The Denver Broncos have benched Russell Wilson for now, but they eventually will have to figure out the most effective way of breaking up with the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback.

That will not be simple.

The Broncos face four potential options as a means of moving on from Wilson this offseason.

The New York Jets dropped to 6-10 with Thursday night's loss to the Cleveland Browns, but Breece Hall believes better days are ahead.

The Jets had high hopes before Aaron Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury on the fourth play of the season.

"I'll just tell everybody to get their laughs out now because it's not going to be like that in the near future," Hall said of the Jets' fortunes. "We're going to be a lot better. I'm excited to see what we do."

Tyreek Hill is on the verge of hitting a historical receiving mark.

If Hill finishes with at least 59 receiving yards on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the Miami Dolphins star will surpass 1,700 yards for the season.

Doing so would make Hill the first player in NFL history to hit that number twice in his career. Only 11 players have ever finished a season with at least 1,700 receiving yards.

Hill's original goal for the season was to post 2,000 yards, something that became less likely when he missed a game earlier this month.

Ja'Marr Chase has plenty to say ahead of this weekend's showdown between the Cincinnati Bengals and Kansas City Chiefs.

Chase started out saying nothing stood out about the Chiefs' secondary. Then he said Kansas City didn't have a lockdown cornerback like Jalen Ramsey.

The wide receiver added that safety Bryan Cook, who is on injured reserve, is not comparable to the Atlanta Falcons' Jessie Bates III, who spent the first five years of his career with the Bengals.

When it was expressed that the comments could be perceived as shots at the Chiefs, Chase seemed to embrace it.

"I'm just adding fire to the fuel," Chase said. "They're going to take this, run with it. Hope they put it in their locker."

In January 2022, the Bengals defeated the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game to advance to the team's first Super Bowl in more than three decades. One year later, Kansas City won the rematch on a field goal as time expired.

The Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Jets on Thursday night to clinch a playoff berth.

Cleveland's 37-20 victory earned them their first postseason appearance since 2020 and only their third since returning to the NFL in 1999.

"Pretty special night for this organization," Kevin Stefanski said. "Pretty special night for the fans out there."

Justin Jefferson wants to see Kirk Cousins return as the quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024.

Since Cousins went down with a torn Achilles in Week 8, the Vikings have cycled through rookie Jaren Hall, Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullins.

"It's definitely tough without him being there," Jefferson said of Cousins. "His leadership. His knowledge of the game. His awareness. There's definitely something missing not having that main piece out there on the table."

With two weeks to go, the Vikings still have a chance to sneak into the playoffs.

Cousins will be a free agent this offseason.

The Denver Broncos previously threatened to bench Russell Wilson for the rest of the season if he did not agree to rework his contract to address the injury guarantee, according to a report.

The report states that one such threat was made after the Broncos upset the Kansas City Chiefs on October 29.

The Broncos made the move to bench Wilson after the team's Christmas Eve loss to the New England Patriots.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association “became involved,” per the report.

First-time candidates Antonio Gates and Julius Peppers joined nine returning finalists who advanced to the final stage of voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2024.

Gates and Peppers will be joined on the 15-player ballot by five-time finalist wide receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne.

Seven other players returned as finalists -- Patrick Willis, Andre Johnson, Dwight Freeney, Jared Allen, Willie Anderson, Darren Woodson and Devin Hester.

Defensive backs Eric Allen and Rodney Harrison, running back Fred Taylor and offensive lineman Jahri Evans made it to this stage for the first time after previously being semifinalists.

The 15 finalists will be trimmed to 10 then to five during the selection meeting early next year. The final five candidates will need to receive 80% of the votes from the panel to get into the Hall.

The Green Bay Packers have suspended Jaire Alexander for one game for what they called "conduct detrimental to the team."

On Sunday, Alexander anointed himself as one of the Packers' captains -- and then made what Matt LaFleur called "a big mistake" by nearly botching the call after winning the coin toss.

"The decision to suspend a player is never easy and not one we take lightly," Brian Gutekunst said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Jaire's actions prior to the game in Carolina led us to take this step. As an organization, we have an expectation that everyone puts the team first. While we are disappointed, we had a good conversation with Jaire this morning and fully expect him to learn from this as we move forward together. We look forward to welcoming him back next week as he is a valued member of this team and will continue to be in the future."

Alexander, who grew up in Charlotte, walked to midfield before the game with the Packers' three game captains -- Aaron Jones, Quay Walker and Eric Wilson. The Packers did not elect season-long captains this year, instead using a weekly rotation.

Alexander called tails and won the toss. He then said the Packers wanted to be on defense, which is not the same as choosing to defer their choice to the second half. Referee Alex Kemp could have taken Alexander's call to mean they wanted to kick off, which then would have allowed Carolina to receive the ball to start both halves. However, because LaFleur, in the pregame meeting with the officials, informed Kemp that the Packers would defer if they won the toss, Kemp clarified that Alexander wanted to defer.

"That was a big mistake," LaFleur said after the game of Alexander's call. "That's something that you review with the guys before they go out there every time about, 'Hey, we win the toss, we're going to defer.' I went to the officials before the game, made sure they knew what we were going to do. We had an incident earlier this year where we had a similar situation, so always trying to be proactive in that approach."

The Denver Broncos have benched Russell Wilson for their Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers and will instead start Jarrett Stidham.

The change helps increase the Broncos' financial flexibility this upcoming offseason, as Wilson will make an additional $37 million in guaranteed money if he can't pass a physical by early March. An injury to Wilson in either of Denver's last two games of the season could trigger that guarantee.

The 2024 season makes the first of a five-year, $242.6 million extension signed in 2022 by Wilson.

The Broncos have just six draft picks in April, with no second-rounder, and would face unprecedented dead money charges of $85 million combined over the 2024 and 2025 seasons if they cut Wilson.