The last player on your fantasy bench should never get comfortable.

He should know that every Tuesday morning you’re checking snap rates, goal-line carries, route participation and target shares for somebody younger, faster or simply more gainfully employed.

Too many fantasy managers treat the roster they drafted like a legally binding ...Read more

GREG COTE’S NFL WEEK 1 WEDNESDAY PICK

The NFL’s 107th season is the 36th year for our picks in the Miami Herald and the 21st season King Sport has kicked off early prime time — this year, for only the second time ever, on a Wednesday. (The other was in 2012 when the schedule moved up a day to avoid conflict with Barack Obama’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald will not travel with the team to Melbourne, Australia, to play in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers, coach Sean McVay said Tuesday.

Donald, who rejoined the Rams last month after a two-year retirement, wouldn’t confirm if he was planning to play in the season opener when ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams offensive lineman Kevin Dotson made the trip last spring. So did running back Kyren Williams, receiver Xavier Smith and defensive lineman Tyler Davis.

The four players traveled from Los Angeles to Australia as goodwill ambassadors.

But also as test cases.

First Dotson and Williams, and later Smith and Davis, endured the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Kirk Cousins has great respect for Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak and offensive line coach Rick Dennison and all who put the time in to scheme things for those behemoths up front.

It all starts, according to the quarterback Cousins, with fundamentals and how they’re taught.

“Just the way the (offensive line) goes about ...Read more

DENVER — T.J. Ward would run through Jeremy Maclin again for Carrie and Greg. Happily. Sore knees and all.

“You guys are really lucky to play for the Penners,” the former Broncos safety, enforcer for the Super Bowl 50 champions, told me recently. “You know your owners are personable when they come up (and say), ‘Here’s my email. If ...Read more

If you were building a power ranking of the NFC right now, the San Francisco 49ers look like a podium team.

You can make an argument they’re the third-best team in the conference — a serious contender.

The problem? They’d be ranked third in their own division.

Yes, they’re currently staring up at the defending champion Seattle ...Read more

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The start of a new era is always exciting, even if expectations are low, which is the case for the 2026 Miami Dolphins as they head into Sunday’s season opener at Las Vegas.

The start of a new era, in this case the Dolphins era of coach Jeff Hafley, is reminiscent of the start of other eras or seasons for a variety of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The season will begin 7,921 miles from home, and end in their own backyard.

They will be untouched through it all.

The Rams upcoming 22-week journey will take them far and wide, from Melbourne, Australia to Washington, D.C. and back to SoFi, a circuitous and challenging journey with but one consistent stop.

The win column.

...Read more

NEW YORK — The Giants signed backup quarterback Jameis Winston to a contract extension on Monday because he can play.

He’s a starting-level NFL quarterback who is accepting a backup role in New York but who carries himself like a veteran starter who expects to play and to thrive when he does.

Sure, Winston, 32, is a popular teammate in the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Rams will depart for Australia on Tuesday night for their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.

Will star defensive lineman Aaron Donald be with them?

"Feeling good, feeling really good," Donald said Monday. "Come up with a game plan and see."

But could he say for certain he will make the trip?

"I'm feeling ...Read more

MELBOURNE, Australia — Christian McCaffrey has come around to all this.

Back in February, just before the NFL officially announced the San Francisco 49ers would open this season here against the Los Angeles Rams, McCaffrey frowned on such a historically long trip.

“Australia is pretty far,” McCaffrey told the Bay Area News Group on Feb. ...Read more

NEW YORK — Once a Giant, no longer a Giant.

Wide receiver Darius Slayton, the club’s longest-tenured player, was abruptly released Monday evening, only hours after the team returned from the holiday weekend to begin its Week 1 prep for the Dallas Cowboys.

“Grateful for my time in NY,” Slayton posted on X. “7 years a Giant nothing but...Read more

MIAMI — Imagine being told you will have to relocate to a new work site, in a new environment, learning how to exist with new coworkers and new management to keep your chosen profession.

That’s what life is like for NFL players who were plucked off the waiver wire last week, or those who have signed with a new team last week after not ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The NFL mountaintop this season sits 10 stories underground.

That's the subterranean field at SoFi Stadium, playing host on Feb. 14, 2027, to its second Super Bowl. The first came five years earlier when the Rams beat Cincinnati on their home field.

It will mark the ninth Super Bowl in the Los Angeles area across three venues: ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — With the NFL season set to begin this week, the league completed a significant piece of off-the-field business by extending Commissioner Roger Goodell's contract through the 2030 season.

The league announced the four-year extension Sunday, with Goodell's deal running through March 31, 2031, which would secure his 25th year on ...Read more

It’s now Year 10 of the Kyle Shanahan era in San Francisco.

Ten years. A decade. A veritable eternity in the modern NFL, where head coaches are typically discarded faster than gas station sushi.

And with the big 1-0, Shanahan has officially tied Bill Walsh for the longest coaching tenure in franchise history.

Except, well, what does he have...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Safety Harrison Smith is back for his 15th year with the Minnesota Vikings.

He agreed to a one-year deal worth $12.25 million Saturday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Smith’s return gives the Vikings a key piece to Brian Flores’ defense, and extends the run of the team’s longest-tenured player for ...Read more

RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner said he and his teammates are excited for the dropping of the banner Wednesday night at Lumen Field to commemorate their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots last February.

But Barner said he’s far more excited for what will happen next: a rematch against those same Patriots and ...Read more

CHICAGO — Ten yards into his route, Zavion Thomas made one quick hitch toward the inside. It was enough to throw the opposing cornerback off-balance for a second.

It was all Thomas needed.

The Chicago Bears rookie receiver blew past Tennessee Titans cornerback Keydrain Calligan. Quarterback Tyson Bagent connected with Thomas in stride, and ...Read more