National Football League

National Football League

Cal football general manager Ron Rivera may not be done with the NFL after all. The former coach of the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders interviewed recently with the Arizona Cardinals for their vacant coaching position, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Rivera, 64, took over the Golden Bears' football program less than year ago, aiming to use his NFL experience to help his alma mater fast-forward into the new world of college football, complete with Name, Image and Likeness,

The Senior Bowl is an invite-only showcase of upperclassmen prospects and an important step toward forming a plan for the 2026 NFL draft. You can check out practice coverage Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN App, and then at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU/ESPN App. Thursday's practices will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU/ESPN App, and then at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNNews. (There will be a re-airing on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. ET.)

Lombardi had spent 12 years, over two different stints, on Payton's staff with the New Orleans Saints and had been the Broncos' offensive coordinator since Payton was hired in 2023. Payton, however, is the team's playcaller on gameday. As the Broncos' offensive coordinator, Lombardi was in the coaches' booth on gameday and among those on the headset with Payton during games as Payton was the voice in Nix's helmet.

Please, no. Please, can we have football still be football and not tinkered with until it is some algorithm-based product designed to maximize flashiness for the attention-deficit crowd? Can football, for all its brute violence, remain a thinking person's game, where strategy and decisions and variables and a million little things still matter, including snow or wind or rain or sunshine or calm or, who really cares?

"What was found was a condition that was predisposed - they always find a little more when they go in," Payton said. "It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when. When you look at the play and you're trying to evaluate it - the operating surgeon said that this was going to happen sooner than later. Now, you go about the rehab, proper orthotics, all those things."

The New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. In an amazing turn of events from two disastrous 4-13 seasons under two different former coaches, Robert Kraft finally hired Mike Vrabel. In one magical offseason, he engineered a transformation for the ages, turning an NFL frog into a prince by reaching the Super Bowl. Vrabel and his young quarterback, Drake Maye, beat all the odds, and owner Robert Kraft can again stake a claim to being the best owner in the NFL.

Jones comes from outstanding stock. He worked his way up from a high school coach to the college ranks, spending one year as LSU's defensive coordinator before moving to the pros. He's also spent time under the guidance of experts, including Flores, Mike Zimmer, and Vance Joseph. It's an intriguing hire. Still, it means Quinn is heading into a make-or-break campaign relying on two play-callers with no NFL experience in this field.

Stafford led the NFL in passing yards (4,707), touchdowns (46) and touchdown-interception radio (5.8), giving him 313 more passing yards and 15 more touchdowns than Maye. Stafford's 2025 season was the eighth time in NFL history that a quarterback threw for at least 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns, according to ESPN Research. Six of the previous seven quarterbacks to do so won MVP. The only player who didn't was the Saints' Drew Brees in 2011, as Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers also reached those thresholds

That'd be dope in general as a room and just for morale as an offensive piece, [with] the tight end being one of the focal points in it," Pitts said ( via Schultz on X). The tight end clarified that he had a significant role under Arthur Smith and Raheem Morris, but he expected an "enhanced role" if he sticks in Atlanta for the long haul.

Drake Maye vs. Sam Darnold. Two stingy defenses. A second-year head coach vs. a veteran coach in his second act.Super Bowl 60 is set and it's a rematch: The New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks.The Patriots will seek their NFL-record seventh Super Bowl victory when they face the Seahawks on Feb. 8 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

The day's early offering was decided by snow and an ill-fated decision by Broncos coach Sean Payton before the weather took over and dominated both sides for the rest of the game. If you're a 49ers fan, it's impressive and depressing at the same time. Impressive because your team somehow won 13 games and would likely be pretty competitive with either the Patriots or Broncos. Depressing because they aren't even in the same stratosphere with the Seahawks and Rams.