PHOENIX — We all know Sean McVay’s memory is sticky, with the Los Angeles Rams coach demonstrating an archival and categorical knowledge of football during his weekly press conferences. But it doesn’t stop there.
At the Biltmore Hotel, site of the 2026 Annual NFL League Meeting, McVay and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni were talking about what Duke’s Cayden Boozer could’ve done differently in the team’s crushing loss to UConn. McVay wanted Boozer to hold the ball and take the foul in the final seconds, but the point guard instead tried to pass the ball and turned it over, leading to The Shot 2.0. Sirianni nodded along in approval, which led McVay to start referencing March Madness plays from last year.
Yes, this is still college hoops time, but you probably need your NFL fix.
That’s what I’ve got — six observations from my four days at the owners meeting in Arizona last week. This is “Sound Smart,” where I try to spin forward, dive deeper and think outside the box. If I do my job, you’ll have a better understanding of what’s happening this NFL offseason.
1. WHAT IF?
Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson sets forth “the challenge” for Caleb Williams
There is no more obvious statistic for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams to improve than his completion percentage, which landed at 58.1% in 2025. Speaking to multiple Bears staffers at the owners meeting — including a one-on-one with coach Ben Johnson — there is clear optimism that Williams can improve that number sizably in his third NFL season.
Caleb Williams earned a reputation as a clutch quarterback in 2025, but his completion percentage actually dipped from his rookie season. (Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
That confidence comes from a self-scout that the Chicago coaching staff recently did. The coaches examined every play, and in the case of the passing plays, they saw opportunities for improvement. From that self-scout, Johnson is going to identify the top three items for Williams to focus on improving. And by now, you surely know one of the items on that list.
“We need to get the completion percentage up,” Johnson told me. “And so we’ll look at that as we go through the cut-ups of where we can best do that. There were probably 80 or 90 throws on tape that we felt like could have been completions.
“You’re always going to have some drops by the route-runners. … We need to find a way to complete some of those other ones, though. That’s really the challenge for Caleb. If we do that, then we’ll be 65%, 70% completion, which is closer to where we want to be.”
Another Bears source picked the high end of that range: 70%. It speaks to how bullish the Bears are on Williams that they think he can get that number up almost 12 percentage points this year.
In 2025, his completion percentage over expected was -6.9%, and his time to throw was a full 3.2 seconds, per Next Gen Stats. Those shortcomings are, in part, why his expected points per dropback landed at 14th in the NFL (.05).
Williams should be able to get the ball out more quickly by trusting the system — and his receivers, who do a good job getting open. What makes Williams so impressive — and has the Bears trusting him so immensely — isn’t just that he can make big plays. It’s that he took just 24 sacks last season (after taking a league-high 68 as a rookie) and threw just seven interceptions. He kept the team on schedule, which played a major role in the Bears sticking around in (and winning) close games last year.
A gulf stands between Williams’ 2025 season and his goal for the 2026 season. But given the way Williams improved from Year 1 to Year 2, in Year 3 the QB may just get the most out of his young core and achieve the high standard his coach is setting.
2. IF THERE’S ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW…
An 18-game schedule may not be what’s best for the NFL in the long term.
Adding one more game to the NFL schedule is much more complicated when measuring the value of the league’s product over the long haul instead of the clear short-term profit. It could be argued that the more games are added to the league’s schedule, the less importance each week has.
The beauty of the NFL schedule is how precious its games are. Since the NFL made the regular season 17 games in 2021, the quality of the game has been diluted. There are weeks when the stakes don’t feel high enough.
The NFL schedule is already 27 weeks long, starting with the Hall of Fame Game and ending with the Super Bowl. That’s already more than half the calendar year. The frequency is also increasing, as the NFL will have a game on every day of the week except Tuesday next season with the addition of a Wednesday game the day before Thanksgiving.
It was interesting to hear what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones thought about the issue — given how much he has grown the league’s brand since buying the team in 1989. He was asked if this might be a case of pigs getting fat and hogs getting slaughtered.
Jones countered with an animal-related pearl of wisdom of his own.
“When the duck quacks, feed it,” he said in Phoenix. “We have that demand for our games because of the hard work, great players that we have. … We should address it, respond to it and feed it.”
Feeding the beast has always worked for the NFL, but at what point is it overfeeding?
Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones has a unique perspective on adding to the NFL schedule. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix)
3. BEHIND THE SCENES
Sights and sounds from the owners meeting
The league encourages the highest level of competition, which is why any time you put two coaches in a room or on a field, they view each other as adversaries. Even joint practices — an opportunity for a brotherly rivalry — is still an open competition by nature.
That’s what makes the owners meeting unique. It’s the friendliest NFL event of the year. Everyone is working — and often working together — but there’s time to play 18 holes, sit at the bar and chat and think aloud by the pool.
So here are a few unfiltered moments that I found fun from my time at the Biltmore Hotel.
- Chiefs coach Andy Reid could not be spotted in anything other than his standard-issue Hawaiian shirts.
- At the event’s party on Monday night, Lions coach Dan Campbell and Jets coach Aaron Glenn ended up at a high-top table together, where they spent over an hour catching up. Glenn, of course, used to be Campbell’s defensive coordinator in Detroit. The only one missing was Bears coach Ben Johnson, who was Campbell’s offensive coordinator.
- Catching up with a reporter, 62-year-old Broncos coach Sean Payton stood up to get into a two-point stance, as if he were a slot receiver — and explained what that player’s assignment should be pre-snap.
- Most often, a team’s leaders — coach and general manager — moved in packs. Jaguars coach Liam Coen and GM James Gladstone, for example, were often at each other’s side. So it was always fun to see GMs chatting on their way to and from meetings. Gladstone and Eagles GM Howie Roseman, for example, strolled through the lobby together. Colts GM Chris Ballard and Browns GM Andrew Berry were lost in conversation at one point during the event.
- At another point, a GM was chatting with a coach in the lobby. The GM concluded the conversation by saying he had to go meet with the Titans: “Got to go figure out who they’re taking at [No.] 4!?”
4. PEELING BACK THE CURTAIN
Right here’s why DJ Moore was so vital to the Bills and Joe Brady.
As new Payments coach Joe Brady worked to build a new identity for his team — a novel problem, given what number of of Sean McDermott’s staffers Brady will retain — the younger coach appeared to his previous to seek out touchstone factors for Buffalo’s tradition.
Brady, for instance, instructed me his “largest rent” was Pete Carmichael, the Payments’ new offensive coordinator. Carmichael and Brady labored collectively beneath Sean Payton for 2 years in New Orleans. And the workforce’s largest offseason transfer? That was Buffalo’s commerce for receiver DJ Moore, whom Brady labored with throughout their days with the Carolina Panthers.
DJ Moore spent his first 5 NFL seasons in Carolina, the place he had three 1,000-yard receiving seasons for the Panthers. (Picture by John Byrum/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photographs)
Apparently sufficient, Brady as soon as referred to as that period of his profession “my downfall.” However he determined to attract from that point, due to what he and Moore went by collectively.
“I would not be speaking to you proper now if I did not undergo the Carolina days. I discovered quite a bit from that,” Brady instructed me. “DJ was a man, by the ups and downs within the Carolina days, who was constant — his work ethic, his strategy, his capability to go on the market and make performs, having the ability to transfer him round.
“He has a ability set that I believed could be an excellent addition to us each within the locker room and on the sphere and, man, I am excited to work with him once more.”
That enthusiasm, partially, led Payments GM Brandon Beane to commerce a second-round decide to Chicago for Moore and a fifth-rounder. Now, Moore is the WR1 that the Payments have so badly wanted since Stefon Diggs’ departure. The purpose isn’t simply to construct tradition. It’s additionally to make star QB Josh Allen completely happy.
5. WHAT’S NEXT?
Mike Vrabel’s feedback about TreVeyon Henderson on Jaden Ivey have been a very good begin, however I hope they’re simply that — the beginning.
New England Patriots operating again TreVeyon Henderson tweeted a Bible verse that aligned himself with NBA participant Jaden Ivey, whom the Chicago Bulls waived final week following anti-LGBTQ feedback.
Ivey mentioned that Pleasure Month is a celebration of “unrighteousness.” When information of Ivey’s launch broke, Henderson responded on X with a Bible verse, Matthew 5:10.
“Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the dominion of heaven,” Henderson wrote.
The day after Henderson’s put up, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel fielded a query about it on the league assembly.
“I believe there’s a high-quality line,” Vrabel mentioned. “I wish to let you know — I really like TreVeyon. I really like the individual. He cares deeply about our workforce. He cares deeply about his religion. He cares deeply about his household, his spouse, the folks in our constructing. And so I need them to have the ability to categorical what they consider of their coronary heart and of their thoughts, but additionally wish to guarantee that they’re educated. And we wish to be inclusive. Every thing we wish to do [is] to offer an atmosphere for folks to wish to really feel comfy, but additionally to share their private beliefs. After which additionally, we characterize the workforce. And we characterize the group.”
It’s a pleasant place to start out.
I perceive the place Vrabel was coming from: Empathy and understanding may be the treatment to this case. That’s Vrabel’s philosophy on how he coaches his players — by exhibiting them love whereas additionally telling them the tough reality.
6. OFFSEASON ODDITY
The Lions are contemplating transferring Penei Sewell from proper sort out to left, in response to coach Dan Campbell.
You don’t typically hear about an NFL workforce switching the place of its greatest participant. That’s what Campbell is taken with doing with Sewell, whom the Lions would possibly transfer from proper sort out to left.
“In the event you’re asking me, I might like to maneuver him,” Campbell mentioned on the house owners assembly. “We’re prepared to try this, if want be. I do not wish to say proper now I’ll decide to that, however we’re prepared to try this.”
Penei Sewell is a three-time All-Professional with no consideration sort out. Does it make sense to maneuver him to the opposite facet of the road? (Picture by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Photographs)
It jogs my memory of when the Chiefs moved Trent McDuffie — one other one of many league’s elite gamers — from the slot cornerback spot to the perimeter in 2024. The strikes are comparable, with totally different strategies and duties — and a heightened sense of competitors.
It went effectively for McDuffie. It ought to go simply high-quality for Sewell, who performed left sort out at Oregon earlier than the Lions drafted him in 2021 and moved him to the proper facet.
“All he needs is a few days to work his left-handed stance a little bit bit,” Campbell mentioned of Sewell. “It is a little bit bit like driving a motorcycle for him. He’ll be high-quality. He’ll financial institution some reps and be capable to do it. He offers us that flexibility.”
There are inherent dangers, in fact. Sewell may hit unexpected adversity within the transition, just because the 2 positions are extra totally different than folks understand. Each offensive lineman will let you know that. After which the place change for Sewell would open up the proper sort out spot for an open competitors — possible involving a rookie. The Lions decide at No. 17 within the first spherical, and whereas it seems to be a tricky draft to discover a left sort out, there ought to be a handful of proper tackles who go in Spherical 1.
We’ve seen groups have success with this kind of transfer previously. Buccaneers sort out Tristan Wirfs and Bengals sort out Orlando Brown made the transfer throughout the road to the blindside with out a hitch. There’s principally no purpose why Sewell gained’t be dominant on the left. However the stakes might be extraordinarily excessive — and there might be no margin for error. And if the Lions have a rookie at proper sort out and Sewell at left, how lengthy will it take for everybody to get acclimated?
Given Detroit’s inconsistencies on offense final yr (and their resolution to make adjustments at offensive coordinator), the transfer could be one of the vital scrutinized personnel choices of the offseason. The Lions can’t waste any time in arguably the NFL’s greatest division, the NFC North.
