Lady Raiders hold off Warren, advance to Area Championship Game

Netflix, NFL unwrap football for Christmas through 2026

Treading further into territory once reserved for NBA broadcasts, the NFL plans to continue airing games on Christmas Day beyond the 2024 doubleheader on Netflix announced on Wednesday. NFL Vice President of Media Hans Schroeder said Thursday the league already has outlined plans for Christmas games in 2025 and 2026. Since Christmas is on a Saturday in 2027, it's a near certainty regular-season games will be played that day, too. "Amazon will have their traditional Thursday night game in primetime on Christmas on Thursday next year, and we'll have another game on Netflix in the afternoon," Schroeder said on a conference call discussing the league schedule for the 2024 season released Wednesday. "Netflix will have a game on Friday the year after that (2026). We'll use how we think about '25 to form how we go into '26." With Christmas falling on a Wednesday in 2024, the four teams involved were scheduled for Saturday games the week before to emulate the Saturday-to-Thursday game week schedule. Traditionally, the NBA is the only game competing for airtime with a scarce sports broadcast schedule on Christmas Day. After ratings showed sincere interest from fans in Christmas games in 2023, the NFL claims it decided to commit to more in future seasons. All three games had more than 27 million viewers according to Nielsen, ratings that piqued the interest of the NFL. The games were peeled out of the full network broadcast agreements and Netflix reportedly bid $75 million for each of its three holiday games. VP of Broadcast Mike North said the NFL "wasn't thinking about" scheduling on Christmas 2024 at this time last year. "When you saw the viewership numbers for Christmas for the tripleheader last year, and the tripleheader the year before -- I think it's four of the last five years that we've played on Christmas -- the fans have spoken," North said. "They want the games there and our broadcast partners want the games there." --Field Level Media

The Atlanta Falcons released outside linebacker Ade Ogundeji on Thursday. Ogundeji, 25, recorded 75 tackles, three sacks and one fumble recovery in 32 career games (27 starts) in his first two seasons with the Falcons. He was selected by Atlanta in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. Ogundeji injured his foot during training camp last August, landed on injured reserve and sat out the 2023 season. --Field Level Media

The Jacksonville Jaguars added three players on defense Thursday, signing defensive backs Terrell Edmunds and Tre Flowers, as well as linebacker Ty Summers. The Jaguars also waived linebacker Dequan Jackson and cut ties with wide receiver Wayne Ruby on a injury settlement. Edmunds, 27, was a first-round draft pick in 2018 and played his first five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers before splitting time with the Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles in 2023. In 95 career games (79 starts), Edmunds has 458 tackles, six interceptions and 28 passes defended. Flowers, 28, has 283 tackles with four interceptions and 22 passes defended in 90 games (44 starts) over six seasons for the Seattle Seahawks (2018-21), Cincinnati Bengals (2021-22) and Atlanta Falcons (2023). Summers, 28, has 60 tackles in 67 games (one start) for the Green Bay Packers (2019-21) and New Orleans Saints (2022-23), while also playing three games for the Jaguars in 2022. --Field Level Media

The Minnesota Vikings announced the signing of veteran tight end Robert Tonyan on Thursday. Tonyan, 30, caught 11 passes for 112 yards and no touchdowns in 17 games (six starts) for the Chicago Bears in 2023. He previously played for the Green Bay Packers (2018-22) and spent time with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2017, giving him a sweep of the NFC North by joining the Vikings. Tonyan has 148 career catches for 1,549 yards and 17 touchdowns in 85 games (24 starts). His 11 touchdown grabs in 2020 tied for fifth in the NFL. Minnesota waived undrafted rookie linebacker Donovan Manuel to make room for Tonyan on the 90-man roster. He joins a tight ends room that includes two-time Pro Bowler T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver, Johnny Mundt, Nick Muse, Trey Knox and Sammis Reyes. --Field Level Media

The New England Patriots and center David Andrews agreed to an extension through 2025, ESPN reported Thursday. He will earn a base salary of $12 million in each of the next two seasons, with a max value of $13 million, plus a total of $8 million fully guaranteed, per the report. Andrews, 31, has won two Super Bowl rings since joining the Patriots as an undrafted rookie out of Georgia in 2015. He has started 117 of his 120 regular-season games for New England, including all 17 contests last season. He also has 10 starts in 12 playoff games. --Field Level Media

The 2024 Hall of Fame Game will be broadcast on Aug. 1 by ABC and ESPN. The Pro Football Hall of Fame said Thursday this will be the first time ESPN has aired the game. It's sister network, ABC, had rights to the Hall of Fame Game from 1971-2005. This year's preseason game in Canton, Ohio, will feature the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. ESPN's "Monday Night Football" crew of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters will call the game. Aikman, the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys from 1989-2000, was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2006. --Field Level Media

Penn State coach James Franklin made a video appeal to Nittany Lions football fans on Thursday, asking them to contribute to a fund to pay players through the name, image and likeness program. The funding is key to keeping Penn State competitive in the expanding Big Ten, Franklin told fans. "Our goal is to compete for championships while doing it the right way. But having an elite NIL program is critical to this mission. A strong NIL program is a foundational component of building and maintaining an elite roster of players that will ensure our program is competitive in today's college football," Franklin said. "Our staff has done an amazing job of bringing in high level players that uphold the standard of wearing the blue and white. Now we must ensure we do everything we can to guarantee our roster is the best it possibly can be for this upcoming season." The university said it has raised just 25 percent of its $500,000 goal via donations to Retain the Roar, a campaign run by Happy Valley United, the school's NIL collective that serves 31 Penn State sports. "We need your help," Franklin said. "Every donation matters." A study by a Washington, D.C., certified public accountant projected NIL estimates for each of the public Big Ten universities and reported the collective at Ohio State had brought in an estimated $20.3 million, with Michigan second at $16.4 million and Penn State next at $13.8 million. About 75 percent of the money was set to go to football, per the study. --Field Level Media

Lions QB Jared Goff: 'More fired up than ever'

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff made his goals clear on Thursday, the day the team announced his signing to a contract extension through the 2028 season. "I'm more driven and more fired up than ever to go even harder and put the pedal to the metal even more to bring a Super Bowl to the city and that's what's most important," Goff said. The team didn't disclose financial terms, but multiple outlets reported the four-year extension was for $212 million with $170 million guaranteed. Goff, acquired in the 2021 trade that sent veteran QB Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams, is entering his fourth season as the starter in Detroit. In 48 regular season games with the Lions, he has completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 12,258 yards with 78 touchdowns and 27 interceptions -- resulting in a 96.5 passer rating. Among NFL QBs last season, he was first in passing first downs (227), second in passing yards (4,575), second in 20-yard completions (69) and tied for third in 300-yard games (five). Detroit finished 12-5 last season and won its first division title in 30 years. The Lions posted playoff victories over the Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and held a 24-7 halftime lead before falling 34-31 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The Rams selected Goff with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. Goff's reported $53 million annual average value ranks second in the NFL behind Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who has a $55 million AAV. Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million deal last September. --Field Level Media