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NFL metes out draft punishment to 49ers for 'payroll account errors'

Sports / Football /

The 49ers will pick a little later in the fourth round this year and will forfeit a fifth-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft after being penalized by the NFL for payroll accounting errors at the close of the 2022 league year.

The punishment amounts to a slap on the wrist for this year’s draft from April 25-27 in Detroit. Instead of picking...Read more

Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times/TNS

How will Rams fill Aaron Donald's shoes? These prospects are afoot.

Sports / Football /

With Aaron Donald now retired, call it 2024 A.D. for the Rams.

General manager Les Snead, coach Sean McVay and new defensive coordinator Chris Shula must find an effective way to fill the team's biggest roster hole since McVay was hired in 2017.

The Rams are expected to address the void through the second and third waves of free agency and ...Read more

Rich Schultz/Getty Images North America/TNS

Chris Perkins: Yes, Chubb and Phillips both could be 100% healthy for Dolphins' opener

Sports / Football /

I’ve been greatly concerned about the Dolphins’ pass rush.

As you know, edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips are both recovering from season-ending injuries. Without their pass rush, the defense that finished No. 10 in the league and had a franchise-record 54 sacks last season isn’t nearly as effective.

But I have good news, ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Source: Patriots signing free-agent wide receiver K.J. Osborn

Sports / Football /

The Patriots are signing free-agent wide receiver K.J. Osborn, a source confirmed to the Herald.

Osborn, 26, was one of the top free agent wide receiver still available. The four-year pro has spent his entire career with the Vikings since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Miami, transferring from the University of ...Read more

John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Dolphins' Tyreek Hill 'bullied, threatened,' flicked unlit cigar at wife, Davie domestic dispute report says

Sports / Football /

On the same day a judge dismissed a divorce petition filed by Tyreek Hill, Davie police came to the home of the Miami Dolphins wide receiver over a domestic dispute call involving his wife Keeta Vaccaro, according to the Miami Herald.

Vaccaro told police that Hill, 30, “smashed” an unlit cigar in her face, per a Jan. 30 Davie police ...Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Brad Biggs: It's easy to criticize Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles for the meager return in the Justin Fields trade. But his hands were tied.

Sports / Football /

It’s easy to criticize the return the Chicago Bears received in the long-expected deal Saturday evening that sent quarterback Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bears will get a sixth-round pick in 2025, and it can become a fourth-rounder if Fields is on the field for 51% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps. So the folks at Halas ...Read more

David Berding/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jim Souhan: Critical QB test for Vikings boss is fair, inescapable, career-defining

Sports / Football /

MINNEAPOLIS — Fourteen months ago, the Vikings were concluding a season in which they won 13 games with a rookie head coach and easily won a flawed division.

This week, they lost their franchise quarterback and best defensive player, creating the possibility that they will be the worst team in the NFC North in 2024.

Kirk Cousins isn't worth ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

John Romano: Congrats on a brilliant offseason for the Bucs (They're gonna need it)

Sports / Football /

TAMPA, Fla. — Now that contracts have been signed, backs have been slapped and toasts have been made, it’s time to assess where the Bucs have landed in this glorious offseason of spending.

(Check the depth chart. Refresh the screen. Check again. Mutter quietly.)

Um, the Bucs are kinda in the same place they were last year.

That’s not ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Dan Wiederer: The end of the Justin Fields era in Chicago sends Bears fans on a quest for closure

Sports / Football /

CHICAGO — The arguments won’t end here, but they should die down quickly. With Justin Fields’ future as the Bears quarterback shifting from somewhat murky to crystal clear on Saturday, Chicago’s longest-running football shouting match will take on a new form.

Fields is a Steeler now, traded to Pittsburgh in exchange for a sixth-round ...Read more

Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Marcus Hayes: Eagles' free-agent additions on defense won't matter if Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean can't play

Sports / Football /

PHILADELPHIA — For about nine minutes Friday, prodigal safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson delivered a State of the C.J. Address.

He touted his evolved maturity, paradoxically. He admitted that his injured feelings — he wanted a lot of guaranteed money — affected negotiations to return to the Eagles last season and led him to rip the “[...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Bears trade Justin Fields to Steelers, paving way to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick

Sports / Football /

CHICAGO — After three seasons and 38 starts, the Justin Fields era has come to an end for the Chicago Bears.

In a high-profile trade that many around the NFL were awaiting, Bears general manager Ryan Poles dealt Fields on Saturday to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round draft pick. If he’s on the field for 51% of snaps...Read more

John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Seahawks to sign LB Jerome Baker, potentially filling last starting spot on defense

Sports / Football /

SEATTLE — And with that — the news Saturday that they will sign free-agent linebacker Jerome Baker to a one-year contract — the Seahawks appear to have re-assembled a projected starting 11 on defense.

Baker, who played for the Miami Dolphins, will sign a contract reported to be worth up to $7 million. He reached agreement two days after ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Steelers acquire Justin Fields from Bears, setting up intriguing QB dynamic

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers made another blockbuster move Saturday when they traded with the Chicago Bears to acquire quarterback Justin Fields, sources told the Post-Gazette.

Fields is being brought in to be a backup to former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson, who was acquired in free agency earlier this week.

The trade comes one...Read more

Nick Cammett/Getty Images North America/TNS

Analysis: Omar Khan and Russell Wilson are ushering in a new era of Steelers football

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — Omar Khan has been the general manager of the Steelers for less than two years. In the 22 months since he was hired, he has overseen some major changes to all facets of the organization.

Many of the scouts who worked under former GM Kevin Colbert have not had their contracts renewed. Khan has brought in new scouts from other ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Gary Klein: Aaron Donald used his strength, mind and humor to power a bigger-than-football persona

Sports / Football /

LOS ANGELES — The Rams’ 2023 season had ended.

An emotional defeat in an NFC wild-card game at Detroit closed a successful run for star defensive lineman Aaron Donald and his mostly younger teammates.

Disappointment coursed through the visiting locker room at Ford Field, but players said they were proud of what they accomplished, and ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Why new Bears WR Keenan Allen is excited about his fresh start: 'Nothing changes but the jersey for me'

Sports / Football /

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears sent the private jet for Keenan Allen on Friday afternoon, giving him a little luxury to help pass the time on his life-changing trip from Southern California to Wheeling. It was Allen’s first time flying non-commercial. But with his wife and four kids — ages 3 to 9 — in tow, he didn’t spend much time in the...Read more

Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Mark Bradley: Desmond Ridder, Arthur Smith and what might have been

Sports / Football /

ATLANTA — The Falcons were 8-9 in games started by Desmond Ridder. Over those two seasons, they were 6-11 in games started by another quarterback. His completion percentage was better than Marcus Mariota’s in 2022, better than Taylor Heinicke’s in 2023.

Ridder is a Falcon no longer. He was traded Thursday to Arizona, which has Kyler ...Read more

Rich Storry/Getty Images North America/TNS

Chris Perkins: Is the Dolphins' incoming talent better than their outgoing talent?

Sports / Football /

The Dolphins, led by general manager Chris Grier, have done relatively well in player acquisition during this first week of free agency.

With signings such as safety Jordan Poyer, cornerback Kendall Fuller, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, edge rusher Shaq Barrett and center Aaron Brewer, the Dolphins seem well on their way toward recovering from ...Read more

Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Ex-Cowboys LT Tyron Smith, Jets agree to one-year deal: source

Sports / Football /

NEW YORK — The Jets’ offensive line has finally fully come together.

According to a source, former Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith has agreed to a one-year deal with the Jets. With incentives, Smith could earn up to $20 million.

This year’s free-agency period began with Gang Green needing three starters on its offensive line. In just a ...Read more

Todd Kirkland/Getty Images North America/TNS

Paul Zeise: End of Kenny Pickett era with Steelers is best for all parties

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — It was a normal Friday and I was looking for a column idea when the news of Aaron Donald retiring came across the wires and, well, that made for an easy day in my mind. I’ll give you the highlights since that column obviously will never see the light of day: Donald is spectacular and one of the absolute best players to ever come...Read more