ESPN is going through yet another round of layoffs, as reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Notable names such as veteran NFL insider Tom Pelissero, former NFL MVP Cam Newton , and former Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech were all let go by the worldwide leader. Perhaps the biggest name in terms of the network’s programming to be laid off, though, was former Steelers safety Ryan Clark. Clark had been a staple of the network for the last half-decade, serving as one of the mainstays for the Emmy-Award winning NFL Live. It was reported that Clark was informed of the decision while he was still on air . The Super Bowl champion took to X to release a statement of solidarity with his now former colleagues who were also let go by the network. “Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN,” Clark writes . “So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now. My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!” Where Clark goes next is anyone’s guess, but he will be a very hot commodity from all major sports networks. Let us know what you think in the comments . Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more! Steelers WR Roman Wilson listed as player with most on the line in 2026 Former Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell arrested in Ohio Top 30 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers of all time: No. 20-11 Steelers’ Mason McCormick named to PFF’s 2026 All-Breakout team Jon Gruden urges Steelers to put their faith in Mike McCarthy
The latest round of ESPN layoffs is impacting plenty of recognizable names — including a former NFL MVP. Via Bobby Burack of Outkick, ESPN has cut ties with former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton . Newton, who launched his own platform and showed that he has the chops to do the job, landed at First Take over the past two years as one of the folks appearing with Stephen A. Smith. Cam may have tiptoed on the third rail earlier this year, when interviewing Smith’s sworn enemy, Jason Whitlock, on Newton’s podcast. During the segment, Whitlock pushed the notion that Smith’s memoir contains fabrications. Newton didn’t push back. In every company, there’s a political minefield that needs to be navigated in order to ensure long-term survival. Ryan Clark, for example, threw a low blow last September while on the air with a new employee who has close ties to ESPN executive vice president of programming and original content Burke Magnus. And that’s the moment that reportedly caused ESPN to sour on Clark. The Whitlock interview may have caused Smith to sour on Newton. And with Newton’s only role at ESPN being a member of the show Smith runs, that may have been enough to get Newton’s name on the list
With 50 days until the 2026 NFL season begins, this article provides a comprehensive refresher on key events and storylines. It covers Super Bowl LXI being broadcast by ESPN for the first time, the game's placement on Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day weekend, and its venue at SoFi Stadium. The article also highlights a Week 1 rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, noting it's the third time in recent history that Super Bowl participants have met in the subsequent season opener. It briefly touches on the four teams that have never appeared in a Super Bowl, mentioning the Detroit Lions' recent performance as the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on whom they hope will be the future of the franchise in quarterback Fernando Mendoza . The Indiana signal-caller cemented himself as a college football legend, as he led the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and College Football Championship while picking up the Heisman Trophy along the way. Only three other players have ever won the Heisman Trophy and were selected No. 1 overall: Cam Newton , Jameis Winston and Joe Burrow . All three players were immediately thrown into the starting lineup for their respective teams, but that will not be the case for Mendoza. The Raiders went out and signed veteran Kirk Cousins to start the season, and mentor the young Mendoza. Some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL did not start right away. Patrick Mahomes sat almost his entire rookie season while learning behind Alex Smith , Aaron Rodgers sat for three years behind Brett Favre, and Jordan Love behind Rodgers for two seasons. Even the great Tom Brady sat for over a full year backing up Drew Bledsoe. So, what is the best course of action? Former Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, who coached Philly to its Super Bowl LII victory against Brady's New England Patriots in 2017, believes that Mendoza should start right away. Pederson faced this same dilemma in 2016, when his Eagles drafted Carson Wentz No. 2 overall. It appeared Wentz was going to sit behind Sam Bradford as a rookie, but the Eagles changed course and shipped Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings prior to the start of the regular season. That opened the door for Wentz to play immediately. As Pederson explains it, he truly believed Wentz was going to be his franchise quarterback, and he wanted to get the growing pains out of the way early. He believes the Raiders should do this with Mendoza. "Let's get this guy out there Week 1, let's start having our growing pains Week 1," Pederson said. "Let's not prolong it into October or November or later in the season. Let's get him out there now. Let's get him working with the guys that he's going to be working with. Making the calls at the offensive line, getting Ashton Jeanty the ball. I think Klint Kubiak's system is going to allow for that, with the play-action pass, the run game, all these things that helped Seattle win a championship last year. But let's get Fernando on the field. I think it's very beneficial..." Pederson said Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott called him in 2018 to ask for advice on how to handle his new quarterback, Josh Allen . Pederson told him if McDermott was completely sold on Allen being the future of the franchise, he should play right away. "I think you put him on the field Day 1." Doug Pederson thinks the Raiders should start Fernando Mendoza at QB Week 1. pic.twitter.com/dfjB8Emd9e Wentz went 7-9 for the Eagles as a rookie, and then started his second season 11-2 before tearing his ACL. Wentz looked like an MVP candidate during that 2017 campaign prior to his injury with 33 passing touchdowns in 13 games. He clearly built confidence after playing a full year in the NFL. If there's one former player you should listen to when it comes to handling quarterbacks, it's Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl champion is a proponent of sitting and developing young quarterbacks. He lamented the state of the quarterback in today's NFL during a 2024 interview. "I didn't start my first year. I think it's just a tragedy that we're forcing these rookies to play early," Brady said. "But the reality is, the only reason why they are is because we've dumbed the game down which has allowed them to play. It used to be thought of at a higher level..." . @TomBrady on the tragedy that is being forced on rookie QBs in today’s NFL pic.twitter.com/IReSLdYL1R Since 2020, we've seen 11 rookie quarterbacks start immediately, and every single one of them had growing pains. Even the great Burrow, [... truncated ...]
Matthew Stafford was the 13th consecutive quarterback to win the AP Most Valuable Player after bringing it home for the Los Angeles Rams in 2025. The last time a non-QB won was Adrian Peterson with his superhuman season in 2012. It’s a quarterback award for the most part these days, and the list of recent winners is littered with some of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. After putting up those big years, though, how did those last 12 quarterbacks fare in their follow-up effort? Is it at all predictive for what could be in store for Matthew Stafford? Let’s dive into the data. After missing the 2011 season due to his neck injury, Manning arrived in Denver with a bang in 2012, but it was the 2013 Broncos season that earned Manning his fifth MVP honor. One year later, in 2014, Manning was still undeniably good, throwing for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns in a Pro Bowl campaign, but the signs of decline were starting to creep in. He’d retire after winning Super Bowl 50 in the 2015 season when his decline was at its nadir. There was a legitimate argument for J.J. Watt to win the award this year, but Rodgers pulled it out for his second MVP with another hyper productive and exceptionally efficient year. In 2015 things sputtered a little for Rodgers and the Packers offense, though they still won a playoff game and Rodgers reached the Pro Bowl. We’re nowhere near done with him on this list. Cam Newton was phenomenal in 2015, leading the Panthers to a 15-1 record and their second-ever Super Bowl appearance, although his performance in that game is still criticized to this day. He never reached those heights again, with no more Pro Bowls or any other honors in the remainder of his career. In fact, his 2016 season was the least productive healthy season in Carolina, throwing for just 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, going 6-8 as a starter and missing the playoffs. Everyone knows how this season ended for Ryan and the Falcons, but he was exceptional on his way to winning MVP. After Kyle Shanahan departed following Super Bowl 51 to become the head coach of the 49ers , Ryan stumbled production-wise, posting his lowest yardage total since 2010 and fewest touchdowns (20) since his rookie season. He remained productive for the remainder of his career but never got close to his MVP campaign again. Tom Brady won his third and final MVP in 2017, racking up big-time numbers through the air yet again. He followed it up by winning the Super Bowl the following season. We don’t need to rehash any more about that particular accomplishment. In his first season as a starter, Mahomes took the league by storm when he won the MVP award in 2018. He threw for a league-high 50 touchdowns and nearly 5,100 yards for one of the best offenses in league history. Defense cost the Chiefs in the long run as they melted down in the AFC Championship Game that year, but he battled back to win the Super Bowl the next season. Another quarterback in his first full season as a starter, Jackson similarly put the league on notice right away like Mahomes did, although did so with a very good campaign throwing the ball and a historic one rushing it. He dropped off a bit in 2020, though, missing even a Pro Bowl and passing for 12 fewer touchdowns, and the Ravens only scored three points in a divisional round loss to the Bills. After putting up good numbers and an NFC title game appearance in his first season with Matt LaFleur as his play caller, Rodgers and the Packers offense exploded in 2020. He completed nearly 71% of his passes that season and posted a league-best 48 touchdown passes. How did he follow that up? Well… Rodgers became the first player to win back-to-back MVPs in over a decade, since Peyton Manning did it in 2008 and 2009. The raw numbers weren’t quite as gaudy for Rodgers in ’21 as they were in ’20, but he still led the league in TD%, INT% and passer rating, although Green Bay ’s offense collapsed and went one-and-done in the playoffs, the [... truncated ...]
Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial. It’s back to back wide receivers on the top 100 list. Day number 79 belonged to Mark Carrier . Number 78 goes to a more modern wide receiver, Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn originally came into the NFL as a top 10 pick of the Miami Dolphins . Despite a standout college career as a receiver and returner, the pick wasn’t well received, and that proved to be justified. Ginn only spent three years in Miami and totaled just 1,664 yards and five touchdowns in those three years, though he did chip in an additional three return touchdowns. His inconsistency as a wide receiver led to the Dolphins trading him away to the 49ers , who used him primarily as a returner. After a couple years of that, the Panthers decided that was a guy they could bring in to be a top three receiver for Cam Newton . Ginn originally only spent one year in Carolina as the team’s third wide receiver behind 34 year old Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell . He chipped in a respectable 556 yards and five touchdowns before departing for Arizona . He did nothing in Arizona, and the Panthers saw that and thought “that’s a guy we need to bring back into an expanded role at wide receiver.” He was originally slotted in as the team’s number two wide receiver, but a torn ACL suffered by Kelvin Benjamin in training camp elevated Ginn to the team’s WR1 position. He started the next two seasons for Carolina, and they would be among the best two years of his career. He topped over 700 yards in both seasons and caught a career high 10 touchdowns in 2015. He retained some return duties and maintained his effectiveness there. Ginn was one of those players who only spent three seasons in Carolina, but it felt like he was here for a lot longer. He probably never should have been one of the team’s top options at wide receiver, but he was thrust into that role and had some memorable moments. Now to be fair, some of those moments were painful ones when he’d drop an open touchdown, but he was also on the receiving end of a number of long touchdowns off the arm of Cam Newton. In a way, he’s forever linked to Newton; only Greg Olsen had more receiving yards from the franchise’s all time best quarterback. That link elevates Ginn and slots him in at number 78 on the top 100 Panthers of all time
Earlier today, I compared the draft-pick cost for the Bills and Patriots to acquire DJ Moore and A.J. Brown respectively via trades this offseason. Now, I’ll be stacking Brown and Moore against each other as receivers on the field. In the draft-pick piece, I labeled Moore as “a half-tier below” Brown for the entirety of the time they’ve spent together in the NFL (since 2019). Of course, there’s no such thing as definitive, universally accepted quality tiers at any position in the NFL, so I wanted to provide you with everything imaginable to compare and contrast these now division rival receivers. A few of these statistics were featured in the original article, but I’ve added one metric and put them all into a table for convenience: (mtf = missed tackles forced, ctc = contested-catch, and fd = first down) That feels like Moore is a “half-tier” behind Brown, doesn’t it? Now, I am not the world’s biggest Jalen Hurts advocate, yet there’s no mistaking that Brown has had better quarterbacks throwing him the football to date in the NFL than Moore has — revitalized Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee and Hurts in Philadelphia . Compare that to Moore, who, as a rookie caught most of his passes from 29-year-old Cam Newton . The next year, Kyle Allen started 12 games for Carolina. Then, 2020 was Year 1 with Joe Brady as the Panthers OC, and Teddy Bridgewater was Carolina’s starter. In 2021, 11 starts for Sam Darnold . In 2022, the Matt Rhule Panthers rolled out a triumvirate of passers — Baker Mayfield , P.J. Walker , and Darnold. Of course, Moore then was traded to the Chicago Bears, and went for over 1,300 yards with Justin Fields throwing him the football before back-to-back seasons with Caleb Williams at the helm. It’s impossible to quantify the impact quarterback play has had on these two receivers, yet is nonetheless worth mentioning. Regarding Brown and Moore’s play against man coverage — which of course has been a major bugaboo for the Bills receivers lately: Since 2022, Moore saw 479 targets in the regular season. Brown received 521. When it comes to size, Moore and Brown are two strapping wideouts. Brown is lsted at 6’1” and 226 pounds. Moore is listed at 6’0” and 213. And they’re very comparable athletes. There’s no way to know much the athleticism has changed for these two since they’ve been in the NFL, but here is the side-by-side of their pre-draft workout figures: Reputation-wise, Brown is clearly ahead of Moore. He has three Second-Team All-Pro distinctions that he earned after the 2022, 2023, and 2024 seasons. Moore doesn’t have any. Brown has a Super Bowl ring, but of course, despite their exponentially increasing value to the NFL game, “WR Winz” are not really a thing. And it’s not specifically Moore’s fault he just made his playoff debut last season with the Bears. He did have 11 receptions for 116 yards and two scores on 16 targets in those two postseason contests. Moore and Brown are less than three months apart in age, with similar builds, athleticism, and play styles. They rock post-catch, win vs. man coverage, and are reliable reeling in the football in traffic. Individually, they’ve had similar productivity to date, with Brown accumulating more volume on better teams with better quarterbacks. And because they were injected into what should be a heated, tightly contested AFC East rivalry between Super Bowl contenders, from now on, it will be difficult to mention one receiver without quickly discussing the other
Von Miller, a Broncos legend, has expressed interest in rejoining the team. Despite being 37 years old and the team's linebacking corps being well-stocked, the Broncos 'owe' him a training camp invite. His past achievements include two Super Bowl titles, a Super Bowl MVP award, and numerous Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections. While unlikely to usurp current starters, his veteran presence and potential situational utility due to injuries could be valuable
For those of you who have lived under a rock the last couple of months, you may not realize that the Chicago Bears have the toughest strength of schedule entering the 2026 season. The national media has let Bears fans know every chance they get to let them know that the Bears could be a regression candidate based on the challenges their schedule presents. The Bears do indeed have the toughest schedule in the league, with their opponents having a .550 winning percentage from 2025. Each NFL season brings significant changes, so those numbers might not mean anything, but how did teams in the Bears’ position perform with that situation? Let’s take a look. Of the previous 9 seasons, the team with the hardest strength of schedule finished with a losing record seven of the nine times. That certainly seems concerning. Of the two teams with a winning record, only one finished with double-digit wins; that was the 2023 Eagles , who went 11-6. Here’s how it looks: 2026 Bears ??? 2025 Giants 4-13, missed playoffs 2024 Browns 3-14, missed playoffs 2023 Eagles 11-6, lost in Wild Card Round 2022 Rams 5-12, missed playoffs 2021 Steelers 9-7-1, lost in Wild Card Round 2020 Patriots 7-9, missed playoffs 2019 Raiders 7-9, missed playoffs 2018 Packers 6-9-1, missed playoffs 2017 Broncos 5-11, missed playoffs Now, before we panic, I think we should look at the team’s record from the previous year. If a team was bad and stayed bad, that certainly isn’t the Bears case, so let’s look at how those teams did previously. 2024 Giants 3-14 2023 Browns 11-6 2022 Eagles 14-3 2021 Rams 12-5 2020 Steelers 12-4 2019 Patriots 12-4 2018 Raiders 4-12 2017 Packers 7-9 2016 Broncos 5-11 Five of the nine teams did have winning records the previous season. Now, other factors play into these numbers. For example, the 2019 Patriots had Tom Brady , the 2020 Patriots had a past-his-prime Cam Newton at quarterback. The 2022 Rams, Matthew Stafford missed half the season. But overall, if we strictly look at how teams went from the previous year to the year with the toughest schedule, we get this change in win totals: 2025 Giants +1 2024 Browns -8 2023 Eagles -3 2022 Rams -7 2021 Steelers -3 2020 Patriots -5 2019 Raiders +3 2018 Packers -1 2017 Broncos +/- 0 These 9 teams, combined, won 23 fewer games the following season with the difficult schedule. Five of them had a winning record the previous season, and only two of them maintained a winning record; both of those teams (Eagles and Steelers) won 3 fewer games than the previous season. One other thing to note: every team that did make the playoffs failed to win a playoff game. With teams winning 2.6 fewer games per season, and the teams with winning records that maintained winning records winning 3 fewer games, history tells us the Chicago Bears will win 8 or 9 games this season. I don’t think any Bears fan is expecting that type of season; none of those teams had an ascending quarterback and ascending head coach, and others had changes at QB or dealt with significant injuries as well. But if the Bears are going to improve on their 11-6 record and win some playoff games, based on the last 10 years of data, they will be the anomaly. If anyone can do it, it’s Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Time will tell
