Bills quarterback Josh Allen is closing in on a rushing milestone that only four quarterbacks have previously reached: Five thousand yards. Allen, who has 4,721 career rushing yards, can become the fifth quarterback in NFL history with 5,000 rushing yards this season. If he gains yardage at his career average of 36.9 rushing yards per game, Allen would reach 5,000 yards in his eighth game of this season. With 5,000 yards, Allen would join Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (6,522 yards) and retired quarterbacks Michael Vick (6,109 yards), Cam Newton (5,628 yards) and Russell Wilson (5,568 yards) as the only quarterbacks ever to reach 5,000 rushing yards. Allen is already the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing touchdowns for a quarterback, with 79. He has at least six rushing touchdowns in every season of his career, and if he crosses the goal line six times this year, he’ll become just the fourth player ever with at least six rushing touchdowns in nine consecutive seasons, along with Marshall Faulk (10), LaDainian Tomlinson (10) and Jim Brown (nine)
Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold allegedly crossed the line in an effort to recover property that had been stolen from him. He now stands to lose millions, if he’s convicted on eight total charges relating to an armed robbery and kidnapping in Florida. Or if he’s simply ordered to remain behind bars while the case proceeds to trial. Obviously, the biggest loss would be his freedom — for however long he is incarcerated. Arnold’s status as a 2024 first-round pick makes it a very expensive proposition to be unavailable to play during either of the final two years of his rookie deal. The slotted first-round contract he signed in 2024 has a total value of $13.343 million. He’s due to make $2.098 million in 2026 and $2.75 million in 2027. Arnold, who has strongly denied the allegations, also received a signing bonus of $7.251 million. The Lions could recover half of that amount ($3.6255 million), if he’s not available for the next two seasons. If he misses all of 2026, he’d owe $1.812 million. To recover a portion of Arnold’s signing bonus, the Lions will need to resist the temptation to void his guarantees and cut him. The Falcons, for example, kept Mike Vick on the roster throughout his incarceration for dogfighting in order to later recover a portion of his signing bonus. Once a player is released, the ability to collect unearned signing-bonus amounts evaporates. The Lions would surely try to collect the unearned $3.6255 million. They recovered signing-bonus payments from all-time greats like Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson when they retired. If they did it to them, the Lions will undoubtedly do it to Arnold. Again, the threat to Arnold’s freedom is the much bigger issue. The financial ramifications, however, further underscore the stupidity of the decision to orchestrate an effort at vigilante justice, if the prosecution’s allegations eventually are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. On Monday, a pre-trial detention hearing could result in a ruling that Arnold must remain in custody until the case goes to trial. That alone would trigger a multi-million-dollar consequence for Arnold by keeping him from playing for the Lions during the 2026 season
Caleb Williams wants to trademark the nickname of one Basketball Hall of Famer, but he wants to be like another. Williams, who has said he didn’t know George Gervin was the original “Iceman,” paid homage to the greatest athlete in Chicago’s history, Michael Jordan, on the standard cover of Madden NFL 27. The cover, which features Williams’ fourth-down jump pass in the comeback win over the Packers in the wild-card round, asked EA Sports to add the Chicago skyline behind him. The original 1985 Air Jordan campaign poster showed the Bulls star midair with the sun setting over the Chicago skyline behind him. The Bulls won six championships from 1991-98. “ That’s the position I want to be in, but I also wanted to pay respect to MJ,” Williams said Thursday at the EA Sports season-opening event, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “It was more of a respect thing. Bringing retro back, not letting people forget that and doing it on my side of the world of football. Paying respect to that and him and what he was able to do in Chicago. Just honestly wanted to bring that energy, that vibe back.” Williams has yet to meet Jordan, but said a meeting is “in the works.” Williams joins Saquon Barkley, Josh Allen, Christian McCaffrey, Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady and Lamar Jackson as a Madden NFL cover boy. Only Mahomes and Brady have graced the cover more than once, a feat Williams hopes to achieve. Being on the cover used to bring with it the so-called Madden Curse, with Garrison Hearst, Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick and Shaun Alexander among those to have a decrease in on-field production or an injury in the ensuing season they were the face of the video game series. Mahomes, though, won a Super Bowl the first time he was on the cover. Williams isn’t afraid. “No more of this Madden curse,” Williams said. “We’re going to go out and do all the things we need to do, stay healthy, do all the things we need to do study film and be prepared each week, and go out there and handle business.” The deluxe edition of Madden 27 features Williams in a white jersey with falling snowflakes in a nod to the “Iceman” nickname he hopes to take over from Gervin
When the Falcons kick off their 2026 NFL season on Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Steelers , most of the national attention will be on Pittsburgh quarterback and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers in the final Week 1 start of his career. But who gets the call under center for Atlanta? It will be a southpaw. Let's break down the competition, with odds from FanDuel. Fans who want to wager on NFL futures and tail Matt Severance's picks need to see the latest FanDuel promo code . I will start with the process of elimination and say that if current third-stringer Trevor Siemian (+8000 to be the Week 1 starter) is the guy, then something clearly went badly wrong at Falcons camp. The journeyman, who is 15-18 as an NFL starter but hasn't been one since 2023 with the Jets , was signed to a one-year deal in March simply to provide depth and experience as the QB3. Personally, I can't remember the last time we had a pair of lefties battling to be an NFL starting quarterback, but that's the case for the Falcons with new addition Tua Tagovailoa and incumbent Michael Penix Jr . And with the injury histories of both, maybe it's not such a long shot that Siemian plays some this season. How rare is it simply to have a lefty starting QB in the league? When the Dolphins visited the Browns in Week 7 last year, the QBs were Tagovailoa for Miami and Dillon Gabriel for Cleveland. It marked the first matchup between left-handed starting quarterbacks since Sept. 17, 2006, when the Falcons' Michael Vick faced off against the Buccaneers ' Chris Simms. Tagovailoa and Penix were set to meet in Week 8 of 2025 in Atlanta, but Penix missed it injured and Tua instead faced off against Kirk Cousins , who was released this offseason and now fighting for the Week 1 job with the Las Vegas Raiders . The Falcons are starting over, with former star QB and CBS Sports NFL analyst Matt Ryan hired as president of football in a newly created position, Ian Cunningham as the new general manager and former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski as the new HC. Stefanski took Cleveland to the playoffs twice, in 2020 and 2023, being named NFL Coach of the Year both seasons. The Falcons haven't made the playoffs in eight seasons -- the second-longest drought in the NFL -- or finished with a winning record since 2017. The team's win total this season is set at 6.5, and it is +310 to make the playoffs and -400 to miss. If you plan to bet on NFL futures, check out the latest DraftKings promo code for the best offer. Penix is recovering from the third torn ACL of his career -- he suffered two on his right knee during his time at Indiana. This one was his left knee, suffered in Week 11 last year. Penix is able to do individual drills and 7-on-7 work, as he did last week in OTAs, but is not medically cleared for team drills yet. Needless to say, how ready Penix might be by the time training camp rolls around could determine whether he's even in the mix for Week 1, and he's -106 to be the guy. Penix, 4-8 as an NFL starter, said he started throwing again in mid-March, but last week. Stefanski said he wasn't ready to put a timetable on when Penix might be ready for live play, but he expects the QB to be fine for camp. Like Cousins was with the Falcons, Tagovailoa was a cap casualty with the Dolphins, despite being owed tens of millions of dollars, and Tua signed with Atlanta in March. The franchise wasn't about to give up on Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 draft, and certainly wasn't going into the offseason with a rehabbing Penix and Siemian as the only two legit QB options. Because Tagovailoa is owed $54 million from Miami this year, he signed only a one-year, $1.3 million deal with Atlanta to compete for the top job, and he's the -120 favorite to be the Week 1 guy. Obviously it helped Tua that the Falcons made a coaching change, as the offensive scheme is entirely new to both he and Penix. Stefanski has long directed an attack that relies on timely release and accuracy, saying t
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