In March, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was defiant.

Sure, his front office had followed ownership’s mandate to cut costs, jettisoning veteran (aka expensive) depth and replacing it with no one in particular (cheap) during free agency, but as Lynch told this news organization: “We’ve got this thing called the draft.”

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CHICAGO — If you believe the Chicago Bears won the offseason — a competition loosely run between January and June — anticipation for how they will fare when things really matter should be peaking with the regular season nearly here.

The club completed moves to establish an initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, and now attention turns to the ...Read more

Former first-round pick and starting left guard Cole Strange was among the 21 players the Patriots released Tuesday to meet the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline.

Strange and fifth-round rookie outside linebacker Bradyn Swinson headlined a group of mostly expected cuts. Strange lost his starting job to third-round rookie Jared Wilson after the ...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seahawks made cuts.

I’ve got questions.

I’ve also got optimism, as Seattle enters coach Mike Macdonald’s second season with fresh faces at offensive coordinator, quarterback and more. Despite a lack of star power, the Seahawks appear primed to build on Macdonald’s 10-7 debut, with the bedrock being an experienced and ...Read more

NEW YORK — Tommy DeVito got caught in a quarterback crunch.

DeVito did not make the Giants’ 53-man roster, which the team finalized Tuesday afternoon on the NFL’s cutdown day.

The 27-year-old DeVito was the odd man out after the Giants signed veteran quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and drafted Jaxson Dart this offseason.

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Former NFL quarterback Jay Cutler accepted a guilty plea on Tuesday for a 2024 DUI in Tennessee.

Under the agreement, Cutler will serve four days at the Williamson County Jail, beginning by the end of the month. He was also ordered to pay a $350 fine, will be placed on supervised probation for one year and must attend a DUI safety class.

An ...Read more

NEW YORK — A year after being drafted by the Jets, wide receiver Malachi Corley is now looking for a new team.

After they traded up to select him 65th overall in the 2024 NFL draft, the Jets waived Corley on Tuesday morning, a source confirmed to the New York Daily News.

Dubbed the YAC king at Western Kentucky because of his ability to ...Read more

CHICAGO — During the first quarter of his first preseason game as Chicago Bears coach, Ben Johnson watched his defense dig deep on four consecutive goal-to-go plays by the Miami Dolphins and loved what he saw.

On fourth down, with the Bears defending the final yard outside Soldier Field’s south end zone, linebacker Noah Sewell provided the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — First, do no harm might as well be Andy Reid’s mantra for preseason games — particularly when it comes to megastar Patrick Mahomes.

For everything else the Chiefs might seek to establish or learn about their roster, shrewdly minimizing exposure to injury for Mahomes (among others) is the prime directive.

Which is why ...Read more

SANTA CLARA. Calif. — Jake Moody missed another kick on Saturday.

It should be his last miss in a 49ers uniform.

The 49ers kicker pulled a 33-yard extra-point attempt left of the uprights in the Niners’ preseason finale against the Chargers on Saturday, cementing a preseason and training camp where the embattled kicker only invited more ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers informed the team Monday that he wants to be traded, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Meyers, 28, is entering the final season of the three-year contract he signed in 2023. He has been seeking a new deal to remain in Las Vegas, but there hasn’t been significant progress ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Raiders are reuniting with one of their old first-round picks with their regular-season opener less than two weeks away.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 draft, signed a one-year deal with the team Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Cooper, 31, had 44 catches for 547 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford appears on track to start the season opener against the Houston Texans — and now perhaps his primary protector will join him in the preparation.

Left tackle Alaric Jackson, who has been sidelined because of blood-clot issues in his legs, will participate in full-team drills for the first time ...Read more

NEW YORK — Week 1 just got even tougher for the New York Giants.

Star wide receiver Terry McLaurin agreed Monday to a three-year, $96 million contract extension with the Washington Commanders, according to ESPN, putting him back on track to face the Giants in the Sept. 7 season opener.

The agreement ends a hold-in for McLaurin, who sat out ...Read more

MIAMI — How good is the Miami Dolphins’ starting quarterback? Is he all the team hoped he would be and as good as it needs him to be? Six years into The Decade of Tua Tagovailoa, neither the Dolphins nor their fans can say they know for sure.

This is a problem.

It is time to find out.

Coach Mike McDaniel said at the start of training camp...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Shilo Sanders was ejected from Saturday night’s preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills for throwing a punch.

Now the Buccaneers will fight on without him.

According to agent Drew Rosenhaus, Sanders was released by the Bucs Sunday as they began to trim their roster to 53 players by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.

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MINNEAPOLIS — With a trade and a free-agent pickup on Sunday morning, the Minnesota Vikings reshaped their quarterback room.

They traded Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles, along with a 2026 sixth-round pick, for a 2026 fifth-rounder and a 2027 seventh-rounder. Almost simultaneously, they signed Carson Wentz, the former Eagles MVP ...Read more

MIAMI — Anytime a young player hangs his head, feeling low about their performance in practice, or a game, discouraged about his standing with the team he is asked to hold that thought for a minute.

That’s when coaches will pull up the often-updated video of the Miami Dolphins’ best rags-to-riches story, a tale about a defensive lineman ...Read more

DENVER — George Paton should have been fired.

Now, he deserves his flowers.

Of all the stunning improvements experienced by the Broncos over the past two seasons, one transformation has gone largely unnoticed. It doesn’t involve a player, like Jonathon Cooper. Or a formerly embattled coach, like defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

It is ...Read more