Arizona

Marquise Brown NFL free agency speculation swirls around Arizona Cardinals, other teams

Published

2 years ago

February 16, 2024

Marquise Brown NFL free agency speculation swirls around Arizona Cardinals, other teams

The Arizona Cardinals have a lot of questions heading into NFL free agency, but wide receiver Marquise Brown’s future with the team is at the forefront.

Could Arizona re-sign Brown? Could the team move on from him?

NFL free agency speculation about Brown includes the Cardinals as well as many other NFL teams as we await the start of free agency in mid-March.

The Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman recently summed up Brown’s situation with the Cardinals:

“So, what about Hollywood Brown?,” McManaman wrote in his series previewing Cardinals free agency. “Well, head coach Jonathon Gannon has said the Cardinals ‘want him back,’ adding, ‘I know there’s an economic side to the NFL, too, and he knows that as well, but I know that he can be a premier player for us. I’m excited about what the future holds for him.’ If Brown were to agree to a one-year, prove-it deal, a return to the Cardinals seems doable. He does have special talents; he just couldn’t stay on the field. Arizona could also end up simply moving from him and dipping into free agency for a replacement.”

Check out some recent speculation about Marquise Brown and NFL free agency:

Arizona Cardinals free-agency: Who should be signed at receiver and tight end?

Spotrac: Hollywood Brown could earn $59.5 million in free agency

The site lists his market value for a 4-year deal at $59.5 million, with an average annual salary of $14.8 million. It has his market value contract ranked No. 23 among NFL wide receivers.

Pro Football Focus: Marquise Brown No. 17 ranked NFL free agent

The site projects that he will sign a one-year, $12 million deal in free agency, writing: “The Ravens traded Brown and a third-round pick to the Cardinals for a 2022 first-round pick, and his time in Arizona was a journey, to say the least. Between his own injuries and Kyler Murray’s torn ACL, the former college teammates weren’t able to team up as much as the old regime probably hoped, but he has flashed when in the lineup. It’s hard to come up with a solid comparable player for a 5-foot-9, 180-pound outside wide receiver (although now the NFL is adding more of this archetype each year) and it’s also fair to wonder how badly Arizona wants to extend anyone, given the team’s timeline and the emergence of rookie wideout Michael Wilson.”

NFL mock draft: Arizona Cardinals trade down after missing out on Marvin Harrison Jr.

ESPN: Marquise Brown could reunite with former WR coach on New York Jets

Rich Cimini said on the Flight Deck Podcast: “Interesting note: (New Jets WR coach Shawn Jefferson) coached Hollywood Brown in Arizona a couple of years ago. Brown will be a free agent (this offseason). Something to write down perhaps as we get closer to free agency.”

Fansided: Hollywood Brown could be Bears’ best NFL free agency option

Parker Hurley writes: “Brown would be best as a second wide receiver, and joining an offense with D.J. Moore in place would allow the team to utilize him best. More than that, he has to be interested in the thought of Caleb Williams coming to Chicago. More than Brown being interested, the Bears need to be interested in getting Williams, an explosive playmaker who can make teams pay for shifting the safety coverage toward Moore. They have enough cap space and should be able to afford the player whose market is trending down, not up. The fit makes sense for both sides. Will the Chicago Bears sign Marquise Brown in free agency?”

NFL power rankings 2024: Arizona Cardinals ‘playoff sleeper’ with Kyler Murray next season

Fansided: Titans, Panthers, Chiefs could target Marquise Brown in free agency

Brandon Ray writes: “The Chiefs could easily give Brown a call to see if he would be willing to take a ‘prove-it’ one-year deal and then test out the free agency market in 2025. Not to mention, the Chiefs desperately need wide receivers and their offense has shown that anyone they bring in can adjust to the scheme and play to the best of their ability.”

Mile High Sports: Hollywood Brown would fit with Denver Broncos

Rich Kurtzman writes: “He’s also the smaller, quicker type receiver who would complement Sutton’s big body and 50-50 ball abilities. Brown enjoyed his best season with the Ravens in 2021, with 1,008 yards and six receiving touchdowns. Since then, he’s been so-so with Arizona. He caught 51 passes for 574 yards and 4 touchdowns last year with the Cardinals and their three different starting quarterbacks.”

‘Scapegoated’: Steve Wilks’ firing by San Francisco 49ers slammed by NFL social media

The 33rd Team: Cardinals need to re-sign Marquise Brown in free agency

Marcus Mosher writes: “The Arizona Cardinals traded their 2022 first-round choice for Marquise Brown and need to keep him this offseason. The Cardinals will likely draft a wide receiver at No. 4, but keeping Brown ensures Kyler Murray will have plenty of suitable weapons around him in 2024.”

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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Arizona

Proposed data centers, ICE facility create mixed emotions in rural Arizona town

Published

2 hours ago

July 1, 2026

Press Room

Proposed data centers, ICE facility create mixed emotions in rural Arizona town

MARANA, AZ (AZFamily) — Proposals for data centers and ICE detention facilities in Marana are dividing neighbors and turning some against their local leaders.

These are two issues that some Republicans and Democrats are finding themselves agreeing on, as people try to take charge of who and what ends up in their communities.

“Well, first I think everyone on our city council needs to be replaced. What they are doing to Marana and surrounding areas is destroying our future and our kids’ futures,” a Marana resident said.

A recent proposal by the Department of Homeland Security would create an ICE detention center about 3 miles from the community center.

The property proposed for the ICE facility was a minimum-security prison with a capacity of about 500 people. The release said that renovations will increase capacity to 775, but could expand to over 1,300.

DHS officials say the facility would include more exam rooms, a dental area, and other features.

Arizona’s Family asked DHS for some clarification on those numbers and details. DHS released a statement saying, “ICE does not discuss individual pre-decisional conversations, but when a new facility contract is finalized, information will be available on ICE.gov.”

Data center concerns

Meanwhile, a rezoning application for a data center surfaced on the Town of Marana’s website last week.

It’s the second potential data center in the area and has people itching to get to public comment to voice their concerns.

“The detention center- we don’t need that here; no one wants that here. The data center- I mean, we already don’t have water and it’s awful; we don’t need another data center. Look at the ones across the country and what they’re doing,” the Marana resident we spoke with said.

Marana Town Manager Terry Rozema said nothing is set in stone.

“There’s so many factors that could come into considering whether or not something is beneficial to a community,” Rozema said.

Supporters of these projects said they will create jobs.

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Arizona

What areas are affected by the Pocket Fire near Oak Creek Canyon?

Published

12 hours ago

June 30, 2026

Press Room

What areas are affected by the Pocket Fire near Oak Creek Canyon?

The Pocket Fire burning north of Sedona and sending smoke and ash into Flagstaff has been tricky for firefighters to access because of the steep and narrow terrain through canyons and along cliffsides. These same landscape features mean that many others watching the fire’s rapid progress from afar have worried with little information about which of their favorite hiking trails and scenic viewpoints near Oak Creek Canyon may not look the same again in their lifetimes.

On June 30, the fire perimeter had exceeded 15,000 acres after growing about 4,000 acres overnight. This expansion took the shape of a finger jutting to the west from near the southern edge of the fire while the northern edge broadened along Forest Service Road 9042, where firefighter crews worked to hold it.

For residents of Kachina Village, the community most in the path of the fire’s recent growth and one known to be particularly vulnerable to fire, that northern progress being redirected east and west along the firebreak road was something to celebrate.

For others, fears and questions about singed trails, camping spots, homes and businesses remain.

What is clear is that parts of the distant edge of the popular West Fork trail, which starts at West Fork Trailhead off of U.S. 89A through Oak Creek Canyon and follows West Fork Oak Creek as it twists and turns between stunning red rock canyon walls, are within the Pocket Fire’s active perimeter. The popular panoramic vista from the “Edge of the World” viewpoint in East Pocket off Forest Road 231 was also enveloped by the fire in its early days.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean these areas are unrecoverable as scenic and beloved recreation spots. Wildfires frequently burn discontinuously through forested landscapes, as embers send out new sparks to distant forest patches. So the damage severity from the Pocket Fire in many places is not yet known.

After the Dragon Bravo fire burned 150,000 acres near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2025, a Burn Area Emergency Response team concluded months later that only 1% of the 71,000 park-managed acres within the perimeter showed evidence of a “high severity” burn. The rest had better odds of ecological recovery.

To prevent a need for too much of that in one of the Sedona area’s most treasured spots, though, crews on the Pocket Fire have worked out a “really solid plan to protect all of our identified values and to keep fire out of the bottom of Oak Creek Canyon,” said operations section chief trainee Clyde England of the Southwest Incident Management Team in his morning briefing about the fire on June 30.

England emphasized that crews were focused on keeping the fire out of the West Fork drainage, by conducting backburning efforts and building a buffer on the east side, while limiting progress north toward Kachina Village. They are also working with the Arizona Department of Transportation to remove hazard trees along the roadway, so there is “one less risk we have to worry about” if the fire does jump down into Oak Creek Canyon.

“I want to reiterate that the threat component is still there, as fire is coming down into West Fork,” England said. “There is still a potential for the fire to find some fuels and get some alignment with the winds out of the canyon. We don’t anticipate it. That’s why we still got a big presence up there, just in case some unforeseen event pushes some fire out up on the ridge into that (eastern) corner.”

Another area the team is watching is along the southern edge of the fire in Dry Creek near Bear Sign Canyon, the site of a popular 7-mile hiking trail that passes through “a carpet of ferns with views of white Coconino sandstone cliffs,” according to a nearby business offering lodging for hikers. England said the team has been able to “insert people” into that area over the past few days to build hand lines and work with helicopters on bucket drops to help prevent the fire from spreading to the Seven Canyons area and Enchantment Golf Resort.

The historic Fernow Cabin, a former U.S. Forest Service guard station, is also safe so far, England said, thanks to defensive firing by crews over the weekend that will continue for a few more days to keep the structure intact.

On the northwest edge of the fire, a containment line along Forest Service road 231 is “looking really good,” England said, with a recent expansion of the fire map there reflecting defensive fire efforts rather than wildfire growth. That effort will help protect the power lines to communities in Oak Creek from damage. Fire retardant drops and reinforced dozer and hand lines have helped prevent the fire from progressing over the 536 or 535 roads.

“If we can get it down in this canyon, use the weather patterns, the fuels, the rocky terrain to our advantage, we can find a way to choke that out,” England said. “So our ops are all looking good, our confidence is there.”

Addressing the southwestern corner of the Pocket Fire perimeter, England struck a more somber tone, acknowledging expansion of flames across Round Top Mountain toward Secret Canyon.

That’s the reality of wildfire in the American Southwest, scientists say, in an age of the drying and warming influences of climate change combined with ever-expanding human development and juxtaposed against federal funding cuts.

“The anticipation is that some of this fire will be on the landscape for a while,” he said. “There’s just no access and no way to get folks into that country. You might see that fire and that smoke for a while.”

Joan Meiners is the climate news and storytelling reporter at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send tips or questions to joan.meiners@arizonarepublic.com or follow her work on Instagram at @joan_bikes_arizona.

Have a news tip? Contact The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com at newstips@arizonarepublic.com.

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Flags are at half-staff today in Arizona. Here’s who is being honored

Published

22 hours ago

June 30, 2026

Press Room

Flags are at half-staff today in Arizona. Here’s who is being honored

Flags were lowered in Arizona on Tuesday, June 30, in honor of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots who died fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013.

Gov. Katie Hobbs ordered flags be flown at half-staff from sunrise through sunset on Tuesday to honor them on the 13th anniversary of their death.

Sparked by a lighting strike, the Yarnell fire became nationally known as an emblem of tragedy. The crew, which was part of a unique municipal-level firefighting effort, was encircled by flames reaching 2,000 degrees with no way out. All but one of them died.

The blaze was the deadliest for U.S. firefighters since 1933 and the greatest loss of U.S. firefighter life since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“Hotshot crews take on dangerous and difficult firefighting to keep Arizona communities safe,” Hobbs wrote in her a statement. “We recognize and honor the sacrifice and bravery of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. This will always be a day we mark with mourning, reflection, and deep admiration for the members of this crew, their families, and the wildland firefighting community.”

Here’s when flags are traditionally lowered in the United States and the difference between half-mast and half-staff.

What is the difference between half-mast and half-staff?

The terms “half-mast” and “half-staff” both refer to lowering a flag to honor or mourn someone, but they are used in different settings.

“Half-mast” traditionally refers to flags flown on ships or at naval stations, while “half-staff” is used for flags flown on land. In the United States, “half-staff” is the term most commonly used for government buildings and public flag displays.

When are flags flown at half-staff in the US?

In the United States, flags are lowered to half-staff on certain national observances and following the deaths of notable public officials.

According to the Arizona state website, the U.S. flag is flown at half-staff on these days:

Memorial Day, when the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff.
Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.
Patriot Day.
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
National Firefighters Memorial Day.

The president of the United States may also order flags to be flown at half-staff after the death of a notable public figure. In those cases, the length of time depends on the person’s role:

30 days from the death of the president or a former president.
10 days from the day of death of the vice president, the chief justice or a retired chief justice of the United States, or the speaker of the House of Representatives.
From the day of death until the interment of an associate justice of the Supreme Court, a secretary of an executive or military department, a former vice president or the governor of a state.
The day of death and the following day for a member of Congress.

The governor may also order flags lowered to half-staff after the death of notable current or former government officials or members of the armed forces who die while on active duty.

In Arizona, the governor can also require that the state flag be lowered at all state, institutional and educational buildings. The law also allows the state flag to be lowered on the death of an incumbent elected state officer for seven days beginning on the day following the death of the officer.

Arizona Republic reporter Laura Gersony contributed to this article.

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