| Jason Owens of YahooSports.com with an update on the Tush Push battle: The topic of the “tush push” is a divisive one. The controversial goal-line play made famous by the Philadelphia Eagles and utilized by the Buffalo Bills is back on the agenda at NFL team owners meetings this week, where a vote could effectively ban it. Both sides are making their cases in anticipation of the vote. Per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Eagles officials are making calls around the league to make the case that the play should not be banned. One division rival of the the Eagles, meanwhile, is calling it a “cheapo play.” ‘It’s a cheapo play’Perhaps the reason for the ban proposal is it appears to simply be that that play is almost impossible to stop. Washington Commanders linebacker Franki Luvu notably demonstrated the difficulty in attempting to stop it in a playoff loss to the Eagles when he drew multiple penalties for jumping early over the line of scrimmage with the Eagles in “tush push” formation. Luvu candidly discussed Monday why “I think they should ban it” during an interview with NFL Network. “But I know the argument’s going to be about like, ‘Hey, you guys have to stop it,” Luvu said. “Don’t get us in short yardage, and what not. I mean, it’s kind of like a cheapo play. … “It’s pretty much a scrum in rugby. That’s how I kind of look at it. And we’ve got to have a scrum, too, on the other side. And the scrum is, we have a cadence where we all go at once. It’s not like you hard count and this and that, where now you’re getting us — or myself — jumping over the pile thinking that you’re going to snap the ball. That’s just my own personal opinion, and I’m going to leave it at that.” There weren’t enough votes in April to ban the tush push. Will that change this week as owners vote behind closed doors? Will NFL team owners ban the tush push?The play has already been on the agenda once and was given a reprieve. Franchise owners opted to table the topic during spring meetings in April following a charged debate. They will meet again in Minneapolis starting Tuesday and are expected take up the subject again. Any rule change will require 24 of the 32 club owners to vote in support of it. The tush push involves multiple players lining up behind a ball carrier and pushing him forward toward a line of gain in short-yardage situations. The Super Bowl champion Eagles have repeatedly and effectively utilized it for multiple seasons to push quarterback Jalen Hurt over the goal line with defenses nearly helpless to stop it. The Bills have also adopted the play to take advantage of the size and strength of quarterback Josh Allen near the goal line. They’ve both done so with great success. Per ESPN research, Philadelphia and Buffalo have utilized the play more than the other 30 teams combined in the past three years to an 87% success rate in terms of converting either a touchdown or a first down. Is player safety really at stake here?Some teams — most notably the Green Bay Packers — don’t think this is fair. The Packers proposed the rule change that would prohibit “an offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.” The cited reason for the proposal? “Player safety; pace of play.” There’s no data to support that player safety is further risked by the tush push, a point that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made in April while simultaneously suggesting — without data — that the tush push does offer an increased risk of injury. “We have very little data from it, but beyond data, there’s also the mechanism of injury that we study … that leads us to show the risk involved in a particular play or particular tackle,” Goodell said on April 2. “There are a lot of plays where you see someone pulling or pushing somebody that are not in the tush push formation that I think do have an increased risk of injury.” |
| NFC NORTH |
| CHICAGOThe Bears have extended G JOE THUNEY. ESPN.com: The Chicago Bears and two-time All-Pro guard Joe Thuney have agreed to a two-year contract extension, agent Mike McCartney announced Tuesday. The extension is for $17.5 million per season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, making his new three-year contract worth $51 million with $33.5 million fully guaranteed at signing. Thuney was traded to the Bears by the Kansas City Chiefs in March in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick. He was entering the final season of a five-year, $80 million contract he signed with the Chiefs as a free agent in 2021. Bears general manager Ryan Poles had said that an extension for Thuney was a priority this offseason. The new deal provides continuity along the team’s interior offensive line, with Thuney, center Drew Dalman and guard Jonah Jackson all under contract through the 2027 season. While Thuney was in Kansas City, the Chiefs had their interior line core — Thuney, center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith — intact for 85% of offensive plays over the last four seasons, including on 159 of their 190 offensive touchdowns since 2021. Thuney was selected as the Chiefs’ MVP last season by his teammates, receiving the Derrick Thomas Award in recognition of his unselfishness by moving to left tackle at the end of the season. Over nine NFL seasons with the New England Patriots and Chiefs, Thuney has missed just two games, starting 146 games. He played 895 snaps at left guard in 2024 before moving to left tackle (217 snaps), where he replaced Wanya Morris beginning in Week 15 and protected Patrick Mahomes’ blind side throughout Kansas City’s run to Super Bowl LIX. |
| NFC EAST |
| PHILADELPHIAWR A.J. BROWN on why he was not to be seen when the Eagles visited the White House. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com: When the Eagles recently visited the White House, at least a dozen players passed on the trip. One player who stayed away was receiver A.J. Brown. Meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Brown explained that his absence had nothing to do with politics, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown said he had a “personal thing” to attend to. Owner Jeffrey Lurie made it clear after the Super Bowl win that it’s a voluntary thing. Which didn’t realy need to be said; it’s never a mandatory exercise. And plenty of players didn’t feel compelled to show up. Which is fine. They’re entitled to go, they’re entitled to stay away. They can stay away for personal reasons. They can stay away for political reasons. They can stay away for any reason. They can stay away for no reason. The reality for Brown and the Eagles is that there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be invited to go back against next year. |
| WASHINGTONIn case you missed it, the English soccer club Crystal Palace hoisted a trophy for the first time in it’s 146-year history on Saturday – winning the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, 1-0, over mighty Manchester City. Eric D of The Playoffs explains why we put this news in the Commanders box: Josh Harris, the Washington Commanders’ owner, has transformed the NFL franchise into a powerhouse since acquiring it for a record-breaking $6 billion in July of 2023. Under his leadership, the Commanders drafted QB Jayden McDaniels, and the franchise has enjoyed their best season in 33 years, reaching the NFC Championship game in 2024-25 postseason and securing a new stadium deal in Washington D.C. The Commanders won 12 out of their 17 games last season, and they also hired head coach, Dan Quinn, who’s led them to the conference finals in his very first season. After years of losing and insufferable pain for the Commanders’ fans, they can finally breath a little, and a huge part of the credit goes to the owner Josh Harris, who has made it all happen. Notably, the Commanders acquired Deebo Samuels, and also drafted OT Josh Conerly Jr., which should only help them get better for the next season. Harris’ touch extends beyond American football, as evidenced by his role as a general manager of Crystal Palace, which just made history in English soccer. Crystal Palace’s Historic FA Cup VictoryHarris was at Wembley Stadium to witness Crystal Palace defeat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final, which helped them secure the club’s first major trophy in 164-year history. Eberechi Eze’s 16th-minute volley, from a cross by Daniel Munoz after a swift counterattack led by Jean-Philippe Mateta, sealed the deal for Crystal Palace. Their goalkeeper Dean Henderson emerged as the hero as he saved Omar Marmoush’s penalty and made multiple crucial stops to keep the lead. Despite Manchester’s dominance with 79% possession of the ball, and 23 shots, Palace’s defense, orchestrated by manager Oliver Glasner, helped them keep the lead. The victory marked Palace’s third FA Cup final appearance, and they finally avenged their previous losses to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016. Meanwhile for Manchester City, things have gone horribly wrong for them, as they now capped a trophyless season, their first under Pep Guardiola. Winning has continued for Harris at every turn, and to win in two separate sports as a owner and a partner can be termed a “generational run,” as many fans like to call it. Will the Commanders continue Harris’ winning streak next season? We’ll find out soon. We will note that the Crystal Palace side is known as the Eagles. So Harris owns a team with the nickname of his NFL archrival and “Eagles” are also on a run. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| TAMPA BAYLB SIMEON RICE is going into Tampa Bay’s Ring of Honor as owner Bryan Glazer calls for him to be enshrined in Canton. Jenna Laine of ESPN.com: — Tampa Bay Buccaneers co-owner Bryan Glazer said Monday that defensive end Simeon Rice, who amassed 122 sacks in 12 seasons and helped lead the Bucs to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII, is “overdue” for a call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and that “it’s time to rectify that oversight.” In announcing Rice on Monday as the newest member of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor — with an induction ceremony set for Nov. 30 when the Bucs host the Arizona Cardinals, with whom Rice spent the first five seasons of his career — Glazer pointed to the numbers. “From 1996 to 2005, [Rice] totaled a league-best 101.5 sacks over those eight years — more than Hall of Famers Michael Strahan and Jason Taylor,” Glazer said. “During that same stretch, his mark of eight seasons with double-digit sack totals is the seventh most in NFL history, and six men ahead of him on that list are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “Simeon’s credentials for induction into our Ring of Honor are unquestioned, but he’s equally qualified and deserving of an overdue call from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Notably, he’s the only retired player with 100 sacks over eight consecutive seasons who doesn’t own a gold jacket. It’s time to rectify that oversight.” Rice, 51, was one of 50 semifinalists for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, but not a finalist. Upon retiring in 2007, he was ninth in career sacks; he now is No. 21. The non-Hall of Famers ahead of him are linebacker Terrell Suggs, who was named a finalist in his first year of eligibility in 2025 and had 139.0 sacks, John Abraham with 133.5, Leslie O’Neal with 132.5, Von Miller (who is still active) with 129.5 and Robert Mathis with 123.0. Rice said that at one point, he felt like he “absolutely” needed Hall of Fame recognition, but that things have changed. “I’m not burdened by that anymore,” he said. He broke down while talking about his parents, Henry and Evelyn, who died in 2015 and 2016 and did not get to see him achieve the recognition he is now getting. It wasn’t until his fourth year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame that he was even on the initial list of candidates that comes out each September. “At one point in time when my father was going through what he was going through, I was like, ‘I want to get the call before my father and my mom — but more so my pops.’ … I remember my mom and my dad on their deathbeds, and I remember my father was like, ‘Sim, this going to happen.’ I’m like, ‘Dad, don’t worry about that.’ “Then once my parents passed away, it wasn’t so much anymore,” Rice said. Rice said the Ring of Honor nod “helps me reconcile a lot of things within my soul.” The Bucs organization has thrown its support behind Rice. The team views its Ring of Honor designation as an important step in propelling a player to Canton, as it was with John Lynch and Ronde Barber, who have both since been enshrined. The team’s other Pro Football Hall of Famers — Lee Roy Selmon, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and coach Tony Dungy — were enshrined prior to being honored by the team. “To be represented in the Ring of Honor is a cool thing,” said Rice, who will become the ring’s 16th member. “It’s cool. There are certain entitlements. These are man-made things. So these aren’t real things. We live real lives. The moment is real. The experience is real. I mean, mine was more in philosophy of an emotional connection with my parents. That was it. You know what I mean? That was it. “I know I was the baddest motherf—er in the world. Excuse my language. I knew that. I already knew that. … I know what it feels like to get 4.0 sacks in games. I know what it’s like to get 6.0 sacks in games. I done taking over the guys that got jackets. I’m like, ‘Hey, I killed him, 3.0 sacks in the game, 2.5 sacks over there. I done won a Super Bowl. I done did all those things. You know what I mean? I literally did it.'” |
| NFC WEST |
| LOS ANGELES RAMSSarah Barshop of ESPN.com on when and for how much RB KYREN WILLIAMS can get in an extension: When the Rams traded up to draft Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round last month, he joined a crowded backfield, with four other running backs who saw playing time for the team last season. The group includes Kyren Williams, a fifth-round pick in 2022 who has become the Rams’ clear starter at the position but is entering the final season of his rookie deal. Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead met with Williams’ agent at the NFL league meetings in early April about a possible extension. That morning, McVay said Williams “knows how important he is to us.” “As far as just bridging that gap, we’ll see how far we have to go for that, but he is a very important part of what we want to be moving forward,” McVay said. But adding Hunter — a year after drafting Blake Corum in the third round — doesn’t mean the Rams won’t attempt to re-sign Williams. Since 2017 — McVay’s second draft with the team — the Rams have taken a running back in every draft. Their eight-year streak is the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak by any team since Washington from 2011-20, according to ESPN Research. The Rams also have Ronnie Rivers and Cody Schrader on their roster, both undrafted free agents. “We would definitely like to engineer a long-term partnership with Kyren,” Snead said at the NFL league meetings. Last season, Williams stayed healthy for the entire season for the first time in his three-year career, a goal he set entering the 2024 campaign given his previous NFL injury history. In 16 regular-season games — the Rams rested him in the regular-season finale after clinching the NFC West — Williams ran for a career-high 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns on 316 carries. He also added 34 catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns. And perhaps most impressively, Williams accounted for 43% of the Rams’ touches during the 2024 season, which led the NFL, according to ESPN Research. But while Williams was the Rams’ clear RB1 in 2024 and led a team that ranked 10th in rushing DVOA, he averaged 1.74 yards per attempt after first contact last season. According to ESPN Research, that ranked 32nd in the NFL among players with at least 100 carries. The NFL average among players with at least 100 carries was 1.89. Corum, who had just 58 carries, averaged 1.4 yards per rush after first contact. Adding Hunter, the Rams hope, will help bring that explosiveness to the field. Last season, Hunter averaged 4.03 yards per rush after contact, which was the best in the SEC among players with at least 100 rushes, according to ESPN Research. “He can hit home runs for you too,” McVay said after the draft. “When you give him a vertical seam, he’s got the ability to run away from you. Some of the metrics that we have on him are really impressive.” When asked how he’d describe his running style, Hunter said, “I feel like I’m a very north-to-south runner, a downhill runner. I can catch the ball out of the backfield. I can pass protect and I can run.” Hunter, who said he spoke to the Rams three or four times during the predraft process, said he sees some similarities between his and Williams’ running styles, but said, “I feel like I’m more of a downhill runner.” “When you put the film on [of Hunter], he lights up,” McVay said. “He’s got the ability to go through you or to be able to run away from you,” McVay said. ” … When you talk to a lot of coaches in that league that you have tremendous respect for, the way that they spoke about Jarquez and going against him and what he meant to that football team and the competitiveness that he really displayed. “Les [Snead] and his group had a real appreciation for him and then once the coaches laid eyes on him, there was a collective buy-in.” |
| SAN FRANCISCOJeff Kerr of CBSSports.com like the extension for LB FRED WARNER: Fred Warner extension: A+An extension was long overdue for Warner, who was still one of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL prior to the extension (and Warner signed his massive five-year, $95 million extension in 2021). This extension was a slight raiser for Warner, who’s average annual salary goes up from $19.045 million to $21 million, basically just making him the highest-paid linebacker in the NFL again. 🏈 Highest-paid inside linebackers in NFLPlayer Team AAV (Annual Average Value)Fred Warner 49ers $21.0MRoquan Smith Ravens $20.0MTremaine Edmunds Bears $18.0MZack Baun Eagles $17.0M A slight raise for arguably the best linebacker in the NFL was an easy decision. Warner is still only 28 and is coming off three consecutive First Team All-Pro seasons. Warner is one of four linebackers with 130+ tackles in each of the last three seasons and one of two linebackers with multiple seasons of 130+ tackles and 2+ linebackers over the last three seasons. The 49ers will get excellent value out of this extension, which will keep Warner with the organization until 2029.– – -Congratulations to Brent Jones. Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com: The 49ers and the York family announced that former tight end Brent Jones will become the 33rd inductee into the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame. “Receiving the call from Jed [York] was incredibly emotional for me, something that I will remember forever,” Jones said in a statement. “It is truly the greatest honor of my life to be alongside the legends that comprise the San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame, one of the greatest franchises in all of professional sports. I want to sincerely thank my coaches and the teammates who poured into me and allowed me to be successful on and off the field.” Jones appeared in 143 games, including 126 starts, from 1987-97 with the 49ers. He had 417 receptions for 5,195 yards and 33 touchdowns. Jones also appeared in 21 postseason contests, with 19 starts, and totaled 60 receptions for 740 yards and five touchdowns and won three Super Bowl rings. Jones twice was second-team All-Pro (1993-94), he was a four-time Pro Bowl selection (1993-96). He ranks third in franchise history in receptions (417), receiving yards (5,195) and receiving touchdowns (33) among tight ends. He also ranks in the top 10 among all players in franchise history in receptions (seventh), receiving yards (ninth) and receiving touchdowns (10th).– – -Veteran scribe Michael Silver has a new book out and this is an excerpt of an excerpt that appears in The Athletic on QB BROCK PURDY: The day after the Garoppolo news broke, in a move that attracted far less attention, the 49ers included Sudfeld in their final roster cuts to reach the 53-man limit. Garoppolo’s return may have made such a transaction seem inevitable, but there was a twist: Shanahan and Lynch kept three quarterbacks on the roster, which had not been their intent at the start of training camp. The third was a rookie they’d planned to release and then bring back onto the practice squad, allowing the Niners to keep the young quarterback in the fold while paying him very little, and to use the valuableroster spot on a player at another position. However, the rookie — whom the 49ers had selected with the 262nd and final pick of the draft — had impressed Shanahan from the moment he arrived in Santa Clara. More to the point, he’d unleashed a few bold and savvy passes during the preseason that Shanahan feared would be noticed by other teams’ coaches and scouts. Shanahan felt that cutting the kid and sneaking him onto the practice squad was too risky; another team could claim him and sign him to its active roster. So, Shanahan and Lynch decided to keep Brock Purdy on the team. Purdy’s ascent may have appeared unlikely to outsiders, but in the locker room, most people got it. He’d made a good impression in OTAs and minicamps, and, once training camp began, had made the most of his limited opportunities. Because of that, his opportunities increased. He was ultraprepared, went through his progressions faithfully, saw the field well, and exuded calm in a manner that belied his status. Best of all, he had what is known in 49ers internal parlance as “some s— in his neck.” Nearly from the outset, the 22-year-old acted like he belonged, and then some. It helped that Purdy was used to being underestimated. Growing up in Queen Creek, Ariz., he was a sports-loving kid who dreamed of playing major college football despite the improbability of that actually happening. Earning a scholarship was important to him, and not just symbolically. In 2008, the Purdys, like so many American families, had their lives upended by the housing crash caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. His father, Shawn, a former minor league pitcher, and mother, Carrie, struggled to make things work while prioritizing the athletic pursuits of Brock, younger brother Chubba, and older sister Whittney. “At the time, I didn’t really understand what was going on,” recalled Purdy, who was 8. “But I knew we lost everything, and we were moving from house to house, and my dad had to open up his business in another name. And all that stuff, I didn’t understand any of it. When I got through high school and (started to understand), I was like, ‘Maaaan.’ You look back and (think), ‘They put everything into us, still, even with all that.’ No matter what their situation was, they still gave all that they had to us, in terms of the time spent, my dad coaching us — everything. They showed me what sacrifice was. They showed me what real love was.” On the recruiting trail, love was harder to come by. Purdy, who stood 6-foot-1, didn’t have an overwhelmingly strong arm and wasn’t exceptionally athletic. He got no attention from big-time programs until late in his senior season, when he threw 57 touchdowns and earned Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year honors. He finally attracted interest from some Power 5 conference schools: first Iowa State, and then mighty Alabama, though coach Nick Saban wanted him as a “preferred walk-on.” Shortly after Saban pivoted and offered a full scholarship, Texas A&M extended a similar overture. As things heated up, Arizona State, and then Arizona, came in belatedly. Sometime after the initial signing day in December of his senior year, Purdy got a text from a Sun Devils staffer, something that once would have caused him to hyperventilate with excitement. He wasn’t sold on its sincerity; it felt like a face-saving measure. “It was respectful,” Purdy remembered, “but it wasn’t like, ‘We want you to be the guy,’ or anything like that. It was more like, now I had offers from Alabama and A&M and ‘the whole state’s telling us to sign you.’” Purdy politely passed. In February, he signed with Iowa State because Cyclones coach Matt Campbell had made him feel wanted in a way that others hadn’t. “There were a handful of teams at the end that offered me. But Coach Campbell called me and said, ‘Man, I want you. We’re not trying to recruit any other guys. If you come here, great. If not, we’re set with who we got.’ That, to me, was like, ‘Man, this guy really believes in me.’ Whereas all these other schools, if they didn’t get their guy, they were gonna go get another guy. Campbell didn’t do that. And then, from day one, once I got there and started playing, that dude gave me the keys to the program and trusted me and believed in me.” The belief was validated the following October, when Campbell turned to Purdy and the true freshman led Iowa State to high-profile upsets of Oklahoma State and West Virginia. By the time his four-year career was done, he held 32 school passing records. He believed he was ready, again, for the next level of competition. And yet, once again, it seemed that very few people believed him capable of meeting that standard, especially after he ran a relatively slow 40-yard dash (4.84 seconds) that didn’t properly showcase his pocket elusiveness. Before the 2022 draft, Purdy was realistic. He knew he had no shot of going in the first three rounds, so he set his sights on Day 3. His mom wanted to host a big party at the house, but Brock, nervous and overwhelmed, insisted that the gathering be kept small unless and until he was actually drafted. Carrie Purdy persisted in her optimism, preparing enough food to feed a small village. As the final four rounds played out, it appeared as though there’d be a whole lot of leftovers. The morning of the draft’s third and final day, Purdy got a call from 49ers headquarters that raised his hopes. Griese, who’d succeeded John Elway as Mike Shanahan’s starting quarterback in Denver, and assistant QBs coach Klay Kubiak — whose father, Gary, had given Kyle his first opportunity as an offensive coordinator in Houston — told Purdy the team might select him at some point during the day. The 49ers had become intrigued after area scout Steve Slowik — brother of Bobby, the team’s passing-game coordinator — alerted them to Purdy’s abilities and to Campbell’s glowing praise; as the coach put it, “This guy changed our program.” Griese had initiated some Zoom sessions between him, Kubiak, and Purdy to discuss scheme, the quarterback’s processing style, and his backstory. All of that was cool, but hardly a guarantee that the 49ers would select him. So, Purdy watched anxiously and waited. And waited. Finally, sometime during the sixth round, he retreated to his childhood bedroom and slept, exhausted from the stress. “That last day was just so tiring, so draining,” he recalled. “Throughout the day, I was following the Niners, and anytime they didn’t pick me, I would be, like, drained in a sense. So, I remember my dad and I literally took a nap at some point in the sixth round. I was so tired from all of it.” Shortly after waking up, he got another call from 49ers headquarters. “They said, ‘Hey, we have one more pick in the seventh round and we’re gonna try to take you — it’s between you and a safety.’ I said, ‘Alright, sweet.’ I hung up and Googled what pick they had, and it was the last pick. I was like, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’” The wait seemed endless, especially given all the compensatory picks that lengthened the seventh round. Purdy hoped another team might swoop in and snap him up before the Niners were on the clock. As he watched that hope evaporate, he and his agent fielded calls from various teams angling to sign him as an undrafted free agent. Purdy jotted down notes from those conversations, assessing his options and anticipating the mad scramble for such players that occurs upon the draft’s completion. At that point — at least logically — going undrafted was a preferable outcome. That way, Purdy could choose the team that best suited him and theoretically optimize his chances of sticking around in the league. However, it wasn’t the outcome Purdy craved. Finally, as the round neared its conclusion, the 49ers called again: they were taking Purdy at 262. A wave of joy engulfed him; bedlam ensued. “I was the last pick,” Purdy said, “and we celebrated like I was the first pick.” Now Carrie had the green light to host the party. “We had almost everybody from my life in football and family friends come over,” Brock said. “Probably over 100 people within the next hour. We were all excited.” In 1976, former USC and NFL wide receiver Paul Salata coined the term “Mr. Irrelevant,” bestowing that moniker upon the final pick of the draft and feting him with a series of events during “Irrelevant Week” in Newport Beach, California, including the awarding of the “Lowsman Trophy” — a play on the Heisman Trophy, only this time with the bronzed player fumbling a football. It became an annual tradition. It was kind of funny at first, then bemusing. By 2022, it was played out. Realistically, it hadn’t been amusing for at least a couple of decades. As thrilled as Purdy was to hear his name called on draft night, he wasn’t particularly captivated by the spoofing of that pick and the opportunity to play along. On a conference call with reporters covering the draft at Levi’s Stadium, Purdy chafed at the Mr. Irrelevant queries, saying, “For me, I’m looking at it as an opportunity. I got my foot in the door. A team believed in me, and now I get my opportunity to go and play football. … From the outside looking in, yeah, I guess it’s a funny thing.” Fighting for a roster spot was a serious matter, and Purdy intended to win one. In Shanahan’s eyes, he was a younger version of Nick Mullens, the scrappy backup quarterback who’d once worn headphones around the facility, listening to the coach call plays so that it would all seem familiar on game day. When Purdy showed up for rookie minicamp, he was a bit awestruck, overwhelmed by the 49ers’ aura, “the history of it with the Super Bowls and the quarterbacks — and obviously, I’d grown up watching Kyle Shanahan coach.” He had to quickly digest one of football’s most intricate playbooks and become versed in Shanahan’s scheme. He shone in OTAs and got his head coach’s attention early in training camp. About a week into camp, Shanahan, while walking off the practice field, approached CEO Jed York and told him, “I think our third-string quarterback is our best quarterback.” York gulped. As he’d later explain, “One thing that owners don’t love to hear when they’ve invested money and/or draft picks into people is that the last pick in the draft is the guy that we think is the best. That’s generally not great news.” When pressed, Shanahan told York he had no plans to change the depth chart, “but I think Brock will end up being our quarterback.” By the second week of camp, Purdy’s fearlessness and penchant for playmaking had started to become a thing. The day before the 49ers hosted the Packers in their preseason opener, two of their best players, linebacker Fred Warner and offensive tackle Trent Williams, were walking off the practice field together. “Man,” Warner said to Williams, “I can’t wait to watch Purdy play tomorrow.” They didn’t realize it, but Purdy was walking behind them, within earshot, thrilled that such accomplished teammates even knew his name. Recalled Warner, “Even though (Purdy was playing with) the third team, he had command of the third team. I just kind of admired him from afar — just little things he did out there.” Purdy made some eye-catching plays during the preseason, fitting balls into tight windows between linebackers and defensive backs, but he also drove Shanahan, Griese, and Bobby Slowik crazy at times by trying to do too much. Purdy got a taste of Shanahan’s temper, too, including once when he deviated from the coach’s script during a training camp drill. “I remember there was this one play, it was a play action. I rolled out, and we had (tight end) Ross Dwelley leaking backside and I ran for, like, 10 yards. On the jog back (to the huddle), I’m like, ‘Alright, that was a good play.’ (Shanahan was) just cussing at me through the mic: ‘Are you kidding me? This is not how I taught it!’ He was heated.” On cutdown day, however, Purdy felt the warm embrace signified by a roster spot. To some people, possibly including Sudfeld, that was a surprise. To one very accomplished offensive strategist, it made all the sense in the world. Mike Shanahan sat on a couch in Room 753 of the J.W. Marriott in downtown Chicago, about 10 miles east of the Oak Park neighborhood where he was born. Like everyone in the 49ers’ traveling party, he was anxious to see how Trey Lance would do the following afternoon in his first regular-season game as the team’s starting quarterback, especially with driving rain in the forecast. That was one of many topics of discussion the proud father was eager to discuss. Something made the elder Shanahan a little more serene than he should have been — the presence of a quarterback whose virtues he’d been openly extolling for months. “When you have a guy like that on your team, a guy with the traits he has,” Shanahan said, “you don’t let him out of your building.” Mentally, at least, I did a double-take. We were talking about Brock Purdy, and this two-time Super Bowl-winning coach was doing so in a tone normally reserved for elite and accomplished passers from his past. It made sense, though, given our previous conversations in May and June, during which Shanahan had made numerous unsolicited mentions of the 262nd pick’s many positive attributes. Like Slowik, Griese, and Kubiak, Shanahan had watched Purdy’s college tape before the draft and become intrigued. Once the retired coach got his hands on the 49ers’ OTA film, that intrigue morphed into intense adulation. Whether Mike Shanahan was serving as a shadow GM for his son (that was probably overstated) or simply staying involved in the game during his golden years was a matter of some debate; he told me the main reason he liked watching practices and meetings was to keep abreast of his son’s cutting-edge schematics, which had evolved a great deal since the Washington days. Whatever the case, Mike, from afar, saw something early in Purdy that even Kyle hadn’t yet spotted. What stood out most was Purdy’s comfort and recognition of what he himself was seeing on the field. “He’s played,” Shanahan said, referring to Purdy’s 48 starts at Iowa State. In that sense, Purdy was almost the anti-Lance. Could it be that the Niners had taken a massive swing and miss — and that they’d get away with it because of the equivalent of an infield hit on an errant pitch that nicked the back of the bat? |
| AFC WEST |
| LAS VEGASOC Chip Kelly is not a fan of the Halloween dance stance of RB ASHTON JEANTY: When Ashton Jeanty makes his NFL debut for the Las Vegas Raiders this season, he might also be debuting a new pre-snap stance in the backfield. Since high school, Jeanty has stood straight up with his hands to his side in the backfield before the snap, a stance that some have compared to Michael Myers, the infamous killer from the “Halloween” horror movies. It certainly hasn’t hampered him on the field — he’s coming off a Heisman Trophy runner-up season for Boise State in which he rushed for 2,601 yards — the second most in a season in FBS history, trailing only Barry Sanders, who rushed for 2,628 yards for Oklahoma State in 1988. However, Chip Kelly, the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, wants him to adopt a different stance in the NFL. The process started on the first day of the Raiders’ recent rookie minicamp. “You know, sometimes you have to, you know, go with the flow,” Jeanty said in an interview with the “Up & Adams Show,” hosted by Kay Adams. Jeanty said Kelly asked him if he ever played basketball. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I play basketball, you know I can dunk and all that.’ He’s like, ‘OK, show me how you would guard me,’ and he’s acting like he’s holding the ball.” He proceeded to demonstrate the stance with Adams and said Kelly told him, “That’s exactly why you have to be down in your running back stance.” Jeanty said Kelly “won for now,” but he’s not totally giving up on his trademark stance. “I’m going to try and persuade him one day. I got to earn my stripes and make some plays first, but I don’t think it’s going to be the end [of the stance],” he said. Jeanty said last year he got a kick out of the social media posts that compared his pre-snap stance to Myers’ stance, and he even dressed up as the iconic movie killer for an Instagram post last year. He has said that stance was all about being relaxed and comfortable. |
| AFC SOUTH |
| JACKSONVILLEATH TRAVIS HUNTER has been touted as a generational talent on both sides of the ball. And that he may be. But in the early going, online critics are taking shots at his route running. Angela Miele of SI.com: Former Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter was selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars traded up from the No. 5 pick with their eyes set on Hunter, who is set to start at wide receiver this season. There are high expectations for Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. He is an elite athlete and a versatile player. Hunter has now gone through Rookie Minicamp and videos are surfacing of the rookie’s route running abilities. The videos include Hunter running unguarded routes and stumbling on them. The versatile athlete is going viral for this issue, with fans worried that he cannot run simple unguarded routes. The concern is regarding his footwork, with the idea that his athleticism has covered up his lack of route running skills a top receiver needs. While Hunter’s footwork can be seen as a concern, he has only gone through a couple of practices in the NFL. This is an element of his game that can be worked on ahead of the 2025 NFL season. Concerns about rookies before they take the field for an NFL game are nothing new. In 2021, ahead of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase’s rookie season, there was concern about him not being able to catch the ball. Chase has since turned into one of the top wide receivers in the league. Despite struggles with his route running, Jaguars executive vice president of football operations and Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Boselli has had nothing but praise for Hunter. “We’re not playing real football yet. We’re just on the grass doing individual drills, a lot of install, a lot of education. With that said, Travis Hunter and I had high expectations, obviously, we traded our first-rounder next year and our second-rounder this year to go to get him; we felt like he was the best guy to be a Jaguar. So we had high expectations, he’s exceeded my expectations,” Boselli said. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| RE-SEEDINGThe Lions have re-submitted a plan to change playoff seeding. Mike Florio: The Lions aren’t taking probably not for an answer. Detroit has resubmitted a proposal that strips the automatic home game for division champions and seeds all seven playoff participants based on record. The proposal, revised to make it read a little more cleanly, would take the seven playoff participants (division winners and three wild cards) and seed them based on record. Although the proposal came from the Lions and not from the Competition Committee, Detroit president Rod Wood admitted last month that the proposal was made at the behest of the league office. We thereafter reported that the Commissioner wants this change, in the hopes of making late-season games more compelling. By not putting the issue to a vote in March, the Commissioner didn’t take the L. Since then, he’s had time to twist arms and/or do deals in an effort to get to 24 votes. Under the current system, division winners often lock into a specific seed with a week or two left in the season. With no fear of losing their spot on the playoff tree, they can rest starters in Week 17 and/or 18. It’s all about ensuring that as many games as possible are interesting and compelling, so that the various and ever-expanding standalone windows will include games worth watching. The rule, if passed, also would eliminate the potential inequity of requiring a wild-card team with a superior record to travel to face a division winner with a lesser record. Still, it’s not about competitive fairness in the playoffs; it’s about trying to ensure that more games will be more interesting in the final weeks of the regular seaso Mike Florio votes no, without a change to the scheduling formula: The Commissioner wants the playoff tree to be reconfigured to tie seeding to record, without regard to whether a team won its division. The goal isn’t to promote equity when it comes to who’s at home and who’s on the road in the playoffs; the objective is to make late-season games more compelling by giving teams more to play for. Whether that happens remains to be seen. If the Commissioner gets his way on this (yes, the Lions proposed it, but the league office instigated it), it creates a separate issue as it relates to the scheduling formula. Currently, every team plays: (1) six games against the three other teams in its division; (2) four games against all teams from another division in the conference, which rotates every year; (3) two games against the teams from the remaining divisions in the conference that finished in the same position the year before (first, second, third, fourth); (4) four games against all teams from a division in the other conference, which rotates every year; and (5) one game against a team from a division in the other conference that finished in the same position the year before. By devaluing a division championship and emphasizing competition within the conference, the eight games every year that arise from an effort to ensure variety in schedule need to be reconsidered. Last year, the teams of the NFC North benefited from playing two of the weak divisions — the AFC South and NFC West. This year, it’ll be a much different story for the Lions, Vikings, Packers, and Bears; they play eight games against the teams of the AFC North and NFC East. Likewise, the Rams have a very real chance at being in the No. 1 seed in 2025, given that they’ll play eight games against the teams of the AFC South and NFC South. If a team’s record relative not to its division but to its conference will take on more importance in a playoff tree constructed based on total record, teams need to play more games in their conference. Ideally, every team would play one game against every other team in its conference — like college conferences did before they became too big to allow that. The most fair construction of the schedule, if the “Lions” proposal passes, would consist of 15 conference games and two interconference games. But that would reduce the variety of the schedule dramatically. Our guess? 345 Park Avenue won’t be bothered by such niceties of competitive integrity. The current effort is aimed at making late-season games more interesting and, in turn, more valuable to the networks and, in turn, more valuable to the league. If an effort to overhaul the schedule is going to happen, it will require a groundswell from the teams. A groundswell strong enough to overcome the inertia of a league off that will not care about the inequity that flows from using apples-and-oranges scheduling to create what will be an apples-to-apples comparison of records. The best decision, then, will be to kick this greed-driven idea to 2026, and to ask the “Lions” to resubmit their proposal regarding playoff seeding with a companion proposal as to how the scheduling formula will be changed to make the new approach far more fair than it will be if the change if made as of 2025. We think Florio is confusing playoff qualification with playoff seeding. Changing the playoff seeding does not change what seven teams in each conference make the playoffs. And even as Florio rails against inequitable schedules against weak divisions, he is opposed to changing a current format that rewards champions of those weak divisions with home playoff games. We could come up with all kinds of completely revamped league alignments. The entire concept of the current tiny pods of four-team divisions would be a good place to change. As would the idea that we have two holdover conferences from the AFC-NFC, now more than 50 years in the rearview mirror. But all the current proposals might do is reward 13-4 Wild Card teams over 9-8 Division Champs. |
| FLAG FOOTBALLJosh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com on the likely passage of a proposal for flag football participation by NFL players. The push to have NFL players participate in flag football during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles is reportedly set for a big step forward on Tuesday. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that a resolution allowing players to participate is expected to pass a vote of team owners during league meetings in Minneapolis. The resolution will need yes votes from 24 teams in order to pass. Under the terms of the proposal, no more than one player from each club would be able to participate with an exception for designated international players who would be able to play for their home countries. It also includes specifications for playing fields and injury protection under the salary cap for any player who might be injured during the competition. The NFL Players Association has already indicated its support for players participating in the Olympics, so an affirmative response in Tuesday’s vote would clear the path for a significant NFL presence in Los Angeles in July 2028. So only one player per team – no JOE BURROW to JaMARR CHASE TD passes in the 80-0 win over Paraguay. |
