The World Cup is coming soon. And it’s quickly becoming a pain in the posterior for the 13 teams playing in stadiums that will be commandeered for intercontinental soccer.
Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal recently reviewed some of the practical impacts of FIFA bigfooting the various venues where fútbol will be played. This week, for example, the Jets and Giants will move their annual draft parties away from MetLife Stadium to Manhattan.
In all, 13 teams are impacted by the World Cup: the Cowboys, Jets, Giants, Falcons, Chiefs, Texans, 49ers, Chargers, Rams, Eagles, Seahawks, Patriots, and Dolphins.
For the teams that have employees at the stadiums hosting World Cup games, many will be moved. Those who are staying put will be subject to FIFA credentialing to get into their workplaces. And the Giants will start training camp in West Virginia, since MetLife Stadium will be hosting the final match on July 19 on a grass field that will need to be removed and replaced with one of the worst artificial surfaces in the entire league.
That last part still has to be the most galling for NFL players. Owners with stadiums that don’t have grass have bent over backwards to do whatever had to be done to placate FIFA. Their regular employees, however, will still be stuck with a lesser (and far cheaper) playing surface.
The various sacrifices involuntarily made by the players and other team employees should prompt FIFA to give them all a phony, made-up award. Especially since FIFA has already done that, for far less.
Chargers Clips
Chargers offensive tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt are working their way back from injuries that prematurely ended their season in 2025. General Manager Joe Hortiz offered an encouraging update on Thursday.
“I think they’re ahead of schedule,” Hortiz said, via Eric Smith of the team website. “Both are tracking well, and [I’m] looking forward to seeing them out there.”
The Chargers’ offseason program begins Monday and Hortiz said both could participate, though the team will be deliberate in their return to football activities.
“Yeah, I think they’ll be involved in some capacity,” Hortiz said. “Coming back from injuries, you don’t rush anything, there’s no need to rush it. Let them come back, be healthy, the target is for the start of training camp. But I think they’ll be out there getting some work.”
Alt earned Pro Bowl honors despite playing in only six games due to an ankle injury that ended his second season.
Slater ruptured a patellar tendon in training camp.
“My expectations, where [Slater] is, where he’s been, where he was in the fall, it’s a different recovery time. No rush, but everything indicator is he’s ahead of schedule and doing really well,” Hortiz said. “We’re not going to rush it. We’re going to take our time. There’s a timeline to recover from that. Go through the steps, but he looks great.
“I look out the window, and he’s out there working, moving around. I feel good about it.”
A rash of injuries in the offensive line in 2025 could lead the Chargers to add another offensive tackle in the draft.
“Now, if last year proved anything it’s that you can never have too many tackles, just like the year before proved you can’t have too many corners. You can never have too many of anything,” Hortiz said. “It doesn’t change our approach. If there’s a tackle in the draft that we like and he’s sitting there when we’re picking, and he’s the top guy, we’ll take him.”
The Chargers still are deciding on the fifth-year option for Quentin Johnston, but General Manager Joe Hortiz insists the wide receiver will be part of the team in 2026.
During his pre-draft news conference on Thursday, Hortiz attempted to squash trade rumors involving Johnston.
“There’s a lot of rumors out there on Twitter,” Hortiz said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN, “and I can tell you this: I have made zero calls about Quentin, and I’ve had zero calls regarding Quentin.”
The Chargers made Johnston a first-round pick in 2023, and his penchant for drops followed him to the NFL. However, he led the team in touchdowns the past two seasons and posted a career-high 735 receiving yards in 14 games last season.
The Chargers have a deep wide receivers room with Ladd McConkey, Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but Hortiz said the team has a place for Johnston.
“We’re really excited about the wide receiver room,” Hortiz said. "[Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel] has talked about it. Just development all those guys have made. All starting with [Johnston]. Watching him get better year after year after year.”
The Chargers have until May 1 to pick up Johnston’s fifth-year option, which is set to be worth $18.1 million, fully guaranteed, for 2027.
Safety Derwin James is heading into his ninth NFL season and the Chargers hope it isn’t his final one in their uniform.
James is entering the last year of the four-year extension he signed with the team in 2022 and General Manager Joe Hortiz said at a Thursday press conference that the team plans to step up talks on a new deal after the draft. James has a base salary of $14.5 million for the coming season.
James was a second-team All-Pro after recording 94 tackles, three interceptions, two sacks, and a forced fumble in 2025.
Hortiz said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN.com, that the team also plans to engage edge rusher Tuli Tuipulato in extension talks. The 2023 second-round pick had a career-high 13 sacks last season after posting 13 sacks over his first two seasons.
The Chargers haven’t made a call on what to do about their option on wide receiver Quentin Johnston’s contract for 2027, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be trading him before the deadline to make that decision.
General Manager Joe Hortiz told reporters at a Thursday press conference that the team is still considering whether to exercise Johnston’s option. The wideout would be guaranteed $18 million under the terms of the option.
Hortiz also said, via multiple reporters, that the team has received “zero calls” from teams looking to trade for Johnston and that they’ve made zero in an effort to move the 2023 first-round pick.
Johnston had 51 catches for 735 yards and eight touchdowns last season. He has 144 catches for 1,877 yards and 18 touchdowns since entering the league.
The window for pre-draft visits closed on Wednesday and former Texas A&M wide receiver K.C. Concepcion made a couple of final trips before it did.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Concepcion visited with the Chargers and 49ers to wrap up his pre-draft meetings with teams.
Concepcion also had visits with the Bills, Browns, Dolphins, Giants, Panthers, Raiders and Titans as he made the rounds in recent weeks. That’s a big chunk of the league, but Concepcion could still wind up with another team that found other ways to explore what the wideout could bring to their team.
Concepcion had 61 catches for 919 yards and nine touchdowns in his final college season. It was his only year at A&M after transferring from North Carolina State.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
Running back Kimani Vidal is officially back with the Chargers for the 2026 season.
There wasn’t much threat of Vidal going elsewhere after the Chargers tendered him as an exclusive rights free agent earlier in the offseason and the NFL’s transaction report for Tuesday shows that Vidal has signed that tender. The move sets Vidal up to take part in the team’s offseason program when it gets underway next week.
Vidal started 10 games for the Chargers last season and led the team with 155 carries for 643 yards. He scored three touchdowns on the ground and added another score on 16 catches for 136 yards.
Vidal saw a bigger role than expected due to injuries that sidelined Najee Harris and Omarion Hampton. Harris is no longer with the Chargers and they signed Keaton Mitchell to go with Hampton and Vidal this season.
Nasir Adderley is officially back in the league.
After ending his three-year retirement, Adderley has signed with the Colts, the team announced on Tuesday.
Adderley, 28, retired after completing his rookie contract with the Chargers following the 2022 season. He appeared in 50 games with 44 starts for Los Angeles, recording 12 passes defensed, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
A second-round pick in 2019, Adderley was a free agent when he retired, giving him the ability to now sign with any team.
Adderley announced on social media in February that he intended to return to the NFL.
Indianapolis previously added safeties Jonathan Owens and Juanyeh Thomas in free agency this offseason.
One of the draft’s top tight ends is continuing a busy stretch this week.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Georgia’s Oscar Delp is visiting with the Buccaneers and Chargers this week.
Delp previously had top-30 visits with the Patriots, Ravens, and Vikings last week.
Delp did not work out at the scouting combine after a hairline fracture was revealed in his foot during a routine X-ray. But Delp was able to work out at Georgia’s Pro Day last month.
An experienced player at Georgia, Delp was on the field for 55 games with 34 starts. He totaled 70 receptions for 854 yards with nine touchdowns. That includes 21 receptions for 248 yards and four TDs in 2025.
