Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores will be among the 27 participants in the NFL's fifth accelerator program.

The event is hosted by the league to strengthen the pipeline of diverse candidates for front office and coaching positions. It's held at the league meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, which will take place next week.

Flores, a longtime New England Patriots assistant before becoming the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019-21, filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the NFL and several teams alleging racial discrimination in its hiring practices.

After being fired by the Dolphins, Flores spent a season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach before taking the Vikings defensive coordinator position in 2023.

The New England Patriots have signed center David Andrews to a one-year contract extension that includes $8 million fully guaranteed, according to league sources.

Andrews, 31, was entering the final year of his contract and scheduled to earn a base salary of $4.5 million. 

Under the new deal, Andrews will earn a base value of $12 million over the next two seasons, with a maximum value of $13 million, per a source.

Houston Texans defensive end Dylan Horton posted a video of himself ringing the bell on Thursday, signifying his last radiation treatment after being diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"Glory to God. Final Treatment," Horton tagged the video, which was posted to Instagram Story.

Horton stepped away from the Texans on Nov. 22, citing a "personal matter" as the Texans were preparing to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12. He later learned Dec. 1 that he had Stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Sportsbooks clearly see the San Francisco 49ers as the strongest team in the NFL entering the 2024 campaign.

The 49ers are favored in all 17 games, via the betting lines that were posted immediately after the 2024 NFL schedule was released on Thursday night.

Among the more potentially challenging games on the 49ers' schedule includes home games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers, however, will play at the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins in December. 

HBO's "Hard Knocks" is back and will feature the New York Giants this offseason.

The program will debut July 2 with the five-episode series running through the end of the month.

It marks the first-ever offseason edition of "Hard Knocks," which has traditionally chronicled training camp and preseason, but also expanded with regular-season episodes starting in 2021 with the Indianapolis Colts.

Cameron Heyward has not participated in voluntary offseason workouts and does not plan to attend OTAs as he seeks a contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to sources.

Heyward, set to become a free agent in 2025, has never missed an offseason program.

The defensive lineman, 35, has registered the most defensive stops in the league since 2019 with 242, via Next Gen Stats, and the third-most sacks among interior rushers during that span with 58.5.

The NFL has announced the 2024 regular season schedule, including the slate of games to air on ESPN/ABC's Monday Night Football.

Week 1: Sept. 9

New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers

Week 2: Sept. 16

Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 3: Sept. 23

Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills

Washington Commanders at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 4: Sept. 30

Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins

Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions

Week 5: Oct. 7

New Orleans Pelicans at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6: Oct. 14

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets

Week 7: Oct. 21

Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals

Week 8: Oct. 28

New York Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 9: Nov. 4

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 10: Nov. 11

Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Rams

Week 11: Nov. 18

Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys

Week 12: Nov. 25

Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers

Week 13: Dec. 2

Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos

Week 14: Dec. 9

Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys

Week 15: Dec. 16

Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons at Las Vegas Raiders

Week 16: Dec. 23

New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers

Week 17: Dec. 30

Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers

Week 18: Jan. 4

TBD Doubleheader

The NFL has announced the 2024 regular season schedule, including the slate of games to air on NBC's Sunday Night Football.

Week 1: Sept. 8

Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions

Week 2: Sept. 15

Chicago Bears at Houston Texans

Week 3: Sept. 22

Kansas City Chiefs at Atlanta Falcons

Week 4: Sept. 29

Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens

Week 5: Oct. 6

Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 6: Oct. 13

Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants

Week 7: Oct. 20

New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 8: Oct. 27

Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers

Week 9: Nov. 3

Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles 

Week 10: Nov. 10

Detroit Lions at Houston Texans

Week 11: Nov. 17

Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets

Week 12: Nov. 24

Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams

Week 13: Dec. 1

San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills

Week 14: Dec. 8

Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: Dec. 15

Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks

Week 16: Dec. 22

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys

Week 17: Dec. 29

Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns

Week 18: Jan. 5

TBD

Netflix has agreed to broadcast NFL games on Christmas Day in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Christmas is on a Wednesday this year and a Friday in 2026, which are days when the NFL typically doesn't schedule games. Christmas Day falls on a Thursday in 2025.

The NFL had strong ratings for their Christmas Day games in 2023.

The NBA has historically made Christmas Day one of their signature days of the season. 

The Jaguars and the city of Jacksonville have agreed to a $1.4 billion "stadium of the future" that would keep the franchise in the market for another 30 years.

The proposal calls for each side to contribute $625 million to the $1.25 billion project. Jacksonville, which won't levy any new taxes to pay for the rebuild, would chip in another $150 million to get EverBank Stadium ready for construction in 2026.

The plan was presented at a city council meeting Tuesday. Councilmembers are expected to vote on it in late June, with a simple majority of the 19 members needed to pass. It would then advance to the NFL owners meeting in October, where 24 of 32 votes would be needed for final approval.