4:01 PM ET MINNEAPOLIS — The makeup of the Minnesota Vikings defense changed in a major way Friday, when the team announced it had terminated the contracts of cornerback Xavier Rhodes and nose tackle Linval Joseph. Five days ahead of the start of the new league year and free agency, which is set to begin
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1:00 PM ET NFL NationESPN NFL free agency kicks off next week, and the 2020 salary-cap space for all 32 teams is close to being locked in. Teams are permitted to start contract negotiations Monday with agents of players who will be free agents. Teams can sign players beginning at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday. Which
9:40 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Del Shofner, the wide receiver who combined with Hall of Fame quarterback Y.A. Tittle to give the New York Giants one of the NFL’s most prolific passing threats in the early 1960s, has died. He was 85. Shofner’s daughter, Laurie Shofner Corwin, confirmed the death Thursday in
6:00 AM ET In the summer of 2007, Joe Douglas attended a University of Delaware practice and fell hard for a lanky, strong-armed quarterback named Joe Flacco, a relative unknown. Douglas, a Baltimore Ravens area scout, had studied Flacco’s game tape from the previous year. Now, watching him live for the first time, he was
7:28 AM ET The New England Patriots have officially exercised the 2020 option year on cornerback Jason McCourty, a source told ESPN’s Field Yates on Thursday. While McCourty signed a two-year, $11 million contract last offseason, the presence of a $500,000 option bonus to activate the second year of the pact was notable. If the
9:00 PM ET ESPN staff The 2020 NFL draft order is set, with all 255 picks and seven rounds locked in for April’s draft. The Cincinnati Bengals kick off things with pick No. 1 — Joe Burrow, anyone? — and the New York Giants end it with pick No. 255. The 2020 NFL draft begins
6:48 PM ET The Green Bay Packers will release tight end Jimmy Graham on Thursday, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday. Graham will become an immediate free agent. Graham, who turned 33 in November, ranked as the highest-paid tight end in the NFL with an average salary of $10 million and was scheduled
11:51 AM ET Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ventell Bryant was arrested on a DUI charge in Tampa, Florida, early Wednesday morning. Bryant was stopped by police at approximately 2:30 a.m. after he was spotted driving with his headlights off, according to the police report cited by multiple media outlets. He failed a field sobriety test
1:24 AM ET Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is close to finalizing a deal with WWE, according to a report by FS1’s WWE Backstage program. Gronkowski is “deep in talks” with the pro-wrestling promotion, according to the report, though how he’ll be used on-screen is unknown. The report noted Gronkowski could pop
6:25 PM ET The New England Patriots were awarded a league-high four compensatory draft picks, the NFL announced Tuesday. The Patriots add two third-rounders and two sixth-rounders to their overall haul of 12 picks. It helps them partially fill a void of not having a second-round pick — a selection they traded to the Atlanta