Russell Wilson is staying in New York. But he won’t be playing for the Jets.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, Wilson is “finalizing a deal” to become an analyst with CBS.
Wilson will be joining The NFL Today, which currently features James Brown, Nate Burleson, and Bill Cowher. A seat opened when Matt Ryan left to become the Falcons’ president of football.
The Jets were considering Wilson as a veteran backup to Geno Smith, who once was Wilson’s backup in Seattle. Wilson has said he had an offer from the Jets.
It’s rare for any quarterback who was once the highest-paid player in the league to happily accept the second spot on a depth chart. (Joe Flacco is the one of the most significant exceptions.) Wilson was the Giants’ starter when he signed there in 2025, and he was the Steelers’ starter when he signed there in 2024. His days as a starter are and were over.
As to the biggest TV opportunities, those seats don’t always pop open. With Ryan exiting, there was a current opportunity for Wilson. If he didn’t take it now, it may not have been there in a year.
Wilson, a third-round pick out of Wisconsin, started for the Seahawks from 2012 through 2021. He was traded to the Broncos in 2022.
A Super Bowl winner and a 10-time Pro Bowler, Wilson was never a first-team All-Pro or a serious MVP candidate. At 16th on the all-time passing yardage list and 12th on the all-time passing touchdown list, he’ll have a somewhat challenging case to get to Canton.
That’s where a great career in TV can make a difference. Yes, the debate will be about his playing career. And, yes, his case will get stronger if he becomes a successful and enduring presence in NFL broadcast universe.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is going to like defensive tackle Byron Murphy’s approach to the 2026 season.
Macdonald said recently that he wants the Seahawks to “run it forward” rather than think about repeating the things they did on their way to winning the Super Bowl in February. Murphy is on board with that mindset and he said that he believes the Seahawks will need to “start back from the bottom to work our way up back to the top.”
“I feel like we gotta start from scratch,” Murphy said, via the teams website. “I feel like we should ask ourselves, what are the things we can improve on as far as what we did last year? How can we build on that? How can [we] just keep going and fix little errors, the little mistakes that we had last year. How can [we] go about that and perfect that and then take it to another level.”
Murphy acknowledged that it is “very challenging” to pull off what he hopes to see the team do this season and they’ll be starting the process against the same team they beat in the Super Bowl when they host the Patriots on September 9.
They have to install playing surfaces that meet exacting standards. They have to change the names of the facilities. They have to shut down all other business (such as major concerts) for the duration of the World Cup.
Given the hoops through which the 11 NFL stadiums will have to jump in order to placate FIFA, it’s fair to ask whether it’s worth it.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe recently took a look at that question. Said an NFL official from a team that won’t be hosting any of the World Cup games, “I know more than a few teams weren’t disappointed to lose the bid.”
That could be sour grapes, because those who won the right to host the matches are crowing about it.
“Can’t sleep,” Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones said recently, per Volin. “This is a great chance to associate with the worldwide love with soccer, and lets us put a little notch on our belt and share it with what soccer’s about, too. They’ll never be able to take away that we held those games in that stadium.”
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones echoed the sentiment: “We’ll be shut down all summer. But it’s worth it. I mean, this is about brand and, you know, being a part of something special.”
The Joneses wanted to host the matches badly enough to give up their suite for the matches.
“I think I’ve got to go someplace else, but that was a part of it,” Jerry Jones said. “We did a lot of things to make this work.”
The Cowboys, Patriots, Falcons, Texans, Chargers/Rams, Giants/Jets, Chiefs, Seahawks, 49ers, Dolphins, and Eagles will be hosting World Cup games in their stadiums.
The total revenue is projected, per Volin, to be roughly $11 billion. FIFA will pay rent for the stadiums, while keeping the revenue from sponsorships, tickets, suites, merchandise, concessions, and parking.
So how much will the teams get for hosting the World Cup? Per Volin, the terms “have been kept under wraps.”
Given that folks like Jones are not known for doing bad deals, they’ll surely be making more money to host the World Cup matches than they would have made in a normal summer.
Still, it’s a headache. Extra work, extra expenses, extra hassles.
Not to mention the P.R. bruise that comes from the perception/reality that NFL owners who are giving FIFA the surfaces it demands while stubbornly refusing to do the same for pro football players.
The hiring of Seahawks assistant G.M. Nolan Teasley as the Vikings’ new G.M. will carry a specific benefit for his former team.
Per the league, Teasley qualifies as a diverse candidate under the NFL provision that gives the former team of a newly-hired G.M. or head coach a pair of third-round compensatory draft picks.
The only question is whether Teasley will be Minnesota’s “primary football executive.” That requirement prevented the Bears from receiving the compensatory draft picks when assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham was hired to be the Falcons G.M. The league decided that president of football Matt Ryan is the “primary football executive” in Atlanta.
The Bears appealed the decision to the league, and Bears fans continue to be mystified by the outcome — especially since Ryan has made it clear that Cunningham is a General Manager “in every facet of the word.”
Minnesota has no similar position to Ryan’s job with the Falcons. The only alternative to Teasley would be coach Kevin O’Connell. But there has been no indication that, moving forward, O’Connell will emerge as the top football executive for the Vikings, with full control over the roster and the draft.
The NFL’s full collection of diversity of initiatives have recently come under attack by Florida’s attorney general. The Seahawks getting two extra third-round draft picks undoubtedly will spark a reaction from those who, in the current climate, attack efforts aimed at enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Another first-round pick has agreed to their first NFL contract.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Seahawks have agreed to terms with running back Jadarian Price. Price was the 32nd and final pick of the first round in Pittsburgh last month.
Nineteen of those 32 first-round picks are now under contract.
Price was also the second Notre Dame running back to be selected by an NFC West team in the first round. Jeremiyah Love went to Arizona with the fourth overall pick. Price had 280 carries for 1,692 yards and 21 touchdowns over three seasons with the Fighting Irish.
The Seahawks have Zach Charbonnet coming off of a torn ACL with Price, Emanuel Wilson, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, Velus Jones, and Jacardia Wright making up the rest of the backfield.
