Recent years have featured no shortage of Vikings UDFA success stories. The 2026 season could involve more unheralded talents shining.

Rob Brzezinski was leading the Vikings’ front office when most of the UDFAs were added. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had been fired but Nolan Teasley hadn’t yet been hired. Since the end of April, the front office has been undergoing an overhaul, resulting in some executives being shown the door. Teasley then brought in some unheralded talent of his own. Consider some of the most notable names ahead of camp competition (shout out to Over the Cap).

Vikings UDFA Talents to Know for Training Camp

Player No. 1 — Dillon Bell, WR/KR

The versatile weapon on offense really jumps off the field. He moves explosively and boasts nice size. Getting him to town meant guaranteeing a hearty $272,500 within his contract. Even better is that he appears capable of helping on specials. Almost feels like he’s favored to get onto the 53-man roster even if there’s no sure thing for an undrafted talent.

Player No. 2 — Brett Thorson, P

The issue for Mr. Thorson has little to do with punting the football. In all likelihood, the rookie can do a better job of launching the football far down the field than veteran Johnny Hekker. Can he do a good enough job as a holder? Matt Daniels expressed plenty of optimism. Still, though, it’s tough to know if he can handle the pressure in major moments. The Vikings will try to find out.

Player No. 3 — Delby Lemieux, iOL

In Lemieux, the Vikings have a young lineman who appears to be quite smart and who performed well within a lower level of college football (he played for Dartmouth, an Ivy League school). Much remains unsettled for the interior of the offensive line once one looks past LG1 Donovan Jackson and RG1 Will Fries. Opportunity beckons.

Player No. 4 — Triston Leigh, OL

The rookie lineman was a 5-star recruit going into college. He then had a modest career at Clemson. Where does he settle as an NFL player? Leigh boasts a great build and earned a beefy $262,500 in guaranteed money to become a Viking. Again, there’s room for someone to emerge along the interior for the Vikings.

Player No. 5 — Michael Briscoe, WR

The Vikings have a true battle taking place at receiver. Nobody is going to overcome the top trio of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and Jauan Jennings. After those three it could be a bloodbath. A ton of talent is going to jostle for what is a maximum of three open positions. Where Briscoe could emerge is due to being a Seattle UDFA add prior to joining the Vikings. He stands at 6’2″ and is 210 pounds. He’ll need to overcome some combo of Tai Felton, Myles Price, Bell, Jeshaun Jones, and several others.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Suncorp Stadium will play host to Sunday’s
Round 20 NRL game between Dolphins and
North Queensland Cowboys. The game kicks off at 4:05 pm with Dolphins heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Dolphins vs.
North Queensland Cowboys
game and give you our free tips and bets.

When: Sunday July 19, 2026 at 4:05 pm

Where: Suncorp Stadium

Bet 💰: Bet On This Match HERE

Dolphins vs North Queensland Cowboys Odds

Dolphins vs North Queensland Cowboys Preview

The Dolphins will be eager to respond after a disappointing defeat to Cronulla, although the result came with several key players unavailable. With a stronger squad returning, Redcliffe has the chance to quickly reset ahead of a crucial stretch in the finals race.

North Queensland has developed a habit of dragging opponents into high-scoring contests and possesses enough attacking strike to challenge any side. The Dolphins’ best football is built on control, discipline and defensive pressure rather than trying to match points. If they can avoid an open shootout, they’ll give themselves every chance, but the Cowboys remain a dangerous opponent capable of punishing lapses in concentration.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday said that Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has become a “political football in this country.” Silver, speaking during the CNBC x Boardroom summit in New York City, also declined to answer when asked if a report that he persuaded WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to suspend Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas for putting her fist on Clark’s throat was accurate. 

During the Fever’s controversial loss to the Mercury on June 22, Clark was on the receiving end of what her coach Stephanie White called “two cheap shots.” The first was Thomas putting her first on Clark’s throat, the second was a landing space foul that jarred Clark’s back and ultimately led to a two-week absence. 

No foul was called on the Thomas incident during the game, but the league retroactively assessed a Flagrant 2 and suspended Thomas for one game. The incident became a flash point, both inside and outside the WNBA, and Thomas was subsequently subjected to death threats and online abuse. 

In the ensuing weeks, the WNBA’s officiating, particularly in regard to Clark, has been a constant topic of discussion. It flared up again in recent days due to a report from the Sports Business Journal that Engelbert was not planning to punish Thomas until Silver stepped in (a report that the WNBA has denied), and another controversial moment with Clark in the Fever’s loss to the Golden State Valkyries. 

When Silver was on stage Thursday, he was asked directly about the report that he influenced the WNBA’s decision on the Thomas incident. Here are Silver’s full comments:

CNBC: The report says that effectively the WNBA was not necessarily going to penalize [Alyssa] Thomas, but that you stepped in and said that it had to happen

Silver: Let me give you a serious answer to that question. I think that ultimately the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating. And that particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time of the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant non-review. 

I’ve come to know Caitlin really well. She’s an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. And she’s become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think that’s incredibly unfair to her. I don’t think that issue is ultimately about officiating. It’s become political ping pong with her. She’s a young woman who’s trying to improve her game, focus on being the best player she can. And I don’t even think it’s fair to her that this has become a separate storyline about one foul — should it have been call in time or should it have been called a flagrant after the fact? 

That’s my response. People are allowed to think whatever they can, and whatever they want about our league, but there’s so much to celebrate around the WNBA. I was part of the group that wrote the original business plan 30 years ago, and where women’s sports has come — we missed our numbers for many years in the WNBA, but then it turned the corner. You’re now seeing off the chart valuations of WNBA teams. Joe and Clara Tsai have done an incredible job here in New York with the Liberty. Caitlin came along, brought an entirely new audience — and it began when she was still in college — to the game: young girls, women, men, across the board, people who never had been paying attention to women’s basketball. And then it became a rising tide. Because as we quickly all saw, it wasn’t just Caitlin. There’s enormous talent in this league. 

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But as I said, do we need to improve WNBA officiating? No doubt about it, but my day job is getting complaints about NBA officiating. 

CNBC: But fair to say you stepped in? 

Silver: I’m not going to comment on that, because I don’t think it’s fair to Caitlin, and to Cathy Engelbert either. I think that’s not the real issue here. What people are trying to make a larger issue around that — not as to whether that was a flagrant foul or not. Obviously, the league decided after the fact that not only should a foul have been called, but it was a flagrant foul. 

Yes, we need to improve WNBA officiating, and there’s a lot of work to do on NBA officiating as well, but I really think there’s an opportunity to support Caitlin and say, let her be the best basketball player she can be. 

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During a press conference in Las Vegas for the NBA’s Summer League on Tuesday, Silver was non-committal when asked about Engelbert’s future, though he said he was “pleased” with the current state of the WNBA. 

“I think Cathy continues to do a strong job building that league,” Silver said, noting that he didn’t want to speak for Engelbert. “We’ll have ongoing discussions about what the future looks like.”

Dominik Szoboszlai has signed a new five-year contract with Liverpool and said it was maybe the biggest day of his career to commit his future to the club.

The midfielder, who had entered the last two years of his previous deal, has agreed to stay at Anfield until he is 30 and has targeted winning the Champions League before he goes.

Szoboszlai had been in talks with Liverpool for months and there was always the belief he wanted to stay but discussions accelerated in the last few weeks.

“It’s maybe my biggest day,” he told Liverpool’s club website. “There are a couple in front of it – probably when I signed for Liverpool the first one and when I got my baby, of course. But in my football career, I can say this is in the top three. Very happy. [I] can’t wait to go again and again and again. I’m just happy to be here.”

Liverpool have rewarded Szoboszlai for his outstanding form last season, when he scored 13 goals, got 12 assists and played in a variety of positions, with a new deal.

While the Hungarian, a £60m signing from RB Leipzig in 2023, was also influential when they won the Premier League in 2024-25, he believes his best years are ahead of him.

“There’s always more to come. I’m never happy,” Szoboszlai added. “I’m happy with myself but I think I can do even better. I think that’s why I’m sitting here, because that pushed me since I was a kid: that it was never enough. And I’m thinking the same now.

“I want to set the example. I want to be an example also for everyone, as much as I can. When I signed, I said I want to win everything. That didn’t change for a little moment either. It stayed the same: I want to win everything that is possible in this country, also let’s say the Champions League. I’m ready to go for it.”

In addition to Szoboszlai’s contract, Liverpool have brought in winger Victor Munoz this summer while defender Jeremy Jacquet, whose purchase from Rennes was arranged in January, has joined up with new head coach Andoni Iraola’s squad.

After six years of being on ESPN, the Bundesliga has a new home in the United States of America.

A combination of USA Network and Fandango has reportedly struck a deal through the 2030-31 season to be the English-language broadcaster of Germany’s top flight in the USA. The deal is reportedly worth $20 million (€17.4 million) per year, which is noticeably less than the $34 million per year paid by ESPN.

USA and Fandango are part of Versant, a media company in the country that is trying to develop itself as a home for broadcasting rights below the top leagues of the NFL and NBA. Fandango is predominately an app to buy movie tickets, but Versant is looking to diversify its offering by including live sports. All 300-plus Bundesliga games will air on either channel, with USA requiring a subscription and Fandango being free and ad-supported.

The reaction from US-based Bundesliga fans on social media was mostly negative.

“This will only make the Bundesliga even more obscure,” posted @skierpro on X. “Any momentum the league had in the US and growing viership will be destroyed. The folks in Germany signing this agreement have no idea about the US it seems. They just shot themselves in the foot with this deal.”

“This is bad. The simplicity of having every game on ESPN that already has a lot of other sports was perfect. Fandango, a company with nearly no sports streaming experience, may be free, but the games on USA will require an expensive YT TV, Fubo or similar package,” posted Corbin Williams on X.

“SAD!  USA is OK but Fandango is not a popular streaming app.  ESPN was easily accessible. Games on Fandango is going to be like going to the bike shop to buy a BMW,” wrote Eric Smith on social media.

New Bundesliga deal in the US a case of less money, but more reach

Some believe the drop in financial return is a sign of the times for the Bundesliga. Others see it as an opportunity.

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“From the outside, the new agreement appears to deliver less media-rights income per season but broader distribution, greater discoverability, and a better chance of reaching viewers beyond the Bundesliga’s existing fan base. In essence, the reported financial return appears lower, but the potential reach is greater,” Dominik Schreyer, a professor of sports economics at Germany’s Otto Beisheim School of Management, told DW.

While Schreyer admits that the reported fee being less than the previous deal is disappointing from a business perspective, it is also important to consider its context.

“The DFL is facing a difficult market reality. The media-rights market has become more selective, while competition for audience attention is intensifying. Maximizing the cheque from each individual cycle may therefore no longer be the only sensible objective,” Schreyer said. 

“The new distribution model could still prove strategically valuable if its broader reach helps build a larger and more commercially attractive audience over time.”

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ESPN’s coverage in terms of reporters and commentators was praised by most fans, but the new deal suggests that perhaps it wasn’t the ideal place for Germany’s top flight.

“My best guess is that the previous model provided insufficient prominence within ESPN’s crowded sports portfolio, potentially limiting audience growth. The Bundesliga may now be more important to a partner seeking to establish and differentiate its own live-sports offering in an intensely competitive market, although we cannot know from the outside which considerations ultimately drove the change,” Schreyer said.

Is the Bundesliga really growing in America?

“The 2026 World Cup has highlighted the tremendous growth potential of soccer in the U.S.,” Robin Austermann, Bundesliga Americas Executive Vice President, said in a Bundesliga statement. “We’ve seen that momentum firsthand, with the number of Bundesliga fans in the U.S. growing by 43% over the past five years.”

While that may be true, German football’s struggle more generally cannot be helping the Bundesliga’s position in the market. Bayern Munich have long been dominant domestically, removing both the feeling of competition and suspense in the league. The number of star players in the league isn’t high compared to other leagues, and Germany’s poor showing at recent World Cups have also weakened the standing of German football globally.

It is clear that the Bundesliga faces an enormous task when it comes to improving its position at the negotiating table for broadcasting deals, much of which is beyond their control. Nevertheless, there is hope that, as mentioned by Austermann, the football momentum provided by the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico can be harnessed to the Bundesliga’s advantage.

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“It now needs to use prominent scheduling, strong promotion, and localized storytelling to build consumption capital,” Schreyer said. “Once viewers discover the product, repeated exposure helps them learn about the clubs, recognize the stars, understand the rivalries, and gradually turn occasional viewing into habit, fandom, and ultimately commercial value.”

Edited by: Chuck Penfold

Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal (Image credit: Joan Monfort)

Some stories are too unbelievable to be written. Yet, football has produced one. Nineteen years after Lionel Messi first met Lamine Yamal during a charity photoshoot in Barcelona, the two will stand on opposite sides in the FIFA World Cup final. Argentina and Spain will battle for football’s biggest prize on Sunday at the New York New Jersey Stadium, turning an unforgettable photograph into one of the sport’s greatest full-circle moments. Back in 2007, Messi was already a Barcelona star. Yamal was just a baby. During a charity calendar shoot organised by Sport newspaper and UNICEF, photographer Joan Monfort captured Messi bathing the infant Yamal in a plastic tub. At the time, it was just another assignment.No one could have imagined that the baby in Messi’s arms would grow up to become Spain’s biggest football star.The journey since then has been remarkable. Messi became one of the greatest players in football history before leaving Barcelona in 2021 after the club’s financial troubles forced his exit. Just two years later, Yamal burst onto the scene at the same club, becoming Barcelona’s next global superstar.Now, the story has come full circle. The 19-year-old Yamal will face Messi, who is 20 years older, in the biggest match in football.

A coincidence that feels like destiny

The famous photographs remained largely forgotten until Yamal’s father shared one on social media during Euro 2024, when the teenager led Spain to the title. The image quickly went viral, and ahead of Sunday’s World Cup final, it has once again become one of the most talked-about pictures in football.Photographer Joan Monfort admitted even he struggles to explain how everything has unfolded.“I have never been a believer or thought that anything was destined to occur, but I am beginning to have my doubts. This is beyond all reasonable explanations,” Monfort told The Associated Press from his home in Barcelona on Friday.Monfort had taken the photographs in 2007 as part of a charity calendar. Yamal’s mother had won a raffle for families from Mataró, near Barcelona, to participate, and by chance her baby was paired with Messi.

‘Better than any film script’

With Messi and Yamal now preparing to meet in a World Cup final, interest in the iconic images has exploded once again.“This has exploded all over the world, and the fact that the final is in the U.S. has given it the extra push,” Monfort said. “And now this has culminated with the final between Messi and Yamal. It is better than any film script.”The Barcelona-based photographer said media organisations across the world have requested the images, while they have also been widely shared on social media without credit.

A difficult choice for a Barcelona fan

For Monfort, Sunday’s final is emotional. Like many Barcelona supporters, he feels connected to both players.“My heart is split. I don’t know if I want Messi or Yamal to win,” said Monfort, a lifelong Barcelona supporter.He explained why both players mean so much to him.“I have an everlasting love for the best player of all time (Messi),” he said, but “Yamal has broken the mold here” and represents a new, diverse Spain, thanks to his parents from Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. “Maybe they can both win. I wouldn’t rule it out after everything we have seen.”From a charity photoshoot in Barcelona to the biggest stage in world football, Messi and Yamal’s journey is the kind of story that feels stranger than fiction. On Sunday, it will have one final chapter at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

Eli Griffith sat in a green room in the bowels of the Javits Center in Manhattan on the first day of Fanatics Fest waiting anxiously alongside his family.

The Griffith family – father Joe, mother Jamie, and sister Ava – had been waiting all day for Eli to meet his favorite athlete, the one whose name rested atop their Michigan Wolverines and New England Patriots jerseys.

Tom Brady.

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Eli Griffith got to meet his idol, legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady, at Fanatics Fest as part of the Fanatics and Make-A-Wish partnership. (Fanatics/Make-A-Wish)

Fox News Digital was able to speak with Eli and his family prior to meeting Brady as part of Fanatics and Make-A-Wish’s partnership, which continues to deliver once-in-a-lifetime moments. Eli was “totally” nervous after being asked about meeting his idol, but he also felt like there is a “mutual connection” due to their roots in Ann Arbor, Michigan – where Brady’s stardom rose with the Wolverines before reaching the “G.O.A.T” status Eli pointed out in the NFL.

“As the day has been going, it’s just more and more surreal. It’s like this is the time it’s happening, and I just imagine him walking in the door,” Eli said.

TOM BRADY SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE TO RAIDERS ROOKIE FERNANDO MENDOZA: EARN YOUR OPPORTUNITY

The moment finally came where Brady opened that door, and the family shared the quality time together they’ve been looking forward to all day.

Brady caught up with Fox News Digital after the meeting, where Eli, who’s already showing his journalist chops in high school, had some questions to ask the legendary quarterback.

“He didn’t want to be a journalist. He said, ‘I am a journalist!’ I said, ‘Absolutely, you keep going,’” Brady said, smiling. “He had seven questions for me, and a lot of fun ones. He definitely put a lot of time and thought into it, and he asked a lot of good questions. A few of them I’ve never been asked before.”

Tom Brady attends Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center in New York City on July 16, 2026. (John Nacion/Getty Images for Fanatics)

A candid interview, some autographs, and having a catch with the whole family, Brady made Eli’s wish come true in the best way. But the Griffith family should know that Eli’s story serves as inspiration for Brady as well.

“When I was a player, we did a lot of it around football training camp and we had a lot of great wishes over the years,” Brady explained. “Just love being able to impact people’s lives in a positive way. A lot of these people are dealt with challenging situations – families and kids. But they have the brightest spirts and the biggest hearts, and it’s just amazing to meet them, draw inspiration. They think they’re drawing inspiration from us – I think it actually goes the other way.”

At 14, Eli was diagnosed with an unusual heart condition. He had a dilated cardiomyopathy on one side of his heart, and ventricular non-compaction on the other side. It was a rare genetic mutation that went undetected until he was a teenager.

As a result, Eli needed a heart transplant at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

Eli Griffith received a heart transplant after a genetic mutation was found at 14 years old. Eli, in good spirits in the hospital, shows off his Tom Brady Michigan cards. (Joe Griffith)

During his time in the hospital, Brady was shown a picture of Eli with a bunch of trading cards from his Michigan days spread across his chest, which Brady called “pretty awesome.”

And while Brady was an inspiration, so was the entire Wolverines football team as Eli and his family battled through their situation.

“The Michigan football team actually stepped up a lot when he was in the hospital. Players came and visited him,” Joe Griffith said. “Charles Woodson gave a shoutout. We had a connection somehow through Jim Harbaugh, and we got a phone message from Harbaugh as well as the punter from the Chargers [JK Scott]. In the [Michigan] locker room, the players did a little voice message to Eli. All of this, kept his spirits high. Kept us excited about things, like after he had surgery, these three freshmen were going to come from the team and visit him afterwards. The whole thing had a lot of ups and downs, but relative to experiences a lot of people have, our lows were not as low as they could’ve been.”

It was the ultimate high for the Griffith family as they spent time with Brady, but it only continued on the Fanatics Fest floor after their introduction. Eli was right next to Brady tossing out trading card packs at CardVault by Tom Brady, while they all had a front-row seat to Brady dunking one of his favorite teammates of all-time, Rob Gronkowski, in a dunk tank filled with Raising Cane’s sauce.

Todd Graves, Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady attend Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 16, 2026, in New York City. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics)

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The experience of a lifetime for a family that has been through struggle, but never wavered in spirit and hope.

“There’s a lot of people digging deep in life, and we all face our own unique challenges and he’s a great kid. What a great spirit,” Brady said.

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