Jarrett Stidham isn’t the betting favorite to start Week 1, but he has the most experience in the offense of the three quarterbacks competing for the job.
Stidham joined the Broncos as a free agent in 2023 and started the final two games in place of Russell Wilson.
Denver added Zach Wilson in a trade and drafted Bo Nix in the first round, and the three quarterbacks split the first-team reps in the offseason program.
Stidham, 27, continues to put himself in position to win the job by hosting some of his offensive teammates in Texas for three or four days of workouts this week at TCU, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
The contingent includes Courtland Sutton, who skipped the team’s voluntary offseason program in search of a contract extension. The Broncos’ WR1 did participate in the mandatory minicamp June 11-12.
The players gathered at Stidham’s home for dinner Monday night, per Klis, before beginning their workouts Tuesday. They have other bond-building activities scheduled the next few days.
Nix and Broncos rookies will report to training camp next week ahead of the veterans, who are due July 23.
Wide receiver Davante Adams has been the subject of trade chatter at times since joining the Raiders and the prospect of him leaving Las Vegas was part of a text he received from former teammate Josh Jacobs this offseason.
Jacobs signed with the Packers as a free agent and said that he texted Adams “you thinking about coming back” along with the eyes emoji after signing with Adams’s first NFL club. Jacobs said on NFL Network more recently that he and Adams “joke around with each other a lot” while downplaying any real thought of Adams returning to Green Bay and Adams confirmed it was taken in jest even if he thinks there was some kernel of truth behind the comment.
“It was true, he did send that over,” Adams said on Up & Adams. “Josh is one of my best friends, man. He’s hilarious, people don’t know how funny he is. It was definitely a joke, but it was one of those jokes where he was serious because he would like that. I told him you go ahead and hold it down and I’m gonna hold it down over here. I don’t think I’ll be coming back over there.”
Adams then said “you never know” what could happen “if they ship me off” before saying “I’m a Raider” to close out that topic of conversation.
The legal fight involving a pair of Hall of Famers landed in an appeals court on Tuesday.
Brett Favre hopes to resuscitate his defamation case against Shannon Sharpe, with the assistance of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Via the Associated Press, the action returned to court on Tuesday. The case, which relates to Favre’s entanglement in a multi-million-dollar Mississippi welfare scandal, focuses on comments made by Sharpe in September 2022, when he said on his FS1 show that Favre was “taking from the underserved,” that he “stole money from people that really needed that money,” and that someone would have to be a sorry person “to steal from the lowest of the low.”
The lower court dismissed Favre’s case, reasoning that Sharpe’s comments were protected by the First Amendment as “rhetorical hyperbole.”
The legal question for now is whether a reasonable listener could interpret Sharpe’s comments as indicated that Favre actually stole money from Mississippi residents.
If the prior ruling is upheld, Favre’s next move (after seeking a rehearing before the full Fifth Circuit) would be to request the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. If the decision is overturned, it would go back to the lower court for further proceedings.
One of the biggest moves in the AFC South this offseason saw wide receiver Calvin Ridley leave the Jaguars to sign with the Titans in a move that his former teammate Andre Cisco said was indicative of a trend in the division this offseason.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, the Jaguars safety mentioned Ridley’s move, the Colts drafting Adonai Mitchell in the second round and the Texans adding Stefon Diggs as examples of a jump in the receiving talent in an AFC South — the Titans also signed Tyler Boyd — that already included the likes of Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, DeAndre Hopkins, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and Robert Woods.
“The biggest difference I see is the quality of receivers in the division,” Cisco said. “I think the receivers have taken a huge jump from what the past two years have been in the division. Obviously, Rid going to Tennessee. I know the Colts drafted a kid from Texas. The Texans already were really good at receiver but then they add Stefon Diggs. The quality of receiver has taken a step forward. I think quarterbacks in the NFL, you’re not really gonna play too many duds, so for me, it’s kind of a regular day in the office in regards to who we’re playing. But the receivers could definitely make a big difference.”
Cisco’s attention is naturally on the players he’s going to be trying to stop, but the Jags were also part of the rising tide at the position. They signed Gabe Davis and drafted Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round to join Christian Kirk as their top three wideouts.
Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady apparently won’t be the only former Patriot to acquire a piece of the Las Vegas Raiders. A current Hall of Famer — and a Patriots player who finished his career with the Raiders — is on the brink of becoming an owner of the team, too.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Hall of Fame defensive lineman Richard Seymour is close to finalizing a deal to become an owner and limited partner of the Raiders.
If/when it becomes official, the arrangement will be the culmination of an effort that dates back to 2020, with owner Mark Davis continuing his father’s commitment to equality. It was Al Davis who was ahead of his (and the league’s) time when it comes to diversity, from hiring Tom Flores and Art Shell to coach the team to making Amy Trask the team’s president. It’s Mark Davis who initiated the effort to involve Seymour in ownership.
Seymour, we’re told, will join forces with Brady. Together (and with their own partners) they would own 10.4 percent of the team.
The combination of Seymour and Brady is expected to resolve most of the concerns about Brady’s bid. Among other things, Mark Davis originally proposed giving Brady a steep discount over market value. That didn’t fly with the other owners.
The combined Seymour-Brady bid would ideally be presented to ownership in October. Twenty-four votes are required, by rule, to approve the transaction.
Another lingering complication for Brady relates to his looming role as a broadcaster with Fox. It’s believed that parameters have been developed to address the issues that would arise from Brady, as an owner of the Raiders, being involved in meetings and attending practices involving teams that compete with the Raiders. (Whether those parameters are sufficient will depend, frankly, on what they are.)
Seymour, the sixth overall pick in the 2001 draft, won three Super Bowls in eight years with the Patriots. He was traded to the Raiders in 2009, and he made two Pro Bowls in four seasons with the Raiders.
In all, Seymour was a three-time first-team All-Pro, a two-time second-team All-Pro, and a seven-time Pro Bowler. He also was a member of the NFL’s team of the decade for the 2000s.
Seymour was involved in the process that resulted in the hiring of coach Antonio Pierce and G.M. Tom Telesco. It now makes much more sense for Seymour to have had a seat at that table; he’s about to have a seat at the ownership table.
As it turns out, Arch Manning is in the game.
Manning, the 19-year-old Texas quarterback, has reversed course and elected to opt into EA Sports’ College Football 25.
Manning made the announcement with a social media video featuring his uncle, two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning.
Anwar Richardson of OrangeBloods.com reported back in March that Manning would not opt into the game because he was focused on playing football on the field.
Eli Manning’s social media post of the announcement alluded to that report, saying, “It’s a great way to focus on football.”
Players who have opted into College Football 25, which releases next week, are set to receive $600 and a copy of the game.
Arch Manning is currently set to back up redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers at Texas in 2024. He attempted just five passes in his first season with the Longhorns last year.
Leonard Fournette played in only two games last season and hasn’t had any offers since the Bills cut him in January. But he’d like NFL teams to know he’s available, if they want an aging running back.
Fournette’s agents had Adam Schefter post on social media today that Fournette is in shape and wants to be in training camp.
Whether any team wants the 29-year-old Fournette is another question. After he was released by the Buccaneers in March of 2023 it took him seven months to sign with another team, and when the Bills finally signed him in October he managed just 12 carries for 40 yards in two games.
The fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, Fournette had two 1,000-yard seasons in three years with the Jaguars and then won a Super Bowl ring with the Buccaneers. But at this point he’s a long shot to make a regular-season roster.
The Jaguars announced their schedule for this summer’s training camp on Tuesday.
The team will be holding camp at the Miller Electric Center, which opened last year, and will open 15 of their practices at that facility to the public. Fourteen of those sessions are open to the general public, but a July 26 practice is only for season-ticket holders.
In addition to those practices, the Jags will also hold an open practice at EverBank Stadium on August 3.
The other open practice dates are July 24 -25, July 27, July 29-31, August 2, August 4-5, August 7-8, August 12, and August 14-15. The final two practices will be joint sessions with the Buccaneers ahead of a preseason game between the two Florida-based teams.
The Commanders will be sporting uniforms that hearken back to earlier times in the franchise’s history at times this season.
The team announced on Tuesday that they are bringing gold pants back into the fold. The team last wore gold pants in Week 17 of the 2018 season, which was before the name of the team was changed to the Commanders.
Washington regularly wore gold pants through the 1978 season and then used them sparingly until they were brought back as a regular part of the rotation in 2010. The move to bring them back comes during an offseason that has seen some renewed discussion about the team’s name, although switching it is not a primary focus at the moment.
The Commanders did not say when they will be donning the gold pants, but said they plan to release their scheduled uniform choices later this summer.
Entering the final year of his contract, Dak Prescott once again has the Cowboys over a proverbial barrel and could become the first quarterback to reach $60 million per year on his next deal.
But with training camp beginning soon, Prescott said at his youth football camp on Tuesday that his focus is on the field.
“There’s been conversations back and forth,” Prescott said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “But for the most part, for me, as y’all know, I’ve been letting my agent do that — especially as we get right here into training camp. Day 1 of training camp, my mind flips to just, obviously, helping my team and just doing everything I can within the organization and on the football field to make sure that I’m my best and everyone around me is their best.
“The money and all that will take care of itself, as it always has.”
Prescott signed a four-year, $160 million contract with Dallas in March 2021. The deal included no-trade and no-tag clauses. Without an extension, the quarterback is set to have a $55 million cap hit in 2024.