We're only a few weeks away from finding out the final verdict on the Tush Push -- the signature play that the Philadelphia Eagles have mastered like no other team in the NFL.
However, if Eagles running back Saquon Barkley had his way, the idea of banning the play wouldn’t even be on the table.
"If you don't like it, get better at stopping it," Barkley told ESPN. "It's not like a play we only could do. Everybody does it. Everybody tries it. We're just super successful at it. They were super successful at it before I was there. I know what it does to a team. How it breaks down a team.
"And now being on a team, you're lining up everyone knows what you are doing. It's like stop me and they can't. So they're going to be in their feels about it and try to make changes, but I don't see that happening. And if it doesn't, just get better at stopping it."
Saquon Barkley weighs in on the "Tush Push" debate pic.twitter.com/qpwgIckEXK
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 7, 2025
Barkley is right. Any team can run the special version of a quarterback sneak, but Philly just happens to be a lot better at it than the rest of the league.
The Eagles boast a Tush Push conversion rate of around 86% compared to the league average of 76% in recent seasons.
The biggest question of the NFL offseason right now is: Will the Tush Push be banned?
The proposed ban is supposedly about player safety, which is kind of odd considering there’s barely any real evidence that the play is dangerous.
Still, the debate over the Tush Push continues and will remain front and center until the owners meet later this month.
At present, 16 teams support banning or modifying the play, but the NFL requires 24 votes to pass any rule change.
According to ESPN’s top NFL insider, Adam Schefter, if Roger Goodell wants those remaining eight votes, he’ll get them.
“I think if we go and we parse through what the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodel,l told reporters at his post-league meeting press conference, I think it became pretty apparent that he and others want the tush push out of the game," Schefter said.
"There are 16 votes that they've gotten. 16 teams willing to overturn the Tush Push and have it banned."The league needs 24 votes. And Roger Goodell is a master at getting the votes he needs for the issues he wants... Rest assured, they're going to be working to get those 24 votes before the main meeting in Minneapolis. And I believe, ultimately, they will get them."
We’ll find out soon enough the ultimate fate of the Tush Push when the league meetings start on May 20. Until then, the rest of the league might want to take Barkley's advice and keep working on how to stop it.
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The New York Jets opted to cut Aaron Rodgers and sign Justin Fields to replace him during the offseason. This kind of commitment to Fields should bolster his confidence, but it could also place a lot of pressure on his shoulders. To this point, Fields has looked solid in training camp, aside from a scary toe injury that was quickly resolved in July. Justin Fried of the Jet Press recently reported that Fields' training camp may have reached a new low over the weekend as the young signal caller struggled. "Justin Fields put together his best practice of the summer to this point on Friday, completing his first 12 passes en route to an excellent all-around performance. The same can't be said about his showing on Saturday, however," Fried wrote. "Fields finished the day an abysmal 2-of-10 in the air, including a drop from rookie tight end Mason Taylor. "Some of his incompletions were catchable balls, but the Jets' passing game struggles on Saturday can largely be blamed on No. 7. Fields did flash his running ability with a 25-yard rushing score on the first play of red-zone drills, but the Jets would like to see more consistency in the air from the starting quarterback. Saturday's scrimmage was far from his best showing of the summer." Fields is a runner first at the NFL level, but his arm is nothing to scoff at. For most of training camp, his arm talent has been better than advertised, but during Saturday's scrimmage, it just wasn't there. A 2 for 10 performance is unacceptable for a $40 million quarterback who was signed to take over the team. The running game should open up the passing game for the Jets, which is going to need to be the case if Fields is going to struggle like this. However, it's just one day of camp. It's nothing to be too concerned about. Just because Fields lost this specific practice doesn't mean he's heading in the wrong direction as a whole.
As it turned out, veteran pitcher Nestor Cortes’ time with the Milwaukee Brewers was just a short one. Cortes, who was acquired by the Brewers via a trade with the New York Yankees in December and signed a one-year, $7.6 million contract with the Brewers nearly a month later, has been sent by Milwaukee to the San Diego Padres ahead of last week’s trade deadline. Cortes opens up about trade from Milwaukee Brewers to San Diego The 30-year-old Cortes recently shared how he learned he was on the move to San Diego, which came just minutes before he was to board the team bus for a road trip. “It’s been a little crazy, I was in Milwaukee and flew in last night,” Cortes said on Monday (h/t Marty Caswell of The Sporting Tribune). “But as soon as I got traded, a bunch of people reached out and made me feel like I was really welcomed here. And walking into the clubhouse today, obviously a lot of guys came up to me and presented me to all these places that we have here. It’s amazing for me now. Just happy to be here, happy for the opportunity.” Getting traded wasn’t exactly a surprise for Cortes, and he also seemingly got to an ideal situation with the Padres despite parting ways with a Milwaukee squad that is leading the big leagues in the standings with 67 wins through Sunday. “I was a little surprised. Even though I felt if there was a chance to get out of Milwaukee, it was going to be to a contender and I’m just happy to be here and happy to compete,” added Cortes. “I want to get the ball every five days hopefully and be able to give the best that I can.” Cortes appeared in only two games with the Brewers, as he landed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow flexor strain before getting placed on the 60-day IL.
It's been a lucrative weekend for some of the NFL's defensive tackles. Just one day after the Denver Broncos locked in Zach Allen on a long-term deal, the Miami Dolphins did the same with another Zach — Zach Sieler — and signed him to a three-year, $67 million extension that will now make him the highest-paid defensive player on the Dolphins roster. The Dolphins defense took a big step forward in 2024 and climbed to the top 10 in points allowed and the top four in yards allowed. They still struggled against some of the NFL's better teams, but it was a better unit overall and Sieler was a big part of that. He's been a full-time starter the past three seasons and is coming off back-to-back 10-sack campaigns for the Dolphins. He is going to turn 30 just after Week 1 of the season, but his game should age well throughout the contract extension. It was a quiet free agent signing period for the Dolphins defense, mainly focusing on depth additions, but they did make one blockbuster trade by sending Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Minkah Fitzpatrick. They also addressed the defensive line in the 2025 NFL Draft in a big way by selecting defensive lineman with two of their first three picks. That included first-round pick Kenneth Grant out of Michigan and fifth-round pick Jordan Phillips out of Maryland.
For much of last year, it looked like the Vikings had found their long-term solution at kicker in Will Reichard, who they selected in the sixth round of the 2024 draft out of Alabama. That still might end up being the case. But Reichard has had a shakier-than-ideal start to his second training camp, and he generally hasn't quite looked the same since the quad injury that cost him a month as a rookie. Reichard missed twice from inside 40 yards at Saturday's practice, going wide left both times. He also missed twice the last time we saw him kick, hitting the left upright from 53 yards out and missing wide right from 46 on Tuesday. In total, Reichard has gone 13 for 18 in the three open practices where he's taken live field goal reps. That's not great for a training camp setting. To be very clear, I think it's entirely too early for any sort of real concern. Reichard has plenty of time to work with special teams coordinator Matt Daniels and fix whatever issues he's having. None of this will matter if he delivers in the regular season, which is still more than a month away from beginning. But it at least bears watching. It's something to keep in mind over the rest of training camp and into preseason action, which starts next Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Early last season, Reichard was a bit of a rookie sensation. He had an incredible training camp, booming kicks through the uprights from long range over and over. He then began his NFL career by going 14 for 14 on field goals and 20 for 20 on extra points over the Vikings' first seven games. That includes four makes from beyond 50 yards. But after the bye week, Reichard missed a couple field goals in a game against the Colts and cited some discomfort in his kicking leg. He wound up landing on IR with a quad injury, which cost him the next four games (John Parker Romo had an effective stint as his replacement). Upon returning, Reichard went 10 for 14 on field goal attempts the rest of the way. He wasn't the automatic sniper he was prior to the injury. And early in training camp, the shakiness seems to have carried over. Again, it's too early for significant concern. The Vikings don't suddenly need to bring in a kicker for competition. But given the franchise's history at the position, fans will be monitoring Reichard closely to see if he can get back to his pre-injury form. More Vikings coverage