Thursday’s #PFTPM including a simple question: “What are your thoughts on a potential Bills-Rams Super Bowl?”
My thoughts are it could happen, because both teams are firmly in the Super Bowl window.
In any given year, not many teams truly are. And while teams not apparently in the window can, in theory, win their way in, the salary-cap system has matured to the point where some teams have cracked the code — and some teams can’t crack their way out of a paper bag.
It also helps to have drafted and developed a franchise quarterback.
In most years, roughly 10 teams are in the window, roughly 10 teams aren’t, and the remaining 12 could break either way. This year, the AFC’s true short-list contenders are the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Bengals, and Texans. The Broncos and Chargers could force their way into the conversation.
In the NFC, it’s the Eagles, Lions, Rams, 49ers, and Commanders. Maybe the Buccaneers. Maybe the Vikings.
Again, things can and will change. That’s why they play the games, as someone once said. All the time.
For those who like a little variety, it would be nice for someone other than the Chiefs to get a turn in the Super Bowl. And for someone other than the Eagles, 49ers, or Rams to emerge from the NFC.
Since 2017, it’s been the Eagles three times, the 49ers twice, the Rams twice, and the Bucs once. For the AFC, it’s been only the Patriots, Chiefs, and Bengals.
That’s it. Over eight seasons, seven total franchises have taken the 16 total Super Bowl berths.
Free agency, the salary cap, and a draft process that rewards failure should be enough to mix things up. But the reality is that good teams stay good, and bad teams stay bad.
The days preceding the draft were dominated by news of a sexual assault lawsuit that had been filed against Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe. An ill-advised P.R. blitz, which included his lawyer, Lanny Davis, that Sharpe had offered at least $10 million to settle the case, fueled the coverage for multiple days.
Then, things died down.
Now, more than two months after the case was filed against Sharpe, he has not responded to the civil complaint. In most jurisdictions, a response is due within 30 days after service. Extensions are commonly granted among lawyers as a courtesy.
The electronic database for the Clark County, Nevada civil court system shows various filings regarding the lawyer(s) who will be associated with the case. A hearing on three different motions to associate counsel is set for July 9, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. local time. The hearing originally had been set for June 30.
Davis said in a press conference held two days after the filing of the case that Sharpe will file a counterclaim against the plaintiff. For now, though, there has been no formal response by Sharpe to the civil complaint.
Less than a week after the case was filed, Sharpe stepped away from his employment with ESPN until the start of the NFL preseason. With the preseason looming (the Hall of Fame game happens on July 31) and the case still in its infancy, it remains to be seen whether Sharpe will indeed return by the end of the month.
Sixteen years ago today, a quiet Fourth of July afternoon was interrupted with the stunning news that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair had been shot and killed.
McNair was only 36 at the time.
The official explanation never made complete sense. Quickly solved as a murder-suicide, with McNair shot by his 20-year-old girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, who then supposedly shot herself.
The rush to close the case seemed odd. Police concluded that Kazemi shot McNair execution style, twice in the chest and twice in the head.
A subsequent effort to re-open the case ultimately failed. The issue was pressed by Vincent Hill, a former Nashville police officer who aggressively pursued the theory that it was not a murder-suicide.
In 2018, SI.com took a closer look at the unanswered questions in Fall of a Titan, a podcast series.
“I could make a case that things don’t add up,” former Titans coach Jeff Fisher said in a 2024 Netflix documentary on the McNair murder. “I don’t want to speculate. Just let it go.”
Even now, it’s hard to let it go. It’s hard not to wonder whether someone got away with double murder. And while that won’t change the fact that McNair was killed on this day in 2009, there’s a nagging sense that justice may not have been done.
McNair was the NFL’s co-MVP in 2003, and he led the team to the Super Bowl in 1999.
The third overall pick in 1995 out of Alcorn State, McNair spent 13 seasons in the NFL — 11 with the Oilers/Titans and two with the Ravens. The Titans retired his number (9) in 2019.
Veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had played 12 NFL seasons for four different teams before joining the Ravens this offseason, and from the outside looking in, Hopkins saw something missing.
According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN, Hopkins told others in the Ravens facility that he might — or might not — be that missing piece.
“It seems like there’s been a piece that’s been missing,” Hopkins said. “I could be that addition. I could not be that addition.”
Whether Hopkins proves to be that missing piece will be determined largely by whether he can build a rapport with quarterback Lamar Jackson. He says he doesn’t know how long that will take.
“I don’t think it’s a [set] time frame,” Hopkins said. “A guy like Lamar, who’s a veteran quarterback, he’s played a lot of football. Myself, I play a lot of football. We see things differently, but I’ve had rookie quarterbacks that have taken longer. So, it differs.”
At 33 years old, Hopkins is on the down side of his career, but he might just be the missing piece for Jackson and the Ravens to get to the Super Bowl.
Wide receiver Rashod Bateman signed a three-year contract extension with the Ravens last month, but his return to the team for the 2025 season wasn’t a sure thing earlier in the offseason.
A report in May said the Cowboys looked into trading for Bateman and Bateman confirmed that he was apprised of that interest. That report said the talks didn’t go far, but Bateman said “it was a possibility” that he would be on the move to Dallas before he and the Ravens pivoted to hammering out a new deal.
Bateman said he’s “thankful” that General Manager Eric DeCosta was able to work things out.
“That’s the first thing I told him: I don’t want to go anywhere else. ‘I know you’ve got a lot of stuff to work through and we’ll figure it out when we figure it out,’” Bateman said, via Jeff Zrebiec of TheAthletic.com. “It took time, but it takes time with a lot of people’s contracts. He had a lot of contracts to get done, and maybe more to get done in the future. To be a priority for him in that way is important. He shows he values me.”
The Cowboys eventually looked elsewhere in the AFC North for receiver help and traded for George Pickens, so the Ravens won’t have to deal with him as they try for another division title later this year.
Lamar Jackson is a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, an elite passer and perhaps the best running quarterback ever. But there’s one thing he admits does not come naturally to him: Being a team leader.
Jackson told Kevin Hart that the toughest adjustment for him in becoming a franchise quarterback has been leadership, because he recognizes its importance but doesn’t feel that speaking out in front of the team is one of his natural gifts the way running and throwing are.
“Just being a leader. I’m going to say being a leader because I’m really not outspoken,” Jackson said when asked what has been hard for him to adjust to. “Being vocal with my guys, like ‘Let’s do this and that’ with a great motivational speech, I don’t have that. I just pretty much lead by example. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to work hard and I expect that out of you, but as I’ve been growing in the league it’s like ‘No, you got to talk to the guys.’ Coaches like to tell me, ‘You’ve got to talk to the guys.’ I’m like, all right, I’ll talk to them one-on-one. Certain things I’m seeing, I’ve got to voice it more, voice my opinion more to those guys.”
With a Super Bowl standing out as the one piece missing from Jackson’s Hall of Fame résumé, Jackson is determined to lead his team to a championship.
With former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker accepting a 10-game suspension in lieu of defending himself in a full-blown hearing, the evidence the NFL developed in support of the allegations against Tucker will remain under wraps. The lawyers representing his accusers are nevertheless pleased with how the league went about its business.
Via Jeff Zrebiec of TheAthletic.com, attorneys Michael Belsky and Catherine Dickinson called the NFL’s investigation “incredibly thorough and thoughtful” during a Friday press conference. They said that the NFL interviewed 15 of the individuals who claimed that Tucker engaged in improper conduct during massage-therapy sessions.
The lawyers, who represent 13 of the accusers, also said that Tucker’s ongoing proclamation of innocence has left “many of the victims, our clients, with the stain of a denial.”
“There was an opening here for an early discussion between Mr. Tucker and the victims and the NFL,” Belsky said. “There was a way that this could have happened and gone down in a way that was different than how it did. Unfortunately, Mr. Tucker dug in with his denials, and we are where we are today.”
It’s unclear where it will go from here. The lawyers said that the course of action is currently “TBD.”
If/when any of the accusers sue, the first question will be whether any potential statutes of limitations bar the claims.
When the NFL announced on Thursday that former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has received a 10-game suspension under the Personal Conduct Policy, the initial reaction based on the bare-bones statement was that the league completed its investigation and its in-house legal process with a finding that Tucker had done what he was accused of doing during one or more massage-therapy sessions.
It quickly became clear that the suspension didn’t result from the procedures created by the NFL. It came from a negotiation between the league, the union, and Tucker.
And that’s what made aspects of the statement issued by Tucker’s representative confusing. Especially at the outset.
“We are disappointed with the NFL’s decision,” Rob Roche began in the comment that was widely distributed to reporters and for the most part disseminated with little if any context or explanation.
The NFL’s “decision” wasn’t to suspend Tucker 10 games. It was to propose (presumably) a longer suspension if the process played out and to offer Tucker a 10-game suspension. It was Tucker’s “decision” to accept the 10-game suspension.
That fact, obscured by Roche’s statement, is an important one. Tucker accepted a 10-game suspension for something he loudly insisted he didn’t do.
“Justin has always strived to carry himself in a way that would make his family and community proud,” Roche added. “He stands by his previous statements.”
But does he? Who accepts a punishment for something they know they didn’t do — especially when reasonable minds will be inclined to include that accepting a 10-game suspension represents an admission of responsibility?
“In order to put this difficult episode behind him and get back on the field as soon as possible, we have advised Justin to accept this resolution and close this matter,” Roche said. “The people who know Justin best know his character and understand that while he remains fully committed to excellence as a football player, he is deeply dedicated to his most important lifetime roles as a father, husband, and friend.”
It’s one thing to advise Tucker to take a one-game or a two-game suspension. Ten games sends a much different message. Ten games suggests that Roche and others feared the league would emerge from the hearing before retired judge Sue L. Robinson with a much longer suspension.
And so, on one hand, Tucker still says he didn’t do anything. On the other hand, he has accepted a TEN-GAME SUSPENSION for something he swears he didn’t do. That’s a difficult needle to thread, especially if he plans to eventually sue the Baltimore Banner for defamation based on the reporting that sparked this situation in late January.
For a defamation case to fly, Tucker will have to prove that the information was false (and that the Banner knew it was false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth or falsity of the information, since Tucker is a public figure). The suspension means, as a practical matter, that Tucker will also need to show that even the NFL was duped by the false allegations.
The criminal hacking case against former Michigan assistant Matt Weiss has sparked civil litigation. That civil litigation has now ensnared his former boss.
Via the Associated Press, former Michigan coach (and current Chargers coach) Jim Harbaugh was added to a lawsuit on Friday arising from the Weiss hacking scandal.
The amended complaint alleges that Harbaugh and others knew Weiss was viewing private information through digital hacking in December 2022 but still allowed him to work in a playoff game a week later.
“The university’s delay in taking meaningful protective action until after a high-stakes game sends a clear message: Student welfare was secondary,” said attorney Parker Stinar, the lead counsel in a class action based on Weiss’s alleged misconduct.
While we’ve yet to review the specific allegations against Harbaugh and others (including Michigan A.D. Warde Manuel), the claims presumably sweep more broadly, likely claiming negligent supervision of Weiss throughout his time at Michigan.
The Chargers didn’t respond to a request for comment regarding the Weiss situation after he was charged. At the annual meetings in March, Harbaugh was asked about the situation. “Shocked. Completely shocked. Disturbed,” he said.
The next question becomes whether the litigation will eventually spread to the Ravens, where he worked on John Harbaugh’s staff before taking a job with Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. That will depend on whether evidence is developed showing the Ravens knew or should have known that Weiss was hacking into private information — especially if there’s evidence that he was using any equipment owned by the Ravens to do so.
The 10-game suspension imposed on Ravens kicker Justin Tucker was not the result of a quasi-formal hearing followed by a quasi-legal ruling. Instead, the punishment flowed from negotiations between and among the NFL, the NFL Players Association, and Tucker’s representatives.
That’s the word from Mark Maske of the Washington Post, which also means that there will be no appeal from Tucker. The case is over, the suspension is final, and Tucker will miss 10 games without pay to begin the 2025 season.
On the surface, the willingness of Tucker to take a 10-game suspension contradicts his steadfast denial of wrongdoing, based on accusations from multiple individuals regarding misconduct during massage-therapy sessions. Tucker essentially pleaded guilty (or at a minimum no contest) and accepted a 10-game banishment.
Tucker may have done it in order to expedite the outcome of the case. No one has shown interest in him since he was cut by the Ravens. No one would have shown interest in him while the situation was unresolved.
Then there’s the possibility that the league planned to seek a longer punishment if/when the case went before Judge Sue L. Robinson, the hearing officer for alleged violations of the Personal Conduct Policy. If the league planned to push for, say, a full-season suspension, 10 games would be a potential compromise.
Regardless, Tucker has accepted a 10-game suspension. And it’s hard to reconcile that with his claim that he did nothing to justify scrutiny.
