NEW YORK — The WNBA and its players’ union agreed to a moratorium for league business Monday.
The moratorium, which was confirmed by the league, was necessary because the sides failed to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement or an extension of the current one by Friday night’s deadline.
The sides are continuing to negotiate in good faith on a new CBA and are far apart on salaries and revenue sharing.
The moratorium will halt the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.
Before the moratorium, the WNBA, under U.S. labor law, had a status-quo obligation to allow teams to send out qualifying offers under the expired CBA agreement. Sunday was the first day that teams would have sent out offers to players.
While the moratorium makes sense for both sides, they are still far apart on key issues.
The league’s most recent offer last month would guarantee a maximum base salary of $1 million in 2026 that could reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing. That’s up from the current $249,000 and could grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP earlier this month. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The moratorium will halt the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.
Under the league’s proposal, players would receive in excess of 70% of net revenue — though that would be their take of the profits after expenses are paid. Those expenses would include upgraded facilities, charter flights, five-star hotels, medical services, security and arenas.
The average salary in 2026 would be more than $530,000, up from its current $120,000, and grow to more than $770,000 over the life of the agreement. The minimum salary would grow from its current $67,000 to approximately $250,000 in the first year, the person told the AP.
The proposal would also financially pay star young players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, who are all still on their rookie contracts, nearly double the league minimum.
Revenue sharing is one of the major sticking points in the negotiations.
The union’s counter proposal to the league would give players around 30% of the gross revenue. The player’s percentage would be from money generated before expenses for the first year and teams would have a $10.5 million salary cap to sign players. Under the union’s proposal, the revenue sharing percent would go up slightly each year.
The Eagles season ended early after a wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Now, it’s back to the drawing board. Here are some important offseason dates to know, from the Super Bowl to the start of next season.
Jan. 17 to Jan. 25: Divisional and championship round of NFL playoffs
The Eagles may be eliminated, but the playoffs will continue with the divisional round on Jan. 17-18, followed by the AFC and NFC championship games on Jan. 25.
Jan. 27: East-West Shrine Bowl game
One of the two major college football showcase games, the East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas features some of the top NFL draft prospects, and hosts scouts, coaches, and executives from all 32 NFL teams.
Jan. 31: Senior Bowl game
In addition to the Shrine Bowl, there’s the Senior Bowl, which also draws personnel from across the NFL to Mobile, Ala.
Since 2023, the NFL has hosted Pro Bowl Games, which features flag football and other skills contests instead of a traditional football game. This year, those games kick off on Feb. 3, and so far five Eagles have been named, almost entirely on the defensive side of the ball. Center Cam Jurgens is the lone offensive player, joining defensive tackle Jalen Carter, linebacker Zack Baun, and cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Injuries, players opting out, and Super Bowl restrictions could mean more Eagles players make it.
Feb. 8: Super Bowl LX
This year, the Super Bowl, the NFL’s 60th, will take place on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the home of the 49ers. Bad Bunny is scheduled to be the halftime performer.
Feb. 17 to March 3: Franchise tag period
Teams can place the franchise tag on players starting Feb. 17 through 4 p.m. on March 3. The Eagles haven’t done this since placing a franchise tag on DeSean Jackson in 2012.
Eagles first-round pick Jihaad Campbell runs the 40-yard dash during last year’s scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Feb. 23 to March 2: NFL Scouting Combine
The NFL Scouting Combine will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Top draft prospects have their physical attributes tested, run drills, and conduct interviews with coaches, front office staff, and the media.
March 11: Free agency begins
Free agency begins on March 11 at 4 p.m. ET, the official start of the 2026 season. Teams can begin contract negotiations two days earlier on March 9. However, they may not sign until this day.
Will there be more discussion centered around banning the Tush Push? This is when those kind of topics will be discussed as owners meet up in Phoenix, Arizona.
April 20: Offseason workouts can begin
Teams with returning head coaches can start their optional workout programs. Meanwhile, teams that hired a new head coach after the end of the 2025 regular season can start offseason workouts on April 6.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell always gets a healthy dose of boos at the start of the draft.
April 23 to 25: NFL draft
The NFL draft will take place between April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Eagles enter the draft with eight picks: a first-round pick, a second-round pick, two third-round picks, two fourth-round picks, and two fifth-round picks.
May 1: Decision day for former first-rounders
Teams will have to decide whether to exercise their fifth-year option on 2023 first-round draft picks. Carter and Nolan Smith are Eagles players who have fifth-year options coming up.
After he draft, teams will host a three-day minicamp for rookies to welcome the players into the NFL. This year, they can choose between May 1-4 or May 8-11.
Mid-May: NFL schedule release
In May, the NFL will release the dates of each matchup for the 2026 season. Some game times may be changed throughout the season.
The Eagles will host several offseason workouts, including rookie minicamp following the draft.
Late May: OTAs
Last year, the Eagles hosted a number of optional workouts before mandatory minicamp. The workouts took place in late May and early June, beginning on May 27.
Early June: Mandatory minicamp
The team should hold a mandatory minicamp some time in June. Las year, the team hosted a one-day mandatory minicamp on June 10.
There’s no official date for the start of Eagles training camp. Last season, camp began on July 22 and the team hosted an open practice at Lincoln Financial Field on Aug. 10.
First week of August: NFL preseason begins
Teams will get their first taste of action in the first week of August with the start of the NFL preseason as they prepare for the next step of the 2026 season …
First week of September: Regular season begins
Although we won’t know who the team will be competing against until May, the Eagles will have a chance to start the season on a high note after an early playoff exit as defending Super Bowl champions.
A dramatic end to the Eagles’ campaign for a Super Bowl repeat could bring some dramatic changes to the team in the coming days, weeks, and months.
But less than 24 hours after the 23-19 wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Jalen Hurts said he wasn’t ready to declare whether he hoped to see offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo return for a second season.
“It’s too soon to think about that,” Hurts said Monday afternoon during the Eagles’ locker cleanout. “I put my trust in Howie [Roseman], Nick [Sirianni], and Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie.”
The offense’s shortcomings, fresh off the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning season, reflected poorly on Patullo, the 44-year-old, first-time offensive coordinator. He had a wealth of talent at his disposal on the most expensive offense in the league that returned 10 of 11 starters from the championship run.
Yet the group underperformed and often collapsed in the second halves of games, the latest example coming Sunday night against the 49ers. The offense finished the regular season ranked No. 19 in the league in scoring, No. 24 in total yards, and No. 13 in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play.
The Eagles fared worse in each category compared to last season. Still, Hurts said that any discussion about impending changes to the Eagles’ offensive coaching staff or personnel would not occur in his parting meeting with team officials on Monday.
“No, I’d speak more so on just having a home base of what we do, who we are, and obviously we really made an effort to establish an identity along the way,” Hurts said. “Ultimately, it was a bit too late. Always got a lot of confidence when we step out on that field with this group, with this team. It just wasn’t our turn this time around.”
Hurts used “home base” as another way to say “identity,” something that the Eagles struggled to establish throughout the season. He said the team needed to find its “comfort zone of where you lay your head,” the go-to concepts that the Eagles could execute at a high level, no matter the caliber of defense they faced.
Where is the Eagles’ home base going forward? Hurts said the team has time to figure it out. Ultimately, though, the quarterback emphasized that he just wants to win.
Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and quarterback Jalen Hurts never seemed to get into a rhythm this season.
“You play the game to play for championships and put yourself in those opportunities to win championships,” Hurts said. “And so, obviously, that starts with having cohesiveness and great sequencing and having a flow where everyone’s on the same page and going out there and doing that.”
Hurts is no stranger to change. He has had six offensive play-callers in his NFL career, including Doug Pederson, Sirianni, Shane Steichen, Brian Johnson, Kellen Moore, and now Patullo. In the aftermath of Johnson’s 2024 firing, Hurts said that he longed for continuity at the position.
But he acknowledged Monday that he has embraced the revolving door of offensive coordinators and translated those changes into postseason appearances. After all, the Eagles won a Super Bowl in Moore’s lone year as the offensive coordinator.
“The changes have not prevented us from having an opportunity to go on championship runs, and so with all the changes and with all the things that have gone and have changed over time, we still found ourselves in the playoffs, and we still found ourselves in positions to be in the tournament and play in the tournament,” Hurts said. “I don’t like the trend of wild-card [loss], big-time [Super Bowl appearance], wild-card [loss], big-time [Super Bowl win], and wild-card [loss]. … So competitively as a quarterback, as a leader, that’s a big focus of mine, trying to break that.”
Hurts will look to return the Eagles to their winning ways next season, when he embarks upon his sixth year as the full-time starting quarterback. Given his track record and his importance to the team, he said he has a degree of influence in important matters concerning the offense.
“I think overall, my line is always open, and so however involved or whatever level inquiry I am, I’ll definitely be available,” Hurts said.
Those important matters include the roster. While 10 of the 11 starters on offense are under contract for next season (tight end Dallas Goedert is a pending unrestricted free agent), Roseman may opt to make some changes to its core.
Could A.J. Brown’s future in Philadelphia come into question? The 28-year-old receiver is under contract through 2029. He had expressed his dissatisfaction with the offense earlier in the season, but he has not spoken publicly since the Dec. 8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Hurts did not directly answer a question about whether he wants Brown back in 2026.
Jalen Hurts says that he and wide receiver A.J. Brown are in a “great place.”
“A. J. and I will talk,” Hurts said. “We’re in a good, great place.”
Many of the team’s prospective changes are out of his hands. Repeatedly, Hurts acknowledged that he must focus on the details within his control, especially his own performance. While he seeks a “home base” for the offense, he said he has never run away from the growth that comes with embracing the responsibilities he finds uncomfortable as a quarterback.
With the extra time that comes with an abrupt playoff exit, Hurts said he will do a “deep dive” on how he can improve as a player and as a leader before the Eagles restart once more next season.
“Obviously, every year is different,” Hurts said. “Changes are inevitable in a number of ways, but my focus is on growth. My focus is on improvement, and my focus is on embracing the challenges that come with where I am in my career.”
Nakobe Dean feels like questions about his durability have been hanging over his head like a “black cloud” since the 2022 NFL draft.
The linebacker out of Georgia, drafted 83rd overall by the Eagles that year, played 39 of a possible 39 college games, but concerns about a pectoral injury he suffered while training for the scouting combine helped cause his slide on draft weekend.
“The two injuries didn’t help me, but you got guys going through free agency who didn’t play this year who have had multiple injuries,” Dean said Monday as the Eagles cleaned out their lockers a day after their 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. “It’s just a looming thing over me.”
That is what Dean is carrying with him into free agency, a recent injury history that will likely impact his market. A Lisfranc injury that required surgery cut short his 2023 season after five games. Then, Dean suffered a torn left patellar tendon injury in the first round of the playoffs last year. The injury and rehabilitation caused him to miss the first five games of this season.
Dean, to his credit, looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He supplanted rookie Jihaad Campbell in the starting lineup by Week 8 and provided a big boost to the Eagles defense. He became one of the most productive blitzing linebackers this season and was solid in coverage. He had four sacks in 10 regular-season games after having three sacks in 15 games last season.
But Dean’s future with the Eagles is unclear. Campbell was drafted in the first round last spring and played well before Dean returned. The Eagles said they liked Campbell’s versatility to play both linebacker and line up at edge rusher when they drafted him, but he spent most of the season and played his best as an off-ball linebacker. In theory, there would be room to bring Dean back if Campbell was going to transition to the edge full time, but that doesn’t necessarily seem like the most likely path forward, and it remains to be seen what kind of value Dean may be able to find on the open market.
Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean made an impact when healthy this season.
The Eagles, who have more than $20 million in salary-cap space for 2026, have decisions to make.
Dean, 25, said he talked to Howie Roseman on Monday but did not get an indication on his immediate future with the Eagles.
“Rightfully so,” Dean said. “The season just ended. He didn’t expect the season to end yesterday. So, rightfully so, everybody has to get away from ball for a little bit, take a couple deep breaths, and decisions will be made then.”
Asked what Roseman’s message to him was, Dean said: “My impact has not gone unnoticed and he just expressed appreciation of me.”
Dean, of course, wants to stay with the team that drafted him and a lot of his Georgia friends.
“I think everybody knows I want to be in Philly,” he said. “I don’t want to go anywhere.”
Jaelan Phillips proved to be a difference-making midseason addition to the Eagles defense.
Phillips says he has what he needs with Eagles
Like Dean, Jaelan Phillips is hitting free agency for the first time.
Unlike with Dean, the Eagles don’t have a clear answer to slot in for Phillips if he were to depart for another team, making him a much more likely candidate to return to the Eagles.
Phillips made an immediate impact after the Eagles acquired him before the trade deadline from Miami for a third-round pick. He tallied 44 pressures and two sacks in nine games, including Sunday’s playoff game, according to Pro Football Focus, while playing 78% of the defensive snaps. That’s a lot of production to try to replace.
Phillips is one of the team’s five free-agent edge rushers. The Eagles have just two edge rushers under contract for 2026: Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. The draft will be a place the Eagles likely look to add talent to the room, but they could use a top-end talent like Phillips at the top of the depth chart.
Phillips, 26, said he felt he fit in well with the defense. He had familiarity with Vic Fangio from their time together in Miami. Phillips is excited about his future, he said, and for his first experience with free agency.
“I would love to have that future be here,” he said. “It’s up to my agent and ultimately up to me, too. This is my first experience with it, so I’m not really sure how it plays out. We’ll see.”
Phillips said he has a child on the way and his family’s future will be a consideration in free agency, but the other things he wants he already has in Philadelphia.
“I want to be on a competitive team and in an environment where I love the guys I’m around and love the organization I’m playing for,” he said. “I feel that here. So we’ll see.”
Eagles safeties Drew Mukuba and Sydney Brown pull down Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens.
Mukuba updates his injury timeline
Rookie safety Drew Mukuba was in the locker room Monday sporting a walking boot on his right foot. Mukuba fractured his fibula near the end of the Eagles’ Week 12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Mukuba said he should be out of the boot soon but did not have a firm timeline on the next steps in his recovery. He’s hoping to be ready for spring workouts, but said “late summer” was also a possibility.
He had a lot to complain about early after the injury. He couldn’t walk and had trouble getting comfortable, which led to some sleepless nights.
Mukuba said “I wasn’t where I needed to be” when the season started, but he was more comfortable as the season wore on.
“I feel like I kind of got over the hump after the first time we played the Giants,” Mukuba said. “Once I got over that, I feel like I was just stacking days.
“I hate that [the injury] happened, but that’s the game and I can’t control it.”
The Eagles might have been disappointed, but deep down, they likely weren’t surprised. The team that showed up in a 23-19 Wild Card loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the version of the team the Eagles had been for most of the 2025 season. Good enough on defense, yet woefully ineffective on offense. Instead of rebooting repeat Super Bowl dreams, the Eagles’ matchup with the 49ers marked the fitting end to a frustrating season. From an inconsistent quarterback to an inexperienced playcaller who too often was overmatched, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Dave Murphy sort through the factors that contributed to the Eagles’ early playoff exit, and quickly shift their focus to potential changes looming in the offseason.
00:00 The Eagles were who they knew they were all along
02:17 Intel about Kevin Patullo’s future
09:23 Jalen Hurts’ shortcomings exposed
20:17 What should the Eagles do with A.J. Brown?
26:25 More on A.J. Brown and potential replacement options
34:01 Other stay / go considerations
37:34 Will Lane Johnson retire?
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the offseason, including breaking news updates and reactions.
Let’s get weird. Like in playoff hockey, the Flyers will get another crack at home to beat the streaking Tampa Bay Lightning.
On Saturday, the Flyers helped the Bolts extend their winning streak to nine games in a 7-2 loss. Some of it was because of the talent the Lightning have and some of it was self-inflicted by the Flyers with careless turnovers and miscues.
Blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen was asked Sunday after practice what the Flyers can do better. “Obviously, the defensive part of the game,” he said. “We let their good players have too much space, and it was too much fun for them.”
The Flyers would much rather be the ones having fun. But who joins Monday’s party is still to be determined. There will be a few game-time decisions for the Flyers.
Carl Grundström missed practice Sunday due to illness, and Travis Konecny, who was returning from an upper-body injury, got nailed with a shot on the knee, causing “like a dead leg kind of thing,” according to coach Rick Tocchet. Both participated in the optional morning skate along with Bobby Brink, who will not play against the Lightning because of an upper-body injury.
The Flyers will have Dan Vladař in net. The goalie did not play in the team’s previous two matchups against the Lightning, including a 3-0 loss in Tampa Bay on Nov. 24, but has earned at least a point in four straight starts (3-0-1). And the Flyers have a pretty good record on their side: 9-1-2 in games following a regulation loss.
Here are three keys for the Flyers on Monday:
1) Minimize mistakes.
Several of the Lightning goals came off turnovers, including one each by Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Trevor Zegras around Tampa Bay’s blue line. As defenseman Nick Seeler said, “It’s those soft areas, those little plays where we need to get it deep instead of trying to make a play and stay patient, and offense will come.”
Barkey struggled all night, but he learned a valuable lesson in his 10th NHL game.
“I think the biggest thing is you’ve got to minimize your mistakes, make sure you’re ready from the drop of the puck until the buzzer goes,” Barkey said Monday. “I think that was the biggest thing I learned. They’re good players, and you’ve really got to be sure of the plays that you make, because they will make you pay.”
Flyers forward Denver Barkey showed some growing pains in Saturday’s loss to Tampa Bay.
2) Know where Nikita Kucherov is at all times, but remember he’s not the only focus.
On Saturday, the Russian winger padded his stats with two goals and two assists, and now has 41 points in 30 career games against the Flyers. His linemates, Gage Goncalves and Brayden Point, had two goals and three assists, respectively.
“Kucherov is a focus. He’s your pregame strategy. First goal, where is he? We should have been aware of that,” said Tocchet, referencing Kucherov being left all alone in front of the goal for his first snipe on Saturday. “If he’s on the ice, I’m not sure you want to make a high-risk, east-west play. … But saying that, we have the puck, we’ve got to make plays when Kucherov’s on the ice. We’ve got to make him play defense. We can’t just slap pucks around.”
But he cannot be the only focus for the Flyers. Once he gets off the ice — he played only 14 minutes, 24 seconds on Saturday — there are guys like Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel, who will play for Canada and the U.S. at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, respectively. Eleven members of the Lightning got at least a point Saturday, so the Flyers cannot take their foot off the pedal.
As Seeler said, the “neutral zone is going to be really important for this upcoming game here.” The Lightning had no trouble sending a stretch pass up the ice or skating through with ease.
Because of this, it put the Flyers back on their heels as the Lightning forced the defense to back up in the Flyers’ end. It led to several goals, like Kucherov’s second and Goncalves’ first.
“They get time and space, they’ll kill you,” Tocchet said about Kucherov and Point.
That goes for the whole team coached by Jon Cooper. But for most of the season, the Flyers have been strong in the neutral zone, whether using it to regroup, steal the puck, or attack the rushing opposition to slow them down. They know this is a key for them on Monday.
“Just little details with set up forechecks, being above angles, to limit their time, space, speed, their ability to go east-west to make those lateral plays or late plays,” Noah Cates said on Sunday.
“They’re a dangerous team, obviously, off the rush and just like the little things up the ice that you can do that slow them down, make it harder for them.”
With less than a minute remaining in Sunday’s game against the 49ers, with the Eagles down 23-19 and their back-to-back Super Bowl aspirations on the line, fans crowded together in McGillin’s Olde Ale House erupted into E-A-G-L-E-S chants as a way to keep hope alive.
Unfortunately, Jalen Hurts was sacked and threw three straight incompletions to end their playoff run early. The Birds’ journey had ended, and with it, the hopes of the region.
Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is unable to make the catch as 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir defends during the second half Sunday.
Brandon LaSalata, 24, made the drive from Richmond, Va., to watch Sunday’s wild-card matchup surrounded by Eagles fans.
“I don’t know what happened,” LaSalata said. “We need to get rid of Kevin Patullo. I think that hopefully next year we’ll be a better playoff contender. We should have gotten through this round. I don’t know what happened. I’m very upset.”
On the other side of the pub, 27-year-old Lancaster native Dominic Polidoro sat with his head hanging low in defeat.
“I feel pretty deflated,” Polidoro said. “This team was probably the most talented team in the league. It’s really disappointing to see them fall short. We had higher hopes.”
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni speaks during a news conference after the loss.
Somber morning commute for Eagles fans
On Monday morning, the air in Center City was dry, stiff, and unforgiving. And so were the Eagles fans cussing out their favorite team after the season-ending loss.
“I don’t mind losing, but give me an effort. A.J. Brown has to get traded. [Nick] Sirianni has to get fired. Offensive coordinator, fired,” said 73-year-old North Philadelphian Rodney Yatt. “And then we’ll go from there.”
Sunday’s game was marred by incomplete passes, a sideline argument between Sirianni and star wide receiver Brown, and, according to fans, tough calls from referees.
Clay Marsh, 35, of Manayunk, doesn’t think a loss falls to one player.
“I don’t think it was A.J.’s fault,” Marsh said. He saw the offense as disjointed and questioned offensive coordinator Patullo’s strategy, which Marsh said was an overreliance on “running it up the middle” with Saquon Barkley.
“Even if we won, it felt like we were going to go into Chicago and probably get spanked anyway,” Marsh said. “Maybe we saved ourselves some real embarrassment.”
Patullo has been at the center of fans’ ire, not only after last night’s loss but throughout the season. That agita hit a new low when someone egged Patullo’s family home in November after a 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears.
The latest Patullo roasting comes in the form of a Bucks County golf simulator that allows players to drive balls directly into a digital fairway featuring Patullo’s face. The Golf Place co-owners Justin Hepler and Killian Lennon shared a video of themselves relieving theirfrustrations and honing their swings.
West Philadelphian James Booker, 49, said the small mistakes in the game added up to the loss. He pointed to Brown’s dropped passes and a missed extra point by kicker Jake Elliottthat could have brought the Birds into tie-game territory later on.
Despite the hard loss, Booker doesn’t think Sirianni should be canned.
“You can’t just say you want to up and fire him, even though fans like to do that a lot — Sirianni got us to this point,” Booker said. “I only hope for a better season next year.”
Reporters spent more than an hour inside the Eagles’ locker room at the NovaCare Complex on Monday afternoon before the team closed the doors to media for the day.
During that span, A.J. Brown was not seen in the room. The wide receiver’s locker had not been cleaned out, but Brown was not made available to talk to reporters. He declined to be interviewed after the game Sunday and left the locker room shortly after it opened to the media.
It was an interesting year for Brown with the Eagles. The receiver wasn’t shy about his feelings on the direction of the offense, especially early in the season. He expressed himself in the form of cryptic social media posts and postgame interviews, like when he pleaded for the Eagles to “let their killers do their thing” after a Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Brown finished the season with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns.
A.J. Brown’s happiness within the offense and his relationship with Jalen Hurts were subject to scrutiny throughout the season.
What happens next with Brown will certainly be the subject of much speculation in the coming days and weeks and even months. Brown remains under contract through the 2029 season and has $113 million remaining on his deal. Trading him would be costly for the Eagles, who would be on the hook for $43.5 million in dead salary cap space if they traded him before June 1, according to Spotrac.
Waiting until after June 1 would free up $7 million in cap space. But any trade of Brown would have the Eagles taking on the fourth-largest single-season dead cap hit in NFL history, according to Spotrac.
Brown’s relationship with Jalen Hurts also has been the subject of speculation.
“A.J. and I will talk,” Hurts said Monday. “We’re in a good, great place. Maybe y’all can talk to him and ask.”
U.S. women’s soccer team captain Lindsey Heaps will join NWSL expansion team Denver Summit in June, ending a four-year tenure at France’s OL Lyonnes to move to her hometown’s new club.
The move had been speculated about on both sides of the Atlantic for some time, but was not finalized until now. Heaps will depart OL at the end of the ongoing European season, in which she will almost certainly win a fourth French league title and could add a second Champions League crown.
From the moment the Denver team was announced last January, the Golden, Colo., native knew she wanted to play there someday.
“One thing I wanted to do was kind of take the Denver aspect out of it, and really look at it from a football perspective — what the ownership was doing and what we were trying to create here at Denver Summit,” Heaps said Monday. “As hard as it was to to take the Denver and the home aspect out, it was something that was very intriguing to me. And it aligned with everything that I wanted to do, and I wanted it to be the right move for my career.”
Once Heaps was satisfied with that, the emotional part was easy. Along with being closer to her husband, San Diego FC sporting director Tyler Heaps, she’ll get to play in front of her parents, the rest of her family, and many friends in Denver far more often than she can now.
“It was amazing once it finally became real,” she said. “The feeling of going and being able to play in my home state, and for such an incredible community, and also a club that just wants to do things in the right way — I’m very, very thankful and I’m just excited to get going.”
She later added: “Knowing that I could play in my home state with my family and friends close by, obviously closer to my husband as well, it is really hard to pass up that opportunity with everything being said.”
‘Always seek a new challenge’
She previously played in the NWSL from 2016 to 2021 with the Portland Thorns, after starting her career with Paris Saint-Germain in 2012 — famously becoming the first major American women’s soccer prospect to spurn college as a teen.
Lindsey Heaps, a native of suburban Denver, will come home to join Denver Summit FC.
Heaps won the 2017 NWSL championship and two regular-season titles with the Thorns, and with the U.S. won the 2019 World Cup and 2024 Olympics. Her 170 U.S. caps rank 19th all-time, tied with Carla Overbeck.
The timing of the announcement will be noted by fans who have a close eye on the battle between the NWSL and European clubs for U.S. stars. Sam Coffey still seems to be on the cusp of moving to Manchester City, and the former Penn State star was at the team’s home game Sunday.
Trinity Rodman’s future, meanwhile, remains undecided. The NWSL’s “High Impact Player” (HIP) provision designed to keep her in the league remains contentious, and the NWSL Players Association wants to take the league to arbitration over it.
It was no surprise that the subject came up again Monday.
Trinity Rodman’s uncertain future is the biggest story in the women’s soccer world right now.
“I think the most important thing I want to put out there is, with other national team players, younger players, my message is always: one, you want to do the right thing for you,” Heaps said. “But also, that you should always seek a new challenge. I always give the advice that I think it is so special to go play in a different environment, in a different culture.”
She also applied the principle to players from European nations who’ve come to the NWSL, such as the San Diego Wave’s French veterans Kenza Dali and Delphine Cascarino. Heaps has played with both over the years.
“I think it is so special to see how they’re thriving and doing so well,” she said.
The HIP controversy
Heaps qualifies for HIP status, which means she can be paid beyond the league’s salary limits. Denver GM Curt Johnson said the team had wanted to sign Heaps no matter what and for some time, but will use the status on Heaps’ contract if it stays in place.
Lindsey Heaps at work with the U.S. women’s national team when it came to Chester in October.
“This was something that predated the HIP rule,” he said. “Our intention was to sign Lindsey, then the HIP rule came along.”
The rule doesn’t take effect until July 1, which puts teams in the awkward position of having to sign contracts now that are backloaded to incorporate the status — while also waiting to see how the arbitration plays out.
Each team will have a pot of $1 million to spend beyond the salary cap on players who qualify. There is no limit on how many players per team can be given the status, but there is a natural limit on how many ways it makes sense to divide the cash.
“When a player is assigned the HIP category, the salary cap charge is in the salary cap, and then there’s a pool of money outside the salary cap, is how it works,” Johnson said. “But we’re moving forward with the assumption that this will fall in the HIP category, and hopefully we’re moving on to finding our next player that fits that category.”
He deferred the rest to the league. A spokesperson there confirmed how Johnson described things, and declined further comment.
Temple sought to regain momentum with a two-game road trip after an ugly 50-47 loss to Texas-San Antonio in its American Conference women’s basketball opener on Jan. 3. It was successful at first.
The Owls cruised by Wichita State, 70-50, on Jan. 6 for their first conference victory. However, against a potential contender in Tulsa on Friday, Temple faltered in a 94-82 loss, allowing the most points in a conference game since the 2018-19 season.
Temple (7-8) is 1-2 in the American, but both losses have come to unbeaten teams in conference play. The Owls offense seems to be trending in the right direction, but questions remain about their depth.
Next, the Owls will host Tulane (6-10, 1-3) on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Offense gets on track
Offensive inconsistency defined Temple’s nonconference slate. The Owls struggled to knock down open shots and had turnover problems. They started games slowly, forcing quick shots and not letting the offense come to them.
The struggles reached a pinnacle against UTSA, when Temple shot just 20.5% through three quarters and scored just 47 points.
But the offense improved on the road trip. The Owls scored 70 and 82 points against Wichita State and Tulsa, respectively, and shot better than 40% from the field in both matchups. Temple used a strong offensive second half against Wichita State to turn a nine-point halftime lead into a comfortable 20-point win.
Drew Alexander scored 27 points for Temple in the loss to Tulsa.
Against Tulsa, the Owls sank 10 threes and put up 80 points for the first time in four games. Guard Kaylah Turner scored 31 points and made five triples, but the efforts on offense were spoiled by poor defense.
Defensive setbacks
Against Wichita State, Temple forced 25 turnovers and held the Shockers to just 50 points. That defense took a big step backward against Tulsa, the top-scoring offense in the conference.
The Golden Hurricane led by as many as 21 points in the first half, thanks to their 60% shooting clip from the field and an even better 81.8% from beyond the arc. Tulsa scored 53 first-half points.
The defense improved slightly for the Owls in the second half as they trimmed their deficit to six points in the fourth quarter. But Temple could not come up with enough stops as Tulsa made eight of its final nine shots to pull away.
Despite the Owls’ 19 forced turnovers, they allowed the hosts to shoot 58.9% from the field and 76.5% from three. Tulsa guard Mady Cartwright scored a career-high 31 points on 5-for-5 shooting from three.
Help from the bench?
Last season, Temple had strong bench production from Turner, who was named the conference’s Sixth Player of the Year, and forward Anissa Rivera. Turner moved to the starting lineup and Rivera graduated, leaving coach Diane Richardson needing a new spark off the bench.
That need is still apparent. In the Owls’ loss to Tulsa, their reserves scored just one point.
Guard Drew Alexander seemed to be that spark early in the season, but she has moved into the starting lineup, initially replacing Tristen Taylor and now in place of Savannah Curry, who is out with an undisclosed injury.
Alexander poured in 27 points against Tulsa. Now Temple needs someone to step up in reserve. No bench player is averaging more than four points.
With Curry expected to be out for the foreseeable future, Temple is going to need better production out of players like Kelian Cedano or Brianna Mead.
