Ryan Poles has become the latest NFL general manager to receive a contract extension but, unlike those afforded to Jason Licht in Tampa and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in Minnesota, the fanbase isn’t entirely enthused with the decision. The Bears have gone 15-36 since Poles was hired in 2022, and have finished dead last in the NFC North in the past two …
The 2025 Chicago Bears are under new management, with former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson now calling the shots in the Windy City. But while most of the offseason hype has been surrounding the offense, and how Johnson can get the best out of a unit led by 2024 first-overall pick Caleb Williams, the Bears defense seems to be …
The NFL has announced its full 18-week, 272-game, regular season schedule for the coming season via the now-familiar television marathon, despite several ‘highlight’ games and the six-sevenths of the International Series having already been revealed. The new season kicks off on Thursday 4th September in Philadelphia and concludes with a full slate of 16 divisional games in Week 18, with …
As is their right as reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to feature in a lot of prime time games in the 2025 season. Having already had their opponents for the traditional kickoff game confirmed as the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL piled on three more high-profile Eagles games ahead of the full schedule release on Wednesday (14th …
Day one of the 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, and we now know the destination of the first 32 rookies coming into the league. Here’s a breakdown of the picks, sorted by moves we expected, the outcomes of trades, and the few selections that, even at this early stage, have us scratching our heads. PAR FOR THE COURSE …
With four picks in the top 75 selections of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears have a window to build on the solid haul of rookies they picked up last season. That is the view of NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who watched the Bears follow up the first overall selection of QB Caleb Williams by sticking and …
The NFL Draft is all about the future, with teams selecting players they hope will contribute to their fortunes in 2025 and for years to come. But, while the draft is the first opportunity for teams and fan bases to cast their eyes on the next generation of players, some already familiar faces are also set to appear. The NFL …
With the NFL’s annual ‘free agent frenzy’ well underway, it is easy to have missed crucial deals involving your favourite team and/or players. The following tables, the first based on PFF‘s Top 50 free agents as featured in Issue #85 of Gridiron magazine, should hopefully fill in the gaps in what happened over the opening days of the ‘legal tampering’ …
The 2025 NFL salary cap has been set (at a cool $279.2m) giving teams a little extra headroom to ply with when it comes to re-signing key components of their roster and adding new faces that they hope will be the key to winning a Super Bowl. With the big game now in the rear view, and the NFL Scouting …
Four new names were added to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s all-time roster during the NFL Honours ceremonies on Thursday night as defensive back Eric Allen, defensive end Jared Allen (no relation), tight end Antonio Gates and wide receiver Sterling Sharpe were voted into footballing immortality. The four-man class is the smallest since 2005, but inducting a quartet is …
Welcome to Gridiron’s final power ranking of the 2024 NFL regular season, featuring — for the first time — all 32 teams. Who comes out on top after 18 weeks of competition? Is the worst team in the league the one that will be picking first in April’s Draft? And how are the 14 playoff teams stacking up? GRIDIRON POWER …
Bye weeks are a thing of the past as all 32 NFL teams knuckle down for the final four games of their 2024 campaign. For many, the season is lost and all that matters now is pride (or possibly draft position, depending on the mindset) but, for the rest, the playoffs remain on the horizon, with all important seedings and, …
The NFL has announced the 32 nominees for this year’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide, reflecting the off-the-field endeavours of those better known for their performances between the lines. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award has become the league’s most revered honour, recognising players who excel on the field and demonstrate …
The Chicago Bears’ patience has finally been exhausted, as the franchise relieved Matt Eberflus of his duties as head coach following the shambolic Thanksgiving Day defeat in Detroit. Despite appearing to have sufficient time on the clock to march down the field and punish the hometown Lions for not putting the game away before the break, Chicago proved equally profligate, …
Ah, Thanksgiving. The time to stuff your face with turkey, spend time with family, and then spend frivolously on useless merchandise for the next couple of days. The most American of holidays means little to us on this side of the pond. For NFL fans, it’s a chance to enjoy some midweek football. I’m thankful for that. For that reason, …
Contrary to popular belief, playing football on Thanksgiving Day is not an NFL invention. The league may be credited with bringing a lot of innovations to the sport, but the origin of games being played as part of festivities celebrating a successful harvest predate the formation of the National Football League by nearly 50 years, when the college teams from …
Week 12 of the NFL season should have come with a health warning. Blocked punts, missed extra points, botched holds, onside kicks returned for touchdowns, muffed kickoffs recovered and housed, overtime and game-winning field goals. Not suitable for the faint of heart. The beady-eyed among you will note most of those pulse-raising plays happened in one game. In fact, in …
The National Football League will continue to honour the late John Madden at next Thursday’s Thanksgiving games with commemorations of the former player, coach and commentator liberally sprinkled throughout. Madden once said that, ‘There’s no place that I would rather be on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game,’ and the now-annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration aims …
Week 10 was one of the worst weeks of the 2024 season in terms of offensive output. Teams averaged 1.86 points per drive and threw interceptions at a 2.9% rate, both “good” for the second-worst weeks of the season. But while Week 11 can’t guarantee more explosive play on offense, it promises to be a fascinating week with several key …
In a league season characterised by close games, it’s only inevitable that kickers would take centre stage more and more frequently. There have been 82 games decided by seven-or-fewer points and 72 games decided by six-or-fewer points this season, both the most such games through Week 10 in NFL history. That said, rarely would you see so many games decided …
With nine of 18 weeks — and 138 of 272 games completed — the 2024 NFL regular season has edged past its halfway point with the Kansas City Chiefs still clinging the league’s last unbeaten record, having moved to 8-0 with a hard-fought overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. With the win, the Chiefs became …
Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season was a riot of scoring, with 777 points scored across the 16 games. But the theme of the season, namely close games, continued, with 13 of the games within eight points heading into the fourth quarter. Through the first eight weeks of the season, 67 games have been decided by seven points or …
While the league’s best tight ends tried to take the headlines on their special day, it was Jayden Daniels who delivered the lasting image of Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season. The Commanders’ last second Hail Mary was one of five game winning scores in the final two minutes of action on Sunday. With one game left to play …
Week 8 of the 2024 NFL season sees all 32 teams in action, and all back on American soil with the London leg of the International Series in the books. A rarity in being a full house during bye weeks, there is also no shortage of fascinating matchups, with legends chasing history, historic powerhouses looking to kickstart their season and …
