SI:AM | Football Is (Sorta) Back!

Good morning, I’m Tyler Lauletta, filling in for one more day before your regular host, Dan Gartland, returns to the blogosphere. Thanks for trusting me with the keyboard, Dan! I promise I cleaned up all (most) of the fruit punch I spilled on it.

🏉 Training camp buzz

💎 Swag architects

🏉 25 Years, 25 Games

All across the country, water bottles are being filled with various electrolyte-heavy liquids, industrial washing machines are getting a fresh workout and playbooks are being studied. That’s right, folks, NFL training camp is here, and the 2025 season is just around the corner.

After spending a bit too long in Jerry World in yesterday’s newsletter, let’s take a quick look around the league at some of the other storylines we’ll be following intently as the offseason gives way to real-deal football.

Some Good Ol’ Fashioned QB Battles

While the vast majority of NFL teams have already decided on their QB1, a few squads are looking to study what they see in camp and go from there.

The most compelling of these is likely the Cleveland Browns. While there might not be a lot of fun in watching the Browns once the regular season starts, aside from Myles Garrett continuing to be a monster, it’s hard to think of any team more intriguing to follow through training camp.

Every preseason game in Cleveland will be must‑see television. As things stand, four quarterbacks on the roster have a shot at starting in Week 1: veteran Joe Flacco, semi‑veteran Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. And while we’ll undoubtedly get a clearer pecking order as snaps are taken, it wouldn’t be surprising to see all four get starts at various points in the season.

Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts are hoping that Anthony Richardson can use his upcoming training camp competition against Daniel Jones as motivation to get it together. It’s tough to think of a larger gulf between the styles of play of two athletes who will be charged with operating the same system. Richardson has shown flashes of brilliance in his two years with his cannon arm and impressive skills as a rusher, but turnovers and injury concerns have kept him off the field as much as he’s been on it. In contrast to his boom-or-bust potential, Jones is a quarterback whose traits grade out in the sixes and sevens across the board.

Elsewhere, it feels inevitable that Russell Wilson will start for the New York Giants in Week 1, but the battle between Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston for QB2 is one to watch. And the Saints are stuck choosing between rookie Tyler Shough and sophomore Spencer Rattler after the surprising offseason retirement of Derek Carr.

Deals Made, Deals That Still Need to Be Made

The situation in Dallas is not ideal—Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs are both less than thrilled with how Jerry Jones is going about his business—but the Cowboys are far from the only team dealing with contract issues to begin training camp.

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was absent to start camp as he seeks an extension that should put him among the highest-paid pass catchers in the game.

While the Bengals extended their star receiver duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins earlier in the year, stud edge rusher Trey Hendrickson is still in need of an extension. He posted on Instagram that he’s currently spending time in Florida while the money hopefully gets worked out by the people who make the deals happen.

But the news isn’t all bad. T.J. Watt landed another market-resetting deal just before the Steelers got rolling, making good on the confidence that both Mike Tomlin and new QB Aaron Rodgers exuded while talking about the upcoming year. The Jets’ budding star duo of Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson both signed solid post-rookie extensions to keep them in New York through the 2030 season.

New Faces in New Places

Two new head coaches—Pete Carroll with the Raiders and Mike Vrabel with the Patriots—set the tone for the upcoming season in compelling, if quite different ways.

Carroll had full-throated confidence that Las Vegas would be a winner this year. 

“We’re gonna win a ton. We’re gonna win a bunch of games,” Carroll told reporters. “I can’t even imagine anything [different]. I’ve been winning 10 games a year for 20 years or something now. The expectation is we’re gonna win a bunch, and I don’t care who hears that.”

While no coach is going to get up on the podium and just say, “Yeah we’d be lucky to win five games this year,” Carroll’s statement is accentuated by his track record of double-digit win seasons.

Conversely, a serious tone was also set in New England but with a bit of a comedic slant, as Vrabel called out a reporter for essentially repeating a question that had already been addressed earlier in the presser.

“I mean, whether you were in a coma when I answered Tom [Curran]’s question, or typing on your phone, or tweeting—I don’t know. But I spent five minutes answering that question. And I could go back through it, but I’d rather not,” Vrabel said.

Nothing says “football is back” like an ornery coach making his somewhat justified frustrations with the media clear to all.

And Some New Looks Too

The Steelers are apparently looking back to look forward, putting out images of the throwback kits that they’ll sport against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 on Sunday Night Football. Team captain Cameron Heyward was, shall we say, “split” on the new (old) look.

The Steelers are apparently looking back to look forward, putting out images of the throwback kits that they’ll sport against the Green Bay Packers in Week 8 on Sunday Night Football. Team captain Cameron Heyward was, shall we say, “split” on the new (old) look.

“Yellow helmet? Check. Jersey? Check. … But pants? … Those pants, man, they look like throw up,” Heyward said on an episode of his Not Just Football podcast. He’s not wrong. Chances are Rodgers won’t mind what he and his new teammates are wearing as long as they can get a win over his former team.

… weird or glorious highlights from a strangely compelling Tuesday night July game between the Phillies and Red Sox…

5. The Phillie Phanatic’s version of The Bachelor ended about how you would expect.

4. John Kruk tells a story about getting shot at in West Virginia during the bottom of the eighth.

3. Cristopher Sánchez is the best pitcher the baseball world is not talking about enough.

2. Apparently it was Y2K night at Citizens Bank Park, complete with a concert from Nelly after the game. Nick Castellanos stuck around to dance.

1. The Red Sox found a new and improved way to commit catcher interference, prompting a balk and a run (but really, Bryce just stole home).

… non-football, non-Phillies things I saw last night…

5. Lance Stephenson admits that maybe blowing in LeBron’s ear wasn’t the best idea.

4. Baseball continues to deliver things you’ve never seen in a baseball game. Best sport.

3. Venus Williams at 45 can still leave tennis fans in awe…

2. …and still knows how to deliver an epic post-match quote.

1. Pete Crow-Armstrong isn’t just an MVP contender; he’s a certified sweetie.