Player Notes

To borrow a famous quote from Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” “attention must be paid” to Buffalo Bills players Stefon Diggs and Damar Hamlin entering the regular season for very different reasons.Diggs is supposedly unhappy while Hamlin is happy to be alive.This column gives both attention, starting with Diggs.Stephen A. Smith just knows Diggs is unhappy. Bills basher Nick Wright, Chris Broussard ...

7-9 minutes 8/31/2023Ozzie Newsome is always on the lookout.In his 27 years with the Ravens, Newsome has missed only a few practices and even fewer games, always observing either from a press box, suite or his usual perch on the patio at the team’s practice facility in Owings Mills.No one within the Ravens organization knows coach John Harbaugh better. Through Newsome’s eyes, first as a general manager ...

7-8 minutes 8/31/2023The sale of the Washington Commanders turned out to be quite a boost for the rest of the NFL.The average NFL value went up 14% last year in large part as a result of the Commanders selling for a record $6.05 billion, according to Forbes. The business publication released its annual list of NFL valuations on Thursday, with the average NFL team now worth $5.1 billion.In addition ...

10-12 minutes 8/31/2023During the NFL’s league meetings in March, Ron Rivera claimed that, in his fourth offseason as head coach of the Commanders, the team was “roster building for the first time” because it had a quarterback it felt confident could develop into a centerpiece.The Commanders have pinned their future (for now) on Sam Howell, a 22-year-old fifth-round pick in last year’s draft who started ...

6-7 minutes 9/1/2023TAMPA — It appears Mike Evans will leave the Bucs much the same way he’s played for them: a bit undervalued but without much fuss.With talks about a contract extension at an impasse, the greatest offensive weapon in club history is playing what likely will be his final season in Tampa Bay.Evans is in the last season of a five-year, $82 million deal he signed in 2018.Having turned ...

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Let’s credit Jimmy Garoppolo one last time for injecting a zap or two of kinetic energy to the peppy proceedings around 49ers HQ on Wednesday.This time, Garoppolo did it from afar, since, of course, he’s actually a member of the Raiders now, not the 49ers. But he still can rev up his old team when it’s needed.And it definitely felt like the 49ers’ leaders were a little droopy ...

Kyle Shanahan’s results should speak for themselves.With near-constant instability at the most important position, his teams have reached three NFC title games over the past four years.But here’s another way to think about it: That instability was caused in part by his own erratic decision-making. Shanahan the personnel boss has done Shanahan the coach no favors at quarterback, even as he’s built a ...

The 49ers have previously shown no reluctance in signing top players to record-setting contracts.Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Trent Williams all set the market at their positions when they signed new deals with San Francisco. All but one — I’ll let you guess — deserved it.The Niners didn’t hesitate on those deals because the front office wanted to build the reputation around the ...

Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young has progressed in his recovery from a stinger he suffered in the team’s first preseason game, but he has not yet been medically cleared for full contact.The Commanders are hopeful that Young will be ready for Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 10, but his status is uncertain.Stingers occur when the nerves in the neck and shoulder are stretched ...

If you like wild cards, you may love Isaiah Simmons.Consider Simmons, the hybrid linebacker/safety the Giants acquired last week in a no-lose trade with the Cardinals, a chess piece.Now think of Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale as Bobby Fischer, arguably the greatest chess player of all time.This Simmons thing, of course, may not work, considering how underwhelming his three years with ...