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There will likely be more GM openings compared to the 2023 cycle. After the Raiders and Chargers fired their respective GMs in-season, the Commanders are expected to follow suit after the season. Given the turmoil in Carolina, it should also be viewed as likely the Panthers clean house.
Scott Fitterer is probably in his final weeks on the job in Carolina, with The Athletic’s Joe Person indicating many around the league point to the third-year GM being canned soon. While Fitterer is well liked around the league, the Panthers have struggled during his tenure. Considering how quick David Tepper was to pull the plug on Frank Reich, Fitterer’s 2024 ouster has been rumored for a bit.
The longtime Seahawks exec loomed as a GM candidate for a stretch before his 2021 hire, and he signed on to work alongside Matt Rhule. The latter ran the show in Carolina during his three-year HC tenure, but Fitterer’s solo run has produced roster fireworks. The Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey shortly after Rhule’s firing and they turned down a monster Rams offer (two first-round picks and a third-rounder) for Brian Burns. Bears negotiations in the winter included Burns and Derrick Brown, but Fitterer and Ryan Poles came to an agreement on a deal that sent D.J. Moore and a host of draft picks to Chicago for the No. 1 overall slot.
Tepper has widely been viewed as leading the charge for Bryce Young, but that swap has burned the Panthers early. Because of Carolina’s 2-12 record, Chicago is close to obtaining the No. 1 pick for a second straight year. It looks like Fitterer will pay the price. The Panthers sport a .292 win percentage since 2021, which matches the Bears for the NFL’s lowest during that span. The next Panthers power structure will be tasked with rebuilding Young, who is believed to have suffered from a complicated offensive approach built on combining Reich and OC Thomas Brown‘s visions.
As the Panthers remain connected to an offense-oriented coach – one who will be OK working with Tepper given the run the sixth-year owner is on – they look to be considering pairing that to-be-determined leader with DC Ejiro Evero. The Panthers are intrigued by the idea of Evero staying and working alongside the team’s next HC, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes.
A sought-after HC candidate this offseason, Evero ended up as the Panthers’ DC after the Broncos let him out of his DC contract. Evero interviewed for the Vikings and Panthers’ DC jobs, after meeting with Carolina about the HC job that went to Reich. Bolstering his reputation on Nathaniel Hackett‘s sinking Broncos ship last year, Evero became the rare in-demand coordinator from a 5-12 team. The Broncos also expressed interest in keeping Evero to team with Sean Payton, but the sides determined it was not a fit. Denver rehired Vance Joseph, while Evero’s stock has not dropped much despite Carolina’s 2023 futility.
A wide disparity exists between the Panthers’ points and yardage rankings on defense; Carolina ranks 29th in scoring defense but third in yards yielded. The Panthers’ pass defense also ranks third. DVOA leans toward the scoring number as more indicative of the defense’s true performance; Carolina’s defense sits 27th here. The Panthers have, however, played much of this season without top corner Jaycee Horn and linebacker stalwart Shaq Thompson.
It will be interesting to see if Tepper would consider forcing Evero upon his new HC. That seems like a stretch, considering the team’s unraveling after Steve Wilks‘ admirable interim effort and the owner’s own reputation likely to make a hire more difficult this year. But this scenario does look to be in play. If so, Evero would be on the verge of developing an interesting reputation for garnering praise despite being a DC for bad teams.
More must-reads:
- Myles Garrett reveals bold goal for 2025 Browns amid four-way QB competition
- Steelers' T.J. Watt addresses viral social post during contract negotiations
- The 'Single-season sack leaders by NFL team' quiz
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Tua Tagovailoa addresses relationship with Tyreek Hill after controversial comments
Shortly after Miami Dolphins players reported for training camp on Tuesday, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill suggested he wants to be "better as a leader" after he controversially subbed himself out of Miami's regular-season finale this past January and then told reporters he was "out." While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa addressed the Hill-sized elephant in the room. "I think there’s a lot more vulnerability with Tyreek," Tagovailoa explained, as shared by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "He’s conversating a lot more with the guys, not just about football, but about things off the field, being vulnerable about some of the things people know about his personal life and things of that nature. I think that’s the first step toward him building true relationships and a real connection with a lot of the guys in there." Following Hill's "out" comment, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier revealed that the 31-year-old speedster never requested a trade. While publicly apologizing to his teammates during a Super Bowl week interview, Hill directly said that Tagovailoa is his "guy." Hill also insisted at the time that he loves Tagovailoa. "Everybody makes mistakes," Tagovailoa added about Hill. "It’s just, some people, they’re in the spotlight, and their deals get pushed out more than some others. So you’ve just got to cut him some grace. That’s our teammate. We love him, but as a person, I think if you get to know him, you’ll love him too." Hill and Tagovailoa likely will need to be on the same page if they want to prevent the Dolphins from going through a franchise reset next offseason. At least head coach Mike McDaniel is reportedly on the hot seat this summer, while Tagovailoa's status beyond the upcoming campaign is up in the air after he suffered a third reported concussion since the fall of 2022 last season. "You guys aren’t the only people that heard that," Tagovailoa said about Hill's "out" statement. "...So when you say something like that, you don’t just come back from that with, 'Hey, my bad.' You’ve got to work that relationship up. You’ve got to build everything up again. It’s still a work in progress, not just for me but for everybody. But like I said, he’s working on himself, he’s working on the things he says he wants to get better with and do better on. So that’s the first step to me, so I commend him for doing that." As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the 2024 Dolphins at -275 betting odds to miss the playoffs. Those who believe the relationship between Tagovailoa and Hill is on shaky ground following Wednesday's developments may want to take a flier on such a wager before the odds change later this year.
Nationals OF makes Catch of the Year candidate to rob home run
Washington Nationals outfielder Jacob Young delivered a Catch of the Year candidate with a spectacular grab he made on Wednesday. Young’s Nationals lost 5-0 to the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, and the score could have been worse if not for Young. Will Benson was batting for Cincinnati with a runner on third base and two outs in the top of the eighth inning with his team leading 3-0. He belted a first pitch 96 mph fastball to deep center, but Young climbed the wall in center field to rob Benson of a 2-run home run. Here is a slow-motion version of the catch that shows Young climbing the wall to make the catch. What a catch by Young. Although Benson gave that pitch quite a ride, the metrics suggest it would have been a home run in only five MLB ballparks, so a flyout was an anticipated outcome. You just wouldn’t expect that ball to become an out in the manner that it did. Holy cow.
Five reasons the NHL's new 84-game schedule is a bad idea
“The NHL schedule is just too short!” said no one ever. In early July, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association ratified a four-year extension to their collective bargaining agreement through September 2030. The deal was rightfully praised as a win for the sport. After decades of bad blood and the lingering threat of labor stoppages, an extension — that kicks in for the 2026-27 season — arriving more than a year early speaks volumes on the health of the players’ relationship with the league. Amid the good vibes, it was easy to discount one small change with potentially significant consequences: an increase from 82 to 84 games in the NHL’s regular season. We’re diving into the league’s new schedule and considering the unforeseen impact of adding more games to a packed calendar. Here are five key reasons this subtle shift is an ill-timed cash grab by hockey’s power brokers. History of the schedule Before we get into the future schedule, it’s important to understand the league’s past. The visual below shows the maximum number of combined games a team has potentially been able to play across the regular season and postseason since expansion. Forcing more games out of the talent is far from a new idea. With the exception of abbreviated lockout and pandemic calendars — excluded above — the NHL’s schedule length had been the same since the mid-1990s. Teams currently play 82 regular-season games, while the Stanley Cup finalists can play another 28 if their four best-of-seven series go the maximum. That’s 110. The league briefly dabbled with an 84-game season schedule in 1992-93 and 1993-94 where teams played a pair of neutral-site games to serve as feelers for future expansion. It didn’t stick. For 30 years, everyone seemed to agree — the season was long enough. 82 games wedged into six-plus months and four grueling playoff rounds was plenty. Plus preseason games, All-Star weekends, and international events. Every cent had been squeezed, every sweat drop had been left on the ice. Until now… ✅ Arguments for Change Prior to picking apart the new 84-game version, the reasons supporting the additional games deserve their day in court. And there are reasons, sort of. It balances the schedule. 84 games ensures each team plays its division rivals exactly four times. Argument against: Ah, competitive balance. It’s a nice idea. But let’s be serious. If anyone had the slightest interest in fairness, the current playoff format would be scrapped. The NHL’s division-based bracket often features first-round series between elite teams. The format doesn’t reseed either, leading to easier postseason paths for weaker teams. We can’t pretend a balanced schedule matters. The preseason has been reduced by two games. You may be screaming that this is all noise as the new CBA has offset the preseason by two games — a net-zero change in game count. Argument against: Established veterans mostly sit out the exhibition calendar anyway, reluctantly drawing in for two or three low-intensity games to appease fans and shake off rust. Two intra-division games tacked onto the schedule don’t offset meaningless autumn skates that top players mostly watch from home. There is money to be made. Money is the only (real) reason for adding to the schedule. Two extra divisional matches sell more tickets, TV ads and draft beer. The owners and players share equally in any new hockey-related revenue. Argument against: Sure, 84 regular-season games generates more dollars than 82 games. So would 86 games. Or 100 games. A postseason play-in round would create “must-watch” games too. But where does this line of thinking end? Everyone signed off on the change. While we’re not privy to the details on whether scheduling was a contentious issue, both the NHL and NHLPA bilaterally agreed from negotiations. Argument against: The NFL added one game in 2021 to create a 17-game schedule. Many players still hate it. There’s now buzz of an 18th game. While money talks, sometimes leadership needs to save the players from themselves. ❌ Why 84 games is a bad idea The new CBA had its chance to prove to us more games is good for hockey. It hasn’t. Let’s get down to why this money-driven move shouldn’t have gone forward. 1. Players are finally getting healthier. While missed games aren’t a perfect measure to weigh frequency and severity of injury, it’s a reasonable proxy for player health. Enter NHL Injury Viz, which houses 25 years of player injury and illness data. I’ve normalized games missed by season for schedule length and team count over the past quarter-century, and the results are fascinating. From the visual, we can see that games missed have now dropped below pre-pandemic levels. Given the data counts injuries and illnesses that players actually miss games from, we can’t say that every single physical issue is factored. But we can conclude that in 2024-25, NHL players missed the fewest relative number of games in at least 23 years. In a league where players missing “only” 6,641 games is a positive trend, cramming in a few more tough matchups to juice a percentage point of revenue feels wrong. 2. We are wearing out our biggest superstars. No one is going to cry for Connor McDavid. He’s 28 years old and has earned just shy of $100 million in his 10-year career before endorsements. His next deal could push him near $20 million per season given the rising salary cap. Two more games shouldn’t wreck a finely tuned athlete. But consider his last two years. On top of the preseason schedule, McDavid faced 164 regular-season games (missed 21 due to injury), the midseason 4 Nations Face-off (scored the winning goal), plus two All-Star weekends (designed and won the 2025 skills event). He’s also played an additional 53 games of nasty postseason hockey with fewer than 90 days off each summer. That’s more than 230 game days in 21 months. While international best-on-best hockey is great for all of us, McDavid will fly to Italy and back for another six Olympic contests in February 2026. This compresses the NHL season further, resulting in 13 back-to-back outings for the Oilers, who have a famously exhausting travel schedule. With international play now slated as part of the league’s bi-annual calendar, do we need to drain the top guys further? 3. Load management is inevitable — if it hasn’t already started. Hockey fans famously chirp their basketball-loving pals about NBA talent skipping games. Hockey players would never sit out to rest. Well, we might test that theory soon. Every sport has a tipping point. In an NHL where 10 of 16 playoff teams can usually sleepwalk to the postseason, someone is going to implement the obvious benefit of load management. It may have crept in late last season… McDavid missed eight games in April with a lower-body injury. With a playoff spot secured, he was not rushed back, coasting to his 100th point in the season finale against the lowly San Jose Sharks. Leon Draisaitl, with the Rocket Richard Trophy locked, missed Edmonton’s final seven games with an undisclosed injury. He was fit enough to play the Oilers’ first playoff game, logging two points in 22:02. After leading NHL forwards in average ice time (22:47), reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon sat the final three games with an undisclosed injury. It may have cost him the scoring title — he lost by five points to Nikita Kucherov — but ensured MacKinnon was well-rested for the postseason. While these might not be random Tuesdays in January, three of the league’s biggest stars may have quietly started a trend last spring. They were good with recovering slowly for the greater good. Goaltenders are already ahead of the curve to maximize performance — only five started 60 games last year. Will these two extra games, combined with a recurring international slate, finally push sport science in hockey to its inevitable conclusion? 4. The NHL product will get watered down. Logically, the longer the season, the less important each game becomes. The new CBA is effectively telling us that by adding to the calendar. It’s not good for entertainment purposes. Here’s why: Even if players don’t sit out, there is another consequence … they just don’t play as hard (gasp). Again, it’s two games. But we all know that feeling when you see your favorite team play the first minute of its first April playoff game. The elevated speed and physicality on that opening dump in where you lean toward the TV and nod at your buddy? This is what we give up with more games. Like you or I, athletes only have so much to give in a week, a month or a year. With ongoing talk of further expansion, more teams spread out talent. More games spread out intensity, further diluting the product. 5. The cap is already rising significantly. In the last decade, when the salary cap rose modestly — or not at all during the pandemic years — adding games to the schedule was a defendable lever to pull. Wealthy owners and athletes or not, things were ugly in the not-too-distant past. When would fans return to arenas? How much escrow were the players facing? Would league economics ever get back on track? While many dollars were lost from COVID, the rising salary cap tells a story of a league confident in economic resurgence. The cap ceiling is set to rise 29% from this past season by 2027-28. We saw the first signs of player compensation boosts in July as teams and player agents stickhandled their new reality. While free agents always get paid, they were paid this offseason given the generous cap space. Adding to the schedule as the cap quickly climbs feels like missing the forest through the trees. Conclusion: Adding two games to the calendar may not bring mass injuries, load management and a tired product overnight. But tipping points are difficult to identify in the moment. The new schedule also messes with recordkeeping and milestones, among other statistical issues. Much-needed labor peace is a win for anyone in hockey, yet even the biggest superfan would have to admit the season runs excessively long. At best, the NHL and NHLPA have taken a shortsighted risk. At worst, it could deliver a host of negative, unintended consequences.
Bengals star is growing frustrated with team's unresolved disputes
Quarterback Joe Burrow has clearly grown exasperated with the way the Cincinnati Bengals do business. The Bengals started training camp Wednesday, but Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart were absent. Hendrickson is seeking an extension, while Stewart is the only first-round pick who remains unsigned. Burrow wishes the edge-rushers were at camp. "Obviously disappointing," he told the media Wednesday. "You'd like to have all your guys out there Day 1 to try to build that cohesion that I was talking about earlier, but that's not how it usually works out. "You know it's a business," the QB continued before sighing. "And that is how it is gone." Tense contract disputes are nothing new in Cincinnati. Last offseason, Bengals star wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase held in for most of training camp. He didn't sign a deal before the start of the regular season but still played 17 games. Unlike Chase, Hendrickson has made it clear he won't play without a deal. He won't even work out in Cincinnati. The 30-year-old posted he's training in Jacksonville on his Instagram story Tuesday. Hendrickson has revealed the Bengals aren't committing any guaranteed money past the first year of an extension. This has been featured in deals for other edge-rushers, including that of Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt. Stewart, meanwhile, is dissatisfied with the language in his deal. The Bengals included clauses that would void guarantees for the rookie. Burrow understands the perspectives of Stewart and Hendrickson. "Nobody's ever gonna fault the player for doing business for how he feels he needs to," the quarterback said. "It's cutthroat business, you gotta fight for everything you can get. That's how it goes." However, he hopes Stewart and Hendrickson reach agreements with the club soon. "The sooner you get things done, the better," Burrow said. The Bengals' inability to sign the pass-rushers creates a distraction and wastes time. That's something the team doesn't need after missing the playoffs for two straight seasons. Not making the postseason again would make Burrow even more unhappy.
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