The NFL will expand “Thursday Night Football” in 2016 and 2017, continuing its partnership with CBS while also adding NBC to the package.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS, and Steve Burke, CEO of NBC Universal, made the announcement Monday.
Both CBS and NBC will broadcast five Thursday night games, growing the package to 10 broadcast games in 2016 and 2017 from eight in 2014 and 2015. All TNF broadcast games will continue to be simulcast on NFL Network.
CBS and NBC agreed to pay $225 million each for the right to broadcast five NFL games apiece over the next two seasons, sources told the Sports Business Daily.
The $450 million haul for 10 games marks an increase from the $300 million CBS paid for eight games last season.
NFL Network also will televise an eight-game schedule of regular-season games comprised of TNF, late-season games on Saturday and additional games to be determined.
—Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Tuck announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 season.
Tuck, 32, played nine seasons with the New York Giants and two with the Oakland Raiders. He won two Super Bowl rings with New York.
He had 66.5 career sacks and had 10 or more in a season on four occasions. Tuck added 5.5 postseason sacks.
—A Denver Broncos’ team bus was involved in a minor traffic accident on Monday.
The accident occurred at 1:47 p.m. PST on Highway 101 in Mountain View as the team was returning to its hotel in Santa Clara. The crash also involved a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer, according to reports.
A Broncos’ spokesman released a statement saying nobody was injured. Further details weren’t immediately available.
Denver is practicing at nearby Stanford for its Super Bowl 50 contest against the Carolina Panthers. The team had just concluded its workout prior to the crash.
—The Pro Bowl ratings continue to decline despite the NFL revising the format and trying to get more fans interested in the game held a week before the Super Bowl.
According to Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal, the Pro Bowl drew a 5.0 overnight rating on ESPN — likely the lowest ever.
Sunday night’s game was down sharply from ESPN’s 5.6 rating in 2015 and NBC’s 6.7 in 2014.
Seven different Team Irvin players caught touchdown passes, and their teammates intercepted six passes in a 49-27 win over Team Rice on Sunday at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
—Running back Eddie Lacy is considering multiple measures to drop 30 pounds at the request of the Green Bay Packers.
NFL Network reported Monday that Lacy is considering offers from fitness programs, such as P90X, and even a special camp focused on weight loss in hopes of meeting the demands of his employer.
Some estimates from Green Bay media projected Lacy’s weight at 260 pounds last season. He weighed 231 pounds coming out of Alabama but blamed the extra bulk on a hamstring injury that prevented him from fully working out in advance of the draft.
—The Arizona Cardinals re-signed tight end Darren Fells to a one-year contract and signed cornerback Shaun Prater to a future contract for the 2016 season.
The 6-foot-7, 281-pound Fells played in 14 games (12 starts) with the Cardinals in 2015 and set career highs with 21 catches for 311 yards and three touchdowns. He also had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown in the postseason.
The 5-10, 190-pound Prater played one game with the Minnesota Vikings and one game with the Indianapolis Colts in 2015 while also spending a week on the active roster of the Denver Broncos. A four-year NFL veteran, Prater has played in 21 career games (three starts) and has six tackles, one interception and five special teams tackles.
—Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver Dez Bryant “would love to see Greg Hardy back” with the team next season.
The Cowboys have to decide if they want to re-sign Hardy only a year after the defensive end was released by the Carolina Panthers due to his troubles with the law off the field.
The Cowboys’ front office reportedly has been wavering in its support of the controversial pass rusher. Hardy was signed by Dallas after a high-profile domestic violence incident in North Carolina.
—Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle was arrested early Monday morning on a speeding charge after showing up at the home of his former girlfriend in Irving, Texas.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Randle, 24, was arrested about 3 a.m. near the home of his ex-girlfriend. Irving police told the newspaper that Randle was arrested when an outstanding misdemeanor warrant was discovered.
According to police, Randle showed up at the home hoping to get some sleep before driving back to Kansas, where he is from, but residents turned him away and called police.
—NFL Players Association president Eric Winston has decided to donate his own brain for NFL concussion research after he dies.
The 32-year-old Winston has played 10 NFL seasons with four NFL teams and is currently a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Concussion research efforts have increased in recent years as doctors try to understand CTE, which stands for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The effects of repeated blows to the head are believed to be the major cause. Among the notable football players diagnosed posthumously with CTE is Hall of Famer Junior Seau, who shot himself to death in 2012.
—The San Francisco 49ers named Roy Anderson as the team’s assistant defensive backs coach on Monday.
Anderson, 35, spent the previous four seasons as the secondary coach with the Indianapolis Colts. He worked seven seasons (2005-11) with the Baltimore Ravens. During his final two years in Baltimore, Anderson was the team’s defensive assistant/secondary coach where he handled defensive quality control duties and worked with the defensive backs.
—The NFL’s top official does not anticipate a major overhaul to the catch rule but admits there could be “another tweak.”
A newly formed catch rule committee announced in December was pushed by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to explore possible changes.
Goodell has said he understands fans’ frustration on the “catch or no catch” question.
Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, said he was satisfied with the catch rule this season.