FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — It’s a simple question.

What has Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot done to merit faith in the decisions that he will make in this week’s NFL draft?

Most of his record would invite skepticism. It’s not how a Falcons fan would want to approach this highly critical event, but here we are.

The Falcons ...Read more

DETROIT — Kerby Joseph isn’t going anywhere.

The Detroit Lions on Wednesday agreed to a four-year contract extension worth $86 million with the All-Pro safety, a source confirmed to The Detroit News. The guaranteed money in the deal is not yet known.

Joseph is now the highest-paid safety NFL history, both in average annual value ($21.5 ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers cannot have the home-run draft they need without nailing their first-round pick, scheduled to be No. 11 on Thursday.

The plan is to take a defensive lineman. An interior player is preferable, but an end will work too.

Of course, as John Lynch said Tuesday, “a draft breaks out and you never know...Read more

NEW YORK — This is Joe Schoen’s fourth NFL draft as Giants GM. And it could be his last if he doesn’t get it right.

Those are the stakes for a regime that failed so badly last season, they made the skies over MetLife Stadium look like the runway at Teterboro.

That is the pressure and desperation that guides Schoen and Brian Daboll ...Read more

Welcome to the first round of the NFL draft — and for once, everyone is invited.

Each NFL team still has its original first-round pick — no trades at the top so far — which means for the first time in the 32-team era, every franchise could be making a selection in the opening round.

But in this, the first-ever draft in Green Bay in the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Already planned for an early kickoff to Week 1 in Brazil, the Chargers will get an early start to their preseason too when they face the Detroit Lions in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, the NFL announced Wednesday.

The game will take place July 31 at 5 p.m. PDT to open the NFL preseason. The Chargers will honor former ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — As the draft approaches Thursday, I do not understand the general indifference in Philadelphia surrounding the possibility of the Eagles trading Dallas Goedert. He is an elite tight end as both a receiver and as a blocker. There should be anger. Outrage. Incredulity.

For a team rebuilding, or a team without a proven quarterback...Read more

Part of my mock draft preamble explains it is an attempt at figuring out the best players available in this season’s draft class, and which teams they’d match up well with considering the draft order. The closer we get to draft day, the more I attempt to match what teams will actually do with their draft picks as opposed to what I believe ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings have the 24th pick in the draft with which to supplement a strong roster.

What should they do?

I’m not going to throw out a bunch of names. When you pick that low in the first round, and don’t need a starting quarterback, predictions are worthless.

But there are scenarios worth exploring. Here are three:

Stay ...Read more

MIAMI — By the numbers, this week marks the 90th NFL draft, the 60th for the Miami Dolphins and my 34th annual official Miami Herald mock draft. I did not invent the mock draft — gridiron historians credit late super-nerd Joel Buchsbaum for doing that circa late-1970s and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. for bringing it to the forefront — but I was ...Read more

NEW YORK — Drafting Shedeur Sanders would be the most exciting thing to happen to the Giants since …

Fill in that blank. Go ahead, do it.

Picking the son of Deion ‘Prime Time‘ Sanders, tabbing the outspoken and confident Colorado quarterback as the new face of New York’s franchise, would be the most exciting thing to happen to the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The bar around the corner had a bicycle on the roof and another business had a moving truck on top. So the Eagles bus atop the roof of a Wissinoming auto body shop fit in with the fabric of the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood.

“But we did it first,” said Chaz Garuffe, whose father, Chalie, lifted the shell of a green ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin said the ongoing situation with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and when or if he will sign with the Steelers has no impact on what the team intends to do in the upcoming NFL draft.

In addition, general manager Omar Khan indicated the Steelers are not actively seeking to get back the second-round pick they gave up in the DK...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — One stat that will make Todd Bowles’ blood boil is the fact that the Buccaneers only intercepted seven passes last season, the fewest since he arrived in Tampa Bay as the team’s defensive coordinator seven years ago.

What’s more, it’s not like they dropped very many. The defense — particularly the cornerbacks — ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers may or may not play for the Steelers this season, but the discussion around his status has become so mind-numbing that I am not sure what the actual talking points actually are anymore.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Jason Mackey was the latest to sound off about how the Steelers should “move on” from ...Read more

SEATTLE — Here’s a multiple-choice question for a Seattle sports fan.

Let’s say a local team enters its offseason with a glaring weakness. Rather than addressing it by adding players to improve the area, the team instead sits still, to the righteous indignation of its audience. The team tells those increasingly frustrated fans to keep the...Read more

Let’s stop kidding ourselves regarding the Miami Dolphins’ first- and second-round picks in the NFL draft. They must be defensive players. Period.

Time’s up.

Time for a change in both thought and attitude.

The Dolphins should build this defense into a game-changing unit, and they should start with this draft.

Take a page from the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Less than two months ago, Matthew Stafford arrived at the Rams' facility in Woodland Hills to discuss his immediate future.

The veteran quarterback wanted his contract adjusted, and his agent, with the Rams' blessing, had been exploring possible trade destinations. But Stafford said Monday that he "never really wanted to leave."...Read more

LAS VEGAS — If the Raiders are trying to hide their love of star prospect Ashton Jeanty, they’re not doing a good job of it.

The powers that be in Henderson are acting like awkward, bespectacled teenagers who can’t help but shyly drop their head and flash a silly grin every time their crush’s name gets mentioned.

Not that this analogy ...Read more