CHICAGO — Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson didn’t really know each other when they sat down for their first interview over Zoom in January.

Despite various connections — Poles and Johnson both worked as graduate assistants at Boston College, one season apart — and mutual acquaintances in the football world, they were essentially strangers.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Edge rusher Jared Verse was the 2024 NFL defensive rookie of the year. Lineman Braden Fiske was a finalist, following in the footsteps of 2023 finalist Kobie Turner.

So the Rams defensive front is not searching for an identity.

They already have one.

"For one, we're young," Fiske said at the start of training camp. "And two, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In his second season as San Francisco's coach, Jim Harbaugh got the 49ers to the Super Bowl. While that's a big ask of the Chargers, especially for a club that hasn't won a postseason game since 2018, it's reasonable to predict his team will do as well or better than last year's 11-6 finish.

A big question: Is Justin Herbert an ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Davante Adams did not make any bold declarations.

After the three-time All-Pro receiver signed with the Rams, he modestly described what he could provide a team that advanced to the NFC divisional round last season.

"I'm just here to be another piece to hopefully get over the hump," he said.

Coach Sean McVay has grander ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The most dynamic skill-position player on the Chiefs’ roster vanished from their early-season plans Wednesday. On a team that cut a few dozen players a day earlier, Rashee Rice will sit at home not because of his talent but despite it.

The NFL suspended Rice, the team’s top wide receiver, for the initial six games of ...Read more

We’re just days away from the start of the NFL season, and the spirit of rivalry is in the air.

With new “rivalry” uniforms in tow and just days from the first game — and first NFC West matchup — of the season, it had me thinking: How do the 49ers stack up with their division rivals?

This might be the best division in football this ...Read more

RENTON, Wash.— Las Vegas isn't convinced. The bettors aren't, either. Segments of the media can hype up teams after spending most the summer covering them, but money is often the most accurate depiction of the public's perception.

Right now, the over/under on the Seahawks win total for this season is 8.5. The prognosticators and public have ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It took a few days — and an injury — but the Carolina Panthers have brought back a training camp favorite.

The team announced Saturday that it is signing Hunter Renfrow to the team’s 53-man roster. Renfrow, 29 and a 2021 Pro Bowler, spent the spring and summer with the Panthers but was cut ahead of Tuesday’s NFL ...Read more

The 2025 NFL season is set to get underway on Sept. 4 when the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Miami Herald broke down each division and continues with the NFC East, looking at the Cowboys, Eagles, New York Giants and Washington Commanders.

NFC EAST

Dallas Cowboys

— Coach: Brian Schottenheimer...Read more

The 2025 NFL season is set to get underway on Sept. 4 when the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Miami Herald broke down each division and continues with the NFC West, looking at the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.

NFC WEST

Arizona Cardinals

— Coach...Read more

CHICAGO — With the Chicago Bears gearing up for the season opener after setting their initial 53-man roster this week, there’s optimism at Halas Hall that — despite coming off a five-win season in a rugged division — they will field their best team in several years under first-year coach Ben Johnson.

As the 2025 season draws near, it’...Read more

The 2025 NFL season is set to get underway on Sept. 4 when the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Miami Herald broke down each division and continues with the NFC South, looking at the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons

— ...Read more

The 2025 NFL season is set to get underway on Sept. 4 when the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Miami Herald broke down each division and continues with the NFC North, looking at the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.

NFC NORTH

Chicago Bears

— Coach: Ben ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Green Bay Packers tried to swing a trade for Khalil Mack just before the start of the 2018 season when the Oakland Raiders opted to make a deal with the Chicago Bears.

“The whole Khalil Mack thing, it’s not that we didn’t try,” then-Packers President Mark Murphy told WSSP-AM 105.7 in Milwaukee the next summer. “We were...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — As much as it pains me to say this, the Micah Parsons debacle might spell the end for Jerry Jones as the mastermind behind the decades of dominance of the Dallas Cowboys.

And by dominance, I mean irrelevance.

Parsons is good for three wins per season, and so, after Jerry traded him Thursday to the Packers for two meh first-...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins outside linebackers coach Ryan Crow slapped his live-in girlfriend in a domestic violence incident that left her looking “terrified” and sounding as if she were “whimpering,” according to a Fort Lauderdale police report.

Crow and his girlfriend each spoke to Fort Lauderdale police early Friday ...Read more

Three days after the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline, the Patriots released veteran safety Jabrill Peppers in a surprise move.

Peppers once projected to start for New England, having spent most of training camp with the first-team defense. League sources indicated Peppers was not shopped prior to his release, and he was not made available for ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A day after Green Bay's blockbuster acquisition of edge rusher Micah Parsons, a legendary NFL executive was riding an emotional high.

"I feel so good. I'm so excited about it," said Carmen Policy, who built championship teams with the San Francisco 49ers and is pulling for his son to do the same with the Packers. "I think it's ...Read more