When will Quinshon Judkins sign contract? What to know about Browns rookie RB

When will Quinshon Judkins sign contract? What to know about Browns rookie RB

A total of 257 players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Just one remains unsigned as the start of the2025 seasondraws near. TheCleveland Brownshave yet to reach an agreement with second-round running backQuinshon Judkins. The 21-year-old was the third running back selected in the 2025 NFL Draft overall after racking up 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns during his lone season at Ohio State. Judkins (5-11, 221 pounds) was expected to quickly emerge as a big-bodied backfield leader in Cleveland. Instead, he may not be under contract forWeek 1, and it remains unclear exactly when he might be able to debut for the Browns. Why is Judkins unsigned, and when could he ultimately join the Browns? Here are the latest updates on his contract and status as the 2025 NFL season arrives. The Browns "are hopeful that Judkins will join the team in Berea this week,"Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.comreports, but it remains unclear whether the second-round rookie will join the team ahead of Week 1. Judkins remains unsigned after an offseason during which many NFL second-round picks remained unsigned long-term in an attempt to negotiate fully guaranteed contracts. Seven players were successful in achieving that goal, including fellow Browns second-rounder and No. 33 overall pick, linebackerCarson Schwesinger. Judkins staying unsigned "may or may not have to do with the full guarantee,"Cabot reports. The Ohio State product was the 36th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, which gives him a slot value of just under $11.39 million, perSpotrac.com. The other complicating factor of Judkins' signing – or lack thereof – was an offseason arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge. The Broward County State Attorney's Office announced Aug. 14 it wasdeclining to move forward with the charge against him, but that did not spark an immediate signing with the Browns. As such, the timeline for the 21-year-old to agree to a deal with the Browns remains murky. The Browns have remained mum about Judkins' status. That continued at coach Kevin Stefanski's media availability on Monday, Sept. 1, ahead of the team's Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. "I don't have an update," Stefanski said when asked about Judkins' status. Similarly, Cleveland's assistant general manager Catherine Hickman did not provide an updated timeline for Judkins to sign his contract at her Monday media availability. Stefanski expressed uncertainty about how quickly Judkins would be able to get up to speed upon signing a deal. As such, the sixth-year coach wouldn't commit to the rookie running back playing in Week 1 even if he joins the team Wednesday or Thursday. "I can't get into that," Stefanski said. "Hard to speculate." The Browns currently have three running backs on their 53-man roster and five in their organization as a whole. Below is a look at their available running backs: Jerome Ford Dylan Sampson Raheim Sanders Trayveon Williams(practice squad) Ahmani Marshall(practice squad) Ford figures to be the primary beneficiary of Judkins' absence. The fourth-year back averaged a career-best 5.4 yards per carry last season while splitting carries withNick ChubbandD'Onta Foreman. He should be the backfield leader ahead of Sampson, a fourth-round rookie, and Sanders, an undrafted rookie whom the Browns claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Chargers. It isn't clear exactly where Judkins would slot into Cleveland's depth chart upon signing. He would likely earn a top-three role out of the gate, but it may take him time to leapfrog Ford and Sampson in the team's pecking order. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Quinshon Judkins contract update: Latest news for Browns rookie

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

September 03, 2025

When will Quinshon Judkins sign contract? What to know about Browns rookie RB

When will Quinshon Judkins sign contract? What to know about Browns rookie RB A total of 257 players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ju...

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NFL coaches on hot seat as 2025 season begins: Mike McDaniel among 5 to watch

NFL coaches on hot seat as 2025 season begins: Mike McDaniel among 5 to watch

The start of anNFLseason is typically a time forpeak optimism in many citiesand for numerous fan bases – so often because there's a sense of renewal sparked by new players, a clean record and maybe even a first-year head coach. Seven teams (Jets, Patriots,Jaguars,Raiders, Cowboys,BearsandSaints) have new faces under the big headset in 2025, a number that's also highly indicative of how quickly this league chews up guys in that job on a year-by-year basis. (Eight coaching changes occurred in 2024.) However while nobody's taken a bad loss – yet – perhaps this is a year when more HCs can afford just a few of them. In addition to the seven taking their maiden voyages in new assignments, there's a division full of stable coaching legends (AFC West), perennial division champs in Buffalo, Kansas City and Tampa Bay, and future Hall of Fame coaching institutions leading teams like theRavens, Steelers, Chiefs and (probably) the Rams – and, yes, admittedly, there's anAndy Reidthroughline to all of those categories. As Week 1 nears, we know the only constant in the NFL is change, but there do seem to be (relatively) fewer coaches potentially bound for the chopping block. The coming months will reveal whether that's true or not, but here are five who embark on the upcoming campaign with at least some extra pressure and scrutiny on them while operating on a seat that's at least a few degrees warmer than their peers': Yes, it's only his second season, but keep an eye on Nashville. Callahan, 41, is an intense, older school coach who isn't afraid to light up his players – whether on the sideline or at the post-game podium. That can be an effective approach … but maybe less so and perhaps only temporarily with the current generation. And if you think he ought to enjoy a sense of security coming off a year when theTitansearned the No. 1 pick, justlook at what happened in Chicago last yearwith Caleb Williams. If it doesn't go well with Callahan and rookie Cam Ward, you can bet the quarterback isn't the guy who's going to get replaced. Lastly, don't forget that Tennessee has a rookie general manager, Mike Borgonzi, who didn't hire Callahan. Like Callahan, he's only going into his second season with his current team, so it's not like Morris is necessarily trying to keep the wolves at bay … yet. The worry more so here for Morris might be guilt by association with fifth-year GM Terry Fontenot, who hired him. The Falcons haven't made the playoffs nor had a winning record since 2017 – and they don't exactly play in a murderers' row of a division. And yet Fontenot followed his highly unorthodox 2024 offseason − he signed free agent QB Kirk Cousins to a nine-figure contract and then drafted current QB1 Michael Penix Jr. in the first round − by mortgaging the future during this year's draft, when he took a pair of pass rushers (Jalon Walker and James Pearce) in Round 1. Signals clearly sent that Atlanta expects to win now, and Morris needs to deliver, fairly or not, because another seven- or eight-win output isn't likely to guarantee this regime anything. 2025 NFL RECORD PROJECTIONS:Who wins Super Bowl 60? (Hint: not the Eagles) The league's Coach of the Year in 2022, when he made Daniel Jones look like a star while leading the G-Men to the playoffs, Daboll has been something of a victim of his own success and circumstances – namely departed Jones' regression and injuries along with questionable roster management under GM Joe Schoen. Coming off a 3-14 season, which included a Week 17 defeat of theColtsthat ultimately cost theGiantsthe No. 1 pick of the 2025 draft, Daboll entered this offseason on a very toasty chair – after all,who rallies their team to defeat a playoff hopeful in Week 17, right? (Honestly, kudos, Coach.) Yet thevibes seem awfully good right nowaround a team that was dominant in the preseason and seems to have as good a young core as any organization given the presence of potential superstars such as WR Malik Nabers, rookie LB Abdul Carter and, most importantly,first-round QB Jaxson Dart. The question now becomes how much more patience owner John Mara can muster with his team facing the league's hardest statistical schedule (.574 collective winning percentage by opponents in 2024). If Daboll and Schoen receive the leeway to bring Dart along slowly and endure what's likely to be another bumpy ride in 2025 but with Big Bluer skies likely ahead, this team could be ready to take off in 2026. If not? After receiving deserved credit for unlocking Jalen Hurts on the Eagles' run to Super Bowl 57 in 2022, Steichen, whether it's a fair assessment or not, hasn't been able to get QB Anthony Richardson on a similar track since both arrived in Indy in 2023. Therecent decision to pivot to Jonesas the starter is suggestive ofhow sideways things have gone with talented-but-raw Richardson. Make no mistake, the Colts haven't been terrible under Steichen, but .500 (17-17) is only going to cut it for so long. And for a franchise nearly seven years removed from its most recent playoff win, courtesy of Andrew Luck, and operating at least under something of a new ownership vision followingthe offseason death of Jim Irsay, it's fair to wonder how much more grace Steichen, Jones, Richardson and GM Chris Ballard enjoy here entering a season with decidedly low expectations outside of this locker room's. His redemption story following personal trials and tribulations as he climbed the coaching ladder, quirky personality and ability to generate some serious offense produced ample good feels during his first three seasons in South Florida, the first two ending in postseason berths. And yet the Fins are fast approaching the 25th anniversary of their most recent playoff win, and have too often come up small in big spots under McDaniel. Throw in a widespread perception that this team is soft and that McDaniel doesn't hold his players sufficiently accountable, and you start to see what seems to be the writing on the wall. Owner Stephen Ross certainly left his mark on it in January, when he issued McDaniel and GM Chris Grier the dreaded vote of confidence wrapped around an unmistakable message, saying in a statement that read in part: "(C)ontinuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptance that status quo is good enough. We will take a hard look at where we have fallen short and make the necessary changes to deliver our ultimate goal of building and sustaining a winning team that competes for championships." All NFL news on and off the field.Sign upfor USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NFL coaches on hot seat: Dolphins' Mike McDaniel among five to watch

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

September 03, 2025

NFL coaches on hot seat as 2025 season begins: Mike McDaniel among 5 to watch

NFL coaches on hot seat as 2025 season begins: Mike McDaniel among 5 to watch The start of anNFLseason is typically a time forpeak optimism ...

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Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

NEW YORK (AP) —Novak Djokovic is 38and trying to conquer a younger man's game as he heads into theU.S. Opensemifinals on Friday. It's been two years sincehis most recent Grand Slam title, which — to him — must feel like an eternity. Last season was his first without earning at least one since 2017. And Djokovic is clear that, at this point in his career, thosebig trophies from the sport's four biggest eventsare all he really cares about. At this year's three other major tournaments, he exited in the semifinals, two after getting hurt: quitting at the Australian Open because of a torn hamstring and clearly limitedat Wimbledonby an injured groin muscle. He hadn't competed anywhere since leaving the All England Club in July until arriving at Flushing Meadows. Novak Djokovic faces Carlos Alcaraz next, possibly Jannik Sinner after that Now Djokovic is back in the final four in New York, and there's a daunting road ahead. Next up is No. 2Carlos Alcaraz, who is 22. Win that, and a final on Sunday against No. 1Jannik Sinner, 23, could await, if the defending champion beats Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals and whoever his semifinal opponent is. After reaching a 53rd major semifinal, and 14th at the U.S. Open, byeliminating No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz, 27, in four sets Tuesday night, Djokovic fiddled with his beard while pondering what's to come. "Well, it's not going to get easier, I'll tell you that," he said with a wry smile. "I'm going to try to take one day at a time. Really take care of my body. Try to relax and recover. The next couple of days is really key for me to really get my body in shape and ready to battle five sets, if it's needed. I just would really love that." Djokovic has been to 37 Slam finals and won 24 — but none at age 38 Djokovic already owns nearly every record of any significance in men's tennis, including24 major championships, 37 major final appearances and the most weeks at No. 1 in the rankings. And so on. What's new for him is adjusting to contending at this age. "Normally I like to play the big matches on a big stage. It's just that I'm not really sure how the body is going to feel in the next few days. But I'm going to do my very best with my team to be fit for that," Djokovic said. "There's going to be a lot of running involved, that's for sure. It's not going to be short points." Djokovic is 5-3 against US Open semifinal opponent Alcaraz He owns a 5-3 head-to-head mark againstAlcaraz, who has won five Slam titles already and combined with Sinner to claim the last seven and nine of the past 12. Not to be forgotten: The other three in that span went to Djokovic, most recentlyat the 2023 U.S. Open. "I have another chance, another shot. Hopefully ... I can be fit enough and play well enough to keep up with Carlos," Djokovic said. "Then it can be anybody's match." Djokovic won the two most recent meetings against the dynamic Alcaraz — inthe Australian Open quarterfinalsthis January and inthe gold-medal final at the Paris Olympicslast year. "I really want revenge," Alcaraz said. "That's obvious." Alcaraz reached the final at his past 7 tournaments, winning 5 titles Alcaraz has been preposterously dominant over the past 1 1/2 weeks, not dropping a set in the tournament, and for much of 2025, leading the tour with six titles and a 59-6 record. Since April, he is 43-2, winning tournaments at Monte-Carlo, Rome, Roland-Garros, Queen's Club and Cincinnati. The two losses came in finals — at Barcelona (against Holger Rune) and Wimbledon (against Sinner). Djokovic knows whatAlcaraz and Sinnerhave done lately. "We don't need to spend words about the two of them. We know that they are two best players in the world," said Djokovic, who lost to Sinner in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon. "Everybody is probably expecting and anticipating (a U.S. Open final) between the two of them. I'm going to try to mess up the plans of most of the people." And then Djokovic added: "I definitely am not going with a white flag on the court." ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here:https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis:https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

September 03, 2025

Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open

Novak Djokovic is 38 and bidding for a 25th Slam title. He faces Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open NEW YORK (AP) —Novak Djokovic is 38and trying...

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Trump reacts as Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi appear together at China's military parade

Trump reacts as Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi appear together at China's military parade

President Donald Trump took to his social media platform as Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared together in Beijing for China's largest-ever military parade on Wednesday. Trump accused Xi of "conspiring against" the United States as they attended the parade, which marked the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. "May President Xi and the wonderful people of China have a great and lasting day of celebration. Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America," Trump wrote on social media as the parade was underway. MORE: North Korea's Kim crosses into China to meet Xi, Putin for Beijing military parade Trump referenced America's involvement in World War II in his post on, saying, "The big question to be answered is whether or not President Xi of China will mention the massive amount of support and 'blood' that The United States of America gave to China in order to help it to secure its FREEDOM from a very unfriendly foreign invader." "Many Americans died in China's quest for Victory and Glory. I hope that they are rightfully Honored and Remembered for their Bravery and Sacrifice!" the president wrote. In his remarks at the parade, held in front of the Tiananmen Gate, Xi hailed the Chinese People's Liberation Army as a "heroic force" and spoke of nations and treating each other as equals. "The Chinese nation is a great nation that does not fear violence, and that stands independent and strong," Xi said. "In the past, when confronted with a life-or-death struggle between justice and evil, light and darkness, progress and reaction, the Chinese people stood united, rose up in resistance, and fought for the survival of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation and the cause of human justice." Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, dismissed Trump's conspiracy allegations. "I want to say that no one organized any conspiracies, no one was weaving anything, no conspiracies," Ushakov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin, who is close to the Kremlin and has previously interviewed Putin. "Moreover, no one even had that in their minds, none of these three leaders had that," Ushakov said. MORE: 'They do not surrender': Ukraine commander details fight with North Koreans in Russia "Everyone understands the role that the United States, the current administration of President Trump and President Trump personally play in the current international arrangements," Ushakov said in a video posted by Zarubin to his Telegram channel. Kim, Xi and Putin gathered for the military parade amid Ukrainian and Western concerns over the collaboration of the three nations in bolstering Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since February 2022. Putin sent an invitation to meet with Kim on the sidelines of the military parade, according to Putin's top foreign policy aide. The North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a Wednesday statement that Kim was "enveloped in an atmosphere of the warmest friendship and enthusiastic welcome" on his arrival in Beijing. Ukrainian and Western governments have accused North Korea of supplying significant amounts of ammunition and troops to support Russia's war, while Kyiv and its NATO backers have identified China as Moscow's prime source of materiel and a vital economic lifeline. ABC News' Tanya Stukalova and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

September 03, 2025

Trump reacts as Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi appear together at China's military parade

Trump reacts as Putin, Kim Jong Un and Xi appear together at China's military parade President Donald Trump took to his social media pla...

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Serb separatist Dodik defies Bosnian state in government reshuffle

Serb separatist Dodik defies Bosnian state in government reshuffle

SARAJEVO (Reuters) -The parliament of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic has approved a government reshuffle that the opposition says is illegal because it was initiated by the region's president who has been banned from politics. The vote late on Tuesday deepens a crisis over a Serb separatist drive that amounts to one of the biggest threats to peace in the Balkans since the wars that followed Yugoslavia's collapse. The Serb Republic makes up Bosnia and Herzegovina along with a federation shared by Bosniaks and Croats under the Dayton peace accords that ended a 1992-95 conflict that killed about 100,000 people and displaced around 2 million. The Serb Republic government reshuffle was set in motion by Milorad Dodik, who last month was stripped of his mandate as the Serb Republic's president by Bosnia's election commission. An appeals court had earlier upheld a verdict jailing Dodik for a year and banning him from politics for six years for defying the rulings of the international envoy who oversees civilian implementation of the Dayton accords. Dodik, a Russian-backed separatist who wants the Serb region to secede from Bosnia, has rejected the commission's decision and stayed on, but the election commission has called a November 23 election to elect a successor. Saying changes were needed in the Serb Republic's government to meet "challenges ahead", Dodik asked regional Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic to resign and nominated former agriculture minister Savo Minic to replace him. The reshuffled government, which includes only four new faces, was approved by 50 deputies from the governing coalition led by Dodik's SNSD party. Opposition deputies did not attend the vote. They said the government would be illegal because Dodik had lost his mandate as president. Minic said the government would work to return Bosnia to what he depicted as post-war basics, echoing Dodik's stance that only institutions that existed in the so-called "original Dayton deal" were acceptable to Bosnian Serbs. Minic announced a referendum on Dodik's status and said the Serb Republic had the right to self-determination. (Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic)

byKonstantin Pynzar

in

September 03, 2025

Serb separatist Dodik defies Bosnian state in government reshuffle

Serb separatist Dodik defies Bosnian state in government reshuffle SARAJEVO (Reuters) -The parliament of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republ...

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