Month: June 2026

Flores continues to cause litigation headaches for NFL

Brian Flores may change the way the NFL settles disputes.

He won a major victory in the U.S. Supreme Court recently when they let stand an appellate court ruling that he could take his racial discrimination court against the NFL to court instead of it having it determined in a league controlled arbitration process overseen by the commissioner.

That means team owners and executives and even commissioner Roger Goodell will likely have to give depositions and there will be discovery so Flores’ lawyers get a look at what  is in the team files.

For example, Flores claims that when he filed the lawsuit owner Stephen Ross tried to reclaim some of the money he had already paid Flores in an attempt to retaliate. And sent a letter to Goodell. That letter should be in the files of the league or the Dolphins or both.

Flores filed the class-action lawsuit in 2022 and an appeals court ruled he could get a court hearing rather than having it go to arbitration. The Supreme Court didn’t take the case, so the appellate court ruling stands.

Flores has claimed the NFL of systematic discrimation against black coaches. Flores, now the defensive coordinator of the Vikings, said he was asked to have sham interviews with the Giants and Broncos to follow the “Rooney Rule.” Two more black coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, have joined the suit. Among other things, Flores wants teams to explain hiring and firing decisions in writing.

Flores was fired after posting a 24-25 record for three years without a playoff season, although he had back-to-back winning seasons before being fired. 

This could be a long court fight, and the league could decide to settle. But Flores has already set a precedent for NFL employees to go to court when they have a dispute with the league.     

‘Win Now’ Rams are at it again

For the Los Angeles Rams, the future is always now.

The Ram proved it again this week when they traded their 2027 first round pick, their 2028 second round pick and 2029 third round pick along with pass rusher Jared Verse, their 2024 first round pick, to the Browns for Myles Garrett.

Since 2016 the rams have eventually traded all their first round picks except for this year when they traded it to Chiefs to draft quarterback Ty Simpson. They traded four of them — two each — to get Matthew Stafford and Jalen Ramsey. 

The strategy has worked for the Rams since they have only missed the playoffs twice since 2017 and have gone to the conference title game three times and twice to the Super Bowl and won it once.

The trade made sense for both teams. With the Super Bowl being played in their home park in February and with Stafford being near the end of his career, they figured they would go all out for the Super Bowl this year. And the Browns figured they could use the three picks and Verse to build for the future.

The oddsmakers are already giving giving the Rams better odds of making the Super Bowl. According to oddsmaker Jimmy Shapiro, BetOnline.ag, the odds on the Rams winning the Super Bowl went from 15-2 to 6-1.

It is now Super Bowl or bust for the Rams this year.