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Transfer rumors, news: Man United ready to move for Davies

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Manchester United are interested in signing Bayern Munich left back Alphonso Davies, while Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández is open to joining Real Madrid. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.

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TRENDING RUMORS

Manchester United are interested in signing Bayern Munich left back Alphonso Davies, as reported by Bild’s Christian Falk. United want to bring in competition for Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu, with Tyrell Malacia expected to leave. Davies, 25, snubbed a move to Real Madrid when signed a new contract until 2030 last year, but Bayern could now be willing to listen to offers for the Canada international due to his recent injury record, as he is currently out with a hamstring injury just two months after returning from a cruciate ligament tear. However, the Red Devils haven’t made a concrete offer yet despite their long-term interest.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández is open to joining Real Madrid and would consider it a dream move, reports TalkSPORT. Fernandez, 25, cast doubt over his future last week and he has been linked with Los Blancos, Paris Saint-Germain and Al Ittihad, though the Argentina international doesn’t want to move to Saudi Arabia at this stage of his career. Fernandez was reported to be disappointed by the manner of former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca’s exit and is ready to leave this summer, with a switch to LaLiga being his first choice.

Arsenal are doing extensive groundwork over the signing of Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi but Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea are also keen, according to TEAMtalk. Bouaddi has already made 90 appearances for the Ligue 1 club, despite only being 18, and scouts from the Gunners and Liverpool were in attendance for Lille’s 2-1 win against Marseille.

Barcelona are monitoring Juventus left back Andrea Cambiaso, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. Luciano Spalletti sees the 26-year-old as a key player and he has a contract that runs until 2029, so Juve value his transfer at €50 million and are unlikely to consider any offers under that figure. Cambiaso has previously been linked with Manchester City but an approach from Barcelona could tempt him.

– Talks have already taken place between Borussia Dortmund and the representatives of Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, says Sky Sports Deutschland. BVB president Hans-Joachim Watzke is the driving force behind the Bundesliga club’s efforts to bring Sancho back to club, just five years after letting him move to Old Trafford for €85 million. Sancho, 25, hasn’t settled at United and has been on loan at Dortmund, Chelsea and now Aston Villa. He is out of contract in the summer and has received numerous offers, while Dortmund believe the winger would be willing to take a pay cut to re-join them.

EXPERT TAKE

ESPN’s Rob Dawson on Manchester United’s transfer needs.

Signing a new left back is not a priority for Man United this summer. The aim in the transfer window is to sign a central midfielder — potentially two — and a left winger. If targets are secured quickly, and there is budget left over, it’s possible that United may look at other areas of the squad. Left back and center back would be next on the list.

In terms of left back, Malacia will leave on a free transfer at the end of the season and there are questions internally about whether Dorgu’s future is as a full back or if he’s better used further forward. Shaw will stay, but there are doubts about whether he can play two games a week in a season which is likely to include European football, while young Harry Amass could act as Shaw’s understudy.

The other option is to bring someone else in. Davies has been looked at in the past and he has admirers within United’s recruitment department. The issue, though, is how that deal would be financed if the bulk of the summer money is going to be used on central midfielders.

OTHER RUMORS

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Why Griezmann move ‘makes sense’ for Orlando City and MLS

Ale Moreno talks about Antoine Griezmann’s reported move from Atletico Madrid to MLS side Orlando City.

– Manchester United and Chelsea could step up their interest in Morgan Rogers despite Aston Villa demanding a fee of £100 million to sign the attacking midfielder. (Football Insider)

– Luciano Spalletti has requested for Juventus to sign Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva and Paris Saint-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani (who is currently on loan at Tottenham Hotspur from PSG) in addition to renewing Dusan Vlahovic‘s contract. (Gazzetta dello Sport)

– Aston Villa and Newcastle United have made early contact to explore the conditions of a possible transfer for Internazionale forward Marcus Thuram. (Caught Offside)

– Manchester United and Newcastle United had scouts at Monaco’s 2-1 win over Olympique Lyonnais to watch Maghnes Akliouche and Lamine Camara. (TEAMtalk)

Vinicius Junior is earning a “renewal by public demand” and a new contract for the star winger is “closer than ever” thanks to his performances in recent days, with president Florentino Perez considering him essential for the club. (AS)

Fabian Ruiz has a verbal agreement over a contract extension at Paris Saint-Germain. The Spain international has been tracked by Real Madrid and Barcelona in the past, but is happy at PSG, where he’s formed an elite midfield partnership with Vitinha and Joao Neves. (AS)

– Atletico Madrid want to speed up Marcos Llorente‘s contract renewal but the player is in no hurry. The Spain international, 31, recently suggested that he would consider retiring in the medium term to pursue other interests outside football. (Cadena SER)

– Atletico Madrid don’t want to pay the €32 million clause to make Nico Gonzalez’s loan from Juventus permanent (Cadena SER).

– Borussia Dortmund could move for Hoffenheim striker Fisnik Asllani if Serhou Guirassy leaves. (Sky Sports Deutschland)

– Bayern Munich want to offload Joao Palhinha to another Premier League club if Tottenham Hotspur don’t take up their option to permanently sign the midfielder after his loan. (Christian Falk)

Marc Casado isn’t currently considering leaving Barcelona despite being tempted by a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia. (Mundo Deportivo)

Nathan Ake looks set to leave Manchester City due to the signing of Marc Guehi in January. (Football Insider)

– Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have recently sent scouts to watch Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile. (Nicolo Schira)

– AC Milan had a scout at Lazio’s 2-0 win against Bologna to watch Santiago Castro and Mario Gila. (Nicolo Schira)

– Fulham have informed AC Milan that they intend to trigger the €24 million option to permanently sign winger Samuel Chukwueze. (Gazzetta dello Sport)

– Napoli and Roma are monitoring FC Salzburg winger Kerim Alajbegovic, with Bayer Leverkusen set to trigger their €8 million clause to re-sign him. (Nicolo Schira)

– Clubs from the Premier League and LaLiga have already made approaches for Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson. (Fabrizio Romano)

– Schalke, Hannover and Union Berlin are all interested in Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka. (TEAMtalk)

– Borussia Monchengladbach hold a concrete interest in Karlsruher left back David Herold. (Florian Plettenberg)



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How Trump’s economic policies are widening America’s wealth gap

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Now, at 30, Pinkham owns a home in the Seattle area and is planning to build an expensive addition. When he and his wife think about having kids, he said child care costs aren’t a major concern, and if he were to lose his job, he’d have enough savings to get by for years.

But he still has a negative view of the economy, based on what he’s hearing from friends and family.

“There are a lot of people whose incomes don’t go up when the stock market goes up,” said Pinkham, who votes for Democrats. “For me personally, I’m doing fine. But then you look at the macro numbers, and I don’t think it’s in a good place.”

The Trump administration’s regulatory cuts, along with tax breaks for corporations in last year’s tax law, sent stocks to record highs last year. Those heavily invested in technology companies are gaining the most — just seven tech companies, including Amazon and Meta, were responsible for 40% of the gains last year in the S&P 500.

While most Americans have some investment in the stock market, a disproportionate share of gains have gone to the wealthy, with the richest 10% of households owning around 90% of all stocks, according to Federal Reserve data.

Those same households were responsible for around half of all consumer spending in 2025, the highest rate since at least 1989, according to Moody’s Analytics. Wealthy households also buoyed the housing market and new car sales over the past year. Walmart said last month that most of its growth was coming from households making more than $100,000.

Jeremy Kregar, 23, considers himself lucky among his group of college friends. He’s making $21 an hour working for an optometrist in Portland, Oregon, where he has relatively affordable rent of $1,000 a month.

But his paycheck barely covers his bills, including payments on his $20,000 student loan. Some days, he said he’s skipped meals because he can’t afford groceries and earns too much to qualify for food stamps. The idea of owning a home, saving for retirement or building an emergency savings fund seems hopeless, he said.

“Based on my lived reality, and that of my friends, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s doing better. It seems like everyone’s actually doing worse,” Kregar said. “It feels like we’re being gaslit by the government.”

Among the ways Trump has affected Americans’ bottom line is through his tariffs, which have driven up retail prices, said Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, who worked in the George W. Bush administration. Higher prices disproportionately affect those with less disposable income to absorb price hikes.

The tariffs “are hurting the bottom end much more than the upper end,” Holtz-Eakin said. “And they have been responsible for a lot of headwinds to the labor market.”

The slowing job market is putting significant pressure on households. Wages aren’t rising as quickly as in recent years, and employers have pulled back on hiring. The U.S. added just 584,000 jobs in 2025, the worst year for hiring since Covid. And most of the growth was driven by a handful of industries, like health care and education.

Economists have blamed this on factors including higher costs and uncertainty from tariffs, overhiring by companies after the pandemic, and the increasing use of robotics and AI.

“We’ve seen essentially no job growth. If you look outside of health and education, we lost jobs in 2025,” Holtz-Eakin said. “It’s not a strong labor market. People are not getting hired.”

Measuring Trump’s moves

The economy was once Trump’s strongest selling point: He centered his 2016 campaign on a fight for working-class voters. Once he was in office, wage growth accelerated for the lowest-paid workers and unemployment fell to the lowest level in decades, prior to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

But in his second term, Trump’s approval rating on the economy has been slipping.

A White House official said the administration aims to follow a similar playbook to Trump’s first term: using tax cuts and regulatory changes to spur investment, along with a crackdown on immigration, which the administration believes will tighten the labor market and drive up wages.

“Much work remains, but this is just the beginning,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an email, adding, “Americans can rest assured that the best is yet to come.”

Trump has proposed some programs designed to help lower households’ costs, such as a cap on credit card interest payments and a 50-year mortgage that would reduce monthly payments. Many of the proposals haven’t been enacted.

Other moves, like price cuts on a limited number of prescription drugs, will benefit some people — but could be offset by higher health insurance costs after Congress failed to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Some programs will take years to have an effect, like Trump-branded savings accounts for young children. The federal government will deposit $1,000 into the accounts, which will be invested in the stock market and converted to retirement accounts when children turn 18. Assuming the stock market continues growing at about 10% a year, that $1,000 would become about $5,500 in 18 years. The amount could grow substantially more if families are able to make the maximum contribution of $5,000 a year, which benefits wealthier households.

Trump’s most direct impact on Americans’ finances may come as they file their taxes; many households will see a bigger refund thanks to Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” signed into law last summer. Middle-income households may benefit from a reduction in taxes on overtime pay, and some older adults will get a tax break on their Social Security income.

But the biggest gains in new tax cuts will go to wealthier households, including those who own businesses or expensive homes in states with high property taxes and those who receive multimillion-dollar inheritances. The law also extends tax cuts made during Trump’s first term that were set to expire.

“There are things in the bill like no tax on tips, but they are much, much smaller” compared with interventions that help the wealthy, like the estate tax, said Owen Zidar, an economics professor at Princeton University.

He pointed to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center that found households making $460,000 to $1.1 million would get an average tax cut of $21,000 in 2026. Meanwhile, middle-income households making $67,000 to $119,000 would get an average tax cut of about $1,800.

Those breaks come on top of decades of tax cuts, like those for business owners enacted during Trump’s first term, that have benefited the richest households and enabled them to continue amassing more wealth, Zidar said.

Meanwhile, those like Liz Doyle in Oklahoma have continued to struggle to afford the basics.

Doyle, 67, who voted for Trump, said rising prices for everything from coffee to insulin are straining her monthly budget, nearly all of which comes from Social Security.

“The grocery prices are absolutely freaking ridiculous,” Doyle said. “Coffee prices, what in the world?”

Her property taxes have quadrupled over the past two years, she said. She doesn’t have a 401(k) and only owns a small amount of stocks, so she hasn’t benefited much from the market’s surge. Occasionally, she sells some vegetables, like okra, from her garden at the local farmers market for extra income.

“President Trump has done so much better than Biden,” said Doyle, who cited the lower rate of inflation under Trump. “But the question is: Is Trump that good, or was Biden that bad?”

Kregar, who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, said his experience in the economy since graduating from college that year has shifted his views further toward Democrats.

“Every time I go to the grocery store, I’m filled with dread,” Kregar said. “Meanwhile, we’re going to build a White House ballroom? It feels like, as an American, a slap in the face.”



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2026 UNM Football Pro Day featured 15 NFL Scouts 

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – UNM Football held its annual Pro Day on Monday. Fifteen NFL Scouts were in attendance, evaluating fifteen former UNM football players, and two more from New Mexico Highlands. There are a handful of former Lobos that have a strong chance of playing at the next level, and two players, in particular, stood out […]



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Puig’s Shares Leap on Potential Estee Lauder Merger

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The stock surged after the company and Estee Lauder confirmed they were in talks over a possible merger, which would combine two of the world’s biggest beauty companies.



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TGL Finals: Los Angeles Golf Club battles back to edge Jupiter Links in Match 1

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The first match of the TGL Finals went the way of Los Angeles Golf Club, which battled through a back-and-forth match with Jupiter Links to win 6-5. LAGC now takes a 1-0 series lead into Tuesday night’s finale, set to feature as many as two matches (if necessary) to determine the league’s second champion.

Los Angeles winning Match 2, set for 7 p.m. ET, would give the club its first TGL title. Jupiter will need to win twice on Tuesday to claim the championship in comeback fashion.

The de facto home team will get a major boost for that match, as captain Tiger Woods announced he will be in the lineup and play for the first time all season, making his return from back surgery in October 2025 to help Jupiter try and keep its season alive. 

Monday night’s Match 1 was not exactly a dazzling display of golfing excellence, as both teams took turns making sloppy mistakes that cost them points. 

LAGC took an early 1-0 lead, but Jupiter moved back in front 2-1 after Sahith Theegala and Tommy Fleetwood missed putts to tie from inside 4 feet on back-to-back holes. Justin Rose picked them up on the 8th hole with a chip-in birdie from 35 feet after both teams missed the green to tie the match going to the final hole of triples. 

Jupiter went back up, 3-2, on the par-5 9th hole after Theegala found a waste bunker off the tee that forced a layup, and LAGC decided to decline a hammer thrown by Jupiter after reaching the greenside area in two. 

In singles, Rose continued to keep L.A. in the match, tying the affair 3-3 with a win over Max Homa on the first hole after Homa took his turn missing a short putt, lipping out a 3-footer for the tie. Tommy Fleetwood gave L.A. a 4-3 lead on the next hole after Tom Kim hit a woeful drive way off line, forcing a layup on the long par 4, Alpine. He went into rough, and L.A. threw a hammer that was declined. 

However, that lead was short-lived after Theegala missed the giant ramp on the par 3, Cenote, and went in the water. Kevin Kisner finally hit a good shot that ramped to 6 feet from the cup, and L.A. conceded after Theegala put his third into the bunker to even the match once again at 4-4. 

Jupiter reclaimed the lead on the 13th after Homa drove the green and Rose missed the latest short putt for birdie, giving Jupiter a 5-4 lead. 

After some scratchy golf, the best sequence of the match arrived on the short par 3, Cliffhanger. Kim stuffed his tee shot to 6 feet before Woods threw the hammer, forcing L.A. into a tough decision. A loss on the hole would drop the match, but if they declined, the best they could do on the last hole is force sudden death. They accepted, and Fleetwood tucked a wedge inside Kim’s tee shot to flip the pressure. 

Both players made their birdie putts, and the match shifted to the final hole with Jupiter up 5-4. L.A. threw the hammer before the tee shots, turning it into a two-point hole to give them a chance at the win if Theegala could beat Kisner on a par 5, where he had a significant length advantage. 

That played out to L.A.’s favor, especially after Kisner’s 3 wood off the tee ran through into the rough, while Theegala carried the cross bunker with driver to leave an iron in. Kisner chunked a 7 wood from the rough into the rough again, and Theegala found the green. After Theegala left his eagle putt just short, Kisner nearly chipped in for a birdie to tie the hole and win the match, but it slid by on the left side and gave L.A. the 1-0 lead going into Tuesday night. 

Both teams will hope to be better when meeting in Match 2. As Homa so astutely stated on the 12th hole, “This is an awful match,” but in the spirit of March Madness, it was close despite poor execution, and thus, made for an exciting finish. 

Kisner did produce one of the best shots of the night with his tee shot on Cenote, but he otherwise struggled. He certainly wasn’t the only culprit in Jupiter failing to close out the match, as both Kim and Homa left shots out there at the SoFi Center on Monday night. After the rough opener, Jupiter will make a major lineup adjustment for Tuesday’s action with Woods stepping into the lineup for the first time this season. 

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Jupiter is that L.A. likely won’t play as poorly as they did in the first match either, as all three of Rose, Theegala and Fleetwood had their struggles. Theegala was wild with the driver on a few occasions, and none of them were sharp with the putter, but they were still able to grind out a win and take control of the best-of-three Finals. 





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Trump postpones deadline to strike Iranian power plants amid hope for peace deal

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In the middle of the latest wave of the air strikes across Iran, there was a sudden about-face from President Trump, postponing for five days a deadline to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants in order to break the country’s siege on the Strait of Hormuz. Charlie D’Agata has the latest.



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Police in Iowa close to solving 47-year-old cold case

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Ames, Iowa, police say they have received new information in the 1979 disappearance of Ronald Westwick.Westwick, 34 at the time, left his parents’ home in Ellsworth on March 12, 1979, telling them he was going to a bar in Ames and that he would be home later that night. He never returned and was never found.The case has been cold for decades.But recently, police say there has been new information come to light.”There’s no question in this case; we believe there are still people out there that have answers or have information about this case,” Maj. Dan Walter with the Ames Police Department said. “We did have some people reach out that maybe hadn’t spoke to us before.”For Westwick’s relatives, hope has endured despite the decades.Jerry Greenfield remembers her cousin as someone who loved to make others laugh.”In some respects, he was quiet, but he loved to be funny,” she said. “And at our school dances, he was probably one of the best dancers in our school, which was very small, so the girls would kind of line up to get to be able to dance with him.”Greenfield also remembers the night Westwick went missing.”He told his parents he was going to be home very shortly; he was just going to go down and shoot some pool or play some games at one of the establishments down there,” she said.Greenfield said an investigator contacted her last year to ask her more questions about Westwick and requested a DNA sample.She said closure remains the family’s priority. Even more so than justice.”If they would find his remains, there is a plot ready for him to be buried next to his parents, and I really would like to do that,” Greenfield said.Ames police have not released details of the new tips, but say they believe the case is one that can be put to bed.”Do I think this case will be solved or can be solved? Absolutely. We can never say with 100% certainty, but I think that the facts and the evidence in this case can lead us to a conclusion,” Walters said.If you have any information about Westwick’s disappearance, you’re asked to call Ames police at 515-239-5133 or the anonymous tip line at 515-239-5533.

Ames, Iowa, police say they have received new information in the 1979 disappearance of Ronald Westwick.

Westwick, 34 at the time, left his parents’ home in Ellsworth on March 12, 1979, telling them he was going to a bar in Ames and that he would be home later that night. He never returned and was never found.

The case has been cold for decades.

But recently, police say there has been new information come to light.

“There’s no question in this case; we believe there are still people out there that have answers or have information about this case,” Maj. Dan Walter with the Ames Police Department said. “We did have some people reach out that maybe hadn’t spoke to us before.”

For Westwick’s relatives, hope has endured despite the decades.

Jerry Greenfield remembers her cousin as someone who loved to make others laugh.

“In some respects, he was quiet, but he loved to be funny,” she said. “And at our school dances, he was probably one of the best dancers in our school, which was very small, so the girls would kind of line up to get to be able to dance with him.”

Greenfield also remembers the night Westwick went missing.

“He told his parents he was going to be home very shortly; he was just going to go down and shoot some pool or play some games at one of the establishments down there,” she said.

Greenfield said an investigator contacted her last year to ask her more questions about Westwick and requested a DNA sample.

She said closure remains the family’s priority. Even more so than justice.

“If they would find his remains, there is a plot ready for him to be buried next to his parents, and I really would like to do that,” Greenfield said.

Ames police have not released details of the new tips, but say they believe the case is one that can be put to bed.

“Do I think this case will be solved or can be solved? Absolutely. We can never say with 100% certainty, but I think that the facts and the evidence in this case can lead us to a conclusion,” Walters said.

If you have any information about Westwick’s disappearance, you’re asked to call Ames police at 515-239-5133 or the anonymous tip line at 515-239-5533.



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Revolut Reports Jump in Profit on Higher Customer Numbers

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The digital bank said its expanding customer base and diversified revenue streams lifted pretax profit to £1.7 billion in 2025, up from £1.1 billion the year prior.



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How Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s contract extension impacts Seahawks

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The Seattle Seahawks made Jaxon Smith-Njigba the NFL’s highest-paid receiver on Monday — and they did it without a whiff of the acrimony that came with other megadeals in their recent past.

The last time they made a nonspecialist the top-paid player at his position, it ended a monthslong contract dispute with safety Jamal Adams, who sat out the first three weeks of training camp in 2021.

In 2019, linebacker Bobby Wagner staged his own offseason hold-in while awaiting a top-of-the-market deal. It got done early in training camp, but with Wagner serving as his own agent, negotiations with one of the best players in franchise history got awkward.

Earlier that same year, quarterback Russell Wilson set an April 15 deadline for an extension, saying he’d play out the final year of his deal if a new one wasn’t secured by then. General manager John Schneider had to bounce between draft meetings and the negotiating table before an agreement was reached at the 11th hour to make Wilson the highest-paid player in the NFL.

There was no such drama between the Seahawks and Smith-Njigba, 24, as the two sides worked toward a deal that tops Wilson’s for the richest in team history. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, it’s a four-year, $168.6 million extension that includes over $120 million in guarantees.

Given the history, that a contract of this magnitude got done as quickly as it did might be surprising. At the same time, it makes sense given the player in question.

Smith-Njigba is an embodiment of the “Mission Over Bulls—“ mantra the Seahawks adopted last season during their run to Super Bowl LX. Those who know Smith-Njigba well say he’s genuinely more invested in the team’s success than his personal accomplishments.

After leading the NFL in receiving in 2025, making his second straight Pro Bowl and being named AP Offensive Player of the Year, Smith-Njigba helped the Seahawks claim the second Lombardi Trophy in the franchise’s history.

Now he has a record-setting contract to go with it.

NFL Nation Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson and senior NFL national reporters Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano break down what Smith-Njigba’s deal means for the Seahawks … and a rival West Coast receiver who is also waiting for an extension.

Why did the Seahawks extend JSN now, after exercising his fifth-year option last week?

The Seahawks always planned to pick up Smith-Njigba’s fifth-year option and negotiate an extension. The timing of this deal, though, is atypical for an organization that usually waits until later in the offseason to work out extensions, as was the case in recent years with players such as right tackle Abraham Lucas (2025), safety Julian Love (2024), outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (2023) and wide receiver DK Metcalf (2022).

Perhaps the Seahawks were motivated to get ahead of the wide receiver market, securing an extension for Smith-Njigba lest they wait and have to top whatever number Puka Nacua gets on his megadeal from the Los Angeles Rams. — Henderson


What does this mean for CB Devon Witherspoon and subsequent moves for Seattle?

With the Smith-Njigba deal done, expect the Seahawks to turn their attention to an extension for Witherspoon, a fellow 2023 first-round pick and a tone setter on the NFL’s top-ranked scoring defense. Seattle also picked up Witherspoon’s fifth-year option last week at a projected cost of around $21.12 million for 2027.

The Rams gave Trent McDuffie a four-year, $124 million extension after acquiring him in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs — which complicates things for the Seahawks. The deal makes McDuffie the league’s top-paid corner at an average of $31 million per season, a number Witherspoon is now in position to top.

Witherspoon’s résumé is stronger than McDuffie’s, with an initial-ballot Pro Bowl berth in each of his first three seasons. Had it not been for running back Kenneth Walker III totaling 161 yards in Super Bowl LX, Witherspoon — with a sack and another hit that led to a pick-six — might have been the game’s MVP.

Seattle may have already been prepared to make Witherspoon the game’s top-paid corner, but McDuffie’s deal raised that benchmark.

That helps explain the restraint the Seahawks showed in free agency seemingly in preparation for these extensions. While they were never expected to make serious efforts to keep cornerback Riq Woolen or outside linebacker Boye Mafe, they also let Walker and safety Coby Bryant walk for deals they could have fit under their cap.

But it’s one thing to have enough cap space. Teams also need cash, and the Seahawks — assuming they extend Witherspoon — will be committing a ton of it up front in the form of signing bonuses for two top-of-the-market deals. — Henderson


Could QB Sam Darnold get a new deal, too?

Not until next year. Darnold certainly has a case for a raise. The $33.5 million average of the three-year, $100.5 million deal he signed as a free agent last March ranks 15th in terms of annual salaries for quarterbacks. It’s a bargain for a QB coming off a Pro Bowl season and a Super Bowl victory.

But the Seahawks do not extend contracts with more than one season remaining — a nonnegotiable team policy on which they’ve held firm over the years. That’s why it was a nonstarter when their previous quarterback, Geno Smith, wanted a new deal in 2024, as he was entering the second season of a three-year deal.

When asked at the NFL combine if Darnold could get an extension this offseason, Schneider stated, “Sam signed a three-year deal.”

Technically, Smith-Njigba had two years remaining on his rookie contract once his option was exercised, as does Witherspoon. But Schneider has clarified that option years don’t apply to the team’s rule. — Henderson


What does this mean for Rams’ discussions with Nacua?

The impact is immense. Smith-Njigba and Nacua are 2023 draft mates with similar production through three NFL seasons. (Smith-Njigba has the receptions edge and a slight win in receiving touchdowns, 20 to 19, but Nacua has more yards.)

There’s no question that Nacua and his agents will use Smith-Njigba’s benchmark as a suitable comp, but getting there might not be easy. The Rams aren’t afraid of tough negotiations. They made Aaron Donald hold out years ago in order to get his deal and dangled a trade for Matthew Stafford last offseason before eventually sweetening his deal.

Nacua and the Rams have plenty of time to execute a potential extension and there’s no real rush. But Smith-Njigba’s contract definitely helps Nacua — unless Los Angeles finds the ballooning receiver market, which is up about 280% over the past decade, untenable. The flip side: The Rams identified Nacua as a star very early in his career and knew this day was coming. — Fowler


Is JSN’s contract structured to limit the immediate payout with eventual new ownership in mind?

The structure is favorable for the team, but I don’t think it’s because the team is being sold. In talking to people with knowledge of this and other Seahawks negotiations this offseason, I’ve been told the pending new ownership change has no impact on the business the Seahawks are doing right now.

The Seahawks have very rigid principles when it comes to veteran contract negotiations. Specifically, they do not guarantee any money outside of the first year of the deal. In the case of Smith-Njigba, however, he already had $23.852 million fully guaranteed for 2027 because they’d picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. This is why his 2027 money is guaranteed at signing in an apparent departure from the Seahawks’ self-imposed rules.

Seattle will pay Smith-Njigba $36.5 million in 2026 — a $35 million signing bonus, a $1.25 million base salary and a $250,000 workout bonus. They’ll pay him $32.63 million in 2027, including a $30 million option bonus, a $1.53 million salary, a $250,000 workout bonus and $850,000 in per-game roster bonuses (assuming he plays all 17 games in 2027). After that, the 2028 money is guaranteed for injury only and doesn’t become fully guaranteed until five days after Super Bowl 62, which is scheduled to be played in February 2028.

It’s also interesting to note how the Smith-Njigba structure fits into the Seahawks’ overall payroll picture. The extension they did for left tackle Charles Cross earlier this year included a $25 million signing bonus and a $15 million 2026 option bonus, plus an additional $8 million option bonus in 2028.

Smith-Njigba’s contract includes option bonuses in 2027 and 2029, staggering them on the odd years while Cross’ are in the even years, presumably to even out the year-to-year cash spend. Given the Seahawks appear to have adopted an every-other-year option bonus structure in these big-money deals, it’ll be interesting to see which years of the inevitable Witherspoon extension include big option bonuses.

That’s a long way of saying no but also illustrating the ways in which the Seahawks have structured this deal as part of an overall cap management and cash budgeting process that will help the current owners as well as the eventual new ones. — Graziano



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Denmark votes in an early election that follows a crisis over US designs on Greenland

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish voters went to the polls Tuesday in a general election, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen seeking a third term at the helm of the Scandinavian country after a standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump over the future of the kingdom’s semiautonomous territory of Greenland.

More than 4.3 million people are eligible to have their say in the vote for the new Folketing, or parliament, in Copenhagen, which is elected for a four-year term.

Frederiksen called the election last month, going to the country several months before she had to in apparent hopes that her resolute image in the crisis over Greenland would help her with voters in the European Union and NATO member country.

In her second term, her support had waned as the cost of living rose — something that, along with pensions and a potential wealth tax, has been a prominent campaign issue.

The 48-year-old center-left Social Democrat is known for strong support of Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion and for a restrictive approach to migration — continuing a tradition in Danish politics that now goes back two decades.

Seeking to counter pressure from the right and pointing to a possible surge in migration because of the Iran war, Frederiksen announced proposals this month that include a potential “emergency brake” on asylum and tighter controls on criminals who lack legal residence. Her government had already unveiled a plan to allow the deportation of foreigners who have been sentenced to at least one year in prison for serious crimes.

Two center-right challengers hope to oust Frederiksen as prime minister. One is in her current government — Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen of the Liberal, or Venstre, party, which headed several recent administrations.

The other is Alex Vanopslagh, 34, of the opposition Liberal Alliance, which calls for lower taxes and less bureaucracy, and for Denmark to abandon its refusal to use nuclear power. But a recent admission from Vanopslagh to taking cocaine earlier in his time as party leader may have dented his chances.

Further to the right, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party looks well-placed to bounce back from a very weak showing at the last election in 2022.

No single party is expected to come anywhere near winning a majority. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments, traditionally made up of several parties from either the “red bloc” on the left or the “blue bloc” on the right, after weeks of negotiations.

Frederiksen’s outgoing three-party administration was the first in decades to straddle the political divide. It remains to be seen whether this election will result in a repeat, with the centrist Moderate party of Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen possibly acting as the kingmaker.

Greenland, which took up much of the government’s energy in recent months, hasn’t been a significant issue in the campaign because there is broad agreement on its place in the kingdom.

Frederiksen warned in January that an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of NATO. But the crisis has simmered down, at least for now.

After Trump backed down on threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that opposed the U.S. taking control of the vast Arctic island, the U.S., Denmark and Greenland started technical talks on an Arctic security deal.

Denmark’s single-chamber parliament has 179 seats. Of those, 175 go to lawmakers from Denmark itself and two each for representatives from thinly populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands.

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Moulson reported from Berlin.



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