While most established starters typically sit out the NFL's Hall of Fame Game, Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs saw plenty of action last Thursday night.
Jacobs touched the ball on seven of the Raiders' first 12 plays – rushing five times for 30 yards and catching two passes for 14 yards – leading some to believe the team was deliberately giving him a larger workload so there would be more tape on him for a potential trade.
Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels quashed those rumours on Monday, dismissing the idea of the team looking for a trade.
"We have a lot of confidence in J.J. And, you know, he did well with his opportunities, which we hoped he would," McDaniels said. "But no, we have no desire to do that at all."
Some of the speculation that the Raiders want to trade Jacobs stems from the fact he is entering the final year of his rookie contract after the team decided not to pick up his fifth-year option this past offseason.
He was one of the bigger names on the Raiders not to get a contract extension under the new regime led by McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after quarterback Derek Carr, edge rusher Maxx Crosby and wide receiver Hunter Renfrow all received big paydays.
Jacobs has led the Raiders in rushing each of his first three seasons in the league with his 3,087 rushing yards ranking fifth in the NFL since his 2019 rookie season.
He is expected to be Las Vegas' starting running back again this season, though the team did draft Zamir White out of Georgia in the fourth round of April’s draft, signed veteran free agent Brandon Bolden and will get Kenyan Drake back from a broken right ankle that cut short his 2021 season.
White led the Raiders with 75 all-purpose yards in Thursday’s 27-11 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Drake ran five times for nine yards.
"As I said after the game, I really do believe that the backs, don't really get to simulate what's going to happen during the course of the regular season," McDaniels said. "And so, giving them an opportunity to actually get tackled, take care of the football and get acclimated to a new system, quite honestly, I think is the goal. Each man's different.
"We'll try to do what's best for the team. We felt like that was a good thing, a good opportunity for all our backs that played."
Eagles lock up wide receiver Smith through 2028
The Philadelphia Eagles locked up wide receiver DeVonta Smith through the 2028 season on Monday.
Philadelphia exercised its fifth-year option on Smith for the 2025 season and agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension that runs through 2028.
Smith’s extension is reportedly worth $75million, including $51million in guaranteed money.
Philadelphia selected Smith with the 10th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after he won the Heisman Trophy with Alabama in 2020.
Smith was the first wide receiver to win the Heisman since Desmond Howard in 1991 and first non-quarterback or running back to capture the honour since cornerback Charles Woodson in 1997.
Smith has caught 240 passes for 3,178 yards and 19 touchdowns in 50 regular-season games while adding 27 receptions for 405 yards and a TD catch in five postseason contests.
OJ Simpson: Cherished star whose fall from grace was seen live by millions on TV
From cherished American superstar to villain whose murder trial captivated a global audience, OJ Simpson’s fall from grace was startling.
Simpson, nicknamed ‘The Juice’, has died at the age of 76 after losing his battle with prostate cancer, leaving behind four children.
Before the low-speed car chase by police and ‘Trial of the Century’ that began the unravelling of his reputation, Simpson was a darling of American sport who had also carved out a successful acting career.
He was raised in a low income neighbourhood in San Francisco and joined a local gang but his athleticism offered a route out and he found his purpose in gridiron.
A prolific running back, he starred for USC and in 1968 won the Heisman Trophy awarded to the outstanding player in college football. Inevitably, he was first overall draught pick the following year.
Progress in his first couple of seasons at the Buffalo Bills was slow but his impact grew and he went on to become one of the most successful operators in his position, winning the NFL’s most valuable player in 1973 and being inducted into the hall of fame in 1985.
He became the game’s highest paid player and lucrative commercial deals also followed as companies looked to leverage his charisma and popularity, while his acting career included parts in blockbusters ‘Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Naked Gun’.
For all his film presence he was little known outside the United States but that changed for all the wrong reasons when he was arrested in 1994 for the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Brown and Goldman had been found stabbed to death in LA and once police had filed charges, Simpson refused to turn himself in and was pursued in an extraordinary car chase that was at low speed because he had a gun pointed to his head.
The event was televised live to millions and projected his notoriety worldwide, with the broadcasting of his subsequent murder trial only intensifying interest in this fallen star.
He was acquitted the following year but a civil lawsuit found him liable for the deaths, resulting in an order to pay £26.7million pounds to the victims of the families. Only a fraction of that amount was actually paid.
Arrests followed for a variety of offences in the early 2000s and his lowest point eventually came in 2007 when he was charged with armed robbery and kidnapping.
He served nine of a 33-year jail sentence and upon his release he continued to live in Las Vegas, looking increasingly frail when in public but active on social media. Simpson always maintained his innocence of the murders.
OJ Simpson dies aged 76
OJ Simpson has died of cancer at the age of 76.
Simpson was a running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers from 1969 to 1979, before being acquitted of murder in a trial in the mid-1990s.
News of Simpson’s death was announced by his children on his X account.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” read a statement.
“He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace. -The Simpson Family”
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