Sports

As Netflix inches toward potentially acquiring a full package of games, some of the streamer's eventual competitors are reluctant to help the company produce quality content on Christmas.

According to FrontOfficeSports.com, ESPN and Fox are reluctant to loan talent to Netflix for the 2025 Christmas doubleheader.

Per the report, ESPN talent will not appear on the Cowboys-Commanders and Lions-Vikings games on December 25. Fox talent is not expected to participate.

Last year, Fox said no to a request to lend Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady to Netflix for Christmas. Eventually, the network allowed Greg Olsen to work one of the two games. ESPN allowed Laura Rutledge and Mina Kimes to work the Christmas games.

CBS produces the Netflix games, making CBS far more likely to allow its one-air talent to work the games. NBC's Devin McCourty was involved in last year's broadcast, too.

It's unfortunate for the folks who would like to take on the extra work. Since the Christmas games are happening on days when the NFL isn't otherwise playing, it's not distracting them from their primary jobs.

And so it seems petty, frankly, for the networks to deny their employees the chance to spread their wings. It also becomes a bargaining point for future employment contracts, with talent seeking express permission as part of their deals to participate in one-off productions with other networks.

New Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey will keep his preferred jersey number in Pittsburgh.

Ramsey posted a picture on social media of his Steelers jersey, with the No. 5. That number previously belonged to cornerback D'Shawn Jamison, who will be fighting for a roster spot in training camp after he spent last season with the Steelers' practice squad but never got in a game.

This will mark the fifth consecutive season that Ramsey has worn the No. 5 jersey. He wore it for the Dolphins in 2023 and 2024, and wore it for the Rams in 2021 and 2022.

In his first NFL stop, with the Jaguars, Ramsey wore the No. 20 jersey, and he kept wearing No. 20 when he was traded to the Rams in 2020. But in 2021, when the NFL opted for less restrictive jersey numbering rules, Ramsey wanted to switch to a single digit and wore No. 5.

Ramsey wore No. 8 in college at Florida State.

After trading Jonnu Smith to Pittsburgh on Monday, Miami has taken an unexpected route to find a new tight end.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Dolphins are trading for Darren Waller, who is coming out of a one-year retirement to play again.

The Dolphins are sending a 2026 sixth-round pick and a 2027 conditional seventh-round pick to the Giants to complete the deal. While Waller did not play in 2024, New York still had his rights.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Waller will receive a one-year contract worth up to $5 million with Miami.

Waller, who turns 33 in September, broke through with the Raiders in 2019 when he caught 90 passes for 1,145 yards with three touchdowns. He followed that with a 107-catch, 1,196-yard season with the Raiders in 2020, also catching nine TDs.

But Waller had to battle through injuries in 2021 and 2022 with Las Vegas before he was traded to the Giants in 2023. He played just 12 games for New York that season, catching 52 passes for 552 yards with one touchdown before electing to retire last offseason.

Now Waller will join Pharaoh Brown, Tanner Conner, Jalin Conyers, Julian Hill, and Hayden Rucci at tight end on the Dolphins’ roster.