Sports

One of the four head coaches on the NFL Competition Committee appears to be inclined to support the Packers' proposal to ban the tush push during this week's league meetings, but another one was more circumspect about his position on Monday.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shared some of Bills head coach Sean McDermott's misgivings about the safety of the play while also acknowledging the lack of data showing increased injuries when it is run. Tomlin said the small sample size makes it harder to gauge the true risks and said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com, that he is "open-minded" ahead of the committe's conversations with medical personnel.

"The first time I saw it, I couldn’t believe that it was legal because it was illegal on the field goal," Tomlin said, via Mike DeFabo of TheAthletic.com. "That being said. You hate to be against it, because when people are innovative, you want to respect that. There's certainly been some teams that have been more innovative than the rest of us. . . . We hate to penalize them for it. But we got into the discussion on the field goal block because of player safety and so that still remains to be a component of the discussion."

There will need to be 24 votes in favor of banning the play for any rule change to take effect. The committee's conversations will have some impact on how teams vote, but that bar may prove to be too high to overcome the feeling that the ban proposal is more about punishing success than player safety.

The Raiders traded for Geno Smith with a long-term plan in place for the quarterback. That entails signing Smith to a contract extension.

The Seahawks traded Smith to the Raiders because of Smith's financial expectations.

Smith is headed into the final year of his deal, scheduled to make $31 million this season, but the Raiders are negotiating with Smith's representation.

"We're working on it," coach Pete Carroll said at the NFL's annual meetings. "Yeah, we're working on it. G's excited to get going, get started. He'll be here when we get rolling. But we are working on it."

Carroll, who was with Smith for five of the quarterback's six seasons in Seattle, said Smith isn't a bridge quarterback. The Raiders traded for him to be their quarterback long term.

"Yes, absolutely. I'm hoping that's the way it's going to be," Carroll said.

In Smith's two seasons as the full-time starter under Carroll, Smith went 17-15 with two Pro Bowls, 7,906 passing yards, 50 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

Carroll knew when he took the Raiders job he wanted Smith as his quarterback.

"He's a great competitor," Carroll said. "His conviction to believe in himself is why he is who he is. That's why he's stood through all of these challenges. He's made it through it, and he's ready to be on top of the world. He can do anything in this game."

The Browns have started 11 quarterbacks since Kevin Stefanski became the head coach in 2020. They will have a different starter in 2025 with Deshaun Watson expected to miss the start of the season after a second tear of his Achilles.

The Browns also lost Jameis Winston and traded Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the Eagles for Kenny Pickett, who is the only healthy quarterback on their roster.

The team currently has no idea who its starter is.

Baker Mayfield, who started all 16 games in 2020, is the only quarterback that Stefanski has had who started every game. The Browns would love to get off the quarterback carousel.

"I think that’s obviously the goal," Stefanski told Steve Wyche of NFL Media. "I think you look at the teams that are having sustained success that comes from having that quarterback that's there and healthy. Unfortunately, we haven't been healthy at that position, and that's a huge challenge."

The Browns hold the No. 2 overall pick, the highest they have selected since drafting Mayfield No. 1 overall in 2018. The Titans are expected to select University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward with the first pick.

"As we go through this process, you try to identify are there guys that we believe in whether it's in the first round or seventh round. Are there guys that we can get in our building and try to develop them?" Stefanski said. "I think that's another thing people lose sight of thinking that these guys are finished products, but they are not. So, for us, whether it's the quarterback position or any position, it's about understanding that there is a jump that they are going to take over the course of their career."