the NHL has always been a “fourth wheel” in the American team sports hierarchy, with a fan base driven more by local passions than national appeal; the perception of it as a sports product hasn’t really changed much over the decades.   On the other hand, baseball has — usually unfairly — been viewed as a sport in decline, and that creates an additional complicating factor in the already labyrinthine negotiations taking place. When baseball makes missteps, there is more of a tendency for sports fans to pile on than in other sports — or at least that’s how it feels. – – – As it turns out, the pandemic hit at the very time during which MLB was involved in combative negotiations with the minor leagues on a new Professional Baseball Agreement. For many, those talks have come to be viewed as an assault. That’s been the case since last fall, when plans calling for the loss of affiliation for more than 40 teams were leaked. Those talks have continued in the same vein, even as minor league franchises have fallen into an existential crisis due to the shutdown, with an almost certain-to-be-canceled season leaving clubs with a near-complete loss of revenue.   While big league markets can hope for baseball’s near-term return, all of those markets in between MLB cities cannot. Even as those markets come to terms with that, it’s all unfolding with the distinct possibility that the prosperous minor league system that was in place will return in a very different form — if at all. None of this helps engender sympathy from baseball fans for MLB’s negotiating efforts.   Not that all fans are enamored of the players’ viewpoint in all of this. While it is fair to ask whether it’s productive to choose sides in the negotiations (aren’t we on the side of baseball?), anti-player sentiment is largely driven by a fairly small set of social media eruptions. In the end, even if you do favor one side or the other, it still comes down to a negotiation dominated by money at a time when the general populace has little stomach for sports-related negotiations about money, especially one between rich people.   Baseball officials have talked about the opportunity for its resumption to signify a return to normalcy, as it did in other times of national crisis, such as the world wars and the 2001 terrorist attacks. Instead, the very public negotiations underway between the owners and players, and MLB and the minors, create a perception that only baseball is more concerned with divvying up cash and mitigating loss than helping us all move toward some sort of new normal. Again, fair or not, it just feels like the NBA and NHL simply want to figure out a way to safely finish their seasons. If they do so while MLB remains bogged down in negotiations, it’s going to be a blow to baseball’s place in the sports pecking order. Baseball’s Q rating could end up somewhere south of lacrosse.   Fair or not, that is the cloud looming over baseball’s talks. It’s not a stretch to say that the legacies of both Clark and Manfred hang in the balance as events unfold in the days to come. Baseball had a golden opportunity to aid in our collective healing and, in doing so, remind us all of the kind of cultural impact that our oldest league can have. Alas, unless Clark, Manfred and their respective sides pull a proverbial rabbit out of the hat, that opportunity might already be lost.