Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers defeated Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady in the fourth edition of The Match from Big Sky, Montana.DeChambeau and Rodgers, who were both making their debuts in the charity-event golf series, got off to a hot start thanks to the 2020 U.S. Open champ's chip-in birdie on No. 1.From there, the team rode Rodgers' impressive driving and putting abilities, combined with DeChambeau's approach play, to put Mickelson and Brady away on the 16th hole.DeChambeau stuck his approach on the par 3, and Brady missed a birdie effort that allowed Rodgers to step up and deliver the knockout blow for a 3-and-2 victory.Mickelson and Brady dropped to 0-2 in the team event. They also lost to Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning during the second edition of The Match, which took place in May 2020.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

theScore's Justin Boone was first overall in FantasyPros' Most Accurate Expert Competition in 2019 and has finished among the top seven each of the last seven years.Follow the links below to see his updated 2021 rankings.Half PPR

The Match returns with a duel featuring Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, who lost to Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning in May 2020, versus Bryson DeChambeau and Aaron Rodgers, who are both making their debuts in the charity competition.The fourth edition of the made-for-TV event will be played at The Reserve at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana.How to watch on Tuesday, July 6USAChannelTime (ET)TNT5:45-11 p.m.Preshow coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET.CanadaChannelTime (ET)CNN International5:45-11 p.m.Preshow coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET.PlayersPhil Mickelson Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyAge: 51

Former first-round wide receiver N'Keal Harry requested a trade from the New England Patriots on Tuesday, his agent announced in a statement obtained by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo."For the past several months, I have been working in cooperation with the Patriots behind the scenes to put a plan in place to allow N'Keal to thrive in New England," the statement read. "Through two seasons, he has 86 targets, which obviously hasn't met the expectations the Patriots and N'Keal had when they drafted a dominant downfield threat who was virtually unstoppable at the point of attack in college."Following numerous conversations with the Patriots, I believe it's time for a fresh start and best for both parties if N'Keal moves on before the start of training camp. That is why I have informed the Patriots today I am formally requesting a trade on behalf of my client."Harry, 23, has failed to meet expectations since New England drafted him 32nd overall in 2019. He's racked up just 45 receptions for 414 yards and four touchdowns through 21 appearances with the Patriots.Multiple teams reportedly contacted New England to gauge the possibility of a trade for Harry earlier this offseason, but a deal didn't materialize.The Arizona State product has two more seasons and a fifth-year option remaining on his rookie contract. Harry carries a $2.7-million cap hit for this season and a $3.2-million charge for 2022, according to Spotrac.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Aaron Rodgers has been taking care of Aaron Rodgers this offseason.Though his public spat with the Green Bay Packers has been dominating headlines since the end of the NFL season, the reigning league MVP has used his time away from the team to work on himself."I'm very thankful for the opportunity to work on my mental health," Rodgers said Monday, according to ESPN's Ben Baby."I haven't dealt with bouts of depression or anything, that I think for whatever reason, are OK to talk about if you're talking about mental health. I've just really been trying to think about what puts me in the best frame of mind," he continued. "What habits can I form that allow me to feel most in my body, most present, happiest? And that's what I've been doing."Rodgers has spent parts of the offseason in Hawaii, and the veteran has been taking a necessary look inward."The mental side of it is so important for all of us athletes," he said. "I don't think it's talked about enough. But taking time to work on yourself is, I think, the best gift any of us can give ourselves."The passer has been away from the Packers since the team was eliminated in the NFC Championship Game.He didn't attend OTAs or minicamp, and there hasn't been any word about his training camp status. The 37-year-old said in May his issue with the team stems from a disconnect with the organization's philosophy. He also reportedly does not see eye to eye with general manager Brian Gutekunst.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley wants quarterback Justin Herbert to be the focal point of the team's offense next season."I wanted our offense to run through Justin Herbert," Staley said, according to team reporter Hayley Elwood. "I wanted him to make it work, and I think that's what's been fun to sort of get started."Herbert started 15 contests for the Chargers in his debut campaign last year, finishing with a 6-9 record. The Oregon product went on to win the 2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year award after throwing for 4,336 yards and setting a first-year record of 31 touchdowns. Herbert also added 234 rushing yards for five scores.Following a four-game win streak to close out 2020, there's optimism that Herbert could lead L.A. over a 17-game schedule.Staley, a defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, believes the sophomore pivot's skill set will be key to the Chargers' success on offense."I think that ultimately, those are the most dangerous quarterbacks you defend, where the quarterback becomes the system," he said.L.A. will task the 23-year-old passer with helping the team return to the postseason following a two-year absence from the playoffs.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NFL is fining the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, and Jacksonville Jaguars for violations committed during organized team activities, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.Jacksonville earned the biggest fine, receiving a $200,000 penalty, while head coach Urban Meyer was docked $100,000, according to Schefter. San Francisco and Dallas were each fined $100,000, and respective bench bosses Kyle Shanahan and Mike McCarthy were ordered to pay $50,000 each.On top of the fines, the Jaguars must forfeit two OTA practices next offseason, while the Cowboys will lose one OTA practice, Schefter adds.The nature of the violations is not yet known.The voluntary nine-week offseason program began in April and continued into June. Live contact was not permitted during that time.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Former San Francisco 49er Vernon Davis is trying to model his post-NFL career after Dwayne Johnson and Terry Crews as he transitions from the gridiron to the big screen.Like his inspirations, the ex-tight end hopes his acting chops will eventually overshadow his time in football."Over time, I'll probably show up in so many projects that people will get used to seeing me as an actor and forget about me as a player," Davis said on the "John Keim Report.""I think about watching Terry Crews and The Rock, and you see them and you don't think about them as athletes because you see them in so many different projects. That will probably happen with me."Johnson played collegiately for Miami and enjoyed a brief CFL stint, while Crews was drafted in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL Draft."I would love to do some of the same things (The) Rock is doing," Davis added. "I like his work ethic. ... I know what I'm doing and where I want to be. I can see it."Davis, who retired after the 2019 NFL campaign, has acted in five films, with three more scheduled to begin filming soon. He's slated to appear in two movies with Bruce Willis in 2022.Davis, 37, recorded 7,562 receiving yards over a 14-year career. He played with the 49ers, Denver Broncos, and Washington Football Team.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a 1-15 campaign, but wide receiver DJ Chark believes the club is poised to bounce back in a major way in 2021."The 1-15 season is somewhere that we don't want to go back. Everyone that's here understands that," Chark said to NFL Network's Omar Ruiz. "The guys that came in came from a lot of winning programs, so we're trying to develop that winning culture and just that comradery here, and I think we're going to do really good."I think we're gonna shock a lot of people. I'm not one of the people that's huge on setting record goals or anything like that, or saying how many wins or losses we're gonna have, but we're gonna be an exciting football team, for sure."The Jaguars have undergone numerous changes since last year's poor effort. The team hired Urban Meyer as head coach while also selecting former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall draft pick.Alongside Chark, who is entering his fourth season in Jacksonville, the Jaguars have focused on surrounding Lawrence with numerous weapons, drafting running back Travis Etienne in addition to signing wideout Marvin Jones in free agency.Jacksonville has struggled in recent years, making the postseason just once since 2008.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NFL is fining the Washington Football Team $10 million after conducting a workplace review of the club, the league announced Thursday.The money will be donated to organizations that support character education, anti-bullying, healthy relationships, and other related topics.Additionally, Washington owner Dan Snyder's wife and co-CEO, Tanya, will assume the club's day-to-day operations for "at least the next several months."In July 2020, Washington hired attorney Beth Wilkinson to investigate its culture after 15 former female employees reported sexual harassment and/or verbal abuse from club executives. Additional ex-employees accused Snyder and other former members of the organization of sexual harassment and misconduct in August 2020.The NFL began overseeing Wilkinson's investigation, per Snyder's request, later that month."Based on Wilkinson's review, (commissioner Roger Goodell) concluded that, for many years, the workplace environment at the Washington Football Team, both generally and particularly for women, was highly unprofessional," the NFL said in a statement."Bullying and intimidation frequently took place, and many described the culture as one of fear. Numerous female employees reported having experienced sexual harassment and a general lack of respect in the workplace."Wilkinson interviewed more than 150 people during her review, including Snyder twice. She made 10 recommendations for the club, including protocols for reporting harassment and protecting the cheerleading team. Dan and Tanya are required to implement each measure."I feel great remorse for the people who had difficult, even traumatic, experiences while working here," Snyder said in a statement. "I'm truly sorry for that."I can't turn back the clock, but I promise that nobody who works here will ever have that kind of experience again, at least not as long as Tanya and I are the owners of this team."Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, the two attorneys representing 40 former Washington employees, called the NFL's investigation and punishment "outrageous," saying the league protected Snyder, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.They said: "(By) ignoring our requests (to) make the report prepared by Beth Wilkinson public, the NFL has chosen instead to receive only an oral report of the findings and to fine Dan Snyder what amounts to pocket change."This is truly outrageous, and is a slap in the face of the hundreds of women and former employees who came forward in good faith and at great personal risk to report a culture of abuse at all levels of the team, including by Snyder himself."The NFL also vowed to develop "comprehensive and mandatory training" leaguewide to combat bullying, harassment, and discrimination.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Los Angeles Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth expects the upcoming campaign to be his final NFL season, and he wants to go out in style.The 15-year veteran believes the Rams need to win Super Bowl LVI."For us, that's just the truth," Whitworth said on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Friday, according to NFL.com's Adam Maya."We've figured out how to win playoff games, we've made some runs in the postseason," he continued. "And this time for us and this opportunity we feel like this team, nothing short of going to that Super Bowl and winning it is good enough. And that's really the expectation level for us, even though we know that's a slippery slope. But that's where we want to be."Much of the club's heightened expectations have come from the blockbuster offseason trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams are now among the Super Bowl favorites."We're excited about having Matthew," Whitworth said."I think we're really excited about this year and really excited that, you know what, we won't shy away from the expectations we have for ourselves, adding a guy like Matthew Stafford, and we look forward to the challenge," he added.The Rams would play on their home turf at SoFi Stadium if they reach the Super Bowl. They could become the second consecutive team to win the championship at home following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Josh Gordon filed his reinstatement letter with the NFL in hopes of returning to the league he once led in receiving, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.The wide receiver last appeared in an NFL game for the Seattle Seahawks in 2019. He re-signed with Seattle in 2020 but violated the terms of his previous conditional reinstatement and returned to the suspended list before making his season debut.Gordon has struggled with substance abuse throughout his career, but he reportedly passed every random drug test the NFL gave him over the last three months. The 30-year-old has missed three full seasons and parts of others due to various drug-related suspensions.A former second-round pick in the NFL supplemental draft, Gordon topped the league with 1,646 receiving yards as a member of the Cleveland Browns in 2013. He had 426 yards and one touchdown over 11 outings in 2019 while splitting time between the New England Patriots and Seahawks.Gordon played in the Fan Controlled Football league's inaugural 2021 season. He caught two touchdowns, including a Hail Mary pass, in his debut for the Zappers and played alongside former Browns teammate Johnny Manziel.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NFL Coach of the Year is just another futures market to attack in the offseason.The Chargers' Brandon Staley and last year's winner, the Browns' Kevin Stefanski, lead the 2021 odds.Here are the prices and our two best bets.2021 Coach of the Year oddsCoach OddsBrandon Staley (LAC)+1200Kevin Stefanski (CLE)+1200Kyle Shanahan (SF)+1300Brian Flores (MIA)+1500Frank Reich (IND)+1500Sean McVay (LAR)+1500Bill Belichick (NE)+1600Andy Reid (KC)+1800Arthur Smith (ATL)+1800Ron Rivera (WFT)+1800Sean McDermott (BUF)+1800John Harbaugh (BAL)+2000Robert Saleh (NYJ)+2000Sean Payton (NO)+2000Bruce Arians (TB)+2200Matt Rhule (CAR)+2300Joe Judge (NYG)+2500Mike Zimmer (MIN)+2500Pete Carroll (SEA)+2500Vic Fangio (DEN)+2500Matt LaFleur (GB)+2800Mike Tomlin (PIT)+2800Mike Vrabel (TEN)+2800Mike McCarthy (DAL)+3000Kliff Kingsbury (ARI)+3300Matt Nagy (CHI)+3300Urban Meyer (JAX)+3300Jon Gruden (LV)+5000Nick Sirianni (PHI)+5500Dan Campbell (DET)+5500David Culley (HOU)+5500Zac Taylor (CIN)+6000Field - All Others Not Listed+10000Trends-Three of the last four winners have coached on new teams. Arthur Smith, Robert Saleh, Urban Meyer, Nick Sirianni, Dan Campbell, David Culley, and Staley all fit the criteria this year.-The last back-to-back winner was in 1981-82. Bad news for Stefanski.-Bruce Arians, who went 9-7 in 2013, is the only winner in the last 30 years to post fewer than 10 victories.Best bets Kyle Shanahan (+1300)Shanahan's creative, established, and has plenty of talent on the roster to win. Plus, every victory is a boost on his resume given where San Francisco finished last season.The 49ers followed up a 2019 Super Bowl run with a six-win campaign. It sets a low bar the franchise can clear with flying colors, so long as key players stay healthy.The Niners were the only NFL team in 2020 with more than 300 games lost due to injury. However, San Francisco somehow still finished in the top five in net yards per play (plus-0.7), which is cause for optimism heading into the fall.Unless the wheels fall off, pencil in Shanahan for at least 11 wins. San Francisco gets the easiest schedule in the NFL based on combined opponents' 2021 win totals and the third-easiest draw when factoring in Super Bowl odds.Bruce Arians (+2200)Arians and the Buccaneers might be able to name their win total in 2021.The defending champs needed some time to gel before hitting their stride last season, but they were unstoppable once they did.Tampa Bay won its final eight games down the stretch, outscoring its opponents by more than two touchdowns per contest. The best part? The club returns all 22 starters from last year's team.Nobody owns a higher win total in the NFC than the reigning champs, who draw the third-easiest slate of opponents by this season's win totals and fourth-easiest schedule by last season's combined winning percentage.Drew Brees is no longer in New Orleans, while Atlanta and Carolina would need everything to go right to compete for an NFC South title.The Buccaneers are going to leave the division - and perhaps the rest of the NFL - in the dust.Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. Find him on Twitter @AjKolodziej.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NFL wasn't able to confirm offensive line coach Eugene Chung was the target of discriminatory comments during a job interview this offseason, the league said in a statement Thursday, according to Rob Maaddi of The Associated Press.The league opened an investigation after Chung said in May that a team official told him he was "not the right minority.""After multiple discussions, including with Mr. Chung and his representative, we were unable to confirm the precise statement that was made, or by whom and under what circumstances any such statement was made," the NFL's statement read.Chung is of Korean descent. The 51-year-old, who last coached with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, is willing to assist the NFL in improving its interview process for minority coaches."We intend to use this occasion to reinforce the commitment of the NFL and of every NFL club to ensure appropriate interview processes and develop diverse, inclusive, and respectful workforces on and off the field," the league added. "Mr. Chung has offered to assist us moving forward and we welcome the opportunity to speak with him about how we can better advance employment opportunities throughout the league."Chung was an assistant offensive line coach for the Eagles twice (2010-12, 2016-19) and held the same position with the Kansas City Chiefs (2013-15).Drafted 13th overall by the New England Patriots in 1992, Chung was the first Asian American ever selected in the first round. The former offensive lineman recorded 55 career appearances with the Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Indianapolis Colts before calling it a career in 2000.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Carson Wentz sounds confident that he'll be able to jumpstart his career in Indianapolis.The 28-year-old quarterback, who was shipped from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Colts after a disastrous 2020 season, believes that his past difficulties will help him prepare for this new chapter."I'm excited for it," Wentz said, according to Jonathan X. Simmons of the Indianapolis Star. "Just being in the (Colts) organization and being in the facility, it's definitely a special place. It's really got a family vibe and a family element."He added: "I really feel like I have a new passion for the game. I've been high, I've been injured, I've been, now, benched, I've been traded, I've kinda seen a lot in five years, so whatever the game throws at me I'm ready."Wentz struggled during his final season in Philadelphia, losing the starting job to rookie Jalen Hurts while reportedly dealing with a strained relationship with then-head coach Doug Pederson. He completed under 60% of his passes and threw a league-high 15 interceptions over 12 starts.The former Eagles signal-caller said that a rough start plus COVID-19 restrictions made for a difficult year."I think it was really hard with COVID when we had a lot of new rookies and new faces in Philadelphia because we had so many rules. ... Football last year was a lot less personal, and some of those personal connections and relationships were really missing," Wentz said."Compound that with the year we had, the year I had, how everything went south in a hurry, it just made it definitely tough, but like we talked about, just keeping my mindset on the right things and just doing the best I could with where I was definitely gave me a different perspective to kinda navigate that.”In Indianapolis, Wentz reunites with head coach Frank Reich, who was previously the Eagles' offensive coordinator, and is tasked with replacing Philip Rivers, who retired in the offseason.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In March 2020, veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy left the New England Patriots to sign a four-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. The deal was worth $51 million, including $30 million in guarantees. Well, that's how its terms were reported, anyway.Twelve months later, the Dolphins released Van Noy, completely wiping out the final three years of his contract. According to Over the Cap, Miami paid Van Noy a total of $15.025 million for his one season of work. The team was under no obligation to pay him another penny. Van Noy has since signed back with the Patriots on a deal that will pay him a maximum of $12 million across two years, though if he were to be released again after one season, he'd collect a total of just $6 million. It's possible he could earn $30 million less than what he was contracted for a little more than a year ago.Van Noy's situation is no outlier. Among the major North American sports leagues - MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL - the NFL is the only one that does not customarily guarantee multi-year contracts for veteran players, even as it brings in the most revenue.There are some longstanding structural barriers that have prevented guaranteed contracts from becoming more common in the NFL. But contrary to popular belief, there is nothing to prevent a player or player's agent from negotiating a contract that is fully guaranteed. In fact, that's exactly how such deals became the norm for players in MLB, the NBA, and the NHL. The difference is that years ago, a variety of competitive circumstances provided players in those leagues with a strong enough bargaining position to establish contract guarantees as standard in ways that never happened in the NFL.As Roger Noll, an emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University, told me: "Guaranteed contracts were created by competitive necessity."How NBA players did itThe NBA was founded as a competitive enterprise, and it battled other leagues for the rights to players for significant portions of its first 30 years of existence, a period in which guaranteed contracts came into fashion.The National Basketball League began play in mostly smaller markets in 1937, but in 1946 it found itself going head to head with the Basketball Association of America, which looked to capitalize on bigger markets that had hockey arenas. The rivalry between the two leagues created an intense bidding war for players. Contracts in all major sports typically went year to year way back when, but George Mikan - basketball's biggest star - commanded a five-year deal from the NBL's Chicago American Gears as far back as 1946, according to Robert Bradley of the Association for Professional Basketball Research. The pact was worth a whopping $60,000 (more than $828,000 in today's dollars), plus incentives.Noll said that guarantees mostly vanished in the years after the BAA merged with the NBL to become the NBA in 1949. But they soon returned when the American Basketball League began play in 1961-62. The NBA wasn't exactly on solid financial footing at the time, but pro sports were expanding and basketball appeared to have growth potential.The ABL folded shortly into its second season, in no small part because of the pressure its competition with the NBA exerted on player salaries, which proved to be more than most franchises could pay in an era before television networks began showering sports leagues with cash.In spring 1962, ex-Ohio State star Jerry Lucas turned down a three-year offer worth $100,000 from the NBA's Cincinnati Royals, choosing instead to accept a proposal from the ABL's Cleveland Pipers, who'd also drafted him. The Pipers' deal - the brainchild of some dude named George Steinbrenner, who'd later gain some renown for showmanship as the mercurial owner of MLB's New York Yankees - was for less cash than the Royals proposed, but its benefits package included stock options and an executive position with the team.Lucas, an eventual Hall of Famer, later told columnist and author Bill Livingston he "never saw any of that money." But a precedent had been set, especially after the better-funded American Basketball Association launched in 1967 to compete with the NBA. The ABA-NBA rivalry caused a number of players to switch leagues for better offers before eventually forcing the leagues to merge a decade later after years of litigation - most notably Oscar Robertson's lawsuit, which challenged the proposed consolidation on antitrust grounds.According to Bradley's account, the NBA Players Association in those days largely fought for pensions, better working conditions, and increased minimum salaries, with the Robertson case running point on securing free agency, which became reality in conjunction with the merger. But guaranteed contracts eventually just happened on an individual basis."The poster boy for the return of guaranteed contracts was Jerry Lucas," Noll told me. "He had the best form of guaranteed contract - partial ownership of the team! Since the NBA has had more or less continuous competition - ABA in 1967, then free agency when the leagues merged - its players have had at least partially guaranteed contracts ever since the Lucas episode."How NHL players did itThe NHL's path to contract guarantees is a bit more convoluted than the NBA's, though it can also be traced to direct competition with an upstart league.As far back as 1966, the Boston Bruins signed future Hall of Famer Bobby Orr to what Robert C. Berry, William B. Gould IV, and Paul D. Staudohar describe in their book, "Labor Relations in Professional Sports," as a "precedent-setting contract" that made him the highest-paid player in the sport even though he was still only 18. It paid $70,000 plus a $25,000 signing bonus.The deal coincided with major expansion that doubled the size of the league from six to 12 teams. Within five years, Orr would sign a five-year deal worth $200,000 annually. But because most NHL teams had shaky finances, windfalls like Orr's didn't quite catch on. Instead, it took the formation of the rival World Hockey Association in 1972 to create that kind of pressure.Noll told me there's no precise precedent for guaranteed deals in the NHL, but he did say one of the most prominent cases involved another Bruins player, Derek Sanderson. In August 1972, not long after he helped lead Boston to its second Stanley Cup in three years, Sanderson jumped to the WHA's Philadelphia Blazers after signing a five-year, $2.6-million contract that made him the highest paid athlete in the world. Sanderson was also the lead plaintiff in an antitrust suit that successfully challenged the NHL's reserve clause, which led to free agency.Like the ABA, the WHA hung around and tried to poach NHL players until eventually merging with the NHL toward the end of the 1970s."Before the entry of the WHA," Noll said, "(most) contracts were not long term and were not guaranteed."The NHL now has a salary cap and a system that allows teams to buy out long-term contracts for either one-third or two-thirds of the remaining value of that deal, depending on a player's age. But such buyouts happen rarely - maybe a dozen or so in a given year out of more than 600 players.How MLB players did itIt's easy to pinpoint when guaranteed deals in baseball were established. There was plenty of bidding involved, but unlike what happened for players in the NBA and NHL, a rival league had nothing to do with it.In 1974, before free agency in MLB was even a thing, Catfish Hunter bargained for a deal with the Oakland A's that required owner Charlie Finley to make a payment into a trust fund by a given date. After Finley missed the payment and attempted to pay Hunter directly, Hunter and MLB Players Association chief Marvin Miller got an arbitrator to agree that Hunter's deal with the A's should be voided because Finley broke its terms.This made Hunter a free agent, and teams quickly set about jockeying for his services. On New Year's Eve 1974, Hunter agreed to an unprecedented deal with the Yankees: total compensation of $3.75 million across five years, all fully guaranteed.Joel Maxcy, a professor of sports business at Drexel University, pointed me to a provision of MLB's CBA that still states that a player whose contract is terminated between seasons "for failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability" is entitled to just 30 days' pay, no matter his contract status. Yet that kind of collective contract language is now routinely superceded by the wording of individual player deals, starting with Hunter's.The book by Berry, Gould, and Staudohar notes that the language of Hunter's contract did not specifically use the word "guarantee." Rather, it stated that payments "shall be the obligation of the Club, notwithstanding the inability of the player to perform the services provided for under the contract." This represented a profound shift in the way baseball players were about to be compensated."Prior to the dawning of free agency, it was a rare circumstance for a player to get anything more than a one-year contract, and a guaranteed contract was virtually unheard of," University of Wisconsin-La Crosse economist Michael Haupert wrote in "The Economic History of Major League Baseball." "If a player was injured or fell off in performance, an owner would slash his salary or release him and vacate the remainder of his contract."MLB players would soon get free agency after Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally successfully challenged the reserve clause through arbitration in 1975, winning a battle through channels established in the collective bargaining process that Curt Flood had lost in the courts just a few years before. The floodgates opened, and players soon had much more bargaining power."Soon thereafter," Berry, Gould, and Staudohar wrote, "guaranteed contracts became the norm."Haupert told me one of the reasons players were quickly able to leverage guarantees is because the MLBPA quickly set about publicizing contract details, an act that served a larger purpose for future contracts."So what that did right away is it let every player know what everybody else was getting," Haupert said. "The word doesn't have to spread slowly; it became apparent very quickly. Every agent wanted every new agent to have all the information, every player wanted it. They all had something to gain by getting as much information out there as they could."Of course, MLB's lack of a salary cap also means teams aren't hamstrung by what they can spend in the future. In the NFL, things are a wee bit different.What this means for the NFLIn the 1960s, the NFL faced competition for players from the American Football League that led to an increase in labor costs. Yet while the leagues formally merged in 1970, they'd agreed to come together in 1966, two years before the NFL's first collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.Unlike their NBA, NHL, and MLB peers, NFL players are up against several institutional factors that prevent guaranteed contracts from becoming more widespread:The constraints of the salary cap. The cap went into effect in 1994, in conjunction with the advent of free agency after years of labor strife and court battles. NFL teams are not granted any exceptions to exceed the cap in a given year, and they also must account for anything paid to a player, though the bookkeeping can stash that money into the future, where it can limit what a team can pay to players in a given year once the bill comes due. Additionally, teams can roll over any unused cap space in a given year, which incentivizes many of them to squirrel away cap resources that might otherwise have to be spent.Significant injury risk. A 2017 paper from the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University, which was funded by the NFLPA, found that (emphasis mine) "the mean number of injuries suffered per game in the NFL is approximately 4.9 times higher than the sum of those other leagues." Teams don't want to pay for that kind of risk any more than they might have to.Much larger rosters. In-season NFL rosters are made up of 53 players, which means there are many more players to pay under the constraints of the cap. None of the other leagues' teams carry even half that total. In MLB, the roster number is 26. In the NHL, it's a maximum of 23. The NBA has just 15 - and the presence of one or two players can completely elevate a team. "Players kind of co-opted that," Haupert told me. "The players really drive the bus in the NBA. The NBA markets it around players, so it gives more power to the players, market-wise, and there's a smaller number of them that can make a difference."Certain provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. The NFL's CBA has long been hardwired with restrictions on player movement: franchise and transition tags that allow teams to keep valued players from testing the free-agent market; the rookie wage scale that went into effect in 2011; and a rule that mandates that teams put any guaranteed money into escrow, minus a deductible that was increased from $2 million to $15 million when the current CBA was approved last year. The CBA also spells out that teams can terminate a contract for reasons related to "skill," "injury," or "cap" unless an individual deal overrides one or more of those provisions.But the CBA itself doesn't have to be an obstacle to a fully guaranteed deal. A player just needs to have the market power to make it happen, which is often a trickier proposition."It's not like the NBA has guaranteed contracts in their CBA," NFLPA executive director for external affairs George Atallah explained to Defector's Drew Magary back in April. "They don't. Individual players and agents negotiate guarantees."The fully guaranteed three-year deal Kirk Cousins got from the Minnesota Vikings back in 2018 is indicative of how difficult this process can be. As a starting quarterback with a decent track record who managed to make it to free agency, Cousins had unique leverage. (Yes, a supertsar like Tom Brady hit the market last year, too, but Brady was 43 and willing to settle for less than top-of-the-market money. So Cousins is a much more relevant case study.) When he signed with Minnesota, Cousins had just played back-to-back seasons on the franchise tag for Washington, which worked to establish a negotiating floor for any potential suitors of roughly $24 million per year.Cousins used his bargaining position to lock down a full guarantee, but few players have the kind of negotiating power to get anything like a full guarantee beyond a year or two."The players never really had much leverage in the NFL," Maxcy told me.Some veteran contracts with full guarantees extend those guarantees into Year 2, though a handful will go into Year 3, and usually with offsets that get a player's current team off the hook if he were to sign elsewhere after being released. The only NFL players with fully guaranteed contracts that extend beyond two years are most of those selected in the first round of the draft - conditions largely drawn into the rookie wage scale that took effect in 2011.Per Over the Cap, the top 26 picks from 2020 all have all four years of their rookie deals guaranteed, while the rest of those taken in the first round all have guarantees that extend into Year 4. Teams also have an option for a fifth (and more expensive) year for all first-rounders. Second-rounders have two years guaranteed, with the top six having a portion of those guarantees stretch into Year 3. But the rookie scale is an enormous bargain for teams, a way to fill roster holes with younger, cheaper talent and cost certainty that lasts nearly as long as the average NFL career.It will take a quarterback on the caliber of Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson to establish the kind of guarantee standard that might begin to trickle down. A few years ago, before both of them signed their current deals, there were reports that one or the other might insist on some sort of norm-altering benchmark such as a full guarantee, a player option, or a mechanism that pegs yearly salaries to the annual growth of the salary cap. In the end, both went with rather conventional, high-priced deals.Then again, for star players like Rodgers and Wilson - as opposed to marginal or even above-average players, who make up the vast majority of the NFL's veteran workforce - there is evidence to suggest it's wiser to take a deal with front-loaded cash payments via some mechanism like a signing bonus instead of guarantees, even though that might seem counterintuitive.This is because securing a bigger guarantee means having to accept a shorter, cheaper contract - in essence, bargaining away additional money in exchange for the guarantee. A front-loaded deal ensures that a player will collect a substantial portion of what's contracted even if a team were to terminate the contract early. And a signing bonus gets paid up front or within the first year, while the accounting has to be prorated across the life of the contract, which places a dead-money risk on the team that may make it less likely to cut a star.As Ian Whetstone, an expert analyst of the Pittsburgh Steelers' cap, once told me, a boatload of front-loaded cash for a star player essentially functions as an effective guarantee: a team isn't going to cut a guy right after handing him a deal that averages $20 million a year, so why insist that first year be guaranteed?The problem for most of the NFL's rank and file, of course, is that they lack this kind of leverage. The NFL is a have and have-not league, with the stars at one end of the salary scale making serious money, the draftees and the try-hards at the other end making substantially less, and a legion of guys like Kyle Van Noy stuck somewhere in between, capable of playing their way into a substantial payday but always at risk of having most of it taken away.Dom Cosentino is a senior features writer at theScore.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New Orleans Saints signed Ryan Ramczyk to a five-year extension that will keep him under contract through the 2026 season, the club announced Wednesday.Ramcyzk's new deal is worth $96 million with $60 million guaranteed and will make him the highest-paid right tackle in the NFL, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.His reported payout of $19.2 million per year launches him over Philadelphia Eagles lineman Lane Johnson, who previously owned the top spot with an average of $18 million per season.Ramczyk has been a consistent fixture on the right side of the Saints' offensive line over four seasons. The 27-year-old has started 63 games over his career and was a first-team All-Pro in 2019.Selected 32nd overall by the Saints in 2017, Ramczyk was part of an impressive New Orleans draft class that also featured Marshon Lattimore, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Williams, and Trey Hendrickson.With Kamara and Ramczyk signed and Hendrickson departing in free agency, Lattimore and Williams remain the only prominent members of the Saints' 2017 class in need of long-term deals. Lattimore is entering the final year of his rookie deal while Williams is slated to play on the franchise tag unless he and New Orleans agree to an extension.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Doug Pederson remains intent on earning another shot at being an NFL head coach, although he opted to sit out the 2021 season instead of pursuing other opportunities following a tumultuous end to his time with the Philadelphia Eagles."The competitor inside wants to continue to compete," Pederson said Monday on "The Anthony Gargano Show" on 97.5 The Fanatic. "Hopefully, I get an opportunity to lead another football team and do the same things again and learn from the last five years - what a great teaching moment for me. I always talk about - we learn from failures and different things like that. I don't want to say that this was a failure, but at the same time, I want to learn from the last five years."Pederson was fired in January following a 4-11-1 season, just three years after leading Philadelphia to its first championship in franchise history.His exit reportedly stemmed not only from his worst finish in five years in charge of the Eagles but also irreparable issues with the team's leadership and then-franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.Owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman apparently "ridiculed and criticized" Pederson's decision-making during weekly meetings.Lurie and Pederson reportedly also clashed over changes to the coaching staff in a meeting following the 2019 season: Pederson wanted to keep former offensive coordinator Mike Groh and wide receivers coach Carson Walch, but Lurie said they had to be fired or Pederson would be relieved of his duties. Groh and Walch were fired the day after Lurie's ultimatum.Meanwhile, Wentz and Pederson reportedly didn't talk for "weeks on end" during the 2020 season as their relationship deteriorated beyond repair.Wentz endured the worst campaign of his career, and despite the firing of Pederson being perceived as an attempt to help the quarterback, he requested a trade and was ultimately shipped off to the Indianapolis Colts in March.Though Pederson is confident his legacy in Philadelphia is secure thanks to the win against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, he said the victory drives his desire to lead a team once again."I'll be defined in Philadelphia for my wins and losses," the 53-year-old said. "Obviously, the championship is huge. But for me ... I feel like if I get another opportunity, I want to do it again. I went to two Super Bowls as a player in Green Bay, and then obviously now being a coach in Philadelphia, and so three Super Bowls, and when it gets in your system like that, it's just hard to turn that off."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams responded to the recruiting comments by former college teammate Derek Carr.Adams joked that the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback stirred up the league after saying earlier this week he would recruit Adams "very hard" should the talented wideout become a free agent in 2022. While Adams made sure to mention he is a member of the Packers, he left open the possibility of linking up with his former Fresno State teammate sometime in the future."Obviously, I love Derek to death. We got a great friendship and we still communicate really, really consistently. He's one of my best friends, so obviously it'd be a dream to be able to play with him," Adams told Bri Mellon of ABC30.He added: "I'm a Packer now so until that point where we make that decision, I guess we'll see what happens."The 28-year-old said his off-field bond with Carr was what helped establish their on-field dominance at Fresno State. Adams recorded 3,031 receiving yards and 38 touchdowns over the course of the 2012 and 2013 campaign with Carr under center.Adams, who is entering the last season of his four-year contract, led the league with 18 receiving touchdowns in 2020.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New England Patriots corner Stephon Gilmore is entering the final year of his contract and making it increasingly clear he's not happy about his remaining deal.After skipping mandatory minicamp in June, the 31-year-old responded Tuesday to a list shared on Twitter showing the NFL's highest-paid cornerbacks. The two-time All-Pro and 2019 Defensive Player of the Year isn't among the 10 highest paid at his position.

We dove into the Offensive Player of the Year market on Monday, citing Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford as solid value plays. Today, we'll flip to the other side of the ball and profile the defense.Here are the odds to win 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, along with two fades and one best bet.PlayerOddsAaron Donald+400Myles Garrett+400T.J. Watt+800Khalil Mack+1200Nick Bosa+1200Joey Bosa+1300Chase Young+1600Derwin James+2200JJ Watt+3000Jalen Ramsey+3000Von Miller+3000Danielle Hunter+3300Darius Leonard+3300Minkah Fitzpatrick+3300Shaquil Barrett+3300Stephon Gilmore+3300Bobby Wagner+3500Devin White+3500Tre'Davious White+3800Bradley Chubb+4000Jadeveon Clowney+4000Xavien Howard+4000Chandler Jones+4200Jamal Adams+4500Marcus Peters+4500Za'Darius Smith+4500Chris Jones+4500DeMarcus Lawrence+5000Eric Kendricks+5000Jaire Alexander+5000Marshon Lattimore+5000Patrick Peterson+5000Yannick Ngakoue+5000FadeT.J. Watt (+800)I'm curious about what type of season it'll take to take for Watt to win this award. After finishing third in voting in 2019, he led the league in sacks (15.0), tackles for loss (23), and quarterback hits (41) on a team that won its division in 2020 and still finished second behind Aaron Donald, who finished with 13.5, 14, and 28, respectively.The Pittsburgh Steelers' 37.3% blitz rate last season was the second-highest in the NFL in the last five years, and the unit finished No. 1 in DVOA. Though this isn't a team award, Watt may find it hard to stand out on a club that's projected to go .500 this fall.J.J Watt (+3000)Disclaimer: I don't have grudge against the Watt family.The elder brother is familiar with this award; he's one of only three players to win it three times, doing so over just a four-year span.However, the 10-year vet has since dealt with a plethora of injuries, playing eight or fewer games in three of the last five years. His move to the Arizona Cardinals is intriguing, but Watt's totaled only 9.5 sacks across the last two campaigns.Frankly, he is a shell of his former self and can't be taken seriously at +3000.BetDeMarcus Lawrence (+5000)I don't feel comfortable investing in the top of the board, but I think Lawrence at 50-1 is unbelievable value for a player who can be extremely productive under new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.PFF ranked Lawrence as the No. 7 edge rusher heading into 2021. The Dallas Cowboys star has placed in the top 10 league-wide in pass-rush win rate for four straight seasons and will once again feast on a division light along the offensive line.Lawrence can also make plays in the run game, as he's posted a 90.1 grade in this department since 2017.He's the best flier on the board, and one I'd feel comfortable betting at 40-1 or better.Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. Find him on Twitter @AjKolodziej.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Los Angeles Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth indicated he plans to retire after the 2021 season."This year, to me, it feels like this is it," Whitworth said during an appearance on Chris Long's podcast "Green Light.""I've put everything into trying to play this season and playing at the level I want to," he continued. "I feel like this will probably be the end, but also, all my closest friends will tell you that I've said that for about seven straight years, so I don't know how believable it is, but it feels like it is."Whitworth, who will turn 40 in December, has spent the last four seasons with the Rams after an 11-year run with the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite his advanced age, he was once again among the NFL's top blindside protectors in 2020.The four-time Pro Bowler missed seven games with a knee injury last season before returning for the playoffs. He sat out only one game over his first three seasons with the Rams.There are two years left on Whitworth's contract. He's the third-oldest player on an NFL roster behind Tom Brady and Don Muhlbach.- With h/t to Rams WireCopyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

An NFL supplemental draft won't take place in 2021, a source told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.The reasons for the cancellation aren't yet clear. The league also didn't hold the supplemental draft in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.Hosting the event is optional for the NFL under the current collective bargaining agreement. Players who were allowed to enter last year's supplemental draft became eligible for the 2021 draft.Three players have entered the NFL through the supplemental draft since 2018, with Arizona Cardinals fifth-round safety Jalen Thompson the latest in 2019.Legendary wide receiver Cris Carter, who came into the NFL in 1987, is the only player taken in the supplemental draft to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.The supplemental draft began in 1977. It gives clubs a chance to select players who weren't able to enter the regular draft due to eligibility issues. Teams that select a player in the supplemental draft forfeit the corresponding pick during the normal draft the following year.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After experiencing homelessness himself, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris is working to help others in a similar position.The 23-year-old native of the Bay Area recently met with California Gov. Gavin Newsom to advocate for the homeless in his home state."I am not a politician, I am just here to shed light on the situation of (homelessness) and hunger in California," Harris said, according to East County Today. "We are all in position to help; I know I am, (and) of course, these guys up here are."Me and my family were once homeless moving around the Bay Area - San Francisco, Richmond, Pinole, Hercules, Sacramento, I mean the list goes on and on. But we were evicted numerous times and had to stay in homeless shelters, friends' houses, cars. But as family, we stuck together and made it through these tough times."Now I am in position to help people who were once in my shoes."Harris, selected 24th overall by the Steelers in this year's draft, returned to the Bay Area homeless shelter where he once lived in April to throw a draft party.

Cam Newton has been heavily criticized over the last few seasons, but the New England Patriots quarterback is trying to use those criticisms to his advantage.Newton insisted the negative reactions are a source of motivation for him when asked in an Instagram video call how he's dealt with the "haters.""Simple: Feed your focus. Feed it," the signal-caller said, according to Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. "If the hate ain't in my focus, I don't feed it. I feed off of it, but I don't feed it. It's two different things. When I sense or when I dwell on hatred, that's the product that's gonna come out: Rage, anger. But that's the hatred using me, not me using the hatred."So I want to process that and make that fuel me. I don't dwell on what a person may say, what this person may say, she say, I just use it to my advantage and I feed what I want it to feed."The 2015 NFL MVP, who appeared in just two games in his last season with the Carolina Panthers in 2019, tossed eight touchdowns to 10 interceptions in his debut campaign in New England last year.The Pats won just seven contests in 2020 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.Multiple members of the Patriots' coaching staff have praised Newton this offseason, including offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and head coach Bill Belichick. The latter said the veteran passer is "way ahead of where he was last year."Newton, 32, is still the favorite to start for New England in 2021, but he'll face competition under center after the Patriots drafted Mac Jones in the first round in April.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Eight straight quarterbacks have won MVP, but the Offensive Player of the Year award has been a bit more spread out.Three non-passers have taken home the hardware since 2017, including Titans running back Derrick Henry last season. However, we're dialed in on a couple of signal-callers with some serious value in the 2021 market.Here are our best bets for Offensive Player of the Year:PlayerOddsQB Patrick Mahomes+700RB Derrick Henry+700RB Christian McCaffrey+1000TE George Kittle+1200RB Dalvin Cook+1500RB Saquon Barkley+1500RB Nick Chubb+1500QB Josh Allen+1500RB Alvin Kamara+1500TE Travis Kelce+1500WR Davante Adams+1500QB Aaron Rodgers+1800WR Stefon Diggs+1800QB Lamar Jackson+1800QB Tom Brady+2000QB Kyler Murray+2000RB Jonathan Taylor+2000QB Russell Wilson+2000WR DeAndre Hopkins+2200RB Ezekiel Elliott+2500WR Calvin Ridley+2500WR Tyreek Hill+2500QB Dak Prescott+2500RB Cam Akers+2500QB Matthew Stafford+2500WR Michael Thomas+2500RB Najee Harris+3300RB Raheem Mostert+3300QB Justin Herbert+3300WR Justin Jefferson+3300RB Aaron Jones+3300RB Austin Ekeler+3300RB Chris Carson+4000WR Julio Jones+4000QB Taysom Hill+4000RB Leonard Fournette+4000RB J.K. Dobbins+4000RB Antonio Gibson+4000QB Deshaun Watson+4000RB Joe Mixon+5000QB Ryan Tannehill+5000RB Josh Jacobs+5000WR D.K. Metcalf+5000TE Darren Waller+5000QB Baker Mayfield+5000WR Allen Robinson+5000QB Joe Burrow+5000Only displaying players with odds 50-1 or shorterBest betsJosh Allen (+1500)Arguably no other quarterback improved their stock last year more than Allen.After taking a small step forward following a subpar rookie season, the University of Wyoming product burst onto the scene in 2020. He finished in the top five in a plethora of categories, putting up big numbers both through the air and on the ground en route to the AFC East title.CategoryLeague Rank for QBsFantasy Points Per Game1Rushing Touchdowns3Air Yards3Completed Air Yards4Money Throws4Passing Yards5Passing Touchdowns5Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll essentially banned the run and let Allen make plays on his own. The Bills dialed up passes on 61.7% of their snaps, up from 54% during the previous year. Allen was a human highlight reel down the stretch, tossing 21 touchdowns against four interceptions and recording four rushing scores across the final nine games.Outside of his usage and dual-threat abilities, picking up wins will help Allen in this market: Offensive Player of the Year winners have averaged 12.2 victories per season since 2015.Off a 13-win campaign, Buffalo's in good shape this fall. The franchise has one of the 10 easiest schedules, whether you use last year's combined opponents' winning percentage (No. 9) or this season's combined opponents' win totals (No. 9).Matthew Stafford (+2500)The Rams didn't put together a massive trade package for Stafford to live and die by the run. Cam Akers (+2500) has patched up the hole at running back in the wake of Todd Gurley's departure, but all eyes will be on the veteran quarterback as he gears up for Year 1 in L.A.This is a solid change of scenery for Stafford, who comes over to the West Coast after spending 12 years with the Lions. He was sacked a whopping 38 times in 2020 (seventh-most for qualified quarterbacks) and ranked No. 36 in the league in pass-protection rate (77.8%).Stafford's supporting cast won't be an issue this fall: PFF graded both the Rams' offensive line and skill corps No. 8 in the NFL.Bettors shouldn't be fazed by Stafford entering his age-33 season, either. He's played a full 16-game schedule in nine of his last 10 campaigns, while four quarterbacks - Tom Brady (2010), Drew Brees ('11), Peyton Manning ('13), and Matt Ryan ('16) - have all won the award past their age-30 seasons.The Rams are the NFC West favorites and legitimate contenders with Stafford under center. He's the best pick among players 20-1 or better.Alex Kolodziej is a betting writer for theScore. Find him on Twitter @AjKolodziej.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Derek Carr is already looking ahead to 2022 and how the Las Vegas Raiders can improve their roster in free agency.The Raiders quarterback has his eyes on one player in particular: receiver Davante Adams.The Green Bay Packers star is scheduled to become a free agent in 2022, and Carr is already envisioning reuniting with his former Fresno State teammate."I would always welcome to play with him again. I think it would unlock some things in both of us that people haven't seen yet. I'm always open to that, and I will be recruiting very hard. When that time comes, it will be a full-court press," Carr said to ABC30's Bri Mellon.Carr and Adams played together at Fresno State in 2012 and 2013. They combined for 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns in Adams' freshman season. The following year, Adams racked up 1,719 yards and led the nation with 24 touchdowns.Adams has continued his stellar play in the pros, leading the NFL with 18 receiving scores in 2020."I know that he's obviously the best receiver - everyone said one of the best, he's the best receiver in the NFL," Carr said. "The guy is unbelievable. He's been one of my best friends since we were in college together. I love the guy."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders signed quarterback Paxton Lynch, a former first-round NFL draft pick, the team announced Monday.Lynch spent his first two professional seasons with the Denver Broncos, who drafted him 26th overall in 2016. The Broncos cut him in 2018 after a pair of unproductive campaigns, and Lynch fell out of the league before resurfacing with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019. Pittsburgh released the 27-year-old one year later before he could appear in a game.Known for his large stature and strong arm, the 6-foot-7 Lynch will join a Roughriders quarterbacks room featuring 4,300-yard passer Cody Fajardo, among others.Lynch enjoyed a standout college career at Memphis, where he started 38 games and threw for 8,863 yards and 59 touchdowns. He threw four touchdowns and four interceptions in five NFL appearances.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas announced his retirement Monday after 10 NFL seasons."It was a tough decision, a real tough decision," Thomas told Ben Swanson of the Broncos' official site. "Always as a kid or always when I did something, it was always (giving) my best to go and go and go. And football was my go."Every year I tried to get better and better, and I knew I was aging, of course. It was something tough, but I'm grateful I did 10, 11 years. I'm so grateful for that, and now I can move on. I'm happy, I'm healthy. And now I can try to find my next itch."

Chicago Bears icon Mike Ditka hopes the franchise avoids a move to nearby Arlington Heights and remains in the Windy City."The Chicago Bears belong in the city of Chicago," the Hall of Famer told Jim O'Donnell of The Daily Herald. "That's it. Call me an old-timer, call me a traditionalist, whatever. They're a Chicago institution and that should be the end of it."The Bears have been stationed in Chicago for nearly their entire 100-year history and have played downtown at Soldier Field since the 1970s. They recently submitted a bid to purchase Arlington International Racecourse - which sits roughly 40 minutes northwest of downtown Chicago - with intentions to construct a new stadium.While Soldier Field is one of the most iconic stadiums in North American professional sports, it's also one of the oldest. Soldier Field opened its doors in 1924 and last underwent significant renovations in 2003."Just like the Bears belong in Chicago, like coach (George) Halas had it, Arlington Park should remain a racetrack," Ditka said. "It's a gem, a thing of beauty. Arlington Heights is known around the world because of that racetrack. Racetrack in Arlington Heights, Bears in Chicago. That's the end of it."Ditka played tight end for the Bears in the 1960s when the team was housed at Wrigley Field. He also coached the team from 1982-1992, leading the franchise to its only Super Bowl championship. Ditka became the first player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame purely as a tight end.The 81-year-old also believes the Bears belong in an outdoor stadium rather than in a venue with a roof."You want to tell me that a team coming up from a warm-weather climate isn't giving away a significant advantage to try and play in cold and rain outside in a Chicago December or January?" he said."You can't practice for that kind of weather. You can't simulate it. You've got to be in it. Chicago Bears football weather is a great part of the team's legacy, and all of that legacy in Chicago in my life has been outdoors."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Warning: Story contains coarse languageTom Brady hasn't revealed which club snubbed him during his free agency last March and provoked his resentment, but many in league circles are connecting the dots.NFL sources believe the team Brady claimed remained uninterested at the end of his free agency was the Las Vegas Raiders, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.On HBO's "The Shop: Uninterrupted," Brady said when the unidentified organization backed out, his initial thought was, "You're sticking with that motherf-----? Are you serious?"Based on the belief that the Raiders were the ones that dropped out of the running for the quarterback's services, pivot Derek Carr would be the "motherf-----" in question.Las Vegas, the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were thought to be the front-runners for the superstar's services during his free agency period. The Chargers reportedly believed Brady would stay on the East Coast for family considerations. The club also didn't have an incumbent quarterback after allowing Philip Rivers to sign elsewhere.When asked if the Raiders would pursue Brady, head coach Jon Gruden responded, "We love our quarterback."The San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans were reportedly also among the teams who considered taking a run at signing Brady.The 43-year-old ultimately joined Tampa Bay and led the team to a Super Bowl victory in February.Brady said he would get his revenge on the franchise that didn't want him, vowing, "I'm gonna go f--- you up because of that."The Bucs didn't play the 49ers or Titans in 2020, but they did score wins over both Los Angeles and Las Vegas.Brady threw for five touchdowns in a 38-31 win over the Chargers, with rookie Justin Herbert leading the way. The former New England Patriot then went off for 369 yards and four touchdowns three weeks later in a 45-20 win over Carr and the Raiders.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Arizona Cardinals haven't made the playoffs since drafting Kyler Murray first overall in 2019, and the young quarterback is tired of missing out on the NFL postseason after enjoying consistent success in his formative years."Emotionally, (last season) was definitely frustrating, especially for a guy like me," Murray said, according to team writer Darren Urban. "I want to win. Not going to the playoffs is weird for me. I know it's the NFL, and I haven't been yet, but … I've always played past the regular season in every sport. It's different. I am definitely not looking to get used to that."It's definitely upsetting - lot of anger and (frustration) when you are losing those games you think you should win. At the same time, I'm a self-motivated guy. I take all that as motivation."Arizona started the 2020 season brightly, sitting tied atop the NFC West after winning six of its first nine games. But the Cardinals only won two of their next six contests and missed the playoffs after failing to beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17.An ankle injury sidelined Murray for most of that Week 17 contest as L.A. - which was playing backup John Wolford in place of then-starter Jared Goff - beat Arizona 18-7. The Cardinals finished 8-8 and lost the final NFC wild-card spot to the Chicago Bears.Though Arizona has yet to play beyond the regular season under the duo of Murray and third-year head coach Kliff Kingsbury, general manager Steve Keim is certain the club has its long-term answer at quarterback in the former Heisman Trophy winner."Knowing we have a guy who is a game-changer and a special player; he is a rare competitor. ... I would say my confidence at the position and in general is at a real high," Keim said.Murray made a significant leap in his sophomore year. The 23-year-old improved his completion percentage by nearly three points, and he threw for 26 touchdowns and 3,971 yards after tossing 20 touchdowns and 3,722 yards as a rookie. He also finished second among QBs with 819 rushing yards, trailing only Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Cleveland Browns and quarterback Baker Mayfield don't appear close to agreeing on a new contract.Mayfield's agents have yet to engage in substantive talks with Cleveland regarding an extension, and talks could stretch into October, Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot reports.The two sides have not exchanged proposals, but there's no sense of urgency to finalize an agreement before the start of training camp or the regular season, Cabot adds.Mayfield recently said he was in "no rush" to complete a new deal and would prioritize finding success on the field.The Browns already picked up the former first overall pick's fifth-year option for 2022, and the club is also working on extensions for cornerback Denzel Ward and running back Nick Chubb.Mayfield joins fellow 2018 first-rounders, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, in seeking a lucrative second deal.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The 2021 NFL season is more than two months away, but with the bulk of the offseason behind us, it's not too early to attack values in the futures market. One of the best bets is on the playoff field, which is notoriously volatile from year to year.Here are the odds for each team to make or miss the playoffs, along with a pair of best bets for each:TEAMMAKEMISSKansas City Chiefs-1000+700Tampa Bay Buccaneers-750+525Buffalo Bills-400+330Baltimore Ravens-300+250Cleveland Browns-230+190Los Angeles Rams-185+165San Francisco 49ers-180+160Indianapolis Colts-175+155Dallas Cowboys-160+140Tennessee Titans-140+120Seattle Seahawks-115-105New Orleans Saints+120-140Miami Dolphins+130-150Minnesota Vikings+130-150New England Patriots+135-155Los Angeles Chargers+140-160Denver Broncos+150-170Washington Football Team+150-170Pittsburgh Steelers+165-185Chicago Bears+185-225Arizona Cardinals+210-250New York Giants+210-250Atlanta Falcons+240-280Philadelphia Eagles+260-320Carolina Panthers+280-340Las Vegas Raiders+330-400Jacksonville Jaguars+340-420Cincinnati Bengals+450-600New York Jets+450-600Detroit Lions+650-950Houston Texans+750-1100Best bets to make playoffsLos Angeles Rams (-185)The Rams went 12 consecutive seasons without a playoff berth - or even a winning record - before hiring Sean McVay in 2017. But they've averaged 10.8 wins per season since then and made the playoffs in three of four years, finishing one game back of the field in 2019.All three of those playoff trips came with Jared Goff at the helm, including last year's appearance following a 10-win campaign. The Rams will soon trot out a different former top pick in Matthew Stafford, whose pure arm talent and feel for the game should help McVay's offense reach new heights. If Stafford stays healthy, this team is making the playoffs.Denver Broncos (+150)The Broncos have the sixth-shortest odds to win the Super Bowl (+1200), yet they're clear underdogs to make the playoffs. What gives? Yes, the upside of a potential Aaron Rodgers deal is driving the inflated Super Bowl odds, but that should be reflected here, too.Even if Rodgers stays with the Packers, there's enough on this Denver roster to get excited about. The Broncos ranked 11th in yards allowed per drive in 2020 but struggled to force turnovers, an area the team clearly addressed in free agency. If Teddy Bridgewater can help stabilize a talented but inefficient offense, this group could easily steal a wild-card spot - and that's without considering a Rodgers trade.Best bets to miss playoffsPittsburgh Steelers (-185)The Steelers marched to an 11-0 start in 2020 thanks to an easy schedule and some breaks regarding opponents' health. Then they lost five of their last six games, including a blowout playoff loss that looked like the potential end of the Ben Roethlisberger era.But Big Ben is back after enduring one of the least efficient seasons of his career - despite leading all QBs with a career-low sack rate (2.1%) behind the most effective pass-blocking unit in the NFL. The Steelers, meanwhile, have said goodbye to four of last season's five starting linemen after releasing Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro on Thursday.Pittsburgh will have one of the league's tougher schedules this season after a last year's cupcake slate, and it's less equipped to handle it. Fade, fade, fade.New Orleans Saints (-140)After four consecutive seasons of 11 wins or more, the Saints are almost certain to take a step back in 2021 following Drew Brees' retirement. In his absence, New Orleans will turn to ... Jameis Winston? Taysom Hill? Ian Book?None of the quarterbacks on the Saints' roster have proven themselves capable NFL starters. Though the team has won without Brees in recent years, its defense carried the torch; that will be a tougher ask in 2021 after the unit lost multiple key starters in the offseason.The Saints aren't winning this division barring a Buccaneers collapse, and it'll likely take 10 wins to snag a wild-card spot in the NFC. Good luck getting that from this group, regardless of who's under center.C Jackson Cowart is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on Twitter (@CJacksonCowart) or email him at cjackson.cowart@thescore.com.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Warning: Story and video contain coarse languageA trailer for Tom Brady's appearance on HBO's "The Shop: Uninterrupted" sent social media into a frenzy Monday after showing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback recounting his disbelief that an unspecified team was "sticking with that motherfucker" instead of signing him in free agency.Though Brady didn't identify the relevant team during the episode that aired Friday, he did say it was a club he wouldn't have ever joined."There was a story - in free agency, one of the teams, they were interested, and all of a sudden, they weren't interested at the very end," Brady said. "I was sitting there thinking, 'You're sticking with that motherfucker? Are you serious?'"The 43-year-old added: "When I look back, I'm like, 'There's no fucking way I would've went to that team.' But they said they didn't want me, and I know what that means, I know what that feels like. And I'm going to fuck you up because of that."

The New York Jets and veteran offensive tackle Morgan Moses agreed to a one-year contract, a source told Sam Fortier of the Washington Post.Moses will earn $3.6 million in base salary and can make another $1.7 million in playing-time incentives, reports NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.New York began negotiating with Moses over a week ago, though they were reportedly discussing a multi-year deal at the time.

Patrick Peterson is attempting to spread the word to his Minnesota Vikings teammates that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is beneficial on and off the field.On his "All Things Covered" podcast, the veteran cornerback noted that NFL players who don't receive the vaccine will be impacting their teams in the long run."Why not put yourself in the best position possible to win a championship?" Peterson said, according to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith."If you're not vaccinated, you're just living in a different world. Why put yourself at risk of going through that again?" he added.The NFL and NFLPA agreed Wednesday to updated COVID-19 protocols for 2021 training camps and the preseason. Under the new guidelines, those who haven't received both doses must undergo testing on a daily basis, wear face coverings regularly, quarantine if necessary, and adhere to physical-distancing protocols.Vaccinated players will no longer be tested daily, and they won't be forced to quarantine following exposure to the virus.While a large number of players and coaches have already received both doses, some have noted their skepticism and want to complete more research before making a final decision.Peterson said he hasn't experienced side effects from the vaccine, noting the process was "perfectly fine."Vaccination isn't mandatory, but the league is expected to ease restrictions on gatherings and practices for teams with at least 85% of players fully vaccinated.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Urban Meyer isn't guaranteeing Tim Tebow a place on the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster.The rookie NFL head coach says he sees Tebow in the same light as every other player fighting for a spot on the team."That's the reality of the NFL, is that you have 90 players. To me, he's one of 90," Meyer told Mackenzie Salmon of USA Today. "What's the difference between him and the other 40 guys trying to make the team? To me, it's all the same."This is their livelihood, this is a job, this is a way to make a living. And, (the) reality is that a good percentage of your roster is going to get cut or transitioned out of here."Tebow switched from quarterback to tight end and signed with Jacksonville this offseason after last playing in an NFL game in 2012. Meyer applauded the 33-year-old's improvement at the position during OTAs.The Jaguars' tight end depth chart includes Tebow, James O'Shaughnessy, Luke Farrell, and Chris Manhertz.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Steelers released Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro, the team announced Thursday.DeCastro, 31, has suffered from ankle issues and is evaluating his playing future."I have to get surgery on my ankle a third time," DeCastro told Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I tried to fix it last year but the bone spurs kept coming back. It nagged me pretty bad all last year.""Gotta see how the surgery goes," he added. "But I'd have no problem calling it a day and moving on with my life."The six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro has spent his entire nine-year career with the Steelers. His release saves the Steelers $8.75 million against the salary cap, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.In a corresponding move, the Steelers signed Trai Turner to a one-year deal, the veteran guard's agent told ESPN's Adam Schefter.Turner, a five-time Pro Bowler, was released by the Los Angeles Chargers in March. He spent the previous six years with the Carolina Panthers.Pittsburgh shuffled its offensive line this offseason, parting ways with Maurkice Pouncey, Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler, and now DeCastro. Chukwuma Okorafor, a 2018 draft pick with 19 career starts, is the team's only returning starter on the offensive line.The Steelers signed veteran backups B.J. Finney and Joe Haeg in March. They also have young and unproven linemen J.C. Hassenauer, Kevin Dotson, and Zach Banner.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb is in line for a big contract extension, and backfield partner Kareem Hunt is rooting for a deal to be completed quickly."Man, please pay that man," Hunt said Thursday at his youth football camp, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. "He's a freak of nature. He's a brother to me, and I love what he does on and off the field - just a great person and teammate."Chubb is entering the final year of his rookie contract and recently said he wants to stay in Cleveland long term.The 25-year-old has established himself as one of the NFL's top running backs in three campaigns in Cleveland. He finished second in rushing two years ago with 1,494 yards and racked up 1,067 yards last season despite missing four games with an injury.Meanwhile, Hunt is signed through 2022 after inking a two-year, $13.25-million extension in September. The former Kansas City Chiefs standout had 841 rushing yards and 11 total touchdowns last season, his second in Cleveland.The duo of Chubb and Hunt will be key to the Browns' chances of making their first back-to-back playoff appearance since 1988-89. The AFC North club ended an 18-year postseason drought last season.Though Chubb and Hunt are widely considered one of the most talented running back tandems in the NFL, they've rarely seen the field at the same time. That could change this year, according to Hunt."Possibly, whatever coach (Kevin) Stefanski calls, either Nick or I are going to make it work," Hunt said. "So if that's both of us on the field at the same time, that's both of us on the field at the same time."We're going to find a way to make it work and get the job done. That's just how we've got to look at it. It doesn't matter if we're on the field or not together, we're going to find a way to get the job done."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tom Brady has silenced the critics as a former sixth-round pick and seven-time Super Bowl champion. But at this stage of his career, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback says he's motivated to keep playing by the chance to prove to himself that he can still perform at a high level."It's hard to walk away from something that you still feel like you can do and you want to do," Brady said on "The Late Late Show with James Corden.""So, it's not about proving to others what you can do, it's more about proving it to yourself. And I still feel like, even though I'll be 44 this year ... I really worked to a point where I can still do it at this age."The 43-year-old passer added that he doesn't think about whether he's the greatest of all time.In addition to his seven titles, the former New England Patriot has been named Super Bowl MVP five times and league MVP three times. Brady also holds the record for most regular-season wins (230) and postseason victories (34).Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NFL has determined players have until Friday, July 2 at 4 p.m. ET to opt out of the 2021 season, a source told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.Players considered to be at high risk for COVID-19 will be eligible to receive a $350,000 stipend if they opt out, the same amount as last season, adds Pelissero.Those who chose not to play but aren't deemed high risk reportedly won't receive any money, as opposed to last year's $150,000 stipend. The rule change includes one exception:

The NFL Scouting Combine could soon have a new home.The NFL informed franchises Wednesday it is now accepting bids to host the combine each year from 2023-28, according to Mickey Shuey of the Indianapolis Business Journal. The league has staged the annual event in Indianapolis since 1987.Though the combine may soon be leaving Indianapolis, the city's tourism agency plans to submit a "highly competitive" bid for the next available years of the event, Visit Indy vice president Chris Gahl told Shuey."As the event has grown, so has the city physically," Gahl said. "This is an event that we have proudly hosted and helped grow along the way, and one we want to viciously protect keeping in Indy beyond 2022."The league staged a significantly scaled-down version of the combine in Indianapolis in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the 2019 event generated an $8.4-million economic impact for Indianapolis and as much as $10 million in media exposure for the city, according to Shuey.The NFL already accepts bids for annual hosting duties for the Super Bowl and the draft.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Aaron Rodgers' dissatisfaction with the Green Bay Packers this offseason might have grabbed headlines, but Davante Adams says the reigning MVP's absence from practice hasn't affected his teammates' approach to their work."Honestly, it's not even something that we truly talk about like that," the All-Pro receiver said Monday, according to Fox News' Paulina Dedaj. "Everybody's been dialed into what they got to do. There's enough to worry about with themselves than to be going and worrying about what other guys are doing and what their situation is like, especially when we can't control any of that."I think everybody's mindset - everybody is going to love Aaron the same way when he returns, and obviously it's been a little bit of a confusing situation but there hasn't been any negative talk or anything like that. Everybody's behind him."Rodgers skipped Green Bay's mandatory minicamp last week after reportedly telling teammates he doesn't want to return to the Packers. The 37-year-old recently said he's enjoying this offseason without "having any responsibilities."Adams expressed hope that Rodgers' holdout won't last until training camp in July."I'll be there and I'll be ready to rock. Hopefully, Aaron will be there as well and if he's not, we're gonna get going," Adams said. "Like I said in the press recently, I back him and I support him whatever he does. It's just kind of how we get down. We've always had each other's backs since I first got here. Like I said, praying that he comes back, but if not, I'll be there and I'll be working."Rodgers' disappointment with Green Bay stems from several factors, including the front office's recent personnel decisions.The nine-time Pro Bowler and Adams arguably formed football's top quarterback-receiver duo last season. The wideout led the league with 18 touchdown catches through 14 games, and the signal-caller topped all passers with 48 touchdowns en route to clinching his third regular-season MVP award.The Packers' quarterback depth chart also features 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love and veteran Blake Bortles, who recently inked a one-year deal with the team.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith doesn't believe there was a losing side in the blockbuster trade that saw Julio Jones sent to the Tennessee Titans.Smith supported his stance by pointing to the financial relief from the deal."We knew the issue with the cap and then obviously the cap went down this year, coming off the bizarre year, dealing with the pandemic, the cap actually shrunk. So we knew there were going to be some big decisions we would have to make coming up," Smith said during an appearance on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast."The way everything worked out, we feel pretty good. We feel like it was a win-win. With the salary cap, and Julio going to Tennessee and us right now being able to solve our short-term issue with the cap."The Falcons freed up $15.3 million in cap space with Jones' departure, which gave them room to sign their 2021 draft class. They also received a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round selection in exchange for the wideout and a 2023 sixth-rounder.Jones was drafted sixth overall by the Falcons in 2011 and spent 10 seasons with the club. The 32-year-old launched into stardom during his stay in Atlanta, recording 848 receptions and 12,896 receiving yards while also earning seven Pro Bowl nods.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Travis Kelce believes every year is Super Bowl or bust for the Kansas City Chiefs.Kelce set a new single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end, but he doesn't consider the 2020 campaign a success as the Chiefs fell short of defending their championship against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV."I took a note from the (Chicago) Bulls when they were winning their (NBA) championships and had their run. It don't mean a thing if you ain't got the ring, baby," Kelce told SiriusXM NFL Radio. "All those accolades, all that stuff, it might be cool when I'm sitting down on a couch watching the young guys trying to chase the record, but right now, none of that really meant anything."Last year was a failure to me, to be honest. It just is. That's just what I have in my heart. That's the type of player I am, man. If we're not going out there winning Super Bowls, man, the season isn't a success."Not only did Kelce break George Kittle's all-time mark with 1,416 yards, but he also became the first tight end to record 1,000 yards in five straight seasons.The Chiefs have won five straight AFC West titles and made it to the AFC Championship Game in each of the last three seasons.Kansas City is again the favorite to represent the AFC in 2021 due in large part to the All-Pro trio of Kelce, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Carl Nassib has received strong support since the Las Vegas Raiders defensive end announced he's gay, and that isn't limited to NFL stars and teams.Nassib's No. 94 jersey is the top-selling NFL jersey across the Fanatics network since his announcement Monday afternoon, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.The 28-year-old became the league's first openly gay active player, and he donated $100,000 to a non-profit organization that provides crisis intervention and aims to prevent youth suicide within the LGBTQ community. The NFL matched the donation Tuesday, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.Nassib has worn No. 94 since becoming the Cleveland Browns' third-round pick in 2016. The Penn State product donned the No. 95 jersey in college.He's entering his second season with the Raiders after previously spending time with the Browns (2016-17) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2018-19).Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tim Tebow has been snubbed by some of his peers.Tebow, who is hoping to revive his NFL career as a tight end with the Jacksonville Jaguars, is not invited to this week's Tight End University summit organized by All-Pros George Kittle and Travis Kelce and retired star Greg Olsen.Kittle said the group couldn't justify inviting someone who has never played the position over more deserving tight ends after the event garnered more interest than expected."If I can't invite every tight end, how do I not invite a second- or third-string guy on a team that's been playing tight end since he was 18 years old in high school?" Kittle said on ESPN's "First Take," according to ESPN's Michael DiRocco."Nothing against Tim Tebow. I hope that he has incredible success this year. I hope he has 10 touchdowns. I hope he has a great year, but it's hard for me to invite someone to this that just started playing the position when I can't invite a guy that's been playing it for 8-10 years. That's just hard for me."Drafted as a quarterback in 2010, Tebow last took a snap in the NFL in 2012. He played minor-league baseball from 2016-19 while attempting to reach MLB.Tebow worked out for Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer - his former college coach at Florida - after retiring from baseball in February. The 33-year-old signed with Jacksonville in May.Tight End University will run Wednesday through Friday in Nashville. Kittle said he originally expected 20-25 players to participate but added the event has grown to 45-50 individuals."Hopefully, in the next coming years, I can make it available to every single person," the San Francisco 49ers star said. "And then any tight end that wants to come can show up, learn, get better, and just take another step forward."Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Dylan Cozens is retiring from baseball to pursue an NFL career.

Over the last year, we've seen Tom Brady capture his seventh Super Bowl at 43, LeBron James take home his fourth title in his 17th season, and Phil Mickelson become the oldest golfer to win a major at the age of 50. While sports have largely been a young man's game, ageless wonders are becoming more common. The same holds true for the NFL.Below is a list of the NFL's top 30 players over 30. (Players must have played at least one season in their 30s to qualify.)30. Brandon Graham (33 years old) Mitchell Leff / Getty Images Sport / GettyGraham was finally voted to his first Pro Bowl last season, and his well-deserved honor sneaks him on our rankings. The longtime Philadelphia Eagles lineman is a defensive coordinator's dream. Graham can rush the passer, highlighted by his eight sacks in 2020, but it's against the run where he really shines. The 33-year-old posted the second-highest Run Stop Win Rate out of all edge defenders last year, per ESPN.29. Duane Brown (35 years old)Brown, who will be 36 by the time the 2021 season kicks off, is ancient by offensive line standards. However, not only has he been able to fend off Father Time, he's also done a solid job at fending off premier pass-rushers for the Seattle Seahawks. The fifth-highest graded tackle by PFF last season, Brown is reportedly looking for a new deal and certainly deserves every dollar based on his performance in 2020.28. Demario Davis (32 years old)No Pro Bowls, no problem for Davis. The New Orleans Saints linebacker has been snubbed of the honor his entire career despite some incredible performances through the years. Davis, ranked the fifth-best linebacker by PFF, is coming off his fourth consecutive season with at least 110 tackles. Tackles aren't everything, though it's assuring to see the 32-year-old can still fly all over the field.27. Jason Kelce (33 years old)The Eagles' offensive line got shuffled like a deck of cards in 2020 but Kelce was a constant fixture - the 33-year-old center started all 16 games for the sixth season in a row. He recently announced a return for 2021, giving him another chance to add to an impressive list of accolades that features four Pro Bowls, three first-team All-Pro selections, and one Super Bowl ring.26. Cameron Jordan (31 years old)Jordan just barely makes the cut after a significant drop-off last season. The longtime Saints defensive lineman tallied his lowest sack total since 2016 (7.5) while his 16 quarterback hits were also his fewest in seven years. New Orleans will have its fingers crossed that Jordan's play was just a one-off and not the result of a losing battle with Father Time.25. Antonio Brown (32 years old) Simon Bruty / Sports Illustrated / GettyBrown seems to have settled into a comfortable spot after a rollercoaster journey led him to Tampa Bay. The seven-time Pro Bowler is the third receiver on the Buccaneers' depth chart, likely meaning his usual monster games are in the past. It's easy to buy that Brown could still be a top wideout, but his current role positions him at No. 25.24. Richard Sherman (33 years old)The outspoken free-agent cornerback said he's waiting for the right opportunity to sign with a contender, and he's earned that right. Sherman has impressively maintained longevity at a position that isn't kind to elders. The 33-year-old took a step back last season after allowing a 72.4 completion percentage, but his intangibles make him worth taking a flier on for a team running a Cover 3 defense.23. Rodney Hudson (31 years old)Hudson has established himself as a top center, which made the Las Vegas Raiders' decision to ship him to Arizona a little puzzling. At best, the Cardinals are receiving a perennial Pro Bowler to protect Kyler Murray, and at worst, they are getting a reliable veteran who has missed only one game over his last five seasons.22. Von Miller (32 years old)One of the best pass-rushers of the last decade, Miller is looking to carry that form into his 30s. The only problem is there isn't a whole lot to go off of after he missed last season with an ankle injury. He did see a drop in sacks when he turned 30 in 2019, although his ability to generate pressure remained consistent. Now playing in front of a renovated Broncos secondary, there's a good chance Miller reminds the world why he's totaled 106 career sacks and eight Pro Bowls over the course of nine seasons.21. Kirk Cousins (32 years old)The Minnesota Vikings quarterback has been better than serviceable over the last two seasons - he's been stellar. The veteran signal-caller has averaged the seventh most EPA (expected points added) per play since 2019, according to Ben Baldwin's database. This ranks ahead of Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, Josh Allen, and Derek Carr, among others.RankNameEPA/Play since 2019t7Kirk Cousins0.213t7Deshaun Watson0.2139Jimmy Garoppolo0.20110Derek Carr0.19611Tom Brady0.19412Matthew Stafford0.19013Philip Rivers0.18314Josh Allen0.18215Russell Wilson0.181Still not a believer in the 32-year-old's talent? Cousins had a slight edge in on-target percentage (81.3%) over league MVP Aaron Rodgers (81.2%) while averaging a similar amount of intended air yards per attempt (8.0 to 7.9).20. Stephon Gilmore (30 years old) Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images Sport / GettyIt's hard to follow up a Defensive Player of the Year campaign, but Gilmore's 2020 season did provoke some questions about whether his best days are behind him. His completion percentage when targeted crept up marginally from 50.5% to 57.1%, and quarterbacks had a 75.7 passer rating when throwing in his direction last season, a big jump from the 44.1 rating he held in 2019.Additionally, Gilmore ranked 61st out of all CBs by PFF in 2020, a far cry from the fifth-place finish he earned two seasons ago. Giving the soon-to-be 31-year-old cornerback a long-term contract could backfire for the New England Patriots.19. Rob Gronkowski (32 years old)Gronkowski is far from the world-beater he was during his tenure with the Patriots, but he still excels in his role as Tom Brady's security blanket. The Buccaneers star tight end got off to a slow start with his new team but caught steam as the season progressed, recording over 50 receiving yards in seven games (including the postseason) after Week 4. While he may not put up monster numbers due to Tampa Bay's loaded receiving group, there's no doubt Gronkowski is still a big-time player.Most 50-yard games by TE (2020 Week 5 - end of postseason):Name GamesTravis Kelce13Rob Gronkowski7Darren Waller7Mark Andrews6Logan Thomas618. Jason Pierre-Paul (32 years old)It's time to give Pierre-Paul the credit he deserves. The Buccaneers pass-rusher has been flying under the radar for quite some time. The New York Giants dumped Pierre-Paul to Tampa Bay for a third-round pick in 2018 and he's been red-hot since then, turning in three consecutive seasons with at least eight sacks. An instrumental part of the 2020 Super Bowl campaign, the 32-year-old earned his first Pro Bowl selection since 2012 last season after leading the club with 9.5 sacks.17. J.J. Watt (32 years old)The Cardinals signed Watt to a lucrative contract this offseason in hopes he can find the form that made him a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. It's been a bit of a rough stretch for the veteran pass-rusher. He's played a full season just twice over his last five years and his 16-sack showing in 2018 is his only double-digit season during that span. Hopefully a move to the desert is just what Watt needs to revive his career.16. Chandler Jones (31 years old)Jones has made a mockery of offensive linemen throughout his career as he's been one of the NFL's most destructive pass-rushers. Aaron Donald (76.5) is the only player to register more sacks than Jones' 73.5 since 2015, though Donald has played 10 more games than him.15. Harrison Smith (32 years old) Hannah Foslien / Getty Images Sport / GettySmith has been an irreplaceable asset for the Vikings since he was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft and has remained the focal point of Minnesota's secondary over the years. Ranked the second-best safety by PFF, only two defensive backs have recorded more interceptions than Smith (28) since 2012.14. Lavonte David (31 years old)While Devin White received his fair share of love this postseason, his linebacking partner has been the glue of the Buccaneers' defense for quite some time now. Most impressively, David has not lost a step in coverage despite his age, allowing just 4.5 yards per target last season.13. Zack Martin (30 years old)Martin's incredible run of six straight Pro Bowl selections surprisingly came to an end in 2020. It came as a surprise as the Cowboys offensive lineman received the second-highest grade out of all guards by PFF last year. He has also been ranked in the top five by PFF in all of his seven professional seasons.12. Andrew Whitworth (39 years old)A true ironman, Whitworth will be 40 by the time the 2021 campaign concludes. Despite being a senior citizen in a young man's game, the longtime offensive tackle shows no signs of slowing down. He was limited to nine games last season but blew just 0.7% of his blocks, good for fifth-fewest out of all offensive linemen (min. 500 snaps), according to Sports Info Solutions.11. Matt Ryan (36 years old)Perhaps Ryan deserves the nickname "Matty Reliable," in part because he's shown he can still sling it despite being 36. He can be counted on to throw roughly 4,500 yards with 25-plus touchdowns in a season. However, there are minor warning signs present. His completion percentage has fallen for the third straight campaign and he's been sacked 131 times since 2018, third-most in the league. If the Falcons intend to extend Ryan's consistency, keeping him upright is crucial.10. Cameron Heyward (32 years old) Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyHeyward is perhaps the most underrated contributor to come from what was a loaded 2011 draft class. The veteran defensive lineman has been the heart and soul of the Steelers' pass rush, earning Pro Bowl honors in each of his last four seasons. Heyward has also recorded 33 sacks, 82 quarterback hits, and 44 tackles for a loss since 2017. A technician of the game, he's blossomed into one of the league's best interior defensive linemen.9. Ryan Tannehill (32 years old)Tannehill is aging like fine wine in Tennessee after his career got off to a rocky start in Miami. The Titans quarterback has quietly been one of the NFL's top passers since joining the team; Tannehill has a higher passer rating and completion percentage than Patrick Mahomes over his last 26 games. It's time for everyone to accept that Tannehill has become one of the NFL's best signal-callers.QB leaders in EPA per play for 2020 season (including playoffs):NameEPA/PlayAaron Rodgers0.361Ryan Tannehill0.327Patrick Mahomes0.296Tom Brady0.280Josh Allen0.2568. Julio Jones (32 years old)There's a lot to be concerned about as Jones enters his age-32 season with the Titans. Injuries cost him a large chunk of the 2020 campaign but he still looked like the same receiver who terrorized defenses when he was healthy. His 771 yards over nine contests translates to roughly 1,370 receiving yards over a 16-game season. Quarterbacks also had a 126.5 passer rating when targeting him last year, per PFR.7. Travis Kelce (31 years old)Kelce set new personal bests in receiving yards (1,416) and touchdowns last season. Additionally, he's been lapping the field since 2016, as his 6,144 receiving yards rank first among all tight ends over that span. With Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback, the Chiefs pass-catcher could go down as the undisputed best tight end of all time.Most receiving yards by TE since 2016:Name Receiving Yards Yards/GTravis Kelce614478.8Zach Ertz405457.9George Kittle357967.56. Bobby Wagner (30 years old)It's hard to find holes in Wagner's game, even as he ages. The Seahawks linebacker can come downhill or drop into coverage with ease. The soon-to-be 31-year-old has graded as a top-five linebacker in four of the last five campaigns, per PFF.5. Matthew Stafford (33 years old) Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images Sport / GettyStafford has been battered and bruised during his 12-year stay with the Detroit Lions, but a move to Los Angeles could be just what his career needs. At 33, the former No. 1 pick could soar to new heights in an offense designed by Sean McVay.4. Russell Wilson (32 years old)Beginning his career as a game manager for the "Legion of Boom" Seahawks, Wilson has developed into one of the NFL's premier passers. While his perfectly launched moon balls are lauded, Wilson's improvement in accuracy deserves some praise, too. The Seahawks quarterback set new career highs in catchable targets (78.7%) and on-target passes (73.8%) in 2020, per Sports Info Solutions.3. Trent Williams (32 years old)The top non-quarterback on our rankings, the 49ers' Williams is arguably the best tackle in the NFL. He allowed just four sacks in 2020 and was the highest-graded tackle by Pro Football Focus, marking the third time he was ranked top of his position. His only challenge now is to continue his incredible run of consistency after becoming the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history following a six-year pact worth just over $138 million.2. Aaron Rodgers (37 years old)After posting stellar but not remarkable numbers over the last three seasons, Rodgers found the fountain of youth in 2020. The 37-year-old won MVP honors after clean sweeping all the major passing statistics last season.Aaron Rodgers in 2020Completion %70.7%1stTDs481stINT %1.0%t1stPasser Rating121.51stQBR84.41stEPA/Play0.3611stRodgers showed he's got a lot left in the tank. However, he's in the middle of a dispute with the Packers, making it unclear if Green Bay will get to enjoy the twilight of his career.1. Tom Brady (43 years old) Jamie Squire / Getty Images Sport / GettyWas there any surprise Brady would come in at the top spot? The quarterback reaffirmed his greatness by bringing a Lombardi Trophy to Tampa Bay in his first season with the team. At 43, Brady believes he can continue playing at a high level and there's little reason to doubt him.He went from the dink-and-dunk system in New England to Bruce Arians' aerial attack and still managed to post his highest passer rating (102.2) since 2017 despite averaging a whopping 9.1 intended air yards per pass.Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. 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