NFL

2:07 PM ET METAIRIE, La. — Sean Payton has decided to step away from the New Orleans Saints‘ coach after 16 years, a source confirmed to ESPN. Payton is not necessarily permanently retiring but deciding to take a break after 16 years as the Saints’ coach, the source said. It’s not immediately clear what Payton

7:00 AM ET NFL NationESPN The NFL playoffs are down to just four teams, which means the 28 others are giving a hard look at their rosters and planning to make some decisions regarding free agents in 2022. It may seem like the regular season just finished, but we are a mere month and change

9:14 PM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady indicated Monday that family will play a substantial role in determining whether he will return to play next season. He also said that if this is it, he could walk away “proud and satisfied,” even though the Bucs lost 30-27 when they were eliminated in

1:00 PM ET Adam Teicher Close ESPN Staff Writer Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star Joined ESPN in 2013 Alaina Getzenberg KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was too busy Sunday night to consider the thoughts of most everyone watching, that the Kansas City Chiefs–Buffalo Bills divisional round playoff game was

5:55 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN TAMPA, Fla. — When the Los Angeles Rams acquired Matthew Stafford in a blockbuster trade last winter, the veteran quarterback said he wanted to play in big games, an opportunity he seldom got during 12 seasons with the Detroit Lions. Stafford and the Rams — fresh off a dramatic 30-27

10:12 PM ET KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen someday might beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. But for now, Mahomes and the Chiefs have the solutions for Allen and the Bills in the postseason. The Chiefs beat the Bills 42-36 in overtime on Sunday night

4:55 AM ET Jeff Darlington Adam Schefter Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN NFL Insider Joined ESPN in 2009 Former president of the Pro Football Writers of America and the author of four books As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter the reality that their season is at most three weeks from its conclusion, there is another

8:45 AM ET GREEN BAY, Wis. — The words “beautiful mystery” have hung over the Green Bay Packers for the past 12 months, ever since Aaron Rodgers used them to describe his future with the franchise. But there was nothing beautiful about what happened here Saturday night. And shoot, the next chapter in the mystery

11:11 PM ET GREEN BAY, Wis. — The San Francisco 49ers simply will not go away. The same Niners that were once 3-5 and headed for a long offseason full of questions are now headed to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in three seasons. To get there, San Francisco had to pull

first Quarter CIN TEN FG 12:06 Evan McPherson Made 38 Yrd Field Goal 6 plays, 22 yards, 2:50 3 0 FG 2:15 Evan McPherson Made 45 Yrd Field Goal 6 plays, 61 yards, 3:41 6 0 second Quarter CIN TEN TD 6:12 Derrick Henry 3 Yard Rush, Derrick Henry 2Pt Rush No Good 9 plays,

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The NFL divisional round for the 2021 season is stacked with four great matchups, and we got you covered with what you need to know heading into the second weekend of playoff football. Our NFL Nation reporters bring us the biggest keys to every game, a bold prediction for each

6:06 PM ET The Baltimore Ravens have fired defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale with one year remaining on his contract, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Friday. Ravens coach John Harbaugh issued a statement Friday saying he and Martindale “agreed to move forward in separate directions.” “We have had a great run on defense,

7:27 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. – In 2020, on a rain-dampened field, a practice squad receiver named Cyril Grayson — who hadn’t played a down of college football and had one NFL catch for three yards to his name prior — now had arguably the greatest quarterback of all time running the show. On the

6:57 PM ET Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been fined $25,000 by the league for his postgame comments related to the game officials following Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a source told ESPN on Thursday. A postgame question to Prescott on Sunday initially indicated the fans were throwing things at his teammates

4:33 PM ET GREEN BAY, Wis. — The last two times the Green Bay Packers were in the playoffs, Randall Cobb had to watch from his couch. The Packers had moved on from the receiver following the 2018 season, and he spent the next two years with non-playoff teams Dallas in 2019 and Houston in

8:06 AM ET LONG-SNAPPING HAS been described as the most specialized, and most ignored, position in all of sports. And in the strange, upside-down world of the long-snapper, the better you are at your job, the more anonymous you become. Case in point: Although they are a critical component in punting, extra points and field

7:12 PM ET Brady HendersonESPN Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford doesn’t expect his injured toe to be a factor in Sunday’s divisional-round game against the Buccaneers in Tampa, Florida. Stafford suffered the injury in the Rams’ regular-season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, a 27-24 overtime loss. “I’m feeling OK,” Stafford said Wednesday. “The

11:16 PM ET ESPN News Services The NFL filed a motion asking a Nevada court to dismiss former Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s lawsuit against the league, saying accusations that the NFL leaked Gruden’s old, offensive emails are “baseless” and “should be dismissed for failure to state a single viable cause of action.” The league responded