Lincoln Financial Field has been renamed “Philadelphia Stadium” for the duration of the World Cup. In addition to five group stage games, the city will host a Round of 16 game on July 4.
// Timestamp 06/19/26 10:38pm
Haiti first team eliminated from World Cup after losing to Brazil
Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior celebrates after scoring the third goal against Haiti Friday night.
Vinícius Júnior scored and assisted on one of Matheus Cunha’s two goals as five-time champion Brazil eliminated Haiti from the World Cup with a 3-0 victory on Friday night.
Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, became the first team guaranteed not to reach the knockout round. Meanwhile, the Seleção got the decisive performance they needed.
Cunha, the Manchester United standout, got the start and showed with every surf-and-slide goal celebration why he should have been in the starting lineup in Brazil’s listless 1-1 draw against Morocco. Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti made the surprising decision in the opener to instead insert Cunha as a late substitute.
Cunha thrilled the Brazilian fans who made up the bulk of the 68,324 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field when he tapped in a rebound for his first career World Cup goal. He then sent a left-footed strike into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead in the first half against the overmatched Haitians.
Brazil forward Raphinha, who was subbed out with an injury in the first half, had an early goal disallowed on an offside call that only temporarily muted the yellow-clad Seleção fans in an otherwise festive atmosphere at the home of the two-time Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles — whose cheerleaders did their part to rally the crowd.
Cunha added to the frivolity in Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian immigrants, when he flashed his familiar surfing celebration.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 06/19/26 10:14pm
A full house in South Philly
It’s a full house at the Philly World Cup. We’re like the dang Tanner Family up in here.
Fans at the World Cup are riding the waves and doing the wave – three times around Philadelphia Stadium. My favorite part was the fan who kept yelling “It’s coming! It’s coming!”
Brazil fans Miguel Sosa and his son, Enzo, of Nebraska, attend Friday’s match against Haiti at the Linc. A happy Brazilian fan with a unique hat watches Brazil’s dominance in South Philly. A Brazil fan waves his national flag during Brazil vs. Haiti. Fans navigate the stairs in the upper concourse of the Linc, which has been rebranded Philadelphia Stadium.
SEATTLE — It turned out that the U.S. men’s soccer team didn’t need Christian Pulisic to beat Australia, and make history in doing so.
With the star playmaker unable to shake off a calf injury, the Americans used two first-half tallies and a raucous atmosphere in Seattle to earn a 2-0 win, before a packed-to-the-roof crowd of 66,925.
The win clinched qualification for the knockout rounds, and marked the first time since 1930 that the U.S. men’s program has won two games in a World Cup group stage.
The statisticians at TruMedia noted this marked the first time in World Cup history that one team benefited from own goals in consecutive games, following the opening tally of the U.S.’ win over Paraguay.
SEATTLE — I’ve just left the stadium here, three hours after the U.S. game ended, and all the sports bars across the street on Occidental Avenue are still packed.
The sun is shining, the temperature is in the 70s, there’s a breeze off the water, and it looks like the citywide party will keep going for a good while.
You can bet they’ll be watching Brazil-Haiti on the TVs here. And they’ll be watching the Mariners too, since they have a home game against the Red Sox in two hours. T-Mobile Park is a block south of Lumen Field, so there’s a mix of soccer and baseball fans around.
Emily Vanim of Pottstown welcomes fans to “FIFA-delphia” ahead of Friday night’s matchup betwen Brazil and Haiti.
Emily Vanim of Pottstown had one of the best FIFA volunteer jobs – sitting in a lifeguard chair with a megaphone welcoming fans to “FIFA-delphia” and answering all their questions.
“Never give a teacher a megaphone,” she said.
The sixth grade teacher said she’s met the best people as a FIFA volunteer.
“We’re friends for life and we’re having an awesome time,” she said. “It’s surreal and the fans are outstanding.”
Brazil fans tries to use Rocky curse against Argentina
🥊 🇦🇷 Nos Estados Unidos, é tradição entre torcedores rivais colocar bandeiras ou camisas na estátua de Rocky Balboa, em Filadélfia, para tentar dar azar ao adversário. Entrando na brincadeira, um torcedor brasileiro decidiu dar uma “forcinha” aos argentinos nesta Copa do Mundo.… pic.twitter.com/xvWKunH4It
Things got chippy towards the end of the U.S. men’s national team second group match against Australia, but it was forward Florian Balogun who kept composure in the face of a second yellow card.
Going in for a challenge in the 88th minute, Balogun and Australian defender Harry Souttar got tangled in the air and found Souttar with his arm wrapped around the neck of Balogun on the way down. Instead of reacting to the bait, Balogun who picked up a yellow card earlier in the match was smart to walk away.
It led commentator Stu Holden to say: “The Australians have come here to have a rugby match, but to have restraint in these moments, to not swing an arm and punch back. Souttar is trying to get under his skin.
It kicked off a string of chippy plays down the stretch, but in the end, the U.S. men picked up their second win in this World Cup, securing a berth into the knockout round of 32.
Depending on the result of tonight’s match between Turkey and Paraguay (11 p.m., FS1), should that game end in a draw, the U.S. will win Group D outright.
A lot of love in Philly as Brazil and Haiti fans get together
Bob Travers, 78, of Southhampton, was among tailgaters accepting high-fives at Lot L outside Philadelphia Stadium.
Travers wore a Brasil jersey and a hat that said “Dysfunctional Veteran.” This was his second World Cup, having gone to one in 1994. This one was better already though, he said, because he was accompanied by his sons and grandson.
“I love it,” he said “The atmosphere is fantastic!”
Perhaps the only time fans of opposing teams have gotten along while tailgating at the Linc, aka Philadelphia Stadium for the World Cup. The vibes are immaculate.
How bad was it for Australia? They made three subs at halftime.
Australia’s Paul Okon-Engstler reacts after a collision with a U.S. player.
SEATTLE – You know a first half went badly for a team when it makes three substitutions at halftime.
That’s what Australia did, with the biggest one being Nestory Irankunda replacing Mohamed Touré up front. Why Iranknunda didn’t start, as one of the Socceroos’ rising stars, was a big question among the Australian media before kickoff.
The other moves were Jason Geria replacing the yellow-carded Cameron Burgess on the back line, and Connor Metcalfe replacing Nishan Velupillay in midfield.
Alex Freeman doubled the U.S. lead in the 43rd minute off a free kick play. But it wasn’t surprising the offside flag was up initially, and by the rules it could have stayed that way.
When Sergiño Dest took the initial shot that deflected up in the air, Folarin Balogun and Weston McKennie were clearly offside, while Freeman was not. And when the ball came down, Balogun was right next to Freeman, in close range to the goalkeeper.
Though Balogun didn’t touch the ball, his presence there could be called interfering with the goalkeeper, and that’s grounds for keeping the flag up. But the video review crew decided that Balogun didn’t interfere enough, so they let the goal stand.
Double celebration for Alex Freeman’s goal to put the U.S. up 2-0 before the half — once before the VAR, and once after
‘It’s such a dream’: Brazil fans take over Stateside Live!
Brazil fans at Stateside Live! in Philadelphia hours before their country takes on Haiti.
Stateside Live! turned into Brasil Live! Friday as a sea of fans descended on the stadium bar complex prior to their team’s World Cup game against Haiti at nearby Philadelphia Stadium.
By 3 p.m., the entire complex was a sea of yellow-and-green, dotted with islands of Haiti fans (and a few team USA fans) in red, white, and blue.
Belange Pierre, 54, of Ottawa, Canada, waved a Haitian flag outside the gates. He drove to Philly with four friends to catch his team’s first World Cup game in 50 years. They were confident they’d be driving back to Canada with a win under their belts after the game.
“Allons-y!” the group shouted, which is French for “Let’s go!”
Andre Magalhaes and his wife, Kelly Bennett, traveled from Orlando to watch Friday’s Brazil-Haiti game.
Andre Magalhaes, 47, a native of Brazil now living in Orlando, was counting down the hours until his first World Cup game at Stateside Live! Friday.
“It’s a child’s dream come true,” he said of attending his first World Cup match. “I’ve waited for this moment my entire life to be here.”
Magalhaes wore a leather cangaceiro, a traditional hat from Northeast Brazil. His wife, Kelly Bennett, 44, wore a team Brasil shirt a U.S. flag as a cape.
“We’re going to watch the game here then I’m going to fold up the flag and I’m going into the stadium and root for Brazil,” she said.
The couple, who are only in town for the three days, said they loved Philly’s sports complex.
“You have all three stadiums and public transit right here!” Bennett said. “It’s such a dream, especially coming from Orlando.”
SEATTLE – It didn’t take long for the United States’ shift to a two-striker front line to pay off.
Folarin Balogun’s hot form continued just 11 minutes in, as he forced an own goal off Cameron Burgess to put the Americans ahead. Antonee Robinson sprung Balogun down the left flank, and he sprinted almost all the way to the end line, then laid a pass into the middle for Ricardo Pepi and Sergiño Dest’s late runs.
But the ball hit Australian centerback Cameron Burgess near the six-yard box instead, and pinged right into the net.
The crowd was thrilled, and the hosts were off and running again.
Lumen Field, known as Seattle Stadium during the World Cup, ahead of U.S. vs. Australia Friday.
SEATTLE – Like most NFL stadiums, Seattle’s press box is glass-enclosed, though it least it has some small windows that open to pick up a bit of the atmosphere.
But I wanted the real thing for a moment. So I snuck outside to the seating bowl for the players’ walkout and the national anthems.
Both sets of fans belted out their national anthems, with the Star-Spangled Banner ringing around the entire stadium. You could probably hear it up the street at the ferry terminal.
Media aren’t allowed to take videos inside the stadium unless they’re rightsholders, a FIFA rule I’ve lived with at every World Cup I’ve covered. But we can take photos, so here’s mine of what it looked like.
At Fan Fest, Mayor Parker thrilled to share ‘Philly-ness with the world’
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at the opening of the FIFA Fan Festival in Fairmount Park Friday.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker helped open the gates of the FIFA Fan Festival ahead of the U.S.’s clash with Australia at 3 p.m.
Parker stepped out into the crowd waiting at the festival’s main gate and posed for photos with fans waiting in line, including one with a group of traveling Scottish supporters.
Before the gates opened, Parker said she was appreciative that fans are showing up to the city and the festival “authentically, as themselves.”
“We are a global culture, and we are one people,” Parker said. “What makes America and the world so amazing, is that all of us, no matter the fabric, no matter the patchwork in our quilt, we make up a global humanity, and an American community that’s representative of everyone. I’m excited about it all.”
After greeting the line of fans waiting to get into the festival on Sedgley Drive, Parker walked into the festival to greet a few vendors. She stopped at the Bank of America tent to make a bracelet – she chose a black band with all the Philly-specific charms and a World Cup trophy charm – then stopped into the FIFA store on the festival grounds.
With the help of a few store associates, Parker picked out some kits and World Cup merch, including both Brazil jerseys, a seafoam France away jersey, a yellow Curaçao jersey, two World Cup logo shirts and a stripes U.S. jersey.
Parker said she’s enjoyed seeing soccer fans out and about in the city – especially Brazilian fans, whose team will take the field against Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field at 8:30 p.m.
“We were on the parkway, and Brazil was turning it out and up,” Parker said. “Everywhere we’ve been, they’re like, ‘Philadelphia is beautiful, the experience is great.’ You can be a visitor one time, but they’ll feel Philadelphia.
“You have to feel the energy here. We are not like any other city in the nation. There is something special about Philadelphia, and being able to share that Philly-ness with the world is something really exciting.”
Check out The Inquirer’s all-new pop-up soccer show!
Ahead of today’s pivotal World Cup matches, get up to speed on all things soccer with the Inquirer’s Soccer Extra, our pop-up soccer show during the matches here in Philly, featuring writer Jonathan Tannenwald and host Lisa Carlin.
Catch the show Thursdays at 11 a.m., until the final match at Philadelphia Stadium (aka the Linc) through July 4. In their second episode, the duo take a look at this first week of World Cup action and look ahead to Philly’s upcoming matches in Brazil-Haiti tonight and France-Iraq on Monday.
— Inquirer sports staff
// Timestamp 06/19/26 2:35pm
Like Philly, Seattle putting the ‘city’ in ‘World Cup host city’
Seattle Stadium, usually called Lumen Field, as fans arrive for the World Cup match between the U.S. and Australia Friday.
SEATTLE – You might not think that Philadelphia and Seattle have much in common, thousands of miles apart and with different cultural vibes. But during this World Cup, it feels like they have a lot in common.
It’s not just that the U.S.-Australia and Brazil-Haiti games are on the same day, which has put the two cities at the top of the World Cup’s headlines. It’s that they’re true cities, the kind where you can feel the energy of a big event just by being there.
That’s how a World Cup is supposed to be, and has been at all the other ones I’ve been to. The sights and sounds of big fan gatherings are as important as the games themselves.
Philadelphia has seen that a few times now, from the Club World Cup last summer to the masses of Ecuador and Brazil fans in recent days. Soccer brings people together from all over the place like nothing else, even in a city where other sports are more important.
Another thing you can tell out here is how different things are from the first U.S. game in suburban Los Angeles. The stadium is exceptional and the atmosphere was great, but there just wasn’t the same kind of buzz beyond the game because L.A. isn’t the same kind of city.
Fans at Pioneer Square in Seattle.
The downtown doesn’t matter as much, and everything else is way too sprawling – and that’s before getting to the U.S. camp being over an hour south in Orange County. You’re never going to have the same kind of buzz when everything around is highways and shopping centers.
In Philadelphia, you can walk anywhere in Center City, then take a quick subway ride to the game. Here, you can walk from the waterfront to the stadium, and there’s a light rail line across town too.
I made that walk this morning, and saw thousands of fans going in both directions. A “Men in Blazers” live show on one of the piers drew a huge crowd that filled the plaza and the sidewalks beyond it.
The big crowd here isn’t just wearing red, white, and blue. There are plenty of Australia backers too, all in their traditional green and gold. You’ll see them behind one end zone, behind the team’s bench, and in a few sections of the upper deck.
I unexpectedly walked through their fan march on the way to the stadium. Everyone was in good spirits, including the U.S. fans at bars nearby who responded with lighthearted boos and “USA!” chants.
One Socceroos fan carried the amusing sign you see above. A bunning snag is Australia’s similar culinary tradition, a grilled sausage in a folded piece of white bread topped with grilled onions, then ketchup and/or mustard.
Christian Pulisic is still recovering from his calf injury.
SEATTLE – Christian Pulisic will not play in the U.S.-Australia game, as he hasn’t recovered enough from his calf injury to make the squad.
“Christian is not available,” U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino told Fox Sports’ broadcast moments before FIFA published the teams’ starting lineups. “Let’s hope that as soon as possible he can be ready to be selected again, and to be part of the team. Now we need to be focused on our team, and the players that are going to play. We have ahead very important game – Australia is going to be really tough.”
Pochettino said Pulisic trained Friday morning and “the feelings are good” on the star playmaker’s overall recovery.
“A little bit sad,” Pochettino admitted. “He wanted to participate today. But it’s still [too] early.”
EXCLUSIVE: USA star Christian Pulisic is OUT today with a calf injury against Australia and Ricardo Pepi will get the start, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino tells FOX Sports’ @JennyTaft. pic.twitter.com/ZobSiOfjYx
Ricardo Pepi comes into the U.S. lineup, and that means a tactical shift with two strikers on the field. My guess is the Americans will line up in a 3-4-2-1 formation that looks like this:
Australia has all of its players healthy. The Socceroos’ starting lineup is headlined by rising star striker Nestory Irankunda and 6-foot-6 centerback Harry Souttar. There’s also a familiar face from MLS in New York City FC midfielder Aiden O’Neill.
The #USMNT starting lineup with Christian Pulisic out – Ricardo Pepi comes in to throw two strikers at Australia.
I am guessing it will look like this formation-wise…
Fans from all over gather for entrance into the FIFA Fan Festival
Fans wait to enter FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill in East Fairmount Park Friday.
The gates of the FIFA Fan Festival don’t open to visitors until 2 p.m., but a line has already started to form at the main gate.
Gus Sanchez said he and his family had been in line since about noon after biking over from Northeast Philly.
Sanchez said he wanted to watch the U.S. men’s team take on Australia with a crowd, leading him to come over to the Fan Festival.
“It’s something I can’t explain,” Sanchez, 53, said. “Seeing people from different countries getting together, having fun, enjoying the game.”
The crowd is full of U.S. kits, but other nations are represented, too. Kits from Haiti and Brazil, which will face off tonight at Lincoln Financial Stadium, can be spotted in the line, as well as fans from Scotland.
Alex Nelson said he traveled from Prestwick to the U.S. to soak in the environment of the World Cup.
He traveled from Boston, where the Scots played Haiti on Saturday, to Philadelphia to take in Scotland-Morocco at the Fan Festival.
Nelson, sporting a tartan kilt, said he’s loved his time in Philly so far.
“Very clean city,” Nelson said. “Everybody has been so helpful. Everybody’s mixed in —the Brazilians, the Moroccans, U.S.A., all mixed. That’s what it’s all about.”
Brazil fans bring the party to Philly’s Rocky steps
// Timestamp 06/19/26 9:36am
Photos: Brazil fans take over Philly
Brazil fans play a little soccer as they rally at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Thursday. Thousands of Brazil fans swarmed the streets ahead of their team’s matchup against Haiti in Philly. Brazil’s Lucas Paquetá poses for a photo with fans outside the Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square.Brazil soccer fans wait outside of the Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square to greet the players. A Brazil soccer fan cheers outside the Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square. Brazil fans are hoping for the team’s first 2026 World Cup win in Philly.
// Timestamp 06/19/26 8:09am
Everything you need to know about the World Cup in Philly
Philadelphia’s second World Cup game is Sunday night.
Brazil fans work to avoid Rocky curse again of Philly game
Brazil fans guard the Rocky statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to prevent being jinxed.
International soccer supporters, be warned — clothe the Rocky statue at your own risk.
The fans of the Ecuadorian national team learned Sunday what many NFL fans already know about draping their colors over the statue of Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Ecuadorian supporters fitted Rocky with a yellow La Tri kit, then saw their team concede a 90th-minute winner in its FIFA World Cup group-stage opener against Ivory Coast on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field (aka Philadelphia Stadium).
The effects of the “Rocky curse” are well-documented when it comes to football, but it was relatively untested on the beautiful game. Ecuador lost, 1-0, to the Ivorian side, which entered the tournament ranked 10 spots behind La Tri in the FIFA World Ranking.
With Brazil coming to Philly for a Group C match against Haiti on Friday (8:30 p.m., Fox29), Movimento Verde Amarelo, Brazil’s main supporters’ group, went to great lengths to ensure the yellow and green of the Canarinho stayed off the Rocky statue.
The Rocky statue was roped off with a four-post retractable nylon stanchion, with four members of MVA, sunglasses on and earpiece in, standing at attention at each corner as Brazilian fans gathered for a rally in front of the Art Museum.
The bodyguards discouraged fans from draping any Brazilian garb on the statue, holding signs that read:
“Operation Rocky Protectors — Attention: it is forbidden to put Brazilian colors on the statue.”
Matheus Henrique, 30, was one of the MVA members protecting the statue. Henrique, a native of Belém, Brazil, moved to Los Angeles a decade ago for college.
Henrique is friends with the person who helped organize Brazil’s takeover of the steps and responded when a call went out for volunteers to guard the statue.
“It’s a superstition, we heard,” Henrique said. “We’re enjoying the event as well.”
Christian Pulisic’s status a mystery ahead of USMNT-Australia
Christian Pulisic during a United States men’s national soccer team in Seattle Thursday.
There was no surprise news about Christian Pulisic from U.S. men’s soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino in his news conference before Friday’s game against Australia (3 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). Pochettino did not rule the star playmaker in or out, and that was not surprising.
“As you know, he was training in an individual way the whole week,” Pochettino said. “But like always, I think tonight, the day before the game, we have a meeting with our medical area, and we will assess the whole group, the players, and tomorrow we will communicate all the things that we can agree tonight.”
Pulisic was seen briefly at the start of Thursday’s practice, then headed off to work on his own. When he arrived, he wasn’t wearing the sleeve over his injured left calf that he sported on Wednesday. But after a few minutes, he sat down on a bench by the sideline and put it on.
“He is evolving, he is much better from [last] Friday,” Pochettino said. “I think at the moment we’ll see. … He’s doing a massive effort trying to be ready.”
The manager also praised Pulisic for being “strong and with a great mentality” as the Hershey native works to be ready for kickoff.
Asked who might play if Pulisic can’t go, Pochettino didn’t answer. This was no surprise either.
“I will tell tomorrow if that is the situation,” he said. “At the moment, we are evaluating all the possibilities just in case, and then we will decide when we have the confirmation in one or another direction tonight.”
Former U.S. men’s star Landon Donovan will be on the call for Brazil vs. Haiti in Philly Friday night.
The second of six World Cup matches will take place Friday night in Philadelphia, with Brazil taking on Haiti (8:30 p.m., Fox) in Group C action.
Calling the game on Fox tonight will be veteran soccer announcer Ian Darke, joined by former U.S. men’s national great Landon Donovan. Natalie Gedra will handle reporting at Philadelphia Stadium, otherwise known as Lincoln Financial Field.
Brazil vs Haiti
Time: 8:30 p.m. Philly time
Location: Philadelphia Stadium (Lincoln Financial Field)
TV: Fox (Ian Darke, Landon Donovan)
Spanish: Telemundo (Luis Omar Tapia, Diego Balado)
Philly hosted its first-ever men’s World Cup match last week, with Ivory Coast topping Ecuador.
Philadelphia was the star during its first 2026 World Cup match, which featured an Ivory Coast upset in front of a re-branding Lincoln Financal Field filled with Ecuador fans.
Philadelphia Stadium, as it’s called during the tournament, will host five more World Cup games, including a Round of 16 matchup on July 4.
The NHL trade deadline passed at 3 p.m., but Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who appeared to be player most likely to be dealt, remains with the team.
Tyson Foerster hasn’t played since injuring his arm back in December, but GM Danny Brière said Friday that if the Flyers made the playoffs, the winger would be on track to return following surgery.
“Tyson is doing really well,” Brière said. “I think when we announced he had the surgery that he was going to be out until the playoffs, or somewhere [around] the beginning of the playoffs. He’s pretty much on pace. It would be nice if we could get in the playoff hunt, but so far it’s going well.
“He’s starting to skate and shoot pucks. It’s trending in the right direction. I know he’s going to start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup early, he’s just that type of person. He’s going to push to get back earlier, but it’s exciting.”
Sielski: Acquiring David Jiříček is worth the risk
David Jiříček is just 22 years old.
With one trade Friday morning, the Flyers got more interesting. Not immediately. They’re still likely to miss the playoffs this season, which would be the sixth in a row that they’ve failed to qualify for the postseason. For all that time and longer, they’ve been the NHL’s version of late-career Martin Scorsese: Back in the day, they were great and fascinating, and now they’re one suspenseless snoozefest after another. (Seriously, has Killers of the Flower Moon ended yet?)
Their decision to send winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček was an eyebrow-raiser, though. The move in and of itself wasn’t all that surprising, in that the Flyers have a surplus of wingers both on their roster and in their farm system. They were bound to say goodbye to one of them at this trade deadline, and Brink was a prime candidate: At 24, he’s a relatively promising player on a cap-friendly contract.
No, the intrigue of the Brink trade comes from its context. It’s the latest thread in a larger pattern that general manager Danny Brière and team president Keith Jones have been weaving since they took control of the Flyers’ player-personnel department in 2023. Rather than having the team bottom out over a full season or two and ending up with a pick or picks that are at worst among the top five in their drafts, the Flyers are taking risks, some more calculated than others, by acquiring young players who were high draft picks for other clubs.
Flyers lost a ‘great teammate’ and a ‘heart and soul guy’ in Nic Deslauriers
Former Flyer Nic Deslauriers never backed down from a fight.
While the return for Nic Deslauriers isn’t much — a conditional seventh-round draft pick — the move was more about the organization doing right by a popular veteran who seemed to want a change of scenery and a chance to chase a Stanley Cup, which he certainly will get with the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
“A great teammate, a great protector for our guys the last few years,” Danny Brière said of Deslauriers. “We had a discussion, him and I, Nic wasn’t looking to leave, he loves it here, I think he even said his family is not going anywhere, they’re staying in the area. But he said if you need to trade me, I’m open to it, I don’t have a problem. I said, look, we’re not trying to trade you, but if you want to have the chance to go chase a Cup, I’ll give you that opportunity.
“I had a chat with Carolina, they were interested, and Nic was interested as well. It was one of those things, Nic has earned that right, for everything that he’s done for his teammates, for our players, our organization, [I] thought it was the right thing to do for him.”
And those now-former teammates are glad to see Deslauriers get a chance to contend for a Cup.
“I’m happy for him. I think he still has gas in the tank, too,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday after the Flyers’ practice, which Deslauriers participated in. “I see it every day. I see the work ethic, I see how much he cares, and I see the teammate he is. So Carolina has got a great player [and a ] great guy.”
Deslauriers’ time in Philly will be defined by his willingness to stand up for his teammates and take on all comers. Long one of the most feared and toughest customers in the league, the fourth-line winger managed nine goals and 20 points in 195 games with the Orange and Black. He also had 33 regular-season fights, including spirited bouts against heavyweights like Matt Rempe, Ryan Reaves, and Tanner Jeannot.
“One of the toughest guys in the league around. So we’ll definitely miss him,” center Noah Cates said.
He was also beloved by his teammates for his selflessness, toughness, leadership, and the space he created for teammates with his physicality. Whether Deslauriers will have a nightly spot in Carolina’s lineup remains to be seen, but he does bring a physicality and toughness that many have criticized the Hurricanes for lacking in recent playoff runs.
“A heart and soul guy who has your back no matter what, competes every night, and is a guy, regardless of how many minutes or how many games or how things are going, you know he’ll be a guy to support you, and will always be around to help too,” said Hathaway, who laughed when asked if he’s happy the Flyers don’t play the Hurricanes again this year.
“It’s probably tougher than most people think, to be so competitive, as I think all of us are in this league, and not have the role you want, or the ice time you want.
“And so be able to have that role, and personality-wise, not let it affect you, is special for a locker room to have and intricate for it to have, too. So I’m going to miss him.”
Briere believes Flyers have assets to go after top center in offseason
One of the things the Flyers need is a bonafide No. 1 center. They haven’t found one through the draft — but with the way some of their other young players are developing, Danny Brière believes the team may be close to having the assets to acquire one in the offseason.
“It’s all about value, and also your draft picks. As they get closer, you draft players, you get to know them, they become — they have more and more value,” Brière said. “It’s tougher to let them go, but at the same time, we have a lot of good young players who are coming. We have more and more assets. Three years ago, we almost had noithing to work with in terms of good young players coming, so it wasn’t enticing to other teams to trade young guys to us.
“But more and more with the way our young guys are coming along, and a lot of centers, those are always a lot of value, we have more and more assets. It’s going to hopefully get us a chance to get in on a player, or sometimes one of those players is just going to come and take it, like [Denver] Barkey did this year, surprised us a little bit. There’s going to be opportunities for our young guys to do that as well.”
Brière sees high potential with Jiříček, likens development to that of Jamie Drysdale
Jamie Drysdale, like Jiříček, entered the NHL at 18 years old.
Despite trading away an NHL player to acquire him, the Flyers announced that new defenseman David Jiříček will report to Lehigh Valley. The former top-10 draft pick hasn’t quite developed as quickly as some hoped — as evidenced by him joining his third team in the last four years — but general manager Danny Brière was optimistic that the 22-year-old defenseman will make an impact with the big club at some point.
Why? He pointed to the team’s development of another reclamation project: Jamie Drysdale.
“I think a little bit about Jamie Drysdale, totally different style of players, but I think about the development of Jamie Drysdale, where they both came in [to the NHL] at 18 years old, probably a bit too early to turn pro yet, go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way,” Brière said. “He’s going to need some love, he’s going to need some reps, especially. He needs time, he needs to play a lot of minutes and build his confidence. The talent is there, it’s working with him.
“Defenseman, it seems, they need time. We saw it with Jamie, to see him kind of come into his own this year is really exciting, but we went through a learning curve with Jamie. I expect the same thing with David, we’re going to give him the chance to build his game, we’re going to work with him, I really like what Todd Reirden and Rick Tocchet’s staff has done with a lot of our young guys, especially Jamie, and I hope the same kind of wave can be on for David.”
As for whether or not he can make an impact this season, Brière said that remains to be seen. More important, he explained, is making sure Jiříček is ready to roll next season.
“I didn’t make him any promises [about NHL playing time], but yeah, at some point, if we have the chance I’d like to give him a look, give him a few games,” Brière added. “The most important, we felt, is for him to start in Lehigh, give him high minutes and lots of reps, and if things go well, I’d like to see him play a few games here, and get him ready for next season would be the ideal part.”
Once he does make the jump back to the NHL, the team thinks he could play a key role, especially if he’s able to return to the top-4 defenseman potential the Flyers saw when they considered drafting him with the fifth pick.
“The potential is high,” Briere said. “Yeah, he hasn’t maybe come out of his draft year as high as people expected, and look, that’s why he’s available as well. If he was playing like Matthew Schaefer we wouldn’t be talking about him. But we still see a high potential. You know, 21-22 year old, 6-foot-4 defensemen of his caliber are tough to find. We know we have to work with him, we need to be patient, we need to give him a bit of rope to develop him, but that’s why I go back to the Jamie Drysdale learning curve. [It] gives us hope that he can get on the same track and eventually become a difference maker for us.”
David Jiříček will hope the third home is a charm as he joins the Flyers after stops in Columbus and Minnesota.
It’s no secret that the Flyers have previously shown interest in defenseman David Jiříček, whom they acquired Friday for Bobby Brink. Chuck Fletcher nearly drafted him over Cutter Gauthier with the fifth pick in 2022. Then, last deadline, they were reported to be one of the teams interested in him when he was traded from Columbus to Minnesota.
“We inquired about him, we were in the mix before, when he was traded to Minnesota we were very interested,” GM Danny Brière admitted during his post-deadline press conference. “I didn’t think he was going to be available, all of a sudden we started talking to Minnesota, they liked Bobby, he’s from there too, so there’s something special. They knew Bobby very well because of him being from Minnesota, and all of a sudden the conversation turned to that.
“They paid a huge price for David when they acquired him — I think he was supposed to be part of their future, and then all of a sudden, they resigned [Kirill] Kaprizov, traded for Quinn Hughes, and everything opens up for them and they become contenders this year.
“David was a piece for them, because they thought he was not ready to play a big, heavy role that we just talked about yet, so he became a piece they could use to acquire someone who could help them. That’s kind of how it came around, and the price was reasonable at this point since we had so many wingers.”
Why did the Flyers keep Ristolainen? Brière explains.
The Flyers are keeping defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was considered to be the Flyer most likely on the move ahead of Friday’s deadline, but when the deadline passed, he was still with the team.
After practice, GM Danny Brière explained why the team stuck by their reportedly high asking price and ultimately didn’t move him.
“You guys made a big story, I didn’t know I was trying to sell him, but you guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing,” Briere said. “At the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest, and that’s OK. I get it’s part of the job, part of my job to deal with that.
“But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract next season, so we weren’t looking to dump him. Where do you find 6-foot-4, physical, top-4, right-shot defenseman? There’s not a lot [of them]. We saw it on the market, and when that came out, we did get a lot of calls. We took them seriously, and we went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day it just did not make sense value-wise. There’s nothing that made more sense to trade him.
“Risto’s an important leader in our room. I can promise you that our guys prefer having him on their side than playing against him. He’s the type of defenseman that brings guys to the fight, he runs around, he hits guys, he pisses off the opponents, there’s a lot of value to that. At the end of the day, it made more sense, we listened, but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
When asked if a first-round pick was ever on the table, Brière declined to comment, only saying that “the value wasn’t as high as we needed for us moving forward.”
As for whether or not keeping the 31-year-old blue-liner, who could still be dealt around the NHL draft in June, creates a logjam for the organization’s defensive prospects, Briere said they’ll worry about that when the time comes.
“When they’re ready, we’re going to make room for them, a little bit like the Bobby Brink trade,” he said, referring to the team’s other log jam at left wing. “We feel like guys are almost there and we’re trying to make a little bit of room. It’s the same thing, I can’t say that David [Jiříček] and Oliver Bonk are ready to come in today, especially in a top-4 position. It’s one thing to come in and play in a bottom pairing as they start, but they haven’t even done that yet. I think they need a little bit more time, and we need to protect them a little bit. You ask those two guys to come in and play — Risto’s playing top pairing with Sanheim right now. I don’t think it would be fair to ask David or Oliver to come in and play those minutes yet.
“We hope that at one point it comes to that, but I don’t think they’re ready for that role yet. Risto has shown since he’s come back that he can handle those minutes, he’s shown at the Olympics as well how valuable he can be for a team. We hope they get there, but we want to protect them.”
Danny Brière on Bobby Brink trade: ‘Not an easy one’
Flyers GM Danny Brière made a couple of moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Following the passing of the NHL trade deadline, Flyers general manager Danny Briere spoke to reporters at the team’s practice facility in Vorhees.
Here are this thoughts on the biggest deal the Flyers actually made on deadline day, trading Bobby Brink to Minnesota for defenseman David Jiříček …
“Not an easy one. I was part of the development staff when Bobby came along. We had some long discussions about his future and his career, so having been part of that, and seeing him blossom into the player he has become, selfishly there’s a lot of pride in that, so he wasn’t an easy one to let go of,” Briere said. “But when you look at the way our team is coming along, you look at the depth that we’re building on the wings — [Travis] Konecny, [Matvei] Michkov, [Owen] Tippett, [Trevor] Zegras; Tyson [Foerster], who’s going to come back next season; [Porter] Martone that’s getting close; [Denver] Barkey, who surprised us this year in how well he’s played; you have Alex Bump; and then other guys behind that who are also pushing.
“It’s tough, at some point we were going to have to make a change or trade some wingers for other positions. When that came in yesterday, we started thinking it’s a chance to add a big, young, strong defenseman like David, we felt that’s a good opportunity to look toward the future and add another hopefully big piece down the road to our D-core, adding the size.”
Right wing Bobby Brink (right) celebrates a goal with former teammate Noah Cates. Brink was traded to Minnesota on Friday.
Bobby Brink’s former linemate Noah Cates discussed the departure of the winger, who was traded to the Wild on Friday, after the team’s practice in Vorhees.
“He’s helped me a ton with my game [and] hopefully he can say the same about me. Both being from Minnesota, there’s a lot of good things; it’s sad, but obviously happy, he’s going back home and going to a really good team. But definitely a shock, and still processing it. This still doesn’t feel too real. So, obviously, just a great kid, and [he] means a lot to me. So, hoping nothing but the best for him.”
Cates did not see Brink before he left for Las Vegas, where the Wild play on Friday night, and hadn’t sent him a text just yet. But he will be seeing him next Thursday, when the Flyers are in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBCSP).
“He went through some tough times with Torts and being a younger player, smaller player, skilled player. And he really helped me,” Cates said. “And I think our games kind of meshed well together and found some good chemistry. … He grew a ton. And credit to him. He’s seen as a critical piece to the Wild that they want, and for them to go on a playoff run. So obviously, an awesome kid, and we’re going to miss him.”
The team’s captain, Sean Couturier, also saw considerable growth from Brink during his time with the Flyers.
“He’s come a long way,” Couturier said back in October. “We’ve always seen his offensive skills and his ability to make plays and create offense, but the defensive side and the reliability of him have really improved. Feels like he’s a complete player, can play in all situations, and he’s going on a nightly basis against top lines. So, credit to him for developing that side of the game.”
A year after the Flyers traded Scott Laughton to the Maple Leafs, the forward is on the move again. According to Elliotte Friedman, Toronto is sending Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round draft pick. That pick can become a second-rounder if the Kings make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was not moved at the deadline as the team couldn’t find someone to match their asking price.
It’s after 3 p.m., and Rasmus Ristolainen is still a Flyer. The team elected to hold onto the right-handed defenseman at the deadline, after it was reported that no team met the high price the Flyers were looking for in a deal, which was reportedly at least a first round pick and a prospect. This is the third straight year that Ristolainen has been the subject of trade talks, and the third time the team opted not to move him.
Ristolainen still has one more year on his contract at an affordable $5.1 million a season, and could be a trade piece in the offseason or at next year’s deadline. He played in 24 games this year and has been regularly hurt during his five-season tenure with the Flyers, including an upper body injury that sidelined him for the first 31 games this season.
General manager Danny Brière will speak shortly on the deadline and why the team decided to hang on to Ristolainen.
While some deals could trickle in in the next few minutes — assuming they were made before 3 p.m. — it appears the Flyers are done for the day.
Gone are Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers, while the Flyers added David Jiricek and a conditional seventh-round pick. The Flyers also traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Bruins minor leaguers Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward, and reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
With Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers both on the way out at the trade deadline, the Flyers reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
Glendening is a 36-year-old center known for being elite at the face-off dot, with a career 55.5% win percentage, and good on the penalty kill. He’s a depth center option for the fourth line, which as of late has been centered by winger Carl Grundstrom.
The Flyers have dealt Nic Deslauriers to the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of the deadline for a conditional pick.
Can confirm the reports, #Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers has been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional pick. As Deslauriers told me the other day, he thinks he still has some gas in the tank.https://t.co/3T9dl2YaeZ
Just 16 months ago, the Wild traded a player and four draft picks (one from each of the first four rounds) to the Blue Jackets for David Jiříček.
While David Jiříček is the newest Flyer, the defenseman is a familiar figure to many holdovers from the Chuck Fletcher era that remain in the Flyers’ front office, including general manager Danny Brière and assistant GM and head of scouting Brent Flahr.
Why? The Flyers were high on Jiříček entering the 2022 NHL draft, with many believing that the decision at Pick No. 5 ultimately came down to Cutter Gauthier and Jiříček, with the Flyers selecting Gauthier and Jiříček going a pick later to Columbus. Fast forward nearly four years and the roles are reversed, as Gauthier is gone and Jiříček is a Flyer.
There were also reports that the Flyers kicked the tires on acquiring Jiříček in 2024 when he was traded to Minnesota for a massive haul that included defenseman Daemon Hunt and first-, second-, third-, and fourth-round picks. While some more of the luster has worn off Jiříček now that he’s flopped with a second organization, from an assets management standpoint, the Flyers acquiring him for just Brink seems like a win considering what he cost the Wild just 16 months ago.
The Flyers are big on reclamation projects — Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale — and they obviously believe Jiříček, 22, has the offensive tools to still reach his potential as a top-four NHL defenseman.
Nick Sirianni doppelganger, Nick Foligno, is on the move
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, left, and Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno, right, look so similar that they went as each other for Halloween.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is staying put, but Nick Foligno, the man who dressed like the Eagles coach for Halloween — and who Sirianni returned the favor by dressing like during his own trick or treating — is headed to a new city.
NEWS: The Blackhawks have traded forward Nick Foligno to the Wild, a source tells The Athletic.
“I had a good laugh,” Foligno said of his reaction to seeing the Eagles coach dressed as him. “He was a great sport about it. I give him credit, especially in the Philly sports market, to rip a Chicago Blackhawks [jersey]. But I think it shows his personality. He gained a lot of points in my eyes just for the fun of it.”
Foligno was scheduled to come to Philly later this month with the Blackhawks and hoped to meet Sirianni in person. While the Flyers head to Minnesota next week, the Wild aren’t scheduled to play in Philly again this season. So it appears a meeting of between the two Nicks will have to wait.
The Flyers traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward from the Bruins. Harrison was a third-round pick in 2021, and spent most of his career with the Providence Bruins. Edward was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, and has bounced between the ECHL Maine Mariners and Providence.
Gendron has spent three seasons playing with Lehigh Valley, and Rizzo, who was acquired from Carolina in 2023, has played for both Lehigh and the ECHL Reading Royals.
TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired forward Brett Harrison & defenseman Jackson Edward from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Alexis Gendron & Massimo Rizzo.
The Flyers traded right wing Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
The Flyers traded Bobby Brink to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman David Jiříček, swinging a middle-six winger for a high-upside defenseman who hasn’t found his footing yet in the NHL. So, who actually won the trade?
For a team with a glut of winger prospects coming up — most notably last year’s No. 6 overall pick Porter Martone — Brink became expendable to acquire players in positions of weakness, like defense. At this stage, Jiříček is more of a reclamation project than a top prospect, but the Flyers swung on Trevor Zegras and he’s bounced back into an elite player. Could the same happen with Jiříček?
Here’s what a few hockey analysts had to say about Jiříček and the deal …
David Jiricek, acquired by PHI, is a developing offensive defenceman. Legit puck skill but defensive awareness, risk management, and especially skating have held him back from carving out more than a sheltered depth role. pic.twitter.com/4m2D09wet7
Love this trade for Minnesota. Bobby Brink is a sneaky good add that fits their ever-present defensive identity. Not a Jiricek believer pic.twitter.com/F7rN0GDf9S
David Jiricek, acquired by the Flyers, was my third-ranked Wild prospect in my upcoming pool rankings.
He's a big right-shot D with a big point shot and a desire to play a commanding game, but bad feet and inconsistent reads have limited his ability to do it at the NHL level.
Meanwhile, Erik Johnson, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Flyers before retiring and joining ESPN as an analyst, thinks the Wild made out in the deal to acquire the Minnesota native.
Great move by the Wild. I played with Bobby and he is underrated. Defensive game has improved a ton. Can trust him on both ends of the rink. Great kid.
The Flyers acquired Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers have traded Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček. So who did they get back?
Jiříček was drafted sixth overall in the 2022 NHL draft by Columbus, but has struggled to stick in the NHL. He was traded to Minnesota in November 2024. In 2025-26, he has played 25 games with the Wild, scoring no points, and 24 games with the AHL Iowa Wild, with two goals and eight assists.
During his draft year, Jiříček, a righty, was praised for his offensive skills, especially his hard shot, but he’s struggled to establish those tools at the NHL level.
The Flyers are officially in the trade column, as the team started to unclog its logjam on the wing by trading Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček, a source confirmed to The Inquirer on Friday morning.
While Rasmus Ristolainen was the biggest name in play for the Flyers heading into Friday, Brink was another player that many felt could be moved ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Brink, who was set to be a restricted free agent at season’s end, will also relish the destination as he is a native of Minnetonka, Minn.
The 24-year-old winger, who was a second-round pick in 2019, has 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, and was on pace for a career-high 17 goals. Brink, who really developed chemistry and increased his all-around effectiveness on a third line with Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster the past few seasons, tallied 36 goals and 94 points in 201 career games with the Orange and Black.
Nic Deslauriers has been a good soldier since signing a four-year, $7 million deal in July or 2022. One of the league’s toughest and most feared customers, the 35-year-old has played a hard and physical game and has fought 33 times as a Flyer, many of which were in defense of or to stand up for fallen teammates.
The Flyers could look to do right by the popular veteran and trade him to a team where he can get more ice time and play a regular role. Deslauriers, who has only played in 24 of the Flyers’ 61 games this season, would be a particularly good fit for a team looking for someone to protect their youngsters and help mentor them off the ice.
Deslauriers told Jackie Spiegel recently he still thinks “I have some in the gas tank” and hopes to play a few more years. But with the Flyers upgrading American Hockey League tough guy Garrett Wilson’s contract to an NHL one on Thursday, it looks like his time with the Flyers is coming to an end.
Was Thursday night’s loss to the Mammoth the final game in a Flyers jersey for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen?
The list of potential landing spots for Rasmus Ristolainen, the Flyers’ rugged right-shot defenseman, shrunk overnight. With Buffalo adding a pair of big blueliners in Logan Stanley and righty Luke Schenn, and Anaheim making a surprising move for veteran righty John Carlson, you can cross two more potential suitors off the list. This came after Dallas, Edmonton, and Utah, three other clubs that had been linked with Ristolainen, made moves for defensemen in recent days.
Detroit and Boston now seem to be the two most likely trade partners for Danny Brière. The Red Wings and Bruins are both well-stocked when it comes to future first-round picks and young centers and defensemen. Detroit center prospect Nate Danielson would be an intriguing name for the Flyers, as would 6-foot-7, 230-pound Bruins pivot Dean Letourneau. The Bruins, who have four first-rounders over the next two years, are also dangling 21-year-old center Matthew Poitras and 25-year-old offensive defenseman Mason Lohrei in potential trades.
The Flyers are still holding out for a first-rounder plus an A- or B-level prospect in return for the Finnish defenseman. Ristolainen, 31, has one more year remaining on his contract and carries a $5.1 million cap hit. The Flyers could offer to retain 50% of Ristolainen’s deal to sweeten the pot as well.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen could be on the move ahead of the trade deadline.
It’s deadline day.
The Flyers, six points out of the last wild card spot, are expected to be sellers, and the loudest rumors have surrounded defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has another year on his contract at $5.1 million after this one. That extra year could keep him in Philadelphia past the deadline if Danny Brière doesn’t get the offer he wants.
“I can’t really control that,” Ristolainen said after Thursday’s loss to the Mammoth. “I just try to come in here every day, and obviously tomorrow, we’ll see what happens.”
The d-market has been moving in the lead-up to 3 p.m., with the Capitals trading John Carlson to Anaheim in the dead of night for a conditional first-round pick. The Sabres acquired Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn after striking out with Colton Parayko, and the Stars acquired Tyler Myers earlier in the week.
Other Flyers who could potentially be moved are wingers Bobby Brink and Owen Tippett, and pending free agents Garnet Hathaway and Nic Deslauriers.
Capitals trade John Carlson to the Ducks in ‘jaw-dropping’ move
The Washington Capitals traded defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks early Friday morning.
John Carlson is going to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a surprising deal from the Washington Capitals agreed to just after midnight on NHL trade deadline day.
Anaheim sent a conditional first-round pick in either this or next year’s draft plus a 2027 third-rounder to Washington for Carlson, a 36-year-old defenseman who has only played in the league for the Capitals since 2009 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Longtime hockey insider and former Daily News reporter Frank Seravalli called the move “jaw-on-the-floor shocking,” describing it as the “end of an era in Washington.”
“John Carlson brings leadership, character, a high hockey IQ and a presence to our lineup,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “We are very excited to add a Stanley Cup winner to complement our group and make a big push down the stretch.”
Carlson is a pending free agent without a contract beyond this year but was not expected to get moved before the deadline. He joins the Ducks as they look to end a seven-year playoff drought.
With a surplus of wings, the Flyers could move Owen Tippett ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers aren’t moving Dan Vladař, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, or top prospect Porter Martone, but everyone else would seem to be — and should be — in play.
Topping that list is rugged but oft-injured defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been on the trade block each of the past two seasons but has so far stayed put. The 31-year-old doesn’t fit the team’s timeline, has a year remaining on his contract, and is exactly the type of player that contenders tend to overpay for due to his physicality and “playoff brand of hockey.”
Trading him at this deadline would at minimum land a second-rounder and a legit prospect, and potentially a first-rounder. The Flyers should look to cash in on the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Finn on the heels of his eye-catching Olympics and should be seeking a first-round pick or a high-end center or blueline prospect in return.
The Flyers also have a surplus of wings with Konecny, Michkov, Zegras, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, Denver Barkey, and Nikita Grebenkin, and more on the way, headlined by Martone and Alex Bump. Sooner or later the Flyers are going to have to make room for guys, and parting with Tippett or Brink would start that process and recoup the Flyers something in return, potentially at a position of need.
With teams always looking for a scoring punch this time of year, trading the 27-year-old Tippett, who is cost-controlled for the next six seasons and on his way to a third 25-plus-goal season in four years, would yield the largest return, assuming Konecny and Zegras are off limits. The Flyers reportedly have a high ask on the speedy Tippett, including a first-round pick, but could a package that includes a center be enticing? The Flyers could opt to hold fast for a better return at the draft, when this type of trade may be easier to complete, but trading a winger or two before next season seems inevitable.
The Flyers don’t seem willing to meet the high price for St. Louis Blues All-Star Robert Thomas, but Detroit’s Nate Danielson, Minnesota’s Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel, Buffalo’s Noah Ostlund, Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie, and Seattle’s Shane Wright are some younger center prospects who could be available in a package involving Ristolainen, Tippett, or someone else.
In addition to trying to move pending unrestricted free agents Nic Deslauriers, Noah Juulsen, and Carl Grundström, the Flyers could explore trading depth center Noah Cates or restricted free agent defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae, all young players with runways to improve who would generate some interest around the league. Like Ristolainen, Cates is a player that contending teams could view as a final piece due to his versatility, penalty killing, and two-way play. Andrae looks to be in need of a change of scenery and could be swapped for a player in a similar boat.
Nick Seeler would have some value as a steady, stay-at-home defenseman, but the 32-year-old, who is currently nicked up, would have to waive his no-move clause. Maligned backup goalie Sam Ersson also could be offloaded for a mid-round pick, especially if the team has already decided it won’t extend a qualifying offer to the pending free agent.
Flyers trade talk: Rasmus Ristolainen, Bobby Brink, and others
There’s a good chance the Flyers trade away defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. and there are plenty of questions on how the Flyers will approach it. Ahead of the deadline, Inquirer reporter Jackie Spiegel took to Reddit to answer fans’ questions ahead of the deadline. Here are some highlights from her Reddit AMA — “Ask Me Anything” — on Wednesday.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about selling at the deadline, with guys like Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen as top candidates. Is there anyone else who might be on the block and could be a ‘surprise’ player dealt at the deadline?
A. It’s a good chance that Ristolainen is gone with how he’s been playing, his friendly contract, the farm system, and that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Tippett is less of a sure bet as he brings elements — size, speed, goal-scoring ability — that any team, including the Flyers, would want. However, Tippett does have a modified no-trade clause that begins on July 1, so if they’re going to do it, time is ticking.
The Flyers do have a logjam on the wings, and one surprise, at least for this week, could be Bobby Brink, who has long been rumored to be on the way out because of who is waiting in the wings. There’s always a chance Danny Brière could do right by some veterans like Noah Juulsen and Nic Deslauriers, each on expiring contracts, and trade them to a contender looking for depth.
Q. Where do you see us getting an actual top-line center option from and what would it realistically take?
A. This is a great question. I think part of the issue for the Flyers is that they were banking on this upcoming offseason to get that No. 1 center and all those guys inked extensions. Could Trevor Zegras be that guy? Maybe. Could they swing for a Robert Thomas? Maybe, but from what I’ve been told, that deal would require sending at least one of the Flyers’ young centers in the system the other way. I’m starting to wonder if a true No. 1 center is needed, because if you have enough talented high-end wingers — like Tyson Foerster, Martone, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Tippett — maybe a less elite center works too?
Q. What do the Flyers plan to do about Sean Couturier?
A. From what I can tell, there are zero plans for Couturier. From the outside, yes, his production is down, but a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with his focus on defense as he lets his younger, more skilled wingers take charge offensively. And heading into the return from the Olympic break, his analytics were actually some of the best on the team. There’s also the leadership in the room that fans do not see. As assistant coach Todd Reirden mentioned, while he was taking over media responsibilities with Rick Tocchet at the Olympics, Couturier’s “voice carries a lot of weight. He’s not [a captain] that’s rah rah, but when he does talk, no one’s not listening. I can tell you that much. So he’s the leader of our team for a reason.”
The Flyers’ chances ending their five-season playoff drought became a bit slimmer Thursday night after their 3-0 loss to the Utah Mammoth.
Eight teams in the Eastern Conference will move forward to the NHL playoffs – the top three teams in each division, plus two wild cards.
The Flyers currently sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division 6 points out of a playoff spot. But with 21 games remaining on their schedule, the odds of making the playoffs are slim but not impossible. The New York Times currently pegs the Flyers’ chances of a postseason berth at 14%.
Metropolitan Division
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Eastern Conference
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The Philadelphia School District is considering a sweeping facilities plan. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. has proposed closing 18 schools, colocating 6, and modernizing 159.
Watlington presented his plan — sparing two schools from the initial list of 20 closures — to the school board Thursday.
Watlington’s recommendations are not yet final. The board is expected to vote on his plan later this year.
The plan has already faced opposition from students, parents, staff, and political leaders who are fighting to save their schools. Community members gathered for a rally outside school district headquarters ahead of Thursday’s board meeting.
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Recap: Students, parents, and teachers beg board not to close their schools
The Philadelphia school board heard several hours of public testimony Thursday evening — and into Friday morning — about a proposal to close 18 schools.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington presented his proposed facilities plan to the board Thursday. It includes closing 18 schools, colocating six schools, and modernizing 159 school buildings.
Meeting ends after hours of testimony about school closures
More than eight hours after the school board meeting began, it ended early Friday morning.
After concluding hours of public testimony, largely criticism of the school facilities plan, the board spent only a few minutes quickly passing items on its agenda.
Last speaker: ‘I beg you, do not close our schools’
Carin Bennicoff, a longtime teacher at Ludlow Elementary, notes that school closings hit vulnerable communities hard, and disproportionately. “Please – I beg you, do not close our schools,” Bennicoff said.
Here ends the speakers list.
“I think this board has been listening tonight,” said board president Reginald Streater, and more feedback will be heard on March 12.
Retired teacher says plan would ‘rip apart people’s communities’
Lisa Haver, a retired Philadelphia teacher and founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, said that no member of the board should vote for the plan.
“Do you really have to rip apart people’s communities?” Haver said.
Parent and student speak out about accessibility concerns
Kim Nelson, a parent, spoke on behalf of her daughter. Nelson said she is concerned about many schools that are not accessible for those with disabilities.
“My daughter wanted to express her concerns, and we’ve been here for the last seven years,” Nelson said. She said she wants fixes at Overbrook High, her daughter’s school.
“My school has over 60 bathrooms, and not one of those bathrooms is ADA accessible,” Nelson said.
Nelson’s daughter also spoke about problems accessing bathrooms at Overbrook.
Watlington asked Teresa Fleming, the district’s chief operating officer, to “attend to those issues immediately.”
Jonathan Hoffmeier began as a teacher at University City High School, which closed in 2013 and is now a parking lot.
He now works at Lankenau, which he urged the board not to close.
Lankenau has been evaluated “as an asset in a real estate portfolio,” Hoffmeier said. “Closing Lankenau sends a message. It tells students, ‘You don’t deserve these opportunities.’”
Amy Szymanski, a Lankenau staffer, is reading another staffer’s statement. The art teacher couldn’t attend the meeting because she led Lankenau students competing at the Philadelphia Flower Show. “You haven’t expressed your vision effectively,” wrote the teacher, who is certified in both art and agriculture.
Parkway Northwest teacher says ‘our students deserve better’
“Our students deserve better than promises,” said Beth Ziegenfus, a teacher at Parkway Northwest. “They deserve action.”
For years, middle school teachers and parents used neighborhood high schools as a warning or a punishment — and it will take years to undo that damage, said Ziegenfus, who taught for years at Frankford, a community high school, before she moved to Parkway Northwest, a magnet school.
Leah Clouden: “let’s call this what it is: a land grab and shell game that we already experienced in 2012. This plan is an egregious breach of trust.”
Clouden asks the district to stop holding up access to Algebra 1 in eighth grade as the be-all, end-all, when most district students cannot do math on grade level.
District staffers and teachers fight for their schools
Tanya Edmonds, a district staffer, questions the plan and the district’s move to give some schools to the city. The district’s website is not easy to navigate, she said, and data is tough to find.
Benjamin Grivensky, a history teacher at Parkway Northwest, opposes the plan.
“The closures will have an outsized impact on our minority students,” Grivensky said. The school’s graduation rate is 98%. “Simply put —Parkway works,” Grivensky said.
Patricia Rich, a teacher at Lankenau, notes that the district’s visual impaired life skills students learn at Lankenau. It’s small and safe, Rich said.
“We have shown that Lankenau cannot be transplanted,” Rich said.
‘Please do right by our kids,’ Stetson teacher tells board
Eugenia Giannoumis, a teacher at Stetson Middle School, said the survey that formed the basis of the district’s recommendation, was imperfect — and not reflective of most of the wishes of people in the Stetson community.
Lankenau’s principal says her school helps close district-charter gap
Jessica McAtamney, principal at Lankenau, notes the school is unique in the district — it has relationships with two separate charter schools. It’s closing the district-charter gap.
Watlington’s proposal would close Lankenau and send its students to Saul High School.
“Sending us to Saul does not fix why we are here,” said McAtamney, who said she worked at Saul for years and loves it.
Parkway Northwest is a unique environment for kids with disabilities, teacher says
Nicholas Shute, a special education teacher at Parkway Northwest, underscores his “firm opposition” to the plan. Moving Parkway Northwest into Martin Luther King is a “fundamental misunderstanding of what we do,” he said.
Parkway Northwest, which has a peace and social justice theme, focuses on safety, and creates a unique environment, especially for students with disabilities, Shute said.
Kyana Hopkins, a teacher at Robeson High, said the school lacks many resources, but “we worked with what we had” and experienced great successes — academic growth, sending a student to Harvard.
“Culture is not transferrable,” Hopkins said. “Make it make sense.”
The governor of Pennsylvania and other politicians held up Robeson as a model, Hopkins said. “Let us keep working the magic that we can keep producing,” said Hopkins.
Megan Murphy, a Waring teacher, said the school district has “obstructed opportunities for Waring” to overcome barriers and the school is now being penalized.
An emotional Renee Gair, a teacher at Fitler Elementary, said the school is a gem, with soaring academics and a real community. “Once students come to Fitler, they do not leave,” Gair said.
Horace Clouden, a retired building engineer and education activist, urges the board to invest in putting building trades programs in neighborhood schools.
Clouden is an ardent advocate of junior high schools. He and his family have attended school closing meetings around the city urging the district to commit to junior highs.
Charisma Presley, an advocate for year-round aquatics, is asking the board to recommit to reopening pools. A single year-round pool operates in the city now — at Lincoln High in the Northeast.
“We’re asking for concrete action,” Presley said.
Ariel Presley, another aquatics booster, pushes the board to commit to year-round pools and swimming instruction.
‘Data without context tells an incomplete story,’ says Stetson teacher
Kathryn Lajara, a teacher at Stetson Middle School, underscores the upheaval at the school in the past 20 years. First, it was turned over to Edison Schools, a for-profit company, to run. Then, it became a charter school run by Aspira, and then returned to the district, she said.
No major repairs were ever made to the building, and every change meant a new administration, new curriculum, and new expectations, she said.
“Data without context tells an incomplete story,” Lajara said. You can’t talk about Stetson without noting that the “foundation beneath it has been repeatedly shaken.”
Stetson has “endured systemic disruption” and is now being penalized for it, Lajara said.
Middle schools are taking a disproportionate hit, says district staff member
Cashonna Thomas is speaking in favor of Harding Middle School.
“Middle schools have taken a disproportionate hit,” Thomas noted.
Keeping students in K-8 schools “ignores child development,” Thomas said.
Kelli Gallagher, the next speaker, teaches at Harding Middle School now; she previously taught at Reynolds Elementary, which was closed in 2013.
Reynolds closing “created no positive effect on the community,” she said. It just benefitted developers and drove up house prices for long-term residents.
“We’re being asked to trust the process that lacks transparency,” Gallagher said.
Robeson High Home and School president calls district’s recommendations ‘trashy’ and ‘tasteless’
Samantha Bromfield, the Home and School president at Robeson High, said families want small schools.
“Understand that a parent like me will send my child back to being homeschooled” if Robeson closes. “Your choice doesn’t fit my criteria of what I’m looking for my children. Your recommendations and your data seems trashy. Tasteless.”
Rasheeda Simpson, a Robeson parent, said she chose Robeson — not Sayre or Motivation.
Closing Waring will hurt students with ‘complex trauma,’ teacher says
Hannah Myers, a teacher, is speaking about the proposed closure of Waring Elementary, where students have “complex trauma,” she said.
It’s a small school, but it’s a model of stability for the kids who need it most, she said, pointing out that 13% of its population is students experiencing homelessness.
Moving Waring students to larger classes at Bache-Martin is unwise, Myers said. “And thank you for keeping teachers here for six and a half hours waiting to speak,” Myers adds.
Megan Acedo, an AMY Northwest parent, told the board: “I don’t understand as a parent why we are closing a school that has incredible academic performance and is an incredibly supportive environment.”
The district ‘systematically denied students’ the ability to attend many small schools, Motivation teacher says
John Young, a teacher at Motivation High School, asks the district to slow down and show more data. (Motivation was recommended for closure, but is now off the list.)
“Our students thrive because of our safe, small, supportive settings,” Young said.
Young said the district’s data is often wrong, and noted the district “systematically denied students” the ability to attend many small schools.
Blankenburg is ‘the best environment for our students,’ teacher says
Mia Svendson, a teacher at Blankenburg, a West Philadelphia elementary school on the chopping block, said the school is “the best environment for our students.”
The school is part of the Acceleration Network — schools that receive more intense supports because of academic achievement needs. But the supports are working, Svendson said. The school should not be closed, she said.
“Dr. Watlington, you’re breaking my heart,” said Amanda Chandler, a teacher at Harding, who said the district’s plan is “not creative. It’s perfunctory.”
The district has not adequately maintained the Harding building, Chandler said. “Why can’t Harding have a swing space while you fix our building?”
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The facilities plan will cost the district students and teachers, AMY Northwest teacher says
“We’re running a school that serves our students well,” says Joseph Blank, a teacher at AMY Northwest. The only problem is low enrollment, which is a problem with the district’s enrollment system, Blank said.
“We expect better,” Blank said. “We demand better. If this plan goes through, the district will lose many students and many teachers.”
‘Slow down, send it back, mark it incomplete, save Robeson’
Andrew Saltz, a teacher at Robeson, said this plan isn’t a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
In 2013, the district closed schools and tried to close Robeson, which he said deserves a new building — just like the students at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush in the Northeast.
“The thing about boutique high schools — we fill them, and they work,” Saltz said. “Slow down, send it back, mark it incomplete, save Robeson.”
Lankenau parent urges the district to invest in the school building
Tiona Brown, a Lankenau parent, calls on the board to reverse its plan to close Lankenau.
“You guys are smart people, I trust you can find another way,” Brown said. Her house is over 100 years old, but its value is strong because she made investments in it. Lankenau, with its 100% graduation rate, is worth investment, said Brown.
Robeson teacher says closing the school will push ‘Black and brown kids out of University City’
Paul Robeson High School on Ludlow Street in Philadelphia.
Gwen Franklin, a teacher at Robeson High and West Philadelphia resident, said she was speaking to support all West and Southwest Philadelphia schools on the chopping block.
“Forgive me if I fail to see the transparency of this process,” Franklin said.
We ask our kids to show their work, so show yours, she said.
“This plan pushes Black and brown kids out of University City.”
Robeson deserves a new building, and to keep its esteemed name, she said. And Sayre, which Robeson was first scheduled to merge with, deserves investment too. (Robeson is now proposed to close but move into Motivation High.)
State Rep. Darisha Parker pushes against the plan to close Fitler
State Rep. Darisha Parker is against the Fitler closure. She questions the plan to close the school and give it to the city for workforce development and housing.
“You cannot displace, families, children and a community that deserves to be educated,” Parker said.
“I do not accept your proposal to close Fitler,” Parker said.
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada asks the board to visit each school personally before deciding to close it
City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada said even revisions to the plan leave questions.
She asks the district to reconsider changes to Moffet and closing Harding, Welsh, and Stetson. “Why should our children bear the consequences of all of the school district’s failures?” Lozada said.
Lozada asks the board to visit each facility personally before casting votes to close them.
Councilmember Cindy Bass calls school closures ‘a self-created’ problem
Councilmember Cindy Bass is “greatly disturbed” by school closures. “This is, in my opinion, a self-created” problem.
Revisit the special admission policy, Bass said. “We can also move students to some of these empty spaces. We can provide transit. Why is that not an option?” she said.
“This just cannot happen,” said Bass. “We cannot allow more school closures.”
Even moving it to Saul is unacceptable, she said, because Saul does not have access to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.
Moving Waring to give Masterman an extended middle school is not acceptable either, Ahmad said. “Why are we targeting that space where vulnerable students live?” she said.
“You are going to disrupt Lankenau so you can have high-value real estate,” Ahmad said. “We are a creative bunch. We can think of ways to address the issues that have come up. To disrupt solutions that are working makes no sense to me.”
Principals union president asks district to ‘slow the plan down’
Robin Cooper, president of CASA, the district’s principals’ union, asks for the board to “slow the plan down.”
Developing a blueprint for the district is complex, Cooper said.
“Improving facilities should not automatically require closing schools. This plan is full of bias, and I’m asking you to please slow it down,” she said.
Sen. Williams criticizes Watlington for bragging about incremental academic growth, and says superintendent has only called him once
Williams said he has heard only once from Watlington since the superintendent’s arrival in Philadelphia. (He says he speaks to William Penn Superintendent Eric Becoats weekly.)
Williams zings the district for bragging about incremental academic growth. Folks in his neighborhood want transformation, he said.
“I don’t pat myself on the back about 2% increases in anything,” Williams said. He invites members of the board and district to walk with him through the communities he represents.
State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams speaks to the board alongside his mom, a 93-year-old retired district teacher
State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams is up now.
He brought his mother, Carole Williams, a 93-year-old retired district teacher, to speak alongside him.
Carole Williams, a former science supervisor for the district, is a founder of the citywide George Washington Carver science fair.
“You don’t have an easy task,” she told the board. (She also encourages the board to hit up her son, a state senator, for more funding to help.)
The senator said his district, including West and Southwest Philadelphia has been “discriminated against” by the city and district. He acknowledges that some schools must close, but said the “ones you’ve identified clearly contradict” the ideals of improving education. “There are some schools that do not need to be on this list simply because their buildings are in decline.”
Williams was bussed as a student “into a neighborhood that did not welcome me,” he said. He attended Conwell.
“We’re talking about moving students to other neighborhoods without a commonsense plan,” he said.
“The problem with this plan is it’s top down,” Williams said. He said parents would come up with smart plans and would compromise on difficult decisions — if the district asked them in meaningful ways.
Families will have to cross “invisible lines” to get their children to new schools, Hunt said. Safety is a factor.
“We have been here before, and it didn’t work in 2013, and it’s not going to work now,” Hunt said. “If this is an open and honest plan, let us know who you’re selling our students’ future to.”
“Nothing for the people without the people,” Hunt said, saying the plan is really “a closure plan.”
Councilmember Jeffery Young says there are contradictions in the district facilities plan
City Councilmember Jeffery “Jay” Young, holding a sign that says “Ludlow is the Cornerstone of our Community,” said the goals of the plan are worthy. But the current iteration of the plan has many contradictions.
Students at Ludlow would lose not just their elementary school, but also their high school, Penn Treaty.
‘You are handing our students to a charter,’ says city committeeperson Delise Williams
Delise Williams, a city committeeperson who opposes the planned closure of Parkway Northwest, worked in the district’s central offices and at Martin Luther King. “We must fix MLK, but not by dismantling excellence,” Williams said.
“You are closing a budget gap,” Williams said. “You are handing our students to a charter on a silver platter just to fix a spreadsheet.”
Next to her, another community member holds up a silver platter with dollar bills taped all around its perimeter.
Teachers union leaders urge the board to slow down and consider what’s missing from the plan
Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, urges the board to delay implementation of the facilities plan. Inadequate information has been presented to the public, Steinberg said.
PFT members and students know the realities of the city’s schools. They’ve gotten sick from lead, asbestos, mold, and buildings that were too hot or too cold.
“The negative impacts far outweigh the benefits,” Steinberg said of school closures.
Steinberg talks about the “lasting harm” of the 2013 closures.
“Our schools need fixing and funding, not closure,” Steinberg said. If the district can raise $1.8 billion for its plan, then it can fix schools.
Jerry Roseman, director of environmental science for the PFT, said an effective plan is needed. This isn’t it, he said, and there’s a lot missing. Roseman cited a “transparency and data gap” raised in various stages of the process. “The lack of detail and specificity is of serious concern,” Roseman said.
Roseman blew holes in the district’s $2.8 billion pricetag, which he said is “far too low.”
“Robeson did send a student to Harvard, and you still want to close it,” she said.
Robeson students fought the district for air conditioning when students got sick from the heat. Its staff found funding to renovate the cafeteria.
“Help us, instead of throwing away everyone’s ideas and hard work,” said Gauthier, who said the plan showed “a profound lack of care” for West and Southwest Philadelphia and vulnerable Black and brown communities.
“I will fight these closures with every ounce of energy that I can muster,” Gauthier said.
Waring ‘may seem poor in appearance,’ but ‘we are rich in love,’ student says
Nylan Williams, an eighth grader at Waring Elementary School, has attended Waring since kindergarten.
“Today I sit here because of the foundation Waring gave me,” he said.
He said “students stay, grow, and become family” at Waring, and has teachers who mentor and support the students. They celebrate students like their own children, he said, and stay after school to help students.
“Our building may seem poor in appearance … we are rich in love,” he said. “You cannot replace that by simply moving students somewhere else.”
Elementary school student shares concerns with board over teachers leaving mid-year
Evangeline Routh, a student at Houston Elementary School, said she is facing the second year in a row that her teacher left in the middle of the school year.
“Both years it was right before the PSSAs,” she said.
Lankenau High students show up in force to defend their school to the board
Messiah Stokes, a Lankenau student spoke against closing his school.
“The school’s culture is built on the idea of simply going outside and exploring,” he said.
He also noted a legal agreement that may require the district to sell Lankenau’s property to the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education rather than giving it to the city to use for housing plans, as the district had planned. Closing Lankenau and moving it to Saul High School isn’t adequate, he said.
“At Lankenau we can simply walk less than a mile to the Schuylkill River and collect water samples,” he said, which allows students to learn about things like clean drinking water.
Juniper Sok Sarom, another Lankenau student, spoke out against closing the school.
“Why is a school that achieves all of the goals and guardrails that you set being recommended for closure?” she asked. “Do you prioritize land and money over our kids?”
She said the school board needs to look out for the city’s children.
By passing this plan, she told board members, “you fail the students of Philadelphia, you fail our parents, you fail the entire city. You fail all of us. Protect the children, OK? Prioritize us.”
Lankenau student Jesse Hall showed a poster of a city map to the school board. His map had dots showing that many of Lankenau’s students come from “high-risk” neighborhoods across the city. Lankenau’s neighborhood is “low-risk.”
“To our students, it is a safe space from the struggles they face at home … That’s what a magnet school is for,” he said.
Samad Groves, another Lankenau student, said “do not ignore our family members who are already a part of vulnerable populations.”
The data used to make decisions does not capture what the school community means to students, he said; “Lankenau remains unquantifiable.”
Student urges the board to open pools at district schools
Moving briefly to another topic, student Phinneas Dougherty spoke about the need to have swimming pools open at schools, which is part of the board’s strategic plan.
“This isn’t just an extracurricular activity, it’s a survival skill,” he said.
He said he wants to work as a certified lifeguard and make sure that kids learn to swim. Pools should be opened immediately, he said.
‘Lankenau cannot be erased,’ freshman tells the board
Justice Ray, a Lankenau sophomore, says its students “truly need this environment.”
Ray says she believes the district is closing Lankenau because of its valuable land.
Amari Reynolds, a Lankenau freshman, was “so excited” after he was admitted to the school. He was a quiet kid, but the school has brought him out of his shell.
‘Losing Parkway feels like losing my future’: More students address the board over schools on closure list
Alejandro Alvarado, a student at Stetson Middle School, tells the board: “We deserve more … Stetson has been neglected for decades … It isn’t fair to close our school because of maintenance issues that the district knew about years but chose to ignore.”
Melody Jenkins, a 10th grader at Parkway Northwest, said that “losing Parkway feels like losing my future.”
Parkway Northwest’s bell schedule had to be adjusted to avoid interactions with Martin Luther King students, Jenkins said. “I ask you tonight to reconsider this decision,” she said.
Khloe Polite, a Waring eighth grader, describes her school: “It is small and old,” but important. It’s a family, Polite said. “I understand we’re underpopulated, but maybe it’s what we need.”
Students speak in support of two magnet schools slated to close
Treasure Flowers, a sophomore at Parkway Northwest, says “small, specialized magnet schools are important to the people around them” and the voices of affected students must be heard.
Wyntir Alford, a Lankenau High student, said: “We have not come across a single person who agrees with the school board’s decision to close it.”
Lankenau, Alford said, deserves “stability and support. I hope that before making any final decisions, you take a look at the serious evidence and the strong resistance from the community. We are not just numbers on a page. We are young people with goals, dreams, and opinions that matter.”
Lankenau’s enrollment issues “are the district’s fault,” Alford said. “You say this isn’t about money, but the timing and patterns of these decisions makes your priorities clear.”
Even the changed recommendation — moving Lankenau to Saul instead of Roxborough — still won’t do, Alford said.
Noelle Alford, Wyntir’s mom, takes the microphone. She’s not registered to speak, and the board cuts off Alford’s mic. Alford continues to speak, and the restless audience shouts: “Let her speak! Let her speak!”
“You still have yet to answer our question — would you send your children to Saul?” Alford yells without a mic.
Students, staff, and community members who support Lankenau High School, including some dressed as trees, packed a community meeting at the school earlier this month.
‘If a roof leaks, you fix it,’ Stetson Middle School student says
Jade Colon, a student at Stetson Middle School, is speaking to the board about her school: “When we talk about closing a school like Stetson Middle, we’re not just talking about moving desks,” Colon said. The neighborhood has faced “decades of disinvestment,” and its residents are being asked to be able to sacrifice again.
“If a roof leaks, you fix it,” Colon said. “You don’t tear the family down.”
Student speakers begin to address the board, speaking in support of AMY Northwest and Parkway Northwest
AMY Northwest on Ridge Avenue in Philadelphia.
We’re onto student speakers now.
Naveh Mahan, a student at AMY Northwest, asks the board to spare her school.
David Samuel, who attends Parkway Northwest, said the school is “building strong children.” Virtually all Parkway Northwest students are on track to graduation.
“Those are lives being moved forward,” Samuel said. “Closing Parkway Northwest wouldn’t be closing a school, it would be closing my home.”
Naomi Acedo Moorhead, a sixth grader at AMY Northwest, is speaking “to advocate for my school.”
It’s got great extracurriculars and a newly updated schoolyard, she said. Students feel “welcome and supported,” and strong academic achievement, including offering Algebra I. Her family toured eight schools, and AMY Northwest was her first choice. It’s worthy of investment, Moorhead said.
Lyric Jenkins, a student at Parkway Northwest, said the school is “a model of consistency” with strong student attendance. “We are on an upward trajectory,” Jenkins says.
Merging Parkway Northwest and Martin Luther King High School is a bad idea, Jenkins said. “Don’t dismantle a success story,” she said.
Dakota Turner, a student at AMY Northwest, says the school is “a good school,” and provides opportunities many other schools don’t have. It should not close.
Evan Mohr, another AMY Northwest student, said “the only problem with our school is that the building is old … Closing this school is not a logical conclusion.”
President Streater says he’s ‘very angry’ over the underfunding that brought the district to this point
Board president Streater said he’s “very angry” that the board must deal with closures.
“It infuriates me,” Streater said of underfunding and the pressures that led the district to this point.
He said it’s a “call to arms moment, irrespective of how this thing goes.”
If the district had “inadequate running water,” help would be on the way. It has “inadequate public education” because of underfunding, Streater said, and it’s on its own to figure it out. The district must shrink its footprint, Streater said.
‘We can’t afford to be locked in inaction,’ says board member Wilkerson
Board member Joyce Wilkerson says the district has known it’s needed to “rightsize” the system for a decade. Wilkerson is a former member of the School Reform Commission, which was the predecessor to the school board, when the district was under state control for 17 years.
“We can’t afford to be locked in inaction,” Wilkerson said.
“While there is lots that’s being proposed that we need to understand better, I appreciate the fact that this is aligned with our goals and guardrails,” Wilkerson said. She said she will comb over the plan, and appreciates the work that went into it.
‘This affects all lives in the city, including old people like me,’ says board member Stern
“We’re not adopting this plan tonight,” board member Joan Stern said. “We’re going to take time to do our necessary due diligence.” Stern invites people to come to the March 12 facilities town hall with the board, and communicate in other ways. “This affects all lives in the city, including old people like me.”
Stern says that former Philadelphia Superintendent Constance Clayton was also her mentor. When Clayton became superintendent, “we had no market access at all,” and the district’s credit was poor. “That we can borrow a billion dollars now is an amazing feat that we had to accomplish over many, many years.” (Stern was a groundbreaking bond counsel who helped the city and the district onto more solid financial footing.)
Student board member Reyes asks about the closure process for schools
Semira Reyes, another student board representative, asks about the phase-out process for closing schools.
A slow phase-out can cause trauma, Watlington said. (Though some schools will be phased out; Penn Treaty, for instance, would take four years.)
Reyes also asked about swing spaces: How do we maximize their use? They’re buildings or parts of buildings that are used to relocate school communities when they need to move. It’s impossible to guarantee their usage 100% of the time, Watlington said.
She also questioned what supports would be in place for students in newly colocated or merged schools as a result of the plan, saying that as a student who had experienced colocation, it “can be extremely stressful and disruptive.”
Watlington said affordable workforce housing “benefits communities, moreso than this district choosing to outright sell buildings to the highest bidder.” He noted that following the district’s last round of closures in 2012-13, some buildings were vacant for more than a decade.
Workforce development and job creation are worth it, Watlington said. “We think these facilities that have always belonged to the people of this city, that they should benefit students in their respective communities.” The district’s core business is academics, and “the city just has more resources” to handle real estate and development.
He said the district wanted to be sure “we don’t contribute to the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer” — to some objections from the audience.
‘We need a bolder plan,’ says board member Cubbage in a call-to-action to the district
Another board member, Crystal Cubbage, is also voicing skepticism.
“I’m struggling to reconcile this massive upheaval, and the $2.8 billion price tag, with the fact the plan is not explicitly designed to produce better outcomes for all of our children,” Cubbage said.
“We need a bolder plan. This is a false choice that we have here,” Cubbage said.
Board member Novales says she’s ‘struggling to see the heart’ in this proposed facilities plan
Audience members in the packed board room cheered as board member Wanda Novales voiced criticisms of the facilities plan.
“This conversation cannot just be about buildings, it must be about students,” Novales said.
While saying she recognized the “complexity of the challenges” facing the district, Novales said, “the standard cannot simply be operational efficiency,” but student success.
Of the plan, Novales said, “I am struggling to see the heart … that sees the lived realities of our neighborhoods.” Areas like Kensington and Fairhill have long been under-resourced, Novales said, and the plan falls short in providing opportunities to students there.
To students at Stetson, a school proposed for closure, “I am sorry for the years of underinvestment,” Novales said.
Board member Jones draws applause as he asks how to ensure ‘we don’t end up in this position again’
In addition to questions about funding and how much the plan would save the district, Whitney Jones drew applause from the crowd when he asked Watlington how the district would approach catchment design going forward, “so we don’t end up in this position again.”
He also asked about the plan’s proposal to merge some magnet schools: “What does it actually mean to merge two programs that are distinctly different?”
Watlington said he was committed to growing enrollment, but if numbers continue to drop, “I assure you we’ll be back in this boat again at some point.”
The superintendent said magnet programs could be successfully located in the same building as another school, and he didn’t anticipate problems.
Board member Harper asks: What will the district do to prevent student achievement drops as schools close?
Student achievement has dropped after school closures, board member Cheryl Harper says. She wants to know how Watlington will solve for that this time around, and asks about staff impact.
Watlington responds: The district will not cut staff in schools that absorb students, and it will begin a transition office to directly support students in schools that are closing or taking in another school.
The board has had to make decisions based on ‘what we can afford, rather than what our students deserve,’ Streater says
At one point, the district was looking at an $8 billion bill to address all of its facilities issues, board president Streater said. The board has had to make decisions based on “what we can afford, rather than what our students deserve,” Streater said. These decisions are based on “structural funding inequities.”
Like many major cities, the district has lost enrollment. But now, it’s “calling the question,” Streater said.
“We have a misalignment,” Streater said. The district is unable to pay for the programs it needs to provide to accelerate academic achievement with the footprint it has.
Streater called for “an open heart and an open mind” as the board starts to deliberate.
But, he stressed, the board will not vote tonight.
Watlington shares changes to his initial proposal, including sparing two schools from the closing list
Watlington runs down the changes between his initial proposal: Conwell Middle School and Motivation High are off the closing list. Robeson will still close, but move into Motivation, not Sayre; and Lankenau High will still close, but merge into Saul, a magnet, not Roxborough, a neighborhood high school. Saul is an agricultural magnet, and Lankenau an environmental magnet.
Watlington is also modifying the phase-out plan from Penn Treaty from seven years to four years.
There is murmuring from the crowd, and scattered applause, as Watlington presents the revised recommendations. Some people are taking photos of the PowerPoint with their phones.
‘In an ideal world, I never believe in closing schools,’ Watlington says
“In an ideal world, I never believe in closing schools,” Watlington said, a remark met with some groans from the crowd. “I would never want my child’s school to be closed, to be frank.”
But, he said, the district is in a place where it has to think about ways to “better use our limited resources.”
“We’ve done our level best to spread opportunity across learning networks, 10 City Council districts,” he said.
“We have listened with a third ear” to the public, Watlington said. “We’ve heard lots of feedback.”
District will double access to pre-kindergarten and bring Algebra I to all eighth graders
The district will be able to double access to pre-kindergarten, and create more academic and extracurricular programs.
It will be able to offer Algebra I in eighth grade to all students, Watlington said. Currently, just half of eighth graders have access. There will also be more Advanced Placement courses.
“We have a chance to level the playing field, I believe,” Watlington said.
Two of the schools initially proposed to close will be spared under revised plan
Big news out of the facilities plan: Two of the 20 schools Watlington initially proposed for closure will be spared under the revised plan.
Conwell Middle School in Kensington and Motivation High in Southwest Philadelphiawill not close after all, Watlington announced at acharged school board meeting Thursday.
Watlington is calling the plan “Accelerating Opportunities,” a nod to “Accelerate Philly,” his academic strategic plan.
“This is a landmark, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to reduce the number of buildings in poor condition from 85 to 0, Watlington says. He acknowledges that there will be opposition to the plan, and he respects people’s right to disagree.
‘I see a tale of two cities’: Watlington presents facilities master plan with the board
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. speaks during the school board meeting on Thursday.
It’s the big moment now: Watlington is presenting his facilities master plan.
He name-checks Constance E. Clayton, the legendary former Philadelphia superintendent, whom he called his “#1 mentor.”
“We’ve lost tens of thousands of children” since Clayton’s day, because of the growth of the charter school sector and a flat birth rate, Watlington said.
Watlington watched a 45-minute movie recently about Overbrook High, which in 1969 had 5,000 students. Today, Overbrook has 466 students.
Schools, 100 years ago, were built “big, bold,” sometimes with stained-glass windows, marble floors, and grand architecture.
But now, Watlington said, “I see a tale of two cities.” Kids in some places have ample access to high-quality academic programs, and in others, they do not, he said.
As Watlington continues to give his assessment of the district, there were some cheers from the crowd as the superintendent promised to “whiz through some slides quickly.”
Watlington says he will recommend cutting half days, as he shares attendance stats
Student regular attendance was 53% this past January, as compared to 51% in 2025, Watlington says.
Watlington will present a recommendation to eliminate half days, which affect student attendance negatively.
“We need to eliminate and sunset half days from our school calendars for now, and forevermore,” the superintendent said.
Teacher attendance was 76% in January, up from 74% in 2025, Watlington said.
As of this January, 1,071 students have dropped out of the district since the start of the school year, up slightly (1,069 students) from the same period last year.
Watlington begins his report with updates on the wellness campaign the board will consider
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. is shouting out Lift Every Voice, a grassroots parent organization, for its work.
LEV’s “joy campaign” helped advance the new wellness policy the board will consider tonight. LEV campaigned hard for things like the end to silent recess, plus mandatory bathroom and water breaks.
Student board members urge the board to pass school wellness policy
The student board members, in their report, urge the board to pass the school board wellness policy, and say they’ve attended multiple school closing community meetings.
They encourage students to continue to speak out about issues important to them.
The facilities plan being shared tonight has been long in the works, Streater says
Streater is talking about the history of the facilities master plan, which he says began with the board’s hiring of Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr in 2022.
It’s expanded its speaker policy Thursday to allow extra comment on the important topic, he said. The board will hold a special town hall on the facilities master plan on March 12, Streater said.
“We understand this works brings forth a range of mixed and often strong emotions,” Streater said.
Honored teacher of the month is from a school slated to close
Jessica Peruso, an autistic support teacher at Harding Middle School in Frankford — one of the 20 schools slated for closure under the district’s facilities plan — was honored as Teacher of the Month.
Peruso has taught at Harding for 13 years.
“Her work is more than teaching — it is advocacy and community building in action,” Superintendent Tony Watlington said.
The announcement drew some loud cheers from the audience, and a shout of “Harding!”
School board kicks off a meeting expected to be lengthy
Board meeting, here we go!
There’s a packed room and a packed agenda.
Board president Reginald Streater explains that given the length of the meeting, the board will take at least one break to help members maintain focus (and switch out batteries).
There are a whopping 98 speakers tonight between students, elected officials, and other members of the public. The board has allowed extra speakers on facilities issues.
The facilities plan is a ‘bad deal,’ says Councilmember Jamie Gauthier
City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier delivered a fiery speech to close the rally on behalf of all of the elected officials present. She called the proposal “a bad deal” for students, teachers, and staff across the district.
“Our kids, especially the Black and brown young people being disproportionately impacted by this plan, deserve better than a plan that’s dependent on raising an additional $2 billion informed by inconsistent data, and is missing so many crucial answers,” she said.
Gauthier said several well-performing schools, like Paul Robeson High School and Parkway West High School, are slated for closure, and implored the district to reevaluate its plan and slow down.
She also shared concern about the plan to close Motivation High School because of underutilized space, despite it sharing a building with another high school.
Lankenau students fight for their school to be saved
Midway through the rally, a busload of students and staff from Lankenau High, an environmental science magnet school, arrived in front of the school district headquarters, armed with signs calling the school district’s plan to close “trash.”
“I feel safe here,” said Zhanel Osmonova, a first-year student. At her previous school, she felt less welcome and struggled to fit in. That changed at Lankenau, and she said she’s worried about having to start over again.
“In this school, I find my voice and my safety,” she said.
Jesse Hall, a junior, said the district ought to understand that the characteristics that make Lankenau special won’t necessarily transfer if students have to move to Roxborough High School. Though he will have graduated by the time Lankenau would close, he feels close to and worried about his teachers and underclassmen friends. Hall will deliver a speech to the school board later today imploring them to keep Lankenau open.
“I hope they realize what they’re going to do to the students,” he said.
Stetson Middle School students get the energy rising as rally begins
Students rally before the school board meeting on Thursday.
Ahead of the official start of the rally, students from John B. Stetson Middle School are raising the energy with whistles, noise-makers, and the kind of cheering you’d expect at a college basketball game, except these chants are: “Save our school!”
Some passing cars honked their support.
David Orellana, pastor of CityReach Church in Kensington, said that he and others in the Stetson community have not received adequate answers from the school district about why Stetson is recommended for closure.
“We believe that the school is a staple in the community. It’s a heartbeat in the community,” he said.
Watlington to present facilities plan to school board
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington St. is set to present his $2.8 billion facilities plan to school board members at Thursday’s meeting.
The board will not vote Thursday on the plan, which remains just a proposal until members act on it. The board has not yet set a date for that vote but it is expected in the coming weeks.
Opponents of school closures gather for rally outside district headquarters
Before a scheduled 4 p.m. Philadelphia school board meeting, a large turnout is expected at a rally on the steps of the school district’s North Broad Street headquarters.
Union members, students, parents, teachers, and community members plan to rally against the proposed closure of 20 Philadelphia public schools. At the board meeting, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. is expected to present a $2.8 billion facilities plan to the board. The proposal, unveiled last month, includes closing 20 schools, colocating six and modernizing 159 school buildings.
The demonstration is being organized by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and other labor unions.
Nick Sirianni praises new Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker
Christian Parker during a news conference last week with the Cowboys.
Former Eagles defensive assistant coach Christian Parker reportedly beat out eight other contenders to land the Dallas Cowboys’ vacant defensive coordinator position.
“Every impression we had with CP just left us wanting more,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer told reporters at a news conference last week. “The conviction that he has, but curious, his calm demeanor, just the way he carries himself, is awesome … It became very clear he was the guy for the job.”
Speaking to reporters at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni called Parker “a phenomenal football coach,” crediting him with “a lot” of the team’s player development success.
“I think the world of him and wish him the best,” Sirianni said, “with the exception of two games each year.”
Howie Roseman: Brandon Graham ‘always welcome in Philadelphia’
Brandon Graham un-retired to play for the Eagles last season.
Eagles GM Howie Roseman praised veteran defender Brandon Graham, who unretired to rejoin the Birds for a 16th season.
But Roseman didn’t say whether Graham, 37, would be back with the squad this season.
“Brandon Graham is always welcome in Philadelphia, obviously,” Roseman told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine Tuesday. “When I think about what he’s done for us as a player, as a person, and then last year when he came back, the versatility he showed … future Eagles Hall of Famer.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni shared Roseman’s sentiment when asked about Graham at the combine Tuesday.
“I’m not going to say it’s a ridiculous question, but of course, you want guys back like that,” Sirianni said.
Maxx Crosby said he loved playing in the hostile environment of Lincoln Financial Field.
The Las Vegas Raiders are planning to keep star edge rusher Maxx Crosby despite the trade talk around the five-time Pro Bowl pick, general manager John Spytek said Tuesday.
“Maxx is an elite player. I’ve been very upfront from the start since I got here, that we’re in the business of having really good players on the team, and we need a lot more of them,” Spytek said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Crosby has been rehabilitating from left knee surgery he underwent three days after the regular season ended, as speculation about his status has persisted following an NFL-worst 3-14 record for the Raiders and the firing of coach Pete Carroll after just one year on the job.
Crosby said earlier this month he doesn’t want out and that the unsubstantiated reports suggesting he does make him laugh. His future with the club that drafted him in the fourth round out of Eastern Michigan in 2019 became a subject when he was placed on injured reserve with two games left against his wish, preferring to play out the season. Crosby, who has 69½ sacks in seven years, had a career-high 28 tackles for loss in 2025.
— Associated Press
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Watch: Nick Sirianni, Howie Roseman speak at the NFL scouting combine
// Timestamp 02/24/26 2:03pm
New UFL rules include a four-point field goal and Tush Push ban
Andre Mintze, a Philly native and former Imhotep standout, plays for the DC Defenders.
While all eyes are on the NFL scouting combine, don’t forget about the United Football League.
In case you’d forgotten, the upstart, eight-team spring football league is the re-branded result of a merger between the XFL and USFL in 2023.
Ahead of its third season, the UFL announced some interesting new rules Tuesday, including a ban of the Tush Push, something the NFL hasn’t been able to get through.
It doesn’t look like this will be the year, either. NFL competition committee co-chairman Rich McKay said on ESPN Sunday he’s not anticipating any challenges to the Tush Bush this offseason.
“There’s no team proposal that I’ve seen from it,” McKay said. “So, I wouldn’t envision it. But you never know.”
Here is a full rundown of the UFL’s new rules. Their season begins March 27, and will feature three new teams — the Columbus Aviators, Louisville Kings, and Orlando Storm.
Four-point field goal: Any successful field goal from 60 yards or farther will now be worth four points. Regular fields goals will remain three points.
No punting rule: Punts will no longer be allowed from anyone inside an opponent’s 50-yard-line. The only exception is with less than two minutes remaining before halftime or the end of the game.
Elimination of the Tush Push: No more pushing quarterbacks from behind in the UFL.
New overtime rules: Teams will have three alternating attempts to score from the five-yard line. If the score remains tied, teams will continue to alternate attempts until a winner is determined.
‘He’s going to be a huge asset’: Dolphins head coach praises Kevin Patullo
Former Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Following a Zoom interview with Kevin Patullo, new Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley was so impressed he knew he wanted to bring the former Eagles offensive coordinator down to Miami.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine, Hafley said Patullo’s knowledge goes beyond just the offense and extends to “game management” and “situational football”
“I got off the Zoom and I said to [Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik], ‘We’ve got to try and hire this guy,’” Hafley said. “He had other opportunities and other options.”
The Dolphins indeed landed Patullo, whose brief tenure with the Eagles saw both the passing and running game regress. The Eagles’ offense finished the season ranked No. 19 in scoring and No. 24 in yards, down from No. 7 and No. 8 in those respective categories in 2024.
How long will the scouting combine remain in Indianapolis?
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will host the NFL scouting combine through 2028.
That’s the perennial question.
Indianapolis, which has hosted the combine since 1987, will continue as the event’s home through at least 2028, the NFL announced last month.
Despite other cities placing bids to host the event, the NFL has continued to stick with the combine’s roots. The league has also placed the desires of scouts and coaches — who enjoy the convenience of the Circle City’s downtown setup — over expanding the combine into a TV event the way the league has done with the NFL draft.
“For more than three decades, Indy has proven to be the best host city, efficiently moving prospects, team owners, coaching staff, medical personnel, and national media seamlessly through the city,” Colts Chief Operating Officer Pete Ward said in a statement.
How does this year’s draft class stack up with the Eagles’ needs?
The NFL world is descending on Indianapolis again this week for the NFL scouting combine.
This week, 319 college football prospects will descend on Indianapolis for the annual NFL scouting combine, where they will be tested physically, mentally, and medically, interviewed by NFL front office personnel, and will speak with hundreds of media members.
This latest step in the 2026 NFL draft process allows teams to home in on the next crop of players who will fill their franchises. All 32 teams will have 45 “formal interviews,” which last just under 20 minutes, can include watching film or any questions teams want to ask a prospect, and typically take place in the Lucas Oil Stadium suites.
The first direct touch point with prospects happened at last month’s Shrine and Senior Bowl games. NFL teams will utilize this next piece of the puzzle to identify which prospects match their team needs.
Here is how we’re ranking the combine position groups from strongest to weakest. Click through to read how they could help the Eagles address some roster needs:
‘We’ll continue to move on’: What’s next after Jeff Stoutland’s surprising exit?
Jeff Stoutland announced his departure from the Eagles earlier this month.
Two months after the Eagles hired Jeff Stoutland, they drafted Lane Johnson with the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft. Howie Roseman had his cornerstone offensive lineman, one whom Stoutland helped develop into a future Hall of Fame right tackle.
Stoutland was in the room with — and in the ear of — Roseman in the years that followed, even after the coach who hired Stoutland, Chip Kelly, left town. Stoutland survived 13 seasons and three coaching staffs in large part because he was arguably the best offensive line coach in football, but he also shared similar philosophies with Roseman.
“In 13 years, I probably couldn’t get on one hand our disagreements,” Roseman said during a session with Eagles beat writers on Friday, a few weeks after Stoutland announced his departure from the Eagles. “We looked at offensive line play very similarly.”
The offensive line, which took a step back in 2025 thanks to multiple injuries, has quickly gone from a position of strength and certainty to one that may soon need to be overhauled. The Eagles have been due to draft and develop Johnson’s eventual replacement, but now they may have big holes in the interior sooner than they anticipated.
It’s a crucial offseason for Roseman to address multiple spots on the depth chart, not just the offensive line, and retooling the offensive front now comes without the help of Stoutland.
“I probably could have 50 stories on our draft process and how we went through them,” Roseman said. “I miss him. … We’ll continue to move on. I feel like we have a really good group of people here. I feel confident in our ability to evaluate, but at the same time understanding how important he was to the process of adding good players and then developing those good players.”
Falcons GM Ian Cunningham told 92.9 The Game in Atlanta that the team plans to release Kirk Cousins on the first day of the league year, Wednesday, March 11.
Ertz, 35, turned around his career as a reliable target for Jayden Daniels, but the tight end’s contract with the Commanders is up this season. It remains unclear whether he’ll remain in Washington or become a free agent.
The Birds have marketing rights in Brazil and played there two seasons ago, but the NFL generally avoids scheduling divisional matchups in international games (though it’s already bucking that trend with 49ers-Rams in Australia, plus the Chiefs have played the Chargers, an AFC West foe, twice on foreign soil).
There’s also London, but even though the Birds are scheduled to play a road game against the Jaguars, it seems unlikely the NFL would want to waste the ratings potential of the Eagles on a game with a 9:30 a.m. Philly kickoff.
Nick Sirianni, Howie Roseman to speak more ahead of NFL scouting combine
Howie Roseman (left) and Nick Sirianni will speak to reporters Tuesday.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman will speak to reporters Tuesday afternoon ahead of the scouting combine.
Roseman is slated to take the podium at 2:45 p.m., followed by Sirianni at 3 p.m.
While most of the focus will likely be on whom the Eagles might take in the upcoming NFL draft, Sirianni and Roseman will undoubtedly face questions about a host of issues, including the future of A.J. Brown.
Sirianni and Roseman spoke to Eagles reporters Friday. Here’s what they learned.
Sean Mannion will be calling plays for the first time under intense scrutiny in Philadelphia.
Nick Sirianni sat perched back in a chair with his feet up in UGG slippers. The Eagles coach looked as relaxed as he has in over a year, and certainly since a tumultuous 2025 season ended with him having to oust consigliere Kevin Patullo as offensive coordinator last month.
Sirianni met with reporters at the newly named Jefferson Health Training Complex on the Friday before the NFL combine. He and general manager Howie Roseman normally answer questions with locals in Indianapolis before they hit the combine podium. But with so much change already — and more to come — the Eagles opted for the more familiar setting of their draft room to address pertinent matters about the team.
Sirianni and the more upright Roseman spoke separately, each for around 40 minutes. They tackled subjects ranging from wide receiver A.J. Brown’s uncertain future to longtime offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland’s departure. But a significant portion of their availability — especially the coach’s — was spent on new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.
Why did Sirianni hire the inexperienced former Packers quarterbacks coach? Why was the search drawn out? How much did wanting the Shanahan-McVay offense factor into the decision? What did Sirianni like about the scheme? How much autonomy will Mannion have? How will quarterback Jalen Hurts and other returning players adapt to the new system? And how will the changes affect evaluations of Brown and future Eagles?
Sirianni was light on details — how could he not be with so many unknowns — but he and Roseman did provide enough information to allow for informed perspective on Mannion, the new scheme and what could be an inflection point for the coach, his quarterback, and the Eagles overall.
Here are 10 takeaways about the offense from Friday’s interviews:
Four players the Eagles could be watching at the NFL Scouting Combine
Will the Eagles be in position to fill a need with Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq (left) or Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor?
When evaluating NFL prospects, a player’s past performance is often the best predictor of future performance. The same can be said for the act of scouting itself.
Howie Roseman, who began serving as Eagles general manager in 2010, has an extensive draft history that can be used to project his future prospect preferences. Roseman has had personnel control during 15 draft cycles, not including 2015 when Chip Kelly was in charge of those decisions. Those 15 draft classes offer windows into Roseman’s valued traits and abilities at each position.
For years, the Eagles’ player personnel department has been gathering information about the 2026 draft class. At the scouting combine next week, Roseman and his staff will continue to learn about the scores of NFL hopefuls and determine their prospective fit within the organization.
What can the Eagles’ draft history tell us about the questions they will seek to answer about some of the top prospects at three positions of need next week?
Offensive line
Kadyn Proctor, Alabama: The 6-7, 366-pound tackle stands out for his movement skills at his hulking size. Proctor has the skill set to line up at guard, too, giving the Eagles another interior option with Lane Johnson returning for a 14th season.
Max Iheanachor, Arizona State: The 6-6, 330-pound tackle is a rawer prospect than Proctor, beginning his football career in junior college only five years ago. Iheanachor has the requisite size and quickness at the position, though, and he could continue to improve his draft stock with eye-catching numbers at the combine.
Tight end
Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon: The 20-year-old is the consensus top tight end in this year’s draft class who could come off the board within the Eagles’ range (potentially earlier) at No. 23 overall. His speed and athleticism are his strengths, and excels at making plays with the ball in his hands, which could be a benefit to the Eagles in the screen game.
Cornerback
Avieon Terrell, Clemson: The 5-11, 180-pound cornerback is relatively undersized at the position, but regardless of his size, Terrell has solidified himself among the top cornerbacks in this year’s draft class with his smart instincts and competitive spirit. He also has inside-outside versatility if the Eagles ever decide to move Cooper DeJean outside full-time. If Terrell tests well at the combine, he could get his foot in the door of the late first round.
NFL salary cap getting another big increase. Here’s where the Eagles stand.
The Eagles will have to make a decision on pending free agent Dallas Goedert.
The NFL salary cap just keeps going up and up.
The 2026 NFL salary cap is projected to land somewhere between $301.2 million and $305.7 million per team, a big jump from last season. At a minimum, it’s an increase of $22 million compared to 2025’s cap of $279.2 million, offering Howie Roseman and the Eagles some much-needed breathing room.
The Eagles have 21 pending free agents, including tight end Dallas Goedert, safety Reed Blankenship, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips.
“As for which players the Eagles will prioritize, it’s not hard to imagine them wanting to rework something with Goedert before they look elsewhere for a tight end,” Eagles beat writers Olivia Reiner and Jeff Neiburg wrote last month. Phillips will be at or near the top of the priority list, too. The Eagles are thin at edge rusher and could use an impact player like Phillips at the top of the depth chart to pair with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith.
Princely Umanmielen (left) and Bradyn Swinson at last year’s NFL scouting combine.
Tomorrow’s potential draft picks will be on display this week in Indianapolis as the NFL scouting combine gets underway.
What once was a scouting event held far away from television cameras has morphed into one of the NFL’s tentpoles, drawing multiple days of live coverage on the NFL Network.
Compensatory picks have not yet been finalized, but the Eagles know where they’ll be picking in the first three rounds.
Currently, the Eagles have five total picks in the draft, which is slated to begin April 23 in Pittsburgh.
The Birds are also expected to receive three compensatory picks, awarded for high-profile free agency losses that include Milton Williams (Patriots), Josh Sweat (Cardinals), and Mekhi Becton (Chargers).
Over the Cap projects the Eagles will land one third-round pick (for Williams), one fourth-round pick (for Sweat), and one fifth-round pick (for Becton).
Philly got its biggest snow in 10 years. This time nature will help with the cleanup.
Sean Little of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation shovels snow along the sidewalks on Race Street on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
If it wasn’t an actual blizzard, Philly’s biggest snowfall in a decade sure acted like one, and the weather the rest of this week isn’t expected to be particularly pleasant.
But in terms of disruption — not to mention aesthetics — this was in a wholly different category from the Jan. 25 siege of snow and ice. And the aftermath should not be anywhere near as punitive and burdensome.
Although the 14 inches measured officially at Philadelphia International Airport dwarfed the 9.3 inches of snow and sleet that accumulated in last month’s storm, Zach Schwartz, 33, was among those who found the picturesque snow more palatable than the attack of ice balls and an Arctic freeze.
“The last snowstorm was a tough time for everyone,” said Schwartz, who was at a Point Breeze playground helping a friend build an igloo for their kids, “and I think the city was kind of in shock a little bit.”
Philadelphia’s Office of Homeless Services said the city would maintain several 24-hour warming centers through Wednesday morning to help people stay out of the cold.
The city is already in a Code Blue, which is declared when precipitation is falling and temperatures are 32 degrees or lower, or when temperatures feel close to or below 20 degrees due to the wind chill.
During a Code Blue, the city sends outreach teams out 24 hours a day, looking for people without shelter and taking them inside. The designation also opens up 50 shelter beds, in addition to about 3,400 shelter beds available during the winter. Residents in emergency housing are also allowed to stay inside all day. (Some shelters require residents to leave in the morning and return at night.)
An “enhanced Code Blue” is declared when Code Blue conditions persist for three days, and the city opens up warming centers that offer a place to sit out of the cold, usually in libraries and rec centers. Some people experiencing homelessness who are wary about entering shelters opt for less-restrictive warming centers.
The city has not declared an enhanced Code Blue for this storm, but announced Sunday afternoon that it had planned to open warming centers at least overnight.
On Monday afternoon, OHS’s Instagram account posted an updated list of warming centers that will stay open until 9 a.m. Wednesday. The following centers are already open unless otherwise noted:
Pelbano Recreation Center, 8101 Bustleton Ave. (opens at 9 p.m. Monday)
Hub of Hope, 15th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard (enter at the 15th Street trolley station entrance in Dilworth Park)
Appletree Family Center, 1430 Cherry St.
Prevention Point, 2913-15 Kensington Ave.
Kensington Wellness Support Center, 265 E. Lehigh Ave.
Samuel Rec Center, 3539 Gaul St.
People who see someone on the streets in need of shelter, or who need shelter themselves, can call the city’s homeless outreach hotline at 215-232-1984.
Warmer weather is helping Philly’s cleanup, but so are lessons from the last storm
Mother nature’s above freezing temperatures largely aided Philadelphia’s snow removal operations Monday, but the city also adjusted its response after the prior storm cleanup left many residents chockfull of complaints.
Director of Clean and Green Initiatives Carlton Williams said the city secured three snow melters instead of just one, with two already on the road Monday, despite the much shorter notice of the storm.
“They’re located throughout the city of Philadelphia, because quite frankly, from the last storm, we are running out of places to place snow,” said Williams in a news conference, referring to the dozens of snow drop off sites, such as the Navy Yard. “We needed to be able to put it in a location where it doesn’t have to sit in somebody’s neighborhood.”
The city also added snow blowers to the mix of machines clearing the area around City Hall, said a city spokesperson.
The softness of the snow, compared to the hardened sleet from the last storm, has made it easier for the smaller snow clearing equipment to double back and tackle ADA ramps and crosswalks after the last bit of snow fell, according to the mayor’s office.
Even so, the city is slated to deploy crews of same-day-pay workers to manually shovel crosswalks, SEPTA stops, and ADA ramps that are hard to reach by machines as early as Tuesday.
The deployment of these reinforcements comes at a much faster clip than the previous storm, where some 300 additional workers helped chip away at persistent ice by hand more than a week after the snow fell.
Lee Paul and her puppy, Chay, check out the snow Monday near their Wayne Avenue apartment.
Lee Paul, 36, was not ready to step out of her Wayne Avenue apartment complex in the middle of a blizzard. But her four-month-old puppy had other plans.
“I had to take Chay to go to the bathroom,” said Paul, hands in her pockets and dreading the cold.
She hates winter, but is happy that living in a building meant no shoveling was in her future.
For Chay, this is all a new experience. He was thrilled to jump around in the snow, bury his paws over and over again, and catch tiny flakes with his nose for more than 10 minutes.
SEPTA resumes most services but Regional Rail remains suspended
SEPTA bus stops, like this one in Germantown, sat empty most of Monday.
SEPTA has reopened its Center City trolley tunnel, and resumed service on more than 20 of its bus routes. However, Regional Rail service remained largely suspended as of Monday afternoon, SEPTA general manager Scott Sauer said.
“We’re hoping to have some Regional Rail service restored later this afternoon,” Sauer said Monday. “But I will caution: We will not be on a regular schedule.”
Just before 3 p.m., the agency restored operations on its Manayunk/Norristown line, a representative said.
The transit agency had inspectors and inspection trains working along Regional Rail lines evaluating them for any hazards, but their resumption was not immediately clear Monday afternoon. Sauer encouraged riders to follow SEPTA’s app and website for service updates as storm cleanup progresses.
“SEPTA has nearly 300 Regional Rail and metro stations, most with a variety of platforms and infrastructure, so we are working to clear those in the best effort possible,” Sauer said.
About 30 track inspectors were working to inspect SEPTA infrastructure, and roughly 700 in-house employees were working to clear the authority’s property of snow and other hazards, including downed trees. Sauer added that SEPTA has utilized “many, many tons” of rock salt to combat ice, and employed the use of all of its available heavy equipment to aid in cleanup.
“We’ve made service adjustments, and now it’s back to restoration,” Sauer said. “But all while keeping an eye on safety for both our customers and our employees.”
Light snow is possible Tuesday night. More next week?
Snow removal vehicles plow at Swarthmore College Monday.
It won’t be a big deal, but a round of light snow is possible late Tuesday night and/or early Wednesday as a weak “clipper” system approaches from the west.
While temperatures on Tuesday will struggle to reach freezing and fall into the 20s at night and, thus, cold enough for snow, it shouldn’t accumulate more than an inch in the Philly region, forecasters say.
It will warm into the 40s on Wednesday, and given the strength of the February sun it should be a decent melting day.
More light precipitation, perhaps a mix of rain and snow, is possible Thursday, but that should be followed three consecutive dry days ,with high temperatures in the 40s to low 50s.
Another batch of chiller air could arrive in time for a storm to produce more snow early next week, said Tom Kines, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. But, yes, it’s way, way early.
At least by then, most of what fell Sunday and Monday should be liquefied.
Kines warned that in the meantime temperatures the next few nights are going to fall below freezing, turning some of that daytime melt into ice.
Snow fills a child’s basketball hoop in Haddonfield Monday.
More than 130,000 households across the Philadelphia region lost power last night due to the snowstorm.
Philadelphia households have mostly recovered from power outages on Monday, according to Peco, with only 213 active outages this afternoon.
South Jersey still has around 75,000 households currently without power, according to Jersey Central Power and Light, but that number has slowly decreased since this morning.
Outages in Atlantic City are still higher than they were this morning with 2,804 active outages, up from 1,892 around 7 a.m., according to Atlantic City Electric. Last night, more than 50,000 residents in Atlantic City lost power.
Wet snow brought down trees in Rittenhouse Square Monday.
At least 87 tress across the city were downed as a result of the storm as of Monday afternoon, and the city is working to determine which ones to prioritize clearing first, Parks and Recreation commissioner Susan Slawson said.
“We have four certified arborists that are actively inspecting reports of fallen trees to determine priority for clearance,” Slawson said Monday. “Everything is not a priority.”
Slawson asked for patience from city residents as the department works to clean up downed trees, and noted that some situations involving live wires require additional caution and coordination. Fallen trees blocking roadways, or those that have fallen on houses or cars, should be reported to 911, while those impacting power lines should be reported to Peco.
While the number of downed trees may rise in the immediate aftermath of the storm, Slawson said she expects officials will continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks and months. Longer-term implications, she cautioned, are possible.
“This moisture, this snow, is going to continue to [have an] affect,” Slawson said. “Early on in the spring, we may continue to see trees come down, and it’s a direct result of all the storms that we’ve had.”
Ronald Barnard works to shovel outside his Coulter Street home in Germantown Monday.
Ronald Barnard has been shoveling outside his Coulter Street home for two hours. At 69, snow clean up requires twice the effort, he said.
“It’s just a lot,” Barnard said pointing to the surrounding unplowed sidewalks and ice covered road. “This snow is easier to push than the snow in January, but it’s more than I expected for sure.”
He likes doing the clean up himself. But when neighbors offer to help, he takes the chance to reminiscent about a better time, when “the city used to give us salt and even plow the two way street, but times have change.”
El Zahur shovels the sidewalk outside his Germantown property Monday.
A block down Germantown Avenue, El Zahur, 42, is having an easier time. City plow trucks have been driving by all morning, making the street clean.
“The administration dropped the ball last time, but she made out for it this time,” Zahur said, referring to Mayor Charelle L. Parker. “Before, the trucks were driving around with their plows up, but now they are doing a good job actually removing the snow.”
Regardless, he is still responsible for his corner property sidewalks, which proved to be a bit of a hazard.
“I have managed to stay out of the way from falling things,” Zahur said, as some snow rapidly fell off the roof into the sidewalk. “I don’t want nothing falling on me from three stories above.”
Weather Service cancels blizzard warnings for Philly and across the region
Mike Ouellette plows his driveway with a snow blower in Wallingford Monday.
The National Weather Service has taken down the blizzard warnings for the region.
While strong winds and blowing snow are likely to persist, the threat of blizzard conditions has diminished, said Nick Guzzo, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly.
The warning had been scheduled to expire at 6 p.m., but snow has moved out of the area, and overall visibilities and conditions have improved
Philly snow emergency remains in effect, no word yet if schools will reopen Tuesday
Snow topped cars sit in a Old City apartment parking lot Monday.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said at a Monday afternoon news conference it remained too early to determine when the city’s snow emergency could be lifted, but officials hoped to have an update on the resumption of city operations later in the day.
In the meantime, Parker added, city residents should avoid unnecessary travel until further notice to allow crews to continue to clear the more than 2,500 miles of roadways in Philadelphia. Roughly 65% of streets had been treated in some way as of Monday afternoon — plowed, salted, or lifted, or some combination of the three — director of Clean and Green Initiatives Carlton Williams said.
“When there are fewer cars on the street, we give our crews more flexibility to do the job that we are asking them to do,” Parker said.
At the height of the storm, the city employed more than 800 pieces of equipment and about 1,000 workers to aid in snow removal, and that number “is still continuously growing,” Williams said. Workers will assist with the clearing of curb cuts, ADA ramps, and areas around schools, among other spaces, as cleanup efforts continue, he added.
“We will continue to focus on those areas so that all pedestrians and motorists will have safe and accessible walkways,” Williams said.
Officials expect to release additional information about Tuesday’s city services and school operations around 6 p.m., Parker said.
David Holmes cleans the snow off of his car as neighbor Bill McKean (rear) snow-blows the driveway in Haddonfield Monday.
The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management has announced that the mandatory travel restriction, which began at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday and was extended until noon Monday, has been lifted.
Officials nonetheless “strongly encouraged” motorists to avoid unnecessary travel as hazardous conditions remain in parts of New Jersey, according to a release from the state police.
“Some roadways remain snow-covered, visibility is limited in some areas, and crews continue working to clear roads and restore safe travel,” the release said.
Nicole Swinson looks into a snowy Penns Landing Monday.
Philadelphia hasn’t experienced a verified blizzard in 33 years, and it remains unclear whether this Sunday-Monday snow fest qualified for the honor.
According to NOAA guidelines, a blizzard requires “frequent winds of 35 mph or higher with considerable falling and/or blowing snow that frequently reduces visibility to 1/4 of a mile or less. These conditions are expected to prevail for a minimum of 3 hours.”
That’s a lot to ask for a snowstorm, and it is going to take considerable forensic work of poring through observations to determine whether those conditions were met in Philadelphia or elsewhere in the region, said Nick Guzzo, a meteorologist at the National Weahter Service Office in Mount Holly. (Incidentally, 20 inches of snow were measured on the office’s property.)
The last certifiable blizzard in Philly occurred on March 13, 1993. That one closed down the Philadelphia Flower Show.
Meteorologists were confident that the conditions were met during the record 30.7-inch snowfall of Jan. 7-8, 1996, however they weren’t officially verified in the city.
With or without a label, this was one impressive storm.
A Philadelphia Fire Department ambulance drives along Ridge Avenue at Midvale on Monday.
Light snow is lingering in the Philly region and could continue into the afternoon, but no additional accumulation is expected.
“What’s done is pretty much almost done,” said Amanda Lee, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, where 18 inches was measured Monday morning.
The potent coastal nor’easter that clocked South Jersey and areas along I-95 and generously layered several inches of snow throughout Philly’s neighboring counties in Pennsylvania is pulling away.
Snow covered tracks at SEPTA’s East Falls Station along the Norristown Regional Rail.
Almost all SEPTA services, besides some subway services, were temporarily suspended Monday due to the storm. But some are beginning to come back online.
Bus service is in the process of being restored as streets are cleared, the agency said.
The Center City Trolley Tunnel has reopened. The D and M lines are running on a modified service schedule, while Route G remains suspended.
Regional Rail remains suspended until safety inspections are complete. If Regional Rail service returns, it will follow a Saturday schedule.
The Broad Street Line (B), Market-Frankford Line (L), and Media-Sharon Hill Line (D) are operating as normal with some delays and cancellations.
The Norristown High Speed Line (M) is running but only operating between the 69th Street Transit Center and Radnor Station.
South Philadelphia is loving the winter wonderland
Zach Schwartz builds an igloo in Wharton Square Park Monday.
Fresh powdery snow, perfect for snowballs, blanketed Wharton Square Park in South Philadelphia after Sunday night’s snowstorm. Laughter from the playground, shovels scraping concrete, and snowmen slowly rolling into form took over the park on Monday morning.
Two men in particular came with a mission: to build an igloo for their kids. Zach Schwartz, 33, and Josh Feist, 33, of Point Breeze shoveled a path to the playground, piling up a more than five-foot snow pile. Feist, who is a mason, helped stabilize the frame while Schwartz carved out the inside.
“We have a really close crew of families in the neighborhood, so we’re here at the park like every day, no matter what. With the snow, we just have more fun things to do,” Schwartz said, who has lived in Philly since 2016. In recent memory, this storm had some of the most snowfall, Schwartz said, but that it doesn’t compare to the frozen snow of last month.
“The last snowstorm was a tough time for everyone, and I think the city was kind of in shock a little bit,” Schwartz said.
Samantha Schranck and John Gabel were out walking their dog enjoying the warmer temperatures compared to last snow storm. “I already had a day off, so I’m going to be a kid again and treat it like a snow day,” Schrank.
While snow removal is a much easier task this time around with snow that Gabel said is less frozen and easier to pick-up, the couple is hoping city streets and trash service are up to par this week.
“I’m very curious to see how the city clears the streets this time because it was a mess and took a long time in our neighborhood to clear snow from streets and take care of the trash build up,” Schranck said.
Sonia Odenthal (lft) throws a snowball at her son, Finn, while her husband Eric carries a giant snowball in Wharton Square Park Monday
On the other side of Wharton Square, Sonia Odenthal was having a snowball fight with her husband, Eric, and son, Finn. Despite trekking through the snow with a broken foot wrapped in a boot and water-proof bags, Odenthal couldn’t get enough of the snow.
“I’m Russian so this feels like home,” she said. “Even with a broken foot, I don’t care, I’m still out here. I love the snow.”
Philly’s snow accumulation is very reminiscent of her homeland, Sonia said, however, the temperature is much more reasonable. “A couple weeks ago when it got cold was very similar to home,” she said.
The trio will usually come to the park on snowy days for snowball fights or rolling snow into gigantic three-foot-high balls. The only thing missing in South Philadelphia is a good sledding hill, the Odenthal’s said.
Museums across the Philly region close due to snow
A griffin on the roof of the northern wing of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Several major Philadelphia arts institutions have announced closures due to emergency weather.
Early Monday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, and Calder Gardens announced closures on their social media accounts.
The PMA said it’ll reopen on Tuesday.
The Mütter Museum, Rodin Museum, the Museum of the American Revolution, Independence National Historical Park, Otherworld Philadelphia, National Liberty Museum, the Independence Seaport Museum, have also announced closures.
Per their usual hours of operation, the National Constitution Center, Eastern State Penitentiary, Penn Museum, the Fireman’s Hall Museum and others are closed on Monday.
Multiple sections of the New Jersey Turnpike closed due to numerous accidents
Multiple sections of the New Jersey Turnpike are experiencing major delays and closures after a series of accidents Monday morning amid whiteout conditions.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill extended a travel ban through noon, citing visibility issues, though those restrictions exclude the Turnpike and essential workers.
In an interview with Fox 5 New York early Monday, Sherrill said plowers were “down to pavement” on the Turnpike.
Still, throughout the early morning, reports of disabled vehicles, cars spinning out of control, and crashes have lit up the state’s 511 map, which provides real-time traffic updates.
Around 8:20 a.m. a southbound tractor trailer jack-knifed along entrance ramp interchange 8A-NJ32 in South Brunswick, leading to an all-lane blockage.
Shortly after 9 a.m. two crashes, minutes apart, played out in inner turnpike roadways in Carteret. First a northbound vehicle crashed north of Interchange 12, leaving one of three lanes blocked. Shortly after, a southbound vehicle crashed along Interchange 12. As of 11:15 a.m., all lanes were blocked.
At around 10 a.m. a southbound vehicle spun out south of Interchange 8A-NJ32 blocking one of three lanes.
Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock said his coastal city of Victorian homes “looks beautiful” covered in the foot of snow that had fallen by Monday morning.
“It looks like a snow globe,” he said.
“We had a good amount,” Mullock said, speaking by phone, from atop a tractor, which he said he was using to help plow out some neighbors. “There’s a few individual homes where a tree took a power line. The tides were ok. We were a little nervous about that. Overall, I would say things are pretty good.”
He cautioned his residents about shoveling themselves. “We have a lot of elderly in Cape May who shouldn’t be shoveling.”
Updated snowfall totals from across the Philadelphia region
Residents of W. Stanton, Philadelphia clearing snow from cars and sidewalks Monday.
More than a foot of snow fell overnight across the Philadelphia region, though the Jersey Shore was hit hardest by a powerful winter storm that was still dropping heavy snow Monday morning.
Due to heavy snow bands, the totals varied widely. Ten inches of snow were recorded in Boothwyn Monday morning, while 15 inches dropped overnight in Mount Ephraim, Camden County.
Officially, 13.7 inches fell at Philadelphia International Airport as of 7 a.m.
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Here are the latest snowfall totals from the National Weather Service, measured by trained spotters or observed by the service itself:
Philadelphia
Philadelphia International Airport: 13.7 in (7 a.m.)
Cape May County hospital lost power briefly overnight
Cooper University Hospital Cape Regional in Cape May Court House lost power overnight in the storm “for a very short period of time” and reverted to its back up generators, said Cooper Health spokesperson Nancy Marano.
“It was fully on back-up emergency power so no services were lost,” she said.
Some Camden residents must boil water due to water main break
A water main break may pose a threat to the water quality in Camden Monday morning, American Water Contract Services said. As a precaution, some areas of Camden are under a “boil water” advisory while crews assess the water supply.
The water main break occurred at Ninth and Jefferson Streets on Sunday night. In response, American Water was advising all residents living between Ferry Avenue and Collings Road in Camden, which includes the Fairview, Morgan-Village, and Centerville neighborhoods, to not drink or use tap water until further notice.
The advisory will remain in effect until repairs are complete and water quality is tested to be safe.
Instead, residents should use bottled water or bring tap water to a rolling boil for at least one minute and let it cool before using, according to American Water. Boiling water kills bacteria that could be found in the water.
Boiled or bottled water should be used for:
Drinking
Preparing Foods/Cooking
Mixing baby formula
Washing vegetables/fruits
Making Ice
Brushing teeth
Washing dishes
Affected residents should throw away uncooked food, beverages, or ice cubes made with tap water on Sunday night or today. American Water also cautioned residents to not swallow water when showering or bathing.
The following measures are also recommended:
Rinse hand-washed dishes with a diluted bleach solution (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle.
Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms.
Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries.
Provide pets with drinking water that has been boiled (and cooled).
With an official snowfall of 13.7 inches measured at Philadelphia International Airport, the city’s seasonal total bumped to 29.8 inches.
Among the 142 winters in the period of record, this one now is tied for 27th place, and also is the snowiest since 2018.
You may have noticed snow has been scarce in recent winters, and this also will be the first one since 2021 with snowfall above the normal, which is 23.1 inches.
Historically, totals have ranged radically from 78.7 inches in the historic winter of 2009-10 to nothing in the winter of 1972-73.
Photos: Heavy snow and wind bring down trees in Rittenhouse Square
Wet snow brought down trees in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia Monday. Several trees around Rittenhouse Square were taken down by the storm.
// Timestamp 02/23/26 9:08am
Amtrak cancels more than 30 trains, Keystone Service to resume at noon
Amtrak canceled more than 30 trains on its Northeast Regional and Acela train lines on Monday morning due to the snowstorm. Keystone Service has been suspended until at least noon.
Alerts went out at 4 a.m. announcing a slew of cancellations and advising riders to book the next available train. Amtrak will notify impacted customers directly. Customers whose trains are cancelled can rebook or request refunds, without penalties, on Amtrak.com, through the Amtrak mobile app, or by calling the Amtrak Care Center at 1-800-USA-RAIL.
Amtrak will operate 55% of planned service Monday on the Northeast Regional rail service, 33% of planned Acela trains, and half of the planned trains on the Keystone Service trains, when it returns at noon.
Northeast Regional carries thousands of passengers every day with Philadelphia and New York among some of the leading destinations, and the William H. Gray III 30th Street station among Amtrak’s busiest in the country.
‘Storm of a generation’: N.J. travel ban continues until noon, tree cutters ‘out in force’
A car stuck in the plowed snow on Pacific Avenue near Ohio Avenue in Atlantic City Monday.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Monday morning that New Jersey’s travel ban would continue until noon as white out conditions were making it difficult to see, especially on major roads like the Garden State Parkway.
“It was an early morning call,” she said, in an online interview with South Jersey weather forecaster Nick “NorEaster Nick” Pittman. “It was difficult to see the edge of the road where the guardrails were. We still have snow falling in a lot of parts of our state.”
She said more than 200,000 people had lost power across New Jersey, but that more than half of them had already had power restored. “which is pretty shocking given how horrible the conditions are.”
“They’re hiking in to some pretty clobbered areas of the state,” she said of the utility workers, 5,000 of whom had been “predeployed,” she said.
With heavy snow bringing down tbranches and trees, she said, “We have the tree cutters out in force.”
She said the magnitude and reach of the storm across New Jersey, with overnight blizzard conditions and the dumping of a foot or more of snow, was “generational.”
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this since 1996,” she said.
Coastal flooding in Atlantic City ‘underperformed in a good way’
Ice floods onto the street along Massachusetts Avenue in Atlantic City overnight Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
Scott Evans, Atlantic City’s Fire Chief and head of Emergency Management, said flooding in the coastal city was not as bad as feared. “The flooding definitely underperformed in a good way,” he said. “We’ll take it any day.”
He described it as “the low end of moderate” level of flooding, something Atlantic City is used to dealing with. The city had about a foot of snow by daylight, he said, with persistent high winds over night prompting numerous calls for “arcing wires.”
At the 11 p.m. Sunday high tide through around 2:30 a.m., there was about 8 to 10 inches of water in “some of our lowest lying areas,” he said, including Massachusetts Avenue, Bungalow Park and Lower Chelsea.
“We were expecting to get more,” he said in a phone interview Monday morning. “No significant problems.”
The city was still seeing the “residual ice” in the streets from the flooding, he said. Crews were out plowing streets, he said, and had mostly tamed the city’s famous Boardwalk. “They always have a team assigned to the Boardwalk,” he said.
He said he was not expecting any issues from the next high tide around 12:15 p.m. in the back bays.
Hundreds of flights canceled at Philadelphia International Airport
Airport crew plow snow during a winter storm in Philadelphia last month.
At Philadelphia International Airport, 604 flights had been canceled as of Monday morning, as snow blanketed the city. Another 42 flights were canceled for Tuesday, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights.
“Passengers should check on the status of their flights with their airlines—the airlines will also provide guidance on what passengers should do in the event their flights are cancelled,” said airport spokesperson Heather Redfern.
The airport also announced ticketing at Terminal A-West, B, and C and TSA checkpoints would be closed Monday.
Some 40 million square feet need to be cleared at the airport when snow falls, including on airplane runways and taxiways. The airport also has an additional 11.9 million square feet of space on roadways, ramps and parking lots.
While airplanes are deiced by the airlines, the department of aviation is required to ensure runways and taxiways are clear.
More than two inches of dry snow or half an inch or wet snow trigger closing a runway, according to regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration, noted Redfern. Even if flights are canceled by airlines or in the event that the FAA issues a ground stop, the airport does not close, Redfern noted in January ahead of another snowfall.
Snow will continue across the Philly area through the morning
A Sanitation Department dump truck clears snow on Midvale Avenue in the East Falls section of Philadelphia Monday.
As much as a foot of snow fell overnight across the Philadelphia region as heavy snowfall from a massive winter storm continues across the Delaware Valley.
Due to heavy snow bands, the totals varied widely. Ten inches of snow were recorded in Boothwyn Monday morning, while 11 inches dropped overnight in Mount Ephraim, Camden County.
Snow will continue throughout the morning, with another 3 to 5 inches expected to fall in Philadelphia, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Johnson.
The highest totals are expected along the northern and central Jersey Shore, with the heaviest bands dropping as much as 2 inches of snow per hour or greater. Another 4 to 6 inches of snow is possible for Southern New Jersey and parts of Central and Southern Delaware.
At the National Weather Service’s Mt. Holly observatory, 18.5 inches of snow had fallen as of 5:15 a.m. Monday morning.
2:30 AM Monday: Near blizzard conditions at our office under the main snow band. We are now up to 14.0" of snowfall. Snowfall rates remain around 2" per hour under the band. Please do not travel if you are in the Blizzard Warning area! #NJwxpic.twitter.com/t8VCjczG2y
Snow is expected to taper off by noon, forecasters said, but strong winds and blowing snow will continue through at least 5 p.m., creating dangerous driving conditions. Wind gusts in Philadelphia could reach upwards of 40 miles per hour during the day.
One bit of good news: Tidal flooding isn’t expected along the Delaware River due to the direction of the wind, so it won’t be a concern for Philly or the immediate area.
Why have these storms been happening on the weekend?
A pedestrian walks across Race Street in Chinatown Sunday.
If you perceive the atmosphere for whatever reason has a grudge against weekends, that’s understandable.
Precipitation has fallen on six of the last seven weekends, with snowflakes making appearances in all of them, most emphatically on Jan. 25, when 9.3 inches of snow and sleet balls accumulated, and then refused to leave.
The storm rhythm actually is a quite common one, meteorologists say.
It has to do with the spacing between weather systems. Sometimes they show up in roughly 3½-day cycles, taking that long to traverse the country, and often it’s the second one in the cycle that is the stronger storm.
Like so many things in the atmosphere — droughts, wet periods — they keep happening, until they don’t.
We’re probably about due for a don’t, but not this weekend.
Snow began falling in Philly early Sunday evening and is expected to continue through Monday afternoon, with the heaviest snowfall overnight into the morning. Here’s the latest map.
A citywide snow emergency is in effect in Philadelphia, while both New Jersey and Delaware have declared a state of emergency.
DoorDash, the food delivery service, has suspended operations in Philadelphia and New Jersey amid the snow storm.
According to a company press release, DoorDash deliveries have ended as of 9 p.m. on Sunday and will not begin again until at least 12 p.m. Monday, depending on conditions at that time.
“We’re suspending operations across impacted areas to keep our community safe,” said company spokesperson, Julian Crowley, in a press release. “This is a serious storm — we’ll resume when it passes.”
At least 15,000 without power across Southern and Central New Jersey
At least 15,000 people were without power in Southern and Central New Jersey on Sunday evening around 8 p.m., according to outage maps from energy providers Jersey Central Power & Light and Atlantic City Electric.
In the Philadelphia area, as snow blanketed the region, roughly 1,500 Peco customers were affected by outages around 7:50 p.m., the company’s outage map indicated. Residents can monitor the company’s outage map to see where an outage has happened and the estimated restoration time.
Residents can receive outage alerts from Peco by texting “ADD OUTAGE” to 697326. To report an outage, text “OUT” to the same number or call 1-800-841-4141 or use the company’s online portal. For downed power lines, call the same number.
PSE&G customers in New Jersey can check the energy company’s outage map. As of 8 p.m., the utility provider had restored service to some 4,600 customers who had lost power on Sunday, according to a company press release. Around 8:50 p.m. nearly 2,800 customers were impacted by outages in the energy provider’s service area which includes parts of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties and stretches up to Newark.
To report an outage or downed line to PSE&G, call 1-800-436-7734. For hazards that result from a downed line, call 911, said Marijke Shugrue, senior director of communications at PSE&G during a virtual press conference on Sunday.
Never use a power generator indoors during an outage, said Shugrue.
Downed power lines can be very dangerous, and people should stay away from them, Shugrue added, advising people not to touch anything that is in contact with that downed line.
If you can smell gas indoors, exit the building, move at least 350 feet away and call 911, said Shugrue. Peco also advises customers to leave the area immediately if gas is suspected. For an emergency related to gas specifically, customers can call Peco at 1-844-841-4151.
Outside homes, snow should be cleared from pipes, vents, and meters so that carbon monoxide doesn’t accumulate inside, PSE&G advises.
SEPTA riders board the 47 bus at 8th and Market Streets in January.
On Sunday evening SEPTA issued updated guidance on available service for the rest of the day.
All SEPTA bus routes will be suspended at 10 p.m. Sunday, the transit agency announced.
Regional Rail trains and the Norristown High Speed Line will operate until the end of scheduled service on Sunday evening.
The Center City Trolley Tunnel will close at 9 p.m. Sunday. Service on trolleys will continue until the scheduled end of service on Sunday evening or until conditions permit it.
The D Line Trolley route is currently being operated by a bus. That service will conclude at 10 p.m. Sunday and the trolley service by train will resume in the morning weather permitting.
An NJ Transit train pulls into the Red Bank station.
NJ Transit will suspend its all rail service by 9 p.m. Sunday, the agency announced in a news release.
Earlier, the transportation agency stopped its bus, light rail, and Access Link services. Trains were initially excluded from the closures, but Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned the shutdown was likely.
Some routes will end service before 9 p.m., but no trains will leave their origin point after 9 p.m. Customers should check the transit authority’s website or social media for updates.
Bands of heavy snow moving across the Philly region
A man rides his scooter along N. 4th Street as snow falls.
Some “bands” of heavy snow were moving across the region Sunday evening, and that is likely to continue through the night, said Nick Guzzo, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
“Banding,” in which narrow corridors of heavy snow migrate from place to place, are common during winter storms. Areas under the bands can receive a quick couple of inches of snow.
By nightfall some totals of 1 to 2 inches were reported in the Philadelphia area and at the Shore. Forecasters said rates of two inches an hour were possible at times.
Totals are likely to vary around the region, in part to the randomness of banding, said Guzzo.
Banding or not, everyone is going to be seeing a whole lot of snow before it ends Monday, he said.
The weather service is calling for 12-18 inches in the immediate Philadelphia area, with as much as two feet in parts of South Jersey.
Some drifting is possible later when winds – gusting up to 45 mph inland, and 60 mph at the Shore – kick up and the snow becomes drier, said Guzzo.
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A slew of travel restrictions put in place across the Philly region
PennDOT reduced the speed limit on a number of Philadelphia-area highways Sunday evening, including I-95 and the Schuylkill Expressway.
The speed limit is now 45 mph on the following Philly-area roadways:
Interstates 76, 95, 295, 476, 676
U.S. Routes 1, 30, 202, 422
State Routes 63, 100 Spur and 309
PennDOT also issued Tier 4 restrictions on major roadways in Eastern Pennsylvania, which prohibits all commercial vehicles from driving. It also restricts buses, motorcycles, RVs, and passenger vehicles towing trailers.
New Jersey issued a travel ban on all non-exempt vehicles from driving on major roadways beginning at 9 p.m. The New Jersey Turnpike is not includes in the restriction.
Delaware issued Level 1 driving restrictions, which calls on residents residents not to drive “unless there is a significant safety, health, or business reason to do so.”
All Philadelphia City Council offices will be closed Monday as a massive winter storm makes its way across the region, President Kenayatta Johnson’s office announced Sunday afternoon.
A Public Health and Human Services Committee hearing on reproductive health scheduled to take place Monday will be postponed to a later day, .
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker had previously announced all city offices and schools would be closed Monday due to the storm.
Hundreds of flights canceled at Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia airport crew plow snow during last month’s storm.
356 flights had been cancelled at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday as of 5 p.m., as snow started to blanket the city. Another 579 flights were cancelled for Monday, according to FlightAware, which tracks flights.
“Passengers should check on the status of their flights with their airlines—the airlines will also provide guidance on what passengers should do in the event their flights are cancelled,” said airport spokesperson, Heather Redfern on Sunday afternoon via email.
Some 40 million square feet need to be cleared at the airport when snow falls, including on airplane runways and taxiways. The airport also has an additional 11.9 million square feet of space on roadways, ramps and parking lots.
While airplanes are deiced by the airlines, the department of aviation is required to ensure runways and taxiways are clear.
More than two inches of dry snow or half an inch or wet snow trigger closing a runway, according to regulations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), noted Redfern. Even if flights are canceled by airlines or in the event that the FAA issues a ground stop, the airport does not close, Redfern noted in January ahead of another snowfall.
The machinery that has been used at the airport to tackle snow in the past sports weather related names: Snow Angel, Ice Wookie, Multifarious, Snowmizer, Snow Slayer, Time Bandit, Arctic Fox, Snow Jawn, Nor’easter, Yeti, Storm Breaker, Terra Hawk, Silver Hawk, Heatwave, Tropic Breeze, and Heatmizer.
A man rides his scooter along N. 4th Street as snow falls Sunday. Rain turns into snow late Sunday afternoon in Haddonfield. Pedestrians use their umbrellas to shield themselves from the snow in Old City Sunday. Snow falls at Chew Playground in South Philadelphia. Rain shifts to snow in the Italian Market at 9th and Carpenter Streets.
// Timestamp 02/22/26 4:42pm
PSE&G prepares for outages due to ‘heavy wet snow and elevated winds’
Snow begins to pile up in Wayne, Delaware County Sunday afternoon.
Outages due to the snowstorm are expected, Brian J. Clark, senior vice president of PSE&G, the energy company based in Newark, said in a press conference around 3:45pm on Sunday.
PSE&G, which provides electricity and gas, services parts of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.
“The increased heavy wet snow and elevated winds remain our major concerns,” said Clark on Sunday. “We may see large limbs and possible decayed trees fall and make contact with our lines.”
Roughly 3,000 PSE&G electric field personnel were on hand to help restore service on Sunday, which includes tree trimmers and line workers.
Restoring service includes clearing wires that have fallen and may be blocking roads, to ensure emergency responders can circulate. The utility company focuses on restoring service to “the largest blocks of customers first, and working concurrently with other crews downstream to restore individual homes and businesses,” said Clark.
Customers can check the company’s outage map to find out how long restoring service is estimated to take in their area.
“We’re fully staffed, which includes strategically placing folks at different points in our service territory to respond quickly to emergencies,” said Clark. “At PSE&G, our service to our customers, businesses and governmental locations is extremely important to us. Our team will be fully engaged around the clock until everyone is restored.”
‘Code Blue’ for Philadelphia, city to open warming sites
The Hub of Hope will serve as a warming site during the storm.
City officials on Sunday instituted a “Code Blue” that’s set to last until 9 a.m. Tuesday.
A Code Blue is declared when precipitation is falling and temperatures are 32 degrees or lower, or when temperatures feel close to or below 20 degrees due to the wind chill. The designation means that the city sends out outreach teams 24 hours a day to find people without shelter and take them to “safe indoor spaces.”
It also opens up additional shelter beds, and residents in emergency housing are allowed to stay inside all day. (Some shelters require residents to leave in the morning and return at night.)
On Sunday afternoon, the city announced that warming sites would open at several locations across the city on Sunday evening:
Hub of Hope, 4 p.m.: 15th Street trolley entrance in Dilworth Park, 1 S. 15th Street
Samuel Recreation Center, 7 p.m.: 3539 Gaul St.
Kensington Wellness Support Center, 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.: 265 East Lehigh Ave.
Prevention Point, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.: 2913-15 Kensington Ave.
People who need shelter or who see someone sleeping outdoors should call the city’s homeless outreach hotline at 215-232-1984. People can also visit a homeless intake center; the city’s after-hours intake centers are open 24/7 during a snow emergency. The city will also open its Appletree Family Center at 1430 Cherry Street, at 6 p.m. through Monday.
The city said capacity at the warming centers is 280 and shelter beds also had room to take people; typically, the city operates 3,000 shelter beds year round and adds at least 400 extra during the winter. During Code Blue, another 50 beds are added.
Some advocates said early Sunday the city should do more to get people sleeping on the streets inside. Declaring an “enhanced Code Blue,” which typically occurs after three days of Code Blue conditions have passed, would open warming centers, which allow people spaces to sit to get out of the cold. During the last cold snap, libraries served as warming centers during the day and rec centers opened to shelter people at night.
Some staff at libraries said they had been overwhelmed during this month’s unusually long enhanced Code Blue, and that the city had not provided enough resources or staff to help warming center clients. Still, advocates for homeless Philadelphians say the warming centers are a lifeline in potentially dangerous weather conditions, especially for people who are wary of entering shelters.
Rain switches over to snow in Philly; nearly 2 inches already in Somers Point
Snow falls as a pedestrian walks along N. 2nd Street in Old City Sunday afternoon.
Rain began switching over to snow in Center City Philadelphia and across the region just before 4 p.m. Sunday as residents brace for snowfall totals of a foot or more.
The agency is still calling for 14 to 20 inches of snow to fall in and around Philly through Monday morning, with the heaviest snowfall expect to take place this evening.
Heavy snow could be seen on webcams up and down the Jersey Shore, from Wildwood to Seaside Heights, areas expected to be hit the hardest by the massive storm. All of New Jersey’s 21 counties are expected to get a foot or more of snow, Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned during a news conference earlier in the day.
Camden, other school districts announce snow closures
An Elmo balloon rolls along a sidewalk in Haddonfield during last month’s snowstorm.
As the blizzard bears down, school districts across the region have announced either pivots to virtual instruction or full closures.
Cherry Hill, Moorestown, and Evesham are closed, for instance; so are Lower Merion, Neshaminy and Downingtown. Pennsbury and Central Bucks have called virtual instruction days, while Upper Darby will move to a remote learning day.
Camden schools will be closed. The district has amended the school calendar, tacking on an extra day to the end of the school year. Elementary students will now finish the school year on June 24, and high school students on June 25.
In Delaware, all districts in New Castle County have announced they will be closed Monday. Because of Delaware’s state of emergency, it will be a true snow day for students – no Zoom required.
Philly residents ‘snowload’ ahead of Sunday’s storm
Philadelphia Brewing Co. on Frankford Avenue
The precipitation had yet to shift from rain to snow Sunday afternoon, but patrons at neighborhood bars were already buttoning up their beer coats.
It’s a phenomenon called a “snowload” — when people flock to barstools and find solace from bad weather at the bottom of a citywide special or hot toddy, according to Les & Doreen’s Happy Tap bartender Bill Coburn and others.
With the city shut down and some workplaces closed for inclement weather Monday, blizzards and beer just make for the perfect adult snow day, bargoers said.
“I think it comes from when you’re a kid — you have a snow day and you all go out somewhere, go sledding,” said James Brenner, 43, who lives above Atlantis, The Lost Bar in Kensington. “It’s just an adult version of that.”
Bartender Michelle Graser agreed – barhopping and snow frolicking brings out camaraderie between neighbors.
The crowds weren’t out in earnest just after noon Sunday; there were some stragglers who came to watch the U.S.A.-Canada Olympic men’s hockey matchup. Some of the bars expected business to pick up later Sunday evening and into Monday.
Nearly everyone who spoke with The Inquirer advised “snowload”-ers to tip their bartenders handsomely and avoid drinking and driving. Ideally, they said, to stick to your walkable, corner bar.
Slightly less snow in latest Philly forecast as heavy snow falls in Delaware
Still no snow in Philadelphia as of Sunday afternoon, but forecasters still predict about a foot will fall.
At midafternoon the nor’easter was intensifying off the coast of Virginia, and heavy snow had moved as far north as southern Delaware.
Rain continued in the Philly region, and snow was likely to hold off until 5 or 6 p.m., said Tom Kines, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
AccuWeather’s forecast amount, 10 to 14 inches, was more conservative than the National Weather Service’s call for 14 to 20 inches. The weather service had shaved off a few inches from its earlier forecast as updated computer guidance was less bullish on the amounts.
Kines added that if the snow were to hold off until later, amounts would be lower.
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PATCO to operate on snow schedule Sunday and Monday
A track utility vehicle moves along the PATCO train line earlier this month.
PATCO trains will run at reduced speeds on Sunday and on an abbreviated schedule on Monday as the region braces for a significant winter storm.
On Sunday, trains will operate on a typical Sunday schedule but trips may take up to 10 minutes longer in order to maintain the safety of passengers and crew, the agency said.
On Monday, trains will operate every 12 minutes for most of the day, as opposed to the typical 5-7 minutes at peak times and every 15-30 minutes at other times.
An NJ Transit employee opens a train door at the Hamilton Train Station.
NJ Transit will suspend its bus, light rail, and Access Link service at 6 p.m. Sunday, the agency announced.
Trains will continue to run, but both the agency and Gov. Mikie Sherrill warned a shutdown later this evening was likely.
Speed restrictions of 35 miles per hour will go into effect on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, and other highways through the state at 3 p.m.
“In our last storm, I said, ‘don’t travel if you don’t have to.’ Now, I’m saying, ‘don’t travel tonight.’ It’s dangerous,” Sherrill said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
‘These kind of winters were common when I was a kid’
Eric Dobson, 57, went shopping for groceries in Germantown Sunday before the snowfall began.
Holding a single grocery bag, Eric Dobson, 57, was taking the impending storm with calm and nostalgia.
“These kind of winters were common when I was a kid,” said the Germantown resident. “I guess we have become soft, so we panic.”
With enough salt still stocked up at his home from last month’s storm, Dobson’s mind was on getting some groceries at the Germantown Weavers Way Co-op.
“I don’t know why we always get milk and bread in the storms,” said Dobson with a laugh. “I don’t even think we eat that much bread.”
A last-minute food craving sent Norman Bayard, 52, to the grocery store.
“I’m ready to hunker down,” Bayard said. “My family is at home; we have water and flashlights, but we didn’t have all the ingredients for the chili.”
Ashley Ellis Gitongu, 33, brought her three boys to the grocery store as a last outing before the storm.
“I’m not too worried, but we are going to be stuck inside for two days,” Gitongu said, looking at her 8- and 5-year-old boys roughhousing.
With schools closing in Philly, she predicts “a lot of arts and crafts are in our future.” Her husband, she said, will take the children sledding. But if snow fun isn’t possible, they found a solution during the last storm, turning their home into an “open house.”
“All the furniture is out of the way in the living room, so they can play soccer inside,” Gitongu said. “We have softballs, legos, anything to keep them active and distracted.”
A SEPTA Regional Rail train heads through East Falls during a snowstorm last month.
As the region awaits the arrival of a snowfall that is expected to be in the double digits, SEPTA is warning riders that transit will be impacted.
“We want to be clear with our customers – there are going to be significant service disruptions,” said SEPTA General Manager Scott A. Sauer in a statement. “This is going to include delays, trip cancellations, and likely shutdowns of routes and entire modes of travel.”
Whenever possible, SEPTA will provide customers with at least two hours’ notice before service suspensions, the agency said.
SEPTA has also pretreated parking lots and tracks, tapping into the agency’s stock of 4,000 tons of rock salt. Depending on when the snow stops, SEPTA officials anticipate it could take until midweek to clear the nearly 300 Metro and Regional Rail stations throughout the five-county region.
Pennsylvania issues disaster declaration; commercial driving restrictions begin at 3 p.m.
A line of PennDot salt trucks line up ahead of a storm in December.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announced a disaster emergency during a new conference Sunday afternoon ahead of a massive snowstorm expected to blanket most of Eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.
The declaration allows state resources to be activated and enables local governments to activate their own emergency plans to respond to the storm, which is expected to drop a foot or more of snow in and around Philadelphia.
Shapiro said state officials expect the heaviest snow — potentially one to two inches an hour — to begin around 5 p.m., and urged drivers to travel only if absolutely necessary.
“I ask you to stay off the roads, particularly when the snow begins,” Shapiro said, “so that the plows can get out there, clear the roads and get you back moving as quickly as possible.”
PennDot Secretary Michael Carroll said commercial truck restrictions will begin at 3 p.m. He also said he expects tighter rules on more motorists during the heaviest portions of the storm.
Despite rain, more than a foot of snow still expected to fall in Philly
Rain falls Sunday afternoon on Cecil B. Moore Avenue in North Philadelphia.
Rain continued to fall Sunday afternoon with temperatures well above freezing, but forecasters say a drastic change for the worse is coming.
Blizzard warnings are in effect for the Philly region and all of New Jersey and Delaware for wind gusts to 45 mph and 14 to 20 inches of snow.
Those estimates may be “a bit high,” said Ray Martin, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, but a “bit high” still would be quite a boatload of snow, the most since February 2010.
Sunday updated forecast from the National Weather Service.
Moderate to major flooding was forecast at the Shore with onshore winds howling up to 60 mph.
The snow will be wet and heavy, ideal for accumulating on trees and wires, and combined with the winds may cause some power outages.
This is the first time ever that all of New Jersey has been under a blizzard warning, said Judah Cohen, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology research scientist.
Philadelphia has not experienced a verifiable blizzard in 33 years. A blizzard is defined as heavy snow with winds of 35 mph an/or quarter-mile visibility for three consecutive hours.
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A satellite view of a massive winter storm making its way through the Northeast Sunday.
The storm developing off the Southeast Coast will qualify as a meteorological “bomb cyclone,” said Cody Snell, meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Just what does that mean? The technical description is on the geeky side — a barometric pressure drop of 0.7 inches in the center of a cyclone in a 24-hour period. Unofficially, it’s one mighty intense storm.
It so happens that the U.S. East Coast is in a prime area to experience the effects of those storms, according to the atmospheric scientists who are credited with minting the term in a 1980 paper, John Gyakum and Frederick Sanders.
The warm waters of the Gulf Stream are breeding grounds for potent storms that can form when cold air bounds off the coast.
Gyakum, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, recalled that well before the paper was published, the term “bomb” was used commonly in the halls of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a grad student under Sanders.
The term has taken some blowback, but Gyakum argues that given the potential damage these storms can cause, “bomb” is appropriate.
Trash collection in Philly suspended through Wednesday
Sanitation Department trash trucks with plows clear snow during last month’s storm.
Trash and recycling collection in Philadelphia will be suspended the next few days as the city braces for as much as two feet of snow.
Collections are suspended Monday and Tuesday, the city announced. As of now, service will resume Wednesday on a two-day delay, with Monday collections picked up Wednesday and subsequent days following the same schedule.
The city is also suspending collections in rear driveways for the entire week, due to the possibility of trucks getting stuck in the snow. Residents are asked to set their materials in front of their homes for pickup.
Second trash collection is also suspended this week.
Central High School and the rest of the schools in Philly will be empty Monday.
With an eye toward the coming blizzard, the Philadelphia School District has already called a virtual instruction day for Monday.
All district offices will also operate virtually.
“While we work to the greatest extent possible to keep schools open for in-person learning to accelerate student achievement, we also consider the staff members who are commuting from across the region and keep the safety of students and staff as our top priority,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said in a message to families and staff.
The district gave students one full snow day in January, but has no more cushion built into its calendar. Any further inclement weather days will also be virtual instruction days, Watlington said.
“After Monday, if schools need to remain closed due to inclement weather, the district will provide an update to parents, guardians and employees regarding remote learning,” Watlington said.
Snowfall totals increase in latest forecasts; blizzard warnings expand
Up to two feet of snow could fall in Philly.
The National Weather Service expanded its blizzard warnings to include Philadelphia Sunday morning, as a “potentially historic winter storm” makes its way towards the Northeast.
Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware, and eastern Montgomery Counties, and all of New Jersey and Delaware, are now under blizzard warnings through Monday.
Predicted snowfall has also increased in the past few hours, with as much as two feet of snow possible in the city. Winds gusts up to 60 mph and snowfall rates exceeding one to two inches per hour are also expected, forecasters said.
Blowing and drifting snow could create whiteout conditions, making driving dangerous and nearly impossible. The storm will certainly impact the Monday commute, with the strongest winds expected to occur Sunday night into the morning.
People are encouraged not to travel. Those who must do so should carry a winter survival kit.
“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” NWS said. “Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning and evening commutes. Gusty winds could bring down tree branches and result in isolated power outages.”
Timing
Rain is expected to shift to snow by midday Sunday, and will continue through Monday afternoon. The heaviest snowfall is expected Sunday evening and overnight.
The blizzard warning remains in effect from 10 a.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday.
The weather service included the Philly area in its blizzard warning after getting “higher confidence” data showing a likelihood of heavy snowfall and whiteout conditions in the region, said NWS meteorologist Ray Martin.
“Really, the bulk of the snow will start falling after sundown,” Martin said.
Philly snow emergency goes into effect Sunday afternoon; city government closed Monday as schools go virtual
Just as last storm’s snow has finally melted, Philly is expected to be covered with more than a foot of snow.
“Mother Nature has spoken again and made it clear that winter is not over,” said Mayor Cherelle L. Parker during an emergency press conference, declaring a citywide snow emergency, starting 4 p.m Sunday. “Yet another big winter storm is coming. It’s a major snow storm with real accumulation anticipated, and it’s heading our way.”
City government and courts will not open Monday, while public schools will switch to virtual learning. SEPTA riders should expect significant service disruptions over the next three days, said officials, who implored drivers to stay off the road Sunday.
Dominick Morales, the city’s emergency management coordinator, described the expected storm as “dangerous,” adding that heavy, wet snow could threaten trees and power lines.
“Dangerous because of the amount of snowfall that is being forecast in about a 24-hour period, but it’s also dangerous because of high winds — and for Philadelphia — near blizzard conditions. When this storm picks up, we have to take it seriously,” he said.
When all is said and done, the total snowfall may be closeto 18 inches in the city, and could surpass20 inches in South Jersey, where high winds are forecast to create blizzard conditions, according to the National Weather Service. Early Sunday morning, the weather service extended a blizzard warning to cover Philadelphia and Bucks and Delaware Counties, as well as eastern Montgomery County and all of South Jersey.
“It does look like it’s going to be quite an impactful storm for the whole [I-]95 corridor and further east,” said Sarah Johnson, warning coordination meteorologist at the weather service’s Mount Holly office, on Saturday.
This will lead to potentially dangerous driving conditions starting Sunday into Monday. And the Shore and Delaware Bay could experience flooding duringhigh tide Sunday evening.
The last time Philadelphia saw more than a foot of snow was 2016, when 22.4 inches fell in the city on Jan. 22-23.
Officially Philadelphia has not recorded a blizzard since March 1993.
To meet the criteria – three consecutive hours of winds of 35 mph or greater and/or heavy snow reducing visibility to a quarter mile for three straight hours – the conditions would have to be observed at the first-order measuring station, which is at Philadelphia International Airport.
The criteria weren’t met during the record 30.7-inch snowfall of Jan. 7-8, 1996, but at the time many meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly argued that in the court of common sense it was indeed a blizzard.
It certainly acted and felt like on to those who experienced it.
Snow, after it hits 52 degrees? It’s happened before
On Saturday it reached 52 degrees in Philly as more snow vanished (not the mountains), and here we are a day later with a major snowstorm expected.
A warmup preceding a snowfall isn’t all that unusual this time of year, when the battles between the encroaching warm seasons and the retreating winter can be intense. Storms tend to form along thermal boundaries, and this is a prime for those contrasts. In today’s case an invasion of cold air is interacting with warmer air over the Atlantic Ocean.
Once powerful storms get going they can draw in cold air. Plus the upper air this time of year can be quite cold, and heavily falling snow can bring some of that to the surface.
One prime example of a snowstorm following a warmup occurred on Feb. 23, 1987. High temperatures the day before reached the low 50s. During the early morning hours of Feb. 23, heavy snow fell, accumulating 6.5 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, with totals several inches higher elsewhere in the city, and two feet in Downingtown.
On the plus side, a warmup after a snowfall isn’t all that unusual in late winter.
Justices wrote the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs, and that Trump could not invoke emergency powers to impose them.
Philly area lawmakers, area businesses react to Supreme Court ruling
President Donald Trump slammed Republican-nominated Supreme Court justices who ruled against him Friday.
Pennsylvania lawmakers say Congress should reclaim its power over taxes and tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court quashed President Donald Trump’s controversial global tariffs.
The nation’s high court ruled 6-3 Friday that Trump overstepped with tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, dealing a significant blow to the president’s economic agenda and reasserting congressional authority.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — both Trump nominees — joined liberal justices in the majority. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that he was “ashamed” of the three Republican-appointed justices for not having “the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
But local lawmakers celebrated the decision as a step toward alleviating inflation exacerbated by Trump’s tariffs.
It’s “the first piece of good news that American consumers have gotten in a very long time,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee.
The decision is likely not the end of the road for Trump’s efforts to impose tariffs. The court struck down the broad authority Trump had claimed to impose sweeping tariffs but he could still impose additional import and export taxes using powers he employed in his first term.
President of Philly port operator says Supreme Court ruling ‘hard to interpret’
Workers move cargo at the Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond.
Andrew Sentyz is president of Delaware River Stevedores, which operates the Port of Philadelphia’s publicly owned Tioga Marine Terminal in Port Richmond.
“It’s kind of hard to interpret,” he said of the Supreme Court ruling. “…I don’t know if I have a handle on what exactly it’s going to impact, and what it’s not. Some [tariffs] are still there, some are not.”
“Our business is a lot like a public utility in that there’s a demand and there’s a supply and we’re like the conduit the goods pass through,” he said. “…Trade policy massively affects how much moves or how much doesn’t move and in which direction.”
Sentyz said he’s cautiously optimistic about a normalization in trade.
“From the perspective that people have more certainty, I think it is welcome,” he said of the court ruling. “People receiving the cargo, they like a market that’s predictable. When it’s unpredictable it makes their business much harder. We’re impacted by how much they buy or sell.”
Will companies get refunds for paying tariffs the Supreme Court has now ruled were illegally imposed?
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent doesn’t think it’s likely.
“I got a feeling the American people won’t see it,” Bessent said during an interview at the Economic Club of Dallas Friday,
Bessent said he expects tariff revenue to be “virtually unchanged” in 2026 because the administration plans to turn to alternate methods to collect the levies.
Trump has already announced he plans to impose a 10% global tariff using an untested section of the 1974 Trade Act meant to address issues with international payments.
Reaction from Europe focuses on renewed upheaval, confusion
European Union flags flap in the wind outside of EU headquarters in Brussels.
The initial reaction from Europe focused on renewed upheaval and confusion regarding costs facing businesses exporting to the US.
The European Commission had reached a deal with the Trump administration capping tariffs on European imports at 15%. The deal gave businesses certainty that helped them plan, a factor credited with helping the 21 countries that use the euro currency skirt a recession last year.
“Uncertainty remains high for German enterprises doing business in the US,” said the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Because there are other instruments for trade limitations in the hands of the US administration that German companies must prepare themselves for.”
Trump could resort to laws permitting more targeted tariffs that could hit pharmaceuticals, chemicals and auto parts, said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING bank: “Europe should not be mistaken, this ruling will not bring relief. … The legal authority may be different, but the economic impact could be identical or worse.”
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 3:08pm
Supreme Court ruling the beginning of a long legal battle
Among those following the issue, the Supreme Court ruling was “widely expected,” said Villanova University professor of international business Jonathan Doh.
In oral hearings, the Trump administration had argued that the tariffs were necessary due to trade disputes that constituted an emergency, said Doh, who had served as a trade policy negotiator during the 1990s.
However, the administration then touted the tariffs’ revenue-generating capacity — saying they’ve raised about $175 billion, Doh said. Supreme Court justices took notice of this when they weighed whether this was really an emergency.
“The justices spent as much time arguing about whether the remedy [for the trade dispute] was tariffs,” Doh said.
The 6-3 decision is having immediate effects, Doh said. Importers can no longer collect tariffs through this act. Companies are already looking for ways to recoup what they paid from the federal government. And the Trump administration has already announced it plans to implement “temporary” tariffs through another legal mechanism.
This “shifting playing field” only adds uncertainty to a business community that’s been watching tariffs closely since the start of Trump’s second term, Doh said. All of this will play out in legal battles in the lower courts.
“The decision was extremely significant, but it’s not the end of the story,” Doh said. “In some ways it’s just the beginning.”
Shapiro calls on Trump to ‘listen’ to the Supreme Court
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said he agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Trump’s tariffs.
“I have made no bones about the fact that these tariffs are really harming,” the governor said. “I spend a lot of time on farmlands in our commonwealth. Farmers are getting killed by this.”
“We are hearing from folks in our rural communities sort of questioning why would the president do this,” Shapiro continued. “At the same time we’re seeing grocery prices go up, consumer goods go up, and there is a direct line connecting those price increases to the president pushing the tariff.”
Inflation reports show Trump’s tariffs inflated prices across household consumer items by as much as 5% at times.
Shapiro concluded by taking a jab at the president.
“I think the Supreme Court got it right. I say that as a former attorney general, and I say that as someone who actually follows the law,” he said. “And I think the president needs to actually listen to the Supreme Court and drop this and stop the pain for Pennsylvania and stop the pains for the Americans who are dealing with rising prices directly as a result of his tariffs.”
Bucks County Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick ‘applauds’ Supreme Court decision
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.) is a moderate who represents Bucks County.
Casey-Lee Waldron, a spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks), said in a statement Friday the lawmaker “applauds” the high court’s decision, “which validates the Congressman’s opposition to blanket and indiscriminate tariffs that are not narrowly tailored, and that do not lower costs for the American consumer.”
Waldron added that Fitzpatrick, a moderate who represents purple Bucks County, supports enforcing trade laws but that “This should always be done in a collaborative manner with a bipartisan, bicameral majority in Congress.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Delaware County Democrat, joined the chorus of lawmakers applauding the decision Friday afternoon.
In a post to X she called the decision a “win for the American people.”
“If the President stands by his disastrous tariff policy, it’s because he doesn’t care about lowering costs for American families,” Scanlon wrote.
Trump says he’ll impose a 10% tariff on all countries using untested statute
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump told reporters he plans to sign an executive order enacting 10% global tariffs following the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Today, I will sign an order to impose a 10% global tariff under Section 122, over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said Friday. “And we’re also initiating several section 301, and other investigations to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”
Section 122, a statute created by the 1974 Trade Act, allows the president to impose temporary tariffs on countries to address issues with international payments. The statute, which has never been invoked by a president, limits tariffs to 150 days.
National Association of Manufacturers president: U.S. trade policy needs ‘clarity and durability’
Jay Timmons, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he and other leaders of the 14,000-member manufacturers’ group share President Trump’s goal of “ushering in the greatest manufacturing era.” But, he added, the court decision “underscores the importance of clarity and durability in U.S. trade policy.”
Timmons was in Philadelphia Friday morning to meet with leaders from the port, shipyard, Chamber of Commerce, and others in industry.
Stable tariffs and policies boost investment and hiring, but “legal and policy uncertainty make it more difficult” for American companies to compete, Timmons added in a statement. Since the court has ruled, “now is the time for policymakers to work together to provide a clear and consistent framework for trade.”
In the future, tariffs should be limited, according to the NAM leader. Timmons said punitive tariffs should target “specific unfair trade practices,” especially in “nonmarket” nations where government controls production.
NAM has pledged to work with Congress and the Trump administration on “durable” solutions to boost U.S. manufacturing and factory workers, he concluded.
‘Fools and lapdogs’: Trump says Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices lacked loyalty in tariff ruling
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters Friday.
President Donald Trump slammed three Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices for voting in favor of striking down his tariffs on foreign goods.
Two justices Trump nominated — Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — joined with chief justice John Roberts in ending Trump’s central economic policy.
Speaking to reporters at the White House Friday, Trump said he was “ashamed” the three justices — two of whom he nominated — didn’t have “the courage to do what’s right for our country.”
Trump also went after the court’s three Democratic appointees, calling them “automatic no” votes on any of his policies that make their way to the Supreme Court.
“You can’t knock their loyalty,” Trump said. “It’s one thing you can do with some of our people … They’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and radical-left Democrats.”
“Trump’s tariffs are FAR from over,” says Gene Marks, small business columnist for The Inquirer and founder of small-business consulting firm Marks Group in Bala Cynwyd.
Marks notes, “As Karoline Leavitt said back in June ‘we can walk and chew gum at the same time’ and as Scott Bessent said in December: ‘The administration will be able to replicate tariffs even if the SCOTUS rules against.’”
Some ways it could do so, Marks added, include:
The 1930 Smoot Hawley Act allows the U.S. to impose tariffs up to 50% on imports from countries that “discriminate” against U.S. goods through unfair duties, taxes, or regulations. But it requires congressional approval.
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives the president “balance-of-payments” authority. This has a 150-day limit unless extended by Congress, and a 15% maximum rate.
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962/Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 allow tariffs on sectors or industries. These would require investigations and public comment.
“The only thing certain about tariffs in 2026 is that there will be a lot of uncertainty,” Marks said.
Tariffs had been impacting business at the Port of Philadelphia
Cranes at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia.
Tariffs have slowed business at the Port of Philadelphia lately, with cargo volume down across the board — containers, steel, automobiles, and other commodities.
Philly is a major gateway for produce, bringing in more fresh fruit than any other U.S. port, largely from Central and South America. The port saw record container volume last year, handling almost 900,000 units, up 6% over 2024. About two-thirds of that cargo was refrigerated — fruit and meat, for example.
But the year got off to a slow start. “The story is increased competition and tariffs,” Sean Mahoney, marketing director at the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort), said during the agency’s board meeting on Wednesday.
Container volume in January was down 14% over the year-earlier period. Auto imports fell 17%, and breakbulk cargoes (steel, paper, lumber) fell too. (Tariffs weren’t the only factor; Mahoney noted that ports in early 2025 happened to see more cargo than usual in part because shippers ordered more goods amid labor negotiations between employers and unions representing dockworkers.)
Shapiro hails Supreme Court decision to stop Trump’s ‘reckless approach’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has been a vocal opponent of Trump’s tariffs.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been a frequent critic of the tariffs, posted to X Friday applauding the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs have been a disaster — wreaking havoc on Pennsylvania farmers, small business owners, and families who are just trying to make ends meet,” Shapiro wrote.
He urged Trump to follow the court’s ruling and “drop this reckless approach to economic policy that has done nothing but screw over Americans.”
New Jersey import-export company doesn’t expect it will be easy to get refunds
Now that the Supreme Court has made its decision, one big question for companies is whether they’ll be able to get refunds for the additional tariffs they’ve paid since “liberation day” 10 months ago, said Tim Avanzato, vice president of international sales at Lanca Sales Inc.
The New Jersey-based import-export company should be eligible for as much as $4 million in tariff refunds, Avanzato said. But getting that money is far from guaranteed.
“It’s going to create a paperwork nightmare for importers,” he said, and he doesn’t expect the Trump administration to make it easy.
He’ll also be on the lookout for other ways the Trump administration may implement tariffs, further complicating the matter.
Avanzato said President Trump was right when he said that other countries have been taking advantage of the U.S. with their tariffs — and in principle, the president was right to apply his own.
“He should have done more with a scalpel than with a bomb,” Avanzato said.
Though companies may be able to recoup some of what they lost, the same won’t go for consumers, he noted.
“Companies are not very good at passing on savings,” Avanzato said. “Nobody is going to rush to drop their prices.”
Supreme Court ruling brings uncertainty to Pennsylvania businesses
Canada is Pennsylvania’s biggest export market, with the state sending more than $14 billion in goods there in 2024.
The Supreme Court’s decision may be welcome news for U.S. businesses that pay the import taxes, but one immediate effect is more uncertainty as firms weigh whether to hire and make investments.
Not all of President Donald Trump’s tariff increases came through the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and therefore some will remain in place, said Julie Park, a partner at London-based tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.
“This decision brings further uncertainty for businesses,” she said in a statement. That’s in part because Trump could seek to reimpose tariffs through other legal tools, leaving “businesses in limbo about if they will get refunded.”
U.S. exporters will also be closely following what happens next, since the fate of Trump’s tariffs will likely affect whether other countries like Canada keep their retaliatory measures in place. Canada is Pennsylvania’s biggest export market, with the state sending more than $14 billion in goods there in 2024. Top exports included machinery, cocoa, iron, and steel.
Pennsylvania’s dairy industry has also been caught in the middle of the global trade war, as China and Canada imposed extra taxes on those goods in response to U.S. tariffs.
President Donald Trump will hold a news briefing at 12:45 p.m. to address the Supreme Court’s ruling, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on social media.
// Timestamp 02/20/26 12:17pm
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, other New Jersey officials celebrate Supreme Court ruling
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, seen here in November.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill celebrated the court ruling on President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which she said have raised costs by $1,700 per New Jersey family and had a negative impact on small businesses and jobs.
“I’m thrilled that folks and businesses will start to see the relief they deserve – with no thanks to the president,” she added.
The new governor ran on a message combining affordability and fighting Trump. She took particular aim at his tariffs and visited small businesses in South Jersey to discuss their impact on local economies in the state.
Sen. Andy Kim, a South Jersey Democrat, said the Supreme Court’s decision is “a step” in righting wrongs by Trump’s administration, but that there’s “so much more to go.”
Calling the tariffs “unpopular and illegal,” the senator said the president cost Americans “a lot of money.”
“Trump 2.0: You pay for his tariffs, tax breaks for his billionaire donors, & insane corruption for his friends and family,” he added in a social media post.
Sen. Cory Booker, a North Jersey Democrat, lauded the Supreme Court for ruling “what we’ve all known: this administration cannot ignore the rule of law and Congress’ role to protect America’s economy from reckless and chaotic tariffs.”
“For nearly a year, Trump abused our trade tools to curry favors with foreign officials and exact revenge on his rivals, all while America’s working families and small businesses paid the price,” Booker said on social media. “Trump raised the cost on everything from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, and also failed to bring back good-paying jobs or fix our broken economy.”
Philly Rep. Dwight Evans calls on Congress to reassert its constitutional power
Congressman Dwight Evans, seen here in 2025.
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Pa.), who represents parts of Philadelphia, called the ruling a win for the wallets of Americans and called on Congress to reassert its power over the country’s economy.
“The Constitution is clear — only Congress has the power to levy tariffs and other taxes,” Evans wrote on social media. “I’m a co-sponsor of legislation to return this power to Congress — it’s long past time Republicans work with Democrats to pass it!”
The bill, which has no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled House, would require congressional approval for all new tariffs and the reversal of tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada enacted through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
His call was echoed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who serves as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In a statement, Grassley wrote, “I’ve made clear Congress needs to reassert its constitutional role over commerce, which is why I introduced prospective legislation that would give Congress a say when tariffs are levied in the future.”
President Trump described the Supreme Court decision as “a disgrace” when he was notified in real time during his morning meeting with several governors.
That’s according to someone with direct knowledge of the president’s reaction, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Trump was meeting privately with nearly two dozen governors from both parties when the decision was released.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 11:03am
Brendan Boyle celebrates Supreme Court ruling as ‘good news’ for consumers
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in November.
The decision is “the first piece of good news that American consumers have gotten in a very long time,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Philadelphia), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said in an interview Friday.
Boyle noted that the public will eventually see prices go down, but it remains unclear what will happen to tariff revenue that’s already been collected. But Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Boyle, are pushing for Congress to reassert its power to control the country’s purse strings.
“As the Supreme Court validated this morning, Congress has the authority to levy taxes and tariffs,” Boyle said. “It’s time now for us to finally reclaim that authority and bring some certainty and rationality to our tariff policy, which under Donald Trump has been all over the map and changes day by day, even hour by hour.”
Boyle and U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Philadelphia) have cosponsored a bill that would require congressional approval for all new tariffs and the reversal of tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada enacted through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It’s unlikely that it will pass the Republican-controlled U.S. House.
Will businesses get refunds? One Supreme Court justice says the process will be a ‘mess’
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was one of three who ruled against striking down the tariffs.
Companies have collectively paid billions in tariffs. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up for refunds in court, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted the process could be complicated.
“The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers. But that process is likely to be a ‘mess,’ as was acknowledged at oral argument,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
We Pay the Tariffs, a coalition of more than 800 small businesses that has been advocating against the tariffs, said a process for refunding the tariffs is imperative.
“A legal victory is meaningless without actual relief for the businesses that paid these tariffs,” executive director Dan Anthony said in a statement. “The administration’s only responsible course of action now is to establish a fast, efficient, and automatic refund process that returns tariff money to the businesses that paid it.”
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 10:36am
The Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs
The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.
The 6-3 decision centers on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
It’s the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the nation’s highest court, which he helped shape with the appointments of three conservative jurists in his first term.
The majority found that the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
The economic impact of Trump’s tariffs has been estimated at some $3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Treasury has collected more than $133 billion from the import taxes the president has imposed under the emergency powers law, federal data from December shows. Many companies, including the big-box warehouse chain Costco, have already lined up in court to demand refunds.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/20/26 10:34am
Trump could still impose tariffs under other laws
The Supreme Court’s tariffs decision doesn’t stop President Donald Trump from imposing duties under other laws.
While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump’s actions, top administration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities.
“It’s hard to see any pathway here where tariffs end,” said Georgetown trade law professor Kathleen Claussen. “I am pretty convinced he could rebuild the tariff landscape he has now using other authorities.”
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs. But the Trump administration argued that a 1977 law allowing the president to regulate importation during emergencies also allows him to set tariffs. Other presidents have used the law dozens of times, often to impose sanctions, but Trump was the first president to invoke it for import taxes.
Trump set what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries in April 2025 to address trade deficits that he declared a national emergency. Those came after he imposed duties on Canada, China, and Mexico, ostensibly to address a drug trafficking emergency.
A series of lawsuits followed, including a case from a dozen largely Democratic-leaning states and others from small businesses selling everything from plumbing supplies to educational toys to women’s cycling apparel.
The challengers argued the emergency powers law doesn’t even mention tariffs and Trump’s use of it fails several legal tests, including one that doomed then-President Joe Biden’s $500 billion student loan forgiveness program.
— Associated Press
Two Trump Supreme Court appointees ruled against his tariffs
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s majority opinion, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, two of Trump’s three Supreme Court picks. The three liberal justices were also part of the majority.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s other appointee, wrote the main dissent, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Scenes from the Phillies first full spring training workout
// Timestamp 02/16/26 2:02pm
‘He’s getting there’: Zach Wheeler continues recovery from blood clot
Zack Wheeler threw out to 120 feet for the first time today. Rob Thomson said he doesn't know yet when Wheeler will get back on a mound, but "he's getting there."
The surprising things Phillies players brought with them to spring training
// Timestamp 02/16/26 12:17pm
Spring training photos: Phillies first full-squad workout
BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. ahead of the Phillies’ first full-squad workout. Bryce Harper works with new bench coach Don Mattingly. Kyle Schwarber takes some swings during batting practice. The Phillies’ first spring training game is Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Top pitching prospect Andrew Painter will be under no limitations this spring as he competes for a spot in the Phillies’ rotation. He is set to appear in Grapefruit League games for the first time since prior to his ulnar collateral ligament injury and subsequent Tommy John elbow surgery in 2023.
“I’m sure he’s excited. It’s really the first full year where he’s completely healthy, and where he’s got everything back,” Thomson said. “And when I’m talking about everything, I’m talking about stuff, combined with command and control. So I think he’s really excited. I would think so. I’m excited for him, because I’m thinking he’s really going to be a big piece for us.”
Mike Trout talks position change, being prevented from playing in World Baseball Classic
Mike Trout wants to move back to center field this season.
Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout plans to be back in center field this season, he told reporters Monday at the team’s spring training complex in Tempe, Ariz.
Trout moved to right field last season in an attempt to keep the 34-year-old South Jersey native healthy, but in April he was sidelined for a month by a bone bruise and finished out the year as a designated hitter.
Mike Trout says he is playing center field again. He said playing right wasn’t comfortable and he felt like it was more running.
Also said he feels good about where his swing is. He finished last season on a hot streak.
Trout played 130 games last season, the most since 2019. But Angles general manager Perry Minasian signaled back in December he’d be open to Trout returning to center field.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” Minasian said, according to MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. “We’ll see where the team looks like when we get to Spring Training and what’s in place and what gives us the best chance to win games. Might be playing center. One day might be playing left. One day might be DHing. I don’t know.”
Trout also told reporters he wanted to play in this year’s World Baseball Classic, but was prevented due to insurance issues related to his 12-year, $426.5 million contract with the Angels that runs through the 2030 season.
Essentially, Trout couldn’t find insurance coverage to cover the roughly $37 million he’s owed this season if he were to be injured during the global baseball tournament.
Mike Trout says he’ll move back to playing CF this year. He also wanted to play in the WBC but insurance prevented him from playing, calling it disappointing
They also sent lefty Matt Strahm to the Royals for Jonathan Bowlan in a reliever swap. And they added bullpen depth with Zach McCambley (Rule 5 draft), lefty Kyle Backhus (trade with Arizona), Yoniel Curet (trade with Tampa Bay), Chase Shugart (trade with Pittsburgh), and Zach Pop (free agent).
So which new Phillies is most intriguing for 2026?
Lauber: Does Justin Crawford count as “new?” Oh, OK, we’ll get to him later. In that case, García. In 2023, he hit 39 homers, got down-ballot MVP votes, and dominated the postseason for the World Series champion Rangers. The Phillies bet on bouncebacks last year from Max Kepler and Jordan Romano and went bust. Will their latest free-agent gamble work out better?
March: Keller. The right-hander had been a starter for most of his career before his breakout season last year as a high-leverage reliever for the Cubs, and he has retained his starter’s arsenal of four-seam, sinker, slider, changeup, and sweeper. That, plus a jump of over 3 mph on his fastball in 2025, makes him an intriguing back-end option in the Phillies’ bullpen.
Which Phillies players to watch at spring training
All eyes will be on prospect Justin Crawford during spring training.
What’s the Phillies’ biggest roster decision?
Lauber: Although the decision to commit to Justin Crawford was made early in the offseason, it’s about to play out in real time. At 22, he would be the youngest outfielder to make a Phillies opening-day roster since Greg Luzinski and Mike Anderson in 1973. As the Phillies turn over the keys to center field, Crawford will be at the center of attention.
March: The Phillies stocked up on potential bullpen depth this winter, making a host of minor league deals, a few trades, and a Rule 5 selection of Zach McCambley. Six reliever spots are likely spoken for, barring injury: lefties José Alvarado and Tanner Banks, and righties Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, Orion Kerkering, and Jonathan Bowlan. There will be some stiff competition for the final two spots.
Which prospect should fans look out for?
Lauber: As you watch Crawford and Andrew Painter, don’t take your eyes off Aidan Miller. The Phillies intend to expose the 22-year-old shortstop to third base in spring training, but it will be interesting to see how much third he actually plays — and how fast they push him if he starts hot in triple A and/or Alec Bohm falters again in April.
March: Gabriel Rincones Jr. made a big impression last spring with a couple of towering home runs. The outfielder was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft, and he could get a major league look at some point in 2026. Rincones, who will be 25 next month, struggles against left-handed pitching, so any opportunity would likely be in a strict platoon. But he has some big power potential against righties.
A clean-shaven Nick Castellanos, dressed in a brown Padres hoodie, made his first public comments Sunday after signing a one-year deal with San Diego.
The former Phillies outfielder, who was released by the organization on Thursday, met with the media at the Padres’ spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz. He also spent time taking reps at first base. He is expected to see time there as the Padres already have an All-Star rightfielder in Fernando Tatis Jr.
Castellanos told reporters Sunday he “had a good idea” he would not be back with the Phillies following their exit in the National League Division Series. This winter, the Phillies repeatedly expressed interest in finding a change of scenery for Castellanos after he developed friction with manager Rob Thomson.
After his release, Castellanos posted a letter on Instagram thanking members of the organization and explaining the “Miami Incident.” During the eighth inning of a June 16 game in Miami, Castellanos said he brought a beer into the dugout after Thomson replaced him for defensive purposes. He was benched for the following game as punishment.
In his letter, Castellanos wrote that he “will learn from” the incident.
“I think [what] I said I will learn from this is I guess just letting my emotions get the best of me in a moment,” he said Sunday. “Possibly if I see things that frustrate me or I don’t believe are conducive to winning, to speak up instead of letting things just pile up over time and pile up over time and finally when I address it, it’s less emotional.”
Bryce Harper responds to Phillies exec ahead of Spring Training
Bryce Harper fist-bumps Phillies teammates Sunday ahead of the team’s workout in Clearwater, Fla.
Bryce Harper touched down in Phillies camp, pulled on a black T-shirt — no, not the black T-shirt that went viral over the holidays — and summarized one of the weirdest weeks in an offseason of his career.
“For Dave [Dombrowski] to come out and say those things,“ Harper said, ”it’s kind of wild to me still.”
Key word: Still. Because this was Sunday, 122 days after the Phillies’ highest-ranking baseball official gave a 90-second answer 34 minutes into a 54-minute news conference about whether Harper’s good-but-not-great 2025 season was a one-off or the start of a downward trend.
Pardon the rehashed sound bite, but well, here goes: “Of course he’s still a quality player,” Dombrowski said, “still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. And I guess we only find out if he becomes elite [again], or if he continues to be good.”
Cue the hysteria, fomented by sports-talk radio and social media. And a candid answer to a good question exploded into unfounded speculation that the Phillies would consider trading Harper. (For what it’s worth, John Middleton is clear about wanting Harper to go into the Hall of Fame with a “P” on his plaque.)
Harper is self-aware. He wasn’t satisfied with last season. There were factors, including an inflamed right wrist that caused him to miss 22 games. But he also swung at a career-high rate of pitches out of the zone, a problem given that Harper saw fewer strikes than any hitter in baseball. He also delivered fewer hits in the clutch than ever before.
“Obviously,” he said after digesting it for four months, “not the best year of my career.”
But the substance of Dombrowski’s comments didn’t bother Harper as much as the forum.
“The big thing for me was, when we first met with this organization [in 2019] it was, ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in-house, and we expect you to do the same thing,’” Harper said. “So, when that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit. I don’t know.
“It’s kind of a wild situation, that even happening.”
Pitcher Taijuan Walker looks on while wearing his hat backward Sunday. Pitcher Cristopher Sanchez on the mound as palm trees swerve in the background. Brandon Marsh shares a laugh during spring training workouts Thursday. Pitcher Zack Wheeler warms up last week. Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks on during spring training workouts.
Tom McCarthy is entering his 19th season as the TV voice of the Phillies.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will once again broadcast 12 Phillies spring training games in 2026 — 10 on the main channel and two on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.
The network’s TV schedule kicks off Sunday with the Phillies’ afternoon matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla., where the team has played spring ball for 78 years.
The Phillies March 4 exhibition game against Canada ahead of the World Basball classic will also air on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
In addition, a handful of spring training games will stream live on the Phillies’ website.
Here are all the Phillies spring training games airing on NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Sunday vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
Feb. 25 vs Detroit Tigers, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
Feb. 27 vs. Florida Marlins (split squad), 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 1 vs. New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 4 vs. Canada, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 5 vs. Boston Red Sox, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)
March 8 at Minnesota Twins, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 10 vs. New York Yankees, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP)
March 13 vs. Baltimore Orioles, 1:05 p.m. (NBCSP+)
Joel Embiid with teammates Tyrese Maxey and Paul George.
One factor complicating any deal at the trade deadline was Daryl Morey and the front office considered the team’s core – Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and rookie VJ Edgecombe – “as close to untouchable players as you might have in this league.”
“We really think it’s a very good core,” Morey told reporters Friday. “Obviously we need to prove that on the court, and I think we think lately we have been proving it to a higher level.”
Morey said at the trade deadline, the Sixers were focused on finding a player who could fill in for Paul, who is serving a 25-day suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. But Morey didn’t see any available players that could contribute more than Dominick Barlow has during Paul’s absence.
Sixers were willing to go into the luxury tax, Morey says
The Sixers moved under the luxury tax by trading away Jared McCain and Eric Gordon, but Daryl Morey said that wasn’t the primary reason behind the moves.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Morey said the team would’ve been willing to go above the luxury tax threshold – “We’ve done it several times” – but didn’t see a deal or player that justified the numbers.
“For sure, if we had found a trade and were going to end up higher, we’d have ended up above it,” Morey said.
Despite that, Morey said he understands the perception among fans and even Joel Embiid the team just wanted to save money.
“I hope to defeat it by finding a deal that I can go to ownership and say, ‘We think this move is the right move to do for that and create the apron issues that it would create,’” Morey said. “But I haven’t been able to recommend that move yet.”
Morey defends trading Jared McCain without another deal in place
Daryl Morey was pressed on why the Sixers traded Jared McCain without having another deal in place, rather than waiting until the offseason.
“I am quite confident we were selling high,” Morey told reporters Friday. “Obviously, time will tell.”
Morey said the Sixers weren’t considering trading away McCain until teams approached with “aggressive offers,” and that the draft picks will help the team down the road.
“We thought this return was above the future value for our franchise,” Morey said. “The only higher point would have been during his run last season. But otherwise, we feel like we did time this well.”
“The bottom line is Jared’s a great future bet, and we wish him luck,” Morey added. “We feel like this return sets us up better in the future.”
Sixers tried to improve the roster but ‘nothing materialized,’ Morey says
Speaking to reporters Friday, Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, said he understands why fans might be disappointed the team didn’t add any players at the trade deadline.
“I understand the reaction of the fans, but I feel like that comes from folks being excited about this team,” Morey said. “That’s why we had this reaction. And they should be excited.”
Morey said the front office tried to make additions to improve the team using some of the draft picks landed in the Jared McCain trade, but “nothing materialized.”
“I do want folks to know that this team, we think, can make a deep playoff run, as one of the top teams in the East,” Morey said.
Timberwolves re-signing Mike Conley Jr. after trading him: ESPN
Free agent guard Mike Conley Jr. plans to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell ESPN. The sides are working on timing of him re-signing. Conley was traded twice this week – to Chicago, then to Charlotte – before being released and allowed to rejoin the Wolves. pic.twitter.com/ht6HVIIqm4
Joel Embiid defends the rim against Deandre Ayton during the Sixers’ loss to the Lakers Thursday.
With three games left before the All-Star break, the Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, solidly in the playoff picture after missing the postseason last season.
Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers certainly didn’t help, breaking a five-game winning streak. They’ll face the second-place New York Knicks on Wednesday, who added former New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado to their roster at the NBA trade deadline.
Eastern Conference standings
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Upcoming Sixers schedule
Sixers at Suns: Saturday, 9 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Sixers at Trailblazers: Monday, 10 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Knicks at Sixers: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Daryl Morey will speak to reporters Friday following the NBA trade deadline.
Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, will speak to reporters Friday afternoon after the team made no additions at the NBA trade deadline, not even to fill in during Paul George’s 25-game suspension.
Morey is scheduled to speak at noon at the Sixers’ training facility in Camden, N.J.
On Thursday, the Sixers traded Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies in a salary dump. Wednesday they parted ways with Jared McCain, the 2024 No. 16 overall pick. In exchange, team landed a bunch of second-round picks and the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick.
They did manage to dodge the luxury tax by shedding McCain and Gordon’s salaries.
Joel Embiid carefully comments on Sixers trade deadline moves
Joel Embiid during Thursday night’s loss to the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES — When asked to assess the 76ers’ approach and execution at the trade deadline, Joel Embiid kept his words politically correct.
But his multiple pauses to look to his right at a team public relations staffer observing his postgame media session — not out of nervousness, but as if this was the way he could make his desired point — spoke volumes.
“The only thing I’ll say, I believe in myself,” Embiid said late Thursday, after the Sixers dealt guards Jared McCain and Eric Gordon and did not add any players. “I believe in Tyrese [Maxey]. I believe in everybody in this locker room. But the main thing is I believe in myself.
“So no matter what, we’re going to go out there and compete and still try to win it.”
Those comments came exactly one week after Embiid said publicly that he hoped the Sixers (29-22) would not make moves purely to duck the luxury tax and would instead try to bolster a roster that, after Thursday’s 119-115 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, sat in sixth place in a crowded Eastern Conference.
“Hopefully, we keep the same team,” Embiid said then. “ … We’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room and the vibes are great. … Hopefully, we think about improving, because we have a chance.”
When those previous comments were referenced to Embiid following Thursday’s game, the standout center coyly quipped, “I don’t remember what I said.”
Sixers fans will have to wait and see after a uninspiring trade deadline.
The shaping of the 76ers took a step backward this week … perhaps just momentarily.
The team moved on from Jared McCain, a fan favorite and 2025 Rookie of the Year front-runner, and seldom-used veteran guard Eric Gordon before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. In return, the Sixers acquired a first-round pick, three second-rounders, and a second-round pick swap.
Shedding those players’ salaries gives the Sixers just over $7.6 million in cap space under the first apron. That means they can sign players on the buyout market in addition to using up to $8 million in a trade exception to acquire a player.
After the deadline, the Sixers signed forward Patrick Baldwin to a 10-day contract and center Charles Bassey to his second 10-day stint, giving the Sixers 14 standard contracts. And 48 minutes before Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced it converted starting power forward Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to a standard deal.
That enabled Barlow remain active for the remainder of the season.
But for now, they’re not in a good situation.
The buyout market could be key for the Sixers if they don’t sign Baldwin and Bassey for the remainder of the season.
Since then, the Sixers traded away players who were well-liked in the locker room for what on the surface appear to be moves to help them get below the luxury tax threshold.
But it’s still too early to fully judge the moves that were made.
McCain was exceptional in his rookie season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in December 2024. But he struggled with consistency this season, leaving him out of the rotation. Gordon played in only six games, with his last appearance coming Dec. 23 against the Brooklyn Nets.
So these moves were made on the margins and will only be crystalized once we see how they affect the roster this season and what they do with their draft picks in the future.
But in the interim, the Sixers got a little worse over two days while several contenders in the East improved.
Jared McCain, the Sixers’ 2024 first-round pick, was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Sixers president Daryl Morey is scheduled to meet with the media on Friday, so we’ll have to wait to hear the official defense of the team’s decision to trade 2024 first-round pick Jared McCain to the Thunder for what is most likely to be a low-value first round draft (plus the obligatory smattering of second round picks). We don’t have to wait to judge the optics of the thing.
The optics are poor, and will remain true even if the thing ends up making more sense than we can immediately glean.
The Sixers didn’t trade McCain for a player who is more likely to help them contend for championship, be it this year or beyond. They didn’t trade him for a pick that they then flipped for a player who can help them capitalize on their momentum this season. Everywhere else, teams got better, and many of them did so in ways beyond this season. The Timberwolves can re-sign Ayo Dosunmu. The Pacers can pair Ivica Zubac with Tyrese Haliburton next season. The Sixers can hope that a late first round pick is worth something in June.
A good way to judge the optics of a move is to attempt to write an executive summary of it in as favorable a way as possible. That’s an extraordinarily difficult task, in this case.
The Sixers just traded away a guy who they drafted at No. 16 barely a year-and-a-half ago and who would probably be drafted higher in a redo. In exchange, they received a pick that currently projects as the No. 24 pick in the 2026 draft, three picks later than where the Sixers grabbed Tyrese Maxey six years ago. It is a range of the draft that rarely yields starters, let alone stars. It is a range where the odds say you are more likely to draft a player who never cracks a first-division rotation than one who becomes a meaningful starter.
Just look at the track record. Of the 42 players drafted with the last seven picks of the first round since 2020, only 17 have started more than 17 NBA games. Just eyeballing it, you’d be hard-pressed to identify 10 of those 42 who’ve turned out to be better than the median potential outcome of even this year’s version of McCain. Jaden McDaniels and Desmond Bane are stars. They are followed by Payton Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Santi Aldama. Beyond that: Peyton Watson and Cam Thomas, and then Bones Hyland, Day’Ron Sharpe, Nikola Jovic and Kyshawn George. You get the picture.
Trading McCain is a big risk, especially since the Sixers didn’t make any other significant moves, according to columnist David Murphy.
After drawing all the attention, Giannis Antetokounmpo remains with the Milwaukee Bucks, who will consider trading him in the offseason.
Next up on the calendar is the NBA All-Star game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15. Tyrese Maxey will be a starter.
// Pinned
// Timestamp 02/05/26 3:01pm
Trade deadline passes with Sixers making two minor moves
Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey didn’t get any help at the trade deadline.
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone without the Sixers making any additions to their roster, not even to fill in during Paul George’s 25-game suspension.
Earlier Thursday, the Sixers traded Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies in a salary dump. Wednesday they parted ways with Jared McCain, the 2024 No. 16 overall pick, for draft picks.
The Sixers did create some roster spots that could be used to sign Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to a standard NBA contracts. They could also still sign a player waived by another team, and are now $5.3 below the luxury tax.
The Brooklyn Nets are waiving Cam Thomas, allowing the scoring guard to enter free agency, sources tell ESPN. The Nets made the decision to allow Thomas to find a new home. pic.twitter.com/sK75uB6ZV1
Sixers sign Charles Bassey to another 10-day contract
Charles Bassey will remain with the Sixers, at least for another 10 days
The 76ers signed Charles Bassey to a second 10-day contract.
The 6-foot-11 center was not active for any games with the team during the initial 10-day deal that he signed on Jan. 26. However, he excelled for their NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.
This extends Bassey’s second stint with the Sixers.
The team initially selected him with the 53rd pick in the 2021 draft out of Western Kentucky. He appeared in 23 NBA games as a rookie, averaging 3.0 points on 63.8% shooting along with 2.7 rebounds, 0.7 blocks, and 7.3 minutes.
Bassey became expendable when the Sixers added reserve center Montrezl Harrell to the roster in September 2022. The Nigerian player was waived on Oct. 13, 2022.
Tyrese Maxey thought Jared McCain trade was a joke
Tyrese Maxey with Jared McCain, who was traded Wednesday to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LOS ANGELES – While on the team bus as the 76ers traveled from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Jared McCain approached the group to share that he had been traded.
“It was just like, ‘All right, whatever. He’s just joking,’” All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey recalled. “Calls start coming in, and then you realize it’s real.”
McCain had been sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a first-round pick and additional draft compensation. The “part of the business” cliche has been uttered by players and coaches throughout the league leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline. But this particular deal was emotional for Maxey, who called McCain a “little brother” as part of his first rookie-veteran NBA relationship.
“I’m happy for him,” Maxey said from the Sixers’ shootaround at Crypto.com Arena ahead of Thursday’s game at the Los Angeles Lakers. “Hopefully he gets an even better opportunity over there to succeed. He’s got a fan in me for life, a brother in me for life.”
McCain quickly endeared himself to the Sixers fan base because of his impact play and colorful personality, before knee and thumb surgeries led to struggles in his second season. Maxey experienced those qualities day-to-day, saying McCain “just cared” about people and his craft.
“Anybody that worked that hard for me is going to be somebody that I probably gravitate to,” Maxey said. “He was a good person, as well. He treated everybody with respect. A lot of people in this organization were sad to see him go.”
The emotions hit Maxey again this morning, when he woke up and realized “Man, I’m not going to see ‘JMac’ downstairs.”
“It’s just unexpected,” Maxey said. “That’s really all I got to say. You just never know.”
Then Maxey headed to shootaround, which began about two hours before the deadline. Veteran guard Eric Gordon was present, before reportedly being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. So was veteran center Andre Drummond, who is viewed as another potential contender to be moved by the deadline.
Eric Gordon is heading to Memphis in a salary dump by the Sixers.
As expected, the 76ers parted ways with Eric Gordon.
Sources confirm the Sixers traded the reserve shooting guard on Wednesday to the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2032 second-round pick swap. This move gives the Sixers various options.
It opens up a roster spot to convert Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract into a standard deal. It also gives them a little over $7.6 million in salary cap space under the first apron. And they can sign players on the buyout market in addition to using up to $8 million in trade exception to acquire a player.
Gordon only played in six games, with his last appearance coming Dec. 23 against the Brooklyn Nets.
The 37-year-old, in his 18th season, signed a one-year, $3.63 million contract on July 1 after declining his $3.47 million player option. Gordon’s deal created a $2.3 million cap and a $2.3 million dead cap value, which was considered a good, low-risk expiring salary for potential trades.
The thought was the Sixers could entice a team with a lot of cap space, with a second-round pick, just to take on Gordon’s contract for the remainder of the season. It turns out they found a trade partner in the Grizzlies.
The Denver Nuggets are trading Hunter Tyson and a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for the lesser favorable of a Clippers/Hawks 2026 second, sources tell ESPN. Denver creates an open roster spot for the buyout market and gets out of the luxury tax.
Eric Gordon, seen during warm ups before a game against the Knicks last month.
The Sixers are in talk to move veteran guard Eric Gordon before the trade deadline, according to The Athletic’s Tony Jones.
The Philadelphia 76ers are working to find a landing spot for veteran guard Eric Gordon, according to League Sources. Multiple teams are involved in that discussion
Gordon, on the tail end of a successful career, has played in only six games in his second season as a Sixer. Trading the 37-year-old and his $3.6 million contract in a salary-dump move would open up an additional roster spot that could be used to sign Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to a standard NBA contract.
The Sixers already created one spot when they traded Jared McCain to the Orlando Thunder Wednesday.
Bucks won’t trade Giannis Antetokounmpo before deadline: ESPN
Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t be part of any blockbuster trade ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
So much for that.
The Milwaukee Bucks have told teams they won’t be trading two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of Thursday’s deadline, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
"They were never serious," said one team executive who was discussing a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade with Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Bucks have indicated to teams that they are keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo through the trade deadline and will start making other trades, sources tell ESPN.
The Bucks are currently in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, 9 games below .500 and completely out of the playoff picture. Hopes for a second-half turnaround seem fleeting under Doc Rivers, who’s barely been a .500 coach (85-82) in his two-and-a-half seasons with the Bucks.
If the Bucks try to move him in the offseason, Antetokounmpo will have more leverage over his destination, since he could opt for free agency following the 2026-27 season.
Lakers find a sharpshooter on the wings for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James while the Hawks land a veteran guard, create a $11 million trade exception and pick up an asset. https://t.co/GIY8HNo0Zp
Minnesota traded Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to Chicago for Dosunmu and Julian Phillips, sources said. https://t.co/bVhLA9Sb3f
Giannis trade not looking likely before the deadline, says ESPN’s Brian Windhorst
Giannis Antetokounmpo dribbles against Adem Bona during a game against the Sixers last season.
All eyes remain fixed on the Milwaukee Bucks as the contemplate trading two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The teams most often mentioned in trade talks have been the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Miami Heat, and one distant report about Antetokounmpo being intrigued about playing for the Sixers.
But according to ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst, it looks more likely Antetokounmpo will remain with the Bucks past the deadline, pegging the chances around 60% a trade won’t happen.
“Minnesota is still out there, but I’ll be honest with you: I don’t think Minnesota’s offer was as good as Golden State’s,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s Get Up Thursday morning. “And if Golden State’s offer wasn’t good enough and Minnesota can’t make a trade to improve their offer, I don’t think Minnesota’s realistic.”
“Miami is making a player and semi-draft pick offer – it’s a decent offer but I don’t think it’s something that [Milwaukee] would stop everything for Giannis,” Windhorst added.
Looking back at previous Sixers’ trade deadline deals under Daryl Morey
Sixers team President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey.
LOS ANGELES — Nick Nurse briefly chatted with Daryl Morey Tuesday about the looming trade deadline.
At that point, the 76ers coach and president of basketball operations had not had a conversation in a couple days. Nurse added he had not yet had “any discussions” with players about potential moves or speculation.
“I mostly let him do his thing,” Nurse said of Morey and the front office. “They’re obviously working long hours.”
Another phone call was certainly worthy by Wednesday afternoon, when the Sixers got into the deadline mix by trading second-year guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 first-round draft pick and additional draft compensation. It is unclear if that is a precursor for another deal before 3 p.m. Thursday, or a way to get under the luxury tax threshold while also acquiring assets.
Either way, the typically aggressive Morey has already fulfilled the expectation that he will always do something this time of year. He is entering his sixth trade deadline with the Sixers, where his moves have ranged from pulling off a blockbuster to executing a straight salary dump.
Here is a look back at each deadline move for the Sixers since Morey joined the organization in 2020:
Andre Drummond is the Sixers’ best rebounder and has 12 double-doubles this season.
Could we see another alteration to the 76ers‘ roster before they face the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. Thursday at Crypto.com Arena?
There was always a belief that the Sixers would shed some salary before the 3 p.m. Thursday trade deadline to get below the luxury tax threshold. They also needed to free up a roster spot to sign two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker to standard deals.
And the squad might have accomplished both by trading Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-rounders. One of the second-rounders is the 2027 most favorable pick from Oklahoma City, Houston, the Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat. The others are the 2028 Milwaukee Bucks and 2028 Thunder picks.
The Sixers are now $3 million below the luxury tax threshold after trading away McCain’s $4.2 million salary for draft assets.
But is there another deal to be made? There’s a sense that this roster, as it’s currently constructed, has a chance to position itself for an Eastern Conference title.
Multiple sources insist that the Sixers are still willing to trade reserve center Andre Drummond.
But while McCain battled inconsistent play during his return from last season’s knee surgery, Drummond is the team’s best rebounder and has 12 double-doubles this season.
Parting ways with Drummond would be a blow to the Sixers’ depth. With Joel Embiid resting on the second night of a back-to-back, Drummond started his 18th game of the season Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. The 6-foot-11, 279-pounder had 12 points, 12 rebounds, one steal, and a block in the 113-94 victory.
If there’s a Giannis trade, maybe the Sixers could land someone like ex-Villanova star Donte DiVincenzo.
As of Wednesday night, there were no indications the Sixers were gearing up to make a legitimate run at acquiring Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was previously reported to be intrigued by the possibility of teaming up with Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers. Such a move would almost certainly require the Sixers to part with rookie star V.J. Edgecombe. That’s a move they almost certainly will not do.
But the Sixers could easily end up involved on the periphery of the Giannis talks.
If Minnesota is determined/desperate to add Giannis, then it would presumably need to be desperate/determined to acquire the first-round picks that the Bucks would require (the Timberwolves don’t have much in the way of draft capital to trade). Minnesota’s determination/desperation creates some intriguing possibilities for a third team that does have first-round picks it can trade.
The dream scenario would be someone like young sweet-shooting big man Naz Reid becoming available. A more realistic opportunity could come in the form of former Villanova-turned-Knicks-turned-Timberwolves grinder Donte DiVincenzo.
I’m throwing those names out there mostly as for-instances. The world remains Daryl Morey’s oyster until the clock strikes 3 p.m. EST on Thursday.
Kristaps Porzingis traded to the Warriors; ex-Sixer Buddy Hield headed to the Hawks
Kristaps Porzingis
The Golden State Warriors found their dependable big man by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis from Atlanta and granted forward Jonathan Kuminga his wish to be traded while also dealing guard Buddy Hield to the Hawks, according to a person with knowledge of the swap.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the trade had not yet been approved by the league.
Kuminga sat out Tuesday night’s 113-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers because of a bone bruise in his left knee, his fifth straight missed game.
The Hawks had listed Porzingis — who has recently missed time with an Achilles tendon injury — as questionable for Thursday’s game against Utah because of an illness. Atlanta also acquired center Jock Landale from the Jazz, a person with knowledge of the trade told the AP.
In mid-January, Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke with Kuminga about being out of the rotation for more than a month and the expectation that he would be traded. However, general manager Mike Dunleavy said on Jan. 20 after Jimmy Butler’s season-ending knee injury that there wasn’t an immediate indication other teams were interested in Kuminga.
“As far as the demand, I’m aware of that,” Dunleavy said, referencing Kuminga’s trade request. “I think when you, in terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market. So we’ll see where that unfolds.”
Kerr discounted any issues between him and Kuminga as the reason the high-flying forward requested a trade after not being used in 17 of 18 games — though he has been listed as injured for nine games this season.
— Associated Press
// Timestamp 02/05/26 7:35am
Trading Jared McCain is a big risk, unless something bigger is in play
Patience will be needed to determine whether the Sixers were smart to jettison their 2024 first-round pick, guard Jared McCain.
Curious.
Suggestive.
Dangerous.
Most of all, unfortunate.
Those are the only sorts of words you can use right now when evaluating the Sixers’ decision to trade Jared McCain to the Thunder on Wednesday afternoon in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick and some ancillary draft capital.
To judge the move in more definitive terms would be irresponsible given the amount of time that still remains between now and Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. The final verdict depends on what happens next.
If nothing happens next, then, yeah, the Sixers’ decision to jettison their promising 2024 first-round pick will rank somewhere on a spectrum between “underwhelming” and “foolish.” If their primary motivation was to duck below the luxury tax yet again, it will be a level beyond foolish. It will be criminal.
That being said, there are a lot of other ifs in play, many of them more plausible than Daryl Morey viewing a legitimate asset as a cost-savings vehicle.
The NBA trade deadline is today. The Sixers have a mixed track record.
The NBA trade decline is Thursday at 3 p.m.
This year’s NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m., the annual cutoff for trades during the season.
It’s generally a busy day in the league. Last year, 45 players changed teams on deadline day, including big names like Luka Dončić, Jimmy Butler, and De’Aaron Fox.
The Sixers have also been active in recent years, with varying degrees of success since Daryl Morey was named the team’s president of basketball operations at the start of the 2020-21 season.
Last season, they acquired Quentin Grimes and Jared Butler, both of whom remain on the roster. In 2024 they landed Buddy Hield, only to later trade him to the Golden State Warriors.
In 2023 the Sixers traded Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trailblazers. In 2022, they dealt Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in a deal that brought James Harden to Philly, who was later traded to the Los Angeles Clippers.
