Jaguars Clips
On one hand, the NFL has tried to keep the Brian Flores lawsuit from getting to the merits of the claims because it’s the first page from the standard big-company-that-has-been-sued playbook. On the other hand, delaying the Flores case delays the best available path to a long-overdue reckoning.
ESPN, which is now partially owned by the NFL, has posted an article regarding the Rooney Rule. The headline declares that coaches believe the process is “rigged” against them. (It’s refreshing that ESPN has pursued an issue that the league would prefer be ignored; we’ll see whether and to what extent ESPN promotes the article through its endless car wash of shows.)
The starting point, and centerpiece, of the ESPN story is the runaround former Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham experienced after he had served as the league-mandated second minority interview for the Jaguars head-coaching job that went to Liam Coen in early 2025.
It was perceived to be yet another box-checking sham interview, aimed at allowing a team to comply with the Rooney Rule before hiring their preferred candidate.
Here’s the key paragraph from the ESPN article: “More than a dozen minority coaches declined to comment for this story, citing concerns that speaking candidly would jeopardize future opportunities. Among the 13 Black coaches who did speak -- some on the record but most anonymously -- the issue is clear: Even with hiring rules in place, they feel they cannot overcome ownership bias or the long-established relationships that shape hiring.”
Even Graham, who talked about his Jacksonville experience on the record to ESPN last year, declined to comment this time around.
Meanwhile, the NFL faces political pressure to abandon “DEI” efforts, now that the acronym has been morphed into a slur in sheep’s clothing. In Florida, attorney general James Uthmeier has been attacking the NFL over inclusion efforts. Nationally, the political winds continue to blow against the notion of placing diversity above merit. (As Jon Stewart observed earlier this week, “Meritocracy. It is a beautiful word. Where the fuck is it?”)
Back to Flores. Along with Ray Horton and Steve Wilks, Flores has fended off the NFL’s multi-year effort to vacuum their claims into the NFL’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration. Now, after more than four years, it’s time to get down to talking to witnesses, gathering documents, and proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the NFL and many if not most of its teams make key hiring decisions with race being, consciously or not, a motivating factor.
It could get messy, but civil litigation is often uncivil. Owners and Commissioner Roger Goodell will be grilled under oath during pre-trial depositions. Some or all of the 25 minority coaches who won’t speak to ESPN reporters will receive a subpoena to testify under oath, which will not only protect them from retaliation but compel them to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The Flores case becomes the only way to allow the facts to be developed, presented, and evaluated. A jury will determine, based on all of the evidence, whether Flores and his colleagues have shown that the NFL’s teams have a longstanding racial bias when it comes to hiring head coaches, offensive coordinators, and General Managers.
Many will say (because they always do) that businesses can hire whomever they choose. That opinion is grossly misinformed; federal law and the laws of many states prevent certain factors from being considered when hiring (and firing) decisions are made.
Real change can be effected in American society in one of three ways: the passage of legislation, the implementation of regulations, or the verdicts rendered through litigation.
That’s why large companies hate lawsuits. They can’t control a process that could force them to change their ways by attaching a massive financial consequence for their past failures to do so.
At some point, the NFL may realize that, win or lose, a public trial in open court will have significant negative consequences. The league and its teams could be tempted to make Flores and company a settlement offer they can’t refuse.
That’s the key. Will the league make an offer so large that the individuals won’t be able to reject it? Will they reject it anyway, realizing that taking their claims all the way to a verdict may be the only way to get the NFL and its teams to finally change their ways?
Veteran cornerback Levi Wallace did not play in the NFL after landing on Jacksonville’s injured reserve list last summer and he won’t be coming back to the field in 2026.
Wallace announced his retirement on Instagram on Friday. Wallace noted that he was undrafted in 2018 and went on to spend eight years in the league, which he termed a “not bad” run in the league.
Wallace signed with the Bills after playing at Alabama and started all 57 regular season and playoff games he played in four seasons with Buffalo. He spent the next two seasons with the Steelers and saw his final game action with the Broncos in 2024.
Wallace had 333 tackles, 12 interceptions, 30 passes defensed and a fumble recovery in 96 career regular season games. He also had 23 tackles, an interception and a sack in six postseason outings.
Marcellus Wiley, as they say, is having a moment. And not the good kind.
The former NFL defensive end and ESPN/Fox personality was arrested over the weekend for domestic battery. On Monday, his wife made very strong allegations against him in divorce paperwork and in a request for a restraining order.
Wiley has posted on social media clear, loud denials as to the alleged battery, and as to the claims made by his wife in court filings.
Wiley has yet to deny this one: TMZ reported on Wednesday that Preferred Bank sued Wiley in December 2025 for failing to satisfy a $500,000 loan.
Per TMZ, Wiley and his company, Dat Dude Entertainment, borrowed the money in May 2023, promising to pay it back after one year. The bank, per TMZ, claims it didn’t receive the money or the associated interest. Wiley allegedly received multiple extensions until December 2025, when the bank then filed suit.
As of this posting, Wiley has not addressed the TMZ report.
Wiley spent 10 years in the NFL, playing for the Chargers, Bills, Cowboys, and Jaguars.
Coach Liam Coen said last month the Jaguars were unsure when Travis Hunter would be full go. The Jaguars apparently now know.
Cameron Wolfe of NFL Media reports that the wide receiver/cornerback is expected to be fully cleared for the start of training camp on July 28.
Hunter tore the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee during an Oct. 30 practice. He underwent surgery Nov. 11 in Dallas, with Cowboys team physician, Dr. Dan Cooper, and Jaguars team physician, Dr. Kevin Kaplan, performing the procedure.
Hunter is now running over 20 mph, which is faster than the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner has ever run, per Wolfe.
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.
He is expected to play even more on defense this season as the Jaguars have a need at cornerback.
Travis Hunter’s rookie season came to an early end due to a knee injury, but one of the 2025 first-round pick’s veteran teammates saw enough to know he believes the wide receiver/cornerback brings something special to the table.
Defensive lineman Arik Armstead has spent more than a decade in the NFL and he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he thinks Hunter stands alone when it comes to what he’s capable of doing on the field.
“He’s a game changer,” Armstead said. “He’s probably the most naturally talented athlete, just pure athlete I’ve been around, and I’ve been around some amazing ones. It was good for our sport, and it was good for our team.”
That ability led the Jaguars to trade up for Hunter and there were flashes of it on both sides of the ball, but Hunter was still finding his footing at the time of his injury. Armstead thought Hunter was “starting to hit his stride” when his season ended and he believes having a year under his belt will lead to more production this fall.
“Things will slow for him, just like they do for all of us,” Armstead said. “He’ll be going into his second year being in the same system, around the same coaches, and knowing what is asked of him. We know how challenging that can be as a rookie just mastering one side of the ball, so I think in Year 2 he’s going to take a huge step and help our team in a lot of different ways.”
The Jaguars haven’t outlined exactly how Hunter will be deployed in 2026 and he’ll need to be fully cleared for practice before that plan really starts to take shape, but Armstead will be among those expecting big things once it does.
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.
In the wake of Saturday’s arrest of former NFL defensive end Marcellus Wiley, his wife has pursued two separate legal avenues.
Via TMZ, Annemarie Wiley (who appeared on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) has filed for divorce, and she has submitted a request for a restraining order that would require Wiley to remain at least 100 yards away from her.
She claims that she has been subjected to a “continuing and escalating pattern of physical violence, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, financial control and intimidation.”
While she makes the general claim that, “[b]ecause of the trauma associated with many of these events, there are gaps in my memory, as I have blocked out much of what Marcellus has done to me,” specific allegations include (per TMZ) that he punched her in the face in 2014, threw a Coke bottle at her head in 2012 when she was nine months pregnant, and allegedly raped her while she was intoxicated in 2012.
More recently, he allegedly struck her in the face with his shoes in 2025. She also contends that, in January 2026, he dragged her out of bed, berated her and hit her on the head, and “then raped me, telling me that I was his property and that I had to do what he said.” She claims he raped her again that same day, and that he raped her another time two days later.
She seeks custody of their three children and exclusive use of their home in Los Angeles.
On Monday, Marcellus Wiley issued a broad denial of “these allegations” without mentioning any specific claim.
Wiley played 10 years in the NFL for the Chargers, Bills Cowboys, and Jaguars. After retiring, he worked for ESPN and Fox.
Former NFL defensive end and ESPN/Fox employee Marcellus Wiley has addressed the allegation of domestic battery that resulted in his arrest on July 4.
Wiley posted a statement on Twitter denying the accusation.
“I completely and unequivocally deny these allegations, and I’m certain the truth will prevail,” Wiley said. “As you know, I’m usually the first to break down the truth and separate facts from fiction. But because this is now a legal matter — and because my greatest responsibility is protecting my babies, who have already been impacted — I have to handle this differently. When I can speak freely, I absolutely will. Until then, thank you for your patience, your prayers, and for continuing to stand with me.”
Wiley’s wife claims that, on July 3, he “used one finger to sternly and intentionally poke her in the cheek.” She also claimed he threatened to kill her.
Wiley denied the allegation when interviewed by deputies. He was released from custody on $1,000 cash bond on Sunday night.
A second-round pick of the Bills in 1997, Wiley spent a decade in the NFL. He played for the Bills, Chargers, Cowboys, and Jaguars.
On Sunday morning, TMZ reported that former NFL defensive end and ESPN and Fox employee Marcellus Wiley was arrested on July 4 for alleged domestic battery.
Per the Public Information Office of the Orange County (Florida) Corrections Department, Wiley was released from custody at 8:43 p.m. ET on Sunday, after posting a cash bond of $1,000.
PFT has obtained the Arrest Affidavit, which reveals that deputies responded to the World Marriott in Orlando on July 4 at 4:47 p.m. ET.
The alleged victim is Wiley’s wife. She asked deputies to “remove her husband from their shared hotel room due to her being afraid of him.” She said that Wiley “told [her] he was going to kill her and [she] was afraid of his behavior.”
Asked to elaborate, she said “on the previous morning Marcellus had put his hands on her,” by using “one finger to sternly and intentionally poke her in the cheek,” and that their seven-year-old daughter witnessed the incident. (Their daughter told deputies she did not see Marcellus touch her mother but did hear them arguing.)
The deputy who prepared the affidavit noticed no “visible injuries” and Wiley’s wife did not request medical attention.
Wiley’s wife said that Wiley “had an unreported history of violence toward her and she was planning to divorce him when they returned home to California.”
When interviewed by deputies, Wiley denied any physical altercation with his wife. He said he believes she made the report “due to her intention to divorce him.”
The deputies concluded that Wiley “did intentionally touch [his wife] against her will,” and that probable cause exists to charge [Wiley] with battery (domestic violence).”
The law regarding criminal battery is very broad. Florida law, like the law of many states, provides that "[t]he offense of battery occurs when a person . . . [a]ctually and intentionally touches or strikes another person against the will of the other.”
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.
The Jaguars don’t have a lot of salary cap space heading into the 2026 season, and veteran defensive lineman has a $14 million base salary, none of which is guaranteed. That led to plenty of speculation that Armstead would get cut.
But it didn’t happen. Armstead was on the practice field for the Jaguars’ June minicamp, but he told Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union that he was well aware that plenty of people thought he’d be gone from Jacksonville by now.
“That’s the nature of the business,” Armstead said. “It’s impossible to ignore the chatter. Everyone has social media and there is no ignoring anything and even if you’re not on social media, somebody will tell you about it or ask you about it.”
Arsmstead was playing through a hand injury that affected him late last season, but he still turned in a good year, and the Jaguars believe he’s going to be a big part of their defense in 2026. Armstead says he’s ready.
“My focus is being my best self and the best player I can be. That’s all I can control,” Armstead said.
The part Armstead couldn’t control — whether the Jaguars would cut him — worked itself out.
