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.
For years, Stephen A. Smith’s many football blunders have been easy enough to explain away.
He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three key players for a game were three guys who weren’t playing in the game?)
Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in both 2023 and 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and then read the wrong stat line after a College Football Playoff game?).
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
ESPN forces him into those conversations because First Take has to talk football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in the country and he needs to be seen as an authority (even though he isn’t).
But Monday’s latest mistake is a lot tougher to excuse, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the defining NBA dynasties of the last decade.
In other words, he was talking about the sport and the league that’s supposed to be his bread and butter.
JALEN BRUNSON’S SISTER BLASTS ESPN AFTER STEPHEN A SMITH KNICKS RANT: ‘UTTERLY RIDICULOUS’
While discussing whether Steve Kerr has coached his last game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022.”
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr looks on during a game against the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
That’s not even close to true. Not only did Golden State make the playoffs last season, but they also reached the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors made the playoffs, beat the Rockets in seven games and advanced to the second round before losing to the Timberwolves. In 2023, they beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round and before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
So, Smith wouldn’t even have been right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said they didn’t make the playoffs in any of the past four years, except they did it twice.
Yikes.
This is not an obscure piece of NBA trivia that Smith could be easily forgiven for not knowing. Perhaps he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and just missed two of the past three NBA postseasons. That’s a tough look for the guy who fancies himself as the No. 1 NBA analyst in the country.
And it’s a terrible look for ESPN, as they keep selling Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.
Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking Warriors playoff history
If Smith made this kind of mistake while talking about the NFL, nobody would be shocked. At this point, sports fans practically expect him to butcher football analysis. It’s almost endearing that a guy with the ego of Smith can be so consistently wrong while also delivering every “fact” with the utmost confidence. It’s part of the Stephen A. experience.
But this one hits differently because the NBA is where he’s supposed to at least know the basics. This is where Smith prides himself as being an authority figure.
Stephen A. Smith incorrectly stated the Golden State Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since their 2022 championship, despite the team reaching the postseason twice since then. (Candice Ward/Imagn Images)
And yet he couldn’t keep the recent playoff history of the Warriors straight. The team whose head coach is in the news every other week. The team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the most important franchises in the NBA over the past 15 years.
Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament (although they won 46 games that season). And yes, it fell short again this season. But that’s a lot different from acting like Steve Kerr has spent four years wandering the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.
He hasn’t. In fact, the team is 175-153 in the past four regular seasons.
STEVE KERR DOWNPLAYS WARRIORS OWNER’S EMAIL EXCHANGE THAT HINTED AT COACHING MISTAKES: ‘NOT A BIG DEAL’
The Warriors made the second round in 2023. They made the second round again in 2025.
Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm whether the Warriors were actually, you know, in the playoffs.
A legendary NFL coach found linebacker Rod Martin not by scouting him at USC, but almost by accident.
The Oakland Raiders had a throwaway 12th-round pick in the 1977 draft, and then-coach John Madden grew frustrated hearing his personnel executives contemplate using it on a basketball player or track guy. Finally, Madden blurted out that he could find a random kid walking around the USC campus in sandals who could make more of an impact than that.
“Ron Wolf says, ‘All right, smart guy,’” recalled Madden’s son, Mike. “So they were a couple picks away and dad goes, ‘Let me call [USC coach] John Robinson.’”
Robinson had one question: Has Rod Martin been drafted?
Raiders linebacker Rod Martin stands on the field during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 6, 1987, at the Coliseum.
(Mike Powell / Getty Images)
“Dad goes, ‘What position does he play?’” the younger Madden said. “Robinson tells him Martin is a linebacker, and dad goes, ‘Good. Tough guy we can knock around in training camp. Have him run down on kicks.’ And Robinson says, ‘No, John. Rod Martin will make your team.’”
Martin did a lot more than make the team. He would go on to set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions in one of the most dominant defensive performances in championship history.
Martin, who would play his entire 12-year career with the Oakland then Los Angeles Raiders, is dead at age 72. The Raiders announced his death Monday but did not specify a cause of death.
“The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams,” read a team statement.
The franchise called Martin, “a beloved member of the Raiders Family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”
A two-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, Martin saved his best game for the biggest stage. In Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome, he intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times in a 27-10 Raiders victory.
“What I remember about Rod was his ability to diagnose and react,” Jaworski said by phone Monday. “In the Super Bowl, he makes two phenomenal plays. He has three interceptions, but interceptions one and two — I’d like to say they were bad decisions on my part. They weren’t. I tried to squeeze throws in. He just made a great play. He was a great athlete.”
Three years later, Martin was still a key component to the Raiders’ defense in a Super Bowl victory over Washington. He had a sack of quarterback Joe Theismann, a fumble recovery, and a fourth-and-one stop of John Riggins late in the third quarter of a 38-9 blowout.
Born in Welch, W. Va., the son of a coal miner grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hamilton High before going on to play at Los Angeles City College and USC. The NFL saw him as a tweener, too small for linebacker at 210 pounds and too slow to play safety. Clearly, that was a faulty assessment.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was two years behind Martin at Hamilton, and the two remained friends throughout the decades that followed.
“We met when I was a sophomore,” Moon said. “He was a senior — middle linebacker, fullback and center on the basketball team. He was the ultimate athlete. At the time I was there, I looked up to him quite a lot.
“He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was big enough. He had the strongest hands and the strongest forearms. He could just take a tight end or whoever came to block him, grab his pads, shove him off and go make the play. He was just a real solid player.”
It was those hands that grabbed an opportunity with the Raiders and didn’t let go.
“So dad goes marching into the draft room,” Madden said, “looks at Ron and everybody else and says, ‘We’re going to take Rod Martin, linebacker, USC.’ And they did.”
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft.
Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds.
The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”
“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read.
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
TOP NFL DRAFT PICK ZACHARIAH BRANCH ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON TWO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES
“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)
Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
Science4 minutes agoVideo: This Parrot Has No Beak, But Is at the Top of the Pecking Order
-
Culture22 minutes agoPoetry Challenge Day 2: Love, How It Works and What It Means
-
Lifestyle28 minutes agoThe 11 most challenged books of 2025, according to the American Library Association
-
Education34 minutes agoA Time of Growth for Museums for Children
-
Technology40 minutes agoTim Cook will still be Apple’s Trump whisperer
-
World46 minutes agoDeadly shooting at historic tourist site leaves one dead, several injured as motive unclear
-
Politics52 minutes agoSoros-linked dark money network fuels Virginia redistricting push backed by national Democrats
-
Health58 minutes agoDeaths from one type of cancer are surging among younger adults without college degrees