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Cody Schrader Released by 49ers: What’s Next for the Former Missouri Running Back?

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Cody Schrader Released by 49ers: What’s Next for the Former Missouri Running Back?


Obstacles are nothing new for Cody Schrader. The former Missouri Tigers running back was handed another Tuesday, being waived by the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.

Tuesday was the final cutdown day for NFL teams ahead of the regular season, which begins Thursday, September 6. Teams went from preseason rosters of up to 90 players to an initial 53-man squad.

Schrader signed with the 49ers as a free agent after not being selected in the draft in April. Schrader could still find a spot on the 49ers’ 16-man practice squad, with the possibility of being promoted to the active roster as needed.

Schrader was competing in a crowded running back room. Christian McCaffrey, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, leads the room as a dynamic dual-threat runner and receiver. Veteran Jordan Mason has been a reliable option for the 49ers over the past few seasons, taking 40 carries in 2023. San Francisco also selected Louisville running back Isaac Guerendo in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

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All-Pro fullback Kyle Juszcyzk also takes up a roster spot for rushers. Juszcyk shared some high praise for Schrader’s work ethic during training camp.

“I’ve been particularly impressed with Cody Schrader,” Juszczyk said. “He works his absolute tail off. He’s very intelligent. He just goes out there and plays a good consistent clean game and we’ve really enjoyed having him.”

During the NFL preseason, Schrader received 18 carries for 48 total yards. He also caught two passes for eight yards. Even if the stat line isn’t flashy, 49ers head coach Kyle Shannahan has noticed Schrader’s efforts.

“He knows how to run the ball, he hits the right holes,” Shannahan said after the 49ers’ first two preseason games. “Doesn’t mess around, lowers his pads and falls forward.”

Shannahan, going back to his time as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, has utilized multiple running backs. Schrader might have not maid the initial cut, but he could certainly still find a role with San Francisco down the line.

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The 31 other NFL teams will have a chance to sign any waived players, like Schrader, in a 24 hour period beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday. If another team had their eyes on Schrader during the draft process, they could sign him to their active roster.

More likely, however, Schrader will be added to San Francisco’s practice squad. Any practice squad player can be elevated to the team’s game day roster three times throughout the season without actually being on the active roster.

Even if practice squad players are elevated to the game day roster though, it doesn’t mean that they’ll be one of the 48 players that actually suit up for the game. Game day elevations for practice squad players often are a result of unexpected injuries. Each team can use up to two practice squad game-day elevations per week.

If Schrader can’t find success in the 2024 NFL season, he could take a swing with the United Football Leauge’s (UFL) St. Louis Battlehawks. Schrader’s hometown team selected him in the second round of the UFL’s college draft in July. Schrader could spend the entire fall in the NFL and still decide to play for the Battlehawks if he’s not signed under a NFL contract by that point.

Schrader embodied what made the 2023 revival of the Missouri program possible. Beginning his career with the Tigers as a walk-on from Division II Truman State. In four years at Truman State, Schrader rushed for 3,084 yards and 39 touchdowns on 479 carries for an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

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After transferring to Missouri, Schrader rushed for 691 yards and eight touchdowns on 157 carries in 2022, splitting the backfield with Nate Peat. Schrader exploded on to the scene in 2023, leading the SEC with 1,627 yards on 276 carries. His 14 rushing touchdowns were tied for the second highest in the conference.

Schrader teared through defenses during the second half of Missouri’s 2023 season, averaging 168.2 yards through the final five weeks of the season. He set a program record by rushing for over 100 yards for six consecutive games at the end of the season. His improbable performance in 2023 earned him some hardware, winning the Brandon Burlsworth trophy for the best former walk-on player.

Schrader’s impact off the field was arguably just as important as his offensive production. His work ethic and leadership were intertwined to Missouri’s team chemistry in 2023.

“Cody Schrader was as unique a person and teammate that I’ve ever coached in my entire career,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said at 2024 SEC Media Days. “The toughness he displayed on a daily basis, the amount of care, how driven he was to be the best he could be.”

If history is any indicator, this release will not be the end of Schrader’s NFL career.

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Drugmakers sue to block Missouri law on federal prescription discounts • Missouri Independent

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Drugmakers sue to block Missouri law on federal prescription discounts • Missouri Independent


Three major pharmaceutical companies and their national lobbying organization are suing Missouri to block enforcement of a new state law requiring them to give medical providers unlimited access to discounted drugs for their pharmacies.

In four federal lawsuits filed over the past month, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Abbvie and PhRMA, the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry, argue that Missouri lawmakers unconstitutionally intruded into interstate commerce with the bill passed this year.

Under the bill, drugmakers must accept orders to deliver medications to providers eligible for discounts under the 340B program, named for the section of law where it is authorized. The bill allows eligible providers to have an unlimited number of contracts with pharmacies to dispense their prescriptions of drugs purchased under the program.

“Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, Missouri has no authority to define who has access to 340B-priced drugs,” states the lawsuit filed last week by PhRMA in the Western District of Missouri.

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The law takes effect on Wednesday. The plaintiffs in each case have asked for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement, but no hearings on the requests have been scheduled and only one case, filed Aug. 2 by Novartis, has had enough activity for the judge to schedule any proceedings.

Abbvie went first, filing its lawsuit July 22 in the Eastern District  — 10 days after Gov. Mike Parson declined to sign the bill and instead allowed it to become law despite his misgivings. The other three cases are filed with the Western District, which includes Jefferson City.

The lawsuits name Attorney General Andrew Bailey and members of the state Board of Pharmacy, which is responsible for enforcing the law. The board is given authority to investigate violations of the law and the attorney general has enforcement powers through the state Merchandising Practices Act.

“It is difficult to convincingly argue that doing what a federal program requires is an irreparable harm,” Maria Lanahan, deputy solicitor general in the attorney general’s office, wrote in a filing arguing against a preliminary injunction in the Novartis lawsuit. “To the contrary, when Novartis complies with S.B. 751, it is helping covered entities that serve vulnerable populations.”

Bailey’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment on the cases.

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The board is relying on Bailey to respond to the lawsuit. The law is self-enforcing and while the board could write rules about how it is to be followed, Executive Director Kimberly Brinston said.

“The board does not have a timeline to promulgate rules and has not made a decision on whether rules would be promulgated,” she said.

The Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri Primary Care Association have asked to intervene in the Novartis lawsuit and will likely seek to join the other three, hospital association spokesman Dave Dillon said Monday.

“We are evaluating each case and intend to reinforce the work done by the General Assembly on behalf of Missouri’s hospitals, other providers and the communities they serve,” Dillon said.

The 340B program was created in 1992. It had two components — drug manufacturers had to deliver their products at a discount to eligible providers and eligible providers could only use the program to provide prescriptions to patients they treated directly.

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Eligible providers included children’s hospitals, as well as hospitals that were sole providers in their community or designated “critical access hospitals” by providing care that would otherwise be absent, and those serving large numbers of indigent patients known as “disproportionate share hospitals.”

Other qualifying providers include federally qualified health care centers — clinics that receive grants to support operations so they can base charges on ability to pay — as well as clinics that serve AIDS patients, black lung victims and other debilitating diseases.

The use of contract pharmacies started in 1996, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began allowing one contractor per provider as recognition that many providers did not have in-house pharmacies. But a change to allow unlimited contracting increased the number of contract pharmacies from 2,321 in 2010 to 205,340 in 2024, according to data from PhRMA provided to The Independent in June.

Nationally, pharmaceutical manufacturers sold nearly $100 billion in discounted drugs in 2021 and 2022. Discounts averaged 60% from regular wholesale prices, the lobbying organization stated.

The pharmaceutical companies focus their criticism on the disproportionate share hospitals, who often contract with for-profit pharmacies to dispense the drugs. Those hospitals account for about 80% of all drugs purchased through the 340B program, $41.8 billion in 2022 and $34.3 billion the year before.

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Pharmaceutical companies complain that the discounts are rarely passed on to patients. Instead, insurance companies and consumers pay retail prices and the extra profit is often split between the pharmacy and the provider.

“Make no mistake, the boom in contract pharmacies has been fueled by the prospect of outsized profit margins on 340B-discounted drugs,” AstraZeneca’s lawyers wrote in the complaint filed last week. “In short, the widespread proliferation of contract pharmacy arrangements since 2010 has transformed the 340B program from one intended to assist vulnerable patients into a multi-billion-dollar arbitrage scheme.”

The drugmakers have fought the expansion of contract pharmacies in a variety of ways. When Novartis sought in 2020 to limit the contracts to pharmacies within 40 miles of an eligible provider, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a notice that it considered the limit a violation of the program’s rules.

An advisory opinion on contracting, later withdrawn, said the 340B program required delivery to a pharmacy on “the lunar surface, low-earth orbit, or a neighborhood…”

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania ruled in January 2023 in a case against the federal agency that pharmaceutical companies could impose limits on the number of pharmacies they would allow to purchase the discounted drugs.

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After the 2023 ruling, Novartis tightened its rules to allow only one contracted pharmacy per covered provider, but only if the provider did not have an in-house pharmacy. Other manufacturers have imposed variations on the Novartis policies.

State efforts to counter the limits have ramped up in the past two years. Missouri is one of eight states to pass laws requiring drugmakers to deliver discounted medications to contract pharmacies.

Arkansas was one of the first. In March, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis upheld the Arkansas law requiring drugmakers to allow covered providers to have an unlimited number of contract pharmacies.

In the motion to dismiss the Novartis lawsuit, the Missouri attorney general’s office relied heavily on that ruling, writing that it shows federal law does not prevent Missouri from passing a similar law.

The four lawsuits use a variety of legal theories to assail Missouri’s new law. Along with allegations of interfering with interstate commerce and regulating in an area reserved for federal action, the Abbvie lawsuit argues that its property rights are being violated.

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“These abuses of the federal 340B program raise obvious concerns because the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from forcing the transfer of property at confiscatory prices to private parties for their own private benefit,” the lawsuit states.

In the filing seeking to intervene in the Novartis case, the hospitals and primary care associations argued that the revenue from profits on 340B medications are essential support for their operations.

“Reducing access to those savings,” the filing states, “means hospitals are unable to underwrite critical but under-reimbursed services lines.”

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Judge Kills Missouri AG’s Elon Musk-Inspired War Against Media Matters

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Judge Kills Missouri AG’s Elon Musk-Inspired War Against Media Matters


A federal judge on Monday ordered Missouri’s attorney general to stand down on an investigation into Media Matters for America launched in the wake of a lawsuit filed against the progressive watchdog last year by X owner Elon Musk. In November, as advertisers fled his platform in droves, Musk accused the nonprofit of “knowingly and maliciously” concocting a report showing ads from companies like Apple, Oracle, and Amazon next to content produced by hate groups. Four months later, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued Media Matters a civil investigative demand, seeking communications and documents the group had produced on Musk and X, as well as personal information on its donors in his state. Bailey separately sued Media Matters, alleging in a complaint that it had “pursued an activist agenda in its attempt to destroy X, because they cannot control it.” U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta, an Obama appointee also known for presiding over the Google antitrust case, handed down a preliminary injunction prohibiting Bailey from pursuing either action. He wrote that Media Matters had “shown that their reporting was not defamatory and therefore was protected speech.” In a statement, Angelo Carusone, Media Matters’ president and CEO, called Mehta’s decision “a victory for free speech.”

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Smithville man killed in Sunday morning crash on Missouri 291

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Smithville man killed in Sunday morning crash on Missouri 291


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One man was killed in a two-vehicle crash on Missouri 291 early Sunday morning.

Liberty Officers were called just before 2:30 a.m. to a crash on 291 and North Ash Avenue.

Investigators determined a Cadillac CTS4 was northbound on 291 and crossed over into the southbound lanes, striking a Honda Pilot.

The driver of the Cadillac, 18-year-old Brandon Durossette, of Smithville, was transported to an area hospital where he later died.

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The driver of the Honda was transported to an area hospital with serious injuries.

Investigation of the crash remains under investigation.

If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.

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