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Eagles know talent offers no guarantees

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press Vince Young’s infamous “Dream Team” declaration of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles came to mind when general manager Howie Roseman added another playmaker to a loaded offense. How’s Jahan Dotson for a third receiver? The 2024 Eagles may have more talent than any team in franchise history, including the underachieving 2011 club and the Super Bowl champion 2017 squad. Jalen Hurts. Saquon Barkley. A.J. Brown. DeVonta Smith. Dallas Goedert. Now Dotson joins the mix after the Eagles acquired the 2022 first-round pick from Washington for draft ...

Heart for football still in Central PA

By Jordan Tracy For the Mirror I’m not going to lie to you, Central PA: I certainly miss it. For the past eight years, the summer winding down meant another season of District 5, 6 and 9 football for me at WTAJ. As I scroll through X and see all of the faces and names of football in the 814 preparing for a new season, it reminds me of how different it will be. The posts shift from weight room sessions, 7-on-7 recaps, and seniors announcing their commitments to the next level, to now season schedules and where you can get copies of the Mirror’s Blitz magazine. Typically ...

49ers, Aiyuk must find a way to work things out

By Rob Maaddi The Associated Press Matthew Judon wanted a new contract and ended up on a new team with a better chance of winning. Brandon Aiyuk isn’t in a similar situation. Aiyuk has been holding-in with the San Francisco 49ers, waiting for a lucrative deal or a trade. If the star wide receiver goes somewhere else — the Steelers appear to be the top option — his chances of winning a Super Bowl decrease. Judon, the four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher, was traded from New England to Atlanta on Wednesday. He went from a rebuilding team expected to finish last in the AFC East to ...

Cowboys trying to shake their image

Switching training camp sites from central Texas to the Pacific coast of California may not seem like an organizational move that would significantly impact a team’s chances of reaching the Super Bowl, but for the Dallas Cowboys, it is symbolic of a franchise that lost its edge long ago. The Cowboys won three Super Bowls while conducting training camp in Austin, Texas. Over the last 17 seasons, Dallas has trained in the comfortable ocean breezes of Oxnard, California and has yet to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs. The Dallas Super Bowl teams of the ’90s ...

NIL numbers adding up (too) quickly

By Bill Contz For the Mirror Having made a previous living knowing that the precise length of a holding penalty represents 45 precious feet of hard-to-occupy NFL turf, I tend to be a bit of a numbers geek. As such two recent, sit-up-and-take-notice NIL items had my full attention. Firstly, during Big Ten media days Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork revealed that “around $20 million” was allocated from collectives and brand affiliates to Buckeye football players in 2023. Quick math tells me that the 100 scholarship and non-scholarship gridders in Columbus each ...

Steelers’ schedule will require fast start

By Bill Contz For the Mirror War historians recognize the widespread devastation caused when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima that effectively ended the World War II. Pittsburgh fans may bear witness to similar carnage thanks to Roger Goodell and his schedule makers who have evidently piloted their own Enola Gay with the steel city dead in their sights when they unveiled the 2024 NFL schedule. The battle for bulging holiday television ratings and ultimate viewing supremacy will rage as the NFL faces competition from the NHL, the NBA, NCAA basketball and the expanded ...