The majority of the country is under a heat dome. Those that aren’t experiencing searing heat and being given a brutal reminder that climate change is indeed real are trying to avoid thunderstorms and possible tropical storms. Moisture-wicking clothing is at a premium. Socks are a liability.
In other words, perfect football weather.
For as giddy as I still get about baseball spring training, lately I’ve grown to become even more so about the start of NFL training camps, which as of today are now officially open for all 32 teams. It also means that the NFL.com website that I’ve essentially avoided since January is once again bookmarked, and there’s plenty of fodder to digest already.
As of this writing (early afternoon Tuesday) the following stories are “above the fold” and all at least proofread by the prolific Kevin Patra:
The defensive tackle market has a new king. The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to terms with Jalen Carter on a four-year extension through 2031, the team announced on Tuesday. The four-year extension is for $152 million, could reach up to $160 million and includes $106 million guaranteed, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported. The $38 million-per-year average makes Carter the highest-paid interior defender in the NFL, leapfrogging Jeffery Simmons’ $35.276 million average signed last month. The Eagles picked up Carter’s fifth-year-option for 2027 earlier this offseason. Now he’s locked down for the next six seasons.- The key to the Indianapolis Colts’ success in 2026 will be quarterback Daniel Jones, who is coming off an Achilles tear. If he can pick up where he left off early last season, Indy could compete for the AFC South title. If he struggles, the campaign could be a slog. Heading into training camp, Jones continues to trend in the right direction. “I feel good. Really good,” Jones said. “Excited to get going. We report tomorrow (Monday), first practice Wednesday, so good to go. I’m excited to get rolling.”
On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers got their first taste of what life could be like sans Kyle Shanahan, following the head coach’s car crash that will limit his coaching duties during training camp. Assistant head coach Chris Foerster took over much of the head-coaching responsibilities, with Shanahan attending practice but working in the background as he recovers. “It’s really a group thing,” Foerster said via the team’s official transcript. “The title puts me in this position, and I was very grateful that (president of football operations/general manager) John (Lynch) and Kyle felt that some of the things I could take the lead on, like this right here. But there’s other things, for example, our team meetings. Instead of me running every team meeting, we’ll split up on offense and defense and (defensive coordinator) Raheem (Morris) and (offensive coordinator) Klay (Kubiak) will do things. Maybe we’ll have (special teams coordinator Brant) Boyer lead one and cover different things.
And if you ventured elsewhere on the net you’d have seen some other breaking news nugs. Per HEAVY’s Jordan J. Wilson:
If the Green Bay Packers were hoping that Josh Jacobs would resolve his legal troubles before the start of NFL training camp, they didn’t get their wish. According to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, the Brown County District Attorney’s Office told his employer in a July 23 email that the domestic violence “investigation into running back Josh Jacobs was still open” in relation to his arrest in Wisconsin in May. The D.A.’s Office added that it would provide an update “once a resolution is reached.”
And per THE ATHLETIC’s Mike Jones:
Two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea has requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as contract extension talks have stalled. The two sides have been far apart in discussions, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told The Athletic. Vea is in the final season of a four-year, $71 million contract extension he signed in 2022.
Those sure don’t sound like the sorts of feel-good stories that we see in the first days of baseball’s spring training, especially when it’s just pitchers and catchers tossing the horsehide. Sure sounds nothing like the summer camps that I once attended. And I don’t just mean the all-day version in a local park that my mom paid what to her was a king’s ransom (three figures!) and where we occasionally came across decomposing corpses.
I also meant the workouts that were held on the fields of local colleges which were almost exclusively the venues for teams to prepare. Players lived in actual dormitories, many as outdated as the ones I lived in, and fans who showed up for free to watch the workouts could reach out and touch the players as they meandered back and forth on the campus. My dad’s ostensibly cheap friend loved the experience and being childless himself he felt it an obligation to have me experience it–and besides, unlike Dad and myself he actually could drive. So we’d pile into his aging non-air-conditioned sedan and schlep up to Fairfield College to watch the New York Giants prepare for yet another mediocre season. Since we rarely got out of the city, the ride up was always entertaining. In those days the Connecticut Turnpike wasn’t under perpetual construction and there actually were visible trees. I didn’t even mind the always overly mayonnaised Star Kist sandwiches he insisted we pack lest any of us have to battle the moths in our respective wallets for what he deemed overpriced hot dogs. That’s how our driver earned the nickname “Tuna Fish” long before Bill Parcells usurped it in a far more successful Giants era.
Those sorts of experiences are scarce these days. Just four current teams are holding camp this year on college campuses. The Rams’ venue carries an asterisk; I know the area around Loyola Marymount University intimately and I can assure you those players are staying in upscale apartments in adjacent Playa Del Rey that have been recently vacated by laid-off Google executives. The Cardinals, Panthers and Bengals are holding their workouts in their actual stadiums. The balance are taking place in modern team-owned training facilities which are often used in the regular season, with fans allowed in to controlled workouts that try to mimic the atmosphere of a baseball training facility. Which also means there’s an admission price, and the hot dogs (and especially the waters) are a LOT more expensive than ever. And as is the case during the regular season, for “safety reasons” you can’t necessarily bring your own food into these venues.
These workouts still bring out plenty of people hungry for real football after several months of the UFL, CFL and the draft. Unless they’re as seasoned as I am they never knew the environment that I did. And it’s for that reason–not to mention the migraines this sort of heat kicks up in me–that I’m going nowhere near the Rams, or the Chargers’ facility on the other side of LAX or the Cowboys’ annual invasion of Southern California a coupla hours up the coast in Oxnard. Today’s Giants fans–those hardy souls–will have to wait until the pre-season starts before they can get a glimpse of their heroes without having to trek out to the fancy Greenbriar resort in West Virginia, where the early part of the team’s summer is being spent. I was once there for a weekend retreat, and I can further assure you that there are no hot dogs worth consuming within miles.
Perhaps it’s for the best that “Tuna Fish” is no longer around to see the way summer training for the NFL is conducted these days. They may indeed be training, but it’s anything but camp. Besides, in this heat, his precious sandwiches would certainly turn quickly.
Courage…