The asking price is known. The outcome isn’t.
Where will defensive end Maxx Crosby play next?
DraftKings has the Bears as the +200 favorites to secure his services via trade with the Raiders. Staying put with the Raiders is a +350 proposition.
Five teams are clustered at +700: the Rams (Fuck Them Picks, Part Two), Cowboys, Bills, Ravens, and Eagles.
The Patriots land at +1000, with the Lions and Buccaneers at +1200.
The Raiders, as PFT reported last week, want two first-round picks and a player for Crosby. Crosby, as Jay Glazer said during Super Bowl week, is “done” with the Raiders.
Whether this saga is done remains to be seen. Although no trades can become official until next Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. ET, teams can reach tentative agreements now.
Rams Clips
The Rams brought kicker Harrison Mevis in halfway through the 2025 season, but he’ll have a chance to be with the team for all of 2026.
Mevis has been tendered as an exclusive rights free agent. The Rams also announced that they have tendered wide receiver Xavier Smith and offensive lineman Justin Dedich.
None of the players will be able to negotiate with other teams with the tenders in place, so they’ll likely sign them and compete for roles on the Rams’ roster this offseason.
Mevis was signed after Joshua Karty struggled as the kicker and he went 12-of-13 on field goals while hitting all 39 extra points he tried in nine regular season games. He was also 6-of-6 on field goals and 9-of-9 on extra points in the playoffs.
Smith had 18 catches for 303 yards in 16 regular season outings and also saw time on special teams. Dedich also played in 16 games and started six times.
We recently mentioned the two proposals the Rams have made in the aftermath of the wacky two-point conversion that helped decide a game that helped determine the outcome of the entire season.
As to the proposal aimed at the protracted delay in the replay review that turned a ruling on the field of an incomplete pass into two points for the Seahawks, the Rams have suggested a hard time limit for the initiation of a booth review as to all calls that fall within the exclusive purview of the replay assistant and/or the league office (i.e., plays during the final two minutes of the half and overtime, turnovers, scoring plays, and conversions).
Here’s the full language of the Rams’ proposal regarding the initiation of a replay review, which PFT has obtained: “To amend Rule 15, Section 1, Article 2, to require a replay official to initiate a review of a play with booth review jurisdiction within 40 seconds after the play is ruled dead or before the next legal snap or kick, whichever occurs first. However, if a game administration matter reasonably delays the replay official’s ability to evaluate the play, then he/she may initiate the review after 40 seconds but before the next legal snap or kick.”
The first part of the proposal looks fine, and the exception seems to be fair on its face. However, the exception possibly creates a safe-harbor excuse that could be used to initiate any replay review beyond the 40-second limit. To be as consistent and effective as possible, there needs to be a clear, bright line — enforced by a clock in the replay booth and in the league office that can only be delayed or paused if/when there’s a legitimate and genuine “game administration matter.”
The mere presence of the exception demonstrates the practical difficulty of having a clear and unmistakable 40-second limit. Which will likely make it hard to get 24 votes in favor of an arguably arbitrary impediment to getting the call right.
In this specific case, the delayed initiation of replay review (which, as PFT has reported, was sparked by a call from Prime Video rules analyst Terry McAulay to NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson) led to the objectively correct outcome, based on the current rules. It would be unfortunate, to say the least, if a clear and obvious error were not rectified simply because it wasn’t noticed within 40 seconds.
The better approach could be to establish a firewall between the internal replay mechanism and the rest of the world. No outside calls or texts or other communications until the replay review has ended, or until the next play has started. That’s the proposal we would make, since it would force the NFL to have the best possible in-house methods for noticing any potential mistakes, without someone not employed by the league flagging the issue or otherwise weighing in.
The league should be expected to get these things right, with the resources the NFL has at its disposal. If those resources aren’t good enough, the league needs to pay for better resources.
Jimmy Garoppolo could be making a comeback.
Not that he ever left. But he hasn’t been a starting quarterback since the Raiders benched him for Aidan O’Connell midway through the 2023 season.
Now, Garoppolo could be in play to fill the void created by the looming departure of Kyler Murray from the Cardinals.
Via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, the Cardinals are interested in Garoppolo. And for good reason. New head coach Mike LaFleur comes from the Rams, where Garoppolo has spent the last two seasons as the understudy to Matthew Stafford.
“That’s his guy,” an unnamed source told Fowler regarding Mike LaFleur’s opinion of Garoppolo.
The Cardinals also have Jacoby Brissett under contract for 2026. He’s due to make $5.44 million in 2026, with another $1 million if he takes 50 percent of the snaps and $1 million more if the percentage lands at 65 or higher. On the fifth day of the 2026 league year, $1.5 million of Brissett’s base salary becomes fully guaranteed.
Per Fowler, the Rams would welcome Garoppolo back as the No. 2 to Stafford. Garoppolo also is in play to replace Malik Willis as the No. 2 to Jordan Love in Green Bay.
Garoppolo has 64 career starts. The bulk of those came during five-plus years with the 49ers. In 2019, he led San Francisco to the Super Bowl.
For a brief time in 2018, Garoppolo was the highest-paid player in the league, at $27.5 million per year. He made $3 million last season with the Rams.
If the Cardinals keep Brissett and sign Garoppolo, it’ll be a reunion — 10 years later — of the quarterbacks who split four starts during Tom Brady’s #Deflategate suspension.
Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.
The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.
The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:
1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).
The Rams have indeed made a proposal based on the nutty two-point play from the Week 16 overtime thriller in Seattle.
The initial report merely explained that a proposal was submitted. The details of the proposal have emerged.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Rams have made two separate proposals. Under the first, a backward pass that is tipped by a defensive player and goes past the line of scrimmage would be treated like a fumble. This means that, during the final two minutes of a half, on fourth down, or on a conversion attempt, only the player who fumbled can recover the ball and advance it. If another offensive player recovers the ball, the offense gets the ball at the spot of the fumble.
As applied to the two-point attempt in Rams-Seahawks, the recovery of the loose ball in the end zone by running back Zach Charbonnet would not have resulted in a successful conversion. Seattle would have gotten two points only if quarterback Sam Darnold had recovered the ball.
Although that same situation will rarely happen, the reasoning makes sense. The defense disrupted the attempted backward pass. A fluke bounce sent the live ball beyond the line of scrimmage. In the situations where a fumble can’t be recovered and advanced by any player except the one who fumbled it, a backward pass that is batted beyond the line of scrimmage would be treated the same way.
The Rams’ second proposal would limit the time for the initiation of a replay review, capping it at either 40 seconds or a minute. Basically, if the replay process is going to activate, it needs to happen more quickly in order to keep the game moving.
For the Seahawks-Rams play, 100 seconds elapsed between the time Charbonnet recovered the ball and the moment referee Brad Allen announced that the play was under further review. The kickoff and kick-return teams were on the field and ready to proceed. The absence of a specific deadline for starting the review process allows potentially protracted delays — and opens the door for (as happened in this case) someone from outside the apparatus alerting the league to the potential need for a review.
While the league eventually got the Rams-Seahawks play right, the Rams’ thinking is that no review should take that long to get started. As it relates to the quirk that allows backward passes to hit the ground and be recovered and advanced, the Rams’ proposal would eliminate situations in which the backward pass is deflected forward and crosses the line of scrimmage.
Again, something like this may not happen again, for years. It makes sense, now that the league has witnessed that specific outcome, for the NFL to consider whether it wants to allow that same thing to possibly happen in the future.
It didn’t take Robert Woods long to find his first post-retirement job.
Woods, who signed a one-day contract to retire as a Ram last week, has been announced as a new member of the Rams’ coaching staff.
The 33-year-old Woods was a 2013 second-round pick of the Bills who played his first four years in Buffalo before signing with the Rams in 2017 and playing five seasons in Los Angeles. He then spent time with the Titans and Texans before his career came to an end when he didn’t make the Steelers’ regular-season roster last year.
Woods is already familiar with head coach Sean McVay’s offense, and his 12 seasons of experience as an NFL wide receiver give him a solid base of knowledge to coach the position.
McVay’s full staff features assistant head coach Kliff Kingsbury, offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, quarterbacks coach/associate coordinator Dave Ragone, wide receivers coach Rob Calabrese, offensive line coach Ryan Wendell, tight ends coach Scott Huff, senior offensive assistant/wide receivers coach Eric Yarber, running backs coach Ron Gould, assistant offensive line coach Zak Kromer, assistant offensive line coach Brian Allen, senior offensive assistant Brian Johnson, defensive coordinator Chris Shula, run game coordinator/defensive line coach Giff Smith, inside linebackers coach Greg Williams, pass game coordinator/defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake, safeties coach Chris Beake, outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio, pass rush coordinator Drew Wilkins, assistant defensive backs coach Michael Hunter, defensive assistant Robert Wright, special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, assistant special teams coach Kyle Hoke and game management coordinator/assistant tight ends coach Dan Shamash.
The Rams and Chargers won’t have company at SoFi Stadium in 2026.
Via Ben Bolch of the California Post, UCLA football will play at the Rose Bowl next season.
The announcement from the school comes only days after the dismissal of Stephen Agostini, who had served as the UCLA vice chancellor and chief financial officer. Agostini strongly supported a move to SoFi Stadium.
UCLA and the powers-that-be in Pasadena will continue their legal battle regarding the possibility of UCLA breaking a lease that runs through 2043. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and SoFi Stadium have been added to the litigation.
In 2025, UCLA drew a record low 37,282 per game to the Rose Bowl.
Whether UCLA stays at the Rose Bowl beyond 2026 remains to be seen. Due to the upcoming Olympics in L.A., both UCLA and USC could be joining the Rams and Chargers at SoFi Stadium for the 2028 season.
After the Week 16 Thursday night overtime thriller between the Rams and Seahawks, L.A. coach Sean McVay was apoplectic about the manner in which replay review changed an incomplete pass into a successful two-point conversion.
The Rams plan to try to do something about it.
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that the Rams plan to propose a rule change that would make the outcome of the play in question an unsuccessful two-point try.
No details have been provided as to what the change would be.
The play was fueled by the fluke deflection of a backward pass that caused it to go forward. And because it was a backward pass and not a fumble, it could be recovered beyond the spot of the backward pass by someone other than the person who threw it.
One possibility would entail applying the fumble rules to a backward pass that is touched by a member of the defense or, even more specifically, one that is touched by a member of the defense and ricochets forward.
Apart from the kooky outcome is the fact that it took 100 seconds to initiate a replay review. As PFT recently reported, a call from Prime Video rules analyst Terry McAulay to NFL rules analyst Walt Anderson sparked the process.
Given the outcome of that game and its impact on the NFC West crown and No. 1 seed in the conference, it was the call of the year. Whether it prompts a rule change remains to be seen.
The fact that it happens so infrequently could be the best argument against a change, with teams continuing to coach players to pick up any loose ball they see. Like Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet did in that key moment.
The Rams are staying in-house to fill their offensive coordinator vacancy.
Nate Scheelhaase has been promoted to offensive coordinator, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Scheelhaase previously had the title of pass-game coordinator, but now he’ll move up to the offensive coordinator job, replacing Mike LaFleur, who became the Cardinals’ head coach.
The Rams are also promoting quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone by giving him a co-offensive coordinator title.
Scheelhaase has impressed with his mind for directing an offense since his college career as a quarterback at Illinois who called plays at the line of scrimmage. He has been on the Rams’ staff the last two years and prior to that was offensive coordinator at Iowa State. He is widely viewed as a future NFL head coach.
Although head coach Sean McVay really runs the Rams’ offense, Scheelhaase will be McVay’s right hand, and after several head-coaching interviews this offseason, the promotion makes Scheelhaase even more likely to get a head-coaching job next offseason.
