Jon Gruden’s Lawsuit Against NFL Allowed To Proceed To Open Court
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden has scored a key victory in his ongoing lawsuit against the league and commissioner Roger Goodell. As relayed by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., the Nevada Supreme Court rejected the league’s petition seeking a rehearing of the court’s August decision that the league could not force Gruden into arbitration.
Gruden, 62, filed his suit in 2021, after he resigned as the Raiders’ head coach following a leak of emails containing racist, sexist, and anti-gay comments he sent when he was an on-air analyst for ESPN from 2011-18. He alleges the NFL selectively leaked those emails to force him out of the league, thereby sabotaging his coaching career and endorsement contracts.
When we last wrote about Gruden’s legal battle in July 2024, he had just lost a hearing conducted by the Nevada Supreme Court’s three-judge panel, which determined that the NFL could, in fact, remove Gruden’s case from the public forum of a state courtroom into the league-friendly arbitration setting (in which Goodell himself could serve as the arbitrator).
However, Gruden was ultimately successful in securing a rehearing in front of the court’s full seven-judge panel, which held in a 5-2 decision that the league’s efforts to force a claim against the league filed by a former employee into arbitration proceedings overseen by the league commissioner (and named defendant) was “unconscionable.”
The seven judges were unanimous in their denial of the NFL’s request for a rehearing, and now the league’s only recourse in its quest for arbitration is to note an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Although the NFL has declined to comment on the matter, Van Natta’s sources have said such an attempt is unlikely.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk details the difficulty that an appealing party in any case has in convincing the nation’s highest court to hear their appeal, and he also observes that Gruden has gained a tremendous amount of leverage. The NFL could try to make Gruden a settlement offer he cannot refuse in order to make the case go away, but Gruden has previously promised to “burn the house down” in pursuing this action.
In other words, he may rebuff any offer the league makes as he seeks to uncover the party or parties who leaked the emails.
“I’m looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden told ESPN. “What happened wasn’t right, and I’m glad the court didn’t let the NFL cover it up.”
Gruden has gotten back into league circles to some extent. In 2023, he worked as a consultant with the Saints, and he was seen doing work for the Chiefs in the 2024 offseason. It was reported last December that he could garner some NFL coaching interest in the 2025 cycle, but he did not land an interview.
Giants Looking More At Depth Than Impact At WR
After losing star second-year wide receiver Malik Nabers to a season-ending ACL tear, no one would blame the Giants for aggressively pursuing a replacement, but so far, no such efforts have been made. In fact, the team came out earlier this week to say that they are unlikely to pursue any additions at the position. 
Seeming to go against that claim, though, New York hosted a number of pass catchers this week for tryouts, per Pat Leonard of NY Daily News Sports. These were not veteran free agents that were getting their tires kicked. The visitors included Michael Woods, Rakim Jarrett, Brandon Johnson, and Samori Toure, who ended up signing to the Broncos practice squad today.
So, based on the lack of interest in impact veterans available on the free agent market or on other teams’ practice squads and based on the lack of trade talks for impact receivers, it seems clear that the Giants have faith in the abilities of their current receiving corps; they’re more concerned with depth. With Nabers, Da’Quan Felton, and Bryce Ford-Wheaton all on injured reserve, the Giants only have five wideouts on the 53-man roster: Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton, Jalin Hyatt, Beaux Collins, and Gunner Olszewski. New York also rosters veterans Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Ihmir Smith-Marsette and rookie Dalen Cambre on the practice squad.
Even with the options on the taxi squad, the Giants decided not to utilize one of their two allotted standard gameday practice squad elevations on the position, shocking Dan Duggan of The Athletic, who expected Humphrey’s name to get called. While Robinson and Slayton have shown their ability to be impact players on the offense, this situation is being viewed as an opportunity for the former third-round pick, Hyatt, to step up in a big way. Over his first two seasons, Hyatt has disappointed with only 31 catches for 435 yards and no scores.
Duggan, though, has put forth a theory that Collins, an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame, will get the majority of looks at WR3. Collins had a couple more snaps than Hyatt in Week 3, while Hyatt just edged out Collins for more snaps last week. Either way, it appears New York is intent on utilizing what it has on hand to run their passing game, while looking to replenish the back end of the group with potential practice squad additions.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/5/25
We have a rare Sunday transaction today:
Denver Broncos
- Signed: WR Samori Toure
Toure’s name came up earlier this week when he was hosted by the Giants following their loss of Malik Nabers. The former seventh-round pick for the Packers hasn’t played in a game since 2023, and in 22 games with Green Bay, he only reeled in 13 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Unless one of them is released to make room for Toure on the practice squad, Toure will join three other receivers on Denver’s taxi squad. The Broncos only carry five receivers on their 53-man roster, so all four pass catchers on the practice squad stand a decent chance of being called up in case of injury.
Reasoning For Shedeur Sanders’ Role As QB3
Opinions ran rampant this week when it was announced that the Browns would allow rookie third-round quarterback Dillon Gabriel his first career start. Nobody was angry about Gabriel getting his shot, but the additional announcement that the demoted veteran, Joe Flacco, would serve as the primary backup to Gabriel with fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders remaining QB3 had people up in arms. 
Opinions have always varied on Sanders. Once considered a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Sanders suffered an unprecedented slide into the fifth round. Ever since arriving in Cleveland, Gabriel has consistently sat above Sanders in the pecking order, while both players were below Flacco and Kenny Pickett as they battled for the starting job. That’s why it made sense that, when Flacco won the job and Pickett was traded away, Gabriel was named QB2 and Sanders QB3.
But, if the Browns are willing to give one rookie quarterback a look over Flacco, why wouldn’t they also extend that courtesy on the depth chart to Sanders and make him QB2? According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there is a very good reason.
The Browns don’t appear to be a team headed to a championship game this season, and while Flacco may give the franchise its best chance at winning games this year, he doesn’t factor into their long-term prospects, whereas both rookies could. One reason Gabriel could have some success as a rookie, though, comes down to just how different he is from Flacco.
Aside from the obvious age difference, Gabriel is quite a bit more mobile than Flacco, quite a bit smaller than Flacco, and quite a bit more left-handed than Flacco. Additionally, his consistency in avoiding turnovers in college gave the team some hope that they could put an end to the poor early-season trends. Through the first four weeks of the season, Flacco threw at least one interception in each game, totaling six picks and two lost fumbles. Today’s start with Gabriel under center was the Browns’ first this season without a turnover.
While these attributes differ Gabriel from Flacco a good deal, they also fail to align much with Sanders. Because Cleveland is now running an offense specifically catered to Gabriel, it would be difficult for either Flacco or Sanders to step into the offense if Gabriel is hurt or struggling. If this were to happen, though, Flacco’s experience and leadership as a captain of the team make him the best option to find success in an unfamiliar offense.
Putting Sanders into that position for his first ever NFL action would do him a disservice. It would be difficult for Sanders to thrive in Gabriel’s offense, and per Rapoport, “the Browns want Sanders to be successful when he’s out there.” When Cleveland finally makes the call to give Sanders a shot at the QB1 role, they want him to do so in an offense catered to him instead of one catered to the shorter, shifty, left-handed Hawaiian. So, unless multiple injuries take place, Sanders won’t be making a surprise debut; it should be announced in advance giving the team a week (or more) to develop a gameplan.
In the meantime, Sanders has continued to improve while out of the spotlight. He’s had to make up a lot of ground on Gabriel ever since they were drafted, and though he holds the official QB3 designation, there’s reason to believe he may also get an opportunity to take the reins of the offense at some point this season. Whenever that occurs, though, it’ll be after the Browns are able to design and practice a gameplan just for him.
NFL Planning To Launch Professional Flag Football Leagues
NFL players will take part in the 2028 Summer Olympics when flag football makes its debut in that event. The NFL played a leading role in the effort to have flag football included in the Olympics, but the league is making other efforts to expand that version of the game. 
When speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference in London recently, commissioner Roger Goodell announced the NFL plans to launch professional flag football leagues in the near future. That confirms previous comments made on the subject. Presumably, the leagues will be in place prior to the Olympics.
“We’re committed to creating a women’s professional league, and a men’s professional flag league,” Goodell said (via the Associated Press). “We’ve had a great deal of interest in that and I expect that we’ll be able to do that, launch that, in the next couple of years. The demand is there. We’re seeing colleges in the [United States] and universities internationally also that want to make it a part of their program.”
Indeed, participation in flag football at the youth level along with high school and college players has surged in recent years. That is is true in the United States but also internationally, including many of the markets the NFL has targeted with its overseas games. To no surprise, then, the league will be heavily involved with setting up professional leagues in anticipation of flag football being showcased in 2028.
It will be interesting to see how the pro leagues take shape once plans are finalized. Needless to say, the NFL is envisioning further expansion of the flag game through the Olympics and its aftermath. That will take place outside the United States but also on a domestic scale.
Chiefs Did Not Consider Trading For WR Tyreek Hill
Early in the campaign, speculation surrounded Tyreek Hill‘s future in Miami. A trade allowing him to finish the 2025 campaign on a different team was the subject of constant discussion. 
That of course came to an end with Hill’s massive knee injured suffered in Week 4. An ACL tear as well as a dislocated knee has ended Hill’s season and now resulted in the expectation he will be released ahead of the final year of his contract. A trade is no longer on the table, but even if the opposite were true a Chiefs reunion would not have taken place.
Kanas City was named as a potential suitor for Hill in September, joining the Steelers in that regard. A Dolphins-Chiefs swap would have allowed the five-time All-Pro to return to his original team after spending his first six years in Kansas City. Despite that, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports (subscription required) Hill was “never considered a real option” for the Chiefs in terms of an in-season trade.
The receiver position was a sore spot early this year for Kansas City with Xavier Worthy suffering an injury in Week 1. That – coupled with Rashee Rice‘s six-game suspension – left the team short on pass-catching options. Worthy has since returned, though, and Rice is expected to make an immediate impact once he is back in the fold. The latter topped 900 yards as a rookie and was averaging 72 yards per game before suffering a season-ending knee injury last year.
Rice and Worthy, along with the likes of Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, will be tasked with handling the bulk of the workload when the WR room is at full strength. The Chiefs struggled on offense while starting 0-2, but the past two weeks have produced stronger outputs along with a pair of wins. That will be expected to continue moving forward.
Hill posted four seasons with 1,000 or more yards during his Kansas City tenure, and he would have been in position to serve as a key figure on offense in the event a trade had been worked out. Instead, the Chiefs will carry on with their in-house options at the receiver spot.
Former NFL QB Mark Sanchez Facing Three Misdemeanor Charges
OCTOBER 5: Sanchez was formally charged on Sunday, as detailed by Ganote’s colleague Vickie Binkley. The 38-year-old is facing three misdemeanor charges (battery resulting in injury, public intoxication and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle) as a result of the incident. Court documents state surveillance footage “closely matches” the account provided by the alleged victim.
OCTOBER 4, 10:10pm: Seemingly confirming the police narrative originally reported, the IMPD has released a second statement announcing that Sanchez has been arrested at the hospital on four misdemeanor allegations of battery, injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle, and public intoxication.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for making the final decision on what charges will officially be made, at which point Sanchez will eventually be able to make a plea and defend his position. At this time, Sanchez has not been booked into IMPD’s Adult Detention Center and remains in the hospital.
2:46pm: News broke today that FOX Sports NFL color analyst Mark Sanchez was injured today in Indianapolis, per a statement from his current employer. ESPN reports that Sanchez is in stable condition after being stabbed.
A statement from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s official X account claims the police are “investigating a physical disturbance” that happened “around 12:30 a.m.” this morning. It goes on to say “the incident involved two adult males, resulting in one man receiving lacerations and the other sustaining injuries consistent with stab wounds.
According to Angela Ganote of FOX59 Morning News, the police narrative paints Sanchez as the aggressor. Her sources indicate that “Sanchez was not cooperative with police when they first arrived on the scene.” Ultimately, Sanchez was taken to the hospital in critical condition and underwent surgery.
The man responsible for stabbing Sanchez told the police that he was delivering food when Sanchez “told him he needed to move and couldn’t park where he was.” He alleges that Sanchez began “threatening and following him and then attacked him.” He claims to have attempted to utilize pepper spray as a first line of defense, but when that didn’t work, he resigned to defending himself with a knife. Per Ganote, the police noted “a significant injury” to the face of the man.
It’s important to note that the police narrative stems solely from the statements of those involved and any witnesses. To this point, Sanchez has not yet been interviewed to give his version of events. The 38-year-old former NFL quarterback was scheduled to be part of the broadcast crew in the Raiders-Colts matchup this weekend but will no longer be available for the contest.
Ravens TE Mark Andrews Could Draw Trade Interest
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews surfaced as a trade candidate this offseason, and he generated some interest from other clubs. GM Eric DeCosta clearly did not receive an offer compelling enough to deal the franchise’s receiving TDs leader, but Andrews nonetheless could be on the move in the coming weeks, per Eric D. Williams of Fox Sports.
The Ravens have stumbled to a 1-3 start, and with quarterback Lamar Jackson expected to miss at least the next two games, the prognosis for a turnaround is not favorable. Plus, Andrews is in the final year of his contract, and fellow TE Isaiah Likely – who is five years younger than Andrews and who has established himself as a capable weapon – looks like the club’s future at the position. Likely is in the last year of his rookie deal, and the team reportedly has begun extension talks with his camp.
Likely missed the first three games of the season due to injury, and he failed to record a statistic in the 26 snaps he played in last week’s loss to the Chiefs. Andrews, meanwhile, has secured 15 of 18 passes for 128 yards and two TDs in 2025, though his 8.5 yards-per-reception rate would be the lowest of his career by a wide margin.
Now 30, Andrews has struggled in the playoffs during his Ravens tenure, struggles that include a lost fumble and dropped two-point conversion in last season’s divisional round loss to the Bills. That said, he has been one of the NFL’s preeminent pass-catching tight ends since he broke out with a Pro Bowl campaign in 2019, his second year in the league. He also earned Pro Bowl acclaim in 2021 – he was named a First Team All-Pro that year – and 2022.
As such, teams in need of help at the TE position may continue working DeCosta’s phone. Williams’ source who says Andrews could draw interest does not name a specific club, but the Chargers and Seahawks are speculative fits. Both teams presently profile as deadline buyers and could stand to upgrade their tight end rooms with a proven performer, and both also have ties to the Oklahoma product.
The Bolts employ former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman as their OC, and Los Angeles GM Joe Hortiz was Baltimore’s director of college scouting when the Ravens drafted Andrews (to say nothing of the obvious Jim Harbaugh–John Harbaugh connection). Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2022-23.
49ers, Rams, Seahawks, Bills, Patriots, Jaguars, Eagles Seen As Possible Buyers At Trade Deadline
We are a month away from the November 4 trade deadline, and the league’s contingent of buyers and sellers is starting to take shape. Eric D. Williams of Fox Sports identifies a handful of teams that league sources believe could be active buyers.
That includes a trio of NFC West clubs: the 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks. All three of those teams currently sport winning records, and even the division’s fourth-place outfit, the Cardinals, are 2-2 (their two losses have come by a combined four points). It therefore stands to reason that the combatants in what could be a tightly-contested division will be seeking any possible advantage at the deadline.
Moving over to the AFC East, Williams’ sources name the Bills and Patriots as potential buyers. The Bills, who have become a perennial contender in the Josh Allen era, are just one of two undefeated teams left after the first four weeks of the campaign, and Buffalo may be on the lookout for upgrades as it tries to break through to the Super Bowl after a number of recent postseason heartbreaks.
New England, at 2-2, was not necessarily expected to contend this year. New head coach Mike Vrabel and second-year quarterback Drake Maye presented reasons for optimism in Foxborough, but the general consensus was that the club — which underwent more than 50% roster turnover from 2024-25 and which entered the regular season as the league’s fifth-youngest team (h/t ESPN’s Mike Reiss) — was still at least a year away from true competitiveness.
And that still may be the case. After all, much can change between now and the first week of November, and even tonight’s matchup with the division-rival Bills could go a long way towards solidifying the Pats’ status as legitimate contender or otherwise.
After a last-second loss to the Bengals in Week 2, the Jaguars bounced back with victories over the Texans and Niners to improve their record to 3-1. As Williams notes, the rookie GM/HC duo of James Gladstone and Liam Coen both cut their NFL teeth with the Rams, whose Les Snead/Sean McVay operation has developed a reputation for making bold strikes.
Ditto Eagles GM Howie Roseman, and Philadelphia – the league’s other undefeated club – is unsurprisingly named by Williams’ sources as another team that could look to acquire talent in advance of the deadline. Per OverTheCap.com, the Eagles also have just shy of $12MM in cap space, so they should have the flexibility to make a move or two.
The Patriots, 49ers, and Seahawks are all in the top-five in terms of cap room as of the time of this writing, and the Rams are just outside the top-10. The Bills, with just $2.57MM of space, could have a harder time making a splash acquisition.
Giants QB Jaxson Dart Believed Saints Might Draft Him With No. 9 Pick
The Saints were heavily connected to quarterback Jaxson Dart in the run-up to this year’s draft, as the club hosted the Ole Miss product on a “30” visit and did extensive work on him. But New Orleans, which held the No. 9 overall pick, did not consider any quarterback in this year’s class outside of Cam Ward worthy of that selection, and the groundwork the team laid for a potential trade-up into the latter stages of the first round or the early portion of the second round did not produce a deal.
Instead, the Giants selected Dart with the No. 25 overall pick, which they obtained by trading back into the first round after using their No. 3 overall selection on EDGE Abdul Carter. New York head coach Brian Daboll grew fonder of Dart as the draft process went on, and Dart put together a promising training camp and preseason slate. Making his regular season debut in Week 4, he flashed in helping the Giants secure an upset win over the Chargers, Big Blue’s first victory of the campaign.
The Saints ultimately used their No. 40 choice on Louisville passer Tyler Shough, who recently turned 26 but who saw his draft stock rise in the late winter and early spring despite his age. However, New Orleans elected to open the season with 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler as its QB1, and while Rattler’s surface-level statistics are not terrible, the team has struggled to an 0-4 record.
In making his second career start in Week 5, Dart will have a chance to show the Saints what they missed, as New Orleans will host Dart’s Giants. He appears to be looking forward to that opportunity.
Given the pre-draft work the Saints did on Dart, the signal-caller believed he had a good chance to hear his name called when New Orleans was on the clock with the No. 9 selection (via Dan Duggan of The Athletic). Dart acknowledged that being passed over put a chip on his shoulder.
Of course, it is much too soon to tell what will become of Dart’s and Shough’s careers. It could be that the Saints’ new coaching staff is simply allowing its rookie passer – who has just two pass attempts thus far, both of which came towards the tail end of a blowout loss in Week 3 – to slowly acclimate to the professional level in an obvious transitional year, while Daboll’s shaky job security may have been at least partially responsible for his decision to insert Dart into the starting lineup.
Even so, a strong Dart performance and a Giants win will not do much to assuage any angst in New Orleans.