The Buffalo Bills and emerging tight end Dawson Knox have agreed to a four-year extension through the 2026 season.

Knox, whose nine touchdown catches in 2021 tied for the most in the NFL for a tight end, will receive $31million guaranteed, according to NFL.com, with the total value of the deal coming in at $53.6m.

The 25-year-old Knox was entering the final season of his rookie contract.

"I couldn't be more excited to call this place home for another four years," Knox said in a social media post after the Bills announced his extension on Wednesday. 

"Can't wait to get this season rolling. Go Bills!"

A third-round pick of Buffalo in the 2019 draft, Knox compiled 52 catches for 676 yards and five TDs over his first two seasons before delivering a breakthrough 2021 campaign. 

The Mississippi State product set a franchise record for touchdown catches for a tight end and posted career highs of 49 receptions and 587 receiving yards in 15 games.

Knox added two more TD catches in Buffalo's 47-17 rout of the New England Patriots in the opening round of last season's AFC playoffs.

The fourth-year pro has also developed a special bond with the city of Buffalo, one which has grown stronger from the community's reaction to the sudden death of Knox's brother, Luke, in August. 

Bills fans raised over $200,000 in Luke's name to the P.U.N.T. foundation, a pediatric cancer charity that Dawson Knox has actively supported.

"The amount of texts I've gotten, the messages, the posts, the moment of silence for the preseason game – it's just been everything that I expected out of Buffalo and more because this city is incredible," Knox told the Bills' official site earlier this week.

"This is such an incredible city with such an incredible fan base and people. It really truly does feel like home. 

"I know I've said that before, but I kind of realised that for the first time when I came back up here after everything that it really does feel like a second home to me."

Luke Knox, a linebacker at Florida International University, died unexpectedly of unknown causes last month at the age of 22.

Karim Benzema is a doubt for Real Madrid's upcoming showdown with Atletico Madrid as a result of the thigh injury sustained against Celtic.

The France international hobbled off midway through the first half in Madrid's 3-0 Champions League win in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Benzema, who was considered a doubt before the game, appeared to sustain the damage – originally thought to be to his knee – when playing a pass.

Speaking after the match, Carlo Ancelotti said the injury "does not seem like anything serious", but added Madrid would await the results of a second scan.

That second scan took place at Real's Valdebebas training base on Wednesday, and it was confirmed the 34-year-old has sustained a minor muscular problem.

A statement on Madrid's website read: "Benzema has been diagnosed with an injury to the semitendinosus muscle and an overload on the quadriceps, both in the right thigh."

While no official timeframe has been given for Benzema's lay-off, reports suggest he will miss between seven-to-10 days.

Madrid host Real Mallorca and RB Leipzig over the next week, in LaLiga and the Champions League respectively, before travelling to city rivals Atletico on September 18.

Losing Benzema for any period of time will be considered a blow for Ancelotti, with his star striker having scored four goals and assisted one more in six outings this season.

He has scored and assisted 68 goals in all competitions since the start of last season – a tally bettered only by Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe across Europe's top five leagues.

The New York Jets entered the week with Zach Wilson "possible" to start the season opener, but those hopes have now been dashed.

Coach Robert Saleh announced on Wednesday that the second-year quarterback would be sidelined until Week 4 at the earliest.

On Monday, Saleh said it was possible Wilson would be on the field against the Baltimore Ravens after he threw some passes and tested his right knee during a workout.

Wilson suffered a bone bruise and torn meniscus in the knee while scrambling in the Jets' preseason opener on August 12.

The 23-year-old had successful arthroscopic surgery four days later, and the original diagnosis was he would be out for two to four weeks.

Saleh, however, is now saying Wilson will be out until at least October 2, when his team face the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"We are going to make sure both mind and body are 110 per cent and make sure we do right by him," Saleh told reporters. "And we feel talking to the doctors and everyone, it's going to be that Pittsburgh week.

"After all the information gathering, it's just not worth the risk in terms of getting him out there. There's the knee element, there's the mind element, there's the practice element, there are a whole lot of things other than the knee."

Joe Flacco will feature on Sunday when the Jets host the Ravens. He spent his first 11 NFL seasons with Baltimore and guided the team to a championship in 2012 while being named Super Bowl MVP.

The 37-year-old Flacco is the Ravens' all-time leader in passing yards (38,245) and touchdown throws (212).

"I've been in a bunch of games where guys have played their past teams," Flacco said. "Usually, the emotions are definitely crazy. Guys try to act like they're so cool during the week. I've probably thought about it a tiny bit."

Primoz Roglic's withdrawal from the Vuelta a Espana is a huge disappointment for Enric Mas, as he aims to chase down Remco Evenepoel in the final stages of the race.

Three-time reigning champion Roglic crashed just before the line on Tuesday, having looked set to take the lead off Evenepoel, who has now held the red jersey for 12 stages of this year's event.

Roglic's chances of an unprecedented fourth straight Vuelta title are now over after the Slovenian elected to withdraw from the race, leaving Mas as Evenepoel's closest rival.

Yet the Spaniard was unable to close the gap on Wednesday as Evenepoel and his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team managed the red jersey group, with both riders collecting the same time after a 162-kilometre route from Aracena to Monasterio de Tentudia.

Rigoberto Uran claimed a breakaway win, sealing his first individual success at La Vuelta, meaning the 35-year-old has now won a stage at each of the Grand Tours.

Jesus Herrada led until just before the finish, with Uran timing his final attack to perfection to hold off Quentin Pacher and become the fourth different Colombian rider to win a stage at La Vuelta since the start of the 2019 edition.

Mas had to settle for 15th, one place behind Evenepoel, and knows his Movistar team will have to come up with something special to topple the Belgian in the race's final days.

"We go day by day, I think every day is super important. Yesterday you all saw the crash of Primoz. We need to be very focused," Mas said. "It's not nice when somebody crashes. He's a super rider, a super good person. I think it's s*** that Roglic is not here anymore.

"I don't know what we're going to do tomorrow, but if we have good legs and a good feeling, and the atmosphere in the team is super good, we have to do something, no?"

Evenepoel betters Merckx 

He may hold a lead of over two minutes, but Evenepoel is not taking anything for granted, and delivered an expertly controlled ride to keep his rivals at bay.

"Pretty tough, it was not easy at all. Especially the run-in was really nervous and also a big road going quite steep. It looked easier on television than it was in real life," he said.

Evenepoel is the first rider to lead La Vuelta for 12 consecutive stages since 2019, when Roglic led for the final 12. The 22-year-old has now overtaken the great Eddy Merckx as fourth on the list of Belgians with the most days leading the race, after Gustaaf Deloor (32), Freddy Maertens (22) and Rick van Looy (13).

STAGE RESULT

1. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education–EasyPost) 3:42:28
2. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) same time
3. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) +0:02
4. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +0:15
5. Kelly Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) +0:26

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 65:14:05
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:01
3. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +4:51

Points Classification

1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 349
2. Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) 149
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 133

King of the Mountains

1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 59
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 30
3. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) 22

Brighton and Hove Albion's upcoming Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace has been postponed due to a planned rail strike.

The match at the Amex Stadium between the rival clubs – nicknamed the A23 derby – had been scheduled to take place on September 17. 

However, with strike action due to affect most major rail line operators in the United Kingdom that day, it was announced on Wednesday the game will be rearranged.

No new date for the fixture has been set.

Brighton and Palace both described the decision to postpone the contest as "regrettable".

Brighton chief executive Paul Barber added: "The safety of fans of both clubs, our matchday staff, players and officials must be the priority.

"We have taken into consideration how difficult it would be for fans of both clubs to attend the match without access to the rail network.

"We looked at a number of options and various contingency plans. This included additional travel options or moving the match to earlier or later in the same week, with Sunday afternoon the latest the fixture could be played on that weekend due to the international break.

"But it simply was not possible to play the match with a full capacity crowd in attendance."

The announcement came on a day of uncertainty at Brighton amid widespread reports that head coach Graham Potter has been given permission to hold talks with Chelsea.

Chelsea are said to have made appointing Potter, who has been in charge of Brighton for three and a half years, their top priority after parting company with Thomas Tuchel.

Brighton are fourth in the Premier League after winning four of their opening six games, while Palace are seven points worse off in 15th.

The Buffalo Bills are a team who have come to be defined by the agony they have suffered.

Though they are responsible for one of the most dominant stretches of offensive football in NFL history in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have more recently re-emerged as one of the most exciting teams in the league, the Bills are still yet to experience the ultimate glory of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy. 

Buffalo finished in the top seven for yards and points every year between 1989 and 1993 as the Bills' K-Gun offense illustrated just how devastating a no-huddle attack could be. Yet Marv Levy's star-studded group is best remembered for losing four successive Super Bowls between 90 and 93.

And Bills fans would be forgiven for pessimistically thinking the Josh Allen era is doomed to end without a first Super Bowl win in franchise history.

Allen has silenced critics who doubted his ability to improve his accuracy to become one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the modern NFL, and the Bills have been in the top five in offensive yards and points in each of the last two seasons.

However, those campaigns have both delivered heartbreaking playoff losses to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills on the wrong end of one of arguably the finest postseason game in NFL history, losing 42-36 having allowed the Chiefs to drive for a game-tying field goal in the final 13 seconds of regulation.

The Four Falls of Buffalo, as they were labelled in a 30 for 30 documentary about the Super Bowl losses, and '13 seconds' will forever live in franchise infamy.

But the Bills head into 2022 with a case for being the strongest team in the league. So, as they prepare to face the defending Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams in Thursday's mouth-watering season opener, how can Allen and Co. soothe the wounds of those missed opportunities by finally getting over the hump this season?
 

Taking the pressure off Allen

It may be a perplexing statement to read given Allen is fifth in passing yards (8,951) and fourth in passing touchdowns (73) over the past two seasons, but the Bills could maximise the impact of having the luxury of a quarterback of his talents by taking some of the pressure off his shoulders.

Buffalo's front office appeared to realise that this offseason, selecting running back James Cook in the second round of the draft.

Cook's burst through the running lane and up to the second level makes him an ideal fit for an offense that has found success with outside zone run concepts.

The Bills called outside zone on 21.26 per cent of their run plays last year, above the NFL average of 19.1. They put up 4.51 yards per play on such runs, again better than the league-wide average of 4.32.

Cook is a home-run hitter who can weaponise the threat of such runs in a way Devin Singletary and Zack Moss cannot. The Bills had 60 runs of 10 yards or more in 2021, the seventh-most in the NFL, but 28 of them came from QB Allen (Singletary had 20 while Moss delivered only six).

Should Cook's 4.4 speed translate to the pros, the Bills would have a back with the skill set to allow them to increase their menu of wide zone runs and make the zone-read more of a weapon. Despite the threat of Allen as a runner, the Bills averaged just 3.67 yards per play on zone-reads last season.

The Bills turned to run game on only 34.7 per cent of offensive snaps in 2021 and, when they did, the ball frequently remained in the hands of Allen, who has carried the ball 422 times since entering the NFL in 2018, a number second only to that of Lamar Jackson (615) among quarterbacks. Last season accounted for 122 of thsoe, with Jackson (133) and Jalen Hurts (139) the two signal-callers to attempt more runs.

Cook's arrival can take some of the onus off Allen as a runner, while the former Georgia back will hope to give his QB a few more easy buttons in the passing game.

His average of 10.9 yards per reception in a college career that spanned from 2018 to 2021 was seventh in the Power 5 in that time and first in the SEC, while Cook also racked up 11 receptions of at least 10 yards in 2021, tied for 12th among Power 5 backs.

Playing in an offense that has seen Allen consistently push the ball downfield -- Derek Carr (72) and Russell Wilson (70) were the only two quarterbacks to attempt more passes of at least 21 air yards last year than Allen's 68 -- Cook should have substantial space in underneath areas to exploit as a receiver.

If Allen takes advantage of those high-percentage throws when they come available, it will decrease the pressure on him to make the highlight reel passes to which the NFL universe has become accustomed, yet potential improvements in his accuracy could also have a massive bearing on his and the Bills' success in 2022.
 

Allen's extra 1%

Across the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, in which the Bills did not punt and scored a touchdown on every drive against the New England Patriots, and his equally remarkable performance in the '13 seconds game', Allen completed 77.4 per cent of his passes for 637 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions.

He averaged 10.27 yards per attempt and had a passer rating of 149.0 in an incredible finale to a campaign that makes talk of finding areas for improvement seem bizarre.

Yet the best athletes are always striving to find that extra one per cent and Allen looks to have indentified where his potentially lies.

"I think, myself especially, making sure I'm on time, making the right reads and giving our guys good enough balls to get some some more RAC [run after catch]," Allen said during the offseason.

"That's one thing I think, on offense, run after catch was wasn't very high last year, but again, that's me putting the ball where it needs to be and allow our guys to catch in a good position to make a run after the catch.

"So working on that, that's been been one of my biggest takeaways in this offseason and trying to work on just ball placement and allowing our receivers to do that."

Allen's assessment is backed up by the numbers. Among 31 qualifying quarterbacks, Allen was last in yards after catch per reception with an average of just 4.5 in a season where his well-thrown percentage dropped significantly.

In his breakout 2020 season, Allen produced an accurate, well-thrown ball on 80.5 per cent of his pass attempts, the seventh-best ratio among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts. Last season, his well-thrown rate fell to 77.2, below the league average of 78.1 for signal-callers to reach three figures in attempts.

Though the difference in his YAC per reception was negligible -- Allen averaged 4.6 per completed pass in 2020 -- there is no doubt the Bills' offense would benefit from him rediscovering the accuracy of two seasons ago.

Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley have departed, but Stefon Diggs and the emerging Gabriel Davis represent two top two pass-catching weapons for Allen, and he also has two new targets for 2022 who should each thrive if he can do a better job leading his receivers.

Veteran Jamison Crowder has averaged 4.6 yards after catch per reception since 2019, almost a full yard more than Diggs (3.7) and rookie fifth-round pick Khalil Shakir possesses the vision, fluidity and love of contact to excel with the ball in his hands.

Allen improving his anticipation will go a long way to helping the Bills meet the expectations they face in 2022, but he could still use a helping hand from a loaded defense that was not without its own imperfections last year.
 

A more prolific pass rush

The Billls' headline addition of the offseason was that of Von Miller, the veteran edge rusher who arrived after displaying the plentiful amount of fuel he still has in the tank during a sojourn with the Los Angeles Rams that ended with his second Super Bowl title.

Miller finished the season with a stunt-adjusted pass rush win rate of 43.4 per cent, which was the fifth-highest among edge rushers with at least 100 one on one matchups.

Between Week 15 of the regular season and the Rams' Super Bowl triumph, Miller racked up nine sacks. Only in the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers did he fail to bring down the quarterback.

No surprise then, that Miller's acquisition sees the Bills pass rush enter the season fourth in Stats Perform's postional rankings.

Justifying that ranking is another matter, however.

The Bills did an excellent job of pressuring opposing quarterbacks last season, in which they were sixth in pass rush win rate. Yet there is clear room for improvement in converting those pressures into sacks. Buffalo registered 42 sacks in 2021, 39 of them for negative yardage - that latter number good enough for 12th in the NFL.

Buffalo will look for Miller to vastly improve the Bills' ability to turn pressures into negative plays, though the former Denver Bronco cannot do it alone. Gregory Rousseau, Carlos 'Boogie Basham' and A.J. Epenesa all had pressure rates below 17 per cent last season as the trio of edge rushers selected highly by the Bills over the course of the last two years struggled to justify their respective draft statuses. On the interior, Ed Oliver has never had more than five sacks since being picked in the top 10 in 2019.

It was in the Divisional Round where the Bills need for extra pass-rush help was encapsulated. Buffalo pressured Patrick Mahomes 23 times but registered just two sacks.

Any kind of disruption is production when it comes to the pass rush. Pressure often leads to critical mistakes, but the likes of Mahomes and his contemporaries have grown so adept at dealing with it - Mahomes threw just five interceptable passes on 194 attempts under duress last season - that is simply not enough to get into the backfield and expect bad results for the offense.

Simply put, the Bills must do a better job of ensuring their successful pass rushes pay dividends and consistently put opposing aerial attacks in disadvantageous situations

Success in doing so would improve the odds of an extremely talented secondary surviving cornerback Tre'Davious White's early-season absence and create more chances for an opportunistic defense to produce turnovers going up against offenses working from behind the chains.

The Bills' inconsistency in turning pressure into sacks, their need for more YAC and perhaps a less Allen-centric run game are all minor blemishes for arguably the most complete team in the NFL.

Yet small issues can quickly become significant problems in the spotlight of the postseason, and it would grealy behove the Bills to iron out the imperfections that could impact their hopes of finally ending their tortuous wait for a title.

Anthony Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has declared his fighter has accepted a proposed bout with Tyson Fury.

The Gypsy King went public with his proposal to Joshua as he pushes to set up a 'Battle of Britain' clash with the WBC heavyweight belt on the line before the end of 2022.

Fury and Joshua had an agreement to fight in Saudi Arabia in August 2021 but those plans came crashing down after a judge ordered Deontay Wilder to be granted his rematch with Fury.

But now the fight looks likely to go ahead, and is set to be held in the UK, after Hearn confirmed an offer has been accepted.

"We offered Tyson Fury the fight when he wasn't champion, at 60-40, and he turned it down; he asked for 50-50," he told IFL TV.

"I spoke to AJ [this time], and he said, 'Look, I don't believe he's for real, but yeah, I'll take the fight. See what the offer is'.

"They came back yesterday, and me and George [Warren] kind of had an agreement that we weren't gonna talk about it, but obviously Fury came out and basically let the world know the offer.

"Sixty-forty was the offer, as Tyson said. They want a rematch clause, and they asked for a date at the beginning of November [for the initial fight]. 

"I don't know whether that was a wind-up or whatever, but we just went back this morning and said: 'We think, I think particularly, he deserves more than 40 per cent, but he's happy. And I don't make the decisions, he does'.

"So, I went back this morning and said: 'We accept 60-40, we want that reversed in a rematch, rightfully so. [Fury is] the champion here, you want the biggest split, which I think is fair - and we want to do the fight in December'." 

Fury said on Wednesday that his team had secured provisional dates for Wembley and Cardiff, with Hearn suggesting December 17 as a good option for the bout.

Hearn added: "Interestingly, they have [a date booked for] 17 December held at [what was formerly] Millenium Stadium, so that's perfect. That's perfect for us."

The idea of "any given Sunday" is what makes the NFL so compelling.

Any one team can beat another, and that means at this stage of the season, with the first snap still to be taken, every team can have Super Bowl aspirations.

Sort of.

The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, may have been slightly surprising contenders in 2021, but there remain some teams whose title hopes are so remote as to be non-existent.

For some, this is because they have missed their shot at glory in recent years; for others, the plan is to challenge in seasons to come.

So, this leads us to draw up a preseason tier system, ranking all 32 teams by their Super Bowl windows with the help of Stats Perform AI predictions...

Nowhere near

This is unlikely to be a season to remember for the teams grouped in this category, for a variety of reasons.

The Houston Texans won the AFC South in 2018 and 2019, but the Deshaun Watson saga and two down years have them looking at a rebuild, with the data forecasting just 4.8 wins this year. That at least ranks them ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (3.6 projected wins) and the New York Giants (4.2), while the Texans did gain draft assets in the Watson trade.

The Chicago Bears are the fourth and final team projected to earn fewer than six wins (4.9), with second-year quarterback Justin Fields receiving little help on offense and playing behind an offensive line ranked 31st in pass protection.

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders rank 31st in terms of skill players – better only than the Falcons – with faith in Carson Wentz long since having diminished. In Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, the Carolina Panthers have two high-draft-pick QBs unlikely to trouble the postseason. The New York Jets are in a similar boat, even if Zach Wilson is still young.

The Detroit Lions might argue they do not deserve to keep such company after a 3-3 finish to last season, but nobody could seriously argue they are title contenders.

Entering contention

If that first group was a mixed bag, so too is the second.

Anyone who has paid any attention to the New England Patriots' preseason would suggest they are very fortunate to be given any hope of success in the near future, but they finished with 10 wins in 2021 – even if that number is projected to shrink to 7.7. Despite a trade for Tyreek Hill, that still ranks the Patriots comfortably ahead of the Miami Dolphins (7.0), although the losing team in their Week 1 meeting will face a long slog of a season.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Philadelphia Eagles are forecast to have 11.9 wins – the second-most in the NFL – after a very strong offseason. But Jalen Hurts, for now, is unproven in the postseason, so Philly fans may have to stay patient.

The San Francisco 49ers are even younger at QB after promoting Trey Lance to a starting role, which explains why the prediction model looks so unfavourably on a team many consider contenders right now. Just 7.1 projected wins speaks to the potentially low floor Lance brings.

NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals have to be considered among this group of future hopefuls, with Kyler Murray hugely talented and now committed long term but frustratingly inconsistent, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will hope Trevor Lawrence can follow in the footsteps of the Bengals' Joe Burrow – the number one pick the year before him.

The Los Angeles Chargers, with 9.8 projected wins, have Justin Herbert to lead their charge, while the Cleveland Browns might have been contenders already if not for Watson's suspension, which is enough to limit them to a still strong 9.3-win forecast.

In their prime

The Chargers may have Herbert, but they also have three division rivals who intend to win and intend to win now. Indeed, all four AFC West teams rank in the top half of the league in terms of projected wins, with the Chargers second – behind the Kansas City Chiefs (11.5) and just ahead of the Denver Broncos (9.7) and the Las Vegas Raiders (9.2).

The Chiefs lead the AFC in this regard, although their playoff win over the Buffalo Bills last season came down to a coin flip, and the two are set to be similarly tough to separate this year. Buffalo are down for 11.1 wins.

The two teams coming off a Super Bowl run are of course prominent among the contenders, even if the model has far greater optimism for a Los Angeles Rams repeat than for another Bengals charge. The Rams are backed for a league-leading 12.4 wins and given a 15.3 per cent shot at defending their title, while the Bengals are actually projected to dip below .500 with 8.2 wins.

The Bengals' route to the Super Bowl will be complicated not just by the AFC West and the Bills but also by any return to form for the fit-again Lamar Jackson's Baltimore Ravens, who are counted among nine teams on course for 10 or more wins (10.4).

Also in that group are NFC pair the Dallas Cowboys (11.0) and the Minnesota Vikings (10.9), who may not even be the best teams in their divisions but might be nearing a point when they must seriously challenge or start again, which brings us to...

Last chance saloon

As long as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are the QBs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, those teams are in with a chance. The question is how long that will remain the case.

Brady is 45, briefly retired this offseason and then missed a chunk of the preseason. Rodgers is 38, has repeatedly been linked with a move away from Green Bay and lost top target Davante Adams ahead of the new season. Still, the Buccaneers rank eighth for projected wins (10.7), with the Packers up in third (11.5).

They are not the only ageing teams in the NFL, however.

The Indianapolis Colts hope they have upgraded in moving from Wentz to Matt Ryan, yet the former MVP is now 37 and last played in the postseason in 2017 – when Wentz's Eagles took the title.

Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill is a little younger at 34, but of greater concern would be Derrick Henry's durability after the injury that limited to eight games last regular season. The Titans need to make the most of any seasons they have left of the superstar running back going at full tilt.

Missed their chance

Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees won Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints respectively, but with all three having now moved on, it is difficult to see those teams plotting a path to the title.

For the Seahawks and the Steelers, this will be their first year without their stalwart QBs, even if things had already gone stale in 2021. Wilson dipped below the .500 mark for a season for the first time in his career, while Pittsburgh were attempting to stay competitive in spite of Roethlisberger rather than because of him.

Still, with both gone – Wilson to Denver and Roethlisberger to retirement – there is a void under center that has not been suitably filled. Seattle also rank 32nd in pass protection, likely leaving Geno Smith hopelessly exposed.

The Saints have had another 12 months to come to terms with Brees' exit, albeit they spent it juggling Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill at QB. Winston's season-ending injury doomed the Saints' hopes of contention last year, and New Orleans' outlook for 9.5 wins with the entertaining but erratic former number one pick is at least far more positive than that of the Seahawks (6.2) or the Steelers (7.0).

Regardless, each of these three teams have provided an example in how not to do succession planning. They all could have won additional honours with their departed veterans and now face long waits for further title tilts.

Tyson Fury has claimed his team has provisionally booked dates at Wembley and Cardiff for a potential 'Battle of Britain' clash with Anthony Joshua, with a date at Manchester United's Old Trafford seen as "too short".

The WBC heavyweight champion has laid down the mantle to his compatriot in attempts to finally give fans the fight they have been crying out for, although not with the same stakes as previously anticipated.

Fury and Joshua had an agreement to fight in Saudi Arabia in August 2021, which would have been a unification of the three leading heavyweight titles, but plans collapsed after a US judge ruled Deontay Wilder's rematch with Fury should go ahead.

While Fury was able to defeat the Bronze Bomber, Joshua lost his titles to Oleksandr Usyk and lost again to the Ukrainian in last month's rematch.

That seemed to spell the end of Joshua's stint at the top of the heavyweight game but Fury has offered a shot at his WBC belt later this year, with Usyk not planning to fight until 2023 due to injuries.

Fury has made his proposals public knowledge on social media and explained why he has gone in with a 60/40 offer, while adding venues have been provisionally booked.

"I think it's more than generous. I didn't want to go in at 80/20 like they would do to me," he told TalkSport.

"I really want this fight to happen because Usyk the middleweight doesn't want no smoke like I thought he didn't and now I'm going after AJ. I've already beaten Wilder and there's only one other person and that's AJ the bodybuilder.

"Why not give him 40 per cent, no excuses, let's get the fight made for the British public. the Battle of Britain, who's going to win it, me or him?

"He only had a sparring contest [against Usyk] didn't he? He's match fit, coming off a training camp. I've seen they're trying to wriggle a bit with the dates.

"We had Manchester United football ground booked for November 12 but they're saying that's too short.

"Even better, we've got Wembley booked for November 26 and if he doesn't want that I even have December 3 in Cardiff, so take your pick you dosser."

Wembley was the venue for Fury's knockout of Dillian Whyte in April, while Cardiff played host to Joshua's 2018 victory against Joseph Parker.

Due to the winter months proposed, Cardiff's Principality Stadium may be the preferred option due to the closing roof.