Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones is in the news after he made an unusual offer. Jones said he is ready to pay $1.5 million to free an Illinois school worker arrested for stealing chicken wingers.  Vera Lidell, who was once the Director of Food Services for Harvey School District in Dolton, Illinois, is serving a nine-year prison sentence for her role in a huge food theft operation.  Liddell, was the mastermind behind the scheme where she allegedly swiped a whooping $1.5 million worth of food; mostly chicken wings-over a two-year period. The mind-boggling plot involved Lidell placing different orders for the wings through the district’s food provider, Gordon Food Service, under the guise of normal school operations.  All of this happened between July 2020 and February 2022, when schools were closed due to the pandemic, yet food orders continued to come in.  An audit eventually revealed the discrepancy. It showed that the district was hundreds of thousands of dollars over budget halfway through the year. The startling discovery led to Lidell’s arrest on multiple charges. Her charges include forgery, felony theft, and running a financial crime enterprise.  The horrifying nature of the crime has caused it to go viral on the internet, with many asking “How do you steal $1.5 million in chicken wings?” In all of this saga, Chiefs’ Chris Jones took an interest in the case. Jones, who recently got a $158 million contract extension, has reportedly offered to pay the $1.5 million Lidell stole. He hopes it might reduce or eliminate her prison sentence.  “I’ll pay for the wings that she stole to get her free,” Jones announced on X, turning a wild story into an internet sensation.

Jarrett Stidham might have gotten the start, but rookie Bo Nix started the scoring for the Denver Broncos.  Nix, the 12th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, made his preseason debut in the Denver’s Sunday’s 34-30 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He led the Broncos on four scoring drives to highlight a remarkable initial showing.  In five drives, Nix was the quarterback that led the Broncos to two touchdowns and two field goals, with a laser of a 1-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims.  “It was a good day,” Nix said postgame. “I thought we ran the ball efficiently. Made some good plays in the pass game. Converted some third downs. Got points when we needed to; it was a good job going into half with points and coming out with points, felt like that was a good point in the game. Overall, I thought we did a good job, a huge team win.” Nix completed 15 of 21 passes for 125 yards for his final line. His touchdown has a 102.3 passer rating, complemented by three runs for 17 yards. Meanwhile, Stidham was 4 of 7 for 37 yards, no TDs, an interception and 32.1 rating. In all fairness to the veteran, neither his interception nor the two futile drives were on him.  “All three of them did a good job,” Payton said, including Zach Wilson, who played for most of the second half and concluded 10 of 13 passes for 117 yards. Nonetheless, the highlights were for Nix and the first-rounder delivered a spectacular performance. His release was quick, his scrambling capacity sensational, and his command of Sean Payton’s offense was on the mark for his first time.  Early in the week, Payton announced that Nix would start for the Broncos in the Week 2 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, August 18th. 

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was diagnosed with a plantar fascia injury in his right foot after Wednesday’s practice and is expected to be absent for at least two weeks. Herbert will wear a walking boot during this time. The Chargers announced that they expected him to be ready to play at the start of the regular season. They open at home against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1.  However, this is still a devastating setback for the Chargers as they fight to put last season’s 5-12 mark behind them with new head coach Jim Harbaugh, adopting a new offensive system with lots of new faces on the roster.  Herbert had started for 62 straight games and had not missed a game due to injury in the NFL before suffering a season-ending finger injury in December. He was absent for the Chargers’ final four games in 2023; all losses.  In four NFL seasons, he completed 66.6% of his passes and threw for 17,223 yards, 114 touchdowns and only 42 interceptions, also rushing for 911 yards and 11 more scores.  Los Angeles presently has three other quarterbacks on their 90-man roster: Easton Stick, Max Duggan and Casey Bauman. Stick witnessed his only extended NFL action last campaign and Herbert’s stand in. He started the final four games and threw for 1,129 yards, three TDs and one pick. He also fumbled the ball five times, losing four of them. 

DeAndre Hopkins will be absent for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury.  The veteran receiver suffered an injury during practice and is expected to miss four weeks.  In his first season with the Tennessee Titans, Hopkins broke 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2020. He finished with 1,057 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, while running routes for both Ryan Tannehill and rookie Will Levis. As a three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler, Hopkins is the top receiver on Tennessee’s depth chart. The chart got two key additions in Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd in 2024.  At 32 years old, being cautious about Hopkins is the best approach for the team, which intends to bounce back after a 6-11 record put them in last place in the AFC South and caused them to fire coach Mike Vrabel. With Brain Callahan who is offensive-minded running the ship, he will need all hands on deck to maximize Tennessee’s potential. Luckily, the regular season will not begin for another two weeks and hopefully, Hopkins will be back by then.

Garrett Wilson posted 1,000-plus yards in all of his first two NFL seasons while catching passes from Zach Wilson, Mike White, Joe Flacco, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle. Imagine what Wilson can do with a healthy Aaron Rodgers. One year ago, the Wilson-Rodgers duo looked ready for a big year before Rodgers’ season ended after four snaps. With the four-time MVP returning to play, expectations are even higher in 2024. During the NFL Network’s Back Together Weekend on Saturday, Rodgers gushed about Wilson’s otherworldly talent, stating that he is still learning as a third-year wide receiver. “He’s hard to throw to, honestly — he’s so damn fast,” Rodgers said. “I threw a ball to him on the first play of practice on Wednesday, and I threw it and I thought maybe I had overthrown him and he actually slowed down maybe half a step. So, it takes some getting used to. He’s just so dynamic because he can go from zero to full speed so quickly, and he can look like he’s just kind of gliding out there because he’s moving so fast. It’s a gift. “Now his thing is the details. If we can get him to figure out just a little minor details, things are going to take off. We had a play today that I asked him to do something on rep he wasn’t going to get (the ball), and he didn’t realize it at the time, but it was setting up a play later in practice where we had a similar look. He comes back, and he kind of got it. So, it’s little things like that. “He’s in his third year, he’s going to figure it out. He has all the skill sets; he’s as dynamic as I’ve ever been around. If he can figure out how to practice with those details, then you get in the game, and he just relies on his instincts and it’s going to be really special.” Rodgers’ intelligence, experience, and feel for the offense combined with Garett’s talent, will certainly help Wilson expand his game on the field. The former MVP knows how to bring out the best in his players in crucial moments. Just like he once nurtured Davante Adams, he can leverage Wilson’s ability to win off the line. Off the field, Rodgers believes Wilson is becoming a leader who inspires other players. “I don’t want to turn off the passion at all — he’s a passionate guy, he’s got a contagious energy about him,” the Jets QB told NFL Network’s Judy Battista and Brian Baldinger. “It’s just when that passion becomes overly demonstrative, then we want to scale it back a little bit. But his passion is an asset. So, I don’t want to turn any off. “I want him to take the next step in leadership because I think he can really take the next step. There’s certain guys on a roster that are the energy guys that everybody is kind of looking to. By default, the quarterback is often that guy, but for him, he’s got to realize that people are watching him at all times. It’s no longer you’re a rookie, or you’re a second-year expectation — no, now you’re in a position to lead, and when you do that, everybody is watching all the time. They’re watching how your attitude is, how your interactions are with the guys and so his next step is that leadership role, and I think he’s going to embrace that. He could be a dynamic leader for us.” Although the pads have not come on yet, the early returns on the Rodgers-Wilson special are evident in camp. Veteran cornerback D.J.Reed said the duo is putting pressure on a good defense.  “I’ll just say: 8 [Rodgers] and Garrett, they’re definitely in a different zone right now,” he said. “What we’re being asked to do, they’re making it hard. They know what we’re in, so they’re giving us the hard downs, which is ultimately going to prepare for Game 1 and the season. But with their chemistry, they’re doing stuff, like, on the go. They’re running a certain route. If you over pursue, they’re running another route. They’re definitely in a different element. But it’s ultimately going to make me better.” If Rodgers and Wilson are both healthy in the 2024 season, they should be one of the top QB-WR combos in the NFL.

The Dallas Cowboys are returning to Oxnard, California, but Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will not be joining them. Lamb did not show up at the Dallas Cowboys training camp on Wednesday and awaits a contract extension. CeeDee and the Cowboys have worked out a new deal, but are yet to come to an agreement. According to Tom Pelissero, Lamb was not on the team traveling to California on Wednesday, which was the team’s official reporting day. It is the continuation of an offseason impasse between one of the greatest receivers in the NFL and the team that drafted him. Lamb has been a no-show for voluntary workouts and compulsory minicamp. As was the case with the workouts, he will pay daily fines. In an offseason in which most of his elite WR brothers; the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J Brown and DeVonta Smith and the Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown has gotten profitable extensions, Lamb waits for what he believes he has earned. The 2020 NFL Draft first-rounder is owed $17.9 million in 2924 on the fifth-year option. Lamb is off his third straight Pro Bowl season and one in which he got his first All-Pro accolade. He gathered an NFL-and career-high 135 receptions for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns; each of the latter career bests. An epitome of consistency, since he was a 935-yard rookie, Lamb has successive 1,000-yard seasons with each of the last two coming on 100-plus catches. Lamb is one of three Dallas superstars in line for new contracts. Quarterback Dak Prescott is set to play the last year of his present contract, while linebacker Micah Parsons is also on the agenda for a mega-extension.

Derek Carr has been a player for the New Orleans Saints for over a year now, but he recently shared that he could have been a quarterback for a different team if he had acknowledged the other team’s pitch. Carr said he met and considered signing with the New York Jets during the 2023 NFL offseason.  “I could’ve [signed with New York],” Carr said during an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, via gulflive.com. “It just wasn’t the right time for me. There were still like four or five teams I had to hear from. “I remember sitting there with (Jets coach Robert Saleh) and he’s like, ‘Look, man, we’d love to have you. It’s up to you.’” Carr had already sat with the Saints before he visited Florham Park, New Jersey, to have a meeting with Saleh and Jets leadership, and he eventually chose Dennis Allen’s squad in New Orleans. The Jets went ahead to draft Aaron Rodgers through a trade more than a month later.  If pumping the brakes on acquiring Carr was simply due diligence, the Saints’ quarterback made the right decision. But Jets fans may be left to wonder how the team’s 2023 season could have ended if they had signed Carr instead of Rodgers. Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon only four days into the season, sending New York back to a bad place under center. Meanwhile, Carr enters Year 2 of the four-year, $150 million contract he signed with New Orleans. After struggling through the 2023 season with an uninspired offensive attack, he will embark on his second campaign with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak calling the shots. With Derek settling nicely into this role with the Saints, no one will ever know what his career would have been like if he had signed with New York. Jets fans are hoping they will not have to ponder it, especially with a new season approaching.

Cameron Sutton committed some offseason transgressions that have now cost him half of an NFL season. The NFL suspended the Pittsburgh Steelers player for eight matches without salary for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.  Sutton’s suspension comes after an arrest warrant was put out for him on grounds of an alleged domestic violence incident in March. Sutton turned himself in and reportedly entered a pretrial diversion program on misdemeanour battery charges. The league investigated the incident involving the cornerback and decided that he breached the personal conduct policy, causing them to suspend him. After spending one season in Detroit, the Lions released Sutton following the issuance of the warrant. He signed a new contract with the Steelers two months later, going back to the team that chose him with the 94th pick in the 2017 draft. Sutton will be eligible for reinstatement on October 29th following Pittsburgh’s Week 8 match against the New York Giants.

This NFL offseason has washed in a wave of new wide receiver contracts, resetting the top of the market position. One player hoping to ride this wave is Dolphins wideout Tyreek Hill, who said he was thinking about his next deal and is thrilled to see what his new pay standard would mean for him. “I’m very excited to just be a part of the old wave, which was $30 million, and Justin Jefferson came and surpassed that, man,” Hill said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. “So, very proud of those guys, happy for obviously my teammate (Jaylen) Waddle getting his new deal. For guys like me, that’s great. I’m 30 years old, also looking for a new deal. So, very, very excited to see where I fit into that category. It’s amazing.” When Hill signed his present four-year, $120 million extension with the Miami Dolphins after joining through a trade from Chiefs, his $30 million annually average was at the top of the rankings for the position. But only in the last three months, three players have exceeded that average, according to Over the Cap. This includes Minnesota Vikings’ Jefferson, who set the new high mark with his $35 million per year average. Hill’s teammate Waddle also signed a three-year $84.75 million extension that is just below his average. Hill is set to receive $19.665 million in 2024, the last year with guaranteed money, indicating that the time has come for him to get an extension to put his salary more in line with current standards for a player of his calibre. He has been one of the best at his position joining the Dolphins, earning first-team All-Pro honours both years while also continuing his streak of making the Pro Bowl each of his eight seasons.  This most recent year, Hill led the league by averaging 112.4 yards per game, with a total of 1,799 yards, just short of his goal of becoming the first WR to break 2,000 yards in a season. But, how paying him fits into the Dolphins’ future plans could be complicated because the team is spending money in other places. For now, Hill said he is not focusing on the money, and his immediate priority still remains leading his team to postseason glory, which has eluded them despite succeeding in the regular-season. “Oh yeah, for sure, so very excited for it, man, but the real goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Hill said. “It’s cool to get paid and all that, but you know being able to win a Super Bowl and bring something special to the city of Miami, that’s something that can live with us forever. I believe that’s very monumental for all of us. Create greatness, man.”