TAMPA, Fla. — To Baker Mayfield, the victories were fleeting. It’s the losses he has carried with him into the huddle this offseason.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 6-2 start dissolved into a 2-7 finish that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time in six years.

Mayfield’s collapse, meanwhile, mirrored his team’s. One of the leading ...Read more

DENVER — Snow more excuses, Broncos Country.

Chad Muma bleeds orange and blue. Yet he said that his New England Patriots still would’ve beaten the Broncos in the AFC Championship at Empower Field, even if Bo Nix had played quarterback for Denver that frigid day.

“Everyone is always playing the what-ifs,” the New England linebacker told...Read more

DENVER — Jonathon Cooper is nowhere near the Denver Broncos as the team practices this week during its three-day minicamp.

Head coach Sean Payton said the Broncos have excused Cooper after the outside linebacker’s second arrest last Thursday on multiple charges that he violated a protection order after his initial arrest on June 4 following...Read more

The family of former San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Aldon Smith intends to have his brain studied by CTE experts, according to family statement released Tuesday.

Smith died Saturday at San Jose’s Good Samaritan Hospital after a medical emergency in Los Gatos, Calif. No cause has been given by the Santa Clara Medical Examiner’s Office...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was released from Dallas County Jail on Tuesday after serving a 30-day sentence for violating terms of probation stemming from his involvement in a six-vehicle crash on March 30, 2024.

Rice violated probation after testing positive for THC. While serving the sentence, Rice missed...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When I watched Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis at minicamp and organized team activities one thought came to mind: I sure hope he’s in the right system, meaning a team that has a strong defense and emphasizes defense as much as offense.

I’ve been assured publicly and privately that that’s the case, that ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — As the Minnesota Vikings end their Organized Team Activities — in the old days, we called these “practices” — the Wilfs seem to be continuing their reign as the most popular sports owners in Minnesota.

Which prompts a question.

Why?

I give them credit for running a humane organization. There have, are and will be worse...Read more

AURORA, Colo. — As the man of the people exited center stage, a fan leaned down from the guardrails at Aurora Public Schools Stadium to holler at J.K. Dobbins. He begged for a picture. Dobbins, of course, obliged. And the Denver Broncos running back got sucked into a pep talk he accepted but didn’t really need.

“Hey, GTD,” the fan told ...Read more

CHICAGO — The offseason program is in the books. The Chicago Bears wrapped up minicamp Thursday and sent the players home until training camp begins in late July.

Coach Ben Johnson was proud of the work his team put in this spring, both in the weight room and on the practice field. Johnson has projected the same no-nonsense approach in Year 2...Read more

DENVER — The same day Davis Webb talked for the first time about his new gig with the Denver Broncos, his next one floated around the conversation.

What will that be for Denver’s (relatively) newly-minted offensive coordinator and play-caller was, of course, impossible to say from a sunny June practice field at Broncos Park, but if this new...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — OK, here’s a hypothetical scenario.

It’s Week 5 of the Philadelphia Eagles’ season. They’re 2-2, but their record is not the concerning thing, not really. They have lost their most recent game, at home to the Los Angeles Rams, but that loss, in and of itself, is not the concerning thing, not really. The Rams are favored...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — The national narrative sounds silly now.

When Sam Darnold descended on Seattle last offseason, he did so with a cloud of caveats hanging over his head.

He can’t win the big one. He can’t be “the guy.” He can’t beat pressure, literal or metaphorical. He can’t succeed outside of Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’...Read more

Aldon Smith, the 49ers’ single-season leader in sacks and a talented but troubled star, has died at the age of 36, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

The 49ers did not reveal Smith’s cause of death, though ESPN has reported he died in the Bay Area.

“We are devastated by the sudden and tragic passing of Aldon Smith,” the 49ers said ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A mandatory minicamp offered a checkpoint, of sorts, for a player rehabbing from the most serious knee injury of his life. He didn’t participate in every drill over the summer practices, but he did enough to tease that a Week 1 timetable might just be within reason.

It’s the Patrick Mahomes story arc this year.

But it ...Read more

CHICAGO — Of all the recent praise lavished on Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams this offseason, it’s doubtful he expected flattery coming out of Green Bay.

In a teaser for NFL Network’s Top 100 Players survey, several players are asked to name the No. 1 player, and Packers star edge rusher Micah Parsons says, without cringing, “...Read more

DENVER — Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper was arrested Thursday night on multiple charges, jail records show, one week after he was previously arrested at his apartment in Parker.

Cooper was arrested by the Parker Police Department at 6:17 p.m. and booked at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office detention facility on a charge of ...Read more

DENVER — Sean Payton and the Walton-Penner Group have to take a stand. Are you really going to stand with Jonathon Cooper now? After this?

Cooper, the Broncos’ outside linebacker, was arrested Thursday night for the second time in a week. The 28-year-old defender, according to online records, was booked at the Douglas County Sheriff’s ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — The Seahawks moved up 17 spots in the draft to get him.

And if they hadn’t, it’s fair to wonder whether they would have ended the season in the No. 1 spot in the NFL.

Seattle “safety” Nick Emmanwori may not have the profile of some of his “Dark Side” defensive teammates. He may not have earned second-team All-Pro ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jalen Coker will be a Carolina Panther for the foreseeable future.

The third-year wide receiver and the Panthers agreed to a three-year, $35 million contract extension Thursday, according to Coker’s agent, Matt Glose.

The deal comes with a $7 million signing bonus and $19.5 million in guaranteed money, Glose told The ...Read more

FOXBORO, Mass. — Drake Maye has only been throwing to A.J. Brown for just over a week, but you wouldn’t know it based on their already impressive connection.

The bond between quarterback and wide receiver was already apparent three days into minicamp.

Brown challenged Maye heading into Thursday’s minicamp practice, the Patriots’ final ...Read more