When the offseason got underway, Mac Jones was often included on lists of quarterbacks who could draw trade interest as teams set their rosters for the 2026 season.
The 49ers replied to queries about that possibility by saying they had no interest in dealing Jones, who is set to back up Brock Purdy, and that didn’t turn out to be a bid to drum up bigger offers for the quarterback. Jones was not dealt in March and Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that he’s not expected to be traded during the draft either.
Jones has shown he’s capable of starting games and he helped keep the 49ers alive while Purdy recovered from a toe injury last season. His value to 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and the asking price the franchise might have had for him can be gleaned from a response by Browns head coach Todd Monken to a question about why Jones’ market didn’t develop.
“I would just tell Kyle to cut him,” Monken said. “And then we’ll see what the market is.”
Jones has one year left on his deal with the 49ers, who will be hoping to have the quarterback and not need him this time around.
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.
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
Antitrust, shmantitrust.
Over the weekend, we reported that the candidates for a five-game 2026 package of standalone games included Netflix, YouTube, and Fox. The apparent winner is YouTube.
Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reports that YouTube and the NFL have “entered a long-form contract review” for the slate of games. This means they’ve reached a consensus as to the major terms, and that they’re hammering out the precise language of the contract.
The NFL had sent out an RFP that allowed the bidders to select five games from a broader menu of possibilities. It’s not yet known which games YouTube will get.
The options were believed to include the Week 1 49ers-Rams game in Australia, a Thanksgiving eve game (which is not official but apparently inevitable), a second Black Friday game, and a Christmas Eve game.
The move comes at a time when the NFL is under increased scrutiny on the question of whether its broadcast antitrust exemption allows the league to sell games to streaming companies. If the games will be available for free on YouTube (as the Week 1 Chiefs-Chargers game from Brazil was), that will take a little steam out of the issue.
Still, the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 arguably applies only to league-wide rights sales to three-letter, FCC-regulated broadcast networks. The decision to take games that could have been broadcast on Fox and put them on YouTube won’t take any steam out of the current assault.
Last year’s Friday night game on YouTube averaged 19.7 million viewers globally, despite being made available at no charge. That was objectively disappointing.
