This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.
👀 Five things to know Thursday
- Vita Vea has agreed to a $30 million extension with the Buccaneers. It was a bumpy road to get here, but the Bucs have locked in their star DT to a one-year, $30 million extension that keeps him with the team through 2027. Through this process, Vea submitted a trade request and held in during training camp. Now that Tampa Bay has its two-time Pro Bowler back in the trenches, all eyes turn to the future of QB Baker Mayfield. Those contract negotiations have not gone well to this point.
- NFL rookies have been cleared for an NCAA return. Just when you thought the world of college football couldn’t get any crazier, the path has been cleared for some members of the 2026 NFL rookie class to return to school. The most notable among those is former LSU edge rusher Jack Pyburn, who is still in training camp with the Buccaneers. Pyburn is one of 16 players who received a temporary restraining order from a Louisiana judge Wednesday. The NCAA could have gotten ahead of this and implemented a new five-year eligibility policy sooner, but that would be asking too much.
- The Seahawks are signing former All-Pro CB Trevon Diggs. The defending Super Bowl champions are adding a former All-Pro to their secondary as Diggs is set to sign a one-year deal with the Seahawks after trying out for the Lions earlier this offseason. Diggs led the NFL with 11 interceptions in 2021, but his career has taken a downturn since then. Maybe Diggs will be able to bounce back with a wealth of talent around him in Seattle.
- Wings star Azzi Fudd is undergoing season-ending surgery. In a terrible turn of events for the Wings, Fudd’s season comes to an abrupt end as she opts for season-ending surgery to repair her right knee. The No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft, Fudd hasn’t played since Aug. 5 as she battled the nagging ailment. In 30 games as a rookie, Fudd averaged 13.1 points, 1.8 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game. The loss of Fudd is an enormous blow to the Wings’ already waning playoff hopes.
- Texans WR Jayden Higgins has suffered a torn ACL. Unfortunately, I have more bad injury news to deliver this morning. Higgins, a player expected to make a big jump in his second year, has suffered a season-ending ACL tear in training camp. Meanwhile, Saints RB Alvin Kamara is expected to miss at least one game with a sprained MCL. Keep up with all the newest news with our training camp injury tracker.
🏈 Do not miss this: NFL’s top 30 age 30 and over
CBS Sports Design
They say age is only a number, but that’s not usually the case in the NFL. Once players hit 30, their careers typically start moving in the wrong direction due to injuries, declining play or both.
But not these players. Not the ones we’re highlighting here.
Our team of experts at CBS Sports has ranked the top 30 players over the age of 30. Football may be a young man’s game, but these veterans still rule the league. Matthew Stafford just won the MVP at age 37, and Myles Garrett just set the single-season sack record at 30.
Then there’s Christian McCaffrey, who overcame an injury-riddled 2024 season to post 2,126 yards from scrimmage last year. As Tyler Sullivan explains, poor health is the only thing that can slow down the 49ers superstar.
- Sullivan: “Last season, McCaffrey won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award following a truly special statistical season as both a runner out of the backfield and a pass catcher. He notched his third career season, where he posted at least 1,000 yards rushing and 100 receptions. It was also his third season with at least 2,000 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns, tying him with LaDainian Tomlinson for the most all time.”
The full list is right here, but this is how the middle of the rankings shook out:
20. Seahawks DT Leonard Williams
19. Chiefs DT Chris Jones
18. Lions QB Jared Goff
17. Chargers S Derwin James
16. Bears G Joe Thuney
McCaffrey’s age and injury history might make some fantasy football managers queasy when they’re on the clock over the next couple of weeks. Fear not — because our industry-leading team of fantasy football experts has you covered. Heath Cummings just updated his RB tiers list, and McCaffrey is hovering near the top.
Patriots WR A.J. Brown is probably a safe bet for our 30 over 30 list next year, but for now, the 29-year-old WR is torching his former team at joint practices in Foxborough.
🏀 NBA front office rankings: Knicks pass Celtics
Adam Eargle, CBS Sports
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and there’s more than one way to build an NBA champion. Thankfully, Knicks president Leon Rose proved only the latter this past season as he constructed the franchise’s first champion since 1973.
Rose and the Knicks took a non-traditional path to title contention, and that’s why they’re up to No. 2 in our annual front office rankings. New York didn’t draft a single one of its starters, and there were questions about whether Jalen Brunson could be “the guy” for a title team.
The answer, as our own Sam Quinn explains, was a resounding, “Yes.”
- Quinn: “Leon Rose is responsible for one of the most incredible feats of team-building in NBA history. The Knicks just created an NBA champion without drafting a single starter. The only other champion to do so was the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers, who signed LeBron James in free agency, who, in turn, recruited Anthony Davis to force a trade to join him. The Knicks were built around a former second-round pick and his college friends.”
After spending a long time at No. 2, the Celtics finally slipped to No. 3 due to a disappointing finish to their season and the Jaylen Brown trade. Despite the move being widely panned, owner Bill Chisholm still thinks Brad Stevens and his team are “the best brains in basketball.”
Meanwhile, the No. 12 team in our rankings was busy Wednesday. The Cavaliers acquired Peyton Watson from the Nuggets in a trade that begs a lot of questions about the future in Denver.
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
Getty Images
- Sophie Cunningham made more headlines by torching WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
- Find out when each NFL team — even the Seahawks — will suffer its first loss of the season.
- Can the Mets — or these other sub-.500 teams — rebound with a 2027 playoff berth after enduring a trainwreck this summer?
- Julio Rodriguez and the Mariners made history for all the wrong reasons.
- Justin Thomas has work to do in St. Louis if he wants to reach the Tour Championship.
- DJ Lagway and Dave Aranda are searching for new life at Baylor.
- Billy Edwards Jr. is hoping to reverse a troubling QB trend for Bill Belichick.
- Former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike is calling it a career after the 2026 season.
- Many anonymous CBB coaches believe Florida star Thomas Haugh is the top player in the country.
- With the Pep Guardiola era over, Manchester City will try to maintain their elite level.
📺 What we’re watching Thursday
🏈 Raiders at Texans, 8 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Nationals at Rangers, 8 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Fever at Wings, 8 p.m. on Prime Video
🏈 49ers at Chargers, 10 p.m. on NFL Network
🏀 Dream at Sparks, 10 p.m. on Prime Video