Welcome to draft season! This is the second of 11 positional breakdowns leading up to the NFL draft (April 25-27). Here are my top 10 edge rushers, plus "bonus" players I believe will be drafted or signed as a priority free agent:

— 1. Jared Verse (Jr., Florida State, 6-foot-4, 254 pounds)

After his 2020 season at Albany was canceled due to ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — When the Steelers signed Charlie Batch to a one-year contract in 2002, team president Art Rooney II insisted expectations were fairly modest.

“We thought we were getting a backup quarterback,” Rooney said. “We got so much more than that.”

Not that he needed a reminder, but if Rooney wanted to assess what Batch has become...Read more

BOSTON — Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady left the door open to a possible NFL return Thursday, saying he wouldn’t be opposed to playing again if he received a late-season call from a playoff team that had lost its starting quarterback.

Brady was asked on the DeepCut podcast if he would pick up the phone for such a team, possibly the ...Read more

The terse response from the Pro Football Hall of Fame to O.J. Simpson's death says so much in so few words.

No flowery language. No hyperbole. Straight facts.

"O.J. Simpson was the first player to reach a rushing mark many thought could not be attained in a 14-game season when he topped 2,000 yards," Pro Football Hall of Fame president Jim ...Read more

Editor's note: The Union-Tribune's Eddie Brown is breaking down prospects, position by position, leading up to the NFL draft (April 25-27). Here are his top 10 defensive tackles, plus "bonus" players he believes will be drafted or signed as a priority free agents:

———

— 1. Jer'Zhan Newton (Jr., Illinois, 6-foot-2, 304 pounds)

Newton ...Read more

The South Florida Sun Sentinel’s 2024 NFL mock draft series continues with Miami Dolphins beat writer David Furones’ first-round selections. Trades were factored into this mock draft. The NFL draft is April 25-27 in Detroit.

1) Chicago Bears (from Carolina): Caleb Williams, QB, USC

Maybe there’s some hubbub over a possible switch in the ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Former Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs was arrested in Arizona on Tuesday after allegedly threatening to kill another driver and pulling out a gun at a Starbucks drive-through last month, according to police records.

Suggs, 41, was charged with threatening and intimidating, and disorderly conduct with a weapon. He was released ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Experiencing the magnitude of the moment, Fletcher Cox let out a sigh into the microphone in front of him.

The gust of air that emanated from his 6-foot-4, 310-pound frame was so strong that the NovaCare Complex auditorium sound system crackled in response. Cox laughed, then took another breath, as he put his emotions into ...Read more

Clyde Edwards-Helaire could have ended up with a few other NFL teams following free agency this offseason.

So why did the running back return to the Kansas City Chiefs on a one-year deal?

He said one big reason was his teammates — and especially tight end Travis Kelce.

“Personal level, from football to on a day-to-day basis, he’s ...Read more

BOSTON — The game of tag is over.

After placing the transition tag on safety Kyle Dugger to keep him through next season, the Patriots have re-signed their top safety to a 4-year, $58 million contract with $32.5 million guaranteed, a source told the Boston Herald.

Dugger’s new contract carries a maximum value of $66 million. He was set to ...Read more

Somewhere in the past two Miami Dolphins decades — the precise fallen era eludes me — I suggested that somehow, someway, those holding this franchise in the center of the universe will emerge from another squashed season with renewed hope.

And now that way is clear: The rest of the AFC East. It isn’t just in disarray. It’s in freefall. ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Like few other NFL teams this offseason, the Houston Texans are as acquisitive as Richard Pryor's character in Brewster's Millions.

You know, the movie whose protagonist must spend $30 million in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million.

Shopping, shopping and shopping, the Texans have added no fewer than seven players to their ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings are deep into their reconnaissance work on quarterbacks in the draft class with the mission of identifying The Guy.

The two quarterbacks most often linked to the Vikings by various mocketeers are North Carolina's Drake Maye and Michigan's J.J. McCarthy.

One man has firsthand knowledge of both.

As Gophers defensive ...Read more

It’s officially draft month.

The first round of the 2024 NFL draft begins April 25 in Detroit, which means there are only a few weeks left for prospects to make their final impressions and teams to solidify their big boards as they fill their remaining roster holes.

Here are The Baltimore Sun’s latest projections for the first two rounds, ...Read more

Every NFL offseason, it’s the same free-agency fantasy.

We see it with the Dolphins, we see it all over the NFL.

Hope abounds.

No, let’s be real.

Hope runs amok.

Player A replaces Player B, and Player A will be even better because … and then you concoct some unlikely scenario in which Player A, as your team’s coach and general ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royce West, the attorney and Texas state senator representing Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice, stepped in front of a collection of microphones at 1:34 p.m. Thursday.

By 1:36 p.m., he’d cleared up, and stunningly so, I might add, the most pressing question about a multi-vehicle crash that resulted from an apparent race ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Giants re-signed defensive weapon Isaiah Simmons on Friday and agreed to terms with former South Carolina running back Dante Miller.

Simmons, 25, was effective in strategic usage under previous defensive coordinator Wink Martindale last season, particularly as a blitzer and in coverage against running backs.

He lined up at ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This offseason, the Carolina Panthers aimed to fortify their defense by keeping the unit’s young, promising core of playmakers together. And while that turned out to be an ambitious goal, as free agency’s melee quickly proved, at least one key defender is staying put.

Derrick Brown, the record-setting defensive lineman ...Read more

NEW YORK — AFC East fans, I know what you’re thinking.

On Wednesday, the Bills made a stunning move and traded wide receiver Stefon Diggs after four seasons with the team.

Because Diggs is leaving and other players such as safety Jordan Poyer, center Mitch Morse and wide receiver Gabe Davis have departed, some might believe the Bills’ ...Read more