Category: NFL News

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The Minnesota Vikings will either have to come to a long-term agreement with cornerback Byron Murphy or allow him to hit unrestricted free agency. 

According to a report from ESPN, the Vikings and Murphy came to a mutual agreement to push back the void date on his current contract to one day before the start of the new league year. The move gives the two sides more time to negotiate a long-term pact, but as a consequence of the agreement, the Vikings can no longer use the franchise tag on Murphy because the new void date comes after the franchise tag deadline.

Murphy’s deal was originally set to void this week. If he and the Vikings are unable to reach a new contract agreement by the day before the start of the 2025 league year, the remaining $4.2 million in signing bonus that is spread over the three void years of his contract will accelerate onto Minnesota’s books for the 2025 season. If he does sign a new deal, however, the Vikings can simply replace the void years with the new contract structure.

Murphy signed a two-year, $17.5 million contract with Minnesota prior to the 2023 season, and he played a significant role in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ unit over the last two years. 

He played 99% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2023 and 93% in 2024, which was the first Pro Bowl season of his career. He finished the year with six interceptions and 14 passes defensed, and according to Pro Football Focus he allowed the 24th-lowest passer rating (80.0) on throws in his direction out of the 127 cornerbacks who played at least 150 snaps in coverage.

The Vikings also have Stephon Gilmore, Camryn Bynum and Shaquill Griffin hitting free agency in the secondary, and don’t necessarily have a ready-made…

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Last March, rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit signed with the Chiefs. His first year in the NFL resulted in no regular-season appearances.

The journey took him from the Chiefs offseason/preseason 90-man roster to the Jacksonville practice squad. Along the way, he switched from running back to receiver.

Despite the fact that he never played in a game that counts (he spent the full year on the pracice squad), Rees-Zammit remains all in for American football.

“I’ve never thought about going back to rugby,” Rees-Zammit told Philip Marsh of BBC Sport Wales. “It hasn’t been in my head that I’m not going to do this. I’ve always wanted this. . . . The second [returning to rugby] creeps into your head you start doubting yourself and that’s not going to happen with me.”

On Monday, Rees-Zammit signed with Jacksonville’s offseason 90-man roster. But it remains a steep climb to the 53-man, Week 1 active roster.

“The first step of the dream is to make an active roster, I’m doing everything I can to make that happen,” Rees-Zammit told Marsh. “This is my dream, and the way I make it come true is by working as hard as I can to make the roster.”

The persistence, commitment, and determination is admirable. Still, he’ll be competing with many others who want the same thing he does in the zero-sum game of earning an official regular-season spot on an NFL team.

“Every day is a challenge, every day is hard, hard work, but it is one that for this dream to come true is worth doing,” Rees-Zammit said. “I’m doing everything I can to become a better player on the field and a better person off the field, so I’m really looking forward to this season.”

Rees-Zammit has time. He turned 24 on February 1. And with a full year of NFL practice under his belt, he’ll now have a full and fair chance to take the next step.

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One of the best available free agents may not actually hit the market this offseason. 

The Cincinnati Bengals are focused on reaching a long-term deal with wide receiver Tee Higgins, and hoping not to use a franchise tag on him again, according to NFL Media. If the team cannot reach a deal with its veteran before the March 4 deadline (4 p.m. ET), it will likely use the tag on Higgins for the second straight year, Tom Pelissero reports.

Higgins played last season on the $21.8 million wide receiver tag, and would be set to earn around $26.1 million this time around if he signs the tag. 

He has been seeking a long-term deal, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been staunchly advocating for the Bengals to give it to him. The wide receiver market was reset last offseason by Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb, who received $35 million and $34 million per year on their new deals, respectively. 

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Nearly 12 years after former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito dominated NFL headlines with a bullying scandal, the story has resurfaced and reopened some old wounds.

Scabs have been ripped off, exposing hard feelings that still exist, at least from Incognito, who claims that reporting on the story threatened his NFL career.

During the 2013 season, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Martin took a leave of absence from the Dolphins allegedly due to bullying and teasing from fellow offensive linemen that went back to the previous year, when he was a rookie. Reports indicated that the behavior directed at Martin went beyond rookie hazing and crossed a line with threats and racist remarks.

The Miami Dolphins’ 2013 season was marred by a bullying scandal involving offensive linemen Richie Incognito (68) and tackle Jonathan Martin (71). Incognito was eventually suspended indefinitely for his behavior. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Incognito, then a seven-year veteran, was identified as the main culprit and the Dolphins eventually suspended him indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team. He missed the remaining eight games of the season and after a report commissioned by the NFL determined Incognito and two teammates had regularly harassed Martin, he did not play the entire 2014 season.

Martin, now 35, returned to the headlines with an ESPN.com profile that caught up with him 10 years after he retired from the NFL. A Stanford alum, Martin is now pursuing an MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He’s still trying to put his football days in the past while moving on to another stage of his life.

However, in the ESPN story, he said, “I never believed for a second I was being bullied,” adding that he’s been trying to “fix” the story for 10 years.

He couldn’t cut it in the NFL so he quit and his mom blamed me. Legacy media pushed this narrative long and far. Too bad it was all a lie! They lied to protect his money. He quit……

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The Seattle Seahawks are coming off back to back seasons where they were sitting at home during the NFL playoffs. 

After they surprisingly made it to the postseason in the first year of the post-Russell Wilson era by going 9-8 in Geno Smith’s first season as the starter, Seattle actually maintained and even improved its record by going 9-8 in 2023 and then 10-7 in 2024, but was still left on the outside looking in, in both years.

To get back to the playoffs, Seahawks general manager John Schneider knows that he needs to improve the roster.

“We know exactly what our deficiencies are,” Schneider said during a radio appearance, via NFL Media. “We can all see it, right? And we have a plan to address everything.”

The first thing Schneider needs to address is the offensive line, which has been a major issue over the last two years. Smith has consistently been under heavy pressure and the running back duo of Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet has too often been asked to make something out of nothing.

But in order to address that deficiency, the Seahawks may need to make some changes to the way they allocate resources. They drafted a pair of tackles to bookend the offensive line a few years ago, but Charles Cross has been an average-ish starter and Abraham Lucas hasn’t been on the field often enough. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have not invested that much on the offensive interior. That likely needs to change.

Seattle could also use some help on the defensive front seven after struggling to stop the run despite the presence of players likeLeonard Williams, who had arguably the best season of his career in 2024. Head coach Mike Macdonald was able to generate a solid pass rush despite the lack of a truly dominant pass…

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DALLAS – The UA Next Camp series provided the Rivals national team with a closer look at several of the top prospects from the region, including Texas as well as Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, among others.

The star-studded camp yielded eye-catching performances in different camp and competitive settings. Here are top performers and big-picture ranking implications for several prospects on hand at Melissa High School on Sunday:

RECRUITING INTEL FROM UA NEXT DALLAS

1. FELIX OJO – FOUR-STAR OT

Felix Ojo saw snaps at three different positions — and dominated at that. The four-star OT from Manfield (Texas) Lake Ridge has seized opportunities at the Navy All-American Bowl and continues to sharpen his tool-set. The All-American is exceptional dropping into his pass-sets and has fantastic length and quickness to withstand pass-rushers. Inside, Ojo handled stronger rushers with power and was equally as sharp protecting off the edge. He continues to stand tall at a premium position with his anticipation and athletic profile.

2. KENNY DARBY – FOUR-STAR WR (LSU COMMIT)

Kenny Darby led The Boot in receiving as a junior for Shreveport (La.) Airline and caught everything thrown in his vicinity during Sunday’s camp. The prolific receiver from Louisiana gets off the line with authority and is even more impressive on the receiving end. The LSU-committed four-star WR has outstanding hands and body control — and made several contested grabs downfield and made it look seamless. Darby continues to impress at each turn — and in the camp setting, could not be contained 1-on-1.

3. LANDON BARNES – THREE-STAR EDGE

Landon Barnes is in line for a massive boost after following up a breakthrough junior season with a very eye-catching performance at Melissa High on Sunday. Barnes is long and fluid — and was able to win with power, using quick hands and an array of different pass-rush moves to trick up opposing offensive tackles. Barnes is pesky working off the edge and has a twitchy get-off….

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The Philadelphia Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs emphatically answered the question of which team was the NFL’s best in 2024. The Eagles’ dominance over the Chiefs also catapults them to the top of the list of every Super Bowl champion since the turn of the century. 

The Eagles made plenty of history in 2024. They became the first Super Bowl-winning team since the 1975 Steelers to have more running than passing yards (including the postseason). The Eagles are also the first team to defeat a team that had previously defeated them in the Super Bowl. Saquon Barkley capped off his historic season by joining Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Terrell Davis as the only rushing champs to win the big game. Oh, and did we mention yet that the Eagles flattened a Chiefs team that was one win from becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls? 

The 2024 Eagles boasted a top-10 scoring offense and the NFL’s second-ranked scoring defense, a unit that overwhelmed Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs offense in the Super Bowl. The Eagles’ legendary defensive performance was complemented by its offense, which featured the NFL’s best quartet at the skill positions and a powerful offensive line that had its way with seemingly everyone in 2024. 

Philadelphia is No. 1, but where did every other Super Bowl champion end up on our list? Let’s find out. 

Super Bowl 60 odds: Ranking all 32 teams by best betting value after Eagles dominate Chiefs in Super Bowl 59

R.J. White

25. 2001 Patriots

The 2001 Patriots go down in history as New England’s first Super Bowl champion and one that authored one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. The Patriots were not a…

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Eagles defensive lineman Milton Williams is in the market for a raise as he heads toward free agency and his wallet got a little lighter after Super Bowl LIX.

The NFL announced on Saturday that Williams has been fined $14,069 for unsportsmanlike conduct. Williams was also penalized for the same infraction during the fourth quarter of the game.

Williams stripped Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the ball on a sack with just under 10 minutes left to play in the Eagles’ 40-22 win and he recovered the ball for a turnover. Williams celebrated the play by dunking the football over the crossbar, which drew both the flag and the fine for use of a prop in a celebration.

Williams had two sacks during the game and his play in the game and throughout the season is almost certainly going to get the pay hike he’s looking for, so the fine shouldn’t be too much of a hit to his bank account when all is said and done.

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