Cleveland Browns

The NFL has opened the floodgates for private-equity funds to acquire minority interests in its franchise. One firm, which currently has a piece of two teams, is poised to add a third.

Via Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, owners are expected to vote today on the proposed sale of three percent of the Cleveland Browns to Arctos.

Arctos is one of the firms with advance approval to invest in teams. Already, Arctos owns a piece of the Chargers (eight percent) and Bills (10 percent).

It’s an odd dynamic, to say the least, for the same group to have an ownership stake in multiple competing businesses. Ultimately, however, they only compete on the field. When it comes to the relentless pursuit of cash, they’re all in it together.

The valuation isn’t currently known. To use a round number, a three-percent chunk at a $10 billion valuation would result in a $300 million payment.

The sale provides the Browns with a nice infusion of cash at a time when they’re getting ready to build a new stadium. The private contribution for the facility exceeds $1.755 billion.

The next phase of the Browns’ offseason begins today with Organized Team Activities, and the team’s best player isn’t expected to be there.

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, isn’t expected to participate in OTAs, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

Garrett didn’t participate in OTAs last year, either, when he set a new NFL official record for sacks, with 23 in the regular season. Garrett has proven he can play at an elite level in the regular season without working with the team during the offseason.

Garrett also skipped the Browns’ minicamp last month, costing himself $1 million, a workout bonus he negotiated for when he signed a new contract with the Browns last year. It’s unclear whether Garrett will attend the Browns’ mandatory minicamp next month. He’ll be fined if he doesn’t, but he showed by foregoing that $1 million payment that he doesn’t much care about losing money for staying home in the offseason.

When Garrett skipped last month’s work, new Browns head coach Todd Monken said he hadn’t spoken to Garrett and had only heard from him via text.

“It’s fine. This is voluntary,” Monken said. “We have other guys besides Myles that aren’t here. I wish they were here. They’ll be ready. We expect them to be ready, and we’ll be fired up when they’re here. And really all the players have informed us. They’ve been unbelievable with their communication. So, has Myles. They’ve communicated. Doesn’t mean I like the communication, but it’s voluntary. I wish they were all here. I’ve said that plenty of times. But every one of them is a Brown, and we’re excited that they are.”

Monken may have to wait a while to speak to his best player.

Browns rookie receiver KC Concepcion sported No. 17 when he was at his introductory press conference and during rookie minicamp.

But that’s not the number he’s going to wear going forward.

Cleveland announced on Monday that the first-round pick has switched to No. 1.

Conception was the No. 24 overall pick of this year’s draft, and was one of two consecutive receivers selected by the club.

The first hint of Concepcion’s number change came over the weekend at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere, where he sported No. 1 in the picture that featured the attendees.

Concepcion will be a key part of Cleveland’s offense, which is set to be completely revamped under new head coach Todd Monken in 2026.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders, in his recent appearance on The Barbershop with Garrett Bush, made it clear that he has a strong affinity for the Browns. Beyond the gratitude he feels for the fact that Cleveland ultimately drafted Deion’s son, Shedeur, Deion thinks the Browns are putting together a team that can win, soon.

“Look at that rookie class last season,” Deion said. “The rookie class this season, who I know they haven’t played, they haven’t put it on grass. But they’re building something that is tremendous, and they’re not too far away. Of course, they need stability at the quarterback position. Of course, they need stability on the offensive line. Everything else, to me, they got it. They got it.”

They also have the reigning NFL defensive player of the year, an all-time talent in defensive end Myles Garrett. Deion gushed about what the Browns have in Garrett, and Deion strongly believes they shouldn’t trade him.

“They got a killer on defense, I’m tired of y’all talking about trading him and getting rid of him,” Deion said. “That don’t make no sense to me. That’s a once in a lifetime man. That’s a once in a lifetime man that you don’t see no more. I don’t get rid of that. Unless I could get your mama, daddy, your uncle, cousins, and everybody in a trade for that. Because that’s a grown man. That’s a winner. That’s a winner.”

The practical question is whether the Browns will become a winner while Garrett remains in prime position to be a difference maker, or whether they should consider maximizing the return in an effort to get a massive haul of draft picks that could form a strong nucleus of young talent — especially given the many key draft picks the Browns lost in the Deshaun Watson trade.

For now, it’s Deshaun vs. Shedeur as to the question of bringing “stability at the quarterback position.” Deion surely believes that stability comes from Shedeur. That could be one of the reasons why he wants to meet with new coach Todd Monken — to talk to him, football coach to football coach, about the way to get the most out of Shedeur and, in turn, the Browns.

When Eli Manning refused to play for the Chargers after they drafted him first overall in 2004, it was widely believed that his father, former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, was behind the decision. Eli says that isn’t true.

Eli Manning appeared on Bussin’ With The Boys and said that while he and agent Tom Condon were on the same page that San Diego was the wrong place for him, his parents actually didn’t agree.

“My parents really weren’t supportive. My dad didn’t like the idea,” Manning said. “Now, he came to my defense and like supported me after everything was going down, but . . . he didn’t like that. And afterwards he took the brunt of a lot of the criticism because he came to my defense and people were saying, ‘Oh, you played in New Orleans all those years you didn’t win, so you’re trying to dictate like where your son’s going.’ And and he just bit his tongue and said, ‘Hey, this is what Eli wants to do and I support him’ and he did some media to try to save me from doing all the media and taking the hits.”

Manning said he respected then-Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer but could tell there was friction between Schottenheimer, the front office, and ownership, and didn’t think the Chargers were heading in the right direction.

“San Diego had the first pick, I didn’t really want to go there,” Manning said. “I just didn’t feel like they were the most committed team to winning at the time,”

When the possibility of a trade came up, Condon told Manning the Chargers were going to trade him to the Browns, and he didn’t want to go there, either. Fortunately for Manning, ultimately the Giants and Chargers made a deal, and Manning won two Super Bowl MVPs in New York.

In a revealing and wide-ranging interview with Garrett Bush’s The Barbershop, Colorado coach Deion Sanders opened up about the struggles his son, Shedeur, endured before and during the 2025 draft, when he fell all the way to the fifth round.

The outcome hurt Deion significantly because, as he explained to Bush, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“That was the first time in my life that I couldn’t fix it,” Deion said. “I’ve always been able to fix it, with all my kids. But as that bulljunk was going on and everything was — I couldn’t fix it. And he wanted me to fix it. And I didn’t have the power to fix it. And that hurt, because I felt like I wasn’t there for my son. Why we didn’t have an agent? Well, you’re projected to go what, first or second, right? . . . I’ve been through this. So why do you need that? You know, it don’t make sense to give somebody four or five percent — three percent, whatever they get now — and you know where you’re slotted.”

Not having an agent arguably contributed to the free fall, because there was no one to relentlessly push back when the “bulljunk” started to fly.

“It was some ignorant things came out about [Shedeur] pre-draft and all that, and that was a lie,” Deion said. “Like he would never go into a meeting with headphones on. He would never go into a meeting unprepared. Like, that’s just not who he is. There’s no way he could accomplish the things he accomplished without being prepared. . . . So all that stuff was a lie, man. Now that bothers me. It didn’t bother him, but that bothered me. Because I knew where it came from. But we never, you know — we took the high road. I never said where it came from. I know. I’m connected like that with a lot of people. I was that before I was a coach. So we knew what time it was. So when people were talking in the Cleveland media and saying this and saying that, we just sit back and laugh, man.”

It’s unclear whether an agent could have changed things, frankly. One problem was the perception (fueled by comments Deion had made) that Deion would be eyeing the head-coaching job of the team that drafts Shedeur. What coach in his right mind would have signed off on drafting Shedeur early in the process, if it also meant potentially signing his own eventual pink slip?

Here’s what Deion said, in January 2025: “The only way I would consider [coaching in the NFL] is to coach my sons.”

During the podcast interview, Deion said this to Bush: “I never wanted their job. I love Colorado, man. I love my kids that I have in that locker room. I love the staff. I love all of it. I ain’t trying to coach in no NFL. And I think a couple people may have thought that. And they thought if they brought him in, it would be that.”

Yes, because in January 2025, Deion opened that door, whether he meant to or not.

The reasoning that Shedeur didn’t need an agent because he was supposedly going first or second in the draft doesn’t explain his brother’s decision to not have an agent. Shilo wasn’t considered to be a high-round prospect. He could have used a skilled agent to help boost his stock throughout the pre-draft process. (After he wasn’t drafted, Shilo quickly hired an agent — and he promptly landed an opportunity to make the 53-man roster in Tampa Bay.)

As to Shedeur, either the perception that he’d be a top pick was incorrect or he initially was regarded in the upper echelon of the draft pool and he fell. If it’s the former, a good agent would have better set the family’s expectations. If it’s the latter, a good agent would have given advice aimed at preventing a nosedive.

Deion said, “I’ve been through this.” But his talent was undeniable, and generational. He didn’t have to play the pre-draft game. He was still going to be a top-five pick. Shedeur needed to submit to the process, fully and completely. As one source told PFT after the 2025 draft ended, there was a perception that Shedeur conducted himself as if he was being “recruited,” not “interviewed.” Given the importance of the quarterback position generally and the fact that Shedeur wasn’t a no-brainer, once-in-20-years prospect, Deion’s approach from 1989 wasn’t going to fly in 2025.

Currently, none of that matters. Shedeur had a chance to compete last year. He earned the ability to start seven games. He’ll compete this year with Deshaun Watson for the QB1 position in Cleveland. If Shedeur wins the job, he’ll have the opportunity from Week 1 to blossom as an NFL quarterback.

All players, no matter where they’re drafted, will determine whatever their NFL career is going to be. Agent or no agent, the talent and the performance as demonstrated day-in and day-out will reveal the player’s NFL fate. That’s where things currently stand for Shedeur, as he prepares to show a brand-new head coach that he has the skills and abilities that should have resulted in him being taken at the top of the draft.

Put simply, from this moment on, whatever happens is entirely up to Shedeur Sanders. Not an agent. Not Deion. Not anyone but Shedeur.

In a recent podcast appearance, Colorado coach Deion Sanders covered a wide variety of topics. Including the recent incident involving his son, Shilo, and Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

“We don’t talk about nobody,” Deion Sanders said on The Barbershop with Garrett Bush. “We don’t do nothing to nobody. I know Shilo had a little altercation that he spoke up for his brother. You’ve got to understand, man, that’s his brother. And God bless Mary Kay’s soul, that’s his brother. I mean, she said something, he said something, like media is different today. I know a lot of people don’t respect the old school. I do, because I grew up in that era that we didn’t have a say so. . . . But Shilo spoke up for his brother, and he was ridiculed for that.”

In fairness to the facts, Shilo was ridiculed not because he spoke up but for what he said.

After Cabot expressed her opinion that the Browns should name Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback “ASAP,” Shilo said, “Go make a sandwich Mary.”

Shilo separately suggested that Cabot should report facts and not express opinions.

“If it’s reported, it’s reported,” Shilo said. “You have facts, you have news. But when it comes to your opinion, you’ve been saying crazy things for the past — since he’s been there. So it’s like, just chill with that. Because it don’t make no sense, and it makes you look crazy like you don’t know what you’re talking about. And for all the women that actually take the time to go do their research and actually be real reporters and real journalists, then that’s gonna make them look bad, because you already know as a woman in this field of reporting football and sports, like, it’s hard. So don’t make it hard on everybody, just because you don’t feel like it.”

So, yes, Shilo has every right to defend Shedeur. But if Shilo does it in a way that merits scrutiny, he’s going to experience it.

Deion, in turn, has every right to defend Shilo. And, yes, it’s hard for any father to be objective about his children. That doesn’t mean Deion shouldn’t try to understand why, to use his term, Shilo “was ridiculed.” Shilo said something for which he deserved to be fairly criticized.

Hopefully, Deion made that point to Shilo privately. No father’s blind spot for his children should be so large that the father misses a clear opportunity to explain that there’s a line between defending a family member and attacking someone based on an irrelevant characteristic, such as gender.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders says he’d like to talk to new Browns head coach Todd Monken about quarterback Shedeur Sanders — not because Deion is Shedeur’s dad, but because Deion was Shedeur’s college coach.

Deion Sanders said on Garrett Bush’s podcast that the date of their meeting hasn’t been set, but he plans to travel to Cleveland, sit down with Monken and talk to him about how to get the most out of Shedeur as a player. Deion Sanders said it’s no different than he feels about other players he’s coached, such as Jaguars cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter, whom he thinks he can provide some insight on.

“I was supposed to go, actually next week but I’ve got to shoot a commercial, to Cleveland to meet [Monken],” Sanders said. “Because I want to meet him. Because I think it’s vital that as a coach, not the dad, I can tell him a few things about [Shedeur], how to get him going. That wasn’t asked of me a year ago. I don’t understand it. Even a guy like Travis Hunter being drafted to Jacksonville and I’ve had him for the last three [seasons], don’t you think you would want to talk to me to ask me what gets him going and what backs him off? You would want to know that. So, I anticipate, and I can’t wait to have that conversation with Coach Monken.”

Sanders said he’s been bothered by negative talk about Shedeur coming out of NFL circles since before last year’s draft. But Sanders believes Monken is the kind of coach who will deal honestly and forthrightly with Shedeur.

“I love it, man, because he’s a straight shooter,” Deion said of Monken. “All these little side conversations that was had before him, he ain’t with that.”

We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.

The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.

Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.

Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.

The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.

The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.

Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.

The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.

The Browns have signed second-round safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren to his four-year rookie deal, the team announced.

Cleveland has now signed nine of its 10 draft picks, with only first-round wide receiver KC Concepcion remaining unsigned.

The Browns drafted McNeil-Warren with the 58th overall pick out of Toledo.

He appeared in 53 career games with 14 starts at Toledo in his four collegiate seasons. McNeil-Warren played in all 13 games in 2025, recording 77 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, half a sack and two interceptions, while earning third-team AP All-America honors.

Browns first-round offensive tackle Spencer Fano, second-round wide receiver Denzel Boston, third-round tackle Austin Barber, fifth-round center Parker Brailsford, fifth-round linebacker Justin Jefferson, fifth-round tight end Joe Royer, sixth-round quarterback Taylen Green and seventh-round tight end Carsen Ryan previously signed.