Jason Pierre-Paul was a major offseason acquisition in Tampa Bay, but he’s not with the team during Organized Team Activities.

Pierre-Paul has not attended a single day of OTAs, according to ESPN.

A few unsurprising transactions across the league, as teams have started picking up fifth-year options on players from the 2015 draft. The Dolphins picked up DeVante Parker, the Panthers will use Shaq Thompson ‘s fifth-year, and the Rams did their thing with both Todd Gurley and Marcus Peters. 5. Along with divulging his draft prep, Hurney showed plenty of self-awareness on his draft hits and misses over the years in Carolina.

Among other things, Luck explains that 30 cities are in the running to host XFL franchises when the league returns after a 19-year hiatus. The league currently is working through the potential destinations in advance of an inaugural season, in 2020.

Given the looming proliferation of gambling, it’s possible that, after decades of non-NFL American pro leagues failing, not one but both the XFL and the AAF will thrive.

The drought is over! Game No. 82 sent Minnesota to the postseason for the first time in 14 years in a de facto playoff game of its own, as Butler poured in 31 points and Towns added 26 in an overtime thriller against the Nuggets.

As much as Minnesota missed Butler’s All-Star production, it could have also used his grit and determination. Case in point: Butler’s average miles per hour getting back on defense in transition ranks first on the team and first among every 2018 All-Star.

Of course, even those numbers would be prohibitive if Shields were still performing below replacement level, as he did last season (minus-1.8 bWAR). However, a reinvented Shields has become a bedrock source of above-replacement innings for Chicago this season. Through Thursday’s rough outing in Minnesota, Shields is on pace to throw 215 innings.

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The unfolding Washington cheerleader scandal has apparently cost at least one executive his job.

According to Craig Hoffman of 106.7 The Fan, team executive Dennis Greene has resigned.

It is doubtful Miller will actually be able to recover enough to play in the NFL again, but the Bears made the class move by offering a contract that will pay him $458,000 regardless of whether he plays this season, according to ProFootballTalk. If he makes a miraculous return to the field, he would be paid $790,000.

Miller officially dislocated his knee and tore his popliteal artery on the play while trying to make a touchdown catch — only to have it overturned by replay, to make matters worse. But he later revealed he asked doctors to save my leg in the minutes following the injury as he was carted off the field and rushed to a Level 1 trauma center to undergo emergency surgery. The quick actions by the Bears’ medical staff may have saved him from amputation.

Lawyer Mark Geragos said on CNN Wednesday night that the NFL owners are conspiring against his clients to appease President Trump, and he suggested that more evidence will surface soon.

I would stay tuned because this case is about to take a dramatic turn, he said.

Asked what he means by that, Geragos wouldn’t offer specifics other than a suggestion that somebody has decided they were going to dime out the NFL for what they were doing.

That may mean a witness can come forward who will contradict the stated position of the NFL, which is that each team decides for itself whether a player can help that team, and that if Kaepernick and Reid aren’t on a roster, it’s because teams have individually decided they can’t help. If Geragos can produce a witness from the league office, or a team’s coaching staff or personnel department, who can testify that the football people do, in fact, think Kaepernick and Reid can contribute, but that owners and the league office have decided that Kaepernick and Reid are not to see the field, that would go a long way toward making the players’ case.

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Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr missed some time in the first week of OTAs, at a time when he’s also looking for a new contract.

He said Wednesday he was merely getting insurance, though in a manner of speaking that’s kind of the same thing.

I had to protect myself and get an injury insurance policy, Barr said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. It took like a week to get situated, so I got that, and now I’m good to go.

Barr’s entering the final year of his contract, and there have been talks about a new deal. He offered few details, but his presence suggests things aren’t contentious.

Prominent women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who’s representing the cheerleaders, alleged the women were paid so little or not paid at all for much of the work they did because of their gender.

Surely (Texans owner Bob) McNair and the Houston Texans can find it in their budget of hundreds of millions of dollars to pay these women a fair wage, not minimum wage, Allred said. I say, stop penny pinching. Pay these women what they deserve and make sure you pay them for every minute that they work.

As long as Jones is in attendance for minicamp and training camp, there should be little reason for the Falcons to worry about him being ready to go in September even if the contract tweak he’s reportedly looking for doesn’t come through by Week One.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver, in his state of the league talk at the NBA Finals on Thursday, was asked about the Twitter controversy raging in Philadelphia. He spoke on the matter.

And didn’t say a heckuva lot. The league is monitoring the situation and hopes for a quick resolution. In other news, famine and disease are bad.

For the league, there is always that balance of speed and doing things in a deliberate and appropriate way. So I have talked to management at the 76ers, and the notion here was let’s find out what’s going on, Silver said. The first thing we have to do here is determine what the actual facts are in this circumstance.

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The Cowboys list Tavon Austin as a running back on their roster, but he starts his day in the wide receivers room.

Jones said the Cowboys expect to get Austin between 12 and 24 touches a game, which seems overambitious. Austin averaged 7.5 touches, including returns, in his five seasons with the Rams.

That felt like my college days, Austin said of Jones’ comment. I felt like I was back at West Virginia. That’s definitely a good feeling for him to even feel like he wants to do that to me. Being in this league, you’re probably only guaranteed three or four times a game. For him to say that, I’m blessed, and I hope it does come, and I can take advantage every time they give it to me.

I think that’s good, Trump said on Fox and Friends. I don’t think people should be staying in locker rooms, but still I think it’s good. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be there, maybe you shouldn’t be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem and the NFL owners did the right thing if that’s what they’ve done.

Trump said he doesn’t think he deserves to be seen as the person who made the new policy happen, saying instead that he just highlighted something that a lot of Americans cared about.

I think the people pushed it forward, Trump said. This was not me. I brought it out. I think the people pushed it forward. This country’s very smart. We have very smart people. That’s something ideally could have been taken when it first started, it would have been a lot easier. But if they did that, they’re doing the right thing.

The NFL has, in the past, allowed players to choose for themselves whether to stand for the anthem. Starting this year, players must stand if they are on the field, but they can choose not to be on the field during the anthem.

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The state that successfully waged a legal battle against all sports leagues to secure for all states the ability to have gambling on all sports now has the sports leagues trying a different approach.

Yes, they want their integrity fee in New Jersey.

Via NJ.com, the NBA, MLB, and PGA spent Thursday lobbying New Jersey legislators for the one-percent cut that those leagues have tried to get in other states. Baseball has enlisted (paid, presumably) former pitcher Al Leiter to assist.

Even without betting, plenty of fans think that the leagues want certain teams to make the playoffs and then to advance in the postseason. When the payoff isn’t simply increased ratings but increased bets from which the sports leagues receive a cut, those suspicions will grow.

The NFL continues to not be part of the state-to-state effort to secure an integrity fee. Instead, the NFL will be trying to lobby Congress for a nationwide regulatory scheme that gives the sports leagues payment under a less awkward label than integrity fee.

California Superior Court Judge Nona Klippen ruled Wednesday that insufficient evidence exists to proceed with domestic violence charges against Foster. The judge also reduced a charge of possession of an assault weapon to a misdemeanor, scheduling a pre-trial hearing for June 6.

Foster’s ex-girlfriend recanted accusations against him in a hearing last week.

Foster, 24, still faces a marijuana possession charge from his January 12 arrest in Alabama, with a court date scheduled for June 20. He is subject to league discipline for that arrest under the NFL’s substances of abuse policy.

Conversely, at times the small numbers are revelatory. After a period of championship contention built around a drafted haul such as Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, the Phillies have fallen in recent years and having a major-league-low 10 players this year from the 2008-13 drafts is a reason. The best was Ken Giles.

The Tigers also have followed serial contention with a slide and have just 13 drafted players in the majors from that period, the best of whom is Nick Castellanos and the second-best might be Chad Green.

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Former NFL Chief Operating Officer Tod Leiweke was once viewed as possible option to take over as NFL Commissioner should league owners have decided to make a change with Roger Goodell.

Instead, Leiweke left the league last month after three years in his position to return to Seattle and help lead an effort for a National Hockey League expansion franchise in the city. Leiweke was officially named as team president and Chief Executive Officer of the effort by prospective owners David Bonderman and film producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Leiweke’s brother, Tim, has spearheaded an effort to renovate KeyArena at Seattle Center to serve as a home for the franchise.

Leiweke previously spent seven years in Seattle as CEO of the Seahawks under Paul Allen. He joined the franchise in 2003 and led the charge to hire current head coach Pete Carroll away from USC after a disastrous 2009 season under head coach Jim Mora. After getting Carroll and General Manager John Schneider in place, Leiweke left Seattle to become a part of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s ownership group before moving to the NFL league office in 2015.

With more than two weeks to go until the draft begins, look for plenty of other rumors and reports and stuff that otherwise will give people something to talk about. Then, once the picks start to be made, we can collectively forget about all the hypothetical chatter from before the draft and focus on the actual assignments of players to teams, pick by pick through all seven rounds.

When his command is strong like it is today and the velo came back in a big way, it made for an incredible outing, said Phillies manager Gabe Kapler. If he’s a mid-range version of himself, he’s a very good starting pitcher. And if he’s a little bit better, he’s unhittable.

In Arrieta’s first two starts, he saw a small number of swings and misses. That changed on Thursday, striking out the first two batters on his way to 10 Ks and his 14 th career double-digit strikeout game.

Right away in the bullpen, everything was hard and moving down, said catcher Jorge Alfaro. He made it easy and fun. Just put a finger down and he hit the glove.

Francesco Cervelli recorded the only hit off Arrieta – and one of two for the Pirates in the game – with an infield single in the second.

Arrieta, who has pitched two no-hitters in his career said he felt almost as good as he did on those occasions.

Could Machado be a Phillie?

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The last year has featured a great deal of talk about the environment in New England, from the reports of friction between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, to Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson saying that the Patriots live in fear instead of having fun. Former Patriot Nate Solder has offered a more nuanced take.

[McDaniels] told me that if I ever needed to dip out of a meeting because the stress got to be too much, nobody would ask any questions. Coach Belichick told me the same, Solder writes. He said that if I ever needed to miss practice or a meeting, it was totally fine.’Whatever Hudson needs,’ he said. I don’t think I can even put into words how much I appreciated that — both what Bill said and how Josh handled everything. They treated me like a human being instead of a football player or a left tackle.

Solder titled his piece, Thank You, New England.

He cautioned against the drafting of quarterbacks and spoke supportively of the idea that running backs are worth picking early. Here are three dumb things Gettleman said in the press conference exactly a week before the 2018 NFL Draft:

OK… but, yes, they are. Gettleman can believe running backs are still valuable and establishing the run is important, but the fact that teams are spending less at the position is objectively true.

In free agency this offseason, Jerick McKinnon’s four-year, $30 million deal was easily the highest at the position and the only that included more than $10 million in guarantees. Meanwhile, the Vikings dished out a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million deal to Kirk Cousins.

It’s pretty simple: it’s difficult for running backs to get much on the free agency market, because they’re being — drum roll, please — devalued.

Should it be that way? The stats would tell you yes, but I suppose Gettleman can make the argument that having a top running back is transformative. But it’s certainly not a myth that the position is being valued less.

Representatives for Murphy, Sweeney and Coughlin declined to comment. 

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1 / 2 Chiefs, Rams to play in Mexico City on November 19 November 19 will see the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams go head-to-head in an NFL game in Mexico City. The Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams will play in Mexico City next season, it was confirmed on Wednesday. The 2018 NFL schedule has not been officially released but the Chiefs announced the November 19 clash, roughly three months after commissioner Roger Goodell said the two teams would play in Mexico during his State of the NFL press conference ahead of Super Bowl LII. 

Over the past two seasons, we have seen the extraordinary passion that exists for NFL football in Mexico, Goodell said in January. We are excited for another memorable event at Estadio Azteca as the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs head to Mexico City in 2018.

It is great to be participating in the NFL’s international games again and working with the league to grow the game abroad. Mexico has one of the largest NFL fan bases in the world and we are excited to bring Rams football to the millions of fans there.

All 10 skaters on the ice received 10-minute misconduct penalties after the five from each team wrestled, punched and jawed at each other. The yelling continued even as players were being separated and shuffled off the ice down the tunnels.

Devils forward Brian Boyle kept shouting at Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev as the two were held back and escorted to their respective benches. Boyle appeared to yell, I’m going to kill you, as they were taken off the ice.

If either make it to the Lions, they would be tough to pass up. And the team benefits from having both players’ college position coaches from last season on Matt Patricia’s defensive staff.

But in the possible scenario where both are gone, or the Lions have an opportunity to select a player higher on their draft board at a different position, there should be options on Day 2.

Ohio State’s Sam Hubbard is the solid, not spectacular all-around option, while Georgia’s Lorenzo Carter is the best athlete in the class — even more so than Davenport — but needs to add weight to his 6-foot-6, 250-pound frame.

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The old-school Jacksonville Jaguars are going to look like they play in 2018.

Not long after, Marshall posted a video on Instagram of him sliding his nameplate off his Giants locker for good.

The move was expected much earlier in the offseason. Gettleman said the Giants released Marshall with a designation of failed physical. Gettleman, asked if he would be interested in free agent receiver Dez Bryant, said: I have interest in everybody. We do our film work, and you never know.

Cutting Marshall clears $5.1 million in salary cap space the Giants will need if they’re going to increase Odell Beckham Jr.’s scheduled $8.4 million 2018 cap hit to $17 million or so on a long-term extension.

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky can see a huge difference after only three days running new coach Matt Nagy’s offense.

There’s more to it than just the system for Trubisky, as the Bears ended their first minicamp under Nagy on Thursday with a greater knowledge of an offense they hope eventually elevates them from the depths of the NFC North.

By now, you know the top four quarterback prospects heading into the 2018 NFL draft. It would be surprising to see any one of Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen or Baker Mayfield available after the top 10 picks at this point. Maybe even the top five. 

Beyond them, the athletic intrigue around Lamar Jackson likely will earn him a first-round selection. Early in Day 2, Mason Rudolph shouldn’t have to wait long to hear his name.

That link makes plenty of sense. Though Tom Brady is still producing his on-field magic after another MVP season in 2017, he’ll turn 41 in August.

The salary-cap reality of paying Jimmy Garoppolo forced the Patriots to trade him in October, leaving them in need of a new long-term succession plan. Lauletta would fit well with them, or a team in a similar situation, after he averaged 8.8 yards per attempt throughout his collegiate career.

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Drew Doughty played more than 27 1/2 minutes in the star defenseman’s return to the Kings’ blue line following a one-game suspension for hitting William Carrier in the series opener. Doughty also had partner Jake Muzzin back by his side after he missed the previous seven games with an upper-body injury.

In that scenario, such a team could easily land on Tanner Lee.

The problems with Lee are obvious. Over his two years at Tulane, he completed just 53.6 percent of his pass attempts and averaged a lowly 5.9 yards per throw.

His accuracy improved in 2017 after his transfer to Nebraska, but not by much. He finished the season with a completion percentage of 57.5 yards, but his poor decision-making led to 16 interceptions.

Lee did post a passer rating of 137.1 against tougher Big Ten competition this past season. And as Pauline reported back in January, teams are still impressed by Lee’s arm strength and overall physical tools—he’s 6’4 and 220 pounds—despite his lack of quality production.

That might be all he needs to find an NFL home without having to go the undrafted-free-agent route.

New York’s Jose Reyes is hitless in 16 at-bats this season after going 0 for 4.

The Browns could also try to work a deal with the Giants, who have the No. 2 overall selection, to gain some draft picks and still get the quarterback they covet. And there’s even been some conversation about the Browns drafting two quarterbacks, which sounds like an overreaction until you remember they haven’t had a franchise passer since returning to Cleveland in 1999.

But whatever happens, at least one quarterback is in the team’s plans, and will almost certainly happen at the top of the draft, right?

Well… here’s the thing: general manager John Dorsey, who was hired last December, presumably to draft a quarterback (something his predecessor, Sashi Brown, never did in the first round), had this to say when asked if running back Saquon Barkley was an option at No. 1.

We finally pushed them back far enough to where our guys could make plays, Schmidt said. That’s what happened in Vegas, and we did it here. We finally pushed them back to where our forwards could do some things.

Captain Anze Kopitar had a late goal and an assist, while Alex Iafallo scored his first career playoff goal in the first period. The Kings still haven’t won a playoff game at Staples Center since they last raised the Stanley Cup in June 2014.

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