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      Patriots, 49ers Among N.F.L. Free Agency’s Biggest Spenders

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      The 2021 N.F.L. salary cap has crunched some teams looking to shore up their rosters. Others have opened up their wallets.In an off-season characterized by a $182.5 million salary cap, down 8 percent from 2020, N.F.L. general managers are maneuvering the landscape carefully. With the official start of free agency underway, executives are looking at players to add — or keep — on their rosters, but only at the right price.Of course, some teams are already spending more aggressively than others, mostly on big contracts for proven defensive talent and one-year deals for a handful of high-profile names. In the coming days, teams with leftover cap room are expected to fill in the gaps with a loaded pool of free agent receivers who have taken a back seat with the crunched cap limit.So far, these are the teams that have set the market in free agency, investing millions of dollars in free agency for a better chance of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next February (or throwing it to a teammate on another boat during the celebratory parade).New England PatriotsAfter missing the playoffs and finishing 7-9 in 2020, general manager/coach Bill Belichick strengthened his team by spending more than $268 million in contracts, the biggest free agent spree in the league so far, according to Spotrac. New England doled a sizable portion of that sum to the offense, which struggled in its first season without quarterback Tom Brady, who won his seventh Super Bowl after leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a year ago in free agency.Belichick went all in on tight ends, signing Jonnu Smith to a four-year, $50 million contract and Hunter Henry to a three-year, $37.5 million deal. By prying Smith away from the Tennessee Titans and Henry away from the Los Angeles Chargers, the Patriots are poised to use two-tight end formations, as they did from 2010-12 with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The offense ranked in the top three in scoring each of those seasons. Smith caught 41 passes for 448 yard and eight touchdowns last season and Henry was the Chargers’ second-leading receiver with 60 catches for 613 yards and four touchdowns.While the Patriots re-signed quarterback Cam Newton to another one-year deal, it is still possible that New England adds another quarterback this off-season. Whoever’s under center should have at least two dependable targets.San Francisco 49ersOffensive tackle Trent Williams was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2020 season, his first with the San Francisco 49ers.Rick Scuteri/Associated PressDecimated by injuries last season, the 49ers inked two major additions to its offensive front in an effort to quickly rebound as an N.F.C. contender.The team locked in eight-time Pro Bowl selection Trent Williams to a six-year, $138 million contract, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in N.F.L. history. Williams had been traded to San Francisco last year after he held out the 2019 season over a claim that Washington Football Team doctors mishandled treating a cancerous tumor on his head. He joins center Alex Mack, a six-time Pro Bowler who the 49ers signed to a three-year, $14.85 million deal.A good chunk of the $164.9 million the 49ers spent in free agency went to adding two of the best blockers in football to protect quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo against the N.F.C. West’s aggressive pass rushers, Rams Aaron Donald and Arizona Cardinals’ J.J. Watt. An upright quarterback tends to have a positive effect on a team’s offense.Jacksonville JaguarsBy trading expensive players such as Jalen Ramey and Yannick Ngakoue in recent seasons, the Jacksonville Jaguars entered free agency with a bevy of available cap space. They have offered $144 million in total value for contracts. They focused primarily on defense, after finishing 1-15 with the league’s second-worst defense, signing cornerback Shaquill Griffin to a three-year, $40-millon contract, safety Rayshawn Jenkins to a four-year, $35-million deal and defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris to three years and $23.4 million.Offensively, the Jaguars’ rebuild starts with the draft, where the team will mostly likely use the No. 1 overall pick to select Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. First-time N.F.L. head coach Urban Meyer, who team owner Shahid Khan said will have roster control, is using free agency to plug holes before the new face of the franchise arrives. But Meyer has already voiced his displeasure with some aspects of running an N.F.L. team, calling the league’s legal tampering period “awful.”Cincinnati BengalsA strong free agency market for defensive talent led the woeful Bengals (4-11 in the 2020 season) to prioritize that side of the ball with $122.75 million in free agent contracts. The team also signed Vikings tackle Riley Reiff to a one year, $7.5-million deal, the first step in fixing a weak offensive line charged with protecting Joe Burrow, who tied for ninth-most sacked quarterback in the league last season.Tennessee TitansDerrick Henry’s legs can only carry the Titans so far. Despite a season where the running back again led the league in rushing yards, Tennessee was bounced from the playoffs in the wild-card round. This off-season, general manager Jon Robinson bolstered the pass rush by adding former Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree on a five-year, $82.5-million contract. Dupree had eight sacks for the Steelers in the 2020 season. The Titans are paying him to help contain opposing quarterbacks with the potential to burn them on the ground as the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson did in key moments of that playoff loss to Baltimore.JetsFirst-year head coach Robert Saleh’s defensive background showed in free agency when the Jets signed defensive end Carl Lawson to a three-year, $45-million deal. It’s the largest the Jets finalized in free agency thus far, contributing to the $110.25 million in total contracts.Pairing Lawson, whose speed helped him to 5.5 sacks last season with the Bengals, on the edge should complement the power of third-year defensive lineman Quinnen Williams. The Jets hold the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, and are a rumored landing spot for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Their roster could still see major additions.Tampa Bay BuccaneersShaquil Barrett, right, is a critical part of the Buccaneers’ pass rush and was a key contributor to Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl run. Ashley Landis/Associated PressThe 2020 Super Bowl champions faced serious questions on if they could keep the core group of key contributors — linebacker Shaquil Barrett, receiver Chris Godwin, and tight end Rob Gronkowski and others needed new contracts — with little available cap space entering free agency.With some slick accounting, Tampa Bay looks like it will keep most of the band together.General manager Jason Licht cleared cap space by placing the franchise tag on Godwin and Tom Brady contributed too, by reworking his contract and signing a four-year extension to lessen the team’s cap hit.The Buccaneers have spent $93 million so far in free agency, highlighted by a four-year, $68-million contact for Barrett, who shined at the end of the playoffs as part of the team’s phenomenal pass rush. Barrett sacked Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers three times in the N.F.C. championship game and hounded Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.Still finessing the available cap space, the Buccaneers also retained tight end Rob Gronkowski on a one-year deal reportedly worth up to $10 million and can now turn their attention to receiver Antonio Brown, running back Leonard Fournette and defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh in the hope of making another championship run.Los Angeles ChargersRookie quarterback Justin Herbert came into the league without a traditional training camp, was thrust into the starting spot after a freak injury to the starter, and still completed a record-breaking rookie year.He did all that with a rotating cast of offensive lineman, who the Chargers have looked to upgrade in free agency by signing former Packers All-Pro center Corey Linsley to a five-year, $62.5-million deal and adding Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Matt Feiler on a three-year, $21-million deal.Under new head coach Brandon Staley, the Chargers have spent $89.5 million so far in free agency to make Herbert’s second N.F.L. season a bit more stable.Washington Football TeamThe most impactful of Washington’s signings was inking journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year, $10-million contract to challenge Taylor Heinicke (who got a two-year, $4.75-million deal) at the position. It will be Fitzpatrick’s ninth team in his 17-year career.Fitzpatrick, who initially started last season for the Miami Dolphins last season before coach Brian Flores inserted rookie Tua Tagovailoa, should allow Washington to compete for a playoff berth in the wide-open N.F.C. East. He also buys the team time to find a long-term quarterback solution if Heinicke isn’t it.Kansas City ChiefsMahomes absorbed three sacks and nine hits in the Super Bowl, largely because starting tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz were out with injuries.The team released both long-tenured tackles and added Patriots lineman Joe Thuney on a five-year, $80-million contract. Kansas City re-signed tackle Mike Remmers to a one-year deal reportedly worth up to $7 million. More

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      San Francisco 49ers Increase Ownership Stake in Leeds United

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySan Francisco 49ers Increase Leeds United Ownership StakeThe N.F.L. team, a minority owner in Leeds since 2018, now will control 37 percent of the Premier League club.Leeds United currently sits 12th in the 20-team Premier League.Credit…Paul Ellis/Pool, via ReutersJan. 25, 2021, 6:00 a.m. ETTwo years after dipping their toe in English soccer, the N.F.L.’s San Francisco 49ers have doubled down on their bet.The 49ers on Monday announced that they had increased their ownership stake in the Premier League club Leeds United to 37 percent from 15 percent, a move that further embeds American interests in the world’s richest soccer league.Paraag Marathe, the 49ers executive who has held a seat on the Leeds United board since San Francisco’s initial investment in 2018, will become vice chairman of Leeds United, whose majority owner will remain Andrea Radrizzani, the Italian entrepreneur. The 49ers and Leeds United did not provide financial details of the deal to increase the N.F.L. team’s ownership stake, though it is likely to represent a significant premium on the amount the 49ers spent in 2018, when Leeds was still playing in England’s second-tier Championship.In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in July, Radrizzani boasted that his initial investment in Leeds of 100 million pounds (about $140 million) had tripled in value. If the club remains in the Premier League, he predicted its valuation could double again in the next three years.The deal with the 49ers also ends speculation about potential new investment in Leeds. Over the past year, Radrizzani openly talked about selling off more of his ownership stake in Leeds, a team he is hoping to return to its former status as a major player in English soccer.Marathe, whose duties with the 49ers include oversight of the team’s outside business ventures, told The New York Times in July of the 49ers’ wish to increase their investment in Leeds, and to complete a deal as quickly as possible.While a deal is now done, it was not quick, smooth or simple, Marathe said, because of complications created by the coronavirus pandemic.“I’ve been doing deals my whole career, and it’s always easier to have a meeting of the minds when the minds are actually physically next to each other, so that, first and foremost, made it very complicated,” Marathe said in a video interview in which he was joined by Radrizzani.Radrizzani confirmed he had talked to other parties about investing in Leeds United, including the Qatari owners of Paris St.-Germain, the perennial French champion.The 49ers’ new commitment to English soccer underlines the growing synergy and potential for growth that the owners of N.F.L. franchises see in English soccer. The Glazer family, which owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has controlled Manchester United since 2005; Arsenal is backed by the Los Angeles Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke; and Fulham, which like Leeds United won promotion to return to the Premier League for this season, is owned by Shahid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars. Liverpool, the reigning Premier League champion, is controlled by Fenway Sports Group, owner of baseball’s Boston Red Sox. Crystal Palace and most recently Burnley have also attracted American investment in recent years.“I can’t really speak for other American owners and what they’re doing, but for us it’s about synergy and partnership,” Marathe said. “Whatever sport it is, it’s still operating under the same premise: You have media rights, you have ticket sales, you have commercial, hospitality and you have your players. Everything is the same.”The 49ers executive Paraag Marathe will serve as vice chairman of the Leeds United board.Credit…Lachlan Cunningham/Getty ImagesThe 49ers’ plan in increasing their stake, Marathe added, is to bring the team’s N.F.L. experience to bear on Leeds’s operations on and off the field, through shared proprietary analytics tools to best practices on management and staffing.Leeds, back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence marred by sporting and financial failures, has won plaudits for its swashbuckling, front-foot style of play under its Argentine coach, Marcelo Bielsa. But it remains some distance from recapturing the days when it was in the mix for the championship year after year.In its preparation for its return to the elite, Radrizzani said, Leeds spent the sixth-highest amount on securing new talent during the last off-season. That spending will continue, and be supported by the investment from the 49ers, Marathe said.“If we are able to stay in the Premier League, after two or three years I think this club could step up to be in the group of three or four clubs next to the big ones,” Radrizzani said, picking out Leicester City, the unheralded team that went from relegation danger to Premier League champion in the space of a year in 2016, as a trajectory he would like to emulate. Since Leicester’s title victory, its Thai owners have invested in new players, coaches and infrastructure to maintain the club’s place in the upper reaches of the league.“Our model, I think, is Leicester City,” Radrizzani said. “We have shared this a lot internally. If there’s a club I admire for what has been done in terms of football management, it’s Leicester.”Having completed the stake sale, Radrizzani acknowledged that he was now considering adding to his own portfolio, perhaps by buying other European soccer teams. The idea, he said, would be to find opportunities that would allow Leeds to develop players at smaller clubs, or to invest in larger ones that would allow him to develop their sporting and commercial models in concert with those at Leeds United.He said he would not consider, however, emulating Manchester City’s model of multiple-club ownership, with teams spread across multiple continents. Radrizzani said his sole focus would be on Europe.The relationship between Radrizzani and Marathe has grown to the point that the 49ers executive has come to refer to the Italian as his “brother.” Before the pandemic, Marathe was a frequent visitor to Leeds with Jed York, the 49ers’ chief executive, and an early riser to watch its games from his home in California.Not being able to travel to Leeds’s Elland Road stadium to witness the final weeks of the team’s promotion to the Premier League did not dull Marathe and the 49ers’ intent on following through with an expanded investment. Neither did the financial losses Leeds United has endured as a result of the pandemic, which Radrizzani estimated to be roughly 40 million pounds ($55 million).“Was it a blip on the radar or is it a blip on the radar? Certainly,” Marathe said of the pandemic’s effects on sporting finances. “Do I think sport is going to come roaring back in possibly a bigger way than pre-Covid? Absolutely. Otherwise we wouldn’t be doing this.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      The Talk of the Super Bowl Is Quarterbacks, Except One

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Capitol Riot FalloutVisual TimelineInside the SiegeNotable ArrestsCapitol Police in CrisisThe Global Far RightAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySPORTS OF THE TIMESThe Talk of the Super Bowl Is Quarterbacks, Except OneThe N.F.L. has tried to move on from the controversy over Colin Kaepernick, but recent events suggest his critique of America’s racial climate has remained relevant.Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick, center, and Eric Reid knelt during the national anthem before an N.F.L. football game against the Seattle Seahawks in 2016.Credit…Ted S. Warren/Associated PressJan. 25, 2021, 3:00 a.m. ETKap was right.Let’s not forget that.Let’s not erase his legacy the way the powers running the N.F.L. would like.As we barrel full steam toward the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Colin Kaepernick’s protest — his willingness to oppose the status quo and challenge America’s racial caste system — carried the profound weight of truth.Fans should remember. Team owners and the N.F.L. commissioner, Roger Goodell, should remember.What about the players? Since many of them have dropped their guard and allowed the message to be watered down, they need to remember too.The big game is less than two weeks away, with the Kansas City Chiefs seeking to successfully defend their title against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The narrative will center on quarterbacks, and rightly so. Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes aren’t just among the greatest to ever play, they are among the most captivating.But years from now, when historians assess the connection between professional sports and the state of the world in the current era, which N.F.L. quarterback will loom largest?I’ll bet on Kaepernick, once among the league’s most electric players, censured and shut out of the game since 2016. Kaepernick, whose kneeling protest during the national anthem tore at the heart of the one sport that most embodies America and its myths.Kaepernick, loved and loathed, celebrated as a champion for justice and denounced by politicians looking to hype racial resentment, no matter the costs.He has not just been at the center of the storm. At times he has been the storm. All of the other quarterbacks are throwing their beautiful spirals while watching safely from afar — careers well intact.We’ve just endured a presidential term of brazen demagogy from a man many N.F.L. owners have considered a great leader and friend. We’ve seen the rise of white supremacy. The stream of police shootings. The killing of George Floyd. Protests, the coronavirus pandemic and the deadly storming of the Capitol.Kaepernick’s critique of America foretold it all.But if you think everything is fine now that there’s a new face in the White House, think again. Remember that he began his protest not under former President Donald J. Trump, but in the waning days of the Obama administration. He knelt not just against the cracking structure of modern day racism, but its faulty foundation, laid down centuries ago and built upon ever since.His shadow still hangs over a league that heads to the Super Bowl acting as if he has never existed. N.F.L. owners — and their chief spokesman, Goodell — would rather slice him from collective memory and move on.“There is nothing more humbling for the billionaires who own N.F.L. teams than to be proven wrong, especially by a Black athlete who is seen as a thorn in their side,” Derrick White, a professor of African-American studies at the University of Kentucky and an expert on race and football, said when we spoke last week.That’s why the league settled the union grievance filed by the former 49ers quarterback and his former teammate Eric Reid. The pair claimed they were blackballed by the N.F.L. for protesting. A multimillion-dollar payout, replete with a confidentiality agreement, was easier to swallow than giving Kaepernick more airtime.After Floyd’s killing and protests against police brutality intensified around the world, Goodell was forced to admit the league had been wrong not to listen to players who had been speaking out against systemic racism for years. He summoned the courage to utter the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” And he carefully avoided mention of Kaepernick.The N.F.L. soon began co-opting the message. Sadly enough, the players have largely gone along with the plan. Kneeling protests waned to a trickle. The riot in Washington seemed to offer a prime opportunity for clamoring, unified protest. It didn’t happen. There were games to be played. Money to be made. Jobs to hold on to. And nobody with Kaepernick’s spine.You have to hand it to the czars of football. They’ve neutralized the message. They made just enough room for the previously unthinkable in a sport so conservative, so connected to the police and the military and the flag. Think of the helmets with the social justice messaging and the names of victims of police shootings, and the pithy phrases painted on the edge of fields.One such phrase: “It Takes All of Us.”Well, all of us clearly does not include Kaepernick. As much as he would like to, he will never play again. This season of chaos, when he wasn’t called upon even as teams were steadily depleted by the virus, put an end to any such hope..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-c7gg1r{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:0.875rem;line-height:0.875rem;margin-bottom:15px;color:#121212 !important;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-c7gg1r{font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.9375rem;line-height:1.25rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-rqynmc{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-rqynmc strong{font-weight:600;}.css-rqynmc em{font-style:italic;}.css-yoay6m{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-yoay6m{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-1dg6kl4{margin-top:5px;margin-bottom:15px;}.css-16ed7iq{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;padding:10px 0;background-color:white;}.css-pmm6ed{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;}.css-pmm6ed > :not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-1amoy78{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-1amoy78{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-1amoy78:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-1amoy78[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-k9atqk{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-k9atqk strong{font-weight:700;}.css-k9atqk em{font-style:italic;}.css-k9atqk a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-k9atqk a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #ddd;}.css-k9atqk a:hover{border-bottom:none;}Capitol Riot FalloutFrom Riot to ImpeachmentThe riot inside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, followed a rally at which President Trump made an inflammatory speech to his supporters, questioning the results of the election. Here’s a look at what happened and the ongoing fallout:As this video shows, poor planning and a restive crowd encouraged by President Trump set the stage for the riot.A two hour period was crucial to turning the rally into the riot.Several Trump administration officials, including cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao, announced that they were stepping down as a result of the riot.Federal prosecutors have charged more than 70 people, including some who appeared in viral photos and videos of the riot. Officials expect to eventually charge hundreds of others.The House voted to impeach the president on charges of “inciting an insurrection” that led to the rampage by his supporters.Another new motto: “End Racism.”This from a league with a long, sordid history of discrimination. A league known to prize Black speed and strength while diminishing Black intelligence and leadership.N.F.L. rosters are 70 percent African-American. There are only two Black head coaches. The league used to tell African-Americans they would get lead jobs if they just put in more patient years learning the craft. Done. Then came an all-too-familiar course correction: The series of recently hired white coaches who are heralded for their genius despite their glaring inexperience.End Racism? Stop with the Orwellian hypocrisy.What if the league had not turned its back on Kaepernick? What if, from the start, it had listened to him and started a sincere dialogue with Black players who emulated his protest?How soon we forget his magnetic talent, lost in the passage of time and obscured by silly arguments that focus on his last struggling seasons leading a 49ers team with little talent and lackluster coaching.To remember his potential, check out the YouTube highlights.Watch his four touchdowns on the frigid New England night in 2012, when he dueled Brady’s Patriots and led the 49ers to a 41-34 win. Skip next to his playoff game in 2013 against Green Bay, when he rushed for 181 yards and outpassed Aaron Rodgers.What might have been is part of the tragedy now. To flourish, the N.F.L. needs singular stars. If Kaepernick had not been rooted from the league, maybe he’s one of the quarterbacks guiding a team to the Super Bowl. Maybe he’s even the talk of it.Of course, you aren’t likely to hear from Kaepernick as we approach the big game. Silence has become his mystique, which fuels an enduring power.So who will do it? Who will bring him up, give him his due and keep telling the story? Who will keep the movement front and center, raw and real, instead of the stuff of manicured public-relations campaigns?What a shame that this is an open question, since there is still so much work to be done.What a shame, because “Kap was right” is not hard to say.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      In Robert Saleh, the Jets Believe They Found the Head Coach They Need

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyIn Robert Saleh, the Jets Believe They Found the Leader They NeedSaleh’s defense carried the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance. But it was his ability to motivate players that brought him to New York.Robert Saleh, 41, was the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator for four seasons.Credit…Tony Avelar/Associated PressJan. 15, 2021Updated 7:51 p.m. ETRobert Saleh oversaw a San Francisco 49ers defense that came within minutes of winning the Super Bowl last year and that managed to rank among the league’s best this season despite missing many of its top players.But that is not why the Jets coveted him.After one of the worst seasons in franchise history, a 2-14 fiasco that exposed a lack of comprehensive oversight and resulted in Adam Gase’s dismissal after two years on the job, the Jets did not focus on finding an offensive mastermind or a defensive wizard when they searched for Gase’s replacement. They wanted a leader, an expert communicator, an energetic motivator capable of inspiring both the locker room and a fan base that had been growing more disgruntled by the day.An extensive process led the Jets to Saleh, who after twice interviewing with the team agreed late Thursday night to become their next head coach, the climax of his 20-year odyssey from a low-level position in the business world to the leadership of an N.F.L. team.Saleh, 41, who is of Lebanese descent, is believed to be the league’s first Muslim Arab American head coach. He spent 16 seasons as an N.F.L. assistant, the last four as the defensive coordinator with San Francisco, where players and fellow coaches alike expected him to get a head-coaching job someday.“When you’re looking for a head coach who can establish a culture and get the respect of his players and is just a great teacher, that’s Saleh,” the former N.F.L. linebacker Brock Coyle, who played two seasons for Saleh in San Francisco, said Friday in a telephone interview. “Every time I left a meeting with him, I knew exactly what needed to be done, whether it was in practice or the game.”Saleh worked with Richard Sherman in Seattle and then helped the star cornerback rejuvenate his career in San Francisco.Credit…Stan Szeto/USA Today Sports, via ReutersThe Jets have struggled to establish much of anything over the past decade except dysfunction and despair, winning the third-fewest games in the N.F.L. since their last playoff appearance, in the 2010 season. Saleh provides a welcomed infusion of dynamism.With his shaved head and muscular physique, Saleh, a former tight end at Northern Michigan, cuts a commanding figure, and his demonstrative sideline presence — yelling, fist-pumping, high-fiving — after big defensive plays earned him sustained airtime during 49ers broadcasts.Off the field, Saleh projects a calm and collected demeanor, Coyle said, and in the high-stress world of coaching, that resonated with his players.“He really put critical thinking into his coaching,” Coyle said. “He’s not this ego-driven guy. He really thought about what’s the best way to relay the message he wanted to his player and always wanted to hear what the players thought. His door was always open.”After a ragged first two seasons under Saleh’s watch, the 49ers’ defense, fueled by an influx of talent, powered the team to the Super Bowl, which San Francisco lost to Kansas City. Impressed, the Browns interviewed him in the last off-season, and after learning that Cleveland would be hiring Kevin Stefanski instead, the 49ers’ head coach, Kyle Shanahan, said: “Every year we keep him we’ll be very fortunate. Saleh’s going to be a head coach in this league. He could’ve been one this year. Most likely, he’ll be one next year.”Several vital members from the 49ers’ 2019 defense, including Nick Bosa, Richard Sherman and Dee Ford, missed most of this season with injuries, but the team still finished fourth in passing yards allowed and fifth in total yards allowed per game.As Saleh sets about assembling a team to his specifications, it’s likely that he will import players and coaches from San Francisco. That group could include Mike LaFleur — the younger brother of Packers Coach Matt LaFleur, who was the best man at Saleh’s wedding — as the Jets’ offensive coordinator.Mike LaFleur, right, with 49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan. LaFleur is a likely candidate to lead Saleh’s offense with the Jets.Credit…Jeff Chiu/Associated PressIf so, LaFleur would surely borrow Shanahan’s run-heavy scheme, loaded with motions and shifts, a decision that could influence how the Jets approach the quarterback position this off-season. The incumbent, Sam Darnold, played in a version of that scheme as a rookie, but the Jets must decide whether to continue building around Darnold or to trade him, filling his spot with a veteran or a first-round pick, perhaps Justin Fields of Ohio State or Zach Wilson of Brigham Young.Saleh grew up in Dearborn, Mich., home to one of the country’s largest Arab American communities, and after graduating from Northern Michigan in 2001, picked finance over football, going to work for Comerica Bank. But a few months later, when his brother David escaped the South Tower during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Saleh reassessed what he wanted from life.“His love and passion for football is ultimately why he wanted to get into coaching,” David Saleh told The Detroit News in 2020. “He just didn’t want to leave the game.”Saleh worked for three college programs over the next four years before joining the Houston Texans as a defensive intern in 2005, a move that altered the trajectory of his career. There, he met Shanahan, who would hire him in 2017 as the 49ers defensive coordinator.Saleh became the fourth head coach of color currently in the N.F.L., according to the league’s measures of diversity, with four openings still to be filled. His hiring came several months after the league updated the Rooney Rule, which aims to increase diversity in candidacies for head coaching jobs and certain front office roles. The rule was changed in May to bump up its interviewing requirement from at least one external minority candidate for each head coaching position to at least two.When Jets General Manager Joe Douglas recently delineated his ideal qualities for the next coach, he only alluded to football. He mentioned character, integrity and communication skills. After interviewing nine candidates, after listening to their plans and their visions and their ambitions, Douglas and the Jets knew what they needed.They needed Robert Saleh.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      As Virus Upends N.F.L. Schedule, Games Shift to Odd Landing Spots

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      After a weekend of question marks and patchwork solutions, the N.F.L. was forced to juggle its schedule yet again on Monday as it tries to finish the full regular season on time amid the coronavirus pandemic.The league moved the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Baltimore Ravens to Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. Eastern, rescheduling the A.F.C. North matchup for third time in six days. Like the previous moves, the postponement was meant to give the Ravens, who have had more than 20 players, including the N.F.L.’s reigning most valuable player, quarterback Lamar Jackson, test positive for the coronavirus, more time to get them cleared to return.By the game’s start on Wednesday afternoon, 12 Ravens players will still be ineligible to play, butthe team should be able to hold two practices before meeting the Steelers, for the first time in over a week.To accommodate the schedule change, the N.F.L. moved the Ravens’ following matchup against the Dallas Cowboys to Tuesday, Dec. 8, from Thursday. The Steelers’ Week 13 game against the Washington Football Team was rescheduled to Monday, Dec. 7, from Sunday.Wednesday games are exceedingly rare. The last one played was in 2012, when the Giants and Dallas Cowboys moved their game to a Wednesday night to avoid overlapping with President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. That had been the first regular season game on a Wednesday since the Los Angeles Rams’ victory against the Detroit Lions in 1948. The afternoon start time for Ravens-Steelers will result in the added oddity of a midafternoon, midweek nationally televised football broadcast.The Baltimore-Pittsburgh postponement was the second scheduling convulsion announced Monday, after the San Francisco 49ers said in a statement that the team will play its next two home games in State Farm Stadium, home to the Arizona Cardinals. The relocation came after health officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., where the team’s stadium is, banned contact sports at all levels through late December in a bid to slow the surge in coronavirus infections there.The team will play its games in Week 13 and 14 in the Cardinals’ Glendale, Ariz. facility, which was able to accommodate the move because the teams’ schedules do not conflict. The 49ers will play against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 7 and will face the Washington Football Team on Dec. 13, but the club still had not determined where they will practice and live during that time.“Very appreciative of Arizona welcoming us during these unprecedented times,” 49ers team owner Jed York wrote on Twitter, thanking the Cardinals team owner Michael Bidwill.While local and state guidelines for controlling the spread of the virus have prevented spectators from attending some N.F.L. games in other markets this season, this is the first time local health protocols have prevented a team from playing games or practicing in its home market. This summer, health officials in Santa Clara were among the first to ban fans at N.F.L. games and passed an ordinance requiring players and coaches to wear masks at all times, months before the league took the same step last week.On Saturday, Santa Clara County took new measures intended to reduce the rate of infections, including mandatory 14-day quarantining of people who travel there from more than 150 miles away, as cases in the area rose to a new high last week and its positive cases per 100,000 people to climbed to 26.8. The number of infections per 100,000 residents in Maricopa County, Ariz., site of the Cardinals’ stadium, is 48.6, nearly twice as high as in Santa Clara County. More

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      Virus Disruptions Hit 49ers and Broncos, as N.F.L. Crisis Grows

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      After bobbing and weaving around the coronavirus pandemic for much of the fall, the N.F.L. nears the end of the third quarter of its regular season facing crises on teams from coast to coast.On Saturday, health officials in Santa Clara County threw the San Francisco 49ers’ season into turmoil when they temporarily banned all contact sports at the high school, college and professional levels and required anyone traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away to quarantine starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The order would be in effect until at least Dec. 21 and would apply to the Stanford and San Jose State college football teams, and to the San Jose Sharks of the N.H.L., among others.In Baltimore, six more members of the Ravens have tested positive for the virus as the outbreak in the team’s locker room expanded to 18 players, including the team’s star quarterback, Lamar Jackson.And in Denver, the Broncos appear to have run out of quarterbacks since Blake Bortles, Drew Lock and Brett Rypien were forced to quarantine after coming in contact with a fourth quarterback, Jeff Driskel, who tested positive for the virus on Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the details. All four players are ineligible to play Sunday when the Broncos face the New Orleans Saints, and at this point Denver’s options for filling the position are extremely limited, because the league’s virus-related rules preclude bringing in a player who has not quarantined ahead of joining a team.For much of the season, the N.F.L. had only one full-fledged outbreak, when two dozen players and other personnel tested positive on the Tennessee Titans. The league got through that crisis by postponing a handful of games and moving a few others around. But teams have mostly exhausted their bye weeks, complicating efforts to juggle game dates this late in the season.The outbreak on the Ravens prompted the league to move their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers from Thursday to Sunday and then to Tuesday next week. The game is still scheduled for Tuesday despite the increase in positive cases.If any games, including the Ravens-Steelers matchup, are unable to fit into the league’s existing calendar, the N.F.L. may have to add an 18th week to the regular season and delay the start of the playoffs.The league’s doctors said they expect the number of positive cases to rise in line with surging infections across the country. On Friday, the N.F.L. told every team to cancel in-person practices on Monday and Tuesday because some players and personnel had celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.The 49ers face more pressing problems. The decision by local health officials could force the team to move at least two home games next month, and to leave their training site in Santa Clara.“We are at risk of exceeding our hospital capacity very soon if current trends continue,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer for Santa Clara County, who added that the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in the county had doubled in the past few weeks.The 49ers, who are to play the Rams in Los Angeles on Sunday, should be able to return to Santa Clara County before the quarantine goes into effect. But it is not clear where and when they will go next.“We are aware of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department’s emergency directive,” Bob Lange, the 49ers team spokesman, said in a statement. “We are working with the N.F.L. and our partners on operational plans and will share details as they are confirmed.” More