This is what Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead had warned about.

During the offseason, he’d heard the chorus of predictions about the Rams putting together a “super team” lined with multiple future Hall of Famers. Forecasts of presumed dominance that were punctuated with the belief that adding Aaron Donald to the already star-studded cast could make the Rams virtually unbeatable.

By training camp, it had Snead swatting away grandiose assessments. Including one I made when we spoke in July.

“This would be the best roster you’ve ever had,” I suggested. “It would be the most talented, right?”

“Until you prove it, it’s all just a flip-card,” Snead said, referencing game-day depth charts distributed to the media. “You can have whatever debate, but unless you go out there and get results, it’s just a flip-card.”

I clucked my tongue with some skepticism. Of course this roster was going to get results. Surely he’s slow-playing expectations, I thought.

Then came Thursday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers. When suddenly it was hard to not think about Snead’s point. You can have all the talent in the world, but results are the difference between a flip-card and a great team. And one week into the season, the Rams are still just a flip-card loaded with talented names.

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That was the thought that resonated after seeing L.A. get whomped 27-7 by the 49ers in the league’s first international game in Australia. A matchup that became as much about the different styles of overseas travel between the franchises as the quality of the football that was produced in its wake. The 49ers arrived a week early to acclimate to a 16-hour flight spanning 8,000 miles and producing a dramatic change in time zones. The Rams made a similar trek less than 48 hours before kickoff.

The travel approaches were dramatically different. When the football was finally over, so were the results. Much to the dismay of the Rams, who went in as a predicted super team and came back out looking super flat.

Edge rusher and reigning defensive player of the year Myles Garrett had been stymied and looked gassed. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the league’s 2025 MVP, appeared frustrated. And the mastermind head coach, Sean McVay, was simply blunt.

“Sometimes sports can humble you,” McVay said after the loss. “And today was one of those days.”

Few had this kind of debut in mind for the Rams: rocked by an injury-bugged 49ers team … ineffective on defense … anemic on offense … and leaving Melbourne as quickly — and winless — as they had arrived. A super team and its constellation of stars out of alignment, leaving McVay to cross the field after the defeat with distilled sourness hanging on his face.

“The first thing that I’m going to look at is myself,” McVay said. “I have to do a better job for our group collectively, with our coaches, with our players. We’ll look at this film and we’ll get back to work. Because clearly that’s what we’ve got to do.”

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The first priority on the agenda isn’t much of a secret, either. Not with Garrett playing a game that saw him record zero tackles and post a shocking zero pressures on 27 pass-rushing snaps. A stunning lack of output that came with an admission from Garrett that lingering knee swelling from training camp is persisting. The same knee issue that caused him to miss most of training camp.

“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there,” Garrett told reporters. “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and that I’ve shown that I’ve been before.”

Pressed for more specifics on the knee issue, Garrett declined to go into detail. He also declined to specify which knee was the source of the problems.

“I don’t want to get too far into that,” he said. “I wasn’t the player that I wanted to be. I didn’t feel like I was the player I’ve been before when I stepped onto that field. But I’ve got to do what I can to get back to that. … Getting healthy. That’s the main thing. When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy than what they were doing. That showed. I wasn’t who I needed to be for my team.”

That’s a sizable concern for a Rams pass rush that failed to sack Purdy in the loss. Particularly when there’s no clear timetable for Aaron Donald’s return to the field. Donald didn’t travel with the team to Australia as he continues his ramp-up process following a two-season hiatus from football.

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Garrett and Donald were expected to be the frontline engine of this defense. Now one has a lingering knee injury and the other is presenting an opaque timeline for returning to active play. To put it in the parlance of Snead, these are the problems that draw a line between achieving greatness and just predicting it on a flip-card.

Granted, this was one failure, in the midst of the most brutal 72-hour travel turnaround of the season. And McVay wasn’t using that as an excuse, either.

“I don’t believe that [the travel] is why we didn’t play well enough,” he said. “… It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say it was a [mistake]. But those are responsibilities that I’ll take and then you try to be able to look at it.”

Instead, McVay pointed to communication problems on offense and defense. Stafford noted that there were too many instances of being “on different pages.” And Garrett said it was in the hands of the team leaders to get back on track.

“We knew we were going to face some adversity during the season,” Garrett said. “Come to find out, it’s game one.”

As McVay pointed out multiple times, there’s a lot of football left for the Rams. More than enough time to become everything their roster promises. But one game in, all they’ve delivered on is Snead’s warning.

In the summer of 2024, the Pittsburgh Steelers had their franchise quarterback on the roster. When the calendar flipped to 2025, it was going to be Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.

Inside the Steelers franchise, the declaration was resolute: Once the 2024 season was sorted, either Wilson or Fields would have emerged as the centerpiece that finally replaced Ben Roethlisberger. This problem had to be solved. Ownership craved it. The roster construction demanded it. Frankly, the fan base was growing tired of talking about it.

Two years later — now a full four seasons removed from Roethlisberger’s departure — we’re still talking about it. This despite having watched Pittsburgh churn through not only Wilson and Fields, but also forgettable stints from Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. A slate of futility that would look even worse if an aging Aaron Rodgers hadn’t capably plugged the Steelers’ quarterback void for a season.

All leaving Pittsburgh’s current braintrust of general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike McCarthy to recycle hope: The future quarterback has to be on this roster.

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Well, we’re about to find out. Not only is it going to be one of the league’s most interesting quarterback and general manager storylines this season, it’s a fitting snapshot of the AFC North overall. Because there may not be another division in the league where every general manager has so much at stake when it comes to how the 2026 season plays out at their QB spot.

Indeed, every franchise in the division has some kind of quarterback pressure on the spectrum. From Rodgers’ impending end in Pittsburgh and Deshaun Watson’s historical ineffectiveness with the Cleveland Browns, to Joe Burrow’s see-sawing frustration with the Cincinnati Bengals and Lamar Jackson’s (once again) massive contract power.

All of those situations remain unavoidable points of stress entering the season this week. And all of them are weighing on general managers who have to find some kind of resolution.

With that in mind, let’s begin our first-ever kickoff notebook with the AFC North…

Omar Khan and Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh

The Steelers’ general manager since 2022, Khan has been climbing the same mountain every season: Coming up with a quarterback plan that can finally endure for the franchise. You can see he’s gotten to the point of throwing everything at it, keeping four quarterbacks on the 2026 roster between Rodgers, Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar. Khan had this plan in mind going all the way back to the start of training camp, when he told reporters he believed it was possible to keep all four players on the final 53-man roster.

True to his word, he did.

I’ve spent time with Khan in a handful of training camps. I wouldn’t say he’s a careful GM as much as he’s pragmatic and reserved. It’s clear in what he’s trying to balance right now, patiently getting Rodgers back into the fold for a season, smartly keeping a solid veteran backup in Rudolph, and then retaining two young players in Howard and Allar that will be pressed to compete for the future. If this is Rodgers’ final season in Pittsburgh — and Rodgers’ one-year deal puts that ending into Khan’s hands — the goal is to figure out if either Howard or Allar is capable of stepping into the starting job next season.

But the win-now nature of the roster still exists in Pittsburgh. The only way this works is if new head coach Mike McCarthy can either figure out how to bring along Howard or Allar without starting snaps, or be willing to bench Rodgers if the season goes sideways and development becomes more important than wins.

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What’s more important? Is a 10-7 season worthwhile if it means the Steelers don’t really get a good look at Howard and Allar when it matters? Unless the Steelers are constructed to be a real Super Bowl contender in 2026 — I don’t think they are — finding out what Howard and Allar can be is paramount. Even if that means one last big reboot at the position next offseason, utilizing what is expected to be an elite quarterback class that could yield up to five first-round picks at the position. There’s a very real chance that none of Pittsburgh’s four QBs will be the starter in 2027. Khan has his work cut out for him.

Andrew Berry and Deshaun Watson in Cleveland

Many will say this should be Berry and Shedeur Sanders. But Watson is the starter and getting to Sanders means figuring out what to do with Watson. I think that makes the dynamic between Berry, Watson and Browns head coach Todd Monken intriguing. When I went through Browns training camp, it was clear that Monken wanted a quarterback that could run his entire offense from the line of scrimmage. Watson has that kind of experience and I think that’s what got him the starting nod.

“The position comes down to two things,” a team source told me. “It’s decision-making and playmaking.”

“Todd asks his quarterbacks to do a lot,” the source said.

That’s why I think Sanders isn’t the immediate starter this season. If Watson falters under those expectations, that’s when I think Sanders will get his opportunity. For Berry, it puts a lot into play. He has stocked the Browns with young offensive talent heading into this season. For that talent to develop, the offense has to function as designed. If Watson gives the Browns the better chance to do all the things they need to do at the line of scrimmage, you tend to lean into that for the sake of everyone.

This is as much a decision about Quinshon Judkins, KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston and Harold Fannin Jr. as it is about Sanders. It’s also about Monken relating some urgency about wanting to win now, with an authenticity that comes from a 60-year old in his first NFL head coaching job.

“This is about the best chance to win now,” he said. “It’s not our job to worry about down the road. We’ve got to win now.”

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That makes Watson the Week 1 starter at quarterback. Later, the answer may be Sanders. With the Browns holding two first-round picks in that 2027 draft, the answer might become someone who is currently on a college roster. Clarifying that is going to define Cleveland’s 2026 season.

Duke Tobin and Joe Burrow in Cincinnati

It’s getting hard to know what to believe when it comes to Burrow and the Bengals. In late August, he told reporters he viewed 2026 as a “now or never” season. Capped with a viral quote that raised the eyebrows of some other executives across the league:

“You can keep pushing it down the road or you can talk about it now and say this is the year,” Burrow said. “You know, I’m tired of saying, ‘Next year, next year, next year.’ This is it.”

When you say “this is it” and you’ve worn your emotions on your sleeve, it raises the antenna of other NFL franchises. Only because it invites the question of whether another disappointing season causes a fracture.

Then came Tuesday, when Burrow seemed to walk back the remarks in an interview with the team’s website.

“I’m here for the long haul,” Burrow told Bengals.com. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m just trying to bring a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process. If you’re not, what are you doing? Attack the day with a championship mindset. The rest will take care of itself.”

Or it won’t. Because who knows how Burrow will feel at the end of this season if the Bengals have the kinds of defensive problems they had in 2025. That’s what Cincinnati GM Duke Tobin has to contend with. If the season tanks, there’s no doubt the Bengals will get inquiries about their QB. Even with Burrow still having three years on his contract after the 2026 season, opposing GMs know Cincinnati would only be on the hook for just over $54 million in dead cap if he’s dealt in mid March (before a $10-million option bonus kicks in).

Now consider that Burrow has been a persistent injury concern. He also turns 30 in December, which means the Bengals are well into his prime years. This feels like a ticking clock. If 2026 is another disappointment and Burrow is clearly unhappy I don’t know that head coach Zac Taylor — or Tobin — can survive it.

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Eric DeCosta and Lamar Jackson in Baltimore

There’s a lot going on in this tandem, and it involves two kinds of pressure: The burden of needing to win, and the strain of how to continue making that plausible with Lamar Jackson’s contract remaining a looming iceberg. Ravens GM Eric DeCosta went into the offseason needing to lighten Jackson’s $74.5 million cap hit in 2026 and resolved the problem with a restructure. Unfortunately, that move created an even bigger issue next offseason, when the Ravens will have to figure out how to navigate an $84.34 million cap charge.

Owner Steve Bisciotti said he wanted an extension to resolve this problem. He didn’t get that. Ultimately, DeCosta is on the hook.

Now Jackson has his hands completely around extension negotiations with the ability to choose his own adventure — including just playing out the current deal through 2027 and going to free agency, thanks to no-tag and no-trade clauses. If the Ravens struggle in 2026 and 2027, or even if the team thrives in those years, it materially has no impact on what Baltimore can do with Jackson. He dictates his future, has the ability to do a new deal at his leisure, or can leave in free agency at 31 years old. Baltimore can’t change any of that.

One veteran agent with a history of quarterback deals made a good point about what Jackson has constructed.

“He can do whatever he wants,” the agent said. “No quarterback has had a better negotiating position in the franchise tag years. Even Dak [Prescott]. If Lamar wants to be a $65-million [per season] quarterback in Baltimore, he’ll get that. If he wants to play it out to free agency, he could ask for $70-million [per season] and would probably have options.”

How DeCosta gets out of that without making Jackson the league’s first $70-million per-season quarterback is murky at best.

As 2026 kicks off, this is life in the AFC North. Two general managers in search of a quarterback, and two GMs who are dealing with the reality that finding one doesn’t solve everything.

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Now on to some other quick-hitters.

• I’ve always said Week 1 is a tremendous liar in the NFL. But a few (over)reactions coming out of the Seattle Seahawks’ 13-10 season-opening win over the New England Patriots…

• The loss carries more weight for the Patriots than the Seahawks win, if only because this was a game that New England and quarterback Drake Maye had an opportunity to show an offseason of growth. Even in a game that was closer than New England’s 29-13 loss to Seattle in the Super Bowl, Maye arguably did the opposite. I doubt the three crucial interceptions represent what Maye is, but it was a reminder of the mistakes he can’t keep making under duress. It’s fair to argue that losing A.J. Brown altered the tone a lot for Maye offensively. But that doesn’t change the fact that his game-sealing interception came on a ball he never should have thrown…

• Romeo Doubs’ ineffectiveness and bad drop was a bit of a stunner for the Patriots. Doubs looked like a monster when I went through New England’s camp. He looked perfectly suited to be Maye’s No. 2 wideout. Now, if the Brown injury lingers, it’s going to be hard not to wonder about the wisdom of dealing a productive Kayshon Boutte…

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• On the flip side of the ledger, Seattle’s defense might end up being better than last year’s edition. To see the Seahawks play with that level of playmaking in the secondary without safety/joker Nick Emmanwori on the field — especially in a pivotal fourth quarter — was impressive. Seahawks coach Mike McDonald is something else…

• The critics who questioned Jadarian Price as a legitimate starter are off to a bad start. The speed and power translates. He looks like a perfect fit for the Kenneth Walker role in Seattle…

• As we wait for conclusive word on the Sam Darnold hip injury, it’s worth noting that Drew Lock is in the final year of his deal. Whether it’s earning another starting shot or just elevating himself as a high end backup, the door to solid money may have just opened.

• On Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald missing Week 1 — yes, the Australia trip against the San Francisco 49ers for Thursday Night Football didn’t make sense in terms of Donald joining the team. But this may not be the end of patience from the Rams. I still think there’s an outside chance Donald sits out Week 2 against the New York Giants on Sept. 21. That said, it’s hard to pass up returning on a Monday Night Football stage. Especially in the home opener.

• Speaking of the 49ers, the season-ending injury to 49ers defensive tackle Alfred Collins was devastating, but it’s just going to speed up the timeline of rookie Gracen Halton. A fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma, the front office was extremely excited about him when I went through camp. Interestingly, when Halton was selected, the franchise was debating between Halton, Carver Willis and others. Taking a 4th string defensive tackle wasn’t the sexy move, but 49ers evaluators agreed that Halton was the best overall player on the board. Now he’s going to play a key rotational role with the loss of Collins. Sometimes a move doesn’t have to be sexy to be right.

• It’s going to be interesting to see how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers extension with Baker Mayfield plays out. The 3-year $165-million deal is only a discount if you believed Mayfield was capable of resetting the market prior to this season. I never got the sense that the Buccaneers were at that level of desperation. So they signed him to the high end of what his market might have been in free agency next offseason. The intrigue now is whether Mayfield can stay healthy. Mayfield’s banged-up 2025 season has to have some lingering concerns, even if it was complicated by so many other injuries. Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray signed big extensions under the historical specter of injuries and were abject disasters. Jordan Love and Brock Purdy are still fighting to show they can stay healthy and productive. Now Mayfield is going to have to show he doesn’t belong in the buyer beware category at 31 years old.

• It wasn’t exactly a scientific poll, but when I asked 7 general managers on my camp tour to choose an early frontrunner in the 2027 draft’s quarterback class, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr got three votes. Oregon’s Dante Moore received two and Texas’ Arch Manning netted the other two. I’m going to hold off on sharing the commentary from the GMs until further into the college football season, but some evaluators have been enamored with Carr in the early going.

OXNARD, Calif. — Two press conferences, six months apart. Now a pair of bookends that speak loudly about where this Dallas Cowboys defense is going, and how far it may have already come.

On February 18, new defensive coordinator Christian Parker was introduced and wasted little time laying down one of the fundamental beliefs that would shape the Cowboys moving forward.

“The game,” he said, “is definitely won and lost up front.”

Exactly six months later — August 18 — Parker and Dallas added edge rusher Von Miller to that front. And during his press conference, Miller relayed a moment he shared with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the offseason, when the two unexpectedly crossed paths in Las Vegas.

“He was sitting in the high-limit gambling and I just sat down and we just started gambling together and talking,” Miller said. “I was like, ‘Hey man, it’s about time, Dak. It’s about time. You’ve got to break through with one of these teams. You’ve got to break through one of these years. I think this year you’ll be able to do it. You’ve got everybody to do it.’”

Everybody. And about a month after that conversation, Prescott had Miller, too.

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For the Dallas defense, it’s an interesting six-month snapshot — the pair of press conferences introducing Parker and Miller, and everything that happened in between. Which, frankly, has been a lot.

This is not your 2025 Dallas Cowboys defense. When I went through training camp late in July, that was the first thought I had. Not only did it look better under Parker’s direction — including a remodeling that added several key players — it looked good. Maybe very good.

Before I get into that, there’s an important preseason caveat here. There always is at this time of year. Teams aren’t showing the full menu. Quarterbacks are protected in practice, offensive lines are shuffled, and coordinators spend as much time evaluating individual players as they do trying to win an exhibition game. August can create mirages. Particularly on defense, where a few sacks or turnovers can make an unfinished unit appear to be further along than it really is.

But what is happening in Dallas doesn’t feel like a few isolated plays. It looks like the early shape of an identity.

A sense of purpose that begins with Parker, who is only 34 and calling a defense for the first time, but has spent his NFL career shaping his ideology from an unusually strong group of defensive minds. First as a quality control coach in Green Bay under Mike Pettine. Next in Denver, coaching the secondary under Vic Fangio, Ejiro Evero and Vance Joseph. And finally in Philadelphia, where he reunited with Fangio as the Eagles’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator.

At each stop, the results were good. And they followed him. Consider a few of the high-end players he helped shape in his last two jobs: Patrick Surtain II and Justin Simmons in Denver, then Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in Philadelphia. Of course, Parker didn’t construct those units alone, and he wasn’t calling the plays. But when a young coach keeps being trusted with premium players and important responsibilities on excellent defenses, the trajectory tells you something. As does the variety of his education.

Pettine brought pressure concepts. Fangio’s influence is built around disguise, multiplicity and forcing quarterbacks to make decisions after the snap. Joseph has generally been more willing to bring pressure and play aggressively behind it. Evero offered Parker a close vantage at how a first-time coordinator organized and operated an entire defense.

Now Parker gets to look at that expanse of knowledge and decide what to make his own in Dallas.

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He has been clear that Dallas will be a 3-4 defense by nature, but that description is more a starting point than a limitation. There will be four-man fronts, five-man fronts and nickel packages. There will be zone coverage, man coverage and simulated pressure. The same personnel grouping should be able to present multiple pictures, which is the point. Parker wants an offense to identify one thing before the snap and deal with something else afterward.

When you survey this Cowboys roster, he’s got the personnel to do it, too. Starting right where Parker did on Day 1 of his Dallas tenure: up front. Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark give Dallas two proven interior players capable of dominating blockers and collapsing the pocket. Rashan Gary — acquired from Green Bay — delivers power and explosiveness. Donovan Ezeiruaku and rookie first-round pick Malachi Lawrence bring a pair of athletic edge rushers to the Dallas rotation.

Then comes Miller.

At 37, he isn’t being added to play every snap or carry the front by himself. Dallas doesn’t need that version of him. It needs the one who produced nine sacks for the Washington Commanders last season and still understands pass rushing at a level few players ever reach. It needs him in favorable situations, attacking an offensive tackle who can’t count on the protection sliding his way. And it needs him to teach everything he can to a front seven that has gotten younger and deeper.

That’s where the collection of talent matters. Williams can demand a double-team inside. Clark can prevent the middle from becoming an escape route. Gary can dictate protection from one edge. If Lawrence or Ezeiruaku develops quickly, Parker can rotate waves of rushers without asking one player to solve everything. And Miller gets to become the closer.

That front should also change what is possible behind it. DeMarvion Overshown has the speed and range to become the central figure in the linebacker room if he remains healthy. Rookie Jaishawn Barham — who has been raising eyebrows for weeks — gives Parker another movable piece, capable of playing inside, rushing from the edge and bringing the physicality the Cowboys lacked too often last season. Meanwhile, veteran Dee Winters adds speed and experience to the competition.

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Barham has been one of the more interesting players in camp because the role isn’t entirely defined — in a good way. He can line up next to Overshown on one snap, walk toward the line on the next and rush from the edge after that. Parker doesn’t need every player to live inside a positional box. He needs enough versatility to change the picture without substituting.

And maybe no player on the roster brings more of that exciting positional mystery to the table than first-round pick Caleb Downs. Drafted 11th overall, Dallas believes Downs can become more than a traditional safety. He can align deep, drop into the box, cover the slot and pressure the quarterback. His intelligence allows Parker to move him without compromising communication, while his tackling should help repair a run defense that spent too much of 2025 allowing manageable downs to become first downs. Effectively, Parker will be saying to opposing offenses, “This is Caleb Downs. Now figure out what position he plays once the ball is snapped.”

That versatility should accentuate what Dallas already has in DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel. Bland remains one of the NFL’s most instinctive ballhawks when healthy. Revel has the length and speed to challenge receivers at the line of scrimmage — a trait Parker specifically highlighted in his initial press conference. If the front can hurry quarterbacks and the coverage can create even a moment of hesitation, Bland’s ability to find the football becomes more dangerous.

At each previous stop, Parker learned that this is how defensive talent is supposed to work. Not as a collection of names, but as force multipliers.

The interior line makes the edge rushers better. The rush allows the corners to play aggressively. The secondary’s versatility gives Parker opportunities to disguise intentions. Downs and Barham create uncertainty because an offense can’t be sure where either will align. Meanwhile, Miller can play measured snaps and no longer has to beat an entire protection plan. And Williams no longer has to create pressure by himself.

One addition accentuates the next, and Parker is the maestro that connects them all in harmony.

A far cry from last season, when the Dallas defense finished at the bottom of the league in points allowed and too often appeared to be searching for answers after the ball was snapped. While the Cowboys could score, move the football and even play stretches of dominant offense, the 2025 defense sometimes couldn’t even communicate without players confusing each other.

In reality, Parker’s defense doesn’t even have to become a top-10 unit for Dallas to change its ceiling. It just has to become dependable. But over six months from Parker taking over, it could be more. Not simply better. But a lot better.

Yes, this is still August. Parker has never called a regular-season NFL game. Downs, Lawrence and Barham have never played one. Miller’s age will require management. Overshown, Bland and Revel have to stay healthy. A scheme that looks fast and aggressive in Oxnard still has to withstand the adjustments that arrive in September, October and beyond.

But the foundation is visible.

Six months ago, Parker stood at a microphone and explained that football is won up front. Six months later, the Cowboys placed Miller into a front that had already gotten better. Behind them is a defense with more speed, versatility, intelligence and depth than it had a year ago.

As Miller told Prescott in Las Vegas, this looks like a moment to break through.

“You’ve got everybody to do it,” he said.

Now Dallas — and Miller — have to prove it.

About the QB

When I arrived at camp, I wasn’t sure how realistic a Dak Prescott MVP campaign could be. By the time I left, I realized this might be the most legitimate shot to date. Prescott is still in his prime at 33. He’s in a rhythm with Brian Schottenheimer. And he’s operating with arguably the best two-wideout tandem in the league in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. What gives Prescott an added edge is that Lamb and Pickens have the complementary styles that can wreck opposing coverage in completely different ways. Lamb is the versatile piece that can move around in the offensive structure, while Pickens is an elite boundary player who necessitates additional attention from the secondary on a consistent basis.

@jon.machotaJerry Jones on Dak Prescott: “I know this, I think he’s very capable of taking us all the way.”

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Tight end Jake Ferguson has had a good camp and eats yardage in the middle of the field, while having already become a bigger threat in the red zone last season. Meanwhile, Javonte Williams provides a very capable three-down running back presence to keep defenses honest. Simply put, the skill position pieces are there to set Prescott up in any manner that Schottenheimer chooses. And while the offensive line still has questions, they’re less about talent deficiency and more about achieving consistency as a unit. Nothing here feels like it’s going to have to be manufactured or covered up. So long as there aren’t health issues, this is a unit that should put up big numbers with both Lamb and Pickens getting their second season together. Of course, wins have to follow, too. But paired with the aforementioned defense, the table feels set for this offense.

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Rookie to Watch

I’m going to violate protocol and call this one “rookies” to watch. Because tight end Michael Trigg and wideout Camden Brown may both make this 53-man roster. That’s a stunning possibility considering both were undrafted and this is a pretty talented Dallas roster with some depth to it. Frankly, if it were just for his tools, Trigg would have been drafted somewhere in the middle rounds. But he bounced around from USC to Ole Miss to Baylor in college and could never shake significant concerns about his maturity and dedication. The hope in Dallas is that something is finally clicking for Trigg and that he settles into being dedicated to his craft and his surrounding team. The signs thus far are encouraging. Not only has he flashed in camp, but he carried the momentum into the Cowboys’ first preseason game against Seattle, putting up four catches and representing the kind of receiving presence that Dallas could use behind Jake Ferguson.

As for Brown, his climb has arguably been one of the most surprising in camp. First by working his way into some first and second-team opportunities, then by making the play of the preseason opener — snatching a contested Sam Howell pass and taking it for a 39-yard touchdown. It’s a good start that will have to continue, though, as Brown is likely going to have to dislodge Jonathan Mingo, who also has some special teams value. Neither has an easy path. Roster spots utilized on developmental players are usually reserved for those who were actually drafted. But Trigg and Brown are forcing themselves into the conversation. And the second preseason game is going to be vital for both.

What I Saw That Was Interesting

I guess I could say this is what I saw — or didn’t hear — that was interesting. I can’t remember the last time I went through a Cowboys camp and there wasn’t something going on that was drawing attention away from the field. Whether it was a holdout, some kind of dispute, some question about how much longer the head coach had to produce results, or something owner Jerry Jones was saying or doing, there was always some type of sideshow. And yet, it felt oddly settled when I visited. Not only that, the calm vibe seems to actually be lasting, with Brian Schottenheimer seeming to settle in as the daily voice of the team rather than ownership. As much as I wasn’t sure about Schottenheimer’s elevation to head coach in the wake of Mike McCarthy’s departure, something does feel dialed in right now under his watch in Dallas.

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I’ll give you an example: In almost any other year, I think Pickens’ contract situation would have been a bigger thing. Even under the franchise tag. And most especially coming after a previous offseason when the Micah Parsons soap opera was so pronounced. But the whole Pickens situation has felt cordial and businesslike. That’s just one thing, of course. Yet it adds to an atmosphere right now that feels pretty uniform and functional. None of this guarantees the Cowboys will win anything. For any franchise, quiet vanishes the moment it is confronted with a losing streak. But for the first time in years, the head coach appears to occupy the center of a calm football operation. It’s hard not to notice.

Wild Card

Since I brought it up…about that Pickens contract extension: I’ve gone from wondering how Dallas could make it happen to feeling like the Cowboys have to get it done. I think Pickens is going to show this season that he isn’t a 1B wideout next to CeeDee Lamb. It just so happens that both Lamb and Pickens are 1As, and you can’t surrender that kind of tandem. Pickens looks exactly like what he was last season: a receiver who can dominate outside the numbers, win contested footballs and give Dak Prescott an option even when coverage is sound. He isn’t a complementary piece. He’s a foundational talent.

So what does the money end up looking like if this continues? The presumption has been a four-year deal in the $35 million a season range, similar to the one signed by Baltimore Ravens wideout Zay Flowers. We’ll see if that’s the case by the end of the season. A second franchise tag is coming in at $32.75 million, but I’m not sure Pickens would want to play a second straight season on a one-year deal. Dallas can’t negotiate with Pickens again until after the season, and the price isn’t going to get any friendlier than the Flowers deal if he produces another elite year. I still believe the Cowboys have the leverage of being the team willing to pay Pickens without the reservations others might have.

The staff at least knows him, whereas other teams are still going to be leery about Pickens being the guy the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted to get out of the building. But it’s still setting up to be an interesting next offseason. If Pickens plays toward his ceiling, Dallas is going to have to find a path to navigate it and get him locked in long term.

Veteran I’m Keeping an Eye On

On multiple previous training camp tours, I spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and listened to the leadership tell me how excited they were about Dee Winters breaking through. Now I think it might end up happening in Dallas. The Cowboys surrendered a fifth-round pick for Winters after he started every game in San Francisco and put up 101 tackles last season. Knowing what the 49ers thought of Winters for years, that deal looks like smart business for Dallas. Because there’s a larger opportunity in play here: what Christian Parker can make of him.

Winters has always had the speed and physicality to be a heat-seeking linebacker who can operate in space. What he needs is consistency and a defense willing to lean into expanding his opportunities. Dallas and Parker appear prepared to give him both, potentially including making him part of the green-dot conversation. There will be competition from rookie Jaishawn Barham, but Winters looks like a stabilizer. San Francisco kept waiting for all of his traits to become a finished product. The Cowboys may be getting him precisely when it finally happens.

Fantasy Thought

I’m a believer in tight end Jake Ferguson. Frankly, if it weren’t for all the mouths to feed in this offense, I think he could be a consistent top-five fantasy producer at his position. And if even one of the Cowboys’ top two wideouts goes down long term, I think Ferguson could exceed that. He already finished as the PPR TE5 last season, catching 82 passes with eight touchdowns, but those numbers don’t completely illustrate his ceiling.

His production was far less consistent when CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were healthy together. That’s a problem. But Prescott trusts Ferguson in the middle of the field and near the goal line. And I have to believe opposing defenses are going to throw everything at Lamb and Pickens and dare Dallas to throw it to Ferguson. It might have peaks and valleys, but I’d bet by the end of the season Ferguson has the chance to meet or exceed last season’s eight touchdowns, while increasing the efficiency of his volume while upping his yards-per-catch average. And again, if either Lamb or Pickens goes down, I think he could be the No. 2 passing option.

HENDERSON, Nev. — With rookie quarterbacks, it’s always about the layers of plans.

The plans to teach them how to take a snap under center. The plans to either ease them into a scheme or turn on a firehose and see how they react. The plans to sit them for a stretch or throw them into the deep end as a day-one starter. From the start for the Las Vegas Raiders, the Fernando Mendoza plan was both simple and completely driven by the player.

Push. Compete. Make an organizational decision hard.

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“That’s why we took him at one,” Raiders general manager John Spytek told me when I passed through camp. “That’s who he is. That’s who we expected him to be long into the future. We just want to be mindful that we’re doing everything to win games and to take care of our young quarterback. It’s so much bigger than him being ready to play. The whole team’s got to be ready for him to be the leader of it, too.”

One game into the preseason, that effort is off to a hell of a start.

Mendoza completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in Thursday’s 27-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. It was a performance that was defined as much by what was absent as by what was present. There was no interception. No moment when the speed of the game appeared to swallow him. No stretch when the operation looked too big or too fast. He wasn’t perfect, and the preseason demands that we underline the level of competition and vanilla nature of schemes. But the poise, command and accuracy that have gradually emerged in camp seemed to follow Mendoza straight into Allegiant Stadium. And that’s what truly matters right now.

Klint Kubiak has seen rookie quarterbacks look one way on a practice field and something entirely different when the game lights come on. The movement around them changes. The pocket changes. The consequences of a mistake become more dramatic. For all the work Mendoza has put into operating from under center and mastering the details of Kubiak’s system, there was no way to know how it would carry over until the Cardinals were on the other side.

What Kubiak saw looked as familiar as the Las Vegas Strip.

“I saw the same guy that we’ve seen in practice,” Kubiak told reporters afterward. “I see an ascending player.”

That’s a pretty succinct way for Kubiak to frame where this stands. But keep the economy of language in mind. Ascending doesn’t mean finished. It doesn’t mean Mendoza has taken the starting job from Kirk Cousins. Kubiak was clear after the game that it remains Cousins’ job to lose. But ascending does mean the original timeline can change. If Mendoza continues stacking practices and preseason performances, the conversation shifts from whether he can play this season to how long the Raiders can reasonably keep him off the field.

And that shift may have already begun.

Mendoza opened the offseason working with the third-team offense. When camp began, he moved up and split second-team opportunities with Aidan O’Connell. As the practices unfolded, Mendoza’s command became easier to see. He was getting in and out of the huddle. He was communicating at the line of scrimmage. He was taking snaps from under center, executing a play-action fake and then getting the ball out. Eventually, that earned him work with the first-team unit.

Again, none of this means the Raiders have ripped up their plan. Cousins opened camp as the starter because he has played good football in this league, knows the foundation of the Kubiak offense and gives Las Vegas a credible option to begin the season. The organization didn’t acquire Cousins by accident. It wanted a veteran who could steady the offense and allow Mendoza to develop without every August practice becoming a referendum.

But rookie quarterback plans are never static. They react to the player. If Mendoza struggles, the plan stretches. If he flourishes, it contracts. As it has all along.

Early in camp, I asked Spytek to spell out how Mendoza could impact his destiny. Would this end up like so many other No. 1 overall QB picks who started the season from Week 1? Would it be a Baker Mayfield transition and last a few weeks, or mirror the level of patience the then-St. Louis Rams showed with Jared Goff, sitting him all the way into November of his rookie year?

“It’s all of it,” Spytek said. “How Fernando practices, how Kirk practices, wins and losses. If Kirk’s in there and we’re 7-3 after 10 games, that’s different than if we’re 3-7. That’s probably ultimately what kept [Patrick] Mahomes on the bench [as a rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs]. They were in the playoffs. They were in the race through the whole thing.”

“Right now we’re committed to our process. But I walk in here every day thinking ‘What’s going to happen today?’”

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This is where Cousins matters beyond merely occupying the starting position. The relationship between Cousins and Mendoza was always going to be scrutinized, particularly after Cousins’ experience with the Atlanta Falcons. He signed a massive contract with the franchise in 2024, only to watch the organization select Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall weeks later. The entire arrangement came with awkwardness baked into it. The veteran was supposed to lead the team, while everyone understood the rookie was drafted to replace him.

But Las Vegas is different in one essential way: Nobody in this organization is pretending.

Cousins understood the Raiders’ situation when he arrived. Las Vegas owned the No. 1 pick. Mendoza was the expected selection, and the transition plan was obvious. Cousins was coming to play, but also entering a situation in which the runway would ultimately belong to someone else.

He has resisted calling himself Mendoza’s mentor, which is understandable. “Mentor” can sound like a ceremonial position for a player who still sees himself as a starting quarterback. Cousins instead described the QB room as a working group in which everyone exchanges ideas, perspective and feedback. Mendoza has echoed the collaborative nature of the relationship, crediting both Cousins and O’Connell with bringing different levels of experience to the group.

Call it whatever you want. The arrangement is working and everyone involved is operating with their eyes wide open.

When I went through practice, there wasn’t a sense that Cousins was withholding information or treating Mendoza’s development like a threat. Nor was Mendoza hovering around Cousins as if the veteran’s job was to hand him every answer. They were processing the same offense, from different points in their careers, with the understanding that both could help the other.

Cousins has years of background in this scheme’s family tree. He played under Klint and Gary Kubiak in Minnesota. He understands the footwork, rhythm and marriage between the running game and play-action passing. He knows how much of the offense is built before the ball is thrown — breaking the huddle, getting under center, carrying out fakes and making the progression fit the timing of the concept.

Those details are particularly valuable for Mendoza. He came from an Indiana offense that didn’t ask him to live under center the way Kubiak’s scheme will. That transition can sound elementary until you watch a young quarterback attempt to connect the snap, footwork, fake, protection and coverage read without losing the rhythm of the play. One small mistake at the beginning compounds everything that follows.

Cousins can give Mendoza a picture of what clean execution is supposed to look like. Mendoza still has to reproduce it. So far, he is doing that faster than expected.

The Cardinals game offered a glimpse of the progress. Mendoza looked composed and generally decisive. He went through progressions. He delivered his first touchdown pass to rookie wideout Jack Bech, another young player who has a chance to grow alongside him. He moved the offense without giving the ball away. And when the game ended, the discussion centered more on what he had confirmed than what he had exposed. That’s a win for any rookie quarterback in his first preseason appearance.

The next step is avoiding the trap of letting one exhibition become a mandate. Raiders fans have been waiting years for a QB they can attach themselves to, and Mendoza’s status as the No. 1 pick makes restraint nearly impossible. Every Cousins incompletion will be compared with Mendoza’s best throw. Every loss will shorten the public timeline. Every positive preseason series will be treated as evidence that the future should begin immediately.

Kubiak and Spytek can’t make their decision that way. They have to consider whether the offensive line is ready to protect Mendoza, whether the receivers can consistently win and whether the offense around him is stable enough to support his development. Spytek’s point about the entire team being ready for Mendoza to lead it is important. A rookie can be mentally prepared and still be dropped into circumstances that create bad habits, damage confidence or force him to compensate for too many shortcomings around him.

That’s why Cousins remains part of the solution rather than an impediment to it. He gives the Raiders a buffer against impatience. If the line needs time to settle or the receiving hierarchy remains murky beyond Brock Bowers, Cousins can absorb the early turbulence. If the offense functions well and Las Vegas wins games, there’s no need to rush the transition simply because Mendoza had a promising August.

But as Spytek alluded to earlier in camp, the rookie in this equation has agency, too.

If Mendoza continues to improve, the threshold for keeping Cousins on the field will weaken. The veteran won’t merely have to be functional. He will have to play well enough to justify delaying the development of the franchise’s most important player. That’s the part of this that Mendoza can change, one practice and one preseason game at a time.

Maybe it means Mendoza starts in October. Maybe it’s November. Maybe Cousins plays well enough and the Raiders remain competitive enough that the rookie’s first meaningful start doesn’t arrive until much later. There’s still too much football ahead to put a date on it. But in my mind — going all the way back to my conversations early in camp — I’d be surprised if Mendoza sits for the entire season. And if he plays the rest of his preseason snaps the way he did against Arizona, I can’t even rule out that he’s the starter by the end of September.

The physical talent was never the central question. Las Vegas drafted him first overall because of the size, accuracy, intelligence and toughness. The questions were about translation. How quickly could he adapt to playing under center? How would he handle the volume of an NFL offense? Could he move from scripted practice work into a game without losing the command that made the Raiders believe in him?

One preseason game doesn’t answer all of that.

It does, however, give the Raiders an encouraging first data point. And it supports what they have watched develop throughout camp: Mendoza is learning, the relationship with Cousins is helping and the gap between the present and future may be closing faster than anticipated.

The original plan was designed to give Mendoza room to grow. Now his growth may be redesigning the plan.

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About the QB

Getting a little more into the flip side of Mendoza’s potential rise, I’m genuinely curious about Kirk Cousins’ path after this season. His contract is structured to put him back on the market in free agency after this season, thanks to a trigger that would make a two-year $80 million option fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2027 league year. There’s zero chance that option is picked up.

That means Cousins will go back onto the market and essentially have the option to run this scenario back again. Given the bumper crop of quarterbacks expected in the 2027 draft, I wonder if Cousins might be open to reprising the role he’s playing in Las Vegas for another team that wants to be patient with its rookie in 2027. A bridge starter can have real value, particularly if this works out well in Las Vegas. If he handles the transition to Mendoza professionally, teams will notice. Cousins would bring experience, credibility and a history of managing the week-to-week demands of being an NFL starter.

Of course, that path would require Cousins to embrace another situation in which the endgame is handing the job to someone else. Maybe he’d rather pursue one last clear starting opportunity. But the number of those jobs will be limited, particularly with so many teams likely to embrace drafting QBs in 2027. This season could ultimately showcase Cousins as something different: an expensive but dependable runway for a rookie quarterback and a stabilizing presence for an organization trying not to rush its future. And there’s always the possibility that the Raiders like his work with Mendoza so much that they hang onto him in spite of the pricey number for a backup. But even with Mendoza effectively costing $13 million in 2027, the combined salary carry with Cousins would be just over $24 million. That’s still a bargain if it delivers continuity and growth at the position through a second season.

Rookie to Watch

Removing Mendoza from the list, there are several intriguing guys in this rookie class. But I’m going to go with a deeper cut: Malik Benson. The sixth round pick has flashed enough in this camp to make you wonder whether there’s something worth developing beyond the immediate competition for targets. That doesn’t mean forcing him into some outsized projection before the regular season, but the speed is apparent and there have been moments when he has created separation and made himself noticeable. It’s something evaluators saw in glimpses during Benson’s college career, which included a rating as the No. 1 junior college player in the country at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, then one-year stints at Alabama, Florida State and finally Oregon, where he blossomed as an NFL prospect.

The other significant part of his potential rise in Las Vegas is the practice work Benson is getting with Mendoza. We tend to focus on how young QBs build relationships with the established players at the top of the depth chart, but sometimes the more interesting connection is developing further down the roster. These are two rookies learning the offense together, getting repetitions with each other and potentially establishing the kind of timing and trust that can carry into games. That might not mean much immediately. Benson has to turn flashes into consistency and show that he can handle everything the Raiders and head coach Klint Kubiak ask of him. But if Mendoza eventually takes control of the offense, it’s worth remembering which receivers were working alongside him before that transition happened. Benson has an opportunity to grow with the quarterback who is expected to define the franchise’s future. Sometimes that shared runway matters.

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What I Saw That Was Interesting

I was only in camp for a day and it was early on, but there was definitely some optimism in the organization about tight end Michael Mayer becoming more of a factor. And that immediately came to mind when he caught a touchdown in the preseason opener. There’s a real chance the Raiders could give some teams problems when they put Mayer and Brock Bowers on the field together this season. Mayer just might be ready to take a stride forward. And in the final year of his contract, no less.

Bowers is obviously the centerpiece and the player defenses will build their plans around, but that attention should create some favorable opportunities for Mayer. The appeal of playing them together is that the Raiders don’t necessarily have to declare their intentions through personnel. They can lean into the running game, create play-action opportunities or force a defense to decide how it wants to match up with two tight ends who can be factors in the passing game. For Mayer, this is about turning a promising camp into a meaningful role. That contract situation adds some urgency, too. A strong season could reshape both his value and how the Raiders view his place alongside Bowers beyond 2026. We already know Bowers is going to command targets and attention. If Mayer becomes a consistent threat rather than merely a complementary piece, this offense could have a formation problem that follows opponents from week to week.

Wild Card

As with most building teams, there’s a deep grab bag of wild cards. The offensive line is a huge one. But I’m a little worried about the secondary. I don’t put a lot of stock in preseason games, but watching a very mid pair of Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks — Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew — chew up passing yards with relative ease should instill a little bit of anxiety. Not because the talent isn’t there for the Raiders. The secondary is just young. When I went through camp, the staff was very high on where rookie cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Hezekiah Masses could end up as a tandem. But as we saw against the Cardinals, there are going to be some growing pains this season. Maybe a lot of them.

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That’s the tension here. The Raiders need to give the young corners enough room to develop, but opponents aren’t going to offer any patience. They’ll test communication, recognition and technique until McCoy and Masses prove they can hold up consistently. Maybe the talent accelerates the learning curve and this looks like a promising foundation by December. But if the secondary struggles to limit explosive plays, it could place a tremendous amount of pressure on the pass rush and the rest of the defense. The long-term outlook might be encouraging. The week-to-week experience could still get uncomfortable.

Veteran I’m Keeping an Eye On

Other teams are still keeping tabs on Maxx Crosby, so I will, too. After Raiders camp, I visited with the rest of the AFC West. Make no mistake: When opponents ask how the Raiders look, they also want to know what the temperature is with Crosby. That’s not going away. When I spoke to Spytek, I pressed him about the reality that other franchises are going to keep making Crosby a target of trade speculation — especially if he plays well but the Raiders struggle to stay competitive by the trade deadline.

“People do what they do,” Spytek said. “I’m just trying to make the Raiders as good as possible. Right now Maxx is here and I have every expectation that he’ll be here.”

Note the standard qualifiers “right now” and “I have every expectation.” That leaves some leeway. Which, frankly, is how Spytek has to handle this. Making some kind of hammerlock statements and pretending doors are totally shut is intellectually dishonest. And I get Spytek’s sentiment, but there’s some uncomfortable math that comes with rebuilding a team while holding an aging but valuable defensive player. It doesn’t always align well, most especially while you’re growing a rookie quarterback.

The Raiders can insist Crosby is central to what they’re building, and I believe that’s how they see him. But if the losses pile up, contenders will call with offers that force Las Vegas to at least weigh the short-term upside of Crosby against the long-term value of a good return. It will happen again. None of this means a trade is inevitable or even likely. Crosby has repeatedly embodied what the franchise wants its identity to be. But speculation doesn’t need the Raiders’ cooperation to gain momentum. It only needs a slow start, an aggressive contender and a trade deadline. Until Las Vegas proves it can turn the corner — and perhaps Mendoza steps in and changes everything — Crosby’s status will remain a conversation across the league.

Fantasy Thought

I’m 15 training camps in and I’m not sure I’ve seen a wide receiver opportunity open like the one in Las Vegas. They were looking for a No. 1 wideout to emerge and I think that is going to extend into the season and maybe even beyond. But in the interim, someone has to step into a large target role next to Bowers. There’s a strong indication the guy who takes that leap in targets ends up being Jack Bech. Bech flashed when I watched the Raiders, and the important part is that his momentum didn’t appear limited to the practice field.

His performance in the preseason opener against the Cardinals reinforced the idea that he can translate those opportunities into games. He looked comfortable, competitive and capable of becoming a dependable piece of the passing offense rather than simply another receiver cycling through an unsettled depth chart. This doesn’t mean Bech is suddenly going to become a traditional No. 1 receiver. Bowers will remain the passing game’s gravitational force, and the Raiders may continue searching for a true top wideout in a rich 2027 draft. But fantasy value is often about opportunity as much as established hierarchy. Las Vegas has a wide-open situation available, and Bech is positioning himself to claim a large share of it. If his camp trajectory continues, he could become a significant target earner — and one of the more useful fantasy values on this roster.

LOS ANGELES — The first seconds of the first practice.

That’s how long it took Sean McVay to look at defensive end Myles Garrett — suddenly and unbelievably McVay’s and the Los Angeles Rams’ Myles Garrett — to deliver a pause where reality set in for the head coach.

“What thought goes through your mind at a moment like that?” I asked McVay.

“Fucking stupid,” McVay said. “To see him in person, the body control, on our field — it’s fucking stupid.”

NFL head coaches don’t get a lot of these instances in their careers — even the distinguished, ultra-successful ones — where they’re staring at a player and truly in awe of both the athlete and the opportunity to coach them. The Rams are there with Garrett, getting through the phase of pinching themselves and just now moving on to the gravity of what his addition means. A calculation that couldn’t begin until he was in a meeting room, locker room, every room, and looming larger than life. Not to mention on the practice field, where the initial non-padded work for the reigning defensive player of the year was a frightening display for a staff that might need to dial him back to get a full slate of good offensive reps in.

“The first two practices, we were sliding to him, he’s drawing a bunch of attention,” McVay said. “And he still — if you were playing real football — he still had five or six sacks in each of those practices. He’s like Gumby. He’s got the flexibility and the bend of Von Miller and power of…”

McVay thought for a beat.

“Well, just name whoever is a really powerful rusher,” he said.

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The tone in his voice didn’t seem to limit that measure to the NFL. You could have named the Hulk and it likely would have only egged McVay’s excitement on. Not to mention the notion that a return of Aaron Donald would deliver McVay not one, but two Hulks set on a path of destruction.

He’s already thought about it, despite trying hard not to. But in his head, he’s already got ideas about how the two would be used and even snap counts and rotations.

Even if he’s waiting to have a deep schematic conversation, it’s hard to avoid the residue on seemingly every Rams-related conversation.

Today’s practice was blah blah blah…what’s going on with Aaron Donald?

So let’s go ahead and get to that. With camp heading toward its third week, I look at it as three questions:

What is Donald’s threshold for coming back?

Talking to those in Donald’s circle — individuals not in the Rams franchise — I don’t think he’s swayed by the “80 percent of what you were is better than almost everyone” argument. Donald wants to be as absolutely close to 100 percent of the player he was when he retired following the 2023 season. There’s a pride factor here. I don’t believe Donald wants to be a facsimile of his previous self.

So what does that mean? From what I understand — and this is from the Donald side of the equation — he wants to feel like his body is responding to his current training in a way that is familiar from three years ago. Essentially, the training camp prior to the 2023 season. And that might take time.

Right now, the Rams are doing everything they can to not pressure the situation. While I think they have a timeline, they’ll be as flexible as they have to be. But this isn’t just about a Rams timeline, either. It’s also about Donald’s own vision for himself. While some have taken the approach that he could even join the team during the season, I don’t think that’s his ideal outcome in any way. If Donald returns, he wants to be a part of this early. He does not want it to look like he’s just jumping back into the mix if the Rams get off to a hot start early in the season. Again, there’s pride in play here.

Are the Rams being completely transparent?

Yes. I think they are. And I think they’re doing it to send the message both publicly and privately to Donald that they are not pushing and respect how he wants to approach this. It’s been a a few days since I was in Rams camp. I’ve had a chance to poke around beyond the Rams facility. By now, Donald has worked out for the team officially. The sense I got when I spent time with McVay was something pretty resolute: If the lower half of Donald’s body responds well to the ramp-up process he’s undergoing, including working out multiple times in pads, McVay believes he’s got the fire to play football again.

Of course, that doesn’t mean this is a done deal for the Rams. And I use the word “deal” pointedly. The contract situation with Donald is a hurdle. It simply is.

From what I gathered, the Rams will engage with Donald on a contract when they know he’s feeling ready to play football. They’re not rushing things, but there’s a reality that dealing with Donald’s potential cap ramifications is going to necessitate some work. As are the questions about the amount of money Donald will be making in 2026 after two years out of football.

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What’s the situation with Donald’s remaining $30 million in salary?

Diving in, there are certainly granular aspects to lay out when it comes to Donald’s contract situation, with multiple individuals in the media space who have done excellent work walking readers through the details. A hat tip to Jason Fitzgerald at Over The Cap, Mike Ginnitti at Spotrac and Joel Corry at CBS Sports. They’ve all done outstanding work on Donald’s most recent contract going all the way through the latest ramifications.

The broad strokes: When Donald retired in 2024, the $30 million remaining on his deal remained in limbo. This is why the Rams are still holding his rights despite his two years off and what would have been a natural expiration of his contract terms if he had played through the 2024 season. Essentially, there’s $30 million attached to Donald and the Rams have a few choices.

Assuming Donald isn’t trying to earn more than that $30 million for one more year of service — and this could end up being a point of contention — the Rams have a handful of options. Among them?

• Dive into the deals of other players and establish enough cap space to fit the entire $30 million under the current cap. As it stands, Over The Cap pegs the Rams’ space at roughly $15.2 million. To maintain a workable cap margin for future moves, that means a number solidly north of $14.8 million would need to be found by diving into other deals. It varies by team, but franchises typically like to have at least a few million dollars in space to have breathing room to facilitate any unexpected smaller transactions.

• Get creative and renegotiate Donald’s contract into a new one-year pact, giving him a large signing bonus and a low base salary, then attaching as many as four void years to spread out the impact of the signing bonus over multiple future seasons.

  For the sake of keeping it in round numbers, if there was an inclination to pay him the full $30 million (again, this might be a point of contention), the Rams could pay Donald a $5 million base salary in 2026 with a $25 million signing bonus, then spread that remaining $25 million over five years total. Prorated out, that would be $10 million in 2026 — his $5 million base and one $5 million installment of his signing bonus — and then the remaining $20 million hitting the cap in the next four voided years, translating to $5 million a year in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.

• Work out a middle ground where Donald is guaranteed a lower portion of the salary — such as $20 million — and then tack on the remaining $10 million (or more if he’s seeking a bigger number) in a series of bonuses that allow the team to put together a cap-friendly structure. Because certain performance bonuses have to be tied to Donald’s last year in the league, this could get a little tricky. But it’s still an option.

One way or another, dealing with that $30 million is the lingering barrier with Donald if he plays in 2026. How complicated it gets will depend on what Donald wants to make if he returns, how much the Rams are willing to pay him, and the structure of the money.

And even with it all being down the road, I know it’s on the minds of Rams decision-makers, because one conversation I had inside the building involved things like using different types of bonuses to massage a Donald contract without beating up the cap. In my mind, you’re already negotiating with yourself as a franchise if you’re game-planning out the possibilities ahead. You may not be actively going back and forth with Donald’s agent, Todd France of Athletes First, but you’re setting the table.

“The contract, you’ve got to have a contract to play in the NFL, but that’s kind of the last step,” general manager Les Snead said of the remaining hurdle. “We’re not putting the cart before the horse. Let’s see if he feels like he can play. It’s pretty obvious he wants to play. It’s one thing to want to play. The next most important variable in the equation is do I feel like I can play?”

Asked if he thinks past negotiations with Donald and their ongoing relationship will help if it gets to the point of talking money, Snead said he believed it would.

“That’s definitely the approach,” he said. “We’ve partnered together. We’ve had a great relationship. If we want to get this done, we’ll work to solve that part of it. But that’s the last part of it.”

So that’s what I ultimately think is lingering here for a Donald return. How close is he to his own physical standard? How fast can he come back if that standard is reachable? How much of the $30 million remaining on his last contract does he want to make? How far will the Rams stretch themselves in terms of adding Donald to the roster and the cost to make that happen?

These are the questions that measure the distance between today and Donald’s return — as well as the weight that a Garrett and Donald tandem could carry forward. The possibilities are, well, I’ll just steal McVay’s line.

Effing stupid.

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About the QB

When I went through, Stetson Bennett was having a good start to camp. And don’t kill the messenger here, but I definitely got the sense from the coaching staff that there was a hope Bennett could — and dare I say, would — end up winning the backup quarterback spot behind Matthew Stafford. I think that was the hope. I’m curious to see if it will be the reality. But here’s a wakeup call for those who believe Ty Simpson would be the backup if Bennett isn’t: I truly don’t believe that’s what the Rams want to advance with. I think the staff and front office are in lockstep that this is a difficult offense to learn and an even longer journey to master.

Right now, Bennett is further down that road than Simpson. The plan for Simpson is patience. But preseason games will factor into what happens here. I refuse to count out Jimmy Garoppolo as a potential returnee if things go south with Bennett by Week 1. As long as Garoppolo is a free agent, he’s an emergency lever. As for Simpson, I’m willing to let Snead send the message.

“It’s going to be a slower pace than a lot of rookies based on the depth at the position,” Snead said. “It’s going to be progress at your own schedule.”

And the possibility of adding back a familiar veteran?

“I think [the quarterbacks] are all making the case that this is a healthy room,” Snead said. “We’re still early so there’s still reps to be done. But they’re definitely doing their part to say ‘You know what? This is a very healthy situation.’”

Rookie to Watch

I’m going to have to go with sixth round wideout CJ Daniels — who entered the league at 24 years old after six years of college eligibility — who made a handful of impressive catches when I was at practice. Including a couple tight-window snags that had to raise everyone’s eyebrows whether it were coaches, personnel staff, media or fans.

I hate to go overboard until I see these guys in games, but Daniels has size and played his way to the top of Liberty’s roster before transferring to LSU in 2024 and then finishing his college career at Miami in 2025. Guys like that can arrive with maturity and skills that get discounted due to their age. He appears to have something real. But the preseason games will be an important measure.

What I Saw That Was Interesting

I thought about putting second round rookie tight end Max Klare as my rookie to watch, but he lands here instead. A quad injury to backup tight end Davis Allen opened a fraction of first-team rotational opportunities for Klare and it was pretty clear there was excitement about it. Terrance Ferguson has emerged as the likely third receiving option behind Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, but Klare could absolutely have a role this season.

Klare’s combination of physicality and fluidity for his size is fun to watch. There’s a real chance he ends up being the every-down tight end that balances the offense’s multiple tight end sets alongside Ferguson by next season. The Rams do have a monstrous tight end room and it’s intriguing to ponder what kind of mismatches they create with this group. I think McVay is going to have new wrinkles.

Wild Card

Running back Blake Corum goes here pretty easily. I’m sure others would plug in different candidates, but Corum looks to me like the player he was prior to suffering a bad bone bruise and meniscus tear at Michigan late in the 2022 season. Go back and look at Corum’s highlights from that 2022 season. He had explosion and toughness to his game and absolutely was cutting the figure as a potential first round pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Instead he banged up his knee and went back to Michigan for the 2023 season — when he was still very good, but also not quite back to his previous level.

I think he has regained that 2022 form. Plenty has been written about his offseason workouts, which have gotten a wave of attention on social media. But when you talk to the coaching staff and elements of the personnel department, some of it is just feeling fully healthy and confident and using that momentum to level up. If Corum has recaptured the explosiveness of 2022, this offense is loaded regardless of what happens at the third wide receiver spot.

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Veteran I’m keeping an eye on

The Rams coaching staff has been over the moon with cornerback Trent McDuffie from the moment he walked into the building. To the point that a member of the Rams’ brain trust said that they were having a hard time reconciling the respect they had for the Kansas City Chiefs as an organization with Kansas City’s decision to actually trade McDuffie to the Rams.

As that source framed it: “I have no idea how we got that guy. I don’t know why [Kansas City] would ever let him get out of their building.” Well, the gas pedal is down in Los Angeles. The Rams think he could end up being the best cornerback in the league when this season is in the books, and it’s clear they plan on using his versatility and toughness to be an eraser of every opponent’s best wideout.

I said it when the trade with the Chiefs happened and I’ll say it again: He’s the chess move to provide an answer for the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba…and whatever other elite receiver stands in the way in the postseason.

Fantasy thought

What’s good for the Rams might be a little bit of a ding on a few of their best fantasy assets this season. I think if everyone is healthy, there are more mouths to feed than ever. Both running backs, Corum and Kyren Williams, will eat touches this season. And if Ferguson takes the step that the staff believes he can, it’s going to threaten to temper at least some production between Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

Even Stafford, who is still at the top of his game, may not have to shoulder an MVP-level load if the running game functions as intended. This is all health permitting. Even one injury could change that outlook dramatically. But in the best-case scenario, this shouldn’t be an offense that is just hyper-focused through one aspect or player. I tend to believe a healthy Nacua will maintain his elite level statistically, if only because he’s that guy. But when it comes to everyone else, I can see there being a lot of balancing and load-sharing. Take that for what it’s worth.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s early in training camp, and Mike LaFleur is sitting in a locker room office and speaking in Matthew Stafford subtitles.

Preparation. Accountability. Poise. Clean execution. The ability to raise the level of surrounding talent.

It’s a lofty smorgasbord of expectations, rooted in the fundamentals that Stafford delivered to the Los Angeles Rams after arriving in 2021. When LaFleur talks about it, it tells you a little about the Rams standard — the Stafford Standard — that now stalks his Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks.

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All of it starting pre-snap.

“How tight are we in the huddle?” the Cardinals head coach says, explaining his groundwork for Arizona’s offensive progress. “How are we breaking the huddle? How crisp are our motions? How are we communicating? All the little details before the snap.”

When he speaks to outsiders, this is LaFleur’s implicit Stafford Standard. Preaching about how the Rams quarterback and reigning league MVP breaks a huddle, but managing to deliver the sermon without actually saying Stafford’s name. Then, when necessary, showing how Stafford did it on film just to drive the point home.

On this particular day, he leans forward to punctuate his point.

“I have yet to see a really good offense that looks like shit before the snap. I’ve seen a lot of bad offenses that naturally just look like shit before the snap — don’t know where they’re going, breaking the huddle it looks sloppy and slow. I think I’ve got it ingrained in these guys how important that is. We’ve watched a lot of Rams film and stuff like that to just kind of visualize it.”

If the Cardinals are going to meaningfully resolve their quarterback position in a way that hasn’t been achieved since the Carson Palmer and Kurt Warner eras — and even those were short-lived — these are the LaFleur (Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan) standards being mixed into the foundational concrete. Meeting them will define the future of the franchise, just as failing to consistently represent them brought the Kyler Murray era to a disappointing end.

Yet even after promising to drill this home for the next six months, the quarterback capable of executing LaFleur’s vision still might not be on this roster. As one high-ranking Arizona executive succinctly framed it early in camp: “That’s what we’re going to find out.”

But make no mistake: Despite a litany of storylines orbiting the Cardinals — the highly anticipated debut of rookie running back Jeremiyah Love; the uneven development of wideout Marvin Harrison Jr.; dialing in the offensive and defensive lines, etc. — the 2026 season will be defined by how the team clarifies a long-term answer at quarterback. Much of that will be a Carson Beck story, despite bridge starter Jacoby Brissett renegotiating a one-year, fully guaranteed deal for $15.5 million that will make him the likely Week 1 starter for the Cardinals.

How long Brissett holds that job will depend on a variety of factors, beginning with wins and losses and the general development of LaFleur’s offense as the season progresses. As it stands, he already skipped voluntary work in the offseason and then didn’t practice during the team’s mandatory minicamp. All of that brought Beck’s standing with the staff and teammates into sharper focus, as the rookie third-round pick took up the offseason slack from Brissett while operating alongside veteran backup Gardner Minshew.

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It also underlined a reality that the Cardinals’ brain trust can’t escape. And that is this: If there’s any chance that the 24-year-old Beck could be a long-term solution, he has to get some kind of look this season. Certainly beyond the preseason games in August, which have already been earmarked for a significant amount of playing time for Beck. He’s been named the starter for tonight’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Carolina Panthers, kicking off what will likely be multiple starts in the preseason.

While the staff and front office avoid saying out loud that Beck will likely necessitate some regular season snaps, the next offseason essentially demands it. With the 2027 draft looking like it will feature a bumper crop of high-end quarterbacks — and the now-typical migration of veteran options through free agency or trades — the Cardinals will have options after the 2026 season. Not only is Arizona positioned to have the most projected cap space of any team next offseason, nearly $114 million according to Spotrac, but the Cardinals also currently hold all seven of their 2027 draft picks.

That gives LaFleur and general manager Monti Ossenfort a significant opportunity to add to a bone structure of a team that is far better than it was the last time the head coaching position turned over. Unlike Jonathan Gannon in 2023, LaFleur isn’t entering a total overhaul. Instead, he’s working with an offense that features an All-Pro in tight end Trey McBride, alongside three other potentially load-bearing talents in Love, Harrison Jr. and wideout Michael Wilson. If LaFleur and Ossenfort can find a way to solidify the offensive line — and that’s a sizable if — Arizona’s starting quarterback in 2027 will be commandeering an impressive suite of options in an L.A. Rams-centric scheme.

The leadership can’t say this but I will: That player won’t be Brissett or Minshew. Or at the very least, it shouldn’t be, barring some kind of Geno Smith-esque late-career blossoming for Brissett. As for Beck, the odds are stacked against him even as the 65th pick in the draft, but LaFleur believes the makeup he developed from a fairly battered college experience will be an asset if he gets an opportunity.

“You always knew he was going to be mature because he’s a little bit older and he’s been through the wringer,” LaFleur said. “He’s had an injury. He’s had more ups than downs, but his downs have calloused him in a good way, in my opinion. And that’s what really fired me up about him in the draft process. Inevitably, we’re all going to get shit thrown at us at some point in this league. For him to get it thrown at him in big-time college football, naturally that’s going to callous you a little bit to learn it really doesn’t matter what other people think.”

“He makes a good play, makes a bad play, it’s not like he’s looking over his shoulder to see if anyone is watching. He’s just doing his thing. I really was impressed with just how he was able to absorb everything so fast. I think he’s pretty clean in the huddle. He’s still got room to get there, but I think he’s ahead of where I was expecting.”

Time will tell whether that will be enough for Beck to become a larger part of the future. Or if any quarterback on the roster is capable of reaching even a fraction of the Matthew Stafford standard. That calculation is starting now, and one way or another, the Cardinals will have to find an answer in 2026.

The trajectory of 2027 and beyond demands it.

Some other thoughts from Cardinals camp…

About the QB

A little more on Beck: He had a rough day of practice when I came through early in camp, but he has already clearly gotten better along the way. He began with some accuracy issues, playing behind a backup offensive line that wasn’t doing him many favors. As camp has gone on, he has improved, including when pads went on this week. After talking to LaFleur and general manager Monti Ossenfort, there’s clearly an acceptance of highs and lows, with some optimism that Beck will eventually settle down and gain some comfort.

I’ve seen a lot of rookie quarterbacks who had far more fanfare than Beck struggle significantly in their early practices. It wasn’t long ago that New England Patriots fans were white-knuckling the early looks at Drake Maye during his first training camp. As time went on, Maye worked and got better — both at mastering the offense and getting into a rhythm. Beck has already shown improvement in his practices.

Right now, the biggest focus will be how he translates what he’s learning to the preseason games. When I asked LaFleur about the run Beck could get in Arizona’s four exhibitions, he said flatly: “There’s going to be a reason to watch the preseason.” If Beck plays well … and if Arizona’s offense struggles under Jacoby Brissett … that will crack a door down the line for Beck. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t start at some point in 2026.

While the Hall of Fame Game won’t carry a lot of weight for potential future starters, Beck is not in that category. Every snap in these preseason games will carry weight for him. And it begins tonight.

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Rookie to Watch

The first three picks — running back Jeremiyah Love, guard Chase Bisontis and Beck — could all end up starting at their positions by the end of the season. Love will start from Week 1, while we’ve discussed Beck’s potential path. But I’m really locking on Bisontis. If he doesn’t win the right guard job in camp, I think he could definitely get there at some point this season. Which is exactly what he was drafted for.

There’s a feel in the organization that the line has been rebuilt on the left side to the center, and the focus now is sorting out right guard with Bisontis and then eventually solving right tackle next offseason. If Bisontis proves to be the upgrade Arizona is looking for over Isaiah Adams, that lays the groundwork for a draft and free agency that is 100 percent focused on finding the bookend on the right side.

The bottom line? Bisontis has to solidify right guard for this unit to both improve and take the next step in the build. Thus far, the returns on Bisontis when it comes to the staff have been very encouraging.

What I Saw That Was Interesting

We won’t know everything about the offensive and defensive lines until there are several padded practices in the books, but I believe defensive tackle Walter Nolen will be a problem for opposing teams. His strength and disruption quickly reminded you what he looked like during his brief six-game stint last season. Watch the 27-17 win on Nov. 3 versus the Dallas Cowboys.

That’s the Nolen the Cardinals believe they can get consistently now that he’s fully healthy. It’s a defensive line that has talent and will still likely be looking for an edge-rushing complement for Josh Sweat. Having Nolen on the field will at least give Arizona a talent who can wreak havoc. Thankfully, a white-knuckle moment last Friday when Nolen left practice with trainers looking at his left knee wasn’t anything serious. Keeping Nolen on the field all season is a must — especially if the defensive backs can play as well as the coaches believe they can.

Wild Card

Speaking of those defensive backs, the staff is very high on the ceiling of Will Johnson, Denzel Burke and Max Melton. That young core has created some internal buzz. And Johnson in particular is showing signs of taking a big leap. I asked LaFleur about Johnson’s strong rookie season and what his impression was when he was preparing for Arizona’s defense last season as the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator.

“He was jumping off the tape,” LaFleur said. “And when Matthew Stafford walked in the next day, he was like, ‘Dude, this guy’s a freaking stud.’ If that’s coming from Stafford — and I know why Stafford said that — it’s because Will is an instinctual football player. And instinctual football players aren’t going to just say ‘Ok, this is my assignment and that’s what I’m going to do.’”

“Smart players figure it out. I mean, you’ve got to have a baseline talent level, but the smart guys that give a shit about this game and have enough ‘eff-it’ in their game, they figure it out. I think he’s a great representation of what you want in the Cardinals. You’ve got a guy that loves it and is smart as hell and has some ‘eff-it’ to him.”

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Veteran I’m Keeping an Eye On

Without a doubt, the Cardinals offense is getting banged around on social media this preseason. I’ve seen the montage of crummy moments. I don’t know that they represent what this unit will look like at the end of camp. I think people are getting a little over their heads with the early camp performance of Marvin Harrison Jr., too. Everyone just needs to take a breath. Rarely do the first two weeks completely represent the ceiling or floor of what it coming.

That said, this is unquestionably an important season for Harrison Jr., and it’s coming with a quarterback position that is in its greatest state of flux since he was drafted. He looked fine when I was in camp and made a nice sideline grab at one point. I’ve seen subsequent clips since I left that have been bad at times and good at others. The fan base is clearly wound very tight when it comes to Harrison Jr.

My takeaway is this: A year ago, when I sat down with then-offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, it was clear Harrison was being challenged on some of the little things that make a difference between winning and losing a rep. That push was real.

Petzing was talking about the things Harrison Jr. could do at the top of his routes to help create space and then also use his body more to fight for footballs. He talked about focus and learning tricks that veteran wideouts rely on to create spacial opportunity. What that translated to for me was the reality that Harrison Jr.’s speed was OK but not elite and that being a refined technician would help him break through consistently. I still think that’s the case, and that this season is when Harrison Jr. has to start showcasing it to realize that ultra-elite draft evaluation. I don’t think there are any alarm bells going off. I do think there’s an overall mentality that this coaching staff wants every player to have. Most especially the players who have the underlying talent to shape games.

When I asked LaFleur what Harrison Jr. needed to embrace to reach his ceiling, this is how he framed it: “Not just Marvin, but what you talk to all these guys about in this league is that every play is probably going to be the hardest play you’ve ever had. It is hard to win in this league. And it’s hard to win 1-on-1 matchups in this league. Left tackle versus an edge guy, from receiver to the corner. Just instilling that mindset in all these guys that, dude, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be contested. Are we going to make the play? Someone is going to make the play. It’s either you or that guy [across from you].”

We’ll see where it goes. My thought is that this isn’t just some schematic limitation standing in the way of unlocking Harrison Jr.’s greatness. The Cardinals can move him inside more or make motion a bigger part of his game, but it’s up to Harrison to decide how he can fight every single rep and make the football his when it’s in the air.

Fantasy Thought

I couldn’t get out of here without talking about running back Jeremiyah Love, who is a significant fantasy football focus. It was interesting talking to people in the building about Love. I think his draft selection at third overall created so much fanfare and expectations that the team is just trying to let him have a camp where he can be himself and not instantly get anointed as some offensive savior. I also think some of that came out in the viral quote from offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who said of Love: “I mean, he’s definitely a rookie, as we’ve talked about, and he’ll keep growing every single day.”

Here’s the thing about Love: He’s got all the potential that made him so coveted in the draft. He’s also got an offensive line that’s still figuring it out — especially at right guard and right tackle — and a quarterback situation that won’t be easy. If things break wrong on that line and with the quarterback, it’s going to be tough sledding. Go back and look at what Ashton Jeanty was dealing with in 2025 with the Las Vegas Raiders. The Cardinals are in a much better talent spot than those Raiders were, and the coaching staff isn’t a mess like it was in Las Vegas. But there’s still a lot that can go wrong. One thing that should be encouraging to fantasy football managers who are drafting Love is that the coaches and front office see him as a three-tool talent who can run, catch and block. And that means when he hits his groove, the only reason to take him off the field will be to give him some rest.

In February 2020, during a dinner at the annual NFL Scouting Combine, a team executive reached into a bag and slid a binder across the table.

It wasn’t filled with draft grades or scouting reports. It was something far more revealing. Inside was a detailed catalog of spreadsheets containing data on many of the league’s other general managers — their draft histories, the types of players they gravitated toward, the height, weight, and speed traits they valued, the positions they prioritized, and even the rounds in which their tendencies began to emerge over time. It was years of institutional memory distilled into a single resource, built to help one front office better understand the other 31.

I remember flipping through those pages and realizing I wasn’t looking at a draft guide. I was looking at a map.

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For most fans, the NFL is one league. Over time, I’ve come to think of it differently: it’s 32 different countries sharing a schedule.

Every franchise has its own ideology, history, customs, language, and power structure — its own way of seeing football. The longer I’ve covered this league, the more convinced I’ve become that if you really want to understand why teams win, lose, rebuild, rise, fall, or stubbornly stay the same, you have to understand the people who are making decisions long before kickoff. The people who are focused on both the inches in front of them and what the operation looks like at 20,000 feet and 10 miles out.

That dinner stayed with me, even if the binder couldn’t. The idea for NFL Blue Book was born that night.

It just took more than six years to find the right moment to step into it.

For the past 25 years, I’ve had the privilege of covering the National Football League. I started on the Detroit Lions beat in 2001, eventually joined Yahoo Sports in 2004 as a national NFL writer, and spent nearly 22 years there reporting on nearly every aspect of the league’s orbit — from coaching searches and ownership battles to drafts, free agency, scandals, labor negotiations, and Super Bowls.

Along the way, though, I always found myself drawn back to the personnel side.

General managers. Assistant general managers. College scouting directors. Pro personnel executives. Area scouts.

The people whose names casual fans may never know, but whose fingerprints are all over every roster in the league.

Those conversations have always been my favorite part of the job. Not because they produce the biggest headlines — although sometimes they do — but because they often explain the ‘why.’

Why one team refuses to draft certain positions early. Why another keeps chasing the same athletic profile. Why two organizations can watch the same player and arrive at completely different conclusions. Why some franchises seem to build contenders over and over while others spend decades simply trying to resolve a quarterback problem that won’t go away.

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That’s the territory I want to explore here. NFL Blue Book won’t just be about transactions. It won’t just be about news and features. And it certainly won’t be about pretending every rumor deserves a headline.

Instead, I want to spend time focused on the machinery of the league. I want to explore how front offices think. How philosophies evolve. How decisions are made. How disagreements happen. How organizations change — or refuse to.

Most importantly, I want to learn alongside you. Think of it as a town hall meeting or an ongoing conversation between the curious. That’s what I would like NFL Blue Book to become.

We’ll begin with notebooks from training camps. As time goes on, there will be features, news, and explanatory reporting. Eventually, I will add podcasts, livestreams, and videos. There will be mailbags because many of the best questions often come from readers — people who love the game enough to wonder why something happened instead of simply accepting that it did.

I also suspect NFL Blue Book will evolve over time. I know where I want to begin, but I don’t know exactly where this endeavor will end up. And I think that’s a good thing. Some of the best work I’ve ever done started with a question I didn’t know I should be asking — until someone else asked it first.

So I hope you’ll ask your questions and challenge mine. Tell me where you think I’m missing something. Help shape what this becomes.

When I have described NFL Blue Book to people around the league, I have often borrowed an analogy about just needing to start somewhere, even if it’s small. I tell them I can’t worry about how much acreage this will eventually cover — that right now, it’s just about working a patch of grass.

That patch is me getting out onto the road for the camp tour that will help launch this undertaking. Eventually, I hope to expand to acreage that includes the league’s 32 front offices. I think that’s where we can find some of the NFL’s most interesting stories.

Now I’d like to spend the next chapter of my career exploring them with you.

Welcome to NFL Blue Book.