BALTIMORE — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has a new backup.

Cooper Rush has agreed to a two-year, $6.2 million deal worth up to $12.2 million with Baltimore, a source with direct knowledge of the deal confirmed to The Baltimore Sun. Rush spent his first seven seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, where he was the backup to Dak ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears aren’t the only NFC North team that invested in the line of scrimmage during a whirlwind start to the NFL’s new year.

They’re just the team that has done the most work in the trenches after a 5-12 season, the sixth time in the last 11 years they finished last in the division.

The Bears have been so busy, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — If I told you in August that the Eagles would win Super Bowl LIX but afterward they would lose Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, Kenneth Gainwell, Oren Burks and Mekhi Becton, your response would have been a resounding:

“Who cares?”

The performances of that quintet, as well as a few others, outpaced expectations, but none of ...Read more

On the same day the 49ers brought back a longtime member of their backfield in Kyle Juszczyk, they reportedly agreed to send away another major figure in their rushing offense.

The Niners are trading Jordan Mason, their top rusher in 2024, to the Minnesota Vikings just days after giving him a second-round tender as a restricted free agent, NFL ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After agreeing to terms with Aaron Jones on a new two-year contract this week, the Vikings struck a sign-and-trade deal Saturday night for a younger complement to the running back.

According to multiple sources, they sent a 2026 sixth-round pick to San Francisco and swapped picks in the 2025 draft with the 49ers in exchange for ...Read more

SEATTLE — There hasn't always been a bidding war for Cooper Kupp.

When he joined the Davis High School football team as a freshman in 2008, the diminutive wide receiver was 5 feet 4 and 119 pounds. Despite compiling 110 catches and 2,100 receiving yards as a three-year starter, including a school-record 22 touchdowns in his senior season, the...Read more

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — By keeping quarterback Kirk Cousins on the Falcons roster through Saturday, his $10 million roster bonus has become fully guaranteed, according to multiple reports.

The payment was due before March 17, the fifth day of the start of the new league business year. The Falcons have repeatedly expressed their plans to retain ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The unassailable right of an elite professional athlete has long been to (mostly) do whatever the heck he or she wants.

Shoes, mansions, cars ... shoot, former NBA guard Gilbert Arenas owned a shark tank. In his house. They do it because they can. The rest of the world gives them a hall pass on reality.

But what happens when ...Read more

NEW YORK — Russell Wilson visited the Giants on Friday in East Rutherford, N.J., as the Aaron Rodgers option continued to fade into murkier view.

No one can say for sure what Rodgers, 41, will choose as he deliberates on his next move between the Giants, Steelers, Vikings and retirement.

But some sources believed as of Thursday night that ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seahawks are turning to a home-state kid made good — Yakima native and former Eastern Washington University standout Cooper Kupp — to remake their receiving corps in the wake of the departures of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

Three days after being released by the Los Angeles Rams — and after hearing pitches from a handful...Read more

MIAMI — NFL free agency is an amorphous blob as teams spend what salary-cap limits will allow to try to get better (or slightly less worse) ahead of the April draft.

I’ll focus here by homing in on the Miami Dolphins’ dispiriting offseason thus far, and on the biggest remaining national storyline — the future of an incredibly available ...Read more

CHICAGO — The new pieces are in place.

The Bears spent the past week revamping the interior of their offensive line. They traded for a four-time Super Bowl champion in Joe Thuney and a former Pro Bowler in Jonah Jackson to play the two guard spots. Then they signed Drew Dalman, who was widely considered the top center on the free-agent market...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs have their next backup quarterback, and he once had a huge game against Kansas City.

The Kansas City Star has confirmed Gardner Minshew, who started nine games with the Las Vegas Raiders last season and 46 in his NFL career, has signed a one-year deal with the Chiefs

Minshew is the latest in a line of veterans ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Marcus Mariota, anyone?

That would have been scintillating. Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith could pair his old quarterback with Cordarrelle Patterson and run the finest read option you've ever seen — before Mariota reportedly returned to Washington on Wednesday.

I'm almost being serious. If this pitiful Steelers ...Read more

Restrained. Responsible. Thrifty. Patient. Disciplined. Calculated. Conservative. Considered.

Who’s running the Miami Dolphins like this?

No, seriously, who?

They worked the margins of free agency this week in a borderline admirable manner considering their too-old, too-hurt, far-too-expensive roster that everything feels changed except the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Mike Williams is running a comeback route.

A year after being released by the Chargers, the team announced Wednesday it agreed to terms with the wide receiver. Williams will return on a one-year deal worth up to $6 million, according to Fox Sports.

A first-round pick in 2017, Williams caught 309 passes for 4,806 yards in seven ...Read more

DENVER — Since Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have been staring up at the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West, stamped as a team that would settle for used cars, eat leftovers, fly coach and serve as a warmup band.

Second-hand. Second-place (Or worse). They were a password. Easily forgotten.

On second thought, those days are over.

The Broncos ...Read more

SEATTLE — It’s beginning to materialize, even if there are some gaping holes.

The vision for winning for the division — and maybe more than that — is coming together, but other areas must be addressed.

This has been one of the more tumultuous and/or exciting offseasons for the Seahawks in a while depending on your perspective. Key ...Read more

Honesty is the best policy.

So the San Francisco 49ers should just come out and say it: they’re going for a dive in ’25.

Actions might speak louder than words, but setting expectations requires both.

It’s clear, though, from the Niners’ actions as the new league year begins that the team’s roster is not the only thing being reset. ...Read more