The Riverside Press-Enterprise
NFL OKS limited flexible scheduling for Thursday games
Thursday nights in the NFL have long been the most drastic feature of its made-for-tv schedule, a prime-time slot that raised concerns about player safety and produced plenty of competitive duds before it moved to a streamingonly platform.
Now the league will have the power, albeit limited, to change the matchups.
NFL owners approved Monday a flexible scheduling policy for Thursday night games on Amazon Prime Video, for Weeks 1317 only and with at least 28 days’ notice given to the affected teams. The league could push a Thursday night matchup in that range to Sunday afternoon if there’s a more desirable game, a mechanism currently in place for Sunday night and Monday night games.
No team would be required to play more than twice on Thursday night in a season. The rule is just for 2023, for now. Any game during Weeks 13-17 could be selected for the move to Thursday night, but the league said the bar for such a shuffle would be high.
“We’re incredibly judicious and incredibly sensitive to flexing a game and all the dynamics that go into that,” said Hans Schroeder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of NFL Media. “We’re also trying to balance how we get the best games in the best windows for our fans.”
In addition to the primetime allowances for flexing games, the NFL also now puts the entire Week 18 schedule up for grabs until the week of so it can show two games with playoff implications on Saturday.
New York Giants owner John Mara, a critic of the proposal for its negative impact on fans, said after the vote that he was disappointed but not surprised.
NFL APPROVES EMERGENCY THIRD QB >>
NFL owners approved a rule change that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game, a decision that stems from San Francisco’s depth-chart challenge in the NFC championship game.
The bylaw was initially proposed by the Detroit Lions. The third quarterback designation will not count against the limit of active players — either 47 or 48 — that is determined 90 minutes before kickoff.
The emergency activation can only occur after injury or disqualification, not for a performance-related decision or other conduct. If either of the first two quarterbacks are cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to play, the third must be removed from the game and can only return as a quarterback if an injury scenario arises again.
If a team puts three quarterbacks on the active list for a game, it can’t use the emergency option. Gameday practice squad elevations are not eligible, either.
The 49ers had running
back Christian Mccaffery warming up his arm in the NFC championship game in Philadelphia, after Brock Purdy injured his elbow and Josh Johnson suffered a concussion. Purdy was forced back into the game but unable to throw the ball more than 10 yards as the 49ers scrapped their game plan for a run-heavy attack in their 31-7 loss to the Eagles on Jan. 29.
The 49ers had already lost their top two quarterbacks — Trey Lance in Week 2 and Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 — to season-ending injuries. BRADY TO BUY STAKE IN RAIDERS >> Recently retired and seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady will become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, pending NFL approval, principal owner Mark Davis told ESPN.
“We’re excited for Tom to join the Raiders, and it’s exciting because he will be just the third player in the history of the National Football League to become an owner,” Davis said.
George Halas and Jerry Richardson were the other two.
Brady and Davis also have a business relationship with the WNBA’S Las Vegas Aces. Davis is the majority owner, and Brady has a stake in the club.
At least 24 NFL owners will need to approve Brady’s deal with the Raiders.
He also has a 10-year, $375 million broadcasting contract with Fox Sports than begins in 2024.
QB JOHNSON RE-JOINS RAVENS >> The Baltimore Ravens signed quarterback Josh Johnson and waived linebacker Daelin Hayes. The 37-year-old Johnson returns to the Ravens after playing one game with them in 2021. He’s made nine starts in his NFL career — five with Tampa Bay, three with Washington and one with Baltimore.
Hayes was drafted by the Ravens in the fifth round in 2021 and has dealt with knee problems, appearing in only one game since then.
49ERS TO HOST SUPER BOWL IN 2026 >>
The Super Bowl will return to the Bay Area in 2026 at the home of the San Francisco 49ers, following a vote of approval by NFL owners. This will be the third time for the big game in the Bay Area. Levi’s Stadium, which opened in Santa Clara in 2014, also hosted Super Bowl 50 when Denver beat Carolina. The 49ers won Super Bowl 19 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto when they beat Miami after the 1984 season. The 2026 game will be Super Bowl 60.
Niners team president Al Guido said he hopes the NFL’S decision to return to the Bay Area 10 years after the Super Bowl was last here is a sign that the region will be part of the regular rotation along with other Western cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
“We needed a facility that had the size and scale that this one had,” Guido said. “There’s been a lot of changes that have happened around the facility and in general around the Bay. I think hosting this now in a competitive process 10 years after we hosted the first one, when you have other major markets that will continue to host, both Sofi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, a lot has changed since we hosted. I do believe that this puts us up for future Super Bowls. We have to pull this one off.”
Guido said there will be some changes from Super Bowl 50 with more of the events in San Francisco moving from downtown to the waterfront area closer to where the Golden State Warriors built their new arena near the San Francisco Giants’ ballpark.
Both those facilities are likely to be used for events this time around with the opening night ceremony expected to be held at Chase Center.
The Super Bowl will be part of a big 2026 for the Bay Area and Levi’s Stadium, which also will host games in the World Cup that summer.
The next Super Bowl is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las
Vegas. Super Bowl 59 will be played at the Superdome in New Orleans in 2025.
GREEN BAY TO GET DRAFT IN 2025 >>
The NFL draft will be coming to Green Bay in 2025. The league announced the 2025 draft’s location during its spring meetings. The draft and related activities will take place inside and around Lambeau Field and Titletown, the collection of shops and restaurants surrounding the stadium.
NO VOTE YET ON COMMANDERS SALE >> With the pending sale of the Washington Commanders from Dan Snyder’s family to Josh Harris’ group remaining a prominent if not pressing issue, no vote on the record $6.05 billion transaction will occur this week.
“There’s certain criteria that has to be met, and that’s just the way it is. It’s not there yet, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t get there. It’s complicated. Put it that way. I could explain it to you, and it wouldn’t tell you anything,” said Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, a member of the league finance committee.
Neither Snyder nor his wife, Tanya, came to Minnesota for the meeting. The league’s preference, Irsay said, is to have the deal approved prior to the start of the regular season. Irsay indicated the amount of money at stake and the amount of investors involved in Harris’ group — which includes National Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson — has lengthened the approval process.
“We’re working hard. Everyone wants to get it done, and it’s seeing that it just complies with league policy. It’s a complicated deal, so we’re trying to just work through it and we’re hopeful we can get it done. It’s going to take probably several more weeks of discussions before we see if we can reach the goal line,” Irsay said.