The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.
Good morning! Run a 40 today.
Muted Weeks: QB sideshow has been Indy main event
You don’t come to Indianapolis in February for the chill. You come for the heat.
The NFL Scouting Combine is a networking event as much as a showcase of prospects. Front offices and media descend on Downtown Indy and treat it like a college campus for a few days, trading intel and building bridges. This rumor mill is always a big deal, but some years, it takes a backseat to herculean feats on the field. Someone sets a 40-yard dash record, or a punter does 25 bench reps.
Advertisement
This year’s combine didn’t have a break-the-internet workout, though South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori had an all-time showing. There was no can’t-miss quarterback workout. The top two players on Dane Brugler’s big board sat out drills (Travis Hunter is waiting for his pro day, and Abdul Carter has a foot fracture but will avoid surgery for now).
Instead, this combine was about the QB carousel.
- The Rams opened the door to trading Matthew Stafford, but didn’t. The parties resolved a contract dispute that had kickstarted a week of trade exploration. Our reporters have that backstory.
- Sam Darnold’s free agency was also a big story, but one that leaves Indy without a resolution. And the QB market likely won’t settle until the Vikings and/or Darnold make a move.
- The Giants have kicked the tires on Aaron Rodgers. Best of luck to both of them! New York had been poking around on Stafford, and 41-year-old Rodgers is a potential consolation pick.
- The Steelers are deciding between Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. It is clear the team will give a rose to just one of its QBs. Less clear is which one.
All of that aside, has the combine (which wraps up today) been a bit sleepy this year, or has it just looked that way from afar? I asked Jacob Robinson, on the ground in Indy for our Scoop City newsletter:
💬 The stadium is still filled with intriguing prospects sprinting for 40 yards. But when the spotlights are off, the combine gets quiet, quickly. Which is why many attendees park at local haunts like Starbucks, hoping to witness a potential media showdown, or the Prime 47 steakhouse, where Stafford rumors abounded.
Steakhouses are to the combine what afterparties will be to tonight’s Oscars. Elsewhere:
Brandon Sloter/ Getty Images)
Messes: How will MLB fare following split from ESPN?
Major League Baseball and ESPN are divorcing. The league and the network have “mutually agreed” to opt out of their national TV deal with three years left, as Rob Manfred informed owners recently in a memo first revealed by The Athletic’s Evan Drellich.
ESPN was seeking to lower its $550 million annual fee, while MLB raised its own grievances about ESPN’s “minimal” non-game coverage. On these matters, I always read Andrew Marchand, who suspects Manfred overplayed his hand. “While we would love to give MLB the benefit of the doubt, it is hard to bet it has superior alternatives,” Marchand writes. “It definitely needs one.” Perhaps it will be a streamer.
Most commissioners do not choose to leave ESPN. Maybe there’s a lesson for baseball to learn from the two biggest leagues to make that call so far this century:
- The NHL left after a season-long lockout canceled the 2004-05 season. (Technically, ESPN opted out, but there’s always a number.) When the NHL came back after a year away, it received scant coverage in the network’s daily programming. More than a decade on NBC’s cable channel (called “Outdoor Life Network,” then “Versus,” then “NBC Sports Network”) did incalculable damage to the league’s ongoing efforts to make itself a more present product.
- The Big Ten left after 2022 for both sacks of cash and plum prime-time spots on Fox, CBS and NBC. Plus, ESPN’s ownership of the College Football Playoff rights precludes the broadcaster from ignoring the B1G. A nice bit of business.
I asked Dan Shanoff, the author of our new-ish sports business newsletter, MoneyCall, if MLB’s post-ESPN future will more resemble the NHL’s fade or the Big Ten’s power move:
💬 The key to the Big Ten’s transition was that it took over arguably the premier position on Saturdays: the CBS late-afternoon window that fans had come to associate with the best of the SEC (and, thus, the best of college football). Throw in NBC’s enthusiasm to be a B1G partner with its Saturday night prime-time slot, and everything was great. MLB still has its partnership with Fox, by all accounts still enthusiastic about baseball. That should help with the marquee events, like the All-Star Game, World Series and NLCS.
However, there isn’t an “SEC on CBS” equivalent for MLB to swap into; streaming platforms just aren’t the same. So, your answer: better than NHL, but not nearly as good as Big Ten.
MLB games will land somewhere better than the old OLN, but when it comes to sports broadcasts, there’s only one ESPN.
News to Know
Deebo traded, Garrett next?
The 49ers granted Deebo Samuel’s wish Saturday night, trading the disgruntled former All-Pro wide receiver to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round draft pick. Samuel gets a fresh start, and Jayden Daniels gets another weapon.
Meanwhile, Myles Garrett still wants out of Cleveland, but the Browns insist they aren’t listening to offers. If Garrett does end up being traded, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported the Eagles have their eyes on the 2023 DPOY. Good luck, opposing offensive lines.
Advertisement
Belichick, UNC to be featured on ‘Hard Knocks’
There was a time when you were lucky to get more than two words out of Bill Belichick. Then, he went all in as a media personality after leaving the Patriots. And suddenly, he may just be the focal point of “Hard Knocks: Offseason.” The HBO series, which traditionally features NFL teams, will pivot to a deep dive on Belichick’s UNC program, a source confirmed to The Athletic on Friday. Apparently, not a single NFL team wanted any part of the show. And who could blame them after the Giants’ debacle a season ago?
More news
Pulse Picks
Our NHL staff made bold trade deadline predictions for every team. Check out the full list.
Sam Amick delivered the details of an informally discussed Luka Dončić-Anthony Edwards swap, and how Dončić instead landed in the right place with the Lakers.
MLB has robo umps, the NHL has … smartwatches? Read more on why NHL officials are wearing Apple Watches this season.
Lukas Weese has a great story today on “Nickel Boys” director RaMell Ross, a former Georgetown basketball player whose dreams shifted from an NBA career to the Academy Awards.
Test your knowledge of the last week in sports news with our latest quiz.
An unlikely duo is launching a signature sneaker: Jaylen Brown and … Bill Nye the Science Guy? Jared Weiss has more.
Most-clicked in the newsletter Friday: Matt Rhule’s comments on college football scheduling.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The combine edition of Dianna Russini’s intel column.
(Top photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
