Welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
If you've ever read this newsletter and thought, "Man, the guy who writes this is awesome, I'd love to be in a fantasy football league with him," I have some great news: you actually can!
Starting Tuesday, you can bid on a chance to be in a league with me this year ... or if you don't like me, then you can bid on a chance to be in a league with someone else. The best part here is that all the money will be going to charity (St. Jude). Each spot in the league costs $250, and there are only nine spots left.
I will be serving as the commissioner of the league, and I will definitely be stacking all the rules in my favor so that I win, but other than that, it should be fun.
If you want to buy a spot, all you have to do is click here and look for the league with my name (John Breech). Also, I should note, if you do buy-in, you'll have a chance to become the ULTIMATE fantasy champion. This is part of a 144-person tournament here at CBS Sports that will feature 12 leagues of 12 teams. If you win my league, you'll advance in the playoffs to face a winner in one of the other leagues.
Alright, that's enough fantasy talk, let's get to today's rundown.
As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends and neighbors to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.
1. Drama with the Jets: Haason Reddick makes trade request
Of all the crazy things that have happened in the NFL this offseason, this might be the craziest: After being traded to the Jets in March, Haason Reddick already wants out. He has yet to play a SINGLE SNAP for the Jets and he's already over being on the team.
Here are some details on the wild situation that's developing in New York:
- Reddick makes trade request. The Jets pass-rusher went public with a trade request Monday. Reddick's issue with the Jets is that he wants a new contract and the team doesn't want to give him one. Reddick hasn't shown up to a single practice since being traded from Philadelphia to New York in March. The Jets sent a conditional third-round pick to the Eagles that could become a second-round pick if Reddick plays 67.5% of the snaps in New York while also racking up at least 10 sacks.
- The Jets are playing hardball. After Reddick made his trade request, Jets general manager Joe Douglas released a scathing statement that made it clear he has no plans to trade Reddick. "We have informed Haason that we will not trade him, that he is expected to be here with his teammates, and that he will continue to be fined per the CBA if he does not report," Douglas said.
Reddick has already been fined more than $1.5 million by the Jets, and that number is only going to go up until he finally shows up for practice. Reddick is going into the final year of a contract that's set to pay him $14.25 million in 2024, but the catch is that it's all non-guaranteed. According to multiple reports, the Jets have offered to guarantee his money for the upcoming season, but he has to show up before they'll do anything. The two sides are essentially stuck in a chicken and egg situation: The Jets want Reddick to show up for training camp before they'll be willing to negotiate, but Reddick wants a deal done before showing up.
Just because the Jets said they're not going to trade him doesn't mean it won't happen. Since there's at least a chance he could get dealt, Cody Benjamin decided to take a look at a few landing spots.
- Rams. "This is an NFC contender that's sniffed around splashy pass-rushing additions in recent years (see: Brian Burns), and while their springtime first-round investment in Jared Verse gives the group some long-term promise, Reddick's addition would do even more for their 2025 playoff hopes."
- Cardinals. "Reddick was arguably -- and infamously -- misused by Arizona to start his NFL career, struggling to stay in the regular lineup for three of his four seasons with the Cardinals from 2017-2020. A new regime is in place, however, and it's led by Jonathan Gannon, the man who oversaw Reddick's 16-sack breakout with the Eagles in 2022."
You can check out all five of Reddick's potential landing spots here
2. One thing we learned about every team during the first week of the preseason
With the first week of the preseason officially in the books, now seems like a good time to try and figure out what we learned about each team. Cody Benjamin went through all 32 teams and came up with one thing we learned.
Let's check out what he learned for a few teams:
- Bears: The Caleb Williams hype is real. "The talk has been loud, and the training camp highlights have been apparent. Seeing the No. 1 overall pick actually running and throwing in pads, showcasing his freestyle gunslinging, all but justifies the buzz building in Chicago."
- Chargers: QB room could use some help. "Easton Stick has been around for a bit as Justin Herbert insurance, but he had a hard time staying in sync as the 'starter.' With Herbert still recovering from a foot injury, another veteran arm wouldn't be a bad idea for Jim Harbaugh."
- Patriots: The offensive line remains a major question mark. "Resident Patriots expert Tyler Sullivan likes the promise of young quarterbacks Drake Maye and Joe Milton III, but the tackles protecting these guys aren't exactly road-graders, as evidenced by lots of early preseason shuffling."
If you want to check out what we learned about the other 29 teams, be sure to read our full story here.
3. Grading rookies from Week 1 of the preseason
During the regular season, we hand out grades every week in the newsletter, so we thought: Why not also do that for the preseason? Chris Trapasso decided to grade several key rookies based on how they played during the first week of the preseason.
Since we spent a lot of time Monday talking about the rookie QB performances, we'll take a look at a few of Trapasso's grades at non-QB positions.
- OT Joe Alt (Chargers): B-. "Alt wasn't overwhelmed in his preseason debut with the Chargers. He wasn't dominant either, although he got more comfortable as the game progressed. (The Chargers lost to the Seahawks, 16-3.)"
- OT JC Latham (Titans): B+. "Love what I saw from Latham on his 14 snaps against the 49ers. He played with balanced power, lot of quick sets on pass plays, and he held his own for the ground game. Good start. (The Titans beat the 49ers 17-13.)"
- TE Brock Bowers (Raiders): B+. "Two catches for 25 yards from Bowers, and fascinatingly neither of those receptions came with the tight end positioned in a classic tight end alignment before the snaps, which speaks to his versatility and the Raiders willingness to move him around the field. (The Raiders lost to the Vikings, 24-23.)"
If you want to see how the rookie quarterbacks graded out, you check out Trapasso's full story here.
4. Browns in stadium fight: City and county not on board with team's plans to build a dome
If the Browns want to build a new domed stadium on the outskirts of Cleveland, the team is first going to have to convince the city and the county that the idea actually makes sense.
Back on Aug. 7, the Browns unveiled plans for a new $2.4 billion domed stadium that would be built in Brook Park, which sits about 15 miles away from downtown Cleveland. However, the problem for the Browns is that they currently don't have the backing of the city of Cleveland or Cuyahoga County.
Here's what you need to know:
- The county doesn't want to put any public money toward a new stadium. "The proposal to build a new stadium in Brook Park does not make fiscal sense for Cuyahoga County residents and taxpayers," the county said in a letter to the team. "Moreover, any proposal that would create an unacceptable risk to the County's general fund cannot be considered."
- The city and the county want to renovate the Browns' current stadium. The city and county are calling for a renovation of the current stadium, which is a project that would cost roughly $1.2 billion. The upside for the Browns is that it would include $461 million in public money. Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb feels that a renovation is the best option, "We are unified in our belief that transforming the current facility is unquestionably in the best interests of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. We do not believe any public financial support should responsibly be made available for development of a stadium outside of the City of Cleveland."
- Browns ask the city and county to keep their options open. Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam haven't ruled out the renovation; they just want everyone to keep their options open when it comes to the dome. "It would be short-sighted for Northeast Ohio to rule out any options at this point for a long-term decision of this magnitude," the owners wrote in a letter on Sunday.
The upside of a dome is that it would likely allow Cleveland to start hosting some major events, including a possible Super Bowl or a Final Four. No matter what happens, the three parties involved will likely want to get things figured out soon since the Browns' lease at their current stadium expires after the 2028 season. The last time the Browns got in a stadium battle, they ended up leaving Cleveland. Although that's not likely to happen, there's definitely going to be some serious pressure to get a deal done.
You can read our full story on the Browns' stadium situation here.
5. Ranking the top 50 prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft class
Look, I know the 2025 NFL Draft is still more than eight months away, but we're going to talk about it anyway, because Ryan Wilson just released his top 50 big board. These are Wilson's top 50 prospects in the draft heading into the 2024 college season.
The biggest surprise on Wilson's big board is that he has a cornerback at the top. If that sticks, it could make things interesting, because a corner has never been taken with the first overall pick of the NFL Draft in the Super Bowl era.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the top 10 players on Wilson's board:
1. Will Johnson, CB, Michigan
2. Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
3. Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
4. Mykel Williams, ED, Georgia
5. Travis Hunter, CB, Colorado
6. Carson Beck, QB, Georgia
7. Will Campbell, OT, LSU
8. Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
9. James Pearce, ED, Tennessee
10. Harold Perkins, LB, Louisiana State
As you may have noticed, there's only one quarterback in Wilson's top 10 and that's Carson Beck out of UGA. If you want to Wilson's full big board, you can get that here. Wilson is our draft guru here at CBS Sports and if you love the draft, then you should listen to his podcast, "With the First Pick." You can catch up on old episodes or listen to new ones here.
6. Extra points: 49ers and Commanders both add a veteran wide receiver
It was a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- 49ers sign Robbie Chosen. The 49ers added some receiver depth Monday with the addition of Robbie Chosen (formerly known as Robbie Anderson). The veteran receiver signed a one-year deal with the team. Chosen is just four seasons removed from a 1,000-yard year in Carolina, but he didn't do much last season in Miami with just 126 yards in nine games.
- Commanders add Martavis Bryant. The Commanders have decided to take a chance on the former Steelers receiver, who hasn't played in an NFL game since 2018. Bryant spent last season on the Cowboys' practice squad, but he never saw any action. You can read more about his signing here.
- Colin Kaepernick still hoping to play in the NFL. The 36-year-old, who hasn't played in the NFL since the 2016 season, it still hoping to find a job in the league. "We're still training, still pushing," Kaepernick told Sky Sports in a recent interview. "So hopefully, we've just got to get one of these team owners to open up." You can read his full comments here.
- Bengals first-round pick expected to be out multiple weeks. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed on Monday that Amarius Mims is dealing with a strained pectoral muscle. Mims, who has been having an impressive training camp, is expected to be out for several weeks and his Week 1 status is now up in the air, according to NFL.com.
- Jahmyr Gibbs dealing with injured hamstring. The Lions running back suffered a hamstring injury on Monday night, according to ESPN. The severity of the injury isn't known yet, but the Lions will definitely be hoping that's it's not serious enough to linger into the season.
- Bengals get orange pants. For the first time in franchise history, the Bengals will be wearing orange pants, which you can check out here. It's not clear how many times the orange pants will be worn, but we do know the Bengals will be wearing them in Week 16 against the Browns.
- Will Levis has a new mayonnaise cologne. This sounds made up, but I assure you, it is not. We interviewed him about his new cologne and several other things and you can check that out here. If you want to know more about the mayonnaise cologne, we've got you covered here.