The 2026 NFL Draft is here. While the San Francisco 49ers were loaded with capital last offseason, they made a number of trades with their picks this year. They moved their fifth-round pick for Bryce Huff, their sixth-round pick for Brian Robinson Jr., and their seventh-round pick for Khalil Davis.
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Behind schedule: California bit off more than it could chew food with food waste recycling goals
Two years after California launched an effort to keep organic waste out of landfills, the state is so far behind on getting food recycling programs up and running that it’s widely accepted next year’s ambitious waste-reduction targets won’t be met.
Over time, food scraps and other organic materials like yard waste emit methane, a gas more potent and damaging in the short-term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels. California’s goal is to keep that waste from piling up in landfills, instead turning it into compost or biogas.
Everything from banana peels and used coffee grounds to yard waste and soiled paper products like pizza boxes counts as organic waste. Households and businesses are now supposed to sort that material into a different bin.
OFFICIALS CALL ON EPA TO COMBAT ALARMING FOOD WASTE AND METHANE EMISSIONS
But it has been hard to change people’s behavior in such a short period of time and cities were delayed setting up contracts to haul organic waste due to the pandemic. In Southern California, the nation’s largest facility to convert food waste into biogas has filed for bankruptcy because it’s not getting enough of the organic material.
“We’re way behind on implementation,” said Coby Skye, the recently retired deputy director for environmental services at Los Angeles County Public Works. “In America, for better or worse, we want convenience, and it’s very difficult to spend a lot of time and effort educating people about separation.”
Meanwhile, some communities that ramped up collection now have more compost than they know what to do with, a sign that more challenges are yet to come as the nation’s most populous state plows ahead with its recycling plans.
Trash is unloaded at the Otay Landfill, a site that processes 200 tons of organic waste daily and hopes to double that amount as more cities ramp up collection, in Chula Vista, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Only a handful of states mandate organics recycling, and none are running a program as large as California’s, which seeks to slash by 75% the amount of organic waste it sends to landfills by 2025 from 2014 levels.
Reaching that goal within a year would be a stretch, experts said.
About three-quarters of communities are currently collecting organic waste from homes, said Rachel Machi Wagoner, CalRecycle’s director. While some places are lagging, her aim isn’t to punish them but to help them get started, adding that every bit helps the state move towards its goal of reducing emissions.
“My goal is about figuring out where the challenges are and getting us as quickly as possible to success,” she said.
“I don’t know when we will reach our 75% goal, but we will reach it,” she added.
CalRecycle hasn’t tallied data yet on how much organic waste was diverted from landfills in 2023. Jurisdictions reported diverting 11.2 million tons of organics at the end of 2022, up from 9.9 million tons the prior year, Wagoner said.
Some challenges include getting residents on board with sorting their trash into a third bin and knowing what goes where. Others concern what to do with the nutrient-rich compost once it’s been created from collected grass clippings, tree branches and food scraps.
At Otay Landfill near the Mexican border, workers pick through heaps of branches and leaves to pull out plastic bits before the material is placed under tarps. The site processes 200 tons of organic waste daily and hopes to double that amount as more cities ramp up collection, said Gabe Gonzales, the landfill’s operations manager.
Once the compost is made, California’s law requires cities to use much of it. But many say they don’t have enough space to lay it all out.
Chula Vista, a San Diego County city of 275,000 people, is supposed to use 14,000 tons of compost a year but uses a few thousand at best, said Manuel Medrano, the city’s environmental services manager. Some is doled out in free compost giveaways for residents, while heaps of the material are stored in a fenced area of a local park.
“To transport it is really expensive, to spread it is really expensive,” Medrano said. “We’re nowhere near meeting that requirement.”
Communities with more open space might fare better. Cody Cain, head of marketing and sales for compost-maker Agromin, said his company has developed a plan to link cities struggling to meet these requirements with farmers who need the material for their soil.
“We basically are matchmakers. Call us the ‘Tinder’ of compost, and we’ll bring the farmer together with the city,” Cain said.
Food waste also can be converted into biogas to fuel vehicles or industrial operations. But a massive facility built three years ago in the Southern California city of Rialto now finds itself facing bankruptcy after Los Angeles was slow to ramp up collection, leaving the plant with insufficient waste, said Yaniv Scherson, chief operating officer for Anaergia Inc.
“It’s because the cities didn’t enforce on time the market is struggling,” he said. “If it doesn’t get feedstock this year, there is a chance it shuts down completely.”
LA Sanitation & Environment, which handles trash and recycling for the city of nearly 4 million people, had no immediate comment.
Heidi Sanborn, founding director of the environmental National Stewardship Action Council, said she supports the state’s law but wants more done to keep plastics out of compost and to develop alternative energy solutions. Some of California’s challenges stem from the fact the state is trying to build a system on a scale the country hasn’t seen, she said.
“We’re trying to fix incredibly tough problems. We’re not going to find the perfect solution out of the gate,” she said.
But, Sanborn added, “we’re on our way.”
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San Francisco even got additional capital from the Jordan Mason trade last offseason, where they acquired a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the running back.
However, they also moved that sixth-round pick during the season for New England Patriots defensive lineman Keion White.
With the draft here, let’s go back and revisit that Mason trade with all of the moving pieces.
Original terms of the Jordan Mason trade
- Minnesota Vikings receive: RB Jordan Mason
- San Francisco 49ers receive: 2025 fifth-round pick (No. 160 overall) and 2026 sixth-round pick (No. 198 overall).
What did the 49ers do with the picks from the Jordan Mason trade?
San Francisco used the first of the two picks on Kansas State safety Marques Sigle last offseason.
Then, as mentioned above, they traded the second of the two picks for defensive line help, acquiring Keion White at the trade deadline from the New England Patriots.
Who won the Jordan Mason trade?
This is still a wait-and-see, as both of the 49ers contributors still have time to develop in San Francisco.
Sigle was a contributor as a rookie for the 49ers, playing 15 games while making seven starts. He had 52 tackles, two pass breakups, and one tackle for loss.
While there were certainly flashes from the rookie safety, including his closing speed and willingness to hit, there were also some major learning moments that showed Sigle wasn’t quite ready to start last year. He’s still got a ways to improve in coverage and with his tackling, which will be points of emphasis this season.
Still, there’s the potential there to be a starting safety for the 49ers in the future.
White, on the other hand, was arguably San Francisco’s most disruptive pass rusher last year, at least on the interior after coming in during the trade deadline. He was a versatile piece, being used both on the edge and the inside, and had 24 pressures in 11 games, ranking third overall on the team.
White’s 12.5 percent pass rush win rate was third among defensive linemen behind Yetur Gross-Matos and Bryce Huff, and he also had more than one year of team control.
He’s got a cap hit of just $1.8 million for the upcoming year, and should fit in better in more of a rotational role for the 49ers this season.
Jordan Mason was a key piece for the Vikings last year, emerging as their starter, as he rushed for 758 yards and six touchdowns on 4.8 yards per carry. He was better than the 49ers No. 2 running back last year, but the two-year, $10.5 million price point was likely too high for San Francisco.
New Denver Broncos tight end Justin Joly posted his first message to Broncos fans after being selected 152nd overall in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL draft on Saturday.
Joly (6-3, 241 pounds), a sure-handed receiving tight end will join Evan Engram, Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull and 2025 seventh-round pick Caleb Lohner ahead of team activities in May, and training camp in July. Joly has the ability to fight through contact to make a contested catch, but has average speed, and needs to develop as a blocker.
Joly sent a message to fans shortly after being drafted. “Job not finished let’s do it ya,” tweeted Joly.
Joly joins a loaded Broncos roster which fell four points short of a Super Bowl appearance, and is poised to go even further in 2026.
Welcome to Denver, Justin! We’re glad to have you.
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If you ask starters Matthew Liberatore and Bryan Woo, Saturday’s Cardinals versus Mariners game did not go according to plan as both teams launched 8 home runs in total, but Seattle ended up with more runs on the scoreboard winning 11-9.
The Seattle Mariners struck first when Julio Rodriguez crushed a ball into Big Mac Land after Cal Raleigh singled giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead. That lead didn’t last long as JJ Wetherholt turned on the 2nd pitch he saw and hit a no-doubt home run into the right field stands for his first-ever leadoff homer.
The very next pitch would also become a souvenir, this time in the left field stands, as Ivan Herrera also went yard tying the game at 2-2.
The 2nd inning was equally exciting as Garver reached on an infield single for the Mariners and he scored when Will Wilson hit a 2-run shot making it 4-2 Seattle. That lead was cut in half in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Nathan Church turned a Bryan Woo pitch into an extra ball for the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen to play around with.
The Cardinals pulled even in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Jordan Walker lined a hard single to right field followed by Nolan Gorman doing the same. Walker would score on a bloop single by Masyn Winn that likely should have been a double as the ball landed just barely fair and then bounced up against the netting and then falling back into the field of play. Winn thought it was a ground rule double but the ground rules said it was a live ball. Fortunately Nolan Gorman did advance to third on the play and then he scored on a sacrifice fly by Nathan Church giving the Cardinals the lead 5-4. Winn would score on a 2-run home run by Pedro Pagés who yanked a ball just to the right of the left field foul pole making it 7-4 St. Louis.
Batting practice would continue into the 4th inning when Cole Young (you guessed it) hit a home run to draw the Mariners closer at 7-5 which inspired manager Oli Marmol to bring in Gordon Graceffo with just one out in the 4th inning. Matthew Liberatore’s line for the day was a mere 3 1/3 innings giving up 8 hits including 3 that left the yard and 5 earned runs. Graceffo was able to shut down Seattle by getting Cal Raleigh to hit into a double play. Woo was pulled after just three innings giving up 9 hits and 7 earned runs. He was replaced by Ferrer who started the Cardinals part of the 4th inning allowing a hit to JJ Wetherholt and then hit Ivan Herrera with a pitch, but Burleson, Walker and Gorman were unable to add to the Cardinals lead.
Seattle would reduce the St. Louis lead to just one in the top of the 5th inning when Rodriquez reached on a bloop single. He stole second and was then moved over to third on a ground out to the right side by Naylor. Randy Arozarena brought him in on a sacrifice fly to center making it 7-6 Cardinals. The Mariners would nearly tie the game with one out in the top of the 6th inning when Garver would hit a ball off of reliever George Soriano that would have cleared the left field wall if not for the heroic effort of Nathan Church who made an amazing grab. Young would hit a double high off the center field wall over Victor Scott II and he would score on a single by Wilson tying the game 7-7.
Nathan Church would untie the game in the bottom of the 7th inning when he slammed his second home run of the game after Masyn Winn singled to left giving the Cardinals a 9-7 lead.
Pedro Pagés would leave the game with possible hamstring trouble after beating out an infield single after Church’s home run.
JoJo Romero got into all kinds of trouble in the 8th inning giving up singles to Young and Garver. Rivas laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to third to move both of them over. Marmol then brought in Riley O’Brien to try and slam the door on the Mariners, but instead the door flung wide open when Connor Joe singled them both in tying the game 9-9. O’Brien would also give up a single to Julio Rodriguez making it first and third for the Mariners, but he would get Naylor to fly out to deep right to end the top of the 8th.
The bottom of the 8th inning was a strange one for Jordan Walker. After getting hit on the top of the hand by a pitch that looked painful, he was called out trying to steal 2nd base when he somehow failed to slide, but instead awkwardly stumbled over the base. The Cardinals appealed the call, but Walker did appear to get tagged during his epic non-slide maneuver.
The game would go off-the-rails for the Cardinals in the top of the 9th inning when the Mariners would load the bases on a bunt single by Crawford, a walk to Garver and a hit-by-pitch for Young. Rivas untied the game by singling off of Riley O’Brien giving Seattle an 11-9 lead. Matt Svanson was brought in to keep the Mariners from adding to their lead. He retired Connor Joe on a lineout to right center, but then walked Raleigh to load the bases again, but he was able to strikeout Rodriguez to close out the top of the 9th inning with no further damage done.
Seattle brought in their closer Andrés Muñoz to finish off the Cardinals in the bottom of the 9th. After walking Nolan Gorman, he struck out Masyn Winn and got a double-play getting Nathan Church to ground out as Nolan Gorman was tagged out to end the game.
The St. Louis Cardinals will try to salvage a game in the short homestand series versus the Mariners on Sunday as Michael McGreevy gets the start for St. Louis while Emerson Hancock will pitch for Seattle. First pitch scheduled for 1:15pm Sunday at Busch Stadium.
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