When Florida attorney general James Uthmeier posted his latest letter to the NFL regarding his ongoing assault against the league’s diversity policies, he didn’t include the league’s response to his initial letter. To have a full understanding of the situation, it would be helpful to have both.
And so we’ve obtained and reviewed the May 1 letter from NFL general counsel Ted Ullyot to Uthmeier.
The four-page letter explains the league’s position regarding the manner in which its diversity policies comply with Florida law and federal law. The letter also clarifies some of the information contained in Uthmeier’s initial letter.
“Simply put, the NFL does not permit the consideration of race, sex, or any other legally protected characteristic in any hiring decisions or employment actions,” Ullyot writes in the opening paragraph of the letter.
“Diversity of the candidate pool, both on the field and off, is also a critical part of the NFL’s success, and ‘it is the policy of the NFL and all member clubs to hire from a broad, diverse, and growing pool of high caliber talent, and to support equal opportunity and fair hiring practices throughout the League,’” Ullyot says. “The League defines ‘diversity’ expansively to include the ‘broad ranges of human difference among us.’”
As to the Rooney Rule, Ullyot explains that it does not “compel any hiring or discharge decision, or direct that anyone be ‘discriminated against.’ It operates solely in the interview process, such that clubs consider a broad set of candidates before making a hiring decision. It does not prevent a club from interviewing any candidate.” (Emphasis in original.)
Ullyot’s letter also emphasizes that various other NFL diversity policies do not mandate hiring decisions.
As to the recent revisions to the NFL’s website regarding the Rooney Rule, footnote 11 at page 3 explains that Uthmeier’s letter “has brought to our attention some outdated information.” The footnote states that the “information is in the process of being updated to accurately reflect the NFL’s current programs and policies.”
Uthmeier obviously wasn’t persuaded by Ullyot’s letter, given the response Uthmeier sent to the NFL on May 13 — and in light of the subpoena Uthmeier has served on the NFL. Regardless, the battle lines have been drawn; the NFL believes its policies require a broad search, and that the policies do not infringe on the ability of the individual teams to hire whomever they choose. Uthmeier believes otherwise.
Jaguars Clips
All of the international matchups for the 2026 NFL season were announced on Wednesday morning.
We already knew the first two games on the schedule. The 49ers and Rams will meet in the NFL’s first-ever game in Melbourne, Australia in Week 1 while the Ravens and Cowboys will head to Brazil to play a game in Rio in Week 3.
There will be three straight weeks of games in London kicking off the next week. The Colts will face the Commanders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Week 4 and the Eagles and Jaguars will square off in the same place the next week. The Jaguars will stay in London to take on the Texans at Wembley Stadium in Week 6.
From there, it will be on to Paris for the first time in league history. The Steelers will battle the Saints at Stade de France in Week 7.
The Bengals-Falcons matchup in Madrid in Week 9 was announced earlier this week and it will be followed by a Patriots-Lions clash at Allianz Arena in Munich the next weekend. The NFL’s return to Mexico City will come in Week 11 when the Vikings and the 49ers square off on Sunday Night Football.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has talked about his desire to see the league play international games each week and the NFL is moving closer to that goal in 2026.
Jacksonville has added a veteran running back.
The Jaguars announced on Monday that they’ve signed Ameer Abdullah.
Abdullah, who turns 33 in June, spent last season with the Colts, mainly playing special teams. However, he did have 60 yards rushing with one touchdown, along with 16 catches for 99 yards.
Abdullah spent the previous three seasons with the Raiders, tallying 311 rushing yards with two TDs plus 40 catches for 261 yards with three touchdowns in 2024.
A Lions second-round pick in 2015, Abdullah has appeared in 154 games with 26 starts for Detroit, Minnesota, Carolina, Las Vegas, and Indianapolis.
Additionally, the Jags announced they’ve re-signed offensive lineman Sal Wormley, placed offensive lineman Jordan White on the reserve/retired list, and waived running back Ja’Quinden Jackson.
The NFL will announce the full 2026 schedule on Thursday, May 14, but the league’s international slate of games will be revealed earlier than the domestic ones.
The matchups for this year’s international games will be announced on NFL Network at 9 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday.
Nine international games are on the docket this year, but the matchups for two of them have already been announced. The 49ers and Rams will meet up in Melbourne in Week 1 and the Cowboys will face the Ravens in Rio in Week 3.
One team in each of the other seven games is already known. The Jaguars will play in London twice and the Commanders will be involved in the city’s third game. The 49ers will be in Mexico City, the Falcons will be in Madrid, the Lions will be in Munich and the Saints will take part in the NFL’s first game in Paris.
The Jaguars signed most of their 2026 draft picks on Thursday.
The team announced that they have signed nine of the 10 picks they made in Pittsburgh last month. Second-round tight end Nate Boerkircher is the only unsigned pick.
Jacksonville has signed third-round defensive tackle Albert Regis, third-round guard Emmanuel Pregnon, third-round safety Jalen Huskey, fourth-round defensive end Wesley Williams, fifth-round tight end Tanner Koziol, sixth-round wide receiver Josh Cameron, sixth-round wide receiver CJ Williams, seventh-round defensive end Zach Durfee, and seventh-round linebacker Parker Hughes.
All of the signings come with the Jaguars set to start their rookie minicamp and all the rookies will get their first taste of NFL life over the next few days.
The Jaguars have cleared a roster spot ahead of this weekend’s rookie minicamp.
They announced that they have waived offensive lineman Sal Wormley on Thursday. Wormley signed with the team after going undrafted out of Penn State in 2025 and spent last season on the practice squad without appearing in any games.
Guard Emmanuel Pregnon joined the Jaguars as a third-round pick and they have agreed to terms with three offensive linemen as undrafted free agents.
Jacksonville drafted nine players and agreed to terms with 15 more undrafted free agents, so there could be other roster shuffling to come as the Jaguars shape their roster for the remainder of the offseason.
Will he or won’t he?
Conflicting reports emerged this offseason about whether Travis Hunter will play on both sides of the ball this season. Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone put the talk of Hunter focusing on defense to rest.
Hunter will continue to see action at wide receiver and cornerback this season.
“He is set to play both sides of the ball,” Gladstone said on The Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday. “The piece that I think we can expect to see is actually an uptick in corner usage. Last year it was a higher volume, higher percentage of wide receiver usage than it was corner. I think we can expect to see that corner percentile and count go up. That’s not to say anything impacts his availability and usage on offense. It just means that cornerback usage will increase.”
Hunter played 324 offensive snaps and 162 defensive snaps in seven appearances as a rookie before his season-ending knee injury. He had 28 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown on offense to go with 15 tackles on defense.
The Jaguars have a bigger need at cornerback this season.
“It’s not to say [his snaps] won’t increase on offense either, but it was lower on the defensive side this past season,” Gladstone said. “We also have a different defensive cornerback room and the bodies are different than it was a year ago. Our roster construction is different than it was a year ago, so it’s more fitting to slot him at corner than it was last year.”
Hunter has made clear he wants to play both ways and plans to play both ways. He played 688 defensive snaps and 672 on offense in his Heisman Trophy-winning season at Colorado in 2024.
“He wants to play both ways,” Gladstone said. “He wants to do exactly what he set out to do when he first started putting that into action all those years ago. That’s his dream, and we’ll support that in the best way we can and do what we feel like is in the best interest of winning football games. That’s putting him in position to do what he does best and that’s with the ball in his hands and in defending some of the best receivers.”
Recently, former NFL defensive end and former ESPN and Fox Sports on-air personality Marcellus Wiley was accused of sexual assault by four individuals. The claims, which were addressed in an item on Awful Announcing, were first reported by Rolling Stone on April 29.
On Tuesday morning, Wiley responded publicly to the new accusations on his YouTube show.
“Pick a date, pick the encounter, pick the allegation,” Wiley said. “For every one of them, I either saw, communicated — through email, text, phone — was invited by these individuals after these dates to engage, to be intimate, or all the above. After the dates that are in question, OK? So this matters. Why does it matter? . . . Because it directly contradicts the narrative that they’re trying to present publicly.”
He posed a simple question to the accusers. “Why did you continue to see or maintain friendly communication at minimum that can be verified — will be verified — with someone that you’re accusing after the alleged incidents?”
Wiley compared his situation to the Stefon Diggs criminal trial, which at the time had not yet ended. (On Tuesday, Diggs was acquitted of strangulation and assault charges.)
Unlike Diggs, Wiley faces accusations from multiple persons. Unlike Diggs, Wiley has not faced criminal charges.
Wiley has vowed to defend his name, especially since his son carries that same name.
“To you, it’s about money,” Wiley said. “To me, it’s about my son’s name that he will one day Google and think that this is about him, but he’s gonna know it’s about his dad. And how dare you stain the brain of my child and his hero.”
Wiley did not address any of the details in the allegations. And that’s smart. Anything he says can be used against him in court by the persons who have made the accusations.
On Tuesday night, Wiley posted on Twitter court documents showing that three prior allegations have been dismissed.
Columbia University also has been named in the new lawsuit, which seeks certification of a class action against Wiley and Columbia. Via Rolling Stone, a hearing regarding potential certification of a class action will be held on May 12.
Wiley will have the right to fully and aggressively defend himself against the allegations. And, again, he has faced no criminal charges at any time in connection with any of the claims.
Where the litigation goes from here remains to be seen. Wiley’s initial response makes it clear that he intends to aggressively fight all of the allegations.
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He worked for ESPN through 2018, and he then worked at Fox Sports until 2022.
Former NFL defensive end and Fox Sports and ESPN on-air personality Marcellus Wiley is facing four claims of sexual assault, according to Drew Lerner of Awful Announcing.
The allegations appear in court filings made last month. Per the report, the four new claimants are in addition to three existing claims of sexual assault against Wiley. He previously dubbed the prior claims “B.S.,” and his lawyer formally denied the allegations in court papers.
As explained by Lerner, one of the new claims was made by an ESPN production assistant who claims that Wiley assaulted her in his hotel room. Another claim, per the report, was made by a woman who contends that Wiley raped her on her 18th birthday, after allegedly “grooming” her since she was 13.
Wiley left Fox Sports in 2022. He has produced podcast content independently since then.
A second-round pick out of Columbia in 1997, Wiley spent four years with the Bills, three with the Chargers, one with the Cowboys, and two with the Jaguars. He was a Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro in 2001.
UPDATE 5/6/2026 10:00 a.m. ET: On Tuesday, Wiley strongly denied the new allegations. He also posted documents on Twitter showing that three prior claims were dismissed.
Deuce Jones-Drew will be following in his father’s footsteps. In more ways than one.
Deuce, like Maurice was, is a running back. Deuce, like Maurice did, plans to attend UCLA.
Via Eli Lederman of ESPN, Deuce Jones-Drew has committed to enter UCLA as part of the class of 2027. He picked the Bruins over Arizona and Cal, after narrowing his list of potential schools from seven.
Deuce plays at De La Salle High School in California. Currently, he’s 5-8 and 175 pounds. While height doesn’t matter (he’s already an inch taller than his dad), Deuce will need to add some bulk to his frame in the coming months.
A three-star prospect, Deuce Jones-Drew was recruited to UCLA by first-year head coach Bob Chesney and running backs coach A.J. Steward, who remains from Deshaun Foster’s coaching staff.
Maurice played at UCLA from 2003 to 2005. He became a unanimous All-American. A second-round pick of the Jaguars in 2006, Maurice had three 1,000-yard rushing seasons in the NFL. He led the NFL in rushing in 2011, with 1,606 yards.
Maurice Jones-Drew was a three-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in 2011. He finished second in the voting for offensive rookie of the year in 2006 to Titans quarterback Vince Young.
After eight seasons in Jacksonville, Maurice Jones-Drew capped his NFL career with a season in Oakland. He gained 8,167 rushing yards in a nine-year career.
