–Streaming is supposed to be the future for the NFL, but obviously the future is not now. The first year of streaming Thursday night games on Prime was less than a rousing success. The NCAA women’s title game got better ratings than the average for the Prime games. This is why Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to be able to flex games, but fell two votes shy of getting it passed at the owners meeting last month. He will try again in May. At the very least, he got the owners to approve teams getting two games on Thursday night, which means teams like Chiefs and Eagles will likely appear twice. But that is not going to solve the streaming problem. The NFL couldn’t resist Jeff Bezos’ billion-dollar offer, but the NFL will have to live with lower ratings for now on the streaming games. Meanwhile, Paramount+ streamed “Inside the NFL” for one year and dumped it, and it is now looking for a new home.
–The dynasty is over in New England and the Patriots now seem to be a dysfunctional team. Owner Robert Kraft is frustrated that the Patriots haven’t won a playoff game in four years and isn’t promising that coach Bill Belichick will survive long enough to break Don Shula’s record. And Belichick is not apparently happy that quarterback Mac Jones went outside the organization last year when he was struggling. And now there are reports Belichick may be shopping him depending on which version you hear. The Patriot Way isn’t working these days.
–The decision of NFL Media not to renew the contract of Jim Trotter, one of the best football writers, didn’t get much notice from the fans. But it is an important story because it is another example of the dysfunction and lack of diversity in the NFL. It was a bad look that Trotter’s contract wasn’t renewed after he asked Commissioner Roger Goodell two years in a row at a press conference about the lack of diversity. The NFL even offered Trotter three months’ severance pay if he would sign a non-disclosure form, but he declined it so he will be free to speak out more in the future.
–Lamar Jackson’s future remains in limbo. No team has been willing to make him an offer and he has asked for a trade. Meanwhile, the Ravens, noted for being a good organization, aren’t handling it well. At their pre-draft press conference, they refused to discuss him, which kept it on front burner. Best if they just said no new developments and we will let u know when there are.
–There were a lot of eyebrows raised when the Jaguars gave Christian Kirk a four-year, $72 million dollar deal last year. As it turned out, the Jaguars got their money’s worth because he had a good season. But according to Tyreek Hill, it led to him leaving Kansas City. He wanted more than Kirk got so the Chiefs traded him to the Dolphins and won the Super Bowl without him. But the Kirk contract was a good example of how contracts can affect other players.