Sports
Will Sam Darnold be the Zack Baun of free agency or the next Aaron Rodgers?
Zack Baun’s last name rhymes with yawn, and that was pretty much the reaction a year ago when the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as a free agent out of New Orleans.
The guy was a special-teamer with the Saints who agreed to a one-year deal to play linebacker for the Eagles, and he quickly transitioned into a centerpiece of that championship defense.
The Eagles backed up the Brinks truck for Baun this offseason, signing him to a three-year, $51-million extension and underscoring the notion that when it comes to free agency, you just never know.
Everyone’s fascinated by the shiny new object — and sometimes rightfully so — but often it’s the player who seemingly comes out of nowhere who is most impactful. That’s why picking winners and losers with the NFL’s annual game of musical chairs is a dicey proposition.
Remember when so much was riding on where Aaron Rodgers would sign a couple of years ago, and then the quarterback’s first season with the New York Jets lasted four snaps? Now, Rodgers is out there looking for a place to land, and no one’s overly excited about what he can do.
Same goes for quarterback Kirk Cousins, the big prize in free agency last year.
The NFL’s new league year kicked off Wednesday, and there’s been a lot of roster reshuffling that could refashion the landscape heading into the draft.
One move that impacts both the Rams and Chargers is Las Vegas trading for Seattle quarterback Geno Smith, a move orchestrated by new Raiders coach Pete Carroll. Smith had revived his career with the Seahawks and could provide the Raiders with their most stable quarterback situation since the Derek Carr days.
The Raiders looked at all sorts of potential solutions in free agency, including Rodgers, Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields and made a serious attempt at trading for Matthew Stafford. Presumably, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had significant influence when it came to making the decision.
That move cleared the way for Darnold to go to Seattle, reaping the benefits of his strong season in Minnesota. It remains to be seen if Darnold is a new man, or if that year with the Vikings was merely a happy aberration. He struggled mightily in a playoff loss to the Rams and was sacked nine times.
Houston Texans offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil will be protecting Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels next season.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
Having moved on from Wilson and Fields, Pittsburgh is ready to reboot at quarterback again. This time the job is more enticing thanks to the addition of DK Metcalf, who came by way of trade from Seattle.
In recent years the San Francisco 49ers have had bottomless pockets when it came to adding players, including along their defensive line. Now that line will look entirely different, though, with Nick Bosa the only remaining constant. He’s the proven commodity, and the other three spots are up for grabs.
The 49ers also parted ways with receiver Deebo Samuel, acquired by Washington in a trade. The Commanders also traded for Laremy Tunsil, Houston’s five-time Pro Bowl left tackle. All of that is good news for quarterback Jayden Daniels, last season’s offensive rookie of the year.
Losing Tunsil is bad news for Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was sacked 52 times last season and already was playing behind a makeshift offensive line.
When Kyle Shanahan arrived to coach the 49ers in 2017, one of his big free-agent targets was fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who became a fixture in that offense, one of the NFL’s few to use a fullback. Now the 49ers have released Juszczyk — although the door isn’t completely closed on a return — and might be rounding into more of a two-tight-end look. The club could be locked in on Penn State tight end Tyler Warren in the draft.
The Rams will look different without receiver Cooper Kupp and over the weekend they traded for another All-Pro, Davante Adams, who was traded from Las Vegas to the Jets last season.
With Darnold and Daniel Jones gone from Minnesota, J.J. McCarthy has the green light to move forward as the Vikings’ starting quarterback. He sat out his rookie season recovering from knee surgery.
Like Darnold, Jones has moved on to new opportunity. Indianapolis signed him to a one-year deal in what appears to be an open competition with Anthony Richardson for the starting job.
The Chargers said goodbye to their longest-tenured player, defensive end Joey Bosa, who signed with Buffalo. Jacksonville tight end Evan Engram, who was targeted by both the Chargers and Denver, wound up signing with the Broncos.
But the Chargers did sign a couple of Steelers standouts in running back Najee Harris and cornerback Donte Jackson, who had five interceptions last season.
As Philadelphia’s Baun reminded people around the league, sometimes it’s the player most everyone overlooks who makes the monumental impact.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.
The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.
First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.
Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.
Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.
NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE
Here’s how every NFL game played out:
THURSDAY, DEC. 25
– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23
– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10
– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after his team’s touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of a game at Northwest Stadium on Dec. 25, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
SATURDAY, DEC. 27
– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16
– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24
SUNDAY, DEC. 28
– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14
– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7
– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26
– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17
– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10
– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10
– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10
– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12
– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
MONDAY, DEC. 29
– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
FCS All-American WR to visit Michigan State this week
UMass Lowell seeks solutions to housing crisis through Massachusetts TechHubs Program
Game Recap: Kings 5, Wild 4 (S/O) | Minnesota Wild
Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Jan. 3, 2026
Missouri Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 winning numbers for Jan. 3, 2026
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Kamala Harris blasts Trump administration’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro as ‘unlawful and unwise’
US Republicans back Trump on Venezuela amid faint MAGA dissent
Who is Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s leader after Maduro’s capture? | CNN
Trump says US will ‘run Venezuela’ after seizing President Maduro in military assault | BBC News
He can make anything out of toothpicks (1983)
-
Entertainment1 week agoHow the Grinch went from a Yuletide bit player to a Christmas A-lister
-
Connecticut1 week agoSnow Accumulation Estimates Increase For CT: Here Are The County-By-County Projections
-
World6 days agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
World1 week agoSnoop Dogg, Lainey Wilson, Huntr/x and Andrea Bocelli Deliver Christmas-Themed Halftime Show for Netflix’s NFL Lions-Vikings Telecast
-
Business1 week agoGoogle is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
-
World1 week agoBest of 2025: Top five defining moments in the European Parliament