NFL

6:03 AM ET MOBILE, Ala. — He’ll see passengers striding down the aisle of the airplane. They are looking for their seats, and Dave Sears can’t help himself. A guy has broad shoulders, long arms, fluid gait. By the time they sit down, he’s already figured them out. As the director of college scouting for

6:45 AM ET NFL NationESPN Before NFL free agency, there’s some business that each of the 32 teams must address: whether they will place a franchise tag on veteran players to keep them off the open market. The franchise tag is a labor designation that restricts a player’s potential movement in exchange for a high

4:37 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Kacey Reynolds, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan from Maysville, Georgia, whose wish was granted last year when he got to announce the Bucs’ 2019 first-round draft pick, has died after a three-year battle with Hodgkin lymphoma, the team announced Sunday. “We’re saddened by the passing of Buccaneers fan Kacey

6:00 AM ET FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes from around the NFL and the New England Patriots: 1. Watson hopes for agreement with owners in which players are true “partners”: As a vice president on the 11-member NFL Players Association executive committee, retiring Patriots tight end Ben Watson has been at the heart

9:19 AM ET NFL player leadership is still majorly divided over the thought of a 17-game season. Player reps fell into three categories when discussing the proposed new Collective Bargaining Agreement, sources told ESPN — those who never want 17 games, those who will accept it with tweaks to the deal, and those who accept

4:43 PM ET Miami Dolphins assistant head coach Karl Dorrell will become the new head coach at the University of Colorado, a source told ESPN, confirming multiple reports. Dorrell, who coached the Dolphins’ receivers, will succeed Mel Tucker, who left the Buffaloes to become the head coach at Michigan State. Dorrell was the head coach

3:36 PM ET PITTSBURGH — A little more than five months after suffering a season-ending elbow injury, Ben Roethlisberger is throwing footballs again. The Steelers quarterback, who had surgery on his elbow in late September, was seen throwing a football in a gym in a video posted on Twitter by the team on Saturday afternoon.

6:00 AM ET Ed and Donna Kelce have slightly different versions of the epic fight between their sons Jason and Travis — the one that resulted in a shattered casserole dish and a shift in the dynamic between the highly competitive brothers. Both agree it carried over from the basketball court to the kitchen. Jason,

5:50 PM ET The process of negotiating a new NFL collective bargaining agreement, which began about 10 months ago, might be nearing an end. Or it might not be. And unfortunately, that’s about as clear as we can be on this subject right now. Thursday and Friday were weighty days for the negotiations between the

1:18 PM ET A vote on the proposed collective bargaining agreement will go to the full membership of the NFL Players Association, even if player reps vote not to recommend approval, sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano on Friday. A simple majority would be required to approve it. Anyone who paid NFLPA dues during the 2019-20

1:18 PM ET The NFL Players Association intends to hold a vote of its full body of players on a proposed collective bargaining agreement next week, a source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano. The vote is still expected despite an NFLPA statement saying its board of representatives has declined to vote on a recommendation in hopes

4:20 PM ET NFL owners on Thursday accepted the negotiated terms of a new proposed collective bargaining agreement, sending the vote to players ahead of a potential agreement between the sides. All 32 owners met Thursday in New York City for an update on the current proposal. Three-fourths of the owners had to approve the

7:17 AM ET Lamar Jackson will introduce himself and people will look at him funny. Not that they’re meeting Lamar Jackson, but that he actually is Lamar Jackson. There is confusion, denial and, eventually, Jackson convincing people he is who he says he is. Even though the second-guessing makes sense. Because while Lamar Jackson plays

6:50 AM ET NFL NationESPN While NFL teams prepare for the offseason churn of players between free agency and the 2020 NFL draft, changes have been made to 17 of the league’s coaching staffs. In an effort to take stock of all the coaching movement, particularly the changes in primary coordinators, NFL Nation reporters have

9:58 PM ET Baltimore Ravens tight end Hayden Hurst said living with depression led to a suicide attempt four years ago. “I woke up in the hospital,” Hurst told First Coast News this week. “I didn’t know what happened. I had to have a friend fill me in. Apparently, I had been drinking and went

6:45 PM ET If and when a new collective bargaining agreement is finalized — and there is now mounting optimism it could be done sometime in the next week — it is expected to change the NFL’s playoff structure as it is currently constituted for next season, league sources told ESPN. Under the current CBA

11:12 AM ET ASHBURN, Va. — Over the last two seasons, running back Adrian Peterson remained one of the most durable and productive players for the Washington Redskins, which is why the team exercised the option year of his contract for 2020 in a move that was widely expected. Peterson had signed a two-year deal

9:08 PM ET FRISCO, Texas — Jason Witten wants to play another NFL season but acknowledged it might have to be with a franchise other than the Dallas Cowboys. “I think I have to be,” Witten said when asked if he’s open to playing elsewhere. “Obviously, I’d love to finish it out here, but some