Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
With the NFL Draft behind us, free agency mostly over and the 2023 schedule now out, you're probably wondering what we're going to be talking about in this newsletter for the next three months and although I have no idea, I promise you, it will be exciting and I know that because NFL news never sleeps. The NFL news cycle is the Energizer Bunny of news cycles, it just keeps going and going and going and going. Seven billion years from now when no one is left on earth, the NFL news cycle will somehow still be going.
Anyway, we have a huge newsletter today. For one, we just made a major hire here at CBS Sports and we'll be going over that. Also, Will Brinson will be predicting the final record for every team in the NFL.
As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. All right, let's get to the rundown.
1. Predicting the final record for all 32 teams
With the NFL season still four months away, you might think it's a little early to start making predictions, but we're going to do it anyway, because there's nothing we love doing more around here than making predictions.
Now that the schedule has officially been released, Will Brinson decided it was the perfect time to predict EVERY team's final record for 2023. Today, we're going to cover his prediction for each AFC team, so let's get to it:
AFC East
Bills: 12-5
Jets: 10-7
Patriots: 9-8
Dolphins: 8-9
AFC North
Bengals: 13-4
Ravens: 12-5
Steelers: 9-8
Browns: 7-10
AFC South
Jaguars: 11-6
Texans: 7-10
Titans: 6-11
Colts: 4-13
AFC West
Chiefs: 14-3
Broncos: 9-8
Chargers: 8-9
Raiders: 7-10
The AFC is so loaded that he has 14 of the 16 teams winning at least seven games. Here's what the playoffs would look like if Brinson's predictions came true (This is a guy who picked the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl last year, so I'm not going to rule out the possibility of his predictions coming true):
Playoffs: 1. Chiefs. 2. Bengals. 3. Bills. 4. Jaguars. 5. Ravens. 6. Jets. 7. Steelers
If you want to see Brinson's NFC predictions, you have two options: You can wait until tomorrow and read them in the newsletter or you can check them out now by reading his full story here.
2. Matt Ryan joining CBS Sports
If you're wondering where Matt Ryan is going to be signing this offseason, we finally have our answer: He's joining CBS Sports.
Here's a look at what that means and what he'll be doing:
- Ryan will be busy. Not only will the former Falcons quarterback be serving as the color analyst on select games, but he'll also be appearing on other programs such as "The NFL Today," "The Other Pregame Show (TOPS)," "NFL Monday QB," and CBS Sports HQ.
- Big hire for CBS Sports. "As one of the NFL's marquee quarterbacks for the past 15 years, we're thrilled to add Matt to our talented roster of NFL analysts," Harold Bryant, CBS Sports executive producer and executive vice president of production, said of Ryan's arrival to the network. "He has played the game at the highest level, including winning an MVP award and taking his team to the Super Bowl, and will bring a fresh perspective to CBS Sports. We look forward to Matt sharing his knowledge, insight and opinions with our viewers and bolstering our NFL coverage."
- Ryan sounds excited. "It is truly an honor to join this exceptional team at CBS Sports," said Ryan. "I have been blessed to have incredible teammates throughout my career and I am fortunate that will continue here working with and learning from the very best in the industry."
- Ryan's future in the NFL. Ryan made sure to note that this move doesn't necessarily mean he's retiring. The veteran quarterback, who turns 38 on May 17, could take a year off and return to the NFL in 2024. Ryan has already spent 15 years in the league with 14 of those coming in Atlanta and one coming in Indianapolis. During his time in Atlanta, the 2016 NFL MVP led the Falcons to six playoff berths, including two NFC title games and one Super Bowl.
Not that you needed another reason to watch CBS Sports, but now you have one. For all the details on Ryan's hiring, be sure to click here.
3. Sale of the Commanders is finalized, but not technically done yet
If you heard fireworks going off in the Washington DC area over the weekend, that was probably just Commanders fans celebrating the fact that Dan Snyder is on the verge of selling the team. A group led by Josh Harris, who already owns an NBA team (76ers) and an NHL team (Devils), has reached an agreement to purchase the Commanders for $6.05 billion from Snyder.
If the two sides have reached an agreement, why isn't the sale technically done yet? Glad you asked.
- The thing that's slowing down a finalized deal. According to the Washington Post, "members of the NFL's finance committee raised issues that could keep the sale from being put to a ratification vote" at the next meeting, which is being held May 22-23. The NFL has to vet each member of the ownership group and there are at least 17 members, including Magic Johnson, so it could take the league some time to look into everyone's financial background. In the off chance that the deal falls through, Harris' group would have to pay a "breakup fee."
- What has to happen for a deal to become finalized. The NFL's finance committee has to sign off on the deal and once that happens, the deal then has to be approved by 75% of the owners, which means 24 out of 32 of them would have to vote for it (They all want Snyder gone, so getting 24 votes won't be an issue).
- Why the deal might not be approved at the NFL's next owners meeting. With the meeting less than 10 days away, it's beginning to look very unlikely that a vote is going to happen. According to FOS, the more likely scenario is that the owners will be briefed on the state of the sale. If it takes until July or August for the finance committee to approve Harris' bid, then the owners can hold a special vote then.
- So what's going to happen? Unless a catastrophe hits, Harris should be the new owner of the Commanders by the start of the 2023 regular season. It could be a month or two before he's formally approved, so Commanders fans will likely be holding their breath until then.
With an expected purchase price of $6.05 billion, Harris' group is going to shatter the all-time record for highest price paid for an NFL team. The current record is held by Rob Walton, who paid $4.65 billion for the Denver Broncos.
4. NFL's most expensive tickets for 2023
If you want to buy a ticket to the Patriots' home opener this year, you might want to go ahead start saving now. Actually, you probably should have started saving two years ago. Of the 272 games on the 2023 NFL schedule, the Patriots' Week 1 showdown with the Eagles currently has the highest average ticket price and the high demand has everything to do with the fact that Tom Brady is returning to town.
Here's a look at the six most expensive NFL games for 2023 so far (According to Tick Pick)
Week 1 (Sept. 10): Eagles at Pats -- $742
Week 5 (Oct. 9): Packers at Raiders -- $669
Week 3 (Sept. 24): Steelers at Raiders -- $558
Week 5 (Oct. 8): Cowboys at 49ers -- $466
Week 1 (Sept. 10): Packers at Bears -- $441
Week 16 (Dec. 17): Cowboys at Bills -- $413
Besides the Brady thing, I think the main lesson to be learned here is that it's not cheap to be a Cowboys fan and you're going to have to take out a small loan if you ever plan on watching your favorite team play in Las Vegas against the Raiders.
5. Fifteen quirks on the 2023 NFL schedule
My favorite thing to do after NFL schedule comes out is to stay up for 24 straight hours to see if I can find any strange quirks. After poring through all 32 schedules over the weekend, I have finally found the quirks I was looking for. The Lions and Packers will be doing something that no division rivals have ever done in the Super Bowl era while the Jets' schedule consists of a quirk that's only happening for the second time in 90 years.
So what are those quirks? Let's find out.
- Jets get to play 10 games in their home stadium. The Jets will be playing 10 games at MetLife Stadium, marking just the second time in 93 years that an NFL team will get to play 10 games at its home stadium. If you're wondering how this happened, it's simple: All AFC teams get to play nine home games this year plus the Jets have a "road" game against the Giants. Since 1930, this has only happened one other time and that occurred last year with the Rams. And just for the record, the 1929 Frankford Yellow Jackets also got to play at least 10 of their games in their home stadium, so it's only happened three times in 94 years.
- Jets finally returning to Sunday night. The Jets will be hosting the Chiefs on Sunday night in Week 4, which is very notable, because it will mark the first time in almost 12 years that the Jets have played on Sunday night. Their last Sunday night game came in Week 10 of THE 2011 SEASON. From a scheduling perspective, adding Aaron Rodgers definitely helped the Jets, who now have five primetime games this year after playing in just one last year.
- Jaguars returning to Monday night. The Jets won't be the only team ending a long primetime drought. The Jags are scheduled to play on Monday night against the Bengals in Week 13. When that Dec. 4 game kicks off, it will have been almost exactly 12 years since their last Monday game. The Jaguars haven't played on Monday since Dec. 5, 2011.
- Thirsty Thursday. It's starting to seem like the NFL is trying to permanently move every Lions game to a Thursday. Through the first 12 weeks of the season, the Lions will be playing three Thursday games. The three Thursday games is tied for the most any team has played in a season since 2000 (the 2021 Cowboys, 2019 Bears and 2000 Lions also played three Thursday games).
- Lions and Packers to make history. Of the Lions' three Thursday games, two of them will be coming against the Packers, marking the first time since 1967 (the Super Bowl era) that two divisional rivals have had both of their games against each other played on a Thursday.
- NFL is taking over Saturdays. The NFL schedule had a Saturday surprise: For the first time in more than 40 years, the league will be holding games on four different Saturdays during the regular season. During the upcoming season, there will be at least one Saturday game in Weeks 15 thru 18. The last time the NFL played on four different Saturdays came in 1978, the first year of the 16-game schedule.
- An all-NFC Thanksgiving. For the first time in five years, there won't be any AFC teams playing on Thanksgiving. All six teams playing on Turkey Day this year are from the NFC with Packers at Lions, Commanders at Cowboys and 49ers at Seahawks. This actually isn't that uncommon. This year will mark the fourth time over the past 10 years that Thanksgiving has been an all-NFC affair.
- Leaving Las Vegas. Thanks to the way the schedule is constructed, the Raiders won't be leaving Las Vegas a single time between Nov. 20 and Dec. 24. That 34-day stretch is the longest span that any team will go without playing a road game this year.
- Bye, bye, bye. The Rams and 49ers are both facing FOUR teams that will be coming off a bye this year, which is the most in the NFL. That's not ideal since teams will be getting extra rest and preparation time prior to playing them. On the other end of the spectrum, there are 12 teams who will be facing a total of ZERO opponents coming off a bye.
- Four teams get shut out of primetime. When it comes to primetime games, it's going to be a boring season for fans of the Texans, Cardinals, Falcons and Colts, and that's because those four teams weren't given ANY primetime games this year. However, the Falcons and Colts will both be getting a stand alone game with each team playing in Europe, so that's kind of a consolation prize.
For my full list of 15 quirks, be sure to click here.
In other scheduling news, it appears the Bengals offered to permanently host the NFL's Black Friday game, but the league ended up shooting down their request. You can read more about that here.
6. Extra points: Browns make trade for three-time Pro Bowler
It was a busy weekend 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.
- Browns make trade for Za'Darius Smith. The Browns needed to add some pass-rushing help this offseason and they did that in a major way over the weekend by trading for three-time Pro Bowler Za'Darius Smith. Along with Smith, the Browns received a 2025 sixth and seventh-round pick. In exchange, the Vikings will be getting a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Browns. You can check out our grades for the trade here.
- Dolphins sign former Patriots first-round pick. The Dolphins added some depth on their offensive line over the weekend by signing Isaiah Wynn. The 27-year-old was the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Patriots, but he never panned out in New England, and now, he'll be trying to revive his career in Miami.
- Former first-round pick hoping to return to NFL after five years away. Speaking of former first-round picks, we have another one who will also be looking to revive his career: Shane Ray. Like Wynn, Ray was also the 23rd overall pick in his draft (2015), but he only lasted four seasons with the Broncos and hasn't played in the NFL since. He'll get a chance to return this year though, and that's because the Bills have just signed him. Ray spent some time in the CFL before signing with the Bills. During his rookie year, Ray totaled four sacks for a Broncos team that ended up winning the Super Bowl.
- Cowboys getting desperate at kicker. The Cowboys are in desperate need of a kicker right now and if you need proof, just consider this: Special teams coach John Fassel said "Anybody on Earth who is not on the team right now, is under consideration." That means you, the reader, could be under consideration for the Cowboys kicking job if you prove that you can make a field goal, so I'd go ahead and stop reading this newsletter now so you can go practice.
- USFL kicker hits eight field goals in one game. John Fassel might want to call the Philadelphia Stars, because their kicker, Luis Aguilar, hit EIGHT field goals on Sunday. Aguilar went 8-for-8, which included hitting a game-winning kick from 55 yards out. To put his performance in perspective, only one kicker in NFL history has ever made eight field goals in a game (Rob Bironas).
- Arlington Renegades win XFL title. For the first time since 2001, the XFL has a new champion. The Cinderella Renegades, who went into the playoffs with a 4-6 record, pulled off a huge upset on Saturday night by beating the DC Defenders 35-26 (DC had a regular-season record of 9-1). If you want the details from the game, be sure to click here.