Veteran offensive lineman Brady Christensen says that he is ready to get back on the football field.
Christensen tore his Achilles while playing for the Panthers last October and told Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer that doctors have cleared him for contact. Christensen became a free agent when his contract expired in March and said he’s remained in contact about a return to Carolina, but is open to any spot that provides him with an opportunity to play.
“I think my ideal situation is to go in and compete,” Christensen said. “I don’t care about what position I play; I feel comfortable everywhere now. So the ideal situation is just go and compete and find the field again. Being able to play on Sundays is my goal.”
Christensen saw time at multiple positions along the line in 59 games for the Panthers and his clearance for a full workload should be a plus in his effort to find a team before or during training camp.
The NFL is making a significant change to the offseason calendar for the 2027 season.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the free agent negotiating window will open on March 9 next year. That is the same date that the two-day window opened this year, but the change comes in how close it will be to the end of the Scouting Combine.
NFL teams will wrap up their examinations and interrogations of incoming prospects on March 8 in 2027, which moves the league away from having a week or so between the two events as they have in past years.
Under that setup, the Combine has always been rife with table-setting for free agency as agents and team executives are all in the same place with their minds on the same things. With that gap eliminated, there will likely be even more of that work being done in Indianapolis so that teams are ready to make moves right from the starting gun.
One member of Washington’s front office is departing the organization.
According to multiple reports, Scott Fitterer is leaving the Commanders to join Athletes First, working within the agency’s coaches and executives division.
Fitterer had been a personal executive for the Commanders for the last two seasons.
He was previously the Panthers’ General Manager from 2021-2023, with Carolina accumulating a 14-37 record in his tenure.
Fitterer had been with the Seahawks in a variety of roles from 2001-2020, last serving as the team’s vice president of football operations.
Ron Rivera, who worked for 13 straight seasons as an NFL head coach (and who won the NFL’s coach of the year award twice), will be staying put at his alma mater.
Via Ron Krochick of the San Francisco Chronicle, Rivera has signed a three-year deal to remain the G.M. at Cal.
He was hired in 2025. The contract, which apparently is retroactive to 2025, runs through March 2028.
Rivera will make $800,000 per year, with the ability to double his pay based on the football program’s success. He’ll maximize his compensation with 10 wins.
Rivera’s job includes supervising the head coach, and it includes a buyout of $250,000 if Rivera leaves before the end of the 2026 season. He reports directly to the school’s chancellor.
Rivera coached the Panthers from 2013 through 2019, and the Commanders from 2020 through 2023. He was hired by Cal in 2025.
Earlier this year, Rivera interviewed for the Cardinals’ head coaching job.
A second-round pick in 1984, Rivera was a member of the legendary 1985 Bears defense. After an eight-year playing career, all in Chicago, he entered coaching in 1997.
In 2025, the NFL began outfitting the jerseys of the prior year’s award winners with gold shields. This year, a pair of Rams will be wearing them.
The gold shields go to the reigning NFL MVP, the offensive player of the year, the defensive player of the year, the offensive rookie of the year, and the defensive rookie of the year.
This year, the five awards that will be acknowledged with gold shields were won by Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (MVP), Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njgiba (OPOY), then-Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (DPOY), Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan (OROY), and Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger (DROY).
With Garrett being traded to the Rams, L.A. will have both Stafford and Garrett wearing the gold shields. (If Garrett hadn’t been traded, the 5-12 Browns would have two defensive players wearing gold shield).
The gold shields are hard to notice, since the shield on each jersey is small. The issue landed caught our eye on a slow Sunday because the Seahawks have posted an image of Smith-Njigba in his new jersey.
And, no, Smith-Njigba’s gold shield doesn’t have a typo.
