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Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

'I like the numbers.' Why the Bears are increasingly excited about their draft options at No. 9.

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Ryan Poles is nothing if not imaginative, an NFL executive who enjoys exploring opportunity and considering every possibility for all his big decisions. So with four weeks left until this year’s NFL draft, Poles’ imagination is running wild.

He is the only general manager armed with two top-10 picks and has the privilege ...Read more

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Panthers signee Jadeveon Clowney wants to reunite with Stephon Gilmore in Carolina

Sports / Football /

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jadeveon Clowney’s return to Charlotte, the city “just up the road” from his Rock Hill, S.C., hometown, is a homecoming he has embraced.

But reuniting with another particular player would make it even sweeter.

Clowney, the All-Pro pass rusher the Carolina Panthers signed to a two-year deal earlier this week, told ...Read more

John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Chris Perkins: Tyreek Hill as Dolphins kickoff returner? Sorry, it's too risky even with the new rules.

Sports / Football /

In a previous NFL life, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was one of the league's top kickoff returners. Then he became too valuable from scrimmage to risk an injury while playing on special teams.

But with the NFL’s new kickoff rules, which are designed to reduce injury risk by reducing high-speed collisions, using Hill on kickoff returns ...Read more

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America/TNS

Giants and Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy scheduled for private workout on Easter Sunday in Ann Arbor: source

Sports / Football /

NEW YORK — The Giants will take a closer look at Michigan national champion QB J.J. McCarthy after a busy week of NFL draft prep and quarterback scouting.

A Giants contingent is scheduled to descend on Ann Arbor, Mich., on Easter Sunday for a private workout with McCarthy, according to a source, the New York Daily News first reported on ...Read more

Michael Steele/Getty Images Europe/TNS

Chiefs to sign star rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit, per report

Sports / Football /

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs will soon be signing a rugby player, according to a report from NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

Louis Rees-Zammit, a 23-year-old pro rugby player from Wales who announced earlier this year he’d be quitting that sport to pursue an NFL career, will be signing with the Chiefs on Friday, Schultz reported ...Read more

Justin Casterline/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gerry Dulac: Steelers' roster rebuild is hardly over as several big decisions still loom

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Despite making enough offseason moves to qualify for an appearance on "Extreme Makeover," the Steelers still have plenty of weighty decisions to address in the ensuing five weeks.

All of which appears to be perfectly fine for coach Mike Tomlin.

He relishes making moves, jostling the roster, gutting the quarterback room, all ...Read more

Staff/TNS/Staff

Greg Cote: NFL steals Christmas, makes tackling harder, finds bizarre way to reinvent the kickoff return

Sports / Football /

MIAMI — The three-day spring NFL owners’ meetings ended this week just outside Orlando and among the most notable decisions made, the league stole Christmas Day like the Grinch and made tackling harder for defenders.

On a brighter note, the NFL voted to resurrect the forgotten kickoff return, albeit with a new rule that is so complicated ...Read more

Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/TNS

All-Pro pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney agrees to multi-year deal with Panthers

Sports / Football /

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers have landed one of the top pass rushers on the free-agent market — and it just so happens they’re bringing him home, too.

Jadeveon Clowney, the All-Pro bowl pass rusher and three-time Pro Bowler from Rock Hill, S.C., has signed with his hometown team, the Panthers announced on Wednesday afternoon. ...Read more

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America/TNS

Broncos signing WR Josh Reynolds to two-year deal, sources say

Sports / Football /

DENVER — Sean Payton on Monday morning predicted another free-agency move or two to come.

The Broncos landed a solid pass-catcher by Wednesday.

Denver is signing former Detroit wide receiver Josh Reynolds to a two-year deal worth up to $14 million, sources confirmed to The Denver Post.

Reynolds, 29, caught 40 passes for 608 yards and five ...Read more

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images North America/TNS

Andrew Callahan: Robert Kraft, Patriots must preach patience at start of long rebuild

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — For someone standing still, Robert Kraft covered a lot of ground Tuesday morning.

Why he promoted de facto GM Eliot Wolf. Possibly drafting a quarterback. Fan frustration. “The Dynasty” docu-series, and “The Dynasty” backlash.

Yet of all the comments Kraft made in his meetup with reporters at the NFL Annual Meeting �...Read more

Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Mac Engel: Cowboys' offseason moves have completely undercut coach Mike McCarthy

Sports / Football /

FORT WORTH, Texas — He presides over the richest franchise in sports, and Jerry Jones is asking his team to do “more with less.” How very corporate of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, this in an offseason where he is “all in.”

Our favorite Pro Football Hall of Famer is 81 years old, and he is not stupid. He just thinks you are.

The ...Read more

Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Rams knew all along Aaron Donald was retiring, but can scheme or draft compensate?

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Sean McVay met Aaron Donald outside the visitors locker room at Detroit's Ford Field.

The Rams' 2023 season had ended with a playoff defeat, and McVay was near certain it was Donald's final game.

"This is it," McVay recalled saying as he greeted the three-time NFL defensive player of the year.

"Yep," Donald replied, "This is...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Ex-Patriots CB, Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcolm Butler charged with DUI

Sports / Football /

BOSTON — Former New England Patriots cornerback and Super Bowl XLIX hero Malcom Butler was arrested and charged with a DUI earlier in March, according to North Providence Police Department.

Butler, whose late-game interception clinched New England’s fourth Super Bowl in 2015, was reportedly observed blocking a lane of traffic in a stopped ...Read more

Clarence E. Hill Jr./Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

What Jerry Jones said about Cowboys QB Dak Prescott's extortion lawsuit, legal issues

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was well-versed in the alleged sexual assault allegations involving quarterback Dak Prescott and his subsequent filing of a civil lawsuit for extortion before it became public a couple of weeks ago.

Jones said he is disappointed regarding the negative attention it has brought on Prescott.

But ...Read more

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kicker Greg Joseph leaves Vikings for Packers

Sports / Football /

MINNEAPOLIS — Greg Joseph could be kicking against the Vikings next season.

Joseph agreed to sign with the Packers on Tuesday, according to his agent Brett Tessler, nearly two weeks after the Vikings let Joseph's contract expire. Minnesota signed an inexperienced kicker, John Parker Romo, ahead of what appears to be another kicking ...Read more

Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Steelers signing dynamic runner and kickoff return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson

Sports / Football /

PITTSBURGH — On the same day the NFL completely changed how kickoffs are handled, the Steelers have made a special teams splash.

Cordarrelle Patterson will sign a short-term deal with the Steelers. Patterson, 33, was a first-round pick as a wide receiver back in 2013, but he has found his home in the NFL in the return game. In 2022, he set ...Read more

Staff/TNS/Staff

NFL votes to significantly alter kickoff rules in name of safety and to revive returns

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Get ready for NFL kickoffs to look a whole lot different next season.

In a 29-3 vote Tuesday, team owners voted in favor of a radical, one-year change to kickoffs in hopes of reviving one of the game's most exciting plays — while making it safer.

The new alignment will put the coverage and return teams much closer together ...Read more

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images North America/TNS

NFL announces scheduling wrinkles, including Wednesday Christmas Day games

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL will play on every day of the week but Tuesday this season.

In addition to its "Black Friday" game — a budding tradition that began last season — the league announced it will schedule a Week 1 game on Friday, Sept. 6, to played in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and streamed exclusively on NBC's Peacock. That will mark the ...Read more

Steph Chambers/Getty Images North America/TNS

NFL votes to significantly alter kickoff rules in name of safety and to revive returns

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — Get ready for NFL kickoffs to look a whole lot different next season.

In a 29-3 vote Tuesday, team owners voted in favor of a radical, one-year change to kickoffs in hopes of reviving one of the game's most exciting plays — while making it safer.

The new alignment will put the coverage and return teams much closer together ...Read more

Romain Maurice/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tom Brady's bid to buy Raiders' stake 'making progress,' commissioner says

Sports / Football /

ORLANDO, Fla. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that Tom Brady’s almost yearlong bid to purchase a limited stake in the Raiders is on the right track.

Brady is teaming with Tom Wagner, the co-founder of Knighthead Capital Management, to buy what is believed to be a 10% stake. Their group has been in talks with Raiders owner Mark...Read more