This is a purposeful piggyback on my colleague Joel Blank’s post from a couple of days ago. He asked the question, when it is time to pull the plug on Dana Brown and Joe Espada? I usually don’t write entire essays in response to another article, but Joel asked a serious question and it deserves a serious answer. I can flush out my thoughts better in this format than in a simple reply to the article itself.
There comes a time when you just run out of runway. That time has come for Dana Brown. My normal course on these little essays is to first admit my own culpability. I was a James Click fan, but I also believed in Jim Crane. Granted, I probably shouldn’t have had faith in the immediate aftermath of an off-season that saw him, Jeff Bagwell, and Reggie Jackson sign Jose Abreu and Rafael Montero. However, this is a guy that had hired Jeff Luhnow, A.J. Hinch, Dusty Baker, and Click.
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All of them had been integral to the success of the club up to that point. I certainly had differences with all of them at certain points, but it is hard to argue with the results. So, when Brown was announced I was on board. Based on what we’d heard, he was good at the scouting end and he was going to bring in the philosophy of locking up our young core.
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Right or wrong, the results don’t lie. Admittedly, he has been on the job since 2023, so you could argue that it isn’t enough to accurately to judge his efforts to rebuild the farm system. However, only one significant prospect has graduated to the big leagues in Brice Mathews and the results have been mixed at best. He has signed only one significant extension with Cristian Javier and that deal has turned out to be a disaster.
It’s at this point that Brown apologists will stand up and defend him. I’d agree that the efficacy of decisions should not be based on the results. They should be based on the evidence at the time of the decision. However, if every major decision ends up going against you then it becomes difficult to justify keeping you around. Perhaps, any long-term deal for a pitcher is a bad decision in this day and age. Perhaps we should have seen something beforehand. Perhaps there are other issues there we can touch on here.
The decision to move on from Brown sooner rather than later is based on the evidence available and some very real world ramifications. In terms of the evidence, it would be hard to argue that any significant offseason move worked out this year. Obviously, Jim Crane was already teetering towards not retaining him since he did not want to extend him. So, if this season is a referendum on his fitness for the job then it is hard to argue for him to stick around.
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The chief problem has been the injuries. This is where the apologists want to defend him. I get it on a certain level. Injuries (on a surface level) seem like an arbitrary thing that can’t be controlled. We can almost imagine God or fate pointing his finger and zapping an Astro with a hamstring injury or an arm injury. Yet, when you stop and really examine that line of thinking, it collapses under careful scrutiny. The Astros have been among the most injured or THE most injured roster three years in a row.
I suppose there is always a chance that is just lightning striking the same team three times in a row. The more likely explanation is that there is something going wrong. It could be in the player evaluation process. Maybe the Astros select more injury prone players that are destined to break down. It could also be training and health procedures that are not preventing those injuries that could be prevented through proper training and health protocols. Both of those things fall on the general manager.
You also have the Tatsuya Imai problem that is beginning to look like a huge gaffe. We can certainly look at the whys and what fors. Maybe it was a massive talent misevaluation. Maybe they fumbled the ball at the goal line when it came to preparing him for the season. Maybe it is a problem with providing him with the proper day to day support in acclimating him to the rigors of MLB. It is likely a combination of all of those and it should be noted that the book has not been completely written. He could potentially return in May or June and become the pitcher they thought he would be. That would still mean six to eight weeks of zero production because the ball was fumbled somewhere along the way.
This brings us to the second consideration of real world ramifications. This club is in the same position it was in 2006. Their competitive window was closing with an aging Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte. Coming into 2007 they had a hard choice. They could continue to run the course with enough talent to compete, but not enough talent to win. They could have sold off enough minor pieces to rebuild the farm system and compete in 2008 or 2009. They could have also spent their way out of the problem. They chose option one and it set the Astros franchise back five seasons at least.
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This Astros team is in the exact same position. Certainly, Crane COULD explode the budget to 300 million and load up the roster with enough talent to dominate the AL West. I think we know that is not happening. So, in the absence of that you can continue to limp down the road and hope to eat around the margins or you can start building the next great Astros team. The question comes down to who you want at the wheel for that decision?
The problem with keeping Brown through the season is that now is the time to strike. There might not be baseball next year with labor strife. This deadline is the time to get while the getting is good. You have the likes of Hunter Brown, Jeremy Pena, Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker, Jake Meyers, and Yordan Alvarez that are not likely to be a part of that next great Astros team. You could throw in Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader if they get back healthy and/or effective. I’m sure some of them can and will stick around. Which ones should they be and who gets to make that call?
Dana Brown is scrambling for his job. This isn’t an attack on him. I’d be of the same mindset in the exact same situation. His best chance of keeping his job is for the team to make a miraculous comeback and sneak into the playoffs. That’s not happening with a tear down. Yet, a tear down would put the Astros in the best position to win in 2028 and 2029. It only makes sense. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will be two years older then. They will be less likely to be productive players, so that production will have to come from others likely not yet on the roster.
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In the last calendar year, not many things have gone right for Dana Brown. Even if he were looking ahead to 2028 or 2029, would you trust him to make the right trades to put this Astros team in better position? You are talking about potential moves that would shape this team for the next five to ten seasons. Obviously, the question of who you want making that call is a murky one and one that I have a hard time answering. I just know that I don’t want it to be Dana Brown.
KL Rahul etched his name in the record books with another dominant outing against Rajasthan Royals, becoming the Indian with the most 50-plus scores against the franchise in IPL history. With this effort, Rahul moved to eight 50+ scores against RR, going past Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan, who both had seven. He now sits level with AB de Villiers at the top of the list.Most 50+ scores vs RR in IPL8 – AB de Villiers (20 inngs)8 – KL Rahul (18 inngs)*7 – Shikhar Dhawan (24 inngs)7 – Virat Kohli (33 inngs)Chasing a stiff target, Rahul led from the front and found strong support in Pathum Nissanka, who scored a fluent 62 and registered his maiden IPL fifty. The pair stitched together a century opening stand, laying a solid platform for Delhi Capitals in the pursuit.Earlier, Rajasthan Royals were powered by a captain’s knock from Riyan Parag, who smashed 90 off 50 balls to take his side to 225 for 6. Coming in at 12 for 2 after early setbacks, Parag absorbed pressure before turning the tide with an aggressive counterattack, including a decisive over against Kyle Jamieson.He brought up his first fifty of the season in 32 balls and shared a crucial 102-run stand with Dhruv Jurel. Contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and a late blitz from Donovan Ferreira ensured RR posted a formidable total.However, Rahul’s consistency against RR once again stood out, as he added another milestone to his impressive IPL journey.
Seasoned quick Way To The Stars heads back to his native state after more than 12 months interstate, tackling Hawkesbury with trainer Matt Smith forecasting a competitive effort.
As a two-time Listed winner, the gelding encountered fair issues in recent runs, drawing wide in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) with no luck, then struggling on the soft Flemington surface last occasion.
The Hawkesbury Gold Rush (1100m) offers his ideal firm footing, and Smith highlights barrier three as a bonus for the 14-horse lineup.
“We had no hope in the Oakleigh Plate from the outside gate. We probably should have scratched,” Smith said.
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“And then we ran on a track that was wet in Melbourne, and he didn’t like that at all.
“I think he is back to his best. He’s a horse that needs to get his first 400 right, and if he can get that right, he can be competitive.”
With five weeks off and a trial under his belt, Way To The Stars is primed for Saturday.
Smith rates Nash Rawiller’s mount highly in this wide-open affair.
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“He’s been up at the farm for a few weeks and has done a bit of work on the sand. He had that trial and he’s good to go. He’s fresh, fit, well,” he said.
“It’s a good race. There are plenty of chances in it, and he’s one of them.”
Barnmate World Alliance is on standby for a Hawkesbury Gold Rush berth pending more scratches, and entry would see him as a threat.
Three-from-four first-up wins, track and distance suitability, plus draw four next to Way To The Stars enhance his claims for the six-year-old.
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“If he gets the right set-up, he is always dangerous,” Smith said.
“He needs tempo, which he’ll get here.
“He’s fit, and he’s well and I can’t fault him. His work was sharp on Tuesday morning so he’s ready to go.”
Promising gelding Golden Straand gets Smith’s backing to keep climbing in the Blake’s Marine Handicap (1100m), after a fresh win at Warwick Farm took him to four successes from nine starts.
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“He’s a really good horse. He could be in that stakes race, but he’s going through his grades,” Smith said.
“He’ll be very hard to beat in that race.
“He could end up in Queensland, for sure. The only thing with him is he needs good ground. His only blemish was on a wet track at Randwick, and he didn’t go on that at all.”
Man Utd academy talent Ethan Ennis has spent a hugely successful season on loan with Fleetwood Town.
Manchester United have activated their option to extend Ethan Ennis’ contract by 12 months. Ennis was out of contract at the end of the season, but he has enjoyed a hugely successful loan with Fleetwood Town.
Ennis has contributed six goals and eight assists for Fleetwood, demonstrating his durability across 45 appearances in League Two. United have been thoroughly impressed with Ennis during his loan stint.
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The Manchester Evening News understands new contract discussions will take place with Ennis this summer, and the youngster will have options on the table, with Championship clubs interested.
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Fleetwood staff were impressed by Ennis’ work ethic from the moment he arrived in Lancashire. That helped him to become a mainstay in their starting XI, and pick up their player of the month award in January.
Ennis is a goalscoring winger by trade. He scored 10 goals in 15 academy appearances for United in the first half of last season before joining Doncaster on loan in January 2025, but he has played at wing-back for Fleetwood.
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The 21-year-old won the FA Youth Cup in his first season in Manchester, playing alongside Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.
United gave Ennis a new deal in the summer of 2024. He played for the first-team in the opening two friendlies of pre-season against Rosenborg and Rangers, but was not included in the United States tour squad.
Ennis spent the second half of 2024/2025 on loan with Doncaster, where he was part of a team that secured promotion.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package
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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
Brendan Sorsby seems more and more likely to be ruled ineligible for the 2026 football season.
That could open the door for BYU to win the Big 12 Championship.
On today’s episode of Locked On College Football, Spencer McLaughlin discusses why Cal’s Spring Game bolsters their status as an ACC sleeper.
The Bears seem to have supported QB Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele quite well.
Washington State has its third head coach in three seasons, entering the new world Pac-12 conference.
Who leads in their QB battle for HC Kirby Moore?
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00:00 Thoughts on BYU and Big 12 04:13 Will Hammond’s injury recovery update 13:10 Cooper Perry on Cal 14:50 Discussing first-year head coaches 18:00 Promising football prospects discussed 20:44 Transfer rules enforcement discussion 23:53 PAC12 media strategy and visibility 27:30 Quarterback race for starting position
For a large swath of golf fans, the rise of LIV Golf has been unsettling. Even if the league does unwind here, and it may not, the damage already done will take years to fix. The billions of petro dollars that the Saudis pumped into the pro game via LIV, too good to be true or sustainable from the start, ultimately revealed a certain opportunism among some of our golfing heroes. The broader pro game has taken a hit.
Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and others blithely broke off from tradition, the tradition that formed them. And for what, $100 million here and $300 million there? Who would have thought their loyalty could be bought at all? Did they not see that LIV Golf, creating this new hybrid model, was way too far removed from traditional tournament golf, the golf on which they were raised? Did they not see that the founding principle of LIV Golf was borrowed from The Dating Game?
We want you. We don’t want you.
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The players who LIV left behind, the stars and near-stars of the PGA Tour, lost their way, too. They have been diminished. They allowed their fearless leaders — commissioner Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods, the Strategic Sports Group investors and, more recently, CEO Brian Rolapp — to dismiss the very thing that made the Tour so singularly attractive: guaranteed nothing. Earn it, earn it, earn it. (I’m surprised that Woods even accepted that lifetime exemption into any event — doesn’t sound like the Tiger of yore.) Earn the right to play in 2026 based on what you did in 2025, that’s golf. Earn the right to play on Saturday and Sunday based on what you did Thursday and Friday. Yep. Has worked forever.
On that basis, Joel Dahmen and Scottie Scheffler started each week as equals. On that basis, every event was a fresh start, with a certain level of meaning (even if it was highly localized) baked into the Thursday starting times. The PGA Tour did not need a for-profit arm. Local charities, a different one every week, provided golf with all the fuel it needed. LIV Golf tried to turn tournament golf into something it is not, a global spectacle, 14 events in 10 countries this year. Just as all politics is local (Tip O’Neill), all fandom is, too. Most fandom is, anyway. The British Open belongs to the world. The Winter and Summer Games, the World Cup, the same. They’re on your calendar and always have been.
LIV Golf played an indirect role in the sunsetting of the PGA Tour’s mark-your-calendar Hawaii stops. (The PGA Tour, as we know it today, has been recreated in LIV Golf’s image, at least to a point.) Swaying palms in winter, swinging golfers underneath them, trying to get the new year off to a good start. The locals put on a show, and the rest of us could watch or not. What was there not to like? More tournaments will be 86ed here, in the name of Rolapp’s scarcity model. Fewer tournaments with fewer players for more money. How is that good for . . . us? Or Joel Dahmen? Joel Dahmen is American/PGA Tour golf every bit as much as Justin Thomas is.
American tournament golf, from the early Ben Hogan years nearly 100 years ago to the rise of young Jordan Spieth a fast decade ago, represented the purest and most civilized form of hunting, of capitalism, of sport. A guy could (in Tour parlance) “stay out” until he played his way off the Tour. It was so . . . manly (before that word had its legs cut off). Also beautiful.
The beautiful game is a lovely and fitting phrase that has been attached to soccer for 60 or 70 years now. The whole world plays fútbol, because all you need is a ball (any ball) and a field (any field). That’s it. The way the ball and the players move through that field is truly beautiful. I only wish we, dues-paying members of the global tribe of golf enthusiasts, had come up with the phrase first. Because golfis a beautiful game, too, simple in theory, confoundingly difficult in practice, played on all manner of fields. Every true golf fan knows what I’m talking about here.
That’s why we have had held the best golfers in the highest esteem. They did what we did, but at a level we could not grasp. Their golf shots were magic tricks. But they also choked like grass-eating dogs on their way to the bottom of the 72nd hole. In one four-day tournament the human experience in all its richness, or close to all, could be revealed. At the biggest events — with the best fields on the most demanding courses — that was even more true. Exhibition golf cannot offer that. The Masters last month surely did.
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Back in the day, pre-LIV, the money the Tour players made was the money the Tour players made, there in agate form for all of us to see. But it never made any particular impression on any of us, except as a convenient shorthand for who was playing best. Yes, the fellas played for large sums of money but also, and much more significantly, handsome and often historic trophies. These men played a game. That’s all they did, and it was enough. Jordan Spieth created 18-hole scores like Paul and John created four-minute songs. They played and played until there was this . . . thing. A song, for the Beatles. A score, for the golfers. A place on the leaderboard. Work? Work was something you did for . . . money. For Jordan and Co. money was just a byproduct. It wasn’t the be-all and end-all. I grew up on Tom Watson. In his prime, he was a difficult and demanding person. He played golf the right way. I was mesmerized by it.
Our golfing heroes played a difficult game well. They played the game we dreamed about playing. That was and should be the glue of the fan-pro relationship. In that context, those LIV teams — the Crushers and the rest — were always going to be a tough sell. Those TGL teams, rosters packed with your favorite PGA Tour stars, the same — a hollow sideshow. Justin Rose down the stretch, spilling his guts out in a futile effort (so far) to win a second major, that’s the beautiful game. Is Justin Rose even on a TGL team? A special prize to anybody who can tell me whether he is — and why you care.
Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, Tony Jacklin and Lee Trevino, Seve, Faldo, Norman, Tiger, young Jordan Spieth, thousands of others, played the beautiful game. If you halved the prize money for which they played, would they have done something else? Of course not. They were like us. First and foremost, they were golfers.
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I don’t fault Greg Norman for having an audacious idea for a global golf tour, and having enough self-belief and charisma to sell it, ultimately, to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, bossman of Saudia Arabia’s enormous national wealth fund, the oddly named Public Investment Fund. (What’s public about it?) The idea of having the best golfers in the world play one another on a more regular basis certainly sounds appealing. American golf fans will watch the British Open, because of its antiquity and to see these treeless royal courses. Japanese golf fans will watch the Masters, because of Augusta National’s lush beauty and the tournament’s social cache. But those events are outliers.
As for the golfers, most are homebodies. They don’t want to play the world. The only way to get them to do it is to pay them and that’s not good or healthy or sustainable. The answer to golf’s future lies in its past. That is, professional golf, played the world over by the best players in the world. The rest of us can get our tee times via the internet. That’s way better than the old system. Shortly after the PIF people made their statement about their LIV Golf exit, a friend happened to send me a photo depicting golfers on a dirt field. The beautiful game.
A Scottish FA investigation, led by sports event consultant Mark Blackbourne, has yet to report to the governing body on the cup tie.
The Ibrox club stressed they had “been clear in condemning the actions of certain individuals on 8 March” and had been “attempting to work with Celtic to mitigate any security concerns for the upcoming match”.
Rangers added that, for the forthcoming match that will help decide who wins a three-pronged title race involving leaders Hearts and the two Old Firm sides, “the removal of away supporters from one of the defining fixtures of the competition would introduce a clear and material sporting imbalance”.
Celtic had demanded the exclusion of a section of the Rangers support they say “identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder”. The club expressed “surprise and disappointment” that Rangers had not agreed to the request and that they were happy to hold discussions with their rivals and the league body.
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The defending champions added their “priority will always be the safety of those attending Celtic Park and, following a detailed risk assessment with regards to the forthcoming match, the club has made a reasonable request of Rangers FC that tickets are not distributed to a section of supporters which very recently and identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder involving Celtic supporters, staff, police and stewards”.
USA Basketball announced their four player roster on Tuesday for the 2026 FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series. The tournament begins on May 1 in Chengdu, China.
USA Basketball’s roster comprises Joyce Edwards, Mikaylah Williams, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Sahara Williams. The college basketball stars will look to guide the basketball powerhouse to a gold medal.
According to USAB.com, more athletes might be added to the roster as the season progresses. This year’s tournament starts with the 3×3 Women’s Series Chengdu event in Chengdu, China. Team USA is in Pool D, and they’ll play against the winner of Qualifying Draw B at 2:00 a.m. ET followed by Australia at 3:40 a.m. ET.
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Team USA’s FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series roster packs NCAA experience
Team USA’s squad is made up of four players from high-level collegiate teams. Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley play for the LSU Tigers, Joyce Edwards is the leading scorer for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and Sahara Williams stars for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Edwards played for the 2025 3×3 Nations League Team, which went 14-2 en route to winning the Americas Conference title. She’s won three gold medals with Team USA.
Fulwiley suited up alongside Edwards at the 2025 3×3 Nations League. The LSU Tigers guard was also part of the 2025 USA Basketball 3×3 development camp in Phoenix.
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Mikaylah Williams was a member of the 3×3 World Cup Team that finished sixth in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She did contribute in the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup gold medal win.
Sahara Williams played with Mikaylah Williams at the 2025 3×3 World Cup. She’s also a two-time gold medalist at the 3×3 U18 World Cup Teams in 2022 and 2023.
The Team USA quartet will fancy their chances. If they win their upcoming games, they’ll be set for the quarterfinals and semifinals on May 2.
Further down their calendar is the 3×3 Women’s Series Manila, May 6-8, in Manila, Philippines. Other dates will be announced in due time.
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Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey – who is NCAAW’s highest-paid coach? Find out here
Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course hosted its first PGA Tour round in 10 years on Thursday at the 2026 Cadillac Championship. While the course used to present a difficult challenge to the best golfers in the world, that was not the case in Round 1.
Those stars called it “straightforward,” and described it as “right in front of you” and “not super tricky,” all of which suggests some of the “Monster” has been taken out of the Blue Monster course.
Stars go low at Trump Doral: ‘Right in front of you, they don’t hide anything’
While many players went low in the opening round of the Cadillac Championship, none went lower than Young. The 2026 Players Champion fired an eight-under 64 on Thursday to take the early lead.
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Despite windy conditions, Young’s round featured eight birdies and, most notably, zero bogeys.
While Young called the Blue Monster a “good solid golf course” after his round, he also described the challenge it presents as “pretty much right in front of you,” that it “doesn’t hide anything,” that “learning the course wasn’t a huge deal” and that the greens are not “particularly firm.”
“Yeah I think it’s pretty much right in front of you for the most part. I think most of the tee shots are pretty apparent, which is what good courses give you,” Young said of Trump Doral’s Blue Monster. “I think it doesn’t try to hide anything. So learning the course wasn’t a huge deal… I think you can be pretty aggressive into a lot of the greens. They’re not particularly firm.”
He continued: “I think it’s a good solid golf course. Right in front of you, they don’t hide anything. It’s kind of what you want.”
Scheffler didn’t fare as well as Young on Thursday. Surprisingly, Scheffler was only able to get to one under through his first 18 holes, though that’s a first-round trend he’s experienced this season.
Despite not having the best day, Scheffler did not suggest that the course was any harder than Young had.
Scheffler called it “straightforward” and said that the course does not demand “a ton of strategy” or a “ton of decisions off the tee.”
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“I think a golf course like this there’s, this golf course is I don’t want to say straightforward, but most of it is in front of you. You can see what you need to do and there’s not a ton of like strategy, I don’t know if that’s the right word,” Scheffler said on Thursday. “There’s not a ton of decisions off the tee. There’s some lines and stuff and maybe some areas you can play from if you’re not playing your best, but outside of that it’s like you can definitely learn enough from a couple of days.”
Spieth admitted he only played one 9-hole practice round at the Blue Monster to prepare for this week, not counting Wednesday’s pro-am. Despite that, Spieth shot a seven-under 65 on Thursday to get within one shot of Young.
When asked to explain why he was able to perform so well on a course he’d barely seen, Spieth said “it’s not super tricky,” and then elaborated on his opinion.
“It’s not super tricky. During the pro-am you’re still looking, all right, here’s this corner. Michael is saying, Hey, check this is out. This pin will be in the middle of the greens in the pro-am, and you’re like there were some I wanted to see and write down the grain changes, when you’re hitting a wedge into this one, just nerdy stuff that helped knowing on a few of the pins.”
He continued: “It’s not tricky, so it was more just getting back out and recognizing what do I need to prioritize on the range, what shots am I really going to have throughout the week versus others. And you have quite a few long irons, more long irons than I think you have a lot of other places and so I’ve been trying to prioritize kind of up the bag getting good control of those clubs and I did today.”
Brian Harman, the 2023 Open champion, shared a different opinion, calling the Blue Monster course “very difficult.”
“I never played here. So it’s my first look at it. It’s very difficult especially coming in, 17, 18 with the wind blowing a little bit now. There is, 18’s as hard of a finishing hole as I can think of,” Harman said. “It’s very difficult because if you’re out of position there’s really not a lot of spots that are very easy to get up-and-down from. So it’s like you really need to drive it good and then you really need to iron it good and then make some putts. So if you’re out of position it’s tough. But I got fortunate.”
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But despite his opinion on the course’s difficulty, Harman went out a shot a four-under 68 on Day 1. His round was also bogey-free.
Nov 24, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Brian O’Neill (75) celebrates the win after the game against the New England Patriots at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports.
Back in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings did tremendously well when opting for Pittsburgh’s Brian O’Neill in the late 2nd. He has since been a fantastic player who is rightly regarded as a cornerstone player.
Is that soon to change?
Recent seasons have seen the Vikings investing in the offensive line. Last year, the move was to launch a total renovation of the interior offensive line. Welcoming all of LG1 Donovan Jackson (1st Round), C1 Ryan Kelly (FA), and RG1 Will Fries (FA) meant that the front five was going to be formidable. The issue? Some combination of injury, underperformance, and a poor approach to the offense’s play calling.
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The crew is now largely similar moving into 2026. Mr. Kelly has been subtracted, stepping away from football altogether due to retirement. Blake Brandel is the leader in the clubhouse for the starting center job as continuity reigns.
Any chance, though, that the upcoming season is the final one for Mr. O’Neill in the Twin Cities?
The Vikings, Brian O’Neill, & The Evolving OL
The veteran can still play. However, Minnesota has made an effort to reinforce the tackle depth.
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Back in March, the decision was to opt for Buffalo’s Ryan Van Demark. Doing so signalled the end of Justin Skule as the main backup at offensive tackle. Taken in isolation, the Van Demark deal is about the OT3 spot and little else. Good chance, folks, that that perspective still has plenty of merit.
Nov 23, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman (51) and offensive tackle Brian O’Neill (75) take the field prior to a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images.
But then there was the decision to choose OT Caleb Tiernan in the 2026 NFL Draft. Doing so has some importance both now and in the future.
Many draft nerds felt as though Tiernan should have gone much higher than No. 97. Consider what Lance Zierlein had to say in his scouting report: “Highly experienced college tackle who is likely to kick inside due to a lack of length that affects his protection projection. Tiernan is tall but carries the denseness of frame and core strength of a guard. Feet feature good initial quickness and he takes excellent angles on the move. He often finds early positioning advantages as a base blocker but lacks the anchor and play strength to consistently fortify/sustain. Leaky edges in pass pro will be less concerning with smaller spaces to patrol, while his punch timing and lateral quickness provide advantages. ‘Solid’ feels like the ceiling for Tiernan as a guard/swing tackle who can eventually elevate into a starting role.”
Plenty of optimism within that assessment even if there’s some skepticism about how high the rookie’s upside is. Mr. Zierlein knows far more about draft prospects than yours truly, but it’s not hard to see why Minnesota holds the newcomer in high regard.
Tiernan is a 6’8″ monster with impressive athleticism and compete. So, too, is he defiant in his insistence that he can play despite criticisms about his arm length (or lack thereof). Similarly notable is that he has spent plenty of time watching Brian O’Neill as someone who grew up watching NFC North football. Quite possibly, Tiernan will be O’Neill’s replacement in the future.
Rolling into 2026, Brian O’Neill is the locked-in starter at right tackle. His cap charge sits at a beefy $23,115,657 (OTC). Cutting him (not going to happen) means freeing north of $19 million whereas an extension can free beyond $14 million.
Is that extension still going to happen? Many thought the Vikings would do a deal already (myself included), but Brian O’Neill is moving into his final season under contract.
Very little drop off, if any at all, has been evident in O’Neill’s game. What’s worth noting, though, is that he’s going to turn 31 in September and has had some injuries in recent seasons. Partnering those basic ideas with being expensive at least opens the possibility of the Vikings moving on, especially since the roster boasts possible replacements.
The NFL truly is a place where actions speak louder than words. Extending O’Neill would silence a lot of the external chatter. Indeed, that would be a tangible action that clarifies Minnesota’s intention to continue working with the veteran right tackle.
On the other end of things has been the tangible decisions that have been taken. Minnesota made it a priority to bring in Ryan Van Demark, made evident in the aggressive RFA contract. There was then the real decision to draft a young, huge offensive tackle who can sit for a season behind Minnesota’s well-established starters.
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Dec 5, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Brian O’Neill (75) leads his team to the field to play the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
Another sneaky detail: Walter Rouse is still in town. He appears to be pretty far down the depth chart after getting scooped up in the 6th of the 2024 NFL Draft, but he’s on the roster competing.
Combined, that’s a trio of OT options who are all pressing on O’Neill.
Of course, there’s the possibility that one of those OTs starts pushing Christian Darrisaw for work, but that’s harder to foresee given the LT1’s youth, upside, and contract that extends for many more years. Indeed, Darrisaw just saw his deal restructured, pushing cap charges into the future. Does it make sense to push money into the future before then cutting him?
Brian O’Neill, 30, stands at 6’7″ and weighs 310 pounds. He remains a rugged, athletic player who is far better than given credit for within league-wide assessments of top tackles. There’s zero debate about his starting job for the upcoming season but there’s plenty of in-house competition thereafter.
Washington State has its third head coach in three seasons, entering the new world Pac-12 conference. 
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