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UNITED STATES - JUNE 3: Former University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, left, and Notre Dame Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua testify during the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee hearing on "Protecting College Sports: supporting student athletes, restoring fair compensation, and saving the games fans love" in the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
This is the time in the NFL universe when hardly anything happens. So, stories and articles are on whatever pops into our minds. Don’t be surprised to see us here at ROTB giving investigative articles on which players prefer bubble gum over chewing gum, or maybe a hodgepodge of favorite mac and cheese recipes from selected athletes.
The coverage must go on, eh? At least we have the World Cup to fall back on.
RELATED: CARDINALS FANS CONCERNED ABOUT DEFENSIVE LINE
If you read any of my stuff, I never talk in first person. This is the only time I do, and consider this like a weekly column that is written only when I have 10 times to discuss. I have had monthly columns in the past, and like the format of one-on-one with the audience, but with articles, I just report and give information.
In this column, I can ask how your sick mom is doing. I will discuss the Cardinals, but also other selected things going on in the sports world, like Nick Saban appearing before a Senate subcommittee.
Here are things on my mind:
1. Okay. The Brendan Sorsby situation has to be front and center, right? Lordy. It is a subject that may or may not have affected Arizona. Nobody from the Cardinals front office or coaching staff ever mentioned that they had an interest in him, but then again, they wouldn’t. Because the draft process for the Supplemental version is by bidding, the franchise has no incentive to discuss their feelings if they are interested in him. No GM will divulge their strategy at any time. I have seen teams trade up to grab a guy in front of one of their division teams because they believed the division foe was going to snare him.
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Sorsby is a mess. He dug his own grave, and whatever is going on with the remainder of his football career is on him. He wanted to go back to college because he had an NIL eval of $5 million. But realistically, what advertisers were going to be interested? Who made that evaluation? His agent? Teams in the same conference were about to bail on Tech. Teams in other sports had already begun the process, as their volleyball had suffered some cancellations.
Looking at his stats, he is a good player with a ton of talent, but is he considered an elite prospect? A franchise QB? Exceptional runner, but his passing stats don’t scream anything other than an above-average passer. He may have been a Texas Tech QB, but he never played a game with them. All of his best stats were with Cincinnati, which never really did anything.
He may be able to play in the CFL this year, although their season is already underway. Then, enter the NFL draft next April under normal draft circumstances after sitting out an entire season. However, on Friday, the CFL announced that they are shutting him out from signing with any of their clubs.
The issue is that nobody wants a quarterback who will throw a game because he has money riding on the other team. A missed throw here, an interception in the fourth quarter, an untimely fumble. More than any other position, the QB has the opportunity on every single offensive down to alter the game’s outcome.
2. June is certainly a great time to be a sports fan with the Stanley Cup as well as the NBA Finals. NASCAR is in full swing, as well as pro golf, the WNBA, and the UFL’s “United Bowl.”
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I have always wondered why the pro basketball final series doesn’t have a cool name of its own. Baseball has the “World Series,” while the NFL uses the “Super Bowl,” and hockey has the “Stanley Cup.” Soccer has the “World Cup,” which is at the end of its group stage. Pro basketball? The “NBA Finals.” That’s it? And notice none of the other leagues insert their actual league entity into the championship moniker except for the NBA. How about “The Crown of the Court Series” or “Lord of the Rim”? Or maybe a nod to the sport’s inventor, “The Naismith Championship Classic.”
The NBA pushes itself as progressive and hip-hop. Yet, they have no creativity with their championship series?
3. The Cardinals should become a sensation on offense with an awesome receiver group, the league’s best tight end, and a revamped offensive line. The QB situation just might unravel it all. Jacoby Brissett seems to be the answer, but Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck are going to push him and make it difficult to choose a starter. Poor Kedon Slovis seems to be the odd man out and destined for the practice squad.
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Don’t you see the immense talent on the offensive side of the ball? What would this group be like to be guided by a stud quarterback like Tom Brady or Josh Allen? 35 points a game good?
Having said that, I also believe the defense is going to be a problem all season long. What good is scoring mid-30s each week when the “D” gives up 40 points? The defensive backfield will hold its own, but the run defense and linebacker group are a concern.
4. The Chicago Bears lost the vote in the Illinois spring legislative session to get them a ton of money to help build a new stadium. The Senate passed the “megaprojects” bill, but it died in the House. Then a new bill was proposed that the Senate again passed 37-17, but the House adjourned and never took a vote. Meanwhile, neighboring Hammond, Indiana, is offering up to $1 billion in tax incentives. The Bears own hundreds of acres in nearby Arlington Heights, just 36 minutes from downtown Chicago. Hammond is the same distance further south and a stone’s throw across the state line.
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The Bears have maintained that they cannot build a stadium without property tax certainty, which Indiana passed legislation to ensure in February. Their lease at Soldier Field expires in 2033.
The franchise has a standing offer from Indiana to move across the state line to Hammond. And no, they wouldn’t become the Hammond Bears or the Indiana Bears. Almost half the NFL teams don’t play in the city they are named after. The Dallas Cowboys play in Arlington. The Miami Dolphins are in nearby Miami Gardens. The Las Vegas Raiders’ home games are in Paradise, Nevada. The New York Football Giants and New York Jets play in another state, so it’s been done. Moving for the Bears is nothing new, as they began in Decatur, Illinois.
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5. On Thursday, the Diamondbacks activated OF Max Kepler from the restricted list. He completed his 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. He signed a free agent deal with Arizona on June 7 and was finishing out his league suspension for a positive test for epitrenbolone, a metabolite of trenbolone. This drug is on the banned list, but is used in products to promote cattle growth. Some body-building stores sell products that contain this drug in certain brands.
Kepler hit .216 with the Philadelphia Phillies last year with 52 RBIs and added 18 home runs. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said that he is happy that Kepler has arrived and that the athlete has been working his tail off to get back to the field. He will be hitting fifth in the batting order and set to play left field.
Kepler was the first player suspended by MLB for the substance since public announcements of penalty details began in 2005.
6. I am going to come out and say it. And understand, I am not a homer. I see things as they are and state my mind. I believe the Cardinals will go 8-9-0 this year. Throw tomatoes and plums at me, I don’t care. I have three sisters and four daughters, so I am used to being misunderstood.
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Look at their schedule with a clear mind, and you will see that the wins are already lined up. Split with San Fran. Winnable games against both New York teams, Detroit, Dallas, the Raiders, Saints, Washington, and maybe the Chiefs. No chance against the Rams and Seahawks, although the Cardinals came back last year with a 14-point deficit and tied Seattle late in the game, only to allow them to move down the field with 28 ticks left and kick the game-winner.
Finish in the basement again, but it will be much better in the division and have something to build on for 2027. The Rams and Texans are my Super Bowl guesses.
One thing you can count on with the Cardinals this year: They are a young team. Jeremiyah Love, Elijah Culp, and Damonic Williams are only 21-years old. Six players are age 22, 12 are 23 years old, and 13 are 24. Only a dozen are in their 30s. The eldest is the new long snapper, Casey Kreiter, at age 35.
7. The Suns are going to re-sign C Mark Williams to a three-year deal worth $38 million. The entire contract will be fully guaranteed. The 7’-1” center is coming off his healthiest season, averaging 11.7 points, eight rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in 23.6 minutes per game. Williams was a restricted free agent this offseason and appeared in a career-high 60 games this past season.
The franchise also reached deals with G Jordan Goodwin and G Collin Gillespie.
8. What is next for QB Jacoby Brissett? He has been a no-show for every offseason session except for the recent mandatory veteran minicamp, but did not participate in any drills. His gripe is that going into this season, he would be playing on a backup QB’s salary instead of one of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
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He was named the starter, and then head coach Mike LaFleur did not announce that he had rescinded the designation, but didn’t confirm it either. Brissett is now 33 years old, has played 10 years in the league, participated in 101 NFL games with just 65 starts. That stat basically says “career backup” and not starter.
What stands out to me with his recent contract re-structuring demand is that he was 1-11-0 as the Cardinals starter last year. Yes, the offense came alive last year once Kyler Murray went down and Brissett supplanted him. But this game is based upon one thing, and one thing only: wins.
What now? The Cardinals may give him more money, he will play for his contract, the coaching staff decides to start either Minshew or Beck as he resumes his backup role, Brissett is traded, or he is released.
9. The NFL has nine international games this year. Wow. That includes historic first-ever regular-season games in France and Australia. The St. Louis Cardinals played in the very first international game outside the confines of North America in 1976 against the San Diego Chargers in Tokyo. It’s a shame the NFL didn’t dive into that historical fact and give Arizona either the France matchup or the game in Australia.
Have you ever wondered what the point of all that is? Number one, it takes away a home game from one of the two clubs playing in the faraway contest. And some of these games are key matchups. The Rams and 49ers will play in Melbourne, which is a good NFC West showdown matchup. Melbourne Cricket Ground holds 95,000 patrons, which neither the Rams nor the Niners’ home fields can match. Is it the goal of the league to bring the American Football game to the world?
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Soccer is a worldwide sport; we all know this. Outside of North America, every little kid wants to be a soccer star when they grow up. And there are so many teams in the U.S. and Canada. MLS has 30 teams, while the women’s league, NWSL, has 16. Then, MLS has a developmental league called MLS Next Pro, which also has 30 clubs. The United Soccer League has four men’s divisions and two women’s divisions, for a grand total of 282 teams. And there are other pro leagues: NISA, MASL, MASL2, MLIS, PASL, and WISL. All of this means American Football isn’t going to ever outdistance soccer. Soccer is planet-wide; American Football isn’t.
10. Nick Saban recently testified before the Senate on protecting college sports. Some highlights of his testimony:
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The bill that Saban is referring to and supports is the bipartisan “Protect College Sports Act,” which was introduced by Texas Senator Ted Cruz. This bill focuses on regulating NIL, has limits for athletes to transfer from program to program, prevents coaches from leaving their teams in the middle of a season, and has financial caps on player compensation.
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