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.

 In need of additional depth on the interior of the defensive line, the San Francisco 49ers landed defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day on Tuesday.

According to a team source, Joseph-Day and the Niners agreed to terms on a one-year deal, with it expected to become official before San Francisco resumes practice Wednesday. The Los Angeles Chargers released Joseph-Day on Friday, a move that was somewhat surprising because he was a team captain who had started all 14 games with the team.

Austin Ekeler isn't losing focus as the Los Angeles Chargers prepare for the final three games of the season after firing their head coach and general manager following a blowout loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last Thursday.

"I'm a free agent after this year," he said, "and so I'm still painting my resume."

Since 2021, Ekeler has scored more touchdowns (44) than any running back over that span, and he has the most receptions of any back since 2019 with 354.

Ahead of this season, Ekeler looked to cash in on his success as he entered the final year of his four-year, $24.5 million contract. But Ekeler and the Chargers couldn't agree to a multiyear extension, so he requested a trade.

Ekeler eventually rescinded that request later in the offseason, returning for a revised contract with added incentives but no additional years, hoping he would perform well enough to earn a top-end contract in the offseason.

Los Angeles Chargers president John Spanos said the team would have "no limitations" on its next head coach and general manager pairing, from experience to salary, attempting to dismiss the narrative that the organization is unwilling to spend for coaches and executives.

"I think sometimes it's maybe the misses that help you grow the most -- that you can learn from the most," Spanos said Monday, speaking for the first time since the team fired coach Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco last week. "And I think we always have to be pushing ourselves as an ownership to get better, to be better."

The Los Angeles Chargers have fired Brandon Staley as head coach and Tom Telesco as general manager.

There had been the possibility of firing Staley after last year's playoff loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Chargers decided to give Staley another year.

The Chargers lost at the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday by a final score of 63-21.

Staley was hired by the Chargers as head coach in 2021 after spending the 2020 season as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.

The Los Angeles Chargers suffered an embarrassing 63-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night, prompting more questions about Brandon Staley's future with the team.

The Raiders scored 63 points after failing to score a touchdown since Week 12.

"I know what I've done here for three years, and I know what I've put into this, and I know where we're capable of going," Staley said. "I know the type of coach I am. I believe in myself."

The 42-point loss was the Chargers' third-worst loss in franchise history, and their 42-0 deficit at halftime was the most lopsided half in the NFL since 2014. 

"Games like this happen in the NFL," he said. "To every coach that's ever coached in this league. You can look at any great coach that's ever coached in the league. Sometimes games like this happen, and I don't need to retrace history, but it's just, it's part of sports."

Four days after bottoming out with a record 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the lowest-scoring indoor game in NFL history, the Las Vegas Raiders balled out against the Los Angeles Chargers, beating their AFC West rivals 63-21 on Thursday night while setting a franchise record for points scored in a game.

The 63 points were the third most scored by a team in the Super Bowl era, and the second most in NFL history by a team that was shut out in its previous game, one behind the 64 points the 1934 Eagles had against the Cincinnati Reds.

The NFL will award Super Bowl LXI in 2027 to Los Angeles. 

SoFi Stadium previously hosted Super Bowl LVI in 2022. The league will host the Super Bowl between the World Cup in 2026, when Los Angeles will be one of 16 North American host cities, and the Summer Olympic Games in 2028

The next four years of Super Bowls are now set:

• Super Bowl LVIII: Feb. 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas

• Super Bowl LIX: Feb. 9, 2025, at the Superdome in New Orleans

• Super Bowl LX: Feb. 8, 2026, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California

• Super Bowl LXI: 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles

Justin Herbert is not expected to play Thursday night against the Las Vegas Raiders due to his fractured right index finger, according to a source.

The Los Angeles Chargers quarterback is very likely to undergo surgery on his fractured finger Tuesday. Whether Herbert will have any chance to able to return this season will be determined by the surgery.

Brandon Staley said that Herbert would see two hand specialists Monday and that the team would make a decision on Herbert's status for Thursday after receiving the information from those specialists.

"All of our focus has got to be on his future," Staley said. "Certainly, there's nothing more important than that, than his right hand. And his long-term future. He's 25 years old and he's got a really, really bright future in front of him. So, like I said, every decision we make is going to be with that in mind."

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert fractured the index finger on his throwing hand during Los Angeles' 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, according to coach Brandon Staley.

Staley said he has no information on a timetable for Herbert's return and that the team will know more in the next few days.

It will be a short week for the 5-8 Chargers, who play the Raiders in Las Vegas on Thursday.