Football is back.
There’s so much football news that comes at us during the NFL season. The preseason is no different. This is the time of year where big extensions are signed, players get injured, free agents are signed, and of course, some football gets played. This year, I’ll be posting some weekly recap posts throughout the season. For preseason, these posts will get posted on Fridays. During the season, I’m thinking Tuesdays, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Anyway, here are the 5 takeaways from this week.
1. Big Time Money
This week, we saw a ton of money get shelled out to many deserving players. The running backs are getting a lot of attention as they had 3 record breaking contracts signed across the league this week. Bijan Robinson and the Falcons got the ball rolling by signing a 3-year extension worth up to $75 million with $51 million guaranteed. Then Jonathan Taylor and the Colts agreed to a 2- year extension worth up to $44 million with $39 million guaranteed. Finally, we saw Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions agree to a 3-year extension, worth up to $75.5 million and $51.5 million guaranteed. It was only a few years ago that the running backs had to have a Zoom call to discuss how they could increase the value of their position. Now, they are setting records. Congratulations to them.
The running backs might grab be grabbing all of the headlines for now but here are the other notable extensions that were signed:
- WR Chris Olave (Saints) – 4-year, $132 million, $90 million guaranteed
- WR Zay Flowers (Ravens) – 4-year, $140 million, $108 million guaranteed
- OT Darnell Wright (Bears) – 4-year, $116 million, $93 million guaranteed
- OT Matt Bergeron (Falcons) – 4-year, $96 million, $60 million guaranteed
There were also some notable signings this week:
- Stefon Diggs – Signed a 1-year deal worth up to $12 million with the Commanders
- Devin White – Signed a 1-year deal with the Lions. Worth up to $1.17 million
2. QB Battles
- Kyler Murray vs. JJ McCarthy
The Vikings drafted JJ McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He has played in 10 games, and it has not looked good in a majority of them. They brought in Kyler Murray to compete for the starting job. It is being sold as a true competition by the Vikings but per Vikings beat writer Will Ragatz, Murray appears to have the edge.
- Michael Penix vs. Tua
The Falcons have a similar situation to the Vikings on their hands. They drafted Michael Penix with the 8th overall pick int he 2024 NFL Draft with the expectation that he would eventually be the starter. He has battled injuries, so they brought in Tua Tagovailoa who is looking for his second chance. Penix is coming back from a torn ACL which would give Tua the edge here. Depending on Penix’s recovery and Tua’s play, this could become a quarterback controversy in the season.
- Shedeur Sanders vs. Deshaun Watson
The Browns are once again looking for their starting quarterback. Shedeur Sanders energized the Browns in his rookie year when he got the chance to play. He is competing for the starting job with Deshaun Watson who has not played football since Week 7 of 2024.Watson has a ton of off the field baggage that makes him impossible to root for. Unfortunately, he is probably the more talented QB of the 2 and the Browns don’t exactly have the reputation of making for making the right QB choice. For example, they paid Watson a record amount of money after he was sued by several women for sexual assault.
- Baker Mayfield vs. The Bucs
Alright, so this one isn’t a quarterback battle, but it is a situation that will be monitored until it resolves. Mayfield is pushing for a contract extension. The Bucs made a short-term offer that Mayfield felt was disrespectful. Shout out to the Bucs organization for providing us some immediate pre-season drama.
3. Injuries
Unfortunately, this it’s the time of year that the injuries begin to stack up. Here’s a quick rundown of the more severe injury situations so far:
- Edge Jalon Walker (Falcons) – Torn ACL, out for season
- DT Bryan Breese (Saints) – Torn ACL, out for season
- CB Coby Bryant (Bears) – Knee injury, expected to miss 8-10 weeks
- The 49ers – They currently have 20 players listed on their injury report. The most severe being Ricky Pearsall – Knee, out for season
- The memes and AI pictures of the substation next to the 49ers practice facility is peak internet
4. Hard Knocks
HBO’s Hard Knocks returned this week on Tuesday at 9 PM. With the rise of social media and access to players, the novelty of Hard Knocks has worn off over the years. It’s still interesting to get a peek behind the curtain especially this year with the Super Bowl Champion Seahawks. It gives us a peak into the world of an NFL team and allows us to see the work that goes into making a team. From a production standpoint, it still has its fastball with dramatic slow-motion shots with the voice of God, Liev Schreiber, weaving the narrative of the episode together. Here are some of my quick takeaways:
- The presentation of the Super Bowl Rings was cool. The rings are enormous.
- Mike McDonald is kind of awkward but does a good job of connecting with his players 1:1.
- Sam Darnold seems humble. Doesn’t seem like a guy who just won the Super Bowl. I laughed when he opened his ring box and he dropped the ring. Super relatable.
5. HOF Game
The Cardinals and Panthers took the field to kick off the preseason. The purpose of this game for the NFL is to kick off the weekend where we honor the most recent inductees into the NFL Hall of Fame. This year’s class consists of Drew Brees, Luke Kuechly, Larry Fitzgerald, and Adam Vinateri. All of them made appearances for interviews during the broadcast.
It’s always exciting to see NFL football played after a long summer without it. All day I was getting hyped to watch. Then reality sets in when you realize that the players are backups and the quality of play is not that high. It’s typically a good reminder that the preseason a good appetizer for the regular season. All that being said, this was probably the most exciting HOF Game of all time.
The Cardinals trotted out Carson Beck as their starting quarterback, and he might have been the star of the night. From the first snap, he looked decisive, comfortable, and took deep shots when they were available him. He exited the game in the 3rd quarter with a final stat line of 15/19, 188 yards, 1TD. His favorite receiver of the game was Jalen Brooks who finished the night with 3 catches for 99 yards, including the highlight of the night below.
The Panthers had Kenny Pickett start the game but the story of the night for the Panthers was Haynes King. King took over for Pickett in the 2nd quarter and had himself a night. He took command of the game and made some great throws throughout the night.
The game ended in dramatic fashion when King ran the ball in for the game winning touchdown as time expired. The game ended with a final score of 33-30 in favor of the Panthers. King finished the night 21/34, 180 yards, 2 TDs through the air. He added 39 yards and the TD that won the game.
It was an entertaining return to football for sure. It got sloppy at times, and the broadcast was more focused on their HOF interviews than the game, but it was a great intro for the season. Offense ruled the night and anyone who had the Over made some money.
This next month will be filled with some developments and preseason. We will be tracking them and complaining them in these weekly recap posts. I would also be remiss if I didn’t plug our season previews that are being published on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure to check them out here: https://blackdogbets.com/category/season-preview/2026-previews/
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