Jordan Love and the NFL’s next biggest contract of all time and TNT’s big NBA move
The Pulse Newsletter š£ | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to get The Pulse delivered straight to your inbox.
Good morning! I am adjusting your contract today.
Friendly battles: Jordan Loves Happy Holding
The NFL quarterback dispute is a special kind of contract dispute. It can threaten an entire franchise’s present and, if things get bad enough, its future. The tension can spread like a virus in the locker room.
But not in Green Bay ā at least not yet. Jordan Love, the future franchise QB for a team that has an absurd hit rate with players like these, is not practicing until he gets a new contract. Gasp, right? Wrong:
- Love is present in the Packers’ training camp, which is a first sign that there is indeed a friendly relationship between the two sides. Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst echoed the same sentiment yesterday, saying he believes a solution is near and that he understands Love’s strategy. Risking an injury just days before signing a massive contract would be bad business.
- And the deal is likely to be huge. Most experts believe Love’s contract will reset the market and become the most lucrative deal in NFL history. Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence just signed for $55 million per year. Expect Love’s to bring in a little more, around the five-year mark of $280 million. The big question is whether his guaranteed salary is higher than Lawrence ($142 million) or Joe Burrow ($146 million). I don’t expect him to be able to beat Cleveland’s ridiculous $230 million guaranteed deal for Deshaun Watson, but you never know.
- Is it worth it? Yesas Ted Nguyen writes, although Love only started 18 NFL games. Last year he was arguably the best quarterback in football and some of his throws were out of this world.
You should read Matt Schneidman’s column on the situationthat goes much deeper than what I have done here. Matt does say that if this āargumentā continues for a few more weeks, it might be time to start worrying.
news
LeBron’s big day
LeBron James began Monday by becoming the first American basketball player to serve as one of two flag bearers for the U.S. team at the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday. He ended the day by leading the U.S. team to a narrow 92-88 victory over Germany in the final warm-up game before the Games, scoring 20 points, 11 of them in the final four minutes of the game. And this man does it all at 39 years old.
ACC commissioner fires back at FSU and Clemson
While the Big Ten and SEC adjust to the realities of their conference realignment, the ACC – whose leading members, Florida State and Clemson, are suing to leave for financial reasons – is still in major upheaval, although Commissioner Jim Phillips sees things differently. Yesterday, Phillips reiterated the conference’s position, saying only that both schools had signed the conference’s Bill of Rights: “Either you believe in what was signed or you don’t.” Brendan Marks writes that Phillips is no longer burying his head in the sand on this issue.
More news
TV war: TNT starts a fight
A big update in the NBA broadcast rights saga: The athleteAndrew Marchand of Reuters news agency reports that TNT, which was originally excluded from the new rights deal, has now applied to take over the Amazon rights package, which represents the smallest level of the agreement.
Two remarkable layers:
- Under the current agreement, TNT has the contractual right to fulfil any package agreed under the new framework. But Andrew reports that the league is expected Waste The game of TNT and continue with Amazon as a new partner. Legally, it’s unclear whether the NBA can do that. A legal battle will be messy and extremely unpleasant if TNT wins.
- TNT still has a lot to offer here, namely the huge popularity from āInside the NBA.ā David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT’s parent company, has been talking about losing the NBA for months — but don’t think TNT is going quietly out. Andrew mentioned a possible financial settlement or addendum to the rights deal before it’s signed.
The funny news: TNT’s acquisition of the Amazon package confirms that the NBA is returning to NBC after a two-decade hiatus, but we’re still waiting for news that Roundball Rock is returning.
Womenās basketball: Team USA vs. Germany
3:00 p.m. ET on FS1
In the last friendly before the start of the Olympic Games, the Americans will try to recover from their loss to Team WNBA at the weekend.
MLB: Mets at Yankees
7:05 p.m. ET on TBS
Subway Series if these two teams are actually good? Sign me up. It feels like every punch Juan Soto throws, along with the resulting fan roar, counts double the Yankees try to convince him to stay in the Bronx.
Get tickets for games like this Here.
Pulse Picks
To kick off the day, a fascinating story from Dan Robson: Why the ongoing tax case of Maple Leafs center John Tavares could have massive impact in all Canadian professional sports teams.
Diana Taurasi is in her sixth Olympics this month at the age of 42, which is incredible. What was she like as a beginner?
Don’t forget to bookmark this guide for the USWNTs Duty roster at the Olympics. The first game is on Thursday
Super useful: Tim Britton and Aaron Gleemans Big board for the MLB transfer deadlinewhich lists the 50 players most likely to sign a deal between now and July 30.
Speaking of the conferenceās reorientation: The Pac-2 And Mountain West are still far apart in terms of merger talks. There could be no common future there.
Our Fantasy Football Design kit went live this morning. This will occupy a permanent tab in my browser.
In the New York Times, JerĆ© Longman and Oleksandr Chubko have written a breathtaking article about the Olympic decathlete who took a weapon to fight Ukraine War. It’s worth spending your time on it today.
Most clicked in yesterdayās newsletter: Brendan Quinn’s story about the productive time that Xander Schauffele and his father spent apartwho were inseparable before this season.
Most read on the website yesterday: An exciting report from overseas about the spread of snus, a smokeless tobacco, in football.
Top podcast in The athlete network: Our football podcasts contain two big interviews that we will cover in more detail tomorrow: Saquon Barkley talked about City of the Shovelwhile Sean McVay was great at The Athletic Football Show.
Sign up for our other newsletters:
The bounce š | The winding ā¾ | Full time ā½ | Athletic FC ā½| Prime tires š | Until Saturday š | City of the Shovel š
(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Sheriff currently investigating fourth death of a prison inmate in Leon County
Baltimore Ravens and former teammates ācompletely heartbrokenā over death of Jacoby Jones
My thoughts on Bidenās exit
About The Author
