Rumors are going around that he took his own life. It seems this pending court case was too much for him to handle. RIP

Login to view embedded media View: https://x.com/JacquesDoucet/status/1911414378324230581

UFL Week 3 Schedule (2025)

Friday, April 11

Birmingham Stallions beat Arlington Renegades, 27-20

Saturday, April 12

Memphis Showboats beat Houston Roughnecks, 26-23

Sunday, April 13

San Antonio Brahmas vs. Michigan Panthers, 12:00 PM ET (ABC)

D.C. Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks, 3:00 PM ET (ABC)

———

Standings:

XFL Conference
D.C. Defenders: 2-0, 1.000, 35-23, W2
St. Louis Battlehawks: 2-0, 1.000, 57-15, W2
Arlington Renegades: 2-1, .667, 53-28, L1
San Antonio Brahmas: 0-2, .000, 18-59, L2

USFL Conference
Birmingham Stallions: 2-1, .667, 42-39, W2
Michigan Panthers: 1-1, .500, 38-33, L1
Memphis Showboats: 1-2, .333, 33-59, W1
Houston Roughnecks: 0-3, .000, 41-61, L3

Listening to it now, so can't provide a time stamp to pinpoint the subject.

I decided to watch a few plays of the Chicago game and on the third play of the Rams first drive - they have a possible huge gain if Stafford threw to Atwell.

There is one guy behind Atwell and I think Atwell would have outrun him.

I just had to show this play.

I'm a big fan of Nate, good read and think his is an important look at how to view the QBs here.

• 
  
  Sarah Barshop Apr 10, 2025, 06:00 AM ET

LOS ANGELES -- Davante Adams waited for the video from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay to load, wondering if his Wi-Fi was broken.
It was early March, and the then-free agent wide receiver was in Japan on vacation before the start of the new league year.
When the clip finally loaded, Adams realized why it had taken so long. It was a seven-minute video filmed by McVay, who recorded it by holding up his phone to show film of Adams while he narrated the highlights.

"It was kind of Jon Gruden-esque a little bit," Adams said. "You know how he is with ball so he's breaking down every single clip. ... I thought he took that job to be on TV for a minute when I was watching it.

"It just shows how much ball means to him and how much of a priority I was for him and the rest of the guys here because it's not just him making those decisions. When you have that from a coach, you're on the free market and you don't see it from anybody else to that level, it means a lot."
Adams laughed when asked how he would describe McVay as a recruiter, saying, "Aggressive, but in all the right ways."
"I knew this," McVay said at the NFL's annual meeting this month. "When I sent him that video, he's either thinking one of two things: 'Man, I like this guy or he's freaking whacked.' And probably both, but he decided to come with us, so we'll take it."

McVay, now entering his ninth season as head coach of the Rams, has not only built a reputation as a great football mind, but has built a culture that has led to players wanting to come to Los Angeles. Not only have several players -- including quarterback Matthew Stafford -- taken less money to return to the Rams this offseason, but McVay has been able to recruit players like Adams to come play for a team constructed with a Super Bowl in mind.
"He is a good recruiter, man," backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. "He's a smooth talker, [has] high energy, which I really enjoy. I love Sean. Every day he brings that same energy.

"I love being here. It all starts with him, and it trickles down from there."

Not long after the 2024 season ended with a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Divisional playoff contest, McVay, general manager Les Snead, team president Kevin Demoff and vice president of football and business administration Tony Pastoors went to Meadowood in Napa Valley, California, for "an after action review," according to McVay.

​

It was there the group talked about the short- and long-term vision of the team, the players who would be free agents and other potential moves. The group discussed Cooper Kupp "a lot during those couple days," ultimately deciding to move on from the wide receiver, either with a trade or a release.
The Rams had also "identified early in the process" that Adams was likely to be released by the New York Jets and be available, and McVay began picturing what Los Angeles' 2025 offense might look like.

"Through the process of talking to Davante, even if it was globally, Sean found someone he could connect with on a very intellectual level," Demoff said. "... I don't think you can replace Cooper Kupp's leadership in what he's meant in that room, but I do think you can have someone who can bring a different flavor and perspective will be great.

"But I do think there's always been, whether it's Matthew Stafford, Brandin Cooks, Ndamukong Suh, Sammy Watkins, you can go through the litany from the beginning of the Sean-Les relationship is when they identify a need and there is a ability through a trade or free agency to go get it, they're going to be pretty aggressive.

"And sometimes you try to pull the reins on them to stop, but usually they do a pretty good job of breaking free and usually it works out for us."
McVay doesn't wine and dine you, Snead said.

"He recruits in a way of 'Here's what I think your superpowers are as a football player, here's how I think we can use them, and this is how people have defended you in the past,'" Snead said. "'This is how I think we can help you avoid that defense. And we're trying to do something special here.'"
That recruiting pitch worked on Adams, who said in his introductory news conference "after speaking with a couple of players, Sean and a couple of the other personnel, it was clear that this was where I needed to be."

The Rams signed Adams to a two-year, $44 million contract in March with $26 million guaranteed.
Snead said McVay's recruitment helps him during contract negotiations as well.

"There's times where the agents go, 'I just can't stand the way this is going because my player's saying that this is where we're going so, we might as well quit playing games and try to work something out,'" Snead said.

Best of NFL Nation​

Garoppolo, who signed a one-year deal to serve as backup quarterback in March 2024 because he wanted to play for McVay, said last season in Los Angeles "exceeded [his] expectations." The quarterback explored the free agent market and had other opportunities, but said he knew where he wanted to be.
"I've been in a couple of good organizations, [have] seen how things are run, and Sean [McVay] does it top-notch here," Garoppolo said.

Garoppolo was a player the Rams hoped would return in 2025, but one who they thought had a good chance to sign for more money elsewhere. When asked about McVay's recruiting pitch, Garoppolo said, "Every time I talk to him on the phone, I say like 10 words. He's talking so fast, in a good way though. It's his high energy.

"He has a point to make and I love that about him. There's no B.S.-ing around."

Nose tackle Poona Ford, who played the first five seasons of his career with the Seattle Seahawks, said he "always watched [McVay] from a distance" during the two games the teams played a season and he "always knew he was a guy that I could see myself playing for at some point."
Ford said his recruitment to the Rams "kind of happened really quick."

"They were really aggressive in the process, and I just felt like this was where I needed to be," Ford said.

And ultimately, the Rams have had a winning track record under McVay, going to two Super Bowls and winning Super Bowl LVI during the 2021 season.
"If you are a football player who really, really cares about playing good football and you want to be a part of an ecosystem that wins," Snead said. "... I always go, oh, it's recruiting, but it's really Sean really explaining to them, 'Hey, this is our ecosystem. This is how we do things and if you want to be a part of that man, we'd really love to have you. And if you don't, we'll always pull for you and try to ruin your day if we play you.'"

Sharp does fantastic analysis of guys all over Twitter and has two guys on his staff who regularly do mocks that hit the top of the accuracy board for Huddle Report.

Hoooo boy does he have some different takes.

Throw out the current pre draft hype, draft round, pick position and value in this discussion. Also throw out Cam Ward who seems to be the consensus #1.
Strictly a scouting discussion of possible.

If you had to take a QB in this draft…

For the Rams in 2025, which QB do you think believe would be the best guy to get drafted here and sit behind Stafford for a year or two or three.

Also considering aspects like McVay being this young man’s HC, as well as being in LA.

I’m genuinely curious as to the opinions from everyone pre draft. I’m no scout. I really find it difficult to project QB’s. I do strongly feel that aside from the obvious (arm talent), I look for alpha competitors.

What do you guys look for?

Skills, intelligence, maturity, competitiveness, leadership, background, patience sitting behind a vet(?)

Thoughts?

The Justice Department’s investigation into Matt Weiss, the former Baltimore Ravens and Michigan assistant football coach accused of hacking into the personal accounts of more than 2,000 college athletes, uncovered that the ex-coach stole thousands of "candid and intimate" photos and videos.
The revelation came during a court filing in a lawsuit against Weiss and the university after lawyers representing the victims in this case shared an email from the Justice Department's Mega Victim Case Assistance Program.

The Justice Department’s investigation into Matt Weiss uncovered that the ex-coach stole thousands of "candid and intimate" photos and videos. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
"Thousands of candid, intimate photographs and videos have been seized from the defendant’s electronic devices and from his cloud storage accounts," the email read, via The Associated Press. "Many show victims naked. Some show victims engaged in explicit sexual acts."
The filing came weeks after Weiss pleaded not guilty to a 24-count federal indictment. The charges were announced last month — more than two years after Weiss, 42, was fired from his coaching position under Harbaugh after an investigation into the alleged crimes.
According to the indictment, Weiss "gained unauthorized access to student athlete databases of more than 100 colleges and universities that were maintained by a third-party vendor." He then allegedly downloaded personal information and data of more than 150,000 athletes and, from there, was able to access the information of more than 2,000 athletes, including access to their social media, email and cloud storage.

Weiss is accused of committing the alleged crimes from 2015 to January 2023. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Weiss predominantly targeted women, prosecutors said.
Weiss spent more than a decade coaching in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens in various roles before he left following the 2020 season to coach under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. He was fired in 2023 during an investigation into the alleged crimes.
Weiss is accused of committing the alleged crimes from 2015 to January 2023.

Weiss is facing 14 counts of unauthorized access to computers and 10 counts of aggravated identity theft. He is facing a maximum of five years imprisonment for each of the unauthorized access charges and up to two years for each count of identity theft.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Login to view embedded media View: https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1910089701517566164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1910089701517566164%7Ctwgr%5Ec74f1ddebf26d7a4434bc7c0d0cc8e0aa625fd66%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheramswire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Frams%2F2025%2F04%2F09%2F2025-nfl-draft-rams-will-reportedly-meet-with-another-top-qb-prospect%2F83016567007%2F


McVay wants an athletic QB???

Dire Wolves went extinct over 10,000 years ago ,

For the first time ever, scientists say they have made a species de-extinct, bringing the dire wolf back into the world thousands of years after it died off.

I'm sure many scientists will debate if these are truly Dire Wolves , or something else

I'm curious to see how big they get , Dire Wolves were huge , like , huge huge


Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-8QESMOxe8


Login to view embedded media View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPX4tm-J2bU

The 2025 season will mark the Rams' 10th back in Los Angeles. Through the first nine, the organization's growth has included SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park coming to life in Inglewood, establishing its football and business operations headquarters in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley – with a proposal for a vibrant mixed-use development that will house its permanent headquarters announced Monday – and currently being tied with the Chiefs for the most international marketing and commercializing rights (seven).

Not to mention: Successfully managing the relocation of a game due to wildfires for a second time, except with it being relocated to another state instead of back to L.A.

"I don't think this organization's ever been in a better place since we returned to Los Angeles than we are entering the 2025 season," Rams President Kevin Demoff said last week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. "The football team is in amazing shape. The fan base is doing fantastic. I think organizationally, we found our footing and what we do really well, and where we can continue to grow and get better. We have an amazing group of people, an amazing group of leaders. I truly say this, I don't know any other organization that could have pulled off what we did for the wild card game on three days' notice. I hope no one else ever has to try. But the fact that we could do that and do it capably well didn't surprise me, and I hoped we would never go through anything like 2018 again. But it was a reflection of just what an amazing group of people we have, how they're adaptive and visionary and can work together.

"We're still better in crisis than we are in normal times. I'll always try to fix that. That's probably true of most, but we're nearly a decade back into this journey, and I take great pride organizationally when you come here and you watch the NFL Films cut-up, and there's a ton of Rams imagery and there's the things we've accomplished, and the rookies of the year and the Super Bowls and the expectations."
Those Super Bowl title expectations remain in place as always. Looking ahead, Demoff said that the organization has to be grateful for the success it has built, while also aware of the dangers and threats looming behind them. How does the franchise continue to build the fan base and continue to grow in L.A., nearly a decade into this journey? How does it continue to push the envelopment from a football perspective and reinvent itself?

Some of those reminders could be seen at last week's NFL Annual Meeting.
The organization is coming off its seventh winning season in eight years under head coach Sean McVay,
including its sixth playoff appearance in that span. And while assistant coaches have consistently developed into head coach candidates or moved on to coordinator roles internally and externally, the player personnel staff is now seeing its own tree growing branches. Former director of college scouting Brad Holmes was hired as the Lions' general manager in 2021; the Jaguars hired former director of scouting strategy James Gladstone as their next general manager.

From a coaching standpoint, five other teams currently have head coaches who previously worked with McVay: The Bengals with Zac Taylor, the Falcons with Raheem Morris, the Vikings with Kevin O'Connell, the Jaguars with Liam Coen and the Packers with Matt LaFleur.

There will be some continuity this spring, though: It's the first time in the McVay era that Los Angeles' head coach hasn't lost a coordinator, with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, defensive coordinator Chris Shula and special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn all returning in 2025. In terms of reinvention and evolution, McVay – who has consistently done both throughout his tenure – has talked about his vision for a more versatile offense this year.
"You take a lot of pride when you walk around these meetings and you see the number of coaches who have coached here since we've returned to Los Angeles, the number of GMs here," Demoff said. "We certainly have become a place that the league has looked to for talent, and that talent has had success. And it's great to see James and the front office get recognized for what they've done, because for all of our success and what Les has done, the only person who had been picked is Brad Holmes. You look at the job he's done in Detroit, as executive of the year, too, like you would think that more people would come looking for that. And I am glad that James got a chance.

"And hopefully that means whether it's (assistant general manager) John McKay or (director of scouting, strategy and analytics) Nicole Blake or (senior advisor to the general manager) Ray Farmer, that those people can see now that our front office is a path to getting to go run another franchise, that our coaches continue to be seen as innovative and leaders in that tree, and that we have success."

That innovation has also extended into the business realm of the organization, with big moments like the annual Draft House, or the draft film from three years ago.

As Demoff noted, this is all well and good as of April 1, when this session with local reporters was conducted. The way the NFL works, the Rams could be in a completely different place by May 1.
Still, he thinks back to what he first told members of the organization when it moved to Los Angeles in 2016: "When they write the story 10 years from now about the Rams' return to Los Angeles, did they get it right?"

The continued goal is to push the envelope so the answer is a resounding yes.

"We're nine years in, and I think we're definitely trending in that direction in everything we do, but I want to continue to push the envelope in where we innovate," Demoff said. "Playing a game in Australia, being the first to do that. Expanding to the UAE (United Arab Emirates), which I think has an amazing opportunity for our brand and our franchise, opening up new parts of the world to the NFL. ... But when I look at where this league now, things like players resting in the preseason, Sean started that. Trading draft picks, Les really started that. The healthy and safety and how we work with players and (vice president of sports medicine and performance) Reggie (Scott) and what they've done. Things like the draft house. Things we've done in SoFi Stadium with AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), male cheerleaders, DJs at games, so many things have started in our building, and that's the creativity and spirit of the group we have here."

That being said, the organization still remains forward-thinking and excited about the next challenge. And in a title-decorated city like Los Angeles, they don't have to look far for motivation.
"There's one thing I hope we continue, (which) is never losing that sense of what's next, and never being satisfied. There's a difference between being appreciative about what we've built and being satisfied, and I don't think anybody is satisfied," Demoff said. "We're excited always about what that next challenge is, that next opportunity is for us, because you're in a city that demands the best.

"The thing I think that's always about exciting about being in Los Angeles, and I said this in 2021, winning one title doesn't mean the next 20 years – Dodgers won a title last year. The Lakers are chasing one. Galaxy won one last year. In the last year, you've seen two major titles, and clearly here, the Lakers are threatening to win one. The Kings are good. This is a city of excellence, and if you don't bring your best every day, you're going to get swallowed up. And I think that's what motivates our staff and our group. The one thing I always want is a passion or delivering for our fans and for each other, and as long as we have that, I think we'll be in great shape."

WTH! This is this the new trend in the NBA? The Grizzlies fired Jenkins recently. Not a fan of this as a precedent.

Rams have a penchant for attacking a position group with two and sometimes three picks in the draft every year whether it be pass rush* (last year with Verse and Fiske) or WR in '21 or Corner in '22, safety, etc...

Of all the positions of need and/or depth, which position group would you most like the Rams to take multiple swings at this draft? For me, corner seems to be the one where we really need to draft both for a starter AND depth and future players for the next year or two. I would put pass catcher right after that (allowing that they can come from both WR and TE there).

What say you?

* I say "pass rush" cause that's what they were really trying to attack and not necessarily DT/OLB spots, of which, they've gone after each in bunches in different drafts.

NFL moving to 18-game schedule seems inevitable: Breaking down logistics, player safety, playoff seeding, more​

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The NFL's annual league meetings came and went this week with the most drama circulating around a tabled rules proposal for a play that accounts for less than a half a percent of all offensive snaps.

While we all talked about the Tush Push, there was hardly a formal mention of the prospect of adding an 18th regular-season game. An ambition of the NFL's for more than a decade, that grail was "not a focus of our discussions by any stretch of the imagination" over the two-day meetings, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said.

In truth, it didn't need to be spoken. As one source pointed out in the lobby of the famed Breakers hotel in Palm Beach, the idea of an 18th game was treated like "a fait accompli" even though it must be collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association. It seems so certain there's almost no consternation among NFL team owners about even when it will take place, as several sources have believed it wouldn't be instituted until the 2027 season at the earliest.

All the pieces matter here. There was no formal presentation from the league to team owners and presidents about what exactly the 18th game would look like. Dallas Cowboys owner and strong 18th-game proponent Jerry Jones even said there was no discussion of it in the privileged session, which admits just one representative from each team to discuss what other ears shouldn't hear.

But when you listen closely to what was said publicly, it becomes clear the league wants — nay, needs — the 18th game to accomplish so many of its goals in the coming years.

Want to take over the globe? You need more games across the globe. Want consistent refurbishments for your stadiums, or even a brand-new one? More money coming in would help. Want to maximize just how much money this extra game will net you? Time it up nicely with your new broadcast deals.

Oh, yeah. Then there's the whole player health-and-safety thing.

Player safety

The National Football League revolves around quarterbacks. Never before have quarterbacks had so much value to the on-field product, and never before have they been paid as much as they are today.

But the league has seen a historic number of QBs play in a season ever since expanding to 17 games. In 2021, the league's first year with 17 games, there were 62 starting quarterbacks, most in a season in more than a decade. That was followed by an all-time record of 69 starting quarterbacks in 2022, and it dipped to 66 in 2023 — the second-most all time.

This past season that number went down to 59, so perhaps something is working with consecutive years of that number decreasing.

Quarterbacks aren't the only players on the field that need to stay on the field, though, and the league knows that. NFL players suffered the fewest concussions in a season since the league began tracking data nine years ago, a positive sign that the tweaks made to the game and associated helmet technology is working.

And the league is doing its part to further curb plays that have a high injury rate. Even though the Tush Push has a 0 percent injury rate, sources say medical professionals consulting with the league caution the NFL and its teams about the potential for catastrophic injury. It's possible, if not likely, all pushing and pulling of ball-carriers will be outlawed by the time owners reconvene at the May meetings.

The 2024 season also saw second-fewest punts-per-game in the modern NFL. Punt plays have a much higher injury rate than scrimmage plays. With more teams going for it on fourth down than ever before, and with the kickoff touchback now at the 35-yard-line, there may be even fewer punts moving forward.

Logistics of 18 games

On a basic level, one of the easiest parts of the entire 18-game conversation is scheduling. The cleanest way to accomplish this would be to remove one of three preseason games, start the regular season on Labor Day weekend, add a second bye week for all teams and then have the Super Bowl align with Presidents Day weekend.

The next two Super Bowls have their dates set, but not the Super Bowl to cap off the 2027 season. Super Bowl LXII is set to be played in Atlanta in February 2028, but no firm date has been announced, causing many around the league to speculate the league could expand to 18 games beginning in the 2027 season.

Scooting the start of the season up by a week and eliminating one preseason game is just a start. The union has pushed for shorter offseason programs for years, and that push is likely to continue in any negotiations around an 18th game. Eliminating the voluntary offseason program altogether is a hope of some in the union, especially veterans.

An entirely revamped offseason schedule is possible. Training camp could start earlier in July and include a longer ramp-up time. That would eat into the summer breaks for players' families, which has had many question why players would want such a schedule.

When it comes to the actual season, the players union would never view a second bye week as a "concession." A second bye week would be nonnegotiable for the players. And, again, on a basic level, the bye weeks would be spaced out evenly for teams that could effectively cut their seasons into thirds.

The league would need to figure out what teams would play the extra game. Does the entire scheduling formula get re-evaluated? Or does the 18th game become a seventh division game that rotates each year within the division, as an example?

"We'll continue to analyze and discuss it with the players," Goodell said. "They're doing their work on it, and we'll all do our work on it. A lot of things effect whether you would go to 18: all the health and safety issues. I think that gives you the ability to think about that. In the context of our season structure is an important element of what we're offering to our fans and how we do that and how we're working with our players."

The extra game — and more importantly, the added bye week — gives the league a clear runway to 16 international games in the future. Goodell has talked fondly of this idea while his plans for global domination have been clear for more than a decade. But that part isn't always easy.

The league got the ability to have as many as eight international games beginning in the 2025 season, but the NFL could only muster seven for the upcoming season. The NFL is playing regular-season games in Ireland and Spain for the first time ever, and after years of being in Germany, the league is finally making its debut in Berlin this year.

And there will be more. The CBA allows for the league and union to meet and agree on increasing the total to 10 or more as early as before the start of this season.

Each year more teams get global marketing rights in various countries. Before last week, there were seven teams that did not have global marketing rights in another country. But at the annual meetings, the Ravens, Packers, Chargers and Commodes all got into the mix. That leaves just the Bengals, Bills and Titans as the only teams without a global marketing rights partnership for now.

The league is also expanding into different countries. The Spanos-owned Chargers just got awarded Greece, and the league has set its sights on the United Arab Emirates the last few years. The Commodes, 49ers and Rams all claimed the UAE at the meetings.

Value of an 18th game

Last year the NFL pulled in more than $20 billion in revenue, and that number will only increase as years go along regardless of whether another game is added.

Jerry Jones has known about the value of the 18th game for more than a decade. In the 2011 negotiations for a new CBA, Jones had the personal responsibility of talking to the players about the value of adding an 18th game.

"So you see what a great job I did," Jones quipped this week. "It was talked about there and I thought it was a great idea there. (Would have) made a billion dollars more to the players back then. One billion more to the players. So I thought it was a good idea — still do."

Today that extra inventory is valued at a far greater price. And because the added game would allow the league to get to 16 international games more expeditiously, the NFL could also package those international games and sell them to the highest bidder. Many around the league have wondered if such a package would be destined for Netflix considering its international reach. The streamer and the league have become fast friends since Netflix agreed to a three-year deal to house Christmas Day games, and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos did a panel with Goodell at the league meetings this past week.

Speaking of broadcast deals, the one the league signed with its partners in 2021 doesn't expire until after the 2033 season. But many anticipate the league will execute its opt-out clause following the 2029 season to get more money for their games. There is no larger pool of revenue for the league than its broadcasting deal.

"I'm more optimistic about how it grows from here than I was when I first came into the NFL in 1989, and any period in between," Jones said this week. "I see a lot of positive growth for the NFL."

There is logic in either getting to 18 games for a year or two and then opting out of the deals, or having the 18th game addition coincide with that opt out ahead of the 2030 season.

That's how the money would work for the owners' side. For the players, the money would increase and so would the salary cap. Last year we explored many of the potential requests the players could have when it comes to negotiating around an 18th game. There's little doubt the players will want a greater share of the revenue, and increasing their percentage from 48.8 to something closer to 50 percent would be a coup.

A new potential negotiating point has emerged since then. Sources say the union has shown interest in securing equity in NFL teams for its players, which would be a breakthrough in the most profitable sports league in North American sports.

Team owners voted last year to allow private equity groups to hold up to 10 percent in teams. A handful of teams have indulged in that already, and the benefits are obvious. Team owners whose wealth is mostly tied up in the team itself get to give away a part of the team, without losing any control, and immediately get hundreds of millions of dollars.

Former players have bought into teams, like Tom Brady and Richard Seymour getting pieces of the Raiders. A private equity firm fronted by Hall of Famer Curtis Martin is one of a dozen groups permitted to buy into NFL teams. But active players having a piece of the team? That would be a new frontier.

In July 2023, NFL team owners passed a new rule that resolved "that the membership endorses and adopts the policy statement of the Finance Committee regarding transactions of club equity involving club employees who are neither Principal Owner nor a member of the Principal Owner's family," according to a document obtained by CBS Sports.

So the NFL has already anticipated such a request and passed a bylaw to prohibit it. Of course, rules can always be changed. But it seems hard to imagine the league will ever allow a player to own part of the team he's playing on, considering the complications when and if that player is traded or cut — not to mention the potential circumvention of the salary cap.

But could current players buy into private equity groups who can then buy into teams? Maybe that could be a negotiated work-around for all parties, but that is hardly a given.

Could product suffer?

The pros of adding an extra game are rather obvious when it comes to money. And the cons of more injuries are equally as obvious. But something else that worries the league when it comes to more games: a more diluted product.

Those within the league office are terrified about the potential for teams to tank if more games are added. The NFL has seen what has happened in recent years with the NBA, and the potential to bottom out only increases when more bad teams play more games.

The NBA has borrowed from soccer to introduce an in-season tournament, though no major North American sports league has gone as far as to introduce a relegation system. And an in-season tournament for the NFL would have its own set of unique challenges.

But the league has been fighting tanking for decades. The problem has only gotten worse in recent years as one of the biggest tools in team-building has been a quality quarterback on a rookie contract.

Some general managers have pushed for the trade deadline to be later in the season, but the league has balked at doing that in large part because of the tanking concerns. The deadline now takes place after Week 9 in an 18-week (and 17-game) season, and pushing the deadline later could make more teams sellers as they watch their season slip away.

Though the stats say the league had its most competitive year ever when it comes to close games, the 2024 NFL season saw many bad matchups down the stretch as playoff seeding was more or less locked in with a couple weeks left in the season. Logic holds that adding another game would just worsen the problem.

Enter the Detroit Lions' proposal to change playoff seeding. The Lions proposed to change playoff seeding to rank teams from No. 1 to 7 based off record. Winning the division would get teams into the playoffs, but it wouldn't guarantee them a home playoff game like it does now.

That proposal got tabled at the meetings, but it had support from teams like the Cowboys. While some teams believe in the "purity" of divisions, like Steelers coach Mike Tomlin alluded to this week, others like the Cowboys see that more competitive games down the stretch will bring more eyeballs to the NFL. And all of that means more money for everyone.

Already one out of four division teams has a chance to host a playoff game each season. This proposal would allow four conference teams out of 16 to host a playoff game, so the basic math doesn't change.

When I asked him this week about that proposal, Goodell didn't hide his interest in it.

"I thought it is a very healthy proposal and a very healthy point that we need to evaluate and continue to look at. It went through many different forms. There was some great data to show that we should really look at some form or version of this. But there was also a really strong point of view that winning the division was the No. 1 thing. When you come into training camp, that's the goal: win that division first. And should that reward for winning that division be you're in the playoffs and a home game?

"There was some discussion potentially about if you're .500 or less and you won that division, should you also get the home game? I think there was some interest in that also. But I think the reality is it was very healthy and I think there will be more discussion of it. As we look at the season structure, there will probably be a lot of discussion in that context also as we do that. But I do think it's that constant work to be more competitive and find new wasty to create interest in the game."

It was the second time in his press conference Goodell referred to the "season structure," and it provided a glimpse into the future. Even though an 18-game schedule wasn't on the agenda, the idea of it informs what is being discussed.

If players are going to play more, they need to stay healthy. If there are going to be more international games, there need to be more countries the NFL enters. And if more games could hurt the quality of the product, then measures need to be put in place to ensure that doesn't happen.

The 18th game is the key to all this for the NFL.

All division winners make the playoffs, but seeding is done by overall record.

Login to view embedded media View: https://x.com/profootballtalk/status/1908912579600142473?s=61&t=lgp1gRmUcyNSF5v7CIHwMg

USFL Conference:
Birmingham Stallions (Birmingham, Alabama)
Houston Roughnecks (Houston, Texas)
Memphis Showboats (Memphis, Tennessee)
Michigan Panthers (Detroit, Michigan)

XFL Conference:
Arlington Renegades (Arlington, Texas)
DC Defenders (Washington, D.C.)
San Antonio Brahmas (San Antonio, Texas)
St. Louis Battlehawks (St. Louis, Missouri)



Friday, April 4, 2025:

Birmingham Stallions at Michigan Panthers
Result: Birmingham Stallions 21, Michigan Panthers 12
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Broadcast: FOX

Saturday, April 5, 2025:

Memphis Showboats at DC Defenders
Result: DC Defenders 17, Memphis Showboats 12
Location: Audi Field, Washington, D.C.
Broadcast: ABC

Sunday, April 6, 2025:

Houston Roughnecks at Arlington Renegades
Kickoff: 12:00 PM ET (11:00 AM CT)
Location: Choctaw Stadium, Arlington, TX
Broadcast: ESPN

San Antonio Brahmas at St. Louis Battlehawks
Kickoff: 6:30 PM ET (5:30 PM CT)
Location: The Dome at America’s Center, St. Louis, MO
Broadcast: FS1

Please note that all times are in Eastern Time (ET).

I had to put my dog Molly down today. She had just turned 17 but she had gone down hill the past week or so. This is always harder than you think it will be. Darn little thing tearing my heart out.

Just a bit of fun...

And no tush push

Login to view embedded media View: https://x.com/SharpFootball/status/1907468475141922910?t=diT3RzW79XkOjGDXDfABLA&s=19

No upcoming Phoenix date so we're going to Englewood, CO at the Gothic Theatre June 13. Dude is absofuckinlutey exceptional on the guitar. Check out his tour and see if it's near you. I highly recommend!

Login to view embedded media View: https://youtu.be/Fwn_91o3qU8?si=_GB0r70AYvoa6R3e


Login to view embedded media View: https://youtu.be/AZJOEp4AZwk?si=Q0dJg6Kf9YVVpfya