The Miami Hurricanes are back in the news for another addition in the spring portal. The Hurricanes have now landed Tennessee transfer safety Jakobe Thomas.
Thomas was a top ten player available in the portal and now will take his talents to Coral Gables to provide needed depth in a position room that lacked any last season.
BREAKING: Tennessee transfer Safety Jakobe Thomas has Committed to Miami, @on3sports has learned
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 1, 2025
The 6’2 200 S has totaled 130 Tackles, 10 PD, 4 INT, & 2 FF through 3 seasons
He was a Top 10 Available Player in the Portalhttps://t.co/RlUbB6EMhS pic.twitter.com/XLqji06fKZ
He started his career at Middle Tennessee. The Seminoles already have that connection with him as his former head coach, who is the current offensive director of scouting for FSU. In his time there, he developed into a starter, where in the 2022 season, he appeared in 12 games and made three starts, totaling 37 tackles, one tackle for loss, one forced fumble, three pass deflections, and four interceptions.
In his lone season with the Volunteers, he totaled 22 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, one fumble recovery, and two pass deflections when he was put in the lineup. He will be another veteran voice for an extremely young locker room would help the Hurricanes in the long run, so the addition of Thomas is extremely promising.
Miami has had massive additions from both sides over the past few days, let alone the entire spring portal window. After the spring game, the Hurricanes knew they still needed a few more pieces if they wanted to compete at the highest level, and the addition of Thomas can help.
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Mason West is a talented prospect of the future for the Chicago Blackhawks, but it appears he may look to leave hockey for big opportunities in football. The Chicago Blackhawks landed Anton Frondell with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, but it was perhaps their second first-round pick that drew the most intrigue, as they drafted centre Mason West out of the USHL. That pick was intriguing for many reasons, with the 6-foot-6 centre having potential with his talent and his physicality, but now, the team may be in danger of losing the talented 17-year old. According to a report from The Athletic, the No. 29 overall pick has been drawing interest from several NCAA programs to join their team as a football player. Standing at 6-foot-6, the Minnesota native is a star in both hockey and football, tallying 49 points in 31 games at the high school level while also being a star Quarterback, and after putting up 9 points in 10 USHL games with the Fargo Force, the future is bright for him in both sports. Ultimately, at 17-years of age, the future is very bright whichever way West ends up going, but given that the Blackhawks used a first-round pick on him in this past seasons draft, they're clearly confident that they can not only keep him in hockey, but make a good NHLer out of him moving forward.
The World Junior Summer Showcase is in full swing, and Maple Leafs top prospect Ben Danford is shattering expectations, truly proving how good of a player he can be. The Toronto Maple Leafs' defensive prospect, Ben Danford, is among the 44 players who were invited to Hockey Canada's World Juniors Summer Showcase. Hockey Canada finally unveiled the 44 prospects who will head to Minnesota for the showcase, after they held the roster release back while the organization dealt with several injuries, which begins Sunday and runs through August 2 in Minneapolis. Defensive prospect Ben Danford is the only Maple Leafs player invited to the annual showcase, where Canada's World Junior staff will get their first look at what their team might look like for the 2026 World Juniors, which will also take place in Minnesota in December. Danford is being called the best player at the World Juniors Summer Showcase Danford has been exceeding expectations, and one source revealed that he has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase so far. The source said Danford is steady, smart, and hard to ignore on the ice. 'Ben Danford has been the best player at the World Junior Showcase he's steady, smart, and impossible to ignore. Makes every shift count, whether he's breaking up plays or starting the rush. Canada's blue line is in good hands.' - An unnamed source The Maple Leafs selected Danford with their first pick (31st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft. During his visit to Toronto's development camp earlier this month, the defender revealed that he's receiving mentorship from current Leafs defensemen as well as some alumni like Mark Giordano. The 6-foot-2 Danford could make for an excellent fit for Canada should he make the team. He is responsible in his own end, and he demonstrated leadership capabilities when he was named captain of the Oshawa Generals ahead of the 2024-25 OHL season.
As Trey Hendrickson prepares to end his holdout, it's time for the Cincinnati Bengals to meet their star edge-rusher halfway. On Tuesday, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that Hendrickson plans to end his holdout amid a prolonged contract dispute by reporting to Bengals camp on Wednesday despite still seeking an extension. "Reporting to camp stops the $50,000 per day fines and also serves as a good-faith gesture to try to jumpstart negotiations," Schefter wrote. Hendrickson is owed $18.7M in 2025. Last season, Hendrickson led the NFL in sacks (17.5). He originally signed a four-year, $60M contract with the Bengals during 2021 free agency and later signed a one-year extension in July 2023 to keep him Cincinnati through 2025. With no guarantees beyond this upcoming season and the edge-rusher market exploding recently, Hendrickson certainly has a valid argument to demand an extension. Meanwhile, Cincinnati has few (if any) good reasons not to reward their best defensive player. Hendrickson, 30, has been one of the league's most prolific pass-rushers since joining the Bengals. Former agent Joel Corry, writing for CBS Sports, brushed aside concerns about a potential drop-off in production while pointing to Pittsburgh Steelers edge T.J. Watt's recent contract extension. As Corry noted, Watt, who became the league's highest-paid non-quarterback when he agreed to a three-year, $123M extension earlier this offseason, is roughly two months older than Hendrickson. "Hendrickson also accounted for 48.6% of Cincinnati's sacks last season while Watt was responsible for 28.8% of Pittburgh's," Corry wrote. On Monday, Schefter shared that the main sticking point in Hendrickson's contract dispute is guaranteed money, with the Bengals hesitant to provide any guarantees beyond 2025 on a potential three-year deal. As productive as Hendrickson has been for the Bengals — his 57 sacks since 2021 only trail Watt and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett — the front office should be doing everything in its power to ensure he finishes his career in Cincy. Hendrickson ending his holdout is the first step to the sides reaching a resolution. The next is the Bengals giving him an extension commensurate to his production.
There have been a couple of different theories floated about why the Las Vegas Raiders made the shocking decision to cut star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, but head coach Pete Carroll has no interest in sharing the real motive. The Raiders released Wilkins on Thursday, which was barely a year after they signed him to a four-year, $110M contract in free agency. Initial reports suggested Wilkins and the team were at odds over how the 29-year-old's foot injury was being handled, but the story has since taken a bizarre turn. ESPN's Adam Schefter said on Monday that there was an incident between Wilkins and a teammate in the locker room that Wilkins viewed as playful, but his teammate did not take it that way. Tashan Reed of The Athletic reported that the incident took place in a meeting room at the Raiders' facility last week and was investigated by the team's human resources department. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Carroll about the alleged incident. The 73-year-old coach refused to get into it. "I have no comment to make,” Carroll said, via The Athletic. “We made a decision on what we’re doing, and we’re moving with it. We’ll see how that all unveils itself in time.” The last part of Carroll's comment is interesting. Carroll may have been saying time will tell how the decision to cut Wilkins will turn out for the Raiders, or he may have been insinuating that more information will come out at some point. Raiders defensive tackle Adam Nelson was also asked about Wilkins on Tuesday. Nelson responded by encouraging people to seek therapy if they are struggling with something in their life. Wilkins had 17 total tackles and a pair of sacks in five games with the Raiders before he suffered his season-ending foot injury.
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