The Baltimore Ravens are done with their official offseason preparations. The next time we see them, they’ll be ramping up in earnest for the 2024 season.

That will mean fierce, physical competition for a few open jobs. It will mean talk about the last steps that must be taken to reach an elusive Super Bowl. It will mean unrelenting scrutiny ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — This is not about a member of the media needing a quote. I've written about plenty of professional athletes without them ever saying a word and will continue to do so until I retire many decades from now.

It's also not about us being owed anything. If a professional athlete chooses not to participate with the whole player-...Read more

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions are adding more competition to one of the team's least stable spots on the roster in recent years, agreeing to terms with big-legged kicker Jake Bates, who recently concluded his breakout season with the UFL's Michigan Panthers.

The deal, which will be signed next week, was confirmed Saturday by his agent...Read more

DENVER — Sean Payton hustled off the podium Wednesday afternoon to undergo a cataracts procedure on his right eye, six days after it was performed on his left.

It has been a busy offseason for the Broncos coach. He underwent charisma bypass surgery a few months ago.

In his second year in charge, Payton is noticeably more comfortable and ...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins’ decision makers claim they are ready and willing to propose to Tua Tagovailoa.

General manager Chris Grier has professed his loyalty to the 2024 Pro Bowler, laughing off the thought of even researching any of the top rated quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL draft.

Head coach Mike McDaniel’s heart flutters every time...Read more

The Chargers on Friday signed wide receiver Praise Olatoke, a former sprinter at Ohio State who is part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. Olatoke, who was born in Nigeria and raised in Scotland, played club football while also competing on the Buckeyes’ track and field team.

Olatoke ran 10.27 seconds for 100 meters during the 2022...Read more

I always get a thrill out of seeing the Miami Dolphins in the community, being good neighbors.

OK, maybe I’m a bit of a softie.

But I like seeing the Dolphins help South Floridians.

And I like seeing people’s faces light up when they see these guys out of uniform and in-person.

The Dolphins do good work for our South Florida community.

...Read more

SEATTLE — Last week, Washington football published a social-media post congratulating the program’s 18 spring or summer graduates. The group included 17 Huskies from this or last year’s team.

Plus: Lawyer Milloy.

Milloy, of course, starred in Seattle as a tackle-stacking safety from 1993 to 1995. The Tacoma product earned first-team All-...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — From his usual perch behind the secondary, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo waved for a safety, rookie Jaden Hicks, to join him for a conversation in the middle of practice. If you had your own chance to talk to Hicks, Spagnuolo would later share, you’d probably discover that, “It’s like, whoa,” for him ...Read more

Mike Williams was absent from OTAs and mandatory minicamp this spring.

But the 29-year-old has been working hard to recover from an ACL tear he suffered during the third game of last season, when he played for the Los Angeles Chargers.

With the New York Jets’ Week 1 Monday Night Football matchup against the 49ers on Sept. 9, Williams is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — No quarterback in NFL history has attempted more passes per game than Justin Herbert.

His 39.1 mark over the last four seasons edges Andrew Luck, with Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford next on the list.

Now, Herbert is playing for a head coach and offensive coordinator who, since their arrivals five months ago, have talked ...Read more

The Miami Dolphins, seeking pass-rushing help on the defensive line, will get a noteworthy boost by signing defensive end Calais Campbell, bringing home a University of Miami Hurricane and one of the NFL’s most-respected players, the Sun Sentinel has confirmed.

NFL Network first reported the Campbell acquisition.

In the last three seasons, ...Read more

ATLANTA — The NFL let the Falcons off easy. That’s not because their anti-tampering policy violations are egregious. Quarterback Kirk Cousins already had agreed to sign with the Falcons for $100 million guaranteed, so what’s the harm in the two parties talking before it’s official? Prohibiting that is silly.

The Falcons got off easy ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — I’ve spent the last 28 years in Philadelphia looking for reasons to be alarmed at the slightest hiccup or irregularity at press conferences. I’m good at it.

On Thursday, when Jalen Hurts paused, pondered and ultimately botched his answers to two powder-puff questions regarding how coach Nick Sirianni was handling the ...Read more

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Baker Mayfield was asked to assess how quick of a study Duke rookie center Graham Barton has been in picking up the Tampa Bay Bucs’ new offense.

“I guess Duke’s academic program is pretty good,” said Mayfield, grinning.

Well, yeah. Liam Coen’s offense may not be as complex as Microeconomic Policy Tools or United ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers quarterback Bryce Young followed head coach Dave Canales and linebacker Shaq Thompson to the podium Wednesday for Carolina’s final press conference of minicamp. As always, when Young took his turn, I leaned forward and pushed my tape recorder closer.

Canales projects his voice and sounds at all times like he’s ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Falcons will forfeit a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft and were fined $300,000 for violating the league’s Anti-Tampering Policy following a three month-long investigation, the NFL announced Thursday.

“This penalty was a little light given the last time I remember tampering during the 48-hour free agency period was the...Read more

The Florida Panthers already knew they had a nearly six-hour flight ahead of them Wednesday as they went from Sunrise to Edmonton for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

So an extended delay before that flight finally took off wasn’t that big of a deal for the Panthers.

South Florida’s continuous stream of rain on Wednesday — a second ...Read more