Emmanuel Sanders goes to the Saints on a 2 year deal worth $16 million

Nelson Agholor signs 1 year deal with the Raiders

The entire sports world is shutdown. All except for NFL free agency at the moment. And that's a good thing especially for sports fans looking for a momentary escape from 24/7 news about corona.

NFL teams are as busy as ever trading big name players, deploying franchise tags and signing huge deals for 2020 season and beyond. Here are all the biggest moves and story lines so far:

-- Tom Brady leaves the Patriots. No word yet on where he will land but he isn't retiring and is expected to join either Tampa Bay or even more likely the Chargers on a short term deal.

-- The Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals in exchange for David Johnson and a second round pick. Some are calling this the worst trade in NFL history.

-- Amari Cooper signs a 5-year, $100 million deal with the Cowboys. $60 million guaranteed.

-- Former Cowboy players sign elsewhere: Jason Witten is now a Raider. Randall Cobb is now a Texan. And Byron Jones is now a Dolphin, and the highest paid CB in the league with a $82.5 million deal for 5 years, $57 million guaranteed.

-- Cowboys franchised tagged Dak and signed Blake Jarwin to 3 year, $24.25 million deal

-- Stefon Diggs gets traded to the Bills for a 1st, 5th and 6th round 2020 pick and a 4th round 2021 pick. Bills get Diggs and a 2020 7th in return.

-- Kirk Cousins gets a two year $66 million extension with the Vikings.

-- Ryan Tannehill signs a 4 year $118 deal with the Titans, $91 mil guaranteed

-- Drew Brees re-signs with Saints. 2 years worth $50 mil, a team friendly bargain to keep him

-- Panthers sign Teddy Bridgewater and move on from Cam Newton. Terms not yet announced though Teddy is expected to make at least $20 mil/year.

-- Phillip Rivers signs 1 year deal with Colts worth $25 million

-- Titans franchise tag Derrick Henry

And even more to come... post big moves here. Or medium moves too, tons of those going down. Also thoughts on any of these trades, signings or franchise tag choices. Lots going in.

PowerPlay Wrote: I've been trying to wrap my head around how exactly it will affect NBA hopefuls and what that looks like for the remainder of the season. Does this just put their season on hold, thus putting their chances of getting picked up on hold? This means everything will just go right back to normal once the season resumes. Or does this mean something else? I can't figure it out..

So this won't put anything on hold for as I know, unless shutdowns last all the way through September and October. But assuming college sports resume by the end of the summer all it really means is breakout NBA hopefuls get less tape on the biggest stage to show NBA teams and recruiters what they can do.

The NBA draft is supposed to be held on June 25th, 2020. Assuming they do what the NFL is doing it will still go on as scheduled. But likely in a much more quarantined kind of way. What shutting down the NCAA Tournament though mostly means is seniors in their last year of eligibility to play in the NCAA didn't get the national spotlight to showcase their talents to NBA scouts. And that sucks for them because the best chance for college players to make their case to be drafted is during the tournament. But its not the only chance they get. Now they just have to rely on NBA recruiters watching tape and paying attention to their play during the regular season.

People were discussing the possibility of giving all college players another year of eligibility. But even that idea has unintended consequences, because it would mean high schoolers becoming freshman in college next season would maybe have to wait a whole other year to get to play. So it wouldn't be smart all things considered.

NFL players voted to approve the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by a vote of 1019-959. All that was needed was a simple majority which they barely got but it still passed. This CBA deal ensures labor peace with the league and the players until at least the year 2030, and here is what else it officially does:

- Guarantees the NFL will go to a 17-game season. But the change from 16 to 17 games won't happen overnight. The 2020-21 season will still be 16 games. And they can't actually make the change until 2021 at the earliest. They haven't officially said when they will make the change and add a regular reason game yet but some are expecting 2022 or 2023.

- We will go from 12 playoff teams to 14. This could happen immediately. This means less teams with bye weeks and more playoff games in general. But specifics have yet to be announced.

- Less preseason games, from 4 to 3 or 2 eventually. Good news there, everyone wanted to see that I think. As with the other parts this is a little unclear when it'll take effect. Anyone know for sure? I couldn't find it but makes since that it would start as soon as 2020 season if there is an extra playoff week. But definitely will shrink when 17-week season starts.

- Higher minimum salaries for all players. CBA makes it so the overall players share of earnings goes from 47% to 48% in 2021 and to 48.5% once the 17th week starts.

Other changes - better benefits for current and former players, expanded rosters and practice squads, and changes to the league's drug and discipline policies. All that goes into effect in 2020.

Good in-depth video on the vote and all the changes:

This is historic. The 2020 NCAA Tournament has now been officially cancelled due to the coronavirus. The tournament has been held every single year since 1939. This is the first time its ever been cancelled. Makes me wonder how it didn't get cancelled during WWII?

NCAA higher ups originally said they were going to broadcast the games but not allow fans in the arena, just staff and immediate family. But as conference after conference began cancelling their tournaments, it became more and more clear the NCAA couldn't take the half measure.

Crazy to me they didn't even try to postpone it. But I guess since its college ball, postponing indefinitely is not really an option, between college kids, summer schedules, and TV networks, arenas.. I can see that all being a really big mess.

Basically every sport is cancelling games, events or suspending their seasons indefinitely, both pro and college. We have another thread on all the closings as well. Seems the NCAA will also be cancelling most all sports. I think the College World Series is next, if that hasn't been cancelled already.

Brings me to an interesting thought, will this cancellation effect college basketball players' decision to try and enter the NBA draft? I mean the NCAA tournament is the best showcase of their talents and can springboard them into the national conversation. But without the showcase maybe some players will now hold off a whole entire year, and not enter the draft early. What do you think? Does the tournament have that much importance on NBA hopefuls?

BearDown Wrote:

What does everyone think about Denny Hamlin's celebration after his victory?

Watch from 1:40 or so when Hamlin is spinning his car on the grass in celebration to about the 2:20 mark. After you see Newman's racing team in huddled prayer they cut to Hamlin celebrating and there is COMPLETE silence from the broadcasters for a long 30-40 seconds.

I get that he cut off communications at the end and he didn't know. I don't fault him at all for it. Wrecks happen often in NASCAR and that's kinda just part of the sport so you can't expect for him to have been fully aware of how bad the wreck was in real time while he was driving compared to the fans in the stands or us watching on TV with a bird's eye view and instant replay on loop.

In case you missed it...

Best ads for me:

Jeep - Groundhog Day
Hint Water - Pie Eating Contest
Pringles - Rick and Morty x Pringles

Worst ad for me:

Fabletics - New Year, New You
Saucony - One Small Step
Secret - The Secret Kicker

The Porsche one is also really cool. Way more good ads than bad this year for sure.