Durham 212 (Raine 78*, Eckersley 50) and 290 for 8 dec (Burnham 76, Barnard 4-79) beat Worcestershire 151 (Rushworth 4-28) and 242 (Cox 62, Rushworth 6-39) by 109 runs

Durham continued their impressive run of form in the Specsavers County Championship Division Two by defeating Worcestershire by 109 runs at Emirates Riverside.

The home side had laid the groundwork for their triumph on day three with a solid batting performance followed by a late onslaught by Chris Rushworth. He returned to notch third five-wicket haul of the campaign on the final day, claiming 10 wickets in the match with figures of 10 for 67.

Ben Cox and Ed Barnard did offer resistance with a sixth-wicket partnership of 96, but it was in vain as Worcestershire slipped to their second defeat on the bounce in the Championship. Durham extended their unbeaten run to six matches, securing their fourth victory of the season to move into fourth place in the table, one point behind Northamptonshire in the final promotion spot.

The visitors resumed on day four on 31 for 3, but Rushworth was to continue his charge from the previous evening. He had an lbw appeal turned down against Ross Whiteley, although the veteran seamer returned to remove the Worcestershire batsman's off stump for 18. Rushworth claimed his fifth wicket of the innings after probing away at Callum Ferguson. He eventually found the edge and Graham Clark took the catch at first slip to reduce the visitors to 56 for 5.

Worcestershire were in dire need of a partnership to stem the tide. Barnard and Cox were able to come to the fore to provide a semblance of resistance. The two deployed a positive approach and brought a much-needed fifty partnership before the lunch break, reaching the milestone in 65 balls.

Barnard and Cox continued to frustrate the Durham bowlers after lunch, working their way towards a century stand. However, their excellent partnership was broken when Nathan Rimmington trapped Barnard lbw for 43. Cox was able to work his way to a deserved half-century - his third of the campaign - from 87 deliveries.

Brydon Carse got the vital breakthrough for the hosts, using his pace to hurry Cox on his glance to the legside that found the edge and allowed Ryan Pringle to claim the catch at cover. Carse then notched his second wicket courtesy of a fine diving catch from Ned Eckersley behind the stumps to remove Joe Leach. Durham closed in on the victory as Dillon Pennington played a loose drive at a Rimmington delivery, resulting in a good low claim by Clark at first slip from the edge.

Brett D'Oliveira and Charlie Morris put on 43 for the final wicket, but Rushworth returned to earn his sixth wicket of the innings and 10th in the match by bowling Morris to secure the win for the hosts.

Hampshire 409 for 9 dec (Organ 100, Rossouw 92, Holland 60, Stevens 5-68) and 298 (Holland 69, Rossouw 66) drew with Kent 555 (Denly 154, Kuhn 95, Bell-Drummond 94, Stevens 60, Edwards 5-118) and 57 for 3 (Denly 29)

Joe Denly had some Vitality Blast practise as he slapped 29 off 22 balls in a thrilling finale to Kent's County Championship clash with Hampshire - but he couldn't prevent a draw at the Ageas Bowl.

Denly provided the muscle in an incredible climax, which saw visitors Kent need a tantalising 153 from 17 overs.

But after Sean Dickson, Alex Blake and Daniel Bell-Drummond departed, Kent gave up the chase and shook hands after 50 balls - with the away side still requiring 96 runs.

Earlier, Aneurin Donald and Keith Barker had provided a wall to put Hampshire on course to save the match.

The seventh-wicket pair provided an important afternoon recovery for Hampshire after they had lost three wickets in 25 balls in the morning session. Donald and Barker, who ended up on 43 and 37 not out respectively, battled through 30 overs to put the hosts on the brink of victory.

But Kent were given a late glimmer of hope as they were given 17 overs to score 153.

Denly led the charge with a huge six over mid-wicket off Barker. But when Dickson slogged to long-off and Alex Blake, who replaced Heino Kuhn after he had been struck by an Edwards bouncer, soon departed. Once Bell-Drummond was bowled both sides decided to call it a draw.

The stalemate extends Kent's unbeaten run in the Championship to four games, following victories over Nottinghamshire and Surrey and a draw with Warwickshire.

It also makes the county's already high likelihood of avoiding relegation even stronger as they moved 69 points clear of basement side Nottinghamshire. The draw means Hampshire remain a place above fifth-placed Kent, although the visitors gain an extra bonus point to close the gap.

Ian Holland and Rilee Rossouw had looked stable to put Hampshire on course for a draw at the start of a crazy day. They added 118 for the third wicket as both picked up their second half-centuries of the match.

Holland, who had scored 60 in the first innings, reached his fifty in 160 balls, while Rossouw, after his first-innings 92, needed 82 deliveries for a mature half-century.

But Denly and Rayner teamed up to end the partnership, rout the Hampshire middle-order and completely change the complexity of the match in 25 balls.

Rossouw was the first to depart as he top-edged a long-hop from Denly to pick out Bell-Drummond on the square-leg boundary.

In the next over, Holland followed when he faintly edged Rayner behind to Ollie Robinson, the nick was so thin that Graham Lloyd needed almost four seconds to make his decision.

Gareth Berg followed quickly after when he was lbw to a Denly googly, the all-rounder bagging a pair in the match.

That spell had seen Hampshire lose three wickets for two runs as they reached lunch still trailing by 50 runs.

Lewis McManus falling soon after the interval, edging to Sean Dickson at first slip, pushed the game firmly Kent's way.

But a rear-guard from Donald and Barker made a positive result less likely with a 30-over collaboration.

Matt Milnes ended the 63-run stand when Donald pulled to Bell-Drummond on the boundary, before Kyle Abbott was lbw to Denly.

Mason Crane jabbed to short leg and Fidel Edwards was caught behind as Hampshire were bowled out for 298.

Australian XI 397 and 223 for 6 (Harris 50, Leach 3-91) lead England Lions 267 (Tremain 4-70, Bird 3-51) by 353 runs

Nothing, it seemed, was capable of stopping Matthew Wade's march to a place in Australia's squad for the Ashes series against England next month.

For even if selectors had doubts about Wade or other team balance preferences concerning the ODI vice-captain Alex Carey as a back-up for the Test captain Tim Paine, the sheer volume of runs he has been churning out in characteristic, punchy style have allowed little room for argument.

However a serious blow to the right arm from the England Lions captain Lewis Gregory, very nearly on the point of the elbow, forced Wade to retire hurt and be sent for an X-ray on day three of a game in which the Australians have steadily taken control.

Play was stopped for several minutes as Wade struggled in obvious pain, and though he played out a few more balls before tea, he did not re-emerge in the evening session. The blow left him with plenty of rehab work ahead to be swinging the bat freely in the crucial final warm-up match between the tourists' 25 available players in Southampton.

"Matthew went for a precautionary X-ray after taking a blow to his right elbow," the team doctor John Orchard said. "The X-ray came back clear but he's probably suffering from a bruised nerve from the impact and his grip strength is impaired. Matthew'll be reassessed in the morning but it's unlikely he'll bat again in this innings. However we're very hopeful he'll recover in good time for the Australia-Australia A game next week."

Hits of this kind can have serious consequences even if they do not result in a fracture, of the kind suffered during the World Cup by Shaun Marsh. David Boon avoided a broken arm when struck similarly by Curtly Ambrose in Adelaide in 1993, but the effect of the injury on the remainder of the match was significant when recalling that Allan Border's team would ultimately lose by one run, the tightest margin in all Test history.

More recently, Ricky Ponting was hit in a similar region by Kemar Roach's second ball to him in a Test in Perth in 2009. Though Ponting attempted to soldier on for another 40 minutes, the compacting effect of the blow - later described as being like a piece of meat being tenderised with a mallet - affected Ponting's batting for much of the rest of the summer.

For Wade, the injury will be another obstacle to join the many he has overcome to get this close to an international recall, a little less than two years after he played the last of his 22 Tests, against Bangladesh in Chittagong. In that sense, it was also a feather in Gregory's cap, for he had delivered a bouncer both swift enough to have Wade ducking and skiddy enough to prevent him from avoiding it.

The Lions were not without their own concerns - Jamie Porter leaving the field complaining of back spasms, though they had occurred while fielding, not bowling.

There were otherwise a series of cameos from the Australians as they set about adding to a 130-run first innings lead, secured by rolling through the last five Lions wickets for 35 with the help of the second new ball. Chris Tremain nabbed four victims though he was more expensive than the watching selection chairman Trevor Hohns would have wanted; Jackson Bird (3 for 51 from 23 overs) and Jon Holland (2 for 56 from 28) kept things tighter.

Joe Burns was again dismissed cheaply, this time via an outside edge, before Marcus Harris (50), Kurtis Patterson (38), Mitchell Marsh (26) and skipper Paine (38) gave themselves some time in the middle on a drying surface. Aside from Gregory, the most consistent threat was posed by Jack Leach, who turned some balls expansively on a sun-drenched afternoon.

Gloucestershire 275 for 6 (Dent 125, Smith 84) lead Leicestershire 252 by 23 runs

Chris Dent and Tom Smith staged an unlikely third-wicket stand of 195 in 66.1 overs as Gloucestershire forged a potentially decisive first-innings lead on day two of the Specsavers County Championship match against Leicestershire at Cheltenham.

Skipper Dent posted a superb 125 and Smith raised a career-best 84 on a day when bat dominated ball for long periods, the hosts reaching the close handily placed on 275 for 6 in reply to Leicestershire's 252.

If Gloucestershire's intention was to bat only once on a pitch that is expected to deteriorate over the course of the next two days, they were made to re-evaluate their plans when Chris Wright took three wickets in as many overs with the second new ball to redress the balance. The hosts are 23 runs ahead with four first-innings wickets in hand and bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire will feel they are still in with a chance against opponents who have lost back-to-back matches and must bat last.

Only playing because of an injury to teenage all-rounder Ben Charlesworth, spin bowler Smith was enjoying his first Championship outing since September 2017. And how he made up for lost time, registering his highest red-ball total after being promoted up the order to help take the shine off the ball and protect Gloucestershire's middle-order stroke-makers.

Arriving in the middle with the score on 46 for 2 - Miles Hammond and Gareth Roderick having succumbed to Mohammad Abbas and a Neil Dexter run out respectively - Smith adopted a low-risk strategy to frustrate Leicestershire's bowlers.

Having scraped just seven runs in his first hour at the crease, the former Middlesex and Sussex man eventually attained only his third first-class 50 from 155 balls. Accelerating after tea, he eclipsed his previous highest score of 80, made against Surrey at Bristol six years earlier, entertaining Festival-goers with nine boundaries and visibly growing in confidence the longer he remained at large.

Dent in particular has proved a thorn in Leicestershire flesh this summer, compiling a substantial innings of 176 in the drawn match at Grace Road last month. Initially subjected to a stern new-ball examination at the hand of Pakistan Test paceman Abbas, the Bristolian lived a charmed existence before moving up through the gears to register a patient 50 from 95 balls shortly before lunch.

Taking charge of an inreasingly progressive third-wicket partnership in the afternoon, Dent raised his third hundred of the summer via 202 balls with his 14th four, despatched just backward of square leg at the expense of Callum Parkinson and eliciting a standing ovation from an appreciative Festival audience.

By the time he departed midway through the final session, caught at the wicket off the bowling of Wright, Gloucestershire's captain had faced 231 balls, harvested 16 fours and held sway for a little over five hours.

Having worked so hard to build a platform, Gloucestershire were no doubt disappointed by what followed, Smith losing his off stump to a Wright in-swinger and Graeme van Buuren falling to the same bowler, held by Colin Ackerman at second slip later in the same over.

Ryan Higgins was then bowled by Will Davis for 14 shortly before stumps, at which point Gloucestershire had lost four wickets for the addition of 32 runs, leaving the seventh-wicket pair of Jack Taylor and Benny Howell to negotiate the final three overs.

Smith said: "It was a bit of a new role for me, one we only discussed after Ben Charlesworth went down with injury. I'd opened the batting for the second eleven a few times, but not played against this quality of bowling. My initial intention was to bat time and help screen the guys who were coming in after me. Batting became easier the longer I was out there and it was nice to score a 50. It's been quite a long time coming."

Robbie Gould says he's happy to put negotiations with the 49ers behind him after a "weird offseason," and that although Chicago will always be home for him, he's excited to return to San Francisco to play football for at least the next two seasons.

The veteran kicker, appearing on The Adam Schefter Podcast, discussed his new contract with the 49ers that was agreed upon before Monday's 4 p.m. deadline to sign franchised players to long-term deals. He said the 49ers "made a really aggressive push" to get a deal done.

"Who knows what would have happened if something didn't get done, but the 49ers stepped up big-time to get this done. And they stepped outside the box and had an open mind and we were able to get something done today, which is kind of nice," he said.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but league sources told Schefter it's a two-year, $10.5 million fully guaranteed contract that, including an option clause, could turn into a four-year, $19 million deal with $15 million guaranteed.

During the negotiations, Gould had expressed a desire to be closer to his family in Chicago. His agent had requested a trade in April and the Chicago Bears made for a logical suitor based on their unsettled kicking situation.

"It's a tough situation for sure, you know Chicago's home for me. I have a permanent house here in Chicago, it will always be home. I love the (Chicago Bears) organization. I played here for 11 years, I'm the all-time leading scorer. It's just been kind of a weird offseason," he said.

Gould called the free-agency process "a roller-coaster of emotions" after being franchised and then thinking the 49ers might be signing another kicker when they negotiated with Stephen Gostkowski, who later re-signed with the New England Patriots.

"The big thing for me is that I wanted to be close to my family, and in the beginning in the entire conversation with the 49ers they knew it would have to take at least two years to fully guaranteed in a contract to get me to come back and they were able to make that happen," he said.

He said that because the contract was agreed to with training camp looming, his family will remain in Chicago this season as his oldest son will be beginning kindergarten. He will return during the bye week and he said his wife will make a trip to San Francisco during the season. He said his family will join him in San Francisco for the 2020 season.

"For me, Chicago is going to be where I'm going to live, even after football," he said.

Asked what he told the 49ers when the deal was done, he said, "I just said thanks.

"I know it's been a crazy 17 months. There's been a lot that's happened, there's been a lot that's been said and done on both ends but I'm glad it's done, I'm glad we can put this behind us and I'm excited to play football and go win a championship," he said.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Big 12 has a message for those thinking of making the "Horns Down" sign this season: Do it quickly and don't direct it toward opposing players.

Greg Burks, the Big 12 coordinator of football officials, said if a player quickly flashes the "Horns Down" after scoring a touchdown, he likely would not be called for a penalty. Prolonged displays of the signal, used for decades to mock the Texas Longhorns' "Hook 'Em Horns" sign, will be penalized, especially if directed toward an opposing player or at the opponent's bench.

"Like any play, there is a degree -- who it's directed at," Burks said Tuesday at Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium. "If they do it in their bench area, we're not going to look at it. It would be like any other celebration foul, so it has to be like any other foul we have. Does it rise to the level we need to deal with that? It's a hot topic.

"I know people want us to be definitive on that, but it's like any touchdown celebration. Is it directed at an opponent or just celebration with your teammates?"

The controversy over "Horns Down" resurfaced last season when West Virginia receiver David Sills V was penalized for making the sign after a first-quarter touchdown during the Mountaineers' win at Texas.

Dana Holgorsen, WVU's coach at the time, said he had asked the officiating crew before the game how the signal would be penalized and was told it would be if done in an intimidating fashion.

"I lit into David. 'I told you doing that s---, you're hurting the team,'" Holgorsen told ESPN this summer. "He goes, 'Coach, I barely did it.' So I went to the refs and I said, 'Who did he intimidate?' They go, 'He intimidated the crowd.' He intimidated the crowd, is what they said."

WVU quarterback Will Grier also was penalized for making the signal while celebrating the game-winning two-point conversation in the closing seconds.

Burks said Tuesday that a display similar to Grier's would likely again be penalized.

"When we have discussed it, by rule, anything that's prolonged to bring attention to the individual rather than the team is a foul," Burks said. "My advice is if you want to do that, do it back in your bench area. Do it back with teammates. Get away from where you are an individual drawing attention to yourself."

I'm not really the long-range planning type, but I know some of you are, and I'm here for you. I am here to help.

You're not content simply to know what will happen in the NFL in 2019. You want to know what will happen the year after that, and the year after that. It is for you, Mr. and Mrs. Long-Range Planner, that we produce this particular column year after year.

And while it might seem like a joke, don't sleep on the three-year predictions column. Look back at last year's, and you'll find that quite a few of them have already come true and more than a few others still can. This is more than just your typical tongue-in-cheek bit of offseason content. This is seriously informed speculation, people, and it demands your attention.

With that, we present the 25 NFL predictions for the next three years:

Jump to an interesting player:
Cousins | Elliott | Manning
Bell | Murray | OBJ | Luck
McCaffrey | Rosen | J. Jones

1. Patrick Mahomes will be the first $40 million-a-year quarterback

I don't think Mahomes gets his deal next offseason when first eligible, because (a) why would he be in a hurry? and (b) why would the Chiefs be in a hurry when his fifth-year option season isn't until 2021? But with Russell Wilson already having pushed the bar up to $35 million a year this offseason, it's not a big leap to expect quarterback contract extensions to be tickling $40 million a year by the time Mahomes signs on the dotted line.

2. Kirk Cousins will sign a contract extension with the Vikings

I'm fairly bullish on Cousins and the Vikings this season. I think they'll win the NFC North and that fans will feel very differently about Cousins this time next year, when he'll have a year left on his three-year contract and could very well be interested in talking about an extension that would keep him and his family in Minnesota for years to come.

3. The Patriots will win at least one more Super Bowl

We'll keep hearing, over the next few months, that they're vulnerable without Rob Gronkowski, that no quarterback has ever kept playing well at Tom Brady's age, and so on. We've heard it all before. Bill Belichick remains the best puzzle-solver coach there is, having just figured out how to win a Super Bowl 13-3 at the tail end of the greatest offensive season in league history. New England's division remains soft. The Brady-Belichick machine has no complacency setting, and will remain determined to establish postseason records no one will ever knock down.

4. Ezekiel Elliott will hold out of training camp over his contract

I don't think it'll be this year, though I can't completely rule it out. But unless Elliott and the Cowboys come to agreement on a new deal this offseason or next -- which I don't think happens unless he cuts the team some kind of deal he doesn't seem inclined to cut -- it's not hard to imagine Elliott taking a Melvin Gordon-level stance next August.

He's the most important player on a Dallas team I predicted in last year's column would win one of the next three Super Bowls, but running backs are always fighting uphill in contact situations. It doesn't help that six of the 10 highest-paid backs in the league missed time last season due to injury.

5. Eli Manning will play for a different team

I believe the Giants will move on from Eli next offseason, but I don't think Manning wants 2019 to be his final NFL season. It's going to look super-weird to see him in a different uniform, but I have two guesses as to which one it will be. My favorite guess is the Saints, because he's from New Orleans, his dad played there and it'd be a cool story. But that prediction is tied way too much to other things, especially the completely unknown factor of how much longer Drew Brees wants to play. So my safer guess is the Titans, who could be moving on from Marcus Mariota if he doesn't deliver in 2019.

6. As for the Giants, at least three different QBs will start for them in the next three years

And this isn't a knock on poor Daniel Jones, who's getting way too much grief for the crime of being drafted sixth overall. It's more of a nod to what the Giants have had in Manning for the past 15 years. Since becoming the starter in 2004, Manning has answered the bell for literally every game except the bizarre 2017 one for which they asked him not to. It's far too much to expect the same kind of durability and reliability from his successor, no matter how well Jones plays.

7. Kyler Murray will lead the Cardinals to at least one division title

The NFC West is a nutty place. The Rams are on top, the Seahawks aren't ready to go away and the 49ers haven't made their anticipated arrival yet. Arizona looks like a clear No. 4, and I don't expect the Cardinals to contend in 2019.

But I do believe the marriage between Murray and coach Kliff Kingsbury will be exciting and hard to stop -- especially once the Cardinals patch the holes on their offensive line.

8. There will not be an NFL work stoppage

I actually put at roughly 43 percent the chance that the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) gets negotiated and agreed to this offseason, which would be with two full seasons to go. Both sides seem motivated to get this done, especially the owners, who have traditionally dictated timetables on these sorts of things.

There will be stops, starts and moments of panic along the way, but I do believe there will not be a strike or a lockout when the current CBA ends in 2021, because a new one will be in place by then. One of the things I can't wait to find out is how long this one will be. Another 10-year deal seems unlikely, but no one saw that coming last time, either.

9. The next Los Angeles team to reach the Super Bowl will be the Chargers

How far off were they, really, last season? They had the same record as the Chiefs in the AFC West but were consigned to a wild-card berth on the postseason road because of the tiebreaker. On paper, this season's Chargers are absolutely in the conversation for best top-to-bottom roster in the league.

The Chiefs have major questions on defense, won't have Kareem Hunt and could be without Tyreek Hill for a couple of games. Philip Rivers is primed for the run he's been waiting for, and not a moment too soon.

10. Le'Veon Bell will change teams ... again

We nailed this one last year (though, to be fair, that was easy), and we're going to run it back out there. The marriage between Bell and the Jets isn't off to the smoothest start. His contract really guarantees him only two years anyway, and it makes him a lot easier to trade next offseason if 2019 doesn't go well.

11. Odell Beckham Jr. will lead the NFL in receiving yards and touchdown catches

Yes, I believe Beckham will thrive with Baker Mayfield and the Browns. I do not buy the notion that he was a problem in the locker room with the Giants. His teammates loved him. It was the coaches and administrators who had issues with Beckham.

And while that could certainly be the case in Cleveland, too, I think on-field success (assuming the Browns have it) would iron out a lot of the off-field temper issues Beckham had while doing all the losing he did in New York. Too much has been made this offseason of the aspects of Beckham that have nothing to do with his immense talent. We shouldn't forget how good this player is.

12. The Las Vegas Raiders will make at least one playoff appearance

I don't think the Raiders are ready to make that jump in this, their final season in Oakland. But I like the pieces they're putting together and believe they'll hit the desert ground running in 2020.

No idea, of course, how they'll be received in Vegas or what kind of fan base they'll develop there, but I am predicting that they will be a playoff team in one of their first two years there. Heck, the Las Vegas hockey team went to the Stanley Cup Final in its first season, right?

13. The Steelers will win more AFC North titles than the Browns

The Steelers feel a little bit to me like the Seahawks did last season. Far too many people want to write them off and forget that Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. I'm not of the school of thought that losing Antonio Brown is addition by subtraction -- they'll have to make significant adjustments to replace him and it won't be easy.

But especially with the whole world jumping on the bandwagon of an AFC North team that hasn't won a division title since 1989, the Steelers feel like a quietly dangerous chip-on-their-shoulders type of squad that will be motivated to remind people whose division the AFC North actually is.

14. You will continue to hear talk about an 18-game season, but you may continue to ignore it

I honestly have no idea why this keeps coming up, but yeah, some owners still want to expand the season in spite of that being a horrendous idea on every level other than a naked-revenue-grab one. Talking to people close to this situation, I have come away with the belief that the players adamantly oppose the idea and would entertain it only if the owners came to them with significant financial concessions the likes of which have not been proposed to date.

I simply don't see a calculus in which the owners would make more money by expanding the season than they'd have to give up in order to convince the players to agree to it.

15. Andrew Luck will win an MVP award

As last season showed, the Colts are building something potentially special. A lot of teams that surprise the way the Colts did take a step back the following season before resuming their forward trajectories, and it's absolutely possible that happens to the Colts in 2019.

But if it doesn't, expect Luck to be in the MVP conversation as early as this season. And even if the Colts do have a down 2019, expect him to be in the MVP conversation in 2020 and/or 2021. Heck, it's not crazy to imagine Luck, whose contract runs through 2021, beating Mahomes to that $40 million-a-year mark if things break the right way.

16. Christian McCaffrey will lead the league in yards from scrimmage

With Todd Gurley dealing with some kind of mysterious knee injury, the landscape is open for a new workhorse monster who can pile up rushing and receiving yards. The Giants' Saquon Barkley and the Saints' Alvin Kamara are candidates, but the Panthers will continue to lean on McCaffrey -- especially while Cam Newton works his way back from shoulder surgery this year -- and McCaffrey wants the work.

17. The minimum 'spending floor' will go up in the next CBA

One thing the players will want to get out of the coming negotiations is a requirement that teams spend more money on players. Currently, there is no concrete "floor" teams have to reach each year, but there is a requirement that every team has to spend at least 89 percent of the salary cap in cash over a four-year period.

One proposal that has already been floated in the current negotiations is raising that 89 percent to 95 percent and shortening the window from four years to two. The owners might not go that far, but anything the NFL Players Association can do to require more spending would help create more favorable ground for players and agents to negotiate contracts. Speaking of which ...

18. We will start to see more fully guaranteed veteran contracts -- little by little

No, the new CBA will not require NFL contracts to be fully guaranteed, because CBAs really don't do that. The NBA and MLB CBAs don't mandate contract guarantees, nor does the NFL one prohibit them. Players in those other leagues get guaranteed deals because players and agents at some point in the past insisted on them and established them as the norm.

NFL players, outside of Cousins, have been reluctant to do this. Every time a player like Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck comes up for a deal, agents around the league hope he'll push for a full guarantee, and he doesn't. But with star quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Jared Goff (to name a few) due for deals in the coming years, it's a good bet someone will decide to exert the full extent of his leverage and help push the ceiling on this matter a little higher.

19. Josh Rosen will change teams again

It would be a cool story if Rosen played lights-out for the Dolphins and Miami decided he was its quarterback of the future. But even if he beats out Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job, I just don't see this season's Miami team being strong enough to put Rosen in the best position to succeed -- especially with him having to learn a new offensive system for like the 95th year in a row.

The Dolphins' financial commitment to Rosen is negligible -- Arizona has already paid the signing bonus on his rookie deal. If their record is as poor as many expect it to be, a quarterback like Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa is going to look like an enticing option in next year's draft.

20. The Packers won't win a division title in the next three years

Part of this is that I just think the Vikings (this season) and the Bears (this season and long term) look too strong, and I don't think the Lions are a team to be overlooked. But other than Davante Adams, the skill-position group around Aaron Rodgers hasn't proved much, and Rodgers hasn't shown a lot of patience lately when things haven't gone well around him. He's not a quarterback to underestimate; I just think Minnesota and Chicago are in better places right now.

21. The marijuana policy will change in the next CBA

This feels like an easy call, particularly with the league and the players' union forming a committee to study alternative pain-management techniques. The NFL's policy on marijuana is outdated and overly punitive. Don't be surprised to see the league adopt a policy similar to the NHL's -- still testing for marijuana but not punishing players for using it.

With the league trying to expand the help it's offering players in the area of mental health, the idea would be to use the testing as a diagnostic tool to identify players who might need some kind of off-field help they aren't getting.

22. Julio Jones will be the first $20 million-a-year wide receiver -- but not the last

The only players in the NFL averaging more than $20 million per year are quarterbacks, Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack. The highest-paid wide receiver? Odell Beckham Jr. at $18 million a year.

Jones has two years left on his contract, but the Falcons got him to camp last year by promising him they'd rework his deal. He is the best player in the group of four superstar wideouts -- himself, A.J. Green, Michael Thomas and Amari Cooper -- who are looking for new deals before the season starts, so let's pick him to set the bar. But don't be surprised if one of those other guys signs after he does and tops him. It looks like everyone in that group is waiting for someone to go first.

23. Carson Wentz and the Eagles will win at least one division title

The NFC East hasn't had a repeat champion since the Eagles did it in 2003-04, so as good as the Cowboys look on paper you can't pick them to win it again this season. It looks like a two-team race between them and the Eagles, so let's say Philly wins it. It would help, of course, if Wentz could stay healthy for 16 games, and I believe he will at some point.

Wentz is under a completely unique kind of pressure: How many quarterbacks have had to live up to the accomplishments of their backups? The Eagles believe he's up to it, and they have the people in place to help him thrive.

24. Nick Foles will win at least one division title with the Jaguars

Speaking of that former Eagles backup! In 15 of the past 16 seasons, at least one NFL team has won its division after finishing last the season before. The Jags are the betting favorites to do it in 2019, and with a still-elite defense leading the way, they really just need Foles to be responsible with the ball in order to jump back into contention.

Foles hasn't always been the model of health or consistency, either, so he's under pressure now that Jacksonville has tabbed him as its man. But the Jaguars look like a team that has a couple of potentially good years in it before the contract/cap problems start piling up.

25. The new replay rules will be a big, stupid mess and will create more big, stupid messes

This is a pet peeve. I get that everybody (but the Rams) was upset about a blown call helping the Rams beat the Saints in the NFC Championship Game. But is making pass interference calls reviewable really the answer we want? Forget the fact that replay reviews are terrible TV and take away from the flow and enjoyment of the game -- pass interference calls are judgment calls.

All you're doing by reviewing them is bringing in someone else's judgment. There absolutely will be more controversy arising from the new rules, and I fear the league will once again determine the answer is MORE REPLAY when in fact the NFL and all of sports would be far better off with LESS REPLAY or, even better, NO REPLAY because replay review is dumb, boring, unnecessary garbage that should go away forever and let us enjoy the games again.

Free agent forward Reggie Bullock has signed a two-year, $8.2 million deal with the New York Knicks, his agent David Bauman told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday.

The second year of the deal is a team option, according to Wojnarowski.

Bullock and the Knicks reworked the deal after his medical issues forced the team to back out of its original two-year, $21 million agreement.

Later on Tuesday, the Knicks announced the signing of Bullock and Marcus Morris, who agreed to a one-year, $15 million deal earlier this week. The team did not disclose terms of either contract.

"With Reggie and Marcus we are adding two more versatile, hard-nosed and accomplished players to an already improved roster," Knicks general manager Scott Perry said in a statement. "We value both players' perimeter shooting ability and their strong presence on the court and in the locker room. We're excited to have them in New York and are confident they will excel playing for this team under Coach Fizdale."

The 28-year-old Bullock averaged 11.3 points in 63 games for the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers last season. He was acquired by the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline in February in exchange for guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and a second-round draft pick.

He also has played for the Suns and Clippers since being drafted with the 25th overall pick in 2013.

Dion Waiters wrote on Instagram Monday that he read all the jokes on social media about his conditioning last season, but rather than "joining the circus," he used it as motivation to improve his physique.

The veteran Miami Heat guard, listed at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds on the team's roster, showed off his new slimmer, shredded look in the post, writing that he was in a "dark place mentally & physically" last season while trying to return from the ankle injury that ended his season in 2017-18.

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"Last year when I came off 1 of the most depressing & frustrating times of my life," he wrote. "Coming off injury & not feeling like myself nor looking like myself I was in a dark place mentally & physically, Because the game I love so much was taken away due to season ending surgery.

"Now a days with this social media ran world they laughed at me made jokes etc not knowing what I was battling or going through everyday. So instead of me joining the circus I told myself you from (Philly) you've been through worst s--- in your life than this. So I promise myself I would work my ass off & get back to where I was before the injury. I'm not done yet but I kno somebody in the world prolli needed to hear this. Stay positive block out the outside noise & grind."

At his season-ending news conference, Heat president Pat Riley said the Heat wanted Waiters to get slimmer and believed his game would explode if he got into world-class condition. Riley said Waiters basically played last season on 1 ½ ankles.

"The surgery that he had was extensive. It wasn't just to fix one part of his ankle. It was absolutely something more than that. And it took him a year," Riley told reporters, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

"But from a conditioning standpoint, [coach Erik Spoelstra] and I are right on the same page, whatever number he comes back at, I think it's going to be to his benefit, and we'll be able to see the explosiveness and he'll be able to finish. He'll get to the rim a little more. But he was impacted by his ankle. And while he weighed in at numbers that were acceptable, that's where the tightening of the screws will come into play. And it won't be a single screwdriver. I'll be using one of those Black & Deckers. It's go hard."

Waiters, 27, averaged 12 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists last season, his third with the Heat.

As Zion Williamson continues to delay his expected landmark shoe-deal decision, the rest of the 2019 NBA rookie class has been stalled. A majority of the 2019 first-round picks entered summer league without having inked a shoe deal, allowing for a variety of lesser-known players to unexpectedly make their mark with their footwear.

With his older sibling's first signature shoe launching just as Las Vegas Summer League tipped off, Dallas Mavericks forward Kostas Antetokounmpo served up the on-court debut of brother Giannis' Nike Freak 1 sneaker, in four different colorways no less.

Of the four colorways donned by Kostas, one in particular holds extra meaning for the brothers: The white, red and gold pair with a "Roses" theme honors their late father, Charles.

"We were in the process of designing this shoe as a team when his father passed away unexpectedly," Nike vice president Kevin Dodson said during the preview episode of SneakerCenter on ESPN+. "That just started to take on a more significant reference point for that call out."

As Giannis and his brothers met with Nike's team of designers over the past two years to pepper in additional signature touches and nuances, the recently crowned NBA MVP mandated a series of family nods.

The names of all four of his brothers appear along the heel. "Charles + Veronica" can be found along the arch, speaking to the parents' support of the family. Most important, the phrase "I am my father's legacy" is featured across the bottom of the shoe.

"I want my dad to be remembered, and I want people to know that he left a legacy behind," Antetokounmpo told The Undefeated and SneakerCenter. "Every shoe that I make, that phrase is always going to be there."

Though he was among the ranks of the injured rookies who didn't play in Las Vegas, Denver Nuggets big man Bol Bol didn't disappoint with his footwear from the sideline. He showed off his Oregon Ducks school spirit with an exclusive Air Jordan Retro 3 in green, black and white. Featuring the university's iconic "O" logo along the heel and given only to athletes at the school, the few pairs that have ended up online for sale have been listed for as much as $10,000.

While many incoming rookies played at least one season of college hoops, Oklahoma City Thunder selection Darius Bazley took a different path. He opted to work out on his own throughout the collegiate season and signed an innovative shoe deal with New Balance last fall that included an internship at its Boston headquarters.

So it was no surprise to see Bazley donning a bright green and neon pair of the New Balance OMN1S sneaker at the draft combine this spring. During summer league, Bazley boasted yet another player-exclusive colorway of the brand's first new model in more than a decade, opting for OKC hues of blue and orange.

As the summer league's youngest players continue to work toward establishing themselves, courtside cameos from veterans looking to support their teams have also come to be expected. After debuting last summer as a Laker during the team's opening night matchup, LeBron James once again was spotted at the franchise's summer league kickoff. Once again, he wore a $500 pair of rare Just Don Lakers shorts, while also debuting a Lakers-themed exclusive retro edition of one of his earliest Nike signature models. The mismatched purple and yellow LeBron III Retro appears to have been made only for James, though the shoes sparked a considerable buzz in real time during his opening night appearance.

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