Roger Goodell and other league brass see it as “imperative” the Bills build a new stadium, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News reports. A source told Carucci the league hierarchy regards Ralph Wilson Stadium, which opened in 1973, as one of the three worst in the league, along with the Raiders’ and Chargers’ venues.
“I don’t think it’s urgent like it has to happen tomorrow,” Giants owner John Mara told media. “But I think, for the long-term best interests of that franchise, they need to be in a new building. They still have great fan support. But there’s a growing disparity in income between the top quartile teams and the bottom quartile teams, and that’s something we have to be conscious of. And a new stadium would help them a great deal.”
The franchise recently spent upwards of $130MM to renovate the stadium, but a source told Carucci the league wasn’t behind that renovation and doesn’t see it as a major upgrade.
Here’s some more from the AFC.
- Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News is unimpressed with the way the Jets have treated veteran tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson this offseason. It’s not clear yet whether Ferguson is in the Jets’ plans for 2016, given the team’s lack of cap flexibility and the lineman’s $14MM+ cap hit, and Mehta believes the lack of communication with one of the team’s most respected veterans “has been embarrassing.”
- Although Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk recently suggested that the team’s ownership structure uncertainties would soon be resolved, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the NFL remains unsatisfied with the efforts to “address issues with the hierarchy.” According to that source, there’s still a very real possibility of a forced sale. Titans president Steve Underwood dismissed that idea, telling Florio, “Anonymous sources related to Titans ownership are always unreliable and misinformed.”
- With several teams in need of quarterback help, Bengals owner Mike Brown won’t rule out an A.J. McCarron trade, according to Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. While Marvin Lewis seemed to close the door on the Bengals moving their backup quarterback, Brown said any player’s available for the right deal. The owner, however, said he doesn’t foresee a trade materializing right now. McCarron completed 66.4% of his passes last season, throwing six touchdown passes compared to two interceptions in three starts in relief of Andy Dalton.
- Picking at No. 13, the Dolphins are very interested in Vernon Hargraves III, a Florida spokesperson told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. With the exception of newly acquired Byron Maxwell, Miami’s cornerback contingent consists of second-, third- or fourth-year players, with Jamar Taylor heading the group.
Zach Links contributed to this report