Category: Uncategorized

With all the talk around tech companies and streamers starting to get the rights to sports, I wanted to break down where each tech giant stands in terms of notable sports rights. All right below are for the United States, unless other wise noted.

Amazon via Prime Video

• NFL – Thursday Night Football, 1 Black Friday Game, 1 Wild Card Round Playoff Game
• NBA – Regular Season games, NBA Cup, Play-in tournament, and other playoff games
• UEFA Champions League – (UK, Ireland, and Italy)
• NASCAR – 5 races per year
• NHL – Monday Night Hockey (in Canada only)

Apple via AppleTV

• MLB – 2 games per week for Friday Night Baseball
• MLS – Primary provider of all games
• Formula 1 – Exclusive provider of all races

Google via YouTube TV

• NFL – Sunday Ticket

Netflix

• NFL – 2 Christmas Day games, 2026 NFL Australia Game, Thanksgiving Eve Game, Another Standalone game towards the end of the regular season, NFL Honors ceremony
• MLB – Opening Night, Home Run Derby, and Field of Dreams Game
• Boxing/MMA – Certain high profile fights like Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson or Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano

Teams need to be more willing to trade their star players, especially if the team in question is going nowhere. On Tuesday’s Podcast I talked about what the Cowboys have already gotten as a direct result of the Micah Parsons Trade:

• Kenny Clark – IDL
• Quinnen Williams – IDL
• Malachi Lawrence – Edge

And then two other players the Cowboys have gotten that they may not have had the draft pick or cap space to get had they kept Micah:

• Caleb Downs – Safety
• Rashan Gary – Edge

Trading one player has helped them get a good IDL, a great IDL, and a good Edge rusher who are known commodities. Downs and Lawrence are rookies so they are TBD, but Downs may be the best player from the 2026 Draft. And Lawrence joins a stacked defensive line where he will have time to develop as a first round pick.

All in all, the Cowboys will absolutely take those five players over just Micah Parsons. It’s a lesson for all front offices to prioritize getting as many good players as possible, rather than a few great ones.

Another recent trade that illustrates this is the Matthew Stafford – Jared Goff trade. This has been a rare win-win trade. The Rams got their QB and won a Super Bowl while still being contenders.

The Lions were likely going nowhere with Stafford and got their own Franchise QB, who was much younger. They were also able to build their roster with the following players as a direct result of the trade:

• Jahmyr Gibbs – RB
• Sam LaPorta – TE
• Jameson Williams – WR

In addition, the Lions drafted a whole slew of great young players in the subsequent drafts after the trade, which they may not have gotten if not for the trade.

The Lions will be better in the long term with Goff, Gibbs, LaPorta, and Williams than they would be with just Stafford.

A final one to mention. The Chiefs traded WR Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins. The Chiefs proceeded to win back to back Super Bowls and make a third in a row. As a result of the trade, the Chiefs got:

• Trent McDuffie – CB
• Rashee Rice – WR

McDuffie was one of the best players for the Chiefs on all three of those Super Bowl winning/appearing teams. The Chiefs just traded him for multiple picks, including a very talented first round DT from Clemson named Peter Woods, who could be a star for the next decade.

Rice played a big role in the 2023 Super Bowl victory and is the best WR on the team right now.

While getting rid of Hill, they also got addition by subtraction. Not only did they save a ton of cap room, but Hill has had multiple off-the-field incidents that the Chiefs no longer have to deal with.

Don’t be afraid to trade your stars.

Edge rushers are overvalued. Don’t get me wrong, they are important to an NFL team, but a bad value position when you look at how much teams win with the highest paid edge rushers.

Edge rusher is the flashy defensive position that racks up gaudy stats and commands high salaries. But does that contribute to winning?

Of the past ten Super Bowl Champions, just 2 had an edge rusher in the top ten in cap hit for their position. 6 teams didn’t even have a player in the top 20.

Team	Highest Cap Hit Rank of Edge Rusher On The Team
2025 Seattle Seahawks	18th
2024 Philadelphia Eagles	21st
2023 Kansas City Chiefs	33rd
2022 Kansas City Chiefs	6th
2021 Los Angles Rams	24th
2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9th
2019 Kansas City Chiefs	34th
2018 New England Patriots	44th
2017 Philadelphia Eagles	16th
2016 New England Patriots	57th

Paying star edge makes it hard to fill other positions with quality players. The approach of building a strong, well-rounded defense rather than focusing on a single high-paid edge rusher has proven successful. While drafting a great edge rusher can be beneficial, it’s not necessary to sacrifice significant capital to draft, sign, or trade for a star edge rusher. Teams should aim to find solid, reliable players who can contribute without breaking the bank.

1. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs
2. Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford – Los Angeles Rams
3. Mike Macdonald and Sam Darnold – Seattle Seahawks
4. Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye – New England Patriots
5. Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert – Los Angeles Chargers
6. Sean Payton and Bo Nix – Denver Broncos
7. Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy – San Francisco 49ers
8. Dan Campbell and Jared Goff – Detroit Lions
9. Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love – Green Bay Packers
10. Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams – Chicago Bears

Honorable Mention:

Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts – Philadelphia Eagles

Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence – Jacksonville Jaguars

Name the four QBs to lose their first Super Bowl start then win one later in their career.

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HINT 1

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One is an all-time great player who lost his first three Super Bowls, then won two at the end of his career.

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HINT 2

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One did it very recently. This QB beat the team he had lost to and won SB MVP.

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HINT 3

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The last two are both Hall of QBs who played in some of the earliest Super Bowls. One made it to three in a row, losing his first, then winning his next two. The other QB lost the first ever Super Bowl, then went on to win his next appearance.

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ANSWERS BELOW:

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John Elway, Jalen Hurts, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson

Offensive Line

As the postseason showed, our biggest area of need is offensive line. No one on the o line is so bad that they must be replaced, but no one is good enough that they could not be replaced if we find a better player.

I think we should target a new RT as Morgan Moses will be 35 next year. LT Will Campbell looked good before he got injured towards the end of the year. Coming back from the injury and playing versus great defenses in the postseason, Campbell really struggled. I think he should get one more year at LT and if that doesn’t work out, then move him inside. However, if they were to have the chance at a star LT, I would say get that star LT now and move Campbell inside to guard.

If they can find any great interior linemen, they should try to add them too. Any improvement will benefit the team.

Skill Players

I also think it would be great to try to get another high end wide receiver or tight end. That will help solidify the passing game much more.

Coaching

Figure out how to blend Terrell Williams and Zak Kuhr. Hopefully Williams will be healthy enough to return as DC next year. Kuhr was so great calling plays, you’d like to see him stay in that role. Ideally, there is a way to retain both of them, without demoting either one and keeping continuity with our defense.

Below, I will evaluate how my Pat’s season goals from before the season ended up doing this year.

• At least double their win total (at least 8 games) and contend for playoffs: Blew this out of the water. More than tripled their win total in the regular season and if you include the playoffs, they more than quadrupled their win total from last year. They won the division, made the playoffs as the number 2 seed, and made it to the Super Bowl. No team had more wins than them.
• Drake Maye starts looking like a top 10 QB: Blew this out of the water. Maye was an MVP candidate and is an undisputed top 10, borderline top 5 QB in the league. A franchise QB we can build around.
• Young offensive skill players break out and look like future players we can build on: I would call this a goal achieved. TreVeyon Henderson played great this year. Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas played pretty good as well. The one guy I would have liked to see being used more is Kyle Williams. He looked explosive when used, but only had 10 catches all year.
• Will Campbell looks great and Oline plays well: This is an up and down one. Campbell specifically looked good before he got injured towards the end of the year. Coming back from the injury and playing versus great defenses in the postseason, Campbell really struggled. I think he should get one more year at LT and if that doesn’t work out, then move him inside. However, if they were to have the chance at a star LT, I would say get that star LT now and move Campbell inside to guard. As for the whole offensive line, they were much improved from last year, but still have a long way to go. No one is so bad that they must be replaced, but no one is good enough that they could not be replaced if we find a better player.
• Defense is top 10 in the league: Absolute grand slam. Our defense was great this whole year and played their best in the playoffs.
• Milton Williams lives up to contract while Christian Barmore and Keon White continue to improve giving us a great front 4: This mostly panned out. Milton Williams was a stud and so was Barmore. White ended up getting traded, as he wasn’t being used much. Our front 4 was great overall when Williams was healthy.
• Christian Gonzalez gets into discussion as best CB in league and gets extension after the season: Gonzo was our best defensive player this year and is a top 3 to 5 CB in the league. He absolutely deserves a contract extension that puts him at or near the top of the CB market.

The NFL is making significant strides in its global expansion. In the 2024 season, the NFL played five international games, including their first game in Brazil. This momentum continued in 2025, as the league had seven games, including its first games in Ireland and Spain. Looking ahead to 2026, the NFL has confirmed nine games. New locations for these international games are Australia and France, as well as a return to Mexico.

Goodell has expressed a vision of hosting 16 international games annually within the next five years, a move that could significantly boost the NFL’s revenue. This expansion is not only beneficial for the league’s financial health but also for fans in the United States. The introduction of more international games could lead to the creation of a new TV package, with standalone times for these games. This would not only increase the NFL’s revenue but also potentially raise the salary cap, allowing teams to pay players more and attract higher-quality talent.

The NFL’s strategy to expand internationally is a smart move, given the sport’s entertainment value and its suitability for television. Since it is mainly an American sport, it also has so much room to grow abroad.

The potential for an 18 game season, with each team playing one game internationally, would ensure that fans in the U.S. won’t lose any games, maintaining the current 17-game US schedule, while adding an international game.

The NFL’s financial success is evident in the rising salary cap, which is expected to exceed $300 million for the first time this year, marking a $20 million increase from the previous year and a nearly $100 million rise since 2022. Since 2016, the salary cap has nearly doubled, reflecting the league’s ability to generate substantial revenue through TV deals and other ventures. This financial growth underscores the NFL’s prowess in business and its ongoing efforts to expand its reach and influence in the world.

We hear a lot about how much you can pay QBs and still win Super Bowls. I decided to run some analysis on Super Bowl Winning QBs and their Cap Hit % in their Super Bowl Year.

A few things to note:

1. Data from 2011-2025 is via Spotrac and data from 1994-2010 is via Over The Cap (two great websites sports nerds like myself can find contract details)
2. There was no Salary Cap for the 2010 season. I used the salary cap from 2009 for the Cap Hit % calculation
3. For 2017 and 2000, there were 2 QBs for those teams that played significant roles in their team’s Super Bowl run. I combined the 2 QBs cap hits in both of those scenarios.
4. I was surprised to find that starting in 2010, contract data could be… spotty. For Brad Johnson in 2002 and Trent Dilfer and Tony Banks in 2000, I used the average yearly salary from their contracts. It is likely not their exact Cap Hits, but for the purpose of this exercise, it is good enough.

Season	QB	Cap Hit %
2025	Sam Darnold	4.3%
2024	Jalen Hurts	5.3%
2023	Patrick Mahomes	16.5%
2022	Patrick Mahomes	17.1%
2021	Matthew Stafford	11%
2020	Tom Brady	12.6%
2019	Patrick Mahomes	2.4%
2018	Tom Brady	12.4%
2017	Carson Wentz + Nick Foles	4.7%
2016	Tom Brady	8.9%
2015	Peyton Manning	12.2%
2014	Tom Brady	11.1%
2013	Russell Wilson	0.6%
2012	Joe Flacco	6.6%
2011	Eli Manning	11.8%
2010	Aaron Rodgers	5.1%
2009	Drew Brees	8.4%
2008	Ben Roethlisberger	6.9%
2007	Eli Manning	9.2%
2006	Peyton Manning	10.4%
2005	Ben Roethlisberger	4.9%
2004	Tom Brady	6.3%
2003	Tom Brady	4.4%
2002	Brad Johnson	7.9%
2001	Tom Brady	0.5%
2000	Trent Dilfer + Tony Banks	9%
1999	Kurt Warner	1.4%
1998	John Elway	4.9%
1997	John Elway	5%
1996	Brett Favre	10.2%
1995	Troy Aikman	6.7%
1994	Steve Young	13.1%
Average Cap Hit %		7.87%
Median Cap Hit %		7.40%

Obviously, an ideal scenario is a Superstar QB on a team friendly contract. That rarely happens. As you can see with Patrick Mahomes’ last two Super Bowls, you can pay a QB a lot and still win. However, that QB needs to be ELITE and your front office needs to draft amazingly to fill the team with cheap, young talent.

Moral of the story is don’t pay QBs massive contracts unless they are a player you think can go to the Hall of Fame. At 7.9%, Brad Johnson has the highest cap % for a Super Bowl winning QB who is not a Hall of Famer or a likely Hall of Famer (Dilfer and Banks combined to be 9%, but neither was individually above 7.9%).

Teams are better off taking a chance on a Sam Darnold type player or drafting a new QB than overpaying a Tua or Kyler type player. The Panthers and Texans should keep that in mind this offseason.

New England Patriots vs Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks played better and deserved to win. But I am going to focus on how great this season was for the Pats. I love this team and we will be back. Pats season review blog to come soon.

Picks:

Pats win ❌

Pats cover (+4.5) ❌

Game/Betting Pick Results

Game: 0-1 This Week (44-19 This Season) (131-58 All-Time)

Spread: 0-1 (39-24) (121-63-5)