NFL

6:00 AM ET FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets: 1. Go O, Joe: By his own admission, general manager Joe Douglas failed to supply former quarterback Sam Darnold with enough help to prosper — a fresh scar for the organization. Now he gets a mulligan with a

6:00 AM ET CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals recently had a big decision to make. Should they keep running back Giovani Bernard or release him to get an additional $4.1 million in salary-cap savings? The choice was simple in the end. After Bernard was unwilling to take a pay cut, the Bengals released the eight-year

6:00 AM ET LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Thursday night’s opening round of the 2021 NFL draft (ESPN/ESPN App) feels like uncharted territory for a Chicago Bears team that has grown accustomed to picking either in the top 10 or not at all on Day 1. Since the current front-office regime took control in 2015, the

1:15 PM ET Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski has won four Super Bowls, been to five Pro Bowls and even won a WWE title. Now he has a new honor to add to his unique résumé: world-record holder. The 10-year NFL veteran is now in the Guinness Book of World Records after successfully

7:00 AM ET KWITY PAYE HAS never met the man. Never had the chance to look him in the eye, or hear his story in his own words, or even so much as thank him. For his life. For the chance to be in the United States, where Kwity became an immigrant, then a citizen;

7:23 PM ET OWINGS MILLS, Md. — No one was surprised that the Baltimore Ravens traded Orlando Brown Jr. on Friday. The shocker was where he landed. Why would the Ravens send Brown to the Kansas City Chiefs, the team standing in their way of getting to the Super Bowl? This trade shows how much

5:06 PM ET KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Say this for the Kansas City Chiefs: When they see a weakness on their roster, they go all-in on fixing it. The Chiefs couldn’t afford to overlook the mess their offensive line had become, not after the way quarterback Patrick Mahomes was harassed during last season’s Super Bowl

4:44 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN With the 2021 NFL draft less than a week away, new Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes says the franchise is open to trading its No. 7 overall pick. “Yeah, there has been discussion with other teams,” Holmes said during Friday’s pre-draft news conference. “I will keep those in-house, but

1:33 PM ET CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers have talked to “at least five teams” about trading back from the No. 8 pick in Thursday’s NFL draft. “We’re very open to moving back,” general manager Scott Fitterer said Friday in a pre-draft Zoom call with coach Matt Rhule. “It just depends on how the

2:58 PM ET Fully vaccinated NFL players and other staffers will no longer face daily COVID-19 tests, one in a series of modified protocols the league and the NFL Players Association agreed to Friday. The NFL isn’t requiring vaccination for any employees but has pledged to offer incentives for doing so. In a memo outlining

3:09 PM ET The Kansas City Chiefs are trading their first-round pick Thursday night, along with three other picks in the 2021 and 2022 drafts, to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown and one pick in the 2021 draft and another in 2022, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The

12:59 PM ET CHICAGO — Steve McMichael, the charismatic former Chicago Bears Super Bowl champion defensive lineman and ex-WCW professional wrestler, revealed in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that doctors diagnosed him with ALS three months ago. “I promise you, this epitaph that I’m going to have on me now? This ain’t ever how

10:07 AM ET BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns have exercised the fifth-year option on the contract of quarterback Baker Mayfield, a source told ESPN. The move extends Mayfield’s contract in Cleveland through 2022, when he’ll make $18.86 million. Last season, Mayfield — the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NFL draft — quarterbacked the

10:07 AM ET Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Justin Layne was arrested Friday morning. Layne was arrested on suspicion of felony transportation of a firearm inside of a vehicle, according to jail records in Lake County, Ohio. He was also charged with two misdemeanors — driving with a suspended license and exceeding speed limits. Layne was booked

6:00 AM ET SANTA CLARA, Calif. — If history is any indication, the San Francisco 49ers‘ move up in the NFL draft to take a quarterback with the No. 3 pick isn’t going to work out. Armed with a loaded roster they believe can get them back to contention next season, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan

7:15 AM ET Despite what you’ve seen and heard on social media and the exclamatory talk that has been tossed around outside the walls of team complexes in the weeks leading up to the 2021 NFL draft, a “riser” is not just a prospect who blew up at his pro day and posted ridiculous numbers.

8:00 AM ET INVESTMENTS FROM AT least 15 current and former NFL players, including Von Miller, Nick Foles and Mark Brunell, were used in a complex investment program designed to profit at the expense of low-income borrowers, according to civil and bankruptcy court documents obtained by ESPN. The players invested in a now-defunct company that

5:03 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks have re-signed quarterback Geno Smith, the team announced Thursday. Smith, 30, returns for a third season as Russell Wilson‘s backup. He has appeared in one game for Seattle — a blowout win last season over the New York Jets in which Smith completed 4 of