Category: Sport

The NFL had a whopping 10 head coaching openings this job cycle. The last two vacancies were filled Sunday with the Las Vegas Raiders’ hiring of Klint Kubiak (offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks) and the Arizona Cardinals’ hiring of Mike LaFleur (offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams).

At a glance, here are some of the trends by the numbers:

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6

Hires who will be NFL head coaches for the first time. The “rookies” are Buffalo’s Joe Brady, Miami’s Jeff Hafley, Baltimore’s Jesse Minter, Cleveland’s Todd Monken, Las Vegas’ Klint Kubiak and Arizona’s Mike LaFleur.

1

Racial minority who was hired in this head coaching hiring cycle — the Titans’ Robert Saleh, who is Lebanese American. This is Saleh’s second head coaching job after spending four seasons with the New York Jets.

63

Age of the Giants’ John Harbaugh, the oldest coach hired in this cycle.

36

Age of youngest head coach hired in this cycle, Joe Brady of Buffalo.

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3

Head coaches whom Aaron Rodgers, 42, is older than in the league. Those coaches are: Joe Brady (36), Mike LaFleur (38) and Klint Kubiak (38). Jesse Minter (42) of the Ravens is older than Rodgers by about 7 months.

354

Combined regular-season victories for John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy, the two most senior members of this coaching class.

2

Lombardi Trophies this head coaching class has among itself with John Harbaugh and Mike McCarthy each claiming the game’s ultimate prize once in their careers.

4

Offensive coordinators — Joe Brady, Todd Monken, Klint Kubiak and Mike LaFleur — who are making the jump to head coach next season

3

Defensive coordinators — Jeff Halfey, Jesse Minter and Robert Saleh — who are making the jump to head coach next season

 

 

Nobody was catching Justin Rose this week in San Diego.

Rose, who started the final round with a massive six-shot lead, cruised to a dominant win at the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday. Rose posted a 2-under 70 in the final round at Torrey Pines to grab the seven-shot victory, his first of the season and second in his last five PGA Tour starts. Rose’s 23-under broke the tournament record last set by Tiger Woods in 1999.

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The win earned Rose a check worth more than $1.7 million.

Rose fired a 10-under on the North Course to begin the week and jump into the lead immediately, and then he backed it up with a 7-under 65 on the South Course on Friday. Though he slowed down a bit on Saturday, Rose still built a six-shot lead over Joel Dahmen and the rest of the field. Sunday’s round was just a formality. Rose has now won 13 times on Tour in his career.

Pierceson Coody, Si Woo Kim and Ryo Hisatsune finished in second at 16-under. Dahmen, who was in second to start the day, ended up T7. Brooks Koepka, after making the cut on the number in his first start since returning from LIV Golf, finished T56.

Here’s a look at how much Rose and the rest of the field earned this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

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Farmers Insurance Open payouts

1. Justin Rose — $1.728 million
T2. Pierceson Coody, Si Woo Kim, Ryo Hisatsune — $726,400
T5. Jake Knapp, Stephan Jaeger — $370,800
T7. Sahith Theegala, Andrew Novak, Joel Dahmen $301,600
10. Maverick McNealy — $261,600
T11. Tony Finau, Ryan Gerard, Adam Schenk, Keith Mitchell, Hideki Matsuyama, Seamus Power, Haotong Li — $193,029
T18. Michael Thorbjornsen, Chris Gotterup, Matt MCCarty, David Lipsky — $132,000
T22. Chad Ramey, Cameron Young, Nicolai Højgaard, Harris English, Kris Ventura — $92,640
T27. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Patrick Rodgers, Eric Cole — $71,520
T30. Isaiah Salinda, Sam Stevens, Rasmus Højgaard, Adam Scott, Justin Lower, Dan Brown, Kristoffer Reitan, Max McGreevy — $56,280
T38. Matthieu Pavon, Karl Vilips, Jason Day, Danny Walker, Emiliano Grillo — $41,688
T43. John VanDerLaan, Johnny Keefer, Keegan Bradley, Davis Thompson, John Parry, Ricky Castillo — $31,264
T49. Mac Meissner, Denny McCarthy, Taylor Moore, Austin Eckroat, Zecheng Dou, Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson, A.J. Ewart — $23,739
T56. Matti Schmid, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Brooks Koepka — $22,176
T59. mackenzie Hughes, Doug Ghim, Sam Ryder, Zach Bauchou — $21,504
63. S.H. Kim — $21,024
64. Keita Nakajima — $20,832
T65. Wyndham Clark, Marcelo Rozo, Emilio Gonzalez, Tom Kim — $20,352
69. Mark Hubbard — $19,872
T70. Cam Davis, Rico Hoey, Tom Hoge, Jackson Suber — $19,392
74. Kensei Hirata — $18,912

The only way that Joel Dahmen knew he would have a chance at winning Sunday afternoon was if Justin Rose somehow didn’t make it to Torrey Pines.

“He’s just playing too well,” Dahmen said Saturday night. “So, maybe he will not set his alarm correctly or something might happen that way.”

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Unfortunately for Dahmen, Rose was there waiting to tee off Sunday afternoon in the final group. The Farmers Insurance Open was all but over.

Rose, who built a massive six-shot lead over the rest of the field entering the final round, posted a 2-under 70 on Sunday to get to 23-under for the week, which gave him a seven-shot win over the rest of the field. That broke the tournament record of 22-under set by Tiger Woods in 1999.

“The whole week has been sort of a record-setting week,” Rose said on CBS. “I was just kind of aware of that, just for my own personal pride … I was grinding on that. Obviously I was aware of the big lead, but I kind of wanted to play for [the record] for myself.”

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Vintage Rose showed up at Torrey Pines. He fired a 10-under on the North Course to kick off the week and jump into the lead immediately, and he backed it up with a 7-under 65 on the South Course that gave just about everyone else issues in the second round.

Rose went 5-under on his first 10 holes Saturday, and ended up building a six-shot lead by the end of his round. It would have been bigger had he not slipped and made three bogeys down the stretch. Rose even admitted he thought his round “could have been lower,” something you “never want to say after a 68 at Torrey.”

By that point, Sunday’s round was merely a formality. Rose made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to make the turn at 3-under on the day. He bogeyed early on the back side, but it didn’t matter. Rose still cruised to the finish with seven straight pars to wrap up his dominant win.

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Si Woo Kim and Pierceson Coody finished second at 16-under for the week. Coody went 7-under in his final round. Ryo Hisatsune birdied the 18th to join that group at 16-under. Dahmen went 1-over in his final round to fall back to 14-under for the week and finished T7.

Brooks Koepka, who made his return to the Tour this week after a run with LIV Golf, finished T56 at 4-under. Koepka made the cut on the number to make the weekend.

Rose has won 13 times in his PGA Tour career and twice in his last five official starts after his win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in a playoff last fall. The 45-year-old fell to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at Augusta National last April.

Though it’s been years since he reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings, and well over a decade since his lone major championship win, Rose is playing some of the best golf of his career. He dominated Torrey Pines, often regarded as one of the toughest courses on Tour. While that will undoubtedly be tougher to do against stronger fields at the majors in the coming months, Rose appears more than ready to claim his second career major title in the near future.

Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been added to the injury report for the team’s game Sunday in Washington against the Wizards due to lower back soreness.

Sabonis last played in Sacramento’s loss to Philadelphia on Thursday and wound up sitting out Friday’s loss to Boston. The Kings are currently in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and own the worst record in the NBA at 12-38. After playing 70 games last season, Sabonis has appeared in just 18 games for the Kings as the All-Star break approaches.

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As a three-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, Sabonis has been one of the more durable players in the league over the past few years. During the 2023-24 campaign in Sacramento, Sabonis suited up for all 82 regular-season games. In 2022-23, Sabonis played in all but three games, then played seven games in the postseason.

However, this season has been different for Sabonis. He’d just returned to the lineup earlier this month after missing 27 games due to a knee injury. On top of that, there have been trade rumors swirling around Sacramento, and Sabonis has been at the center of them. While Sabonis hasn’t been moved yet, the Kings did make a move Saturday to acquire forward De’Andre Hunter from Cleveland.

The Kings seem to be moving toward another rebuild as more moves could be on the horizon with Thursday’s trade deadline looming, and Sabonis could be one of the next veterans on his way out.

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Sabonis’ injuries this season seem to have affected his production. His numbers have declined in points (15.4), rebounds (11.2) and assists (4.2) per game. Sabonis’ field-goal percentage is down a few points, and his 3-point shooting has fallen off a cliff from 41.7% last season to 18.5% this year. When healthy, Sabonis is a difference-maker and could potentially be that missing piece to get a contender over the hump.

The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is two weeks away, and the rosters for a three-team “United States-versus-the-World” format are taking shape.

On Sunday, the league announced the reserves NBA head coaches selected this year. LeBron James headlined the group of 14 players. Even though his 21-year streak as an All-Star starter came to an end last month, he’s still on an All-Star team for the 22nd consecutive season.

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With his addition to the roster, James extended his own record for most NBA All-Star selections. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the second-most with 19.

Here’s the complete list of reserves:

Eastern Conference

• Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

• Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks

• Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks

• Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers

• Norman Powell, Miami Heat

• Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors

• Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons

Western Conference

• Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves

• Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets

• Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder

• Kevin Durant, Houston Rockets

• Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

• Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers

• LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

The All-Star Game will be played in Inglewood, California, at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome on Feb. 15.

Voting determined the conference’s starting fives

Fans are responsible for 50% of the vote that picks each conference’s five starters. NBA players (25%) and a media panel (25%) account for the other slices of the vote.

Just as reserves were selected without regard to position, there were no positional requirements for the conference’s starting fives. That’s a first for the exhibition, which will soon be played in its 75th iteration.

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Here are the starting fives for the Eastern and Western Conferences:

Eastern Conference

• Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks

• Jalen Brunson, G, New York Knicks

• Cade Cunningham, G, Detroit Pistons

• Tyrese Maxey, G, Philadelphia 76ers

• Jaylen Brown, F, Boston Celtics

Western Conference

• Nikola Jokić, C, Denver Nuggets

• Luka Dončić, F, Los Angeles Lakers

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G, Oklahoma City Thunder

• Stephen Curry, G, Golden State Warriors

• Victor Wembanyama, F, San Antonio Spurs

Here’s how the voting was split across players, fans and media:

It’s important to note that Wembanyama and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards tied for the West’s final starting spot with a 5.75 weighted score. Wembanyama, though, won the tiebreaker because he had 1,965,462 fan votes to Edwards’ 1,960,957.

What you need to know about the All-Star Game’s new format

This year’s All-Star Game will feature three teams: Two will consist of players from the United States, and a third will be comprised of players from the rest of the world.

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The three eight-player rosters will be announced Tuesday.

In terms of the game itself, there will still technically be four 12-minute quarters, although each will be its own game, as each of the three teams will play twice during round-robin action. The fourth “quarter” will pit the two teams with the best records — point differential will be the post-round-robin tiebreaker if all three teams have 1-1 records — to decide a champion.

No. 9 Illinois handed No. 5 Nebraska its second consecutive loss of the season with a 78-69 win at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Sunday. The Cornhuskers have lost two games after beginning the season 20-0 (9-0 in the Big Ten).

Nebraska held a 39-33 lead at halftime, led by Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager each scoring 12 points.

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Illinois began the second half with a 16-8 run capped by a Keaton Wagler 3-pointer that put it on top, 49-47.

The Cornhuskers closed the deficit to 51-50 on a Frager 3-pointer, but Illinois answered with two free throws by Wagler and a 3 from the left corner from Jake Davis. David Mirkovic quickly followed with a layup that expanded the Illini’s lead to 58-52. That margin eventually grew to 11 points, powered by five points from Wagler and three more by Andrej Stojakovic.

Nebraska closed to within 76-69, with Rienk Mast scoring five points in the closing minute. But Stojakovic hit two free throws for the final margin.

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Wagler led Illinois with 28 points (shooting 10-of-12 on free throws), 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Davis followed with 13 points, shooting 3-of-6 on 3-point attempts. Tomislav Ivisic added 12 points and 8 boards for the Illini, who improved their record to 19-3.

“Keaton did Keaton things in the second half,” said Illinois coach Brad Underwood of the freshman guard, who scored 23 of his points in the game’s second 20 minutes.

At 10-1 in the Big Ten, Illinois is tied with No. 3 Michigan at the top of the conference standings. The Illini have won 11 straight games and 13 of their past 14. Illinois hosts Northwestern (10-12, 2-9 conference) before traveling to East Lansing to face No. 7 Michigan State (19-3, 9-2).

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Nebraska dropped to second place at 9-2, tied with the Spartans. Frager scored a team-high 20 points, sinking 6 of his 12 3-pointers, followed by Sandfort’s 14 points. Sam Hoiberg added 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Cornhuskers lost in frustrating fashion last Tuesday at Michigan, 75-72, missing two 3-point attempts in the closing seconds. Nebraska fans were also frustrated by a foul call on Sam Hoiberg, in which he was whistled for a block but appeared to have position to draw a charge. Officials apparently felt that Hoiberg had a foot in the restricted area under the basket.

Any lingering resentment over that loss could have been lessened by a win at home Sunday. Nebraska should get back to the winning side next Saturday with a visit to Rutgers (9-13). However, after that is a matchup with No. 12 Purdue (18-4, 9-3 Big Ten) on Tuesday.

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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2025 season record: 3-14 (u 6.5 wins), fourth in AFC West, missed playoffs, 30th in DVOA

Overview

By hiring Pete Carroll, the entire idea behind the 2025 Raiders centered on having a well-coached team that raised the floor of the talent on the roster. It was immediately apparent that would not be the case. The Raiders were not just bad, they were sloppy. A poor offensive line derailed a run game that featured No. 6 overall draft pick Ashton Jeanty. Geno Smith, an offseason trade acquisition, significantly regressed from his Seattle peak. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly did little to cover up deficiencies and was fired before the season ended. The Raiders had the highest rate of three-and-outs in the league, on 42% of their drives. This is what Klint Kubiak, who confirmed he’ll be the Raiders’ next head coach, has to fix as he brings a strong offensive pedigree to Vegas.

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Las Vegas finished 14th in defensive DVOA but any improvement on that side of the ball or developments from players, such as rookie corner Darien Porter, weren’t nearly enough to make up for all of the shortcomings elsewhere. This team had the third-worst point differential and the worst time of possession differential in the league.

The Raiders have the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft and are staring down a complete rebuild the franchise tried to avoid with last offseason’s moves.

Cap/cuts outlook

According to Over The Cap, the Raiders have more than $91 million in salary cap space, the second-most in the league. They would free up another $8 million by releasing Geno Smith. However, Las Vegas has only 36 players under contract. A lot of that space will go toward bringing in depth to fill out the roster, as there are only so many good players available in free agency who would immediately help turn the team around.

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[Get more Raiders news: Vegas team feed]

If the new vision of the Raiders does not align with star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, who reportedly wants out of Las Vegas, the team would open up another $30 million of cap space and add some significant draft capital with a trade.

Key pending free agents

Edge Malcolm Koonce
K Daniel Carlson
CB Eric Stokes
OL Dylan Parham

Koonce signed a one-year deal last offseason, coming off a torn ACL. After a slow start, he started to turn around and show his promise over the second half of the season. His 13 pressures over the final three weeks tied for 13th among all defenders. Stokes and Parham were bright spots in otherwise disappointing units. Stokes finished fourth among cornerbacks in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap. Parham was 17th in pass block win rate among interior linemen, per ESPN.

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Positional needs

Offensive line
Linebacker
Wide receiver

The Raiders were 31st in yards allowed before contact per carry on running back attempts. Ashton Jeanty was hit within a yard of the line of scrimmage on 54.1% of his attempts, the third-highest rate among running backs with at least 100 carries. Outside of Kolton Miller, the Raiders could use an upgrade anywhere along the line.

If there was a glaring weakness on the defense, it was at linebacker. Devin White made a high volume of tackles on a one-year deal, but that’s partly because of how often the defense was on the field. White was also a liability in coverage. The Raiders were 29th in DVOA on passes to the short middle part of the field.

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Tre Tucker was on the field for 97% of the Raiders’ dropbacks, the highest rate for any player in the league. That’s not ideal for an NFL passing game without much else behind it. After the trade of Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars, the Raiders tried to give rookies Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech bigger roles, but neither really clicked.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, pick No. 1
2nd round, pick No. 36
3d round, pick No. 67
4th round
4th round (MIN)
4th round (projected compensatory)
5th round (projected compensatory)
6th round 6th round (NYJ)
7th round

Good draft fit

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana

The Raiders have the No. 1 overall pick and need a quarterback. This is as simple and clean a fit as there will be the entire draft. Mendoza is accurate with strong arm talent, he can operate well from the pocket, he has a high football IQ and he’s a good enough athlete to keep plays alive under duress. This should be the Raiders’ guy.

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What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Nail the offensive architect

There were many problems with the 2025 Las Vegas Raiders. Their biggest flaw was the lack of cohesive vision between the front office and coaching staff. Frankly, I don’t even think the entire coaching group — namely Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly — shared the same view of what the plan should be for the offense. The Raiders have cleaned out the staff and are reportedly bringing Klint Kubiak, who is coming off a Super Bowl-winning season coordinating the Seahawks’ offense. Now, it will be up to Tom Brady and his handpicked GM John Spytek to continue building a roster that has some young talent in the skill positions spots on offense that the prior staff didn’t maximize. They checked the most important box, which was identifying the correct offensive architect to lead the coaching staff and develop the eventual No. 1 overall pick at quarterback. — Matt Harmon

Betting nugget

The Raiders (3-14) earned the No. 1 pick with the worst record in the NFL, although Las Vegas did at least go 8-9 against the spread for bettors. — Ben Fawkes

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is now the latest addition to the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster.

Burrow was a late add to the Pro Bowl on Sunday. This will mark the 29-year-old’s third Pro Bowl appearance.

Burrow will be reunited on the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster with Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco. This is Flacco’s first Pro Bowl. Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders will join Burrow and his former teammate, Flacco, on the Pro Bowl roster.

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Burrow, Flacco and Sanders replaced Patriots quarterback Drake Maye — who is playing in Super Bowl LX next weekend instead — Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Pro Bowl rosters are determined by a combination of fan voting, player voting and coach voting.

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will also join Burrow and Flacco on the roster. Chase had 125 catches for 1,412 yards and eight touchdowns, while Higgins had 59 catches for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns despite playing with three different quarterbacks this season.

Despite having a team full of offensive Pro Bowlers, the Bengals struggled. After suffering a turf toe injury in Week 2’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Burrow was sidelined for the next nine weeks. After Jake Browning went 0-4 in his starts and had a 6-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio, the Bengals looked to sub one Pro Bowl quarterback for another. The Bengals acquired Flacco from the Browns. In his time with the Bengals, Flacco threw for 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

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By the time Burrow was healthy and returned, the Bengals were 3-8. In his eight total games, Burrow threw for 1,809 yards, 17 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The Bengals finished 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season after making the AFC championship game in the 2022 season and the Super Bowl the season before that.

Burrow has suffered significant injuries in four of his six NFL seasons, including missing the final seven games of the 2023 season due to a torn ligament and his rookie campaign with a season-ending knee injury. While he’s undoubtedly a top-tier quarterback when healthy, staying on the field has been a struggle.

The Pro Bowl is 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The NFL offseason has begun, and Yahoo Sports is previewing the coming months for all 32 teams, from free agency through the draft and more.

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets
AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers
AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans
AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers
NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders
NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings
NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers
NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

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2025 season record: 3-14, (u 8.5 wins), fourth in NFC West, missed playoffs, 27th in DVOA

Overview

The Cardinals were a popular sleeper pick to surprise the league in 2025. Arizona had a fun defensive scheme that used chaos to make up for a lack of talent, and the team had bulked up its defensive roster heading into the season. Kyler Murray had a peak that had been worthy of MVP consideration in the past, and there was hope the connection with Marvin Harrison Jr. would grow in the second year.

There were glimpses of that team throughout the season and in most games. But the Cardinals had a league-worst -55 point differential in the fourth quarter — they couldn’t hold onto leads. We can’t forget the blown game against the Titans in Week 5. Arizona started 2-0 and won one game over the rest of the season.

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[Get more Cardinals news: Arizona team feed]

Offensively, things never clicked, a big reason why the Cardinals moved off of head coach Jonathan Gannon in favor of Mike LaFleur this offseason. Murray was in and out of the lineup with injuries, which ultimately ended his season early. There were bright spots on defense like rookie cornerback Denzel Burke and free-agent signing Josh Sweat, but injuries hamstrung this team all over.

Gannon was let go after three seasons, none of them over .500, and a 15-36 record.

Cap/cuts outlook

Arizona has about $30 million in effective salary cap space, 12th in the league per Overthecap.com. The biggest impact on the Cardinals’ 2026 cap will be what happens with Kyler Murray, who has a tradable contract made up mostly of salary, and the Cardinals would free up $35 million in cap space should they find a trade partner before June 1. Murray finished the season with the same EPA per play as Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson (0.05). His season feels worse because there was no variance; Murray didn’t have any huge games but he also didn’t have any where the bottom fell out, which led to a low range of outcomes. There is likely to be a team that feels it can bring back the high range of performance from Murray.

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While Monti Ossenfort stays on as general manager, a Budda Baker trade isn’t likely. But if the Cardinals view themselves as a complete rebuild candidate, a Baker trade would free up $13 million.

Dalvin Tomlinson and James Conner are the two biggest cut candidates and would free up nearly $17.5 million in space.

Key pending free agents

S Jalen Thompson
IDL Calais Campbell
OL Jonah Williams
OL Will Hernandez

Campbell could retire, but he could also throw guards to the ground until he’s 80. He had 6.5 sacks in 2025. Only Bruce Smith in 2002 had more sacks (9) at age-39 or older since 2000. Thompson has been a versatile piece in the Cardinals’ defense that often deployed three safeties. He’d be a fit in a number of the more modern defenses in the Jesse Minter mold.

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Williams and Hernandez have both been promising linemen who haven’t been able to stay on the field consistently. They both struggled when on the field in 2025, with blown block rates over 4%, per Sports Info Solutions.

Positional needs

Quarterback
Offensive line
Linebacker

If the Cardinals move on from Murray, quarterback is the top immediate need. Jacoby Brissett could hang on for only so long before his limitations and those of the rest of the Arizona offense showed. From Weeks 6-13, Brissett had a 48.9% success rate, which would have ranked in the top 10 among quarterbacks. But in his final four games, his 37.6% success rate would have been last over a full season.

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Outside of Paris Johnson and Hjalte Froholdt, the Cardinals could improve anywhere along the offensive line. There was a clear drop-off in production without Klayton Adams, who left for the Cowboys last offseason, structuring the run game. The Cardinals went from fifth in rushing success rate on running back attempts in 2024 to 18th in 2025.

If there’s one position the Cardinals haven’t figured out on defense, it’s off-ball linebacker. Arizona has a history of playing around with the position and trying out different players there, but it’s been a hole in the defense for years. The Cardinals’ best linebacker by yards allowed per coverage snap ranked 39th with 96 qualified players.

2026 NFL Draft picks

1st round, pick No. 3
2nd round, pick No. 34
3rd round, pick No. 65
4th round
5th round
6th round
7th round

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Good draft fit

Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State

There are multiple good offensive line options the Cardinals could select, but the third overall pick feels more appropriate for a player of Reese’s talent. He’s a good run defender and edge rusher. He can be the off-ball linebacker the Cardinals desperately need. And he’s a great athlete with strength, speed and energy.

What could move the fantasy needle in 2026?

Offensive ecosystem makeover

Fantasy players enjoyed what was ultimately a scam for passing production with Jacoby Brissett under center. Brissett dropped back to pass 548 times (45.7 per game) since Week 6, Caleb Williams was second in that same span with 484 (37.2 per game). That’s the difference of 8.5 dropbacks per game. The Cardinals won a single game in that span. There was production but not a ton of good outcomes for Arizona. Moving on from Kyler Murray is a given at this stage, but the team also needs a fresh start from an offensive ecosystem standpoint. — Matt Harmon

Betting nugget

After starting 2-0, it was all downhill for Arizona. The Cardinals finished the season on a nine-game losing streak, failing to cover in eight of those games. — Ben Fawkes

The inaugural NBA Pioneers Classic unfortunately did not provide a compelling game with the Boston Celtics defeating the Milwaukee Bucks, 107-79, on Sunday at TD Garden.

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points (hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers) with 13 rebounds, leading the Celtics to their seventh win in the past 10 games. Anfernee Simons followed with 27 points off the bench, shooting 6 for 10 from behind the arc. Derrick White added 17 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.

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Milwaukee was led by 25 points from Ryan Rollins, who also had 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Kyle Kuzma was the only other Buck to score in double figures, tallying 16 points and 5 boards. Bobby Portis grabbed 12 rebounds. The Bucks have lost five consecutive games and eight of their past 10.

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Sunday’s game was intended to honor NBA history.

Honoring the NBA’s first Black players

The Pioneers Classic coincides with the beginning of Black History Month and commemorates the 75th anniversary of the NBA’s first Black players joining the league. In April 1950, Duquesne’s Chuck Cooper was the second draft pick (No. 13 overall) of the Celtics. Later in the ninth round, the then-Washington Capitols drafted Earl Lloyd from West Virginia State with the No. 101 selection.

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One month later, the New York Knicks signed Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton as a free agent from the Harlem Globetrotters. He played seven seasons with the Knicks, making the All-Star team during his final run in New York during the 1956-57 campaign. His eighth and final season in the league was with the Detroit Pistons.

Lloyd was technically the NBA’s first Black player, as the Capitols tipped off the season one day before the Celtics’ opening game. He played nine seasons in the league, missing the 1951-52 campaign due to military service. Lloyd went on to become the NBA’s first Black scout, first Black assistant coach and the first Black head coach who wasn’t also a player at the time (as Bill Russell and Lenny Wilkens were).

Cooper played six seasons in the NBA with the Celtics and Hawks (in Milwaukee, then St. Louis) before finishing his pro career with the Fort Wayne Pistons during the 1955-56 season.

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“Chuck Cooper, Earl Lloyd, and Nathaniel Clifton transformed the NBA and inspired countless individuals through their courage and determination,” said the league’s deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, via NBA.com. “These men embody the values of our game, and their legacy as pioneers is integral to our history.”

All three players were inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Lloyd gained entry to Springfield in 2003, followed by Clifton in 2014 and Cooper in 2019.

Doc Rivers speaks out on current events before game

Bucks head coach Doc Rivers spoke out Sunday on current events and social issues regarding immigration enforcement during his pregame news conference.

“I look at our league, look at the NBA. We’re celebrating Pioneers Day today, right?” Rivers said to reporters, including ClutchPoints’ Daniel Donabedian. “And I look at our league, and I think [Hakeem] Olajuwon could have been taken off the streets. But we would — right now, the way brown people feel, only the brown people would be taken off the streets, and it’s just not right, and it’s not morally right.”

Rivers went on to encourage NBA players to voice their concerns on social issues.

“What we see on the streets right now, you cannot morally feel good about that. No American can, and that’s why I speak out,” he added, via reporter Noa Dalzell. “And I do tell our guys there are consequences. You know, there was an Arthur Ashe, there was a Muhammad Ali, there was a Howard Cosell. They all spoke out, and some paid consequences for it. That’s just part of it.”

Those sentiments made Sunday’s NBA Pioneers game particularly important, in Rivers’ view.

“In the political environment we are in at this time where Black history is being whitewashed with the removing of Black war heroes, civil right leaders from books, and our kids are not being taught about the atrocities of slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow and redlining, our league has decided to stand up and teach our young players and everyone the true history of our league. Bravo, NBA,” Rivers said to Andscape’s Marc Spears.