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.
Rams Clips
After the Rams traded for defensive end Myles Garrett, a wave of chatter emerged that the move could lure Aaron Donald out of a two-year retirement. Since then, the talk has largely subsided.
It’s heating up again.
Here’s something we found this morning, thanks to an item published earlier today by EssentiallySports.com. On Friday, the NFL on Clutch Points account on Instagram posted an image of Donald wearing a pair of Super Bowl rings. Posted beneath it was a lengthy message that said, among other things, “The thought of pairing Garrett’s unstoppable edge presence with Donald’s historic interior dominance is turning a hypothetical dream into a reality. . . . Putting them on the same defensive line feels completely unfair to every offensive coordinator and quarterback in the league.”
Scrolling through the comments, one stands out: Donald himself reacted to the post with the wide eyes emoji.
The day after the Garrett trade, Donald told Pat McAfee that the move “sure got me thinking,” adding that Donald needs to “see if that fire can light back up.” One month and one day later, Donald, who could have simply stayed quiet, dropped a hint that the flame may now be flickering.
The Rams have made it clear that they’d welcome Donald back. Why wouldn’t they? Yes, he’s 35. But Donald has two fewer years of wear and tear that any other 35-year-old defensive lineman would have. And he previously was so good that it took two, and often three, blockers to slow him down.
That becomes much harder to do, with Garrett on the defensive line. It would be pick your poison time for all opposing offenses. And it would make the Rams and an even stronger favorite to get back to the Super Bowl (currently, +295), which will again be played in their home stadium, and win it (currently, +550).
Frankly, anything less than a berth in Super Bowl LXI would be viewed as a disappointment, if they can put Donald and Garrett on the field together — and if the team’s cluster of thirtysomething stars can stay healthy for the long haul.
Rams quarterback Ty Simpson didn’t slide far enough in the first round to make that into a legitimate source of motivation. If he’s looking for it elsewhere, he’s in luck.
Former two-time NFL General Manager Scot McCloughan recently directed sharp criticism at the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
“I think the quarterback from Alabama is overdrafted,” McCloughan said on the Team 980 in D.C., via Valentina Martinez of the New York Post. “But it’s the position alone, you know. I think, not being a guru, but he’s like J.J. McCarthy. He’s like Mac Jones. He’s a career backup.”
(It’s been a week of catching strays for McCarthy. First, Dianna Russini says he “sucks” in the footage from her January traffic stop. Now this.)
“Ideally, he might start, but that’s because of where his pick was and they want to prove everybody right, you know, type of thing,” McCloughan said. “And that’s not the way you should build a roster. Not at all.”
McCloughan knows a thing or two about scouting; he served as G.M. of the 49ers from 2008 to 2009, a personnel executive in Seattle from 2010 to 2013 (when they built a Super Bowl champion), and Washington G.M. from 2015 to 2016.
Then again, Sean McVay knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. And this is the first potential starter the Rams have drafted since McVay arrived in 2017. (He inherited Jared Goff, and in 2021 the Rams traded for Matthew Stafford.)
Time will tell what Simpson will become. With Stafford talking about playing into his 40s, it could be a while before McCloughan is proven right, or wrong.
LeRoy Irvin, a first-team All-Pro at both cornerback and punt returner with the Rams in the 1980s, has died at the age of 68.
The Rams announced Irvin’s death today, and among those remembering him are former teammate Eric Dickerson, who posted about him on social media this morning.
“Devastated to hear about the passing of my brother, teammate, and Rams legend Leroy Irvin. Leroy wasn’t just a lockdown corner and a fierce competitor on the field; he was a true friend and a great man who always brought incredible energy. Rest in peace, my brother. Sending my thoughts and prayers to the Irvin family and all of Rams Nation,” Dickerson wrote.
Irvin had punt return touchdowns of 75 yards and 84 yards in a 37-35 Rams victory over the Falcons in 1981, and his total of 207 punt return yards in that game is the NFL’s all-time record.
One of Irvin’s most memorable plays was a 94-yard interception return in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 24-17 win over the Cowboys in the 1983 playoffs.
Irvin was chosen as the NFL’s first-team All-Pro punt returner that season, and was a first-team All-Pro cornerback in 1986.
The Rams took Irvin out of Kansas in the third round of the 1980 NFL draft, and he played with them through 1989. He finished his career with one season on the Lions in 1990.
As Netflix expands its NFL footprint to include a full five toes of NFL games in 2026, it’s hoping to enhance its desire to “eventize” football with some normalcy.
Elle Duncan of Netflix tells the Sports Media Watch podcast that the studio show for the games will have the same people involved.
“We’re not doing an 18-game slate,” Duncan said, via Derek Futterman of Sports Media Watch. “We want every single one of our events to, yes, have a through-line and some consistency, and you’ll get that with the desk and the talent, but, ‘How are we making each one of those things feel special and different and honor where we’re doing it at?’”
Netflix will stream the Week 1 game from Australia between the 49ers and Rams, the Thanksgiving Eve game between the Packers and Rams in L.A., two Christmas games (Packers-Bears and Bills-Broncos), and a Saturday afternoon game to launch Week 18.
Officially, Netflix doesn’t aspire to have a full, season-long NFL broadcast package. However, with its current arrangement in place through 2029, Netflix could eventually decide to make a bid on one of the various weekly windows.
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.
If you’re confused by how the World Cup works, join the club.
We’ve finally made sense of how 48 teams became the 32 that will now proceed to the single-elimination knockout round. Of the 12 four-team groups, the top two made it, along with the best eight third-place teams.
Along the way, Iran was in after a goal by Algeria against Austria in stoppage time on Saturday night — and then out after Austria scored in the final seconds to force a 3-3 tie.
For the United States, here’s the path to what would be an unexpected but thrilling run to the final match.
On Wednesday, July 1, the U.S. plays Bosnia and Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. A win would put the U.S. team into the round of 16, facing the winner of Belgium and Senegal. That match will happen on Monday, July 6 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
A win there would send the U.S. to the final eight. The opponent for the match to be played on Friday, July 10, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles would be the team that emerges from this quartet of countries: Portugal, Croatia, Spain, and Austria.
Next up would be a trip to the semifinals, on Tuesday, July 14, at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Then, a victory would trigger a berth in the final game, to be played on Sunday, July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
It won’t be easy. It will require four straight wins, starting in just three days, with the site of Super Bowl LX hosting one of the most consequential soccer matches the U.S. has ever seen.
A win would raise the stakes considerably in the home stadium of the defending Super Bowl champions. A victory there would shift the focus to the site of Super Bowl LXI. Then, all eyes would turn to Jerry World — for a match at a level his Cowboys haven’t achieved since the year after the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup.
The Rams don’t yet know where or exactly how they will use Myles Garrett. All they know is the league’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year will be great at getting after the quarterback wherever and however they deploy him.
The Rams acquired the edge rusher on June 1.
He participated in a handful of offseason practices, with Garrett working with outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio’s group in individual drills. That prompted a question to defensive coordinator Chris Shula about whether Garrett, who spent his entire career in Cleveland playing in a 4-3, is an outside linebacker or whether Garrett’s arrival changes how Shula thinks about the structure of the defense.
“Obviously, we’re still going to have our principals with that stuff, but we’re going to let him do what he does best and we all know exactly what he does best,” Shula said last week, via Stu Jackson of the team website. “You’re not going to take Michael Jordan, LeBron [James], all those guys and pull them out of their comfort zone. We’re going to work with him and put him in the best spots that we think for him and the defense to succeed.”
Garrett, 30, has made seven Pro Bowls and is a five-time All-Pro. He set the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks and has 125.5 for his nine-year career.
It was a surprise to many when the Rams selected quarterback Ty Simpson at No. 13 overall to be Matthew Stafford’s successor in this year’s draft.
But the organization has been clear that it’s still Stafford’s team until he decides to hang up his cleats.
Simpson has said publicly that Stafford has taken a “big brother” role in his development, complimenting the 2025 MVP for being willing to answer all of his questions.
In an interview with Chris Long’s Green Light podcast this week, Stafford was asked what he’d like Simpson to say about him years down the line.
“Hopefully, he comes away with a guy who treated him the right way, showed him what it was about, what it’s like to be a true professional, and also be yourself,” Stafford said. “I’m not some robot out there. Love playing the game — you see me mic’d up, I’m running around like crazy, doing all sorts of wild shit, and have fun with the game because it’s a kids’ game.
“But at the same time, hey, I’m here for him if he needs help. My No. 1 job — I’ve said this 100 times — is to get our team and myself as ready to play as possible. And if he gathers information and he learns from that along the way, I’m fired up for our team, because that’s going to make us better. And I’m fired up for him. But I’m here to encourage — like everybody on our team — encourage everybody to do their best, keep getting better, and find ways to improve. And, hopefully, he’s a guy that 15, 20 years down the road can look back and say, man, I really enjoyed my time with Matthew and learned a lot from him.”
Stafford is coming off arguably the best season in his career, tossing a league-leading 46 touchdowns en route to being named a first-team AP All-Pro for the first time. With Stafford at 38 years old, we’ll see how long he holds off Simpson’s ascension to QB-1.
The U.S. men’s soccer team returns to World Cup action tonight in a match that is ultimately meaningless to their prospects in the knockout round.
That’s not making it any cheaper to get a ticket to watch the contest at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, home of the Rams and Chargers. Via Sports Business Journal, the get-in price is currently $1,594.
That figure is up 69 percent from the start of the tournament, but down 22 percent from a week ago.
A victory would become the first time the U.S. men’s team has ever won all three games of group play in a World Cup.
The match begins at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursday night. Coach Mauricio Pochettino will not start four players who have received yellow cards in prior group matches. This means midfielder Tyler Adams, forward Folarin Balogun, defender Chris Richards, and outside back Antonee Robinson will likely get the entire night off.
A second yellow card in group play would result in a suspension for the first match of the knockout round. Pending yellow cards are expunged after group play.
The U.S. currently is expected to face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32. Given the cost of seeing a group match that doesn’t mean anything, get ready to dig very deep if you’re interested in attending the next one — which is scheduled for Wednesday, July 1, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
