Every NFL team wants to create an edge for itself, in every way possible. It requires an understanding of the rules, the limits of the rules, and the manner in which any loopholes can be exploited.
The Raiders have taken advantage of a fairly glaring loophole in an effort to give quarterback Kirk Cousins $20 million for 2026 while only paying him $11.3 million.
It happened like this. The Falcons owed quarterback Kirk Cousins $10 million for 2026, subject to offset. Other quarterbacks in recent years who have been cut with remaining guarantees (Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa) signed one-year deals for the minimum salary, sticking their former teams for the balance.
As to Cousins, his market value exceeded $10 million. When the Falcons didn’t cut Cousins after the 2024 season (despite a Sunday Splash! report from December 2024 that they were expected to do so), some concluded that the Falcons were content to guarantee $10 million for 2026 since he likely would get more than $10 million on the open market, allowing the Falcons to escape the final installment.
Enter the loophole. If the Raiders had signed Cousins to a one-year, $20 million deal, Las Vegas would have owed Cousins all of it — and the Falcons would have owed nothing. Instead, the Raiders paid Cousins $1.3 million this year, with a $10 million full guarantee in 2027.
As mentioned on Thursday, it seems too easy. Too convenient. Too obvious that the Raiders came up with a way to get Cousins to $20 million while paying only $11.3 million of it.
Albert Breer of SI has wondered aloud whether the league will attempt to close that loophole. Frankly, it’s amazing the loophole even exists.
It’s something other teams could have been doing, whenever a player has guaranteed money from another team. Pay him the minimum now, and promise more later.
Legitimate or not under current rules, it seems as if the Raiders have pulled a fast one. Which should — as Michael Holley said on Friday’s PFT Live — dry any lingering crocodile tears regarding the Ravens’ decision not to proceed with the Maxx Crosby trade.
The rules are the rules. The rules allowed the Ravens to back out of the Crosby deal, at any time and for any reason before the trade became official. The rules apparently allowed the Raiders to find a way to pay Cousins more than the $10 million he was guaranteed to receive from the Falcons this year by putting the Falcons on the hook for $8.7 million.
All’s fair in love, war, and football. And every NFL team needs to know the rules. To understand how to use them to their advantage. And, more importantly, to have a plan for keeping those rules from being used against them.
New Giants head coach John Harbaugh was eager to sign tight end Isaiah Likely after coaching him the last four years on the Ravens. Not so much because of what Likely has done, but because of what Harbaugh believes Likely will do.
Harbaugh acknowledged that Likely’s stats in Baltimore — he never had 500 receiving yards in a season — weren’t overwhelming. But he said on the Giants, Likely will have a bigger role and better production.
“I’m certain he’s going to be able to put up the numbers, the stats,” Harbaugh said. “That wasn’t the thing in Baltimore because of the supporting cast.”
Harbaugh said he’s very aware of everything Likely is capable of.
“I’ve seen him every day in practice,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve seen him make plays. I know how he plays the game. So, you try to kind of create a vision for a player. What do you think they’re capable of doing? And one thing that we always have tried to do is see what players can do. Not so much concerned about what they don’t do, what they haven’t done, what they can’t do. What can they do? And when you see a player do it every day, you got a pretty good idea what he’s capable of.”
Harbaugh said Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart will benefit from Likely making plays in the offense.
“He’s a playmaking football player,” Harbaugh said of Likely. “He’s going to make plays for us. I think Jaxson’s going to really like him running the routes and being in his line of vision. He’s got a big catch radius. He can he can make plays, after he makes the catch he can get up field. He can make people miss. He can run people over. He’s a very good perimeter blocker. You’ll see that. That’ll be good for our run game. So, all those things he brings to the table.”
Harbaugh thinks Likely will bring even more to the table in New York than he did in Baltimore.
The NFL announced earlier this year that the Cowboys would host a game in Brazil. The details were to be released at a later date.
Giana Han of The Baltimore Banner reports that the Ravens will be the Cowboys’ opponent in Week 3 in Rio de Janeiro.
It will be the first NFL game played in Rio and the first of at least three games to be held at Maracaña Stadium over the next five seasons.
The NFL played games in São Paulo the past two seasons, with the Packers and Eagles meeting in 2024 and the Chiefs and Chargers matching up in 2025.
The NFL will have a record nine international games across seven countries in 2026.
Longtime Ravens radio announcer Gerry Sandusky has retired.
Sandusky has been the Ravens’ play-by-play voice since 2006. He announced today that he is leaving both his job with the Ravens and his job as sports director at WBAL.
“This isn’t a decision I made lightly,” Sandusky said. “I have loved sharing the stories that shape Baltimore sports with viewers, and I have loved every minute of sharing Ravens games with listeners. But the time has come for me to pass those batons and pour more of my attention on my family. I want to thank every viewer and every listener who shared this journey with me. It’s been an honor. And yes, for my broadcasting career, ‘The hay is in the barn.’ And it feels right.”
The Ravens recognized Sandusky’s efforts today.
“As the ‘Voice of the Ravens,’ Gerry brought a distinct flavor and aptitude that captured every emotion of Baltimore football,” Ravens President Sashi Brown said. “While Gerry’s in-game knowledge was second to none, it was his exceptional talent to ‘illustrate with words’ that truly sparked a long-lasting connection amongst our fans. From thrilling championship victories to agonizing defeats, Gerry witnessed it all — consistently doing so with a style marked by professionalism, passion and Maryland pride.”
Sandusky is not related to the former Penn State assistant coach and convicted child sexual abuser Jerry Sandusky. As the Penn State scandal unfolded, Gerry Sandusky frequently received abuse online for people who mistook him for Jerry Sandusky. Gerry Sandusky said he wouldn’t change his name and was proud to have the name given to him by his parents. Gerry’s father John Sandusky had a six-year NFL career as a player and later had a long career as a coach, including becoming head coach of the Baltimore Colts.
Free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Giants head coach John Harbaugh sat down together at this week’s league meeting in Arizona.
No deal is imminent but the Giants do have interest in brining Beckham back, according to ESPN.
Harbaugh, who coached Beckham in 2023 on the Ravens, said at the league meeting that he and Beckham have remained in touch, and that he considers Beckham one of his favorite people in the world.
Beckham didn’t play at all last season, and Giants General Manager Joe Schoen said the Giants would need to work him out before they’d sign him.
“Somebody that hasn’t played, in this instance you’re talking about Odell hasn’t played in a year, you’d certainly want to see him work out,” Schoen said.
Beckham hasn’t gained even 600 receiving yards in a season since 2019, so he’s long past the days when he was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. But that’s what he was on the Giants, and the Giants sound open to at least giving him a chance to come in for a workout and show he can still play.
