Tag: Fox Sport News

MILAN — Even gods can have off nights.

Ilia Malinin was putting on a brave face, saying all the right things in the minutes after his good-but-not-great performance in the men’s short form component of figure skating’s team competition. Standing before a huge media scrum in the mixed zone beneath the bleachers of Assago Ice Skating Arena, Malinin appeared less like the “Quad God” and more like a 21-year-old realizing that there’s no way to truly prepare for the immensity of the Olympics.

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“I’ve got to buckle down and see what happens and get better next time,” Malinin said. “We will work it out.”

At his best, Malinin is as good as skating gets, but on Saturday night, Malinin wasn’t at his best. And all of a sudden, the United States’ chase for figure skating gold just got a bit more interesting. A gold medal haul, and a team defense of gold, that seemed so likely before the Games is now not quite such a sure thing.

After the men’s short program and the ice dance free skate, Team USA has amassed 44 points, with Japan in second with 39 and Italy in third with 37. Three events remain: the free skates of the pairs, women and men. Given the records of the United States and Japan, the five-point differential could tighten. Perhaps for that reason, Malinin was somewhat unexpectedly named the men’s representative for Sunday night’s free skate, even though his individual event is just two days later.

The ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, veterans of a combined nine Olympic Games, followed Malinin with an impressive routine. The married couple skated a brilliant bullfight-inspired free dance that earned a 133.23 and landed them atop the ice dance standings.

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But Malinin, the “Quad God,” had turned in an unexpectedly rocky performance — by his standards, at least — and finished second in the men’s short program division to Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama. Malinin’s final score of 98.00 was more than 10 points behind Kagiyama’s first-place 108.67.

“This team event is … about pacing myself correctly,” Malinin said. “I skated today at about 50 percent of my capacity. And that was the plan, in order to pace myself correctly for the individual event.”

Malinin skated into the Milan Cortina Olympics on a two-plus-year winning streak. He hasn’t lost a competition since November 2023, and he’s the two-time reigning world champion and four-time reigning national champion. He’s earned the nickname “Quad God” for his ability to throw down quads of all styles, and he sure seemed as close to invulnerable as an Olympian gets.

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But then Malinin has never skated in an Olympics before, and the Olympics does something to everyone. When there’s a gold medal dangling over your head, the lights seem a little brighter, the ice feels a little slicker, the crowd presses in a little closer, even if you’re a champion everywhere else.

“Being here, I try to enjoy every single moment and be grateful for everything,” Malinin said, “because there’s a lot of unexpected things that can happen in life and I’m taking everything to heart.”

The “Quad God” seeming ill at ease on the ice definitely qualifies as “unexpected.” His planned program led off with a quad axel into a triple toe loop, which, if executed, would have been the first quad axel in Olympic history. Instead, he could “only” manage a quad flip — again, judging by the standards Malinin himself has set — and he under-rotated his planned quad lutz. Even a backflip — the first legal backflip in Olympics history — wasn’t enough to salvage the program.

“It was fun,” Malinin said of his backflip. “I mean, come on, the audience just roared and they were just out of control. And that truly just helped me, you know, feel the gratitude of the Olympic stage.”

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The team event will conclude Sunday night with the free skates from, in order, the pairs, women and men. Shortly after the end of Saturday’s session, the United States announced that Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea will once again represent Team USA in pairs, Amber Glenn will make her Olympic debut as the team’s women’s skater, and Malinin will once again skate as the team’s men’s representative.

“I think our team is incredibly strong, arguably the strongest it’s ever been,” Chock said. “I have the utmost faith in them, and I’ll be proud of them no matter what the outcome is.”

MILAN — She didn’t have to do this. Lindsey Vonn was already one of the most decorated athletes alive, a World Cup winner dozens of times over, famous worldwide and an inspiration to girls, women, skiers in the millions.

She didn’t have to do this. Vonn spent decades and four Olympics fighting through waves of injuries that would have ended so many other careers. She had nothing left to prove to anyone.

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She didn’t have to do this. After retiring from skiing, Vonn reinvented herself, becoming an entrepreneur, hosting a reality TV show, writing a memoir, engineering charitable endeavors and investing time and money in worlds far removed from ski slopes. She transformed herself from a skier into an institution.

She didn’t have to do this. Un-retiring always brings the risk — for many, the certainty — that a legend should have stayed retired. Michael Jordan, Brett Favre, Willie Mays, virtually every boxer and MMA fighter who came back for one more turn in the spotlight … all returned diminished, a sad, faded reflection of their past glory.

She didn’t have to do this. After suffering a catastrophic wreck in Switzerland just one week before the Opening Ceremony, a wreck that ruptured her ACL, she could have accepted her heartbreaking fate and bowed out of the competition.

And yet here she is, not just a member of the U.S. Olympic ski team once again, but still winning races; not just sustaining injuries, but rallying back from them over and over. This month, Lindsey Vonn will once again don the stars and stripes, once again return to her beloved Cortina, and add an entire new chapter to a career that everyone — including her — believed was done years ago.

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“I’ve built a great life outside of skiing, but there will never be anything like skiing,” Vonn, 41, said in October. “I fully understand that, and I’m comfortable with that. But I’m definitely going to enjoy this last bit of adrenaline, because I won’t get it back.”

Two decades of Olympic achievement

When she clicks into her skis this month in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Vonn will compete in her fifth Olympics, and her first since 2018. It’s a stunning achievement, but perfectly in line with the arc of Vonn’s life. Born in Minnesota in 1984, she declared as a 9-year-old that she wanted to ski in the Winter Olympics … and eight years later, as a member of Team USA in 2002, she did exactly that.

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She didn’t medal in those Games, nor in 2006, where she crashed so severely in training that she had to be airlifted off the course. But in 2010, she claimed gold in downhill, the first U.S. woman ever to do so, and changed the course of the rest of her life. A 2013 ACL injury cost her a shot at the Sochi Games in 2014. At what she believed was her final Olympics, in 2018, she won a bronze in downhill and formally ceded the Olympic stage to younger skiers like Mikaela Shiffrin.

As she continued to pile up podiums around the Olympics, Vonn set her sights on Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 World Cup wins. She came close, very close, but stalled out in 2019 at 82 wins, decades’ worth of concussions, surgeries, fractures and assorted injuries finally catching up with her.

And for everyone — herself included — that seemed to be the end of Vonn’s story on skis. Shiffrin eventually caught and passed both Vonn and Stenmark in World Cup victories. The skiing world proceeded onward through the lockdown Olympics in Beijing. Vonn’s career exploits faded farther and farther into the distance.

The two factors that brought Vonn back

But even though she was done with skiing, skiing wasn’t quite done with her. The injuries from decades on the slopes dogged her daily life. She couldn’t hike, walk or even stand without pain. So in April 2024, Vonn underwent a partial knee replacement that completely upended her story — in the best possible way. She began hiking, working out, even skiing without pain.

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“I really thought when I retired in 2019, that was it,” Vonn said. “I had built an amazing life, I was really  happy. But then after the replacement, I knew things were really different. My body felt so good, and I just kind of kept pushing myself further and further to see what I was capable of, and racing seemed like the logical next step.”

Vonn announced that she would begin racing again in November 2024. She faced skepticism, disbelief, even scorn; two-time Olympic gold medalist Michaela Dorfmeister told Austrian TV that Vonn “should see a psychologist,” and wondered, “Does she want to kill herself?” Another Olympic gold winner, Franz Klammer, declared, “She’s gone completely mad.”

Perhaps. Perhaps not. At her first race back, at Copper Mountain in Colorado, Vonn finished 24th in a field of 45. Her finishes kept climbing, and last December, she finally won her 83rd World Cup race, finishing first in the downhill in St. Moritz. She added No. 84 just a few weeks ago, further solidifying the legitimacy of her return.

Which brings us to Cortina d’Ampezzo, the second motivation — along with the knee surgery — behind Vonn’s return. Vonn achieved her first World Cup podium at Cortina, as well as her 63rd victory, the one that gave her more downhill titles than any woman, ever. In all, she’s won 12 World Cup events at Cortina, and feels as comfortable there as anywhere else on earth.

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“I don’t think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren’t in Cortina,” Vonn said. “If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it’s not worth it. But for me, there’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back, and it’s pulled me back one last time.”

Would Lindsey Vonn make the Olympic team?

Once Vonn started racking up podiums around the world, there was little doubt she’d make Team USA. U.S. Ski & Snowboard regulations offer plenty of latitude for subjectivity in the selection process, with a “discretionary” selection that can go to a “medal capable athlete” — which by U.S. Ski’s definition is any athlete achieving Top 30 finishes in World Cup events.

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The moment arrived two days before Christmas, when U.S. Ski made the expected but still impressive announcement: Vonn would be going to Milan-Cortina as a member of Team USA.

“I am honored to be able to represent my country one more time, in my 5th and final Olympics!” Vonn wrote. “Although I can’t guarantee any outcomes, I can guarantee that I will give my absolute best every time l kick out of the starting gate. No matter how these games end up, I feel like I’ve already won.”

Reckoning with the physical and societal implications of age drives Vonn’s comeback. Few examples exist of female athletes competing long after their peers have retired. Serena Williams, Dara Torres, even Simone Biles all extended their careers past the traditional breaking point, but they’re the outliers. Vonn leans into her age, shrugging off the “grandma” comments from competitors and embracing the wisdom that she’s gained along the way.

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“I bring up age because women don’t normally compete at my age, and I think that needs to change,” she said. “I think the perception of women competing older should change. Tom Brady’s done it. Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James, all of those athletes are and were competing in their 40s. It’s just not a common thing to see [from] women.”

The most fascinating element of Vonn’s comeback is that this isn’t some one-last-run tour, it’s a legitimate Olympic-level tour de force. In her eight races so far this season, Vonn has finished on the podium seven times, going ski-to-ski with competitors nearly two decades younger than her. If she manages to claim another Olympic medal, she’d top by eight years the previous record for the oldest alpine Olympic medalist, a record currently held by … Lindsey Vonn.

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“I like risk. I like going fast. I like pushing myself to the limit. I love being on the mountain,” Vonn said earlier this week in announcing her injury. “It’s an amazing feeling, and one I know I will never have again, because I’ve been retired, and I know I’m lucky that I even get this chance one more time. And every time I stand in the starting gate, I realize I’m lucky to be able to do something I love so much, and I don’t take that for granted.”

She has to do this. And she will, starting this week.

MILAN — When sports fans hear an athlete has torn their ACL, the immediate assumption is a year out of competition. Maybe nine months if everything goes well.

Lindsey Vonn is trying to win an Olympic medal in a matter of days.

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“No doctor could endorse a normal person to go skiing, let alone competitively so,” said Dr. Yair David Kissin, an orthopedic surgeon and knee specialist at Hackensack University Medical Center (N.J.).

But Vonn is not a normal person — or even a normal competitive athlete, which explains in part why sports medicine practitioners interviewed by Yahoo Sports said it is within the realm of possibility for her to race in the women’s downhill in Cortina on Sunday, just nine days after a devastating fall that required her to be airlifted to a hospital after a crash in Switzerland.

“From a purely physical or biomechanical standpoint, it’s possible if you’re an elite Alpine skier like Lindsey is to perform at that Olympic level,” said Dr. Catherine Logan, an orthopedic surgeon at the Joint Preservation Center in Denver who also works with U.S. Ski and Snowboard. “Alpine skiing is very different from your traditional field, cutting, pivoting sports. The movement patterns are relatively predictable in comparison so there’s less demand on the ACL when we’re trying to decelerate or change directions. There’s still an increased risk for secondary injury to the meniscus or her cartilage, but really her ability to generate force, maintain her edges and tolerate those speeds is not eliminated inherently just by having that ACL deficiency. So, despite all those things, she still has a great chance to perform well.”

Of the four main ligaments in the knee, the ACL is the one with the most impact on stability. It also doesn’t heal very well on its own, which is why the normal course of action is reconstructive surgery and a long period of rehabilitation for an athlete to regain the ability to plant and twist and change directions.

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“Think about being in your car and knowing when you make turns, it will stay on the road,” Kissin said. “If you take off a front wheel and make a turn, it’s kind of what the knee does where it isn’t there for you. It’s not trustworthy.”

But Vonn’s situation is atypical for two reasons.

First, people who tear ACLs typically suffer some type of loss of neuromuscular control in their surrounding muscles, according to Darin Padua, an athletic trainer and professor in the Department of Exercise and Sports Science at University of North Carolina with a research emphasis on ACL injuries. Vonn, thanks to her physical gifts and years of training as a world class skier to develop her quadricep and hip muscles, likely has enough strength built in to retain some control of them and provide compensation for the loss of stabilization the ACL was providing.

Second, Vonn at age 41 is likely looking at her last chance to compete in an Olympics. So while most people, or even most professional athletes, would have to factor in long-term considerations for their career and weigh risk of further injury, Vonn is in a different situation. It really comes down to whether she feels like she can do it.

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“This is going to be difficult, but she’s as tenacious as they come,” said Dr. Samuel Ward, a professor of orthopedic surgery and co-director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at UC-San Diego . “There’s a little bit of mind over matter here, too. The combination of those things either provides her enough stability where she can do it or it doesn’t, and I think she’s going to figure that out. The average human being would be like, ‘I hurt my knee and I’m afraid of it.’ In her situation, she has the capacity to push past that whether or not the knee itself has the intrinsic stability to do what it needs to do during the race. I think nobody knows the answer to that until she races.”

Ward said that although the headlines made Vonn’s crash last week sound catastrophic, he interpreted it as good news that she managed to ski to the bottom of the hill before getting on the helicopter. All things considered, the fact she wasn’t immobile is a decent baseline to start from. And in her news conference Tuesday, Vonn said she was not suffering from any swelling.

That’s key since Ward characterized knee swelling as the “circuit breaker” that shuts off the quadriceps and would make it difficult to compete.

“When your knees are bent like when you’re skiing, your quadriceps are the shock absorbers of your knee,” he said. “They’re allowing you to crouch down in that position and manage the terrain of the course. So without strong quads, that’s not a reasonable task. That’s why the focus is on managing the swelling. The tendency after you get injured is to try to protect it and she’s going to have to go after it instead of protecting it.”

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Logan said the key from now until Vonn competes will be round-the-clock therapy and a testing protocol to ensure she has enough knee stability get out of the starting gate confidently. That starts with land-based assessments of her ability to jump, land and twist before getting onto the mountain and replicating movements she would make in the race.

“It’s a progression from testing on the table to dry land to the snow,” Logan said.

Still, trying to compete in a race so quickly after such a devastating injury isn’t the norm. Padua said it’s the shortest turnaround he’s aware of.

“There’s not a lot out there in terms of prior cases where you can look and say these three or four people have done something similar,” he said. “She’s certainly an outlier in the sense of what an amazing athlete she is. If there’s anybody who can be able to manage this injury and still compete at the highest level, she is that type of individual. Unfortunately, she’s had these injuries in the past so she knows kind of what to expect and how to manage it internally. She’s probably in that very, very rare group of individuals with that capability.”

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By attempting this, Vonn is probably risking some further damage to her knee, particularly to her meniscus or cartilage. But that’s where medicine is both art and science, with doctors providing both the best- and worst-case scenarios and ultimately working with her to come to a decision.

“It’s not always one answer is the only answer,” Logan said. “She’s consulting with multiple physicians and that’s a normal thing. There’s not just one voice, but the athlete should be in the end the driver of the decision.”

Ultimately, it just comes down to one thing: When it’s time to race, does Vonn feel her knee is stable enough to get her to the bottom of the mountain?

“Her body is so conditioned that most likely she’s got the compensatory mechanisms very few people in existence ever have and she may be able to do it,” Kissin said. “If she doesn’t feel like it’s a good idea I hope she has the wherewithal to stop and not risk something that is inevitable. In her case, if she thinks she can do it and her doctors may not disagree with her completely — I wouldn’t want to be them but at the same time I envy them — because she’s a different level of ACL patient and it’s a great example that every case needs to be individualized.”

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If Vonn were at the beginning of a long career, the calculation may be different. But after coming of retirement for one more run at Olympic glory, the risk-reward equation probably favors giving it a try.

“I’m not a betting person,” Ward said, “but I wouldn’t bet against her.”

The Atlanta Falcons are expected to release veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins before the start of the new league year in March and let him decide his future, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday.

The Falcons cutting Cousins would make him a free agent again, and that would allow him to choose where he wants to spend the 2026 campaign — if he wants to play, that is. Cousins, after all, will turn 38 before the start of next season and is 14 seasons into his four-time Pro Bowl career.

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Cousins, who was in Washington for his first six seasons, signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons in 2024 after playing for six additional seasons for the Minnesota Vikings from 2018-2023.

Saturday’s news follows last month’s ESPN report that Atlanta restructured Cousins’ contract, a move that reportedly set the Falcons up for more cap flexibility and put Cousins in position for a release that would give him more career options.

Modifications were made to Cousins’ 2026 base salary, dropping it from $35 million to $2.1 million. That $32.9 million difference was then added to his 2027 base salary, per Schefter.

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If Cousins is on the Falcons’ roster at the start of the league year in mid-March, his 2027 base salary — which is now reportedly $67.9 million — will become guaranteed.

But cutting him via a post-June 1 release would split the dead money on his contract over the 2026 and 2027 league years, according to ESPN.

The year he signed with the Falcons, he was coming back from an Achilles injury that cost him the back half of the 2023 season.

Although he worked his way back to the field in time for Week 1, he picked up shoulder and elbow injuries, struggled and was benched 14 games into his first go-around with the Falcons. Rookie Michael Penix Jr., whom Atlanta surprisingly took No. 8 overall in the 2024 draft, replaced Cousins and had a three-game runway to the 2025 campaign.

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Then-head coach Raheem Morris stuck with Penix as QB1 this past offseason. Although trade rumors swirled, Cousins wasn’t dealt before or during this season.

He wound up starting eight more games for the Falcons, though, including seven straight to end the season after Penix underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Cousins led Atlanta to wins in its each of its final four games, posting a 7:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio in that span.

He would like to play next season, per Schefter, but he’s expected to have television opportunities. Cousins appeared on CBS’ pregame show during the playoffs.

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As for Penix, the Falcons haven’t made a commitment at the quarterback position since firing Morris and hiring a new leadership team that features president of football Matt Ryan, general manager Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski.

The final of the 2026 Winter Olympics’ big air snowboarding event saw defending gold medalist Su Yiming of China try the most daring trick of the competition in an attempt to leapfrog Japan’s Kira Kimura and Kimata Ryoma, only for him to fall and create a scoring controversy for the bronze medal.

NBC broadcaster Todd Richards apparently wasn’t moved, as lingering viewers learned via hot mic after the competition ended.

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“That was boring. That was so boring. The qualifier was way more exciting,” Richards said before the Peacock feed switched to a figure skating promo.

Richards apparently knew what happened immediately after stepping away from the mic, as he soon posted a reel on Instagram saying his phone was getting flooded with DMs. He proceeded to stand by his opinion, arguing the final was much less exciting than the qualifiers, especially when it came to the diversity of tricks.

However, he conditionally apologized if anyone believed he was criticizing the athletes involved:

“I said ‘That was boring. That was so boring. I thought the qualifiers were better.’ And I did. I did think the qualifiers were more exciting. This had nothing to do with the athletes. It had everything to do with the drama that went down in the qualifiers. We had Val Guseli getting the call-up four hours before the event went. He didn’t even know he was going to be in it and came and threw down. We had all kinds of different tricks being done. Butters off the lip, different kinds of axis of rotation, all these riders trying to get it by doing creative spins.

“And the final, a lot of people fell. And a lot of people truly did the same trick. It was a backside 1980 and a switchback-side 1980 the entire time, pretty much by the entire field. It has nothing to do with what these athletes do, because the riders come down here and they throw down. I have the utmost respect for them. It really just lent itself to the format. And I thought the qualifier had a lot more excitement.

“So I apologize if anyone took that as I was calling out any of the riders here, because it truly wasn’t about that. These guys are my heroes, they are my friends, they are my colleagues and they are all rippers.”

It’s a straightforward enough explanation, though the Winter Olympics still hardly needs its own broadcasters complaining about the entertainment value of some events. And yes, much worse has been caught on hot mics in the world of sports.

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Richards competed in the 1998 Olympics in the snowboarding halfpipe for Team USA, finishing 16th. He also won two Winter X Games halfpipe titles, including the inaugural Winter X Games in 1997. This is the sixth Winter Olympics he’s worked as a snowboarding analyst at NBC.

Hilary Knight had a record-tying performance in Team USA’s 5-0 victory over Finland. Lindsey Vonn practiced for the second straight day and ended all doubts about her performing in Sunday’s Olympic women’s downhill competition. U.S. figure skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates had another strong performance as the Americans took the lead in the figure skating team event, while American curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin struggled. Plus, new faces emerged for Team USA ahead of Monday’s freeski slopestyle final.

Here are the top five stories of the day:

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1. Hilary Knight’s record-tying performance

In the United States’ 5-0 victory over Finland, Hilary Knight tied the Olympic record for the most goals in women’s hockey history, with 14. Knight, 36, is now tied with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.

It was an all-around balanced scoring night for the U.S. Alex Carpenter, Megan Keller, Abbey Murphy and Taylor Heise also scored. This was their second straight game where they have scored five goals, after their 5-1 victory over Czechia on Thursday.

2. Lindsey Vonn still looks great in training

Lindsey Vonn ended any speculation that she would not be able to compete in Sunday’s Olympic women’s downhill competition. After rupturing her left ACL in last week’s upper section of the World Cup downhill race in Switzerland, Vonn completed her second straight day of training Saturday in Italy.

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In Saturday’s training run she finished with a time of 1:38.28, more than 2 seconds faster than her Friday time. At 41 and after a six-year absence, Vonn is continuing to defy odds.

3. Back-to-back losses end undefeated start for U.S. curling team

It was a rough day for the U.S. curling team. After a record-setting 4-0 undefeated start, Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin suffered back-to-back losses to undefeated Great Britain and the previously winless South Korea. Team USA is now 4-2.

Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat are perfect so far in Italy with a 7-0 record and bound for the medal round. South Korea is now 1-5 after the upset win over the Americans.

The U.S. team will look to bounce back against Estonia and Sweden on Sunday.

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4. Madison Chock and Evan Bates dominate free dance

Three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates put on a masterclass to finish first in the team event free dance. Chock and Bates scored 133.23 points.

Team USA has a five-point lead with 44 points heading into Sunday’s team event finale. Japan is second with 39 points and Italy third with 37.

5. Avery Krumme, Mac Forehand, Alex Hall and Konnor Ralph qualify for freeski slopestyle final

17-year-old Avery Krumme qualified for Monday’s women’s freeski slopestyle final. Krumme was born in Canada and switched her nationality to represent the United States in 2024.

USA’s Mac Forehand, Alex Hall and Konnor Ralph will also represent the men’s side in the freeski slopestyle final.

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Highlight of the day

How did she do this?

One more thing

Look at Erin Jackson’s family’s reaction after seeing her represent the U.S. as a flag bearer at Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

The Dallas Cowboys have no plans to let George Pickens hit free agency this offseason.

The team is expected to place the franchise tag on the Pro Bowl wide receiver, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, which would lock him in for next season on a one-year contract worth roughly $28 million. The tag can be officially applied anytime between Feb. 17 and March 3.

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The decision is hardly a surprise. Playing alongside All-Pro CeeDee Lamb, Pickens enjoyed the best season of his career in 2025 after being traded to Dallas from the Pittsburgh Steelers, with 93 catches, 1,429 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns on 137 targets.

Both Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his son, team COO Stephen Jones, have said they want Pickens back long-term, with Jerry saying he expects a long-term extension to get done:

“I’m talking to George all the time by virtue of my excitement for him,” Jones said when asked if contract extension talks have begun with Pickens. “He’s better than, as far as what he contributed to our team, showing the potential that he could contribute. I’m looking forward to getting things worked out so George can be a Cowboy a long time.”

The franchise tag ensures that however negotiations go, the Cowboys can plan for Pickens to be in the fold for the 2026-27 season.

Hitting Pickens with the franchise tag does mean the Cowboys would have the NFL’s second-most expensive receiver duo next season between him and Lamb, who is currently on a four-year, $136 million deal. Combined with the average annual value of that contract, Dallas will be paying the pair $62 million, behind only the $69 million AAV currently going to the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

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Pickens is one of several notable Cowboys to be hitting free agency this offseason. Starters Javonte Williams, Jadeveon Clowney and Donovan Wilson are all unrestricted free agents, while All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey is a restricted free agent and is likely seeking the richest kicker deal in NFL history.

Signing Pickens to an extension instead of the tag would free up a significant amount of money for this upcoming offseason, in addition to retaining a star at a premium position for years to come.

We’re in the final hours before the Super Bowl, and both teams appear to be in good health ahead of Sunday’s showdown.

The Seahawks appeared loose and energetic in their final 44-minute walk-through on Saturday afternoon at San Jose State, according to a pool report.

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“Guys are in good spirits,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said. “You can hear them. Finally. It’s taken a while to get here. But it’s here. It’s awesome.”

The Patriots opted for an even more laid-back approach on Saturday at Stanford Stadium, where the team took photos and spent time with their families.

Both quarterbacks are healthy and good to go, as Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (shoulder) and Seahawks QB Sam Darnold (oblique) were full participants in Friday’s practice reports.

On the other side of the ball, Seahawks rookie safety Nick Emmanwori was a full participant in practice and has no injury designation for Sunday. Emmanwori went down with an ankle injury in practice Wednesday and was held out of Thursday’s session.

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For the Patriots, linebacker Harold Landry was limited Friday after missing Thursday’s practice, while fellow LB Robert Spillane was a limited participant for the second straight day.

And on Thursday night, at NFL Honors, the top awards for the 2025 season were handed out.

MVP — Matthew Stafford, Rams QB

Offensive Player of the Year — Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks WR

Defensive Player of the Year — Myles Garrett, Browns DE

Offensive Rookie of the Year — Tetairoa McMillan, Panthers WR

Defensive Rookie of the Year — Carson Schwesinger, Browns LB

Protector of the Year — Joe Thuney, Bears OG

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Comeback Player of the Year — Christian McCaffrey, 49ers RB

Coach of the Year — Mike Vrabel, Patriots

The night also included the announcement of the five-man 2026 Hall of Fame Class: Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri and Roger Craig. As previously reported, legendary Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft failed to make the list.

Follow along with Yahoo Sports for the latest NFL news and injury updates leading up to Super Bowl LX:

Live coverage is over117 updates

• 

  Sat, February 7, 2026 at 4:17 PM PST

  Andy Backstrom

  The Dallas Cowboys are expected to place their franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

  Pickens is coming off his first season in Dallas, a breakout campaign in which he caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards.

  The tag is projected to cost approximately $28 million, per Schefter, and it’s thought to be the placeholder for long-term contract negotiations.

• 

  Sat, February 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM PST

  Ian Casselberry

  The Seattle Seahawks are adding two running backs to their active roster for Super Bowl LX. Cam Akers and Velus Jones were elevated from the practice squad on Saturday.

  Akers, 26, appeared in three games this season for the Seahawks with no carries or receptions, This will be his second Super Bowl, after appearing with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. He has also played for the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans in his six-year NFL career.

  Jones, 28, also played in three regular-season games, rushing for 32 yards on four carries. In four NFL seasons, he has also played with the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

• 

  Sat, February 7, 2026 at 1:19 PM PST

  Andy Backstrom

  The Atlanta Falcons are expected to release quarterback Kirk Cousins before the start of the new league year in March, giving him the chance to choose where he wants to play in 2026, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

  That is, if Cousins does in fact decide to keep playing. He’s spent 14 seasons in the league: six in Washington, six in Minnesota and two in Atlanta.
• 

  Sat, February 7, 2026 at 1:06 PM PST

  Andy Backstrom

  Both running back D’Ernest Johnson and defensive lineman Leonard Taylor III will be on the active roster for the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LX.

  Johnson carried the ball just 13 times for 25 yards this season, whereas Taylor scattered 11 total tackles — first with the New York Jets and then with the Patriots — in his limited action.
• 

  Sat, February 7, 2026 at 8:06 AM PST

  Tarohn Finley

  The New England Patriots didn’t have to wait until the Super Bowl to listen to artist Bad Bunny. To simulate Super Bowl conditions, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel sent his team to the locker room for 14 minutes while blaring Bad Bunny on the speakers before bringing them back.

  Bad Bunny will be performing at halftime of Super Bowl LX.
• Fri, February 6, 2026 at 6:42 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  The safety has no injury designation after fully participating in Friday’s practice.

  It’s an almost entirely clean final injury report for Seattle, other than FB Robbie Ouzts, who is questionable with a neck injury.
• Fri, February 6, 2026 at 2:58 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  DL Joshua Farmer, LB Harold Landry and LB Robert Spillane were all questionable after Friday’s practice.
• 

  Fri, February 6, 2026 at 7:29 AM PST

  Frank Schwab

  When the New England Patriots went 4-13 in consecutive seasons, plenty of NFL fans were good with it.

  They won too much over two decades with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. People were ready to be done with them (though they just shifted their hate to the Kansas City Chiefs). When the Patriots bottomed out at the end of the Belichick era, and then again for Jerod Mayo’s one season as head coach, the dynasty wasn’t just dead but it was deep into the rearview mirror.

  Well, guess what? The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. And it is possible this isn’t their last one of this era.

  Read more here.

• 

  Fri, February 6, 2026 at 4:41 AM PST

  Andy Backstrom

  With the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class complete, eyes are already on who could make up the 2027 class, including first-time eligible candidates.

  The list is stacked.

  Among those candidates are former New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger and Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 8:02 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  NFL Honors concludes with Commanders LB Bobby Wagner winning the award for philanthropy and community impact.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:54 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:51 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  Stafford narrowly beat out the Patriots QB, with 24 first-place votes to Maye’s 23.

  Josh Allen was the only other candidate to get any first-place votes, with 2.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:47 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  Stafford beats out Patriots QB Drake Maye for the NFL’s top honor of the 2025 season.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:40 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  The Seahawks receiver takes home the award, but of course he’s not in person to accept it as his team is preparing for a pretty big game on Sunday.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:29 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  The second-round draft pick out of UCLA became an important centerpiece of Cleveland’s dominant defense.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:24 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  Caleb Williams’ overtime-winning touchdown pass to DJ Moore to help the Bears beat the Packers and eventually win the NFC North title was voted top moment this season.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:17 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  As previously reported, the notable names missing from this class: Patriots legends Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, who were both first-time finalists this year.
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 7:11 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  Drew Brees

  Larry Fitzgerald

  Luke Kuechly

  Adam Vinatieri

  Roger Craig
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 6:51 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  Vrabel beat out Super Bowl counterpart Mike Macdonald of the Seahawks. Will Sunday’s outcome be difference?
• Thu, February 5, 2026 at 6:47 PM PST

  Yahoo Sports Staff

  As expected, the Patriots head coach wins the award after leading the team to the Super Bowl in his first year on the job.

Stephen Curry has missed three games for the Golden State Warriors with a knee injury. It sounds like he will be missing at least two more.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr indicated to reporters Saturday that Curry is likely to sit out until after the upcoming All-Star break. At the very least, he was out for that night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers and is considered doubtful for a clash with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.

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“I think there’s a good chance he doesn’t play until after the break,” Kerr said. “We’re just going to take it day-by-day, but [Monday], he’s doubtful.

The Grizzlies game is one of two games the Warriors have before the All-Star break, with the other being a home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Golden State’s first game of the second half is Feb. 19 against the Boston Celtics.

That means the Warriors will have to continue proceeding heavily shorthanded. Jimmy Butler remains out for the season with a torn ACL, while past contributors Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield are now members of the Atlanta Hawks. They were dealt at the trade deadline in exchange for big man Kristaps Porzingis, who has been out since early January with an Achilles injury.

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Kerr said Porzingis will remain out until after the All-Star break.

“He got a workout in today with Rick so we’ll see where it goes from here,” Kerr said. “I think the plan is he’ll be in the Bay all of All-Star break and he’ll play after All-Star break.”

The Warriors entered Saturday in eighth place in the Western Conference at 28-24.

With the game tied and less than a minute to go Saturday night in the Dean Smith Center, Duke forward Cameron Boozer knocked the ball loose from a driving Seth Trimble.

Boozer didn’t take advantage, missing a layup on the other end.

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And Trimble, a senior North Carolina captain who broke a bone in his left forearm during a weight room accident earlier this season, got one more chance for a defining moment in a historic regional matchup that had been split evenly over its past 120 iterations.

The guard swished a go-ahead, last-second 3-pointer that caused bedlam.

Fans stormed the court, only to find out there were actually 0.4 seconds remaining in the game.

All of them had to return to their seats, and equipment staff anxiously cleared the hardwood of debris — except the Blue Devils’ ensuing inbound heave didn’t change the 71-68 outcome, the largest comeback win for UNC over Duke in the last 25 years.

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The No. 14 Tar Heels (19-4, 7-3 ACC) trailed by as many as 13 points, and their faithful celebrated the come-from-behind victory again after the buzzer sounded a second time.

Jon Scheyer said afterward that Duke staff members were punched in the face during the game-ending frenzy.

A motivated Caleb Wilson, who revealed to Andscape in the lead-up to the rivalry showdown that Duke stopped talking to him in the highly touted forward’s recruitment, logged 17 of UNC’s 29 first-half points and finished with 23. Boozer, another top-five NBA Draft prospect, totaled 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Trimble, the hero who gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the night with less than a second left, collected 16 points.

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No. 4 Duke (21-2, 10-1) was in the driver’s seat for most of the game.

It sliced through UNC’s defense with well-timed cuts in the opening minutes. One of those helped fuel a 10-0 Blue Devils run that staked them to an 18-5 lead, as center Patrick Ngongba II whipped a pass to wing Dame Sarr, who then dunked.

Wilson didn’t get many touches early, and he didn’t score until the 13:18 mark in the first half. But his drought-ending turnaround jumper set up a pretty up-and-under that gave the Tar Heels a shot in the arm.

UNC doubled Boozer early and often. His first points, and shot, came on a tip-in close to 8:30 into the game.

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After Wilson scored eight straight points for the Tar Heels, wing Jonathan Powell drilled a 3-pointer to pull his team back within six points of the Blue Devils, making it a 22-16 game.

Wilson tacked on another UNC triple, and, following two quick fouls, Boozer took a seat on the bench with 9:33 left before intermission and the Tar Heels building what would be a 9-0 surge.

He sat for less than two minutes, though, and Duke held onto its lead down the stretch of the first half, even restoring a double-digit advantage, first with a 3 from Boozer and then with another from his twin brother, Cayden Boozer.

Having shot a mere 9 of 27, or 33%, from the floor and accounting for just 11 of the game’s 33 rebounds across the first 20 minutes of action, UNC found itself down 41-29 at the break. Center Henri Veesaar came in averaging 16.8 points and nine rebounds per game yet went scoreless with two rebounds in the first half.

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To start the second half, Wilson picked up where he left off, knocking down a tough jumper over Cameron Boozer, whom Wilson notably swatted for a highlight-reel block in the first half.

Then Wilson used a jab step to set the stage for a left-handed layup. While his clinic continued, so did Duke’s lead, as Caleb Foster and, later, Sarr poured in 3-pointers.

But Veesaar’s first points, followed by Jarin Stevenson’s second 3-pointer of the second half, decreased the Tar Heels’ deficit to five. That sequence jumpstarted a flurry of offense on both ends.

UNC and Duke traded buckets up until the half’s second media timeout, with the Tar Heels’ effort level noticeably higher than it was at the beginning of the game.

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The scoring slowed in the subsequent minutes. Isaiah Evans blocked Wilson, and Boozer netted his second triple, putting the Blue Devils up 62-53.

UNC didn’t go away. Derek Dixon sank a 3 that ignited the arena.

He made one more less than four minutes later, and Veesaar followed to tie the game at 68.

Veesaar bounced back from a quiet first half with 13 second-half points and the defense that shut down Boozer on his potential game-winning drive.

Then Trimble etched his name in UNC lore.