When the New York Jets parted ways with general manager Mike Maccagnan last week, interim GM Adam Gase wasted no time executing a trade of one of Maccagnan's former first-round picks. Darron Lee was sent to the Kansas City Chiefs for nickels on the dollar, only getting back a sixth-round pick . Lee wasn't Maccagnan's first first-rounder as Jets GM (that would be Leonard Williams ), nor was Lee Mccagnan's defining pick in his five-plus years at the helm. That dishonor belongs to the 51st pick of the 2016 NFL draft, Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg. There was a certain irony in the choice given that Hackenberg had been on a two-year slide in college prior to entering the draft, a slump that coincided with the departure of Nittany Lions head coach Bill O'Brien. The Houston Texans made O'Brien their head coach in 2014, where he was teamed up with Maccagnan, then a member of the Texans' scouting staff before the Jets made him their GM. That Maccagnan drafted Hackenberg immediately following the Texans in Round 2 in 2016 feels fitting. The Texans actually traded up into that No. 50 spot, right ahead of the Jets, but took center Nick Martin . "Obviously, he has a lot of physical ability in terms of arm strength, athletic ability and size," Maccagnan said at the time about Hackenberg. "He's a prototype from that standpoint. ... We think he has a lot of potential." When the Jets took Hackenberg, it was A.) Higher than most people expected; and B.) Quite telling that O'Brien and the Texans passed on him twice (even with the signing of Brock Osweiler a few months earlier). The Texans had an advantage over the other 31 teams in that their head coach knew what Hackenberg was made of. The Jets decided that they knew better. Maccagnan's fate in a lot of ways was decided with that pick, even if his firing happened far later with a new head coach coming in and usurping the turf war. Perhaps history will shine more kindly on Maccagnan if Sam Darnold turns out to be the franchise QB many feel he can become. But it's not unfair to suggest that the Hackenburg pick was a crown of thorns the former Jets GM wore around for a few painful years while the team languished in the gutter. Fair or not, every general manager has a single draft pick that defines his legacy more than others. More often than not, it's a first-round pick. And more than other positions, quarterbacks often define a GM's legacy   for good or bad. It's tough to emboss any one player to any one decision maker's head, but that's often the way it goes. Perception is reality, and after all, someone is making the final call on the picks. Bottom line: That's a GM's job description. Here are the defining picks of the other 31 teams' general managers, although in some cases you'll see that some teams operate with a different power structure   with different titles   than others: AFC East Buffalo Bills General manager: Brandon Beane (hired May 2017) Defining pick: QB Josh Allen   first round, seventh overall, 2018 This was Beane's first pick running the Bills' show, and it was a doozy. We still don't know how Allen will turn out, but he was a roundly chided prospect with scattershot accuracy in college who flashed some fascinating ability last year as a rookie in Buffalo. The Bills have put all their eggs in his basket. Not only did he handpick Allen at No. 7 (in a loaded QB draft), but Beane had to give up two second-round picks to move up five slots to get his man. The Bills probably needed to do so to land Allen, as other teams   such as the Arizona Cardinals   were rumored to be hot on his trail. (And yet the Bills could have had Patrick Mahomes the year before, in former GM Doug Whaley's final draft, had they not traded the pick that would become Mahomes to the Kansas City Chiefs.) This offseason, the Bills signed and drafted a slew of offensive linemen and pass catchers with the purpose of building around Allen. He's Beane's baby now, and we'll see if it proved to be a wise choice. Miami Dolphins General manager: Chris Grier (named GM January 2016) Defining pick: The two picks traded for QB Josh Rosen The Dolphins might have named Grier their GM more than three years ago, and he has been with the franchise since 2000, but the Dolphins' crowded kitchen never really afforded him the chance to run a draft until this year. Prior to 2019, Grier was   at best   second or third in command in a muddled power structure that included Mike Tannenbaum and others before him. Grier and new head coach Brian Flores are in a fascinating spot here following their first draft class. Their first selection together, DT Christian Wilkins (first round, 13th overall), could end up being a building block for years to come. But Grier's legacy likely won't be tethered to whether Wilkins becomes a star. Instead, we'll go   for now   with the decision to swap the No. 62 pick (second round) in 2019 and a 2020 fifth-round pick for Rosen, who was the 10th overall pick in 2018. It could turn out to be spectacular value in the long haul, and the level of investment is low enough where Grier and Co. could enter the 2020 QB draft fray if Rosen's first-year results in Miami are not promising enough. Perhaps whoever the Dolphins take in Round 1 next year could end up being Grier's defining pick. After all, this is a team many believe to be the worst on paper in the NFL. But right now, this looks like a savvy move, sweating out the Arizona Cardinals on Rosen for a relative song. New England Patriots General manager: Bill Belichick (hired January 2000) Defining pick: QB Tom Brady   sixth round, 199th overall, 2000 The Patriots are one of the few teams in the NFL whose head coach holds autonomy over the draft. Belichick works hand in hand with director of personnel Nick Caserio, the de facto GM, but we all know who is making the final calls on the picks. Caserio was still a graduate assistant at Saginaw Valley State when Belichick and the Patriots famously made Brady their second sixth-round pick in 2000. (Missouri's Jeff Marriott, who never played an NFL game, was the first.) The Brady pick turned out better. Enough ink has been spilled over this selection for the past two decades. It's probably the biggest steal in draft history. The Patriots and Belichick have a high first-round hit rate, manipulate draft assets as well as any team ever has and have unearthed plenty of late gems, such as Julian Edelman . But it's almost certain none of their picks can trump No. 199 in 2000. New York Jets See above. AFC North Baltimore Ravens General manager: Eric DeCosta (assumed position January 2019) Defining pick: WR Marquise Brown   first round, 25th overall, 2019 This likely will change. DeCosta was a huge part of the Ravens' scouting department before earning the GM title, serving as Ozzie Newsome's right-hand man in many ways for years. In his first draft flying solo, DeCosta wasn't afraid to go against the grain. At 166 pounds, Brown is one of the smallest first-round picks in generations. But his game-breaking speed is something this Ravens offense could use a dose of as it continues to build around QB Lamar Jackson . Although Jackson is considered Newsome's pick, DeCosta likely had a big say in that choice, which certainly was another against-the-grain pick. DeCosta's true legacy pick might be a year or two or three away. But for now, it's his first one   and there is a lot riding on it. Cincinnati Bengals General manager: n/a Defining pick: ??? The Bengals truly don't have a general manager, as team owner Mike Brown has refused to cede control of that final say since taking over the team following his father's death in 1991. However, it has been known for years that director of player personnel Duke Tobin essentially has been running the Bengals' drafts for years. Yes, things are run through the 83-year-old Brown, but Tobin is making the major calls and was said to have a big say in hiring Zac Taylor as the new head coach. Choosing Tobin's defining pick proves to be difficult given the murkiness over when he actually took over. He might have carried the same title since 2002, but Tobin often gave up pull to former head coach Marvin Lewis and had two of Brown's family members, Troy and Katie Blackburn, carrying vice president titles and sitting ahead of him on the team's masthead. The Bengals have struck gold several times in the draft under Tobin's watch (Carson Palmer, A.J. Green , Geno Atkins , Andrew Whitworth and others) and have struck out many times as well ( Cedric Ogbuehi , Chris Perry, David Pollack and perhaps John Ross ). It's tricky to pin one pick on Tobin   or any other one person in this unique structure   and tie it to them. Just another way in which the Bengals are a bit different than everyone else. Cleveland Browns General manager: John Dorsey (hired December 2017) Defining pick: QB Baker Mayfield   first round, first overall, 2018 Dorsey walked into a fascinating situation in Cleveland, the likes of which we might not see for some time. Cloaked with two decades of debilitating losses, the Browns appeared to be a giant estate sale where there were uncashed checks lying around in a cluttered old mansion. Dorsey took that paper straight to the bank upon taking over and has already seen some terrific ROI. None might ever trump what he earned on Mayfield, his first pick with the Browns. It's easy to see now that Dorsey might have been onto something with the Oklahoma quarterback, but this was far from a slam-dunk first overall pick. Many felt Mayfield's short, stocky build and Air Raid-steeped production   along with a fiery personality and an arrest to his name   didn't add up to the safest selection. But Dorsey was undeterred in his pick, even with some other fine QB options such as Allen, Rosen, Jackson and Darnold. The Browns also had the fourth overall pick last year, so Dorsey could have attempted to get cute with how he chose his quarterback. But he did not, and now it looks to be a stroke of genius if Mayfield's first 13 starts were any indication of how his career arc is shaping. Think about this: Dorsey's past two first-round picks were Mahomes and Mayfield. Most general managers hope to unearth a QB talent of that level once in a career if they're lucky. Dorsey might have drafted two generational passers in back-to-back years for two different franchises. It's a fascinating element to his legacy. Pittsburgh Steelers General manager: Kevin Colbert (named director of football operations, February 2000; named GM, 2011) Defining pick: QB Ben Roethlisberger   first round, 11th overall, 2004 The funny thing about Colbert in Pittsburgh is that he has essentially been running the Steelers' draft for 20 years now, and when he was elevated to GM   the first man in franchise history to hold that title   local media found out when it was merely slipped into the Steelers' media guide. It's unclear if the promotion occurred before or after the 2011 NFL draft, but we assume that it happened sometime in the summer of 2011. So if you want to pick nits and restrict his draft window to 2012 and beyond, you'd be left to choose from a few really good picks ( David DeCastro , Le'Veon Bell , Ryan Shazier , JuJu Smith-Schuster ) and some less-than-great ones ( Artie Burns , Jarvis Jones , Bud Dupree , Senquez Golson ). Picking Roethlisberger is very tricky. Dan Rooney has said that Colbert and former head coach Bill Cowher wanted to draft guard Shawn Andrews over Roethlisberger, and there certainly was some luck that a potential franchise QB was still on the board at No. 11 overall. We'll still give Colbert credit for that one. It's also tricky to weigh everything relatively, as Colbert also was the author of perhaps the second-best sixth-round pick in NFL history. Say what you will about Antonio Brown's exit from the team, the contract the Steelers gave him or how little they got in return   there's little doubt that Brown is special. Only two former sixth-rounders have ever made the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Dave Wilcox and Terrell Davis). Brown and Tom Brady figure to be the next two in line for that distinction. AFC South Houston Texans General manager: Brian Gaine (hired January 2018) Defining pick: OT Tytus Howard   first round, 23rd overall, 2019 Another relatively new GM, Gaine's defining pick might not have been made yet. And with his first- and second-round selections having been traded away prior to his arrival, Gaine didn't make a Round 1 pick until his second draft. Part of that pick dearth happened because his predecessor, Rick Smith, traded up for Deshaun Watson , making Gaine's focus clear: protect Watson at all costs. That's why the Howard pick is critical now. Viewed as a Day 2 or 3 prospect earlier in the draft process, Howard's stock rose steadily because of his tantalizing athletic traits and high character. But if he's not at least on par with OT Andre Dillard , who was taken the pick prior, there are going to be questions about Gaine's lack of aggressiveness. The Eagles traded up in front of Houston to take Dillard, who was roundly viewed as a premier pass protector and a safer selection than Howard. Gaine's legacy draft choice might not be cast in stone yet, but right now it's his surprising first-round pick. If it works out and Watson is protected well, all will be well. But if not and the team struggles, it might not be surprising to see Bill O'Brien and Gaine   viewed as tethered at the hip   shown the door at some point for a team whose ownership situation is a bit murky following the death of Bob McNair. Indianapolis Colts General manager: Chris Ballard (hired January 2017) Defining pick: LB Darius Leonard   second round, 36th overall, 2018 Others will disagree, and that's perfectly fine. It demonstrates that tattooing one draft pick to a GM who has been on the job for a little more than 800 days is a fool's errand more often than not. If you want to argue that Quenton Nelson should be Ballard's defining pick to date, I'd have no major arguments. After all, Ballard executed a beautiful trade down three slots and picked up heavy draft artillery in the process, not to mention picking a guard with All-Pro potential in the process. It was a relatively safe choice, all things considered, and until Nelson starts for a decade, it's hard to brand a guard as a culture-changing draft choice. For me, it's Leonard because it showed the conviction Ballard has in his and his staff's scouting work and vision, and to be willing to go against the grain for a player who fits exactly what they wanted, draft position be damned. A pick that was widely panned by media pundits as being a reach, Leonard turned in an incredible rookie season and cast a mold for exactly the type of rangy, athletic, smart, instinctive and tough defender the Colts likely will be seeking to draft for the next decade. Jacksonville Jaguars General manager: David Caldwell (hired January 2013) Defining pick: QB Blake Bortles   first round, third overall, 2014 This is tricky here, as Caldwell is the GM in name only. Executive vice president Tom Coughlin moved in on Caldwell's turf when he was named to his post in January of 2017, and Coughlin's influence over team-building decisions has only grown since then. So the first instinct is to look only at Caldwell's draft picks in the drafts from 2013-2017. And it's not as if there aren't enough legacy-defining choices in that range to assign to Caldwell. To be fair, we must give him and his scouts credit for building the core of a team that currently is one year removed from an AFC championship game appearance. The selections of Jalen Ramsey , Myles Jack and others helped for a formidable defense in 2017, and the team could be primed for a bounce-back season with new QB Nick Foles . But the Jaguars lost double-digit games in four of Caldwell's five seasons, and the Bortles selection will always go down as one of his worst. Now the backup to Jared Goff in L.A., Bortles put up some big fantasy numbers and was the QB who helped beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs two years ago. But his lack of development and repeated mistakes led the Jaguars to move on   after the team gave him a hindering contract extension, of course. Tennessee Titans General manager: Jon Robinson (hired January 2016) Defining pick: 2016 draft trade It's not one single pick, but Robinson's biggest   and boldest   draft maneuver was to trade out of the No. 1 spot of the 2016 NFL draft after he'd been on the job for a mere three months. Armed with second-year QB Marcus Mariota, the Titans felt confident enough in their situation at the position to pass on taking either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz first overall. (It would have been quite stunning had they stood pat and taken either, quite frankly, at the time.) Here's the final tally on that trade with the Rams, who took Goff: The Titans landed the No. 15 overall pick in 2016 (later traded), the No. 43 pick (DL Austin Johnson), the No. 45 pick (RB Derrick Henry) and the No. 76 pick (also traded), as well as a 2017 first-round pick (WR Corey Davis) and a 2017 third-round pick (TE Jonnu Smith). The Titans also surrendered a 2016 fourth-rounder (which later was traded to the Chicago Bears) and a 2016 sixth-rounder (TE Temarrick Hemingway), and they moved up from that No. 15 spot to land OT Jack Conklin. In moving up to draft Conklin at No. 8 that year, the Titans got back a sixth-rounder (Andy Janovich) but surrendered the Nos. 15 and 76 picks in 2016, plus a 2017 second-round pick (that ended up being QB DeShone Kizer). The net results on the trade? Inconclusive. In fact, it's quite a thorny web to untangle to figure out whether the Titans did the right thing or not. Comparing Mariota to Goff or Wentz feels fruitless since neither realistically were going to be Titans. But the team did trade out of the range to draft either Ramsay or Joey Bosa, and the recent declining of Conklin's fifth-year option muddles the matter a bit, even if he's been a solid player, albeit one with some injury concerns. On the surface, the Conklin pick isn't awful at all, but it's a little uninspiring. Essentially, the trade comes down to whether the Titans can keep Henry running at a high level and develop Davis into being a front-line receiver. If that happens and Conklin remains with the team long term, the trade can be deemed a rousing success. But that really isn't perfectly clear at this moment. Robinson has done some good things as GM, as well as some shaky moves. But his overall reputation remains solid because of the work he's done moving the Titans up from the basement to the middle class. If the players the landed with that bonanza draft trade continue to develop, Robinson's defining draft move will look good. Then again, if Mariota slips and he's not retained long term, Robinson's defining draft pick might end up being the next quarterback the Titans draft. It could be relatively high if that happens. AFC West Denver Broncos General manager: John Elway (named GM and executive vice president of football operations January 2011) Defining pick: LB Von Miller   first round, second overall, 2011 When it comes to Elway's legacy as a decision maker, it's complicated. We're choosing to put a positive spin on this here, although there clearly is room for interpretation with this exercise. The myopic view might be that Elway hasn't had the easiest time picking his quarterbacks, especially in the draft. There's little doubting his track record there, and quarterback   as Elway himself knows best   is the defining position in football. And if you want to pin it down to one pick, trading up for Paxton Lynch is about as bad as it gets for a first-rounder . If that's your choice, so be it. But Elway went from running an Arena League team and his car dealerships to drafting a future Hall of Famer in a span of about six months. Granted, that 2011 NFL draft class was loaded, and you might argue that J.J. Watt has been a better player when he's been healthy. But Elway got the Miller pick right   when some felt he was too light to be taken that high   and it helped build the foundation of a defense that reached one Super Bowl and won another. If that's not a legacy pick, I don't know what that term means. Los Angeles Chargers General manager: Tom Telesco (hired January 2013) Defining pick: EDGE Joey Bosa   first round, third overall, 2016 We could have gone in a number of directions here with Telesco, who has quietly compiled an excellent record as GM in the draft. It would be easy to pick a potentially special talent such as Derwin James here, but he fell to No. 17 overall, which is just laughable now; the Chargers pretty much admitted they had no idea James would still be on the board, making it a no-brainer, best-available pick. We could have gone with a later-round steal such as Keenan Allen (No. 76 overall in his first draft in 2013) or Desmond King (No. 151 in 2017). All of those feel like worthy selection. And yet we're going with Bosa, who was a Defensive Player of the Year favorite prior to missing a major chunk of last season and who is a full-fledged star   28.5 sacks in 35 career games   before he's even turned 24 years old. The fact that Telesco kept quiet his team's desire to take Bosa third overall so quiet also earns him extra credit. Go back and look through the mock-draft database from that year and count the number that had Bosa going to the Chargers … it's a small number. The Chargers have one of the most talented rosters in football, and even if they've underachieved in Philip Rivers' final years, it's hard to put much of that on Telesco. His picks have been much more good than bad, and his Bosa selection stands as a major game-changer. Kansas City Chiefs General manager: Brett Veach (hired July 2017) Defining pick: The Frank Clark trade With ties to Andy Reid going back to Philadelphia, Veach and Reid could maybe be called co-GMs. Reid and John Dorsey reshaped the Chiefs' roster upon arriving in Kansas City in 2013, along with Veach, who was a member of the scouting department. When Dorsey was let go in 2017, Veach assumed the role, although Reid clearly has more say over personnel than most head coaches do. That's why this is a tough call here. Veach simply hasn't had enough time to cast his own legacy as GM, and the divvying up of personnel duties makes it trickier. I almost chose WR Mecole Hardman, the team's second-round pick (56th overall) in this most recent draft. The assumption was that Hardman was the team's Tyreek Hill insurance if he was to be released following another off-field incident, although Hill remains on the team. Instead, we'll go with Clark. Afford us the latitude, if you will, to go with a veteran player who was acquired with draft picks. The Chiefs clearly felt that Clark was better than any defensive player they could have found with the 29th overall selection, so Veach traded it, the No. 92 overall pick and a 2020 second-rounder to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Clark and the No. 84 overall pick. That, along with Clark's contract extension, felt like a steep price to pay, especially after sending Dee Ford to the 49ers for a 2020 second-rounder. Will Clark be that big an upgrade over Ford? If so, the move will be a success. Certainly winning a Super Bowl will keep the critics at bay as well. What Veach and Reid learned last season was that Patrick Mahomes is truly special but that even he might not be able to compensate for a faulty defense. That has been the thrust of this offseason and will be the prevailing theme of this season's title chase. Oakland Raiders General manager: Mike Mayock (hired December 2018) Defining pick: EDGE Clelin Ferrell   first round, fourth overall, 2019 With apologies to Mayock, we know who ultimately is making the decisions in Oakland. That would be the Hundred Million Dollar Man. When Jon Gruden earned the largest contract in coaching to return to the Raiders, it came with the assumption that all calls ultimately fall on his head. Again, not taking anything away from Mayock, but let's be real here. Still, I am sure Gruden leaned on Mayock's eye when it came to making the unexpected call on Ferrell at four back in April. How he performs in the coming years as compared to the other defensive talent in this draft will be parsed and hashed and rehashed time and time again. It didn't hurt that the Raiders had two other first-rounders to fall back on, but they got those at the expense of trading Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. That's a big reason how you get to 4-12 in Gruden's second tenure as head coach. But even with the Ferrell pick under the microscope for now, it likely will be pushed aside at some point. The Raiders will be picking Derek Carr's possible replacement eventually, we suspect, and they'll have two first-rounders next year. There is plenty of time to shape the legacies   in either direction   of Gruden and Mayock. NFC East Dallas Cowboys General manager: Jerry Jones (bought team and took over in February 1989) Defining pick: QB Troy Aikman   first round, first overall, 1989 The only man in the NFL to officially carry the titles of owner, president and GM, Jones certainly has worn a lot of hats in his 30 years running the show in Dallas. But when it comes to personnel and the draft, Jones has ceded a lot of that control over to his well-stocked front office, including son Stephen Jones and personnel guru Will McClay. So while there's a temptation to go with a recent selection, we went to the past. Aikman was Jerry Jones' first draft pick, and it's hard to do better than taking a future Hall of Famer who led the Boys to three Super Bowl titles. Sure, there were better value picks, such as unearthing Larry Allen in Round 2 tin 1994 or landing Jason Witten in Round 3 nine years later. There were perhaps even better talents than Aikman that Jones drafted, such as the future NFL all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, in 1990. But Aikman was uniquely qualified to quarterback the Cowboys' comeback efforts, and he was the perfect leader for a team loaded with alpha personalities. The Cowboys couldn't have gone wrong with taking Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas or Deion Sanders   the other top-five picks who also ended up in Canton. But it's hard to argue what Aikman and his 1989 Cowboys draft-class mates (Daryl Johnston, Mark Stepnoski, Tony Tolbert) were able to accomplish. New York Giants General manager: Dave Gettelman (named GM December 2017) Defining pick: QB Daniel Jones   first round, sixth overall, 2019 Gettleman has been a busy man, albeit a controversial one, since returning to the Giants as GM 17 months ago. You could argue that his selection of Saquon Barkley at No. 2 was the most hotly debated pick in the 2018 draft, bypassing QB options for the gifted runner. And Gettleman's legacy ultimately will be tied to the largely unpopular Odell Beckham trade. But Jones certainly can prove his new GM sage by playing well and succeeding Eli Manning through the next generation of Giants football. When that will begin is anyone's guess   Gettleman has talked in terms of how many "years" (plural) Eli might have left. And so even if the Barkley pick essentially backed the Giants into the corner of having to taking Jones that high this year, all of that talk can be dispelled if Jones ends up a success. If not? Gettleman might get his gold watch sooner than he had hoped. Philadelphia Eagles General manager: Howie Roseman (named GM January 2010; named executive vice president of football operations January 2015) Defining pick: QB Carson Wentz   first round, second overall, 2016 Roseman's tenure can be split up into three phases. He was the general manager under Andy Reid from 2010 to 2014; Roseman then received a nominal promotion in 2015 when Chip Kelly was given GM duties; and then Roseman recaptured his personnel oversight role as de facto GM after Kelly was let go late in the 2015 season. So it's clear that Roseman's power has only grown in the wake of having two previous head coaches with personnel say. After bringing in head coach Doug Pederson in the 2016 offseason, the team set out to find its next franchise QB   and Roseman made perhaps his boldest move to date. Trading up twice to land at No. 2 overall in 2016 to take Wentz was considered a huge risk at the time given the price the Eagles paid to climb up that high and that Wentz was an FCS player with a history of injuries. Winning a Super Bowl   with Nick Foles replacing an injured Wentz   has bought Roseman a ton of credibility and rightfully so. After all he was at the center of the roster reshaping that made the Eagles one of the best teams in football that season. But the legacy of the Wentz pick has yet to be written, as injuries have continued to plague him. So far, the move looks like a net win. Wentz was playing at an MVP level late into the Super Bowl-winning season, and he has many years left in his prime to prove himself again. The Eagles also figure to reward him with a major contract befitting of a relatively young franchise QB. That said, Wentz still needs to play up to that level and stay healthy to make Roseman's signature pick hold up over the test of time. Washington Redskins General manager: Bruce Allen (hired as GM December 2009; named team president May 2014) Defining pick: QB Robert Griffin III   first round, second overall, 2012 Trading two future first-rounders, plus the Nos. 6 and 39 overall picks in 2012, Allen executed a bold move up to the second slot to take Griffin. It felt like a home run for a QB-starved team that too often went the used-up-veteran route to find its passers prior to that. Griffin was the 2012 AP Rookie of the Year   over Andrew Luck, the first overall pick   and looked to be a star in the making before a late-season knee injury changed Griffin's career forever. That's part of what makes this operation tricky. Would Griffin have continued on his ascent had he not gotten hurt? We might never know. The gut feeling here is that Allen had the right idea of moving up for a unique talent such as Griffin, even at a high cost. But ultimately, quarterbacks and the executives who draft them are judged based on hard results, and the ugly turn of Griffin with the Redskins rendered that pick a net loss. Perhaps one day Allen will be vindicated if his selection of Dwayne Haskins pans out as hoped. Allen's popularity had been at an all-time low among Redskins fans before this past draft and has nowhere to go but up if he can convince owner Daniel Snyder to keep him in his post. After all, Allen was previously forced to abdicate his GM duties when the team brought in Scot McCloughan to run the draft. NFC North Chicago Bears General manager: Ryan Pace (hired January 2015) Defining pick: QB Mitchell Trubisky   first round, second overall, 2017 After failing to land a QB in the 2016 draft, Pace was not about to be out-jockeyed the following year. He paid a steep price to move up one slot and ensure he got his man in Trubisky, a one-year starter at North Carolina. The move was widely panned at the time, with many suggesting that Pace was fleeced in the trade assets he surrendered. Since then, however, the narrative has changed. The success of QBs Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes from that same draft class has added a new dimension to the debate; essentially, Pace could have even traded down and still potentially nabbed better individual talents at the position than Trubisky. We'll be talking about this pick for many years. If the Bears win a Super Bowl with Trubisky, Pace will be vindicated. If not, critics will point to that pick as being the reason the team couldn't take the next step, despite having the makings of what could be a special defense for the next few seasons. Pace has found some real gems outside of Round 1, and the boldness he showed in executing the Khalil Mack trade has given Pace the reputation of being one of the most aggressive dealers in the game. But it's also hard not to think that his Trubisky decision will be the one that weighs heaviest on his lasting mark in Chicago. Detroit Lions General manager: Bob Quinn (hired January 2016) Defining pick: WR Kenny Golladay   third round, 96th overall, 2017 It's very interesting taking a step back and looking at Quinn's four drafts at the helm of the Lions. He's played things relatively safely in Round 1, which likely comes from his New England influence, as does his penchant for drafting SEC players and Senior Bowl participants heavily. Typically, his Round 1 choices fill a clear, immediate need, and his picks thereafter have been more of the swing-for-the-fences variety. There have been a few clear missteps in that middle-round range, such as Teez Tabor and Michael Roberts. But there also have been clear gems, such as Golladay and D'Shawn Hand. In fact, you could argue that Golladay was a pick that went against the Patriots-ish grain. New England had a hell of a time trying to find receivers in that Round 2-4 range when Quinn was in New England. You might understand if Quinn had feared Golladay might become the next Aaron Dobson, but he hasn't. He's one of the best young receivers in the game. It's clear that Quinn has followed a patterned team-building method through the draft in Detroit, and it's possible at some point we'll point to the T.J. Hockenson pick at the more career-defining move, as it was a bit controversial among Lions fans. So was 2019 second-round LB Jahlani Tavai, who has a boom-bust quality to him. But for now we're picking Golladay as a sign that Quinn has developed some of his own drafting methods over the past few years. Green Bay Packers General manager: Brian Gutekunst (named GM January 2018) Defining pick: EDGE Rashan Gary   first round, 12th overall, 2019 In his 17 months as GM, the Packers have been busy. Gutekunst wasted no time making an aggressive but deft move to trade for an additional first-round pick in his first draft and still land a top talent in Jaire Alexander. That would have been our choice for this had we conducted this exercise a year ago. But everything has changed. Fairly or not, Gary has become the pick that many in Packersdom have glommed onto, and perhaps not in the most endearing way. With the Packers holding three of the first 44 picks in the 2019 draft, fans' visions danced over the ways that ammo could help build the defense and give Aaron Rodgers more weaponry and protection on offense. Maybe it will end up working out that way. But Gary's inconsistent production at Michigan has some worried. Entering the 2018 season, Gary looked like a potential top-10 or even top-5 pick. Hindered by a shoulder injury, his play fell off. Gary also was asked to play a role where he beat up opposing tight ends and set hard edges more than he screamed off the edge to sack quarterbacks. But it's easy to wonder if there's a bit of overlaps in the three edge players the Packers added this offseason in Gary, Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith. They clearly favored power over edge speed. If Gary turns out to be a star, all will be forgiven. If he fails to live up to expectations and some of the defensive players drafted after him   Christian Wilkins, Brian Burns, Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat, to name a few   become standouts, then Gutekunst will be questioned. Minnesota Vikings General manager: Rick Spielman (promoted May 2012) Defining pick: OT Matt Kalil   first round, fourth overall, 2012 Spielman has done more good than bad since being promoted from the role of vice president of player personnel, helping to build one of the league's best defenses and assembling some firepower on offense from some interesting sources. But Spielman hasn't had as much success with his higher draft picks on the offensive side of the ball. Just look up and down the Vikings' offensive depth chart: Most of the standouts were drafted in the middle and lower rounds. Kalil felt like a strong pick at No. 4 at the time, but it didn't work out that way. He suffered through some growing pains in Minnesota and was allowed to walk via free agency. That was a good decision to let him go by the Vikings, as Kalil flamed out in Carolina as well. But it's a reminder that the team still has an offensive line that remains incomplete until proven otherwise. If we extend Spielman's draft legacy to his time of arrival in 2006, then his legacy pick might be Adrian Peterson on the good end of the spectrum and Christian Ponder on the bad side. But if we're assuming he didn't make a final call on either during that six-year period where the Vikings used a more collaborative draft approach, then we're left with Kalil. You easily could argue that Spielman landing Harrison Smith at the bottom of Round 1, Danielle Hunter in Round 3, Stefon Diggs in Round 5 or Adam Thielen from the undrafted ranks all strike as tremendous moves for a club that has been .500 or better four straight seasons. But missing on Kalil at No. 4 still rings as a tough miss. NFC South Atlanta Falcons General manager: Thomas Dimitroff (hired January 2008) Defining pick: QB Matt Ryan   first round, third overall, 2008 Dimitroff has drafted 87 players since taking over the Falcons' front office, including four selections in the top 10. But none have meant more overall to the health of the franchise than his first selection. Upon taking over in 2008, the Falcons owned the third pick and were in a fascinating situation with former franchise savior Michael Vick in prison and the QB spot in serious question. Dimitroff didn't doubt his own judgment on Ryan and didn't hesitate handing him the keys to the operation. Despite the Falcons not winning a Super Bowl, the move unquestionably was the right one. Ryan hasn't always reached an elite level of play, but he was the league's MVP in 2016, hasn't missed a game since the 2009 season and will be seeking his ninth straight 4,000-yard season in 2019. There's a fascinating argument to be made that Julio Jones actually is Dimtroff's legacy pick, and it's one we should give credence. When the Falcons were picking 26th overall, Dimitroff rightfully determined that Jones was a rare prospect   and one worth trading up for. It has been well documented that Dimitroff called up his old boss, Bill Belichick, to get his thoughts on the wisdom of trading up for Jones. Belichick told Dimitroff he felt it wouldn't be worth the picks it would cost and that the Falcons could land a slightly lesser talent late in Round 1 such as Jon Baldwin for much cheaper. Dimitroff was more than right, it turned out. He dealt the Nos. 26, 59 and 124 picks in 2011, plus first- and fourth-round picks in 2012 to land Jones. No one thinks now it was not worth it. "[I have a] great deal of respect for Bill," Dimitroff said prior to Super Bowl LI . "At the end of that conversation, when I thought to myself I'd hit a crossroads, three years into the league that I was not necessarily going the same direction that he was advising. I thought, 'I guess I've really kind of grown up here,' because that's not an easy thing to do, is listen to someone as football intelligent and rounded as Bill [and go against it]. So that was a really interesting point in my career." So Jones easily could be Dimitroff's legacy pick if you want to pinpoint the moment he truly shed his old skin. But we still believe none of that is possible if they first don't land Ryan. Carolina Panthers General manager: Marty Hurney (named GM January 2002; fired October 2012; renamed GM February 2018) Defining pick: QB Cam Newton   first round, first overall, 2011 Hurney has had a strange but strangely successful run as Panthers GM. His first-round hit slugging percentage might lead the league, as he found way more big hits (Newton, Luke Kuechly, Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, Thomas Davis, Jon Beason, DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart) than misses (is Jeff Otah the only one?) during the early years. But none was a bigger risk than Newton, who entered the NFL with a mere 292 major-college pass attempts in 14 starts. On top of that, controversy surrounded Newton in his college career, making him a leap of faith with the top overall selection. Don't forget, too, that the Panthers had used a mid-second-round pick on Jimmy Clausen the year prior, and a weaker GM might have balked at taking quarterbacks so high in back-to-back drafts. Hurney saw through all of that. He and Ron Rivera viewed Newton as a transcendent talent, and history has proven them right on that. The fact that Hurney was fired a year and a half after making the Newton pick (and drafting Kuechly the next year) feels like an absurd move by former owner Jerry Richardson in retrospect. The Panthers brought back Hurney after a strange spell with Dave Gettleman as GM, and Hurney might have landed some nice players the past two drafts. But none of those selections are likely to knock the Newton choice off his personal perch. New Orleans Saints General manager: Mickey Loomis (promoted to GM 2002) Defining pick: WR Marques Colston   seventh round, 252nd overall, 2006 Even though Sean Payton's influence on the draft has grown, and some say assistant GM Jeff Ireland has become the true architect of the Saints' more recent draft classes, it's hard not to give Loomis credit for his overall body of work in this department. For years, the Saints had drafted the most Pro Bowl players during Loomis' run overseeing the draft. Amazingly, one of those Pro Bowlers is not Colston. I was shocked to realize he never had earned that honor in his 10-year career, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark six of those seasons and currently 39th on the all-time touchdown list with 72. Only two players over the past 40 years drafted at No. 252 or later have more receiving yards all time than Colston's 9,759   Keenan McCardell and Drew Hill, both 12th-rounders back when such a thing existed. Colston was a very good player for a long time, and an insane value that late in the draft. The Saints have drafted better players under Loomis' watch, but not many. We'll say that Jahri Evans and Cam Jordan qualify, and maybe Jermon Bushrod will pass him in time. But getting Colston where the Saints did was one of the all-time thefts. Tampa Bay Buccaneers General manager: Jason Licht (hired January 2014) Defining pick: QB Jameis Winston   first round, first overall, 2015 If you want to get cute and say trading down for Vita Vea   and passing up Derwin James twice in the process   is Licht's legacy move, have at it. It was still a bigger franchise-shifting move when the Bucs used the top pick on Winston in 2015. Winston had regressed on the field in his final season at Florida State and was cloaked with character questions following allegations of sexual assault and a few other bizarre incidents that occurred on campus. The Bucs said they interviewed more than 75 people to attest to Winston's character before making the pick, and yet his character concerns once more arose following an incident with an Uber driver that led to Winston being suspended for three games to start the 2018 season. He now enters a pivotal 2019 with new head coach Bruce Arians needing to prove his worth and his trust with the franchise. How it turns out with Winston will go a long way toward determining Licht's legacy with the team. It has been a mixed bag from a draft perspective the past six years so far, but Winston having his best season to date this coming year and earning a contract extension might change the narrative a bit. Arizona Cardinals General manager: Steve Keim (promoted to GM January 2013) Defining pick: QB Kyler Murray   first round, first overall, 2019 It's almost impossible to envision a scenario where Murray isn't the make-or-break selection in Keim's tenure   as well as the Cardinals' success over the coming years. After working hand in glove with former head coach Bruce Arians to construct a viable annual contender, that working relationship dissolved and the team was left to scramble to find Carson Palmer's long-term replacement. After failing to land Patrick Mahomes in 2017 and Josh Allen in 2018 (quarterbacks the Cardinals were believed to be high on), Keim traded up to take Josh Rosen last year with the No. 10 overall pick, trading third- and fifth-rounders to land there. We know how that ended up, with Rosen dealt for dimes on the dollar this offseason for two picks. The reason that move was made was because the team changed gears and picked Murray first overall this spring. If you want to argue that owner Bill Bidwill was the driving force behind taking Murray at 1 (and the team jacking up ticket prices the following week), I certainly am not going to talk you out of that. But we know how it goes with draft picks: The owner will take credit if Murray pans out and will can Keim if not. It's just as simple as that. Los Angeles Rams General manager: Les Snead (hired February 2012) Defining pick: QB Jared Goff   first round, first overall, 2016 Snead has overseen the Rams' personnel department since the St. Louis days, and exactly 30 days after taking the GM title there he and the team executed a blockbuster trade down from the No. 2 overall slot with the Washington Redskins for the pick that ended up becoming Robert Griffin III. That the Rams received a haul in draft picks in return   but that few truly turned out as transcendent talents   might have served as an interesting litmus test for Snead in later years. With the Rams needing to move on from Sam Bradford, they were unafraid of moving up boldly to the top pick of the 2016 draft to land Goff. Sure, it cost them a lot of picks to do so. But the Griffin trade (even though he ended up not panning out) was a good reminder that almost no cost is too prohibitive to land a potential franchise QB. Goff has made huge strides under head coach Sean McVay; even if Goff never becomes truly special, he already has shown enough in leading the Rams to a Super Bowl to suggest Snead got this one right. The only other possible legacy pick here would be Aaron Donald with the 13th overall pick in 2014. That could go down as one of the great all-time steals, landing a generational disruptor outside the top 10. (Of course, the Rams also took Greg Robinson second overall that same year, which stings a bit.) San Francisco 49ers General manager: John Lynch (hired January 2017) Defining pick: Round 1, 2017 Lynch's first move was hailed as a colossal fleecing of Bears GM Ryan Pace, landing three additional draft choices to move down one spot and take DL Solomon Thomas (whom they likely would have taken at two). Lynch then used one of those Bears picks to trade up from the top of the second round to the 31st overall pick to take LB Reuben Foster. At the time, pundits gushed over Lynch's aggression, landing two top-10 talents and future picks in his first ever draft. Only a few months earlier, Lynch was working for Fox as a TV analyst and had no prior personnel experience after playing in the league for 15 years as an excellent safety. But now that first draft haul tells a different story. Thomas reportedly was on the trade block prior to the draft, and Thomas   cut from the 49ers after a series of off-field incidents   has seen his career go sideways since then. Lynch might have landed one of the great steals of the past few years with TE George Kittle in Round 5 that year, but the high missteps have outweighed the positives. Seattle Seahawks General manager: John Schneider (hired January 2010) Defining pick: QB Russell Wilson   third round, 75th overall, 2012 Schneider could run the Seahawks' personnel department for the next 20 years and not ever have a pick quite like that of Wilson. It was widely panned at the time because Wilson was not quite six feet tall and because the Seahawks had just signed free-agent QB Matt Flynn to a contract. Imagine that. But the Seahawks saw something special in Wilson and were undeterred. We think they might have nailed that. The Wilson pick is proof that sometimes luck mixed with a willingness to go against the grain can yield some brilliant results. The latter has been the mode for success in Seattle, even as the vast majority of the Seahawks' championship defense has been broken up over the past few seasons. The Seahawks have mined some great talent outside of Round 1 under Schneider's watch   Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Kam Chancellor, K.J. Wright, Golden Tate, Tyler Lockett and Justin Britt immediately come to mind. Many of those picks also were panned as reaches, too. The Seahawks have always been willing to tack against the wind in the draft, critics be damned. Sometimes they've struck out, but their big hits prove they have a reason not to care what outsiders think about their scouting methods. And yet there will never be a pick more tied to Schneider's legacy than the Wilson one   then, now or years down the road. When they write Schneider's obit, Wilson's name will be right up at the top. More from Yahoo Sports: Raptors have reason to believe after Game 3 win Sharks lose at home in Game 5, rack up more injuries Report: Lonzo on Bulls' offseason wish list? Vikings owner expects big things from Cousins


Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has been saying plenty, through his agents. The Chargers are saying nothing. "We don't publicly discuss contract negotiations," a team spokesman told PFT via text message in response to the multiple on-the-record comment from Gordon's representatives regarding his desire to get a new contract, the characterization of the offers that have been made by the Chargers, the threat to hold out of training camp (and possibly the season), and the potential demand for a trade. The Chargers, thanks to the 2011 labor deal, have the ability to squat on Gordon for a fifth year, at a salary of only $5.605 million. Gordon has the ability to hold out despite being under contract, if he's willing to incur the fines that will be triggered by the labor deal (more on that in a later blurb). He also has the ability to publicly pressure the team to pay him or to trade him. It remains to be seen how it all plays out. For now, though, the Chargers won't be using the media to support their position or their objectives.


Republican governors, presidential candidates and members of Congress pledged Monday to oppose or even defy President Obama's plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees as the party's fury over illegal immigration and border security reached new heights. At least 19 Republican governors vowed to block the entry of Syrian refugees into their states, arguing that the safety of Americans was at stake after the Paris attacks by terrorists including a man who entered Europe with a Syrian passport and posed as a migrant. Among the governors were those from Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas and other states that have already resettled relatively large numbers of refugees from among the 1,900 Syrians accepted by the United States in the last four years. One Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, also urged the Obama administration to stop taking in Syrians until the federal vetting procedures for all refugees are "as strong as possible." Sign Up For NYT Now's Morning Briefing Newsletter Echoing the political debate over immigration and border security, several governors warned that refugees could arrive without verifiable documents or slip through the screening process and that they could pose a terrorist threat once inside the country. "I'm not interested in accepting refugees from Syria," said Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, a Republican. "We would have to be very cautious about accepting folks without knowing a lot more about what the federal government's plan looks like." The governors' legal standing was quickly challenged by immigration groups and some Democrats, and Mr. Obama said the resettlement of Syrian refugees would go forward next year. The State Department said it had not reached a conclusion about whether states could legally refuse to take them. Mr. Obama, in remarks to reporters at the G-20 summit meeting in Turkey, said the United States had a moral obligation to accept refugees, as European nations have done, and he criticized Republican candidates like Senator Ted Cruz and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida who have said the United States should focus on protecting Christians fleeing warfare and persecution, as opposed to Muslims. "We do not have religious tests for our compassion," Mr. Obama said. "That's not who we are." Mr. Obama did not cite any Republicans by name, but he mentioned that "some of these folks themselves come from other countries"   a shot at Mr. Cruz, who was born in Canada and whose father fled Cuba and settled in the United States. Mr. Cruz, campaigning in Charleston, S.C., after Mr. Obama's remarks, called it "absolute lunacy" to resettle large numbers of Muslims from Syria. "Who in their right mind would want to bring over tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, when we cannot determine   when the administration cannot determine   who is and isn't a terrorist?" he asked. The intersection of the refugee crisis with the nation's immigration debate came as political leaders hastened to reckon with security concerns after the Paris attacks. Several Republican candidates and congressional leaders have been calling for enhanced border security, some of them portraying illegal border crossings as being just as much a potential terrorist threat as an immigration problem. Mr. Bush, Ben Carson and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, among others, want to make verifiable border security a prerequisite to considering a legal status for undocumented immigrants now in the country. Speaking on Monday evening at a forum hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Rubio said he would prefer that the United States support resettling Syrian migrants in the Middle East rather than accepting more of them here. "Here's the problem. You allow 10,000 people in. And 9,999 of them are innocent people feeling oppression. And one of them is a well-trained ISIS fighter," he said. "What if we get one of them wrong? Just one of them wrong." Many of the Republican-led states rebelling against the Syrian refugee program also were among 26 states, led by Texas, that brought a lawsuit against Mr. Obama's executive actions to give deportation protections to undocumented immigrants. After the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last week upheld a district court's halt to those programs, the White House said it would appeal to the Supreme Court to try to get them restarted before the end of Mr. Obama's term. Border enforcement and vetting systems were repeatedly cited by Republican politicians opposed to admitting more Syrian refugees into the country. Some Republican voters have made a link between the two as well, expressing fear about shadowy foreigners entering the country for uncertain purposes. Some of the fiercest opposition to the refugees came from the Republican presidential candidates who are the sharpest critics of Mr. Obama's immigration policies. Donald J. Trump, who elevated immigration as a campaign issue with his proposal to build a wall on the border with Mexico, on Monday called for deporting refugees who have already been accepted into the United States and said that federal counterterrorism agents should consider closing some mosques if evidence of "absolute hatred" for Westerners was found. Mr. Carson sent a letter to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Monday urging legislation to cut off any money to resettle refugees and migrants from Syria. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky introduced a bill to halt issuing visas for refugees fleeing Islamic State militants. And two Republican governors who are running for president, John R. Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie of New Jersey, said the United States should stop accepting Syrians because of safety and vetting concerns. The three Democratic candidates for president support resettling Syrians, with Hillary Rodham Clinton and Martin O'Malley both saying they supported accepting 65,000. The third candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has said he would accept more refugees but has not specified how many. No other Democratic governor has come out against accepting Syrian refugees besides Ms. Hassan, who is in a highly competitive Senate race against a Republican incumbent, Kelly Ayotte. The Democratic candidate for governor of Louisiana, State Representative John Bel Edwards, who faces a runoff election on Saturday, also called for a "pause" on the influx of refugees into that state. Mark Dayton, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, where nine Syrian refugees have settled, said that he had "been assured by the White House that all refugees are subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States." But many Republican governors, who have been frustrated for years about porous borders and the financial consequences of illegal immigration, said that they did not want to take on the added burden of monitoring Syrian refugees for signs of terrorist activity. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas released a letter to Mr. Obama on Monday saying that Texas "will not accept any refugees from Syria" because of security concerns. In Indiana, Gov. Mike Pence said that while his state "has a long tradition of opening our arms and homes to refugees from around the world," his "first responsibility is to ensure the safety and security of all Hoosiers." Opposition to the refugee plan intensified as governors and congressional Republicans issued statements by the hour. Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa took conflicting positions hours apart: In the morning he had only urged the president to exercise caution in vetting refugees, but by the evening he had cited the safety of Iowans in saying that no Syrians should be resettled there. Speaking in the Senate on Monday, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Mr. Obama should call a "timeout" on his plans to admit Syrian refugees. "We need to figure out how we can better screen these refugees and ensure that terrorists among them are not evading proper screenings," Mr. Grassley said. At a midday news briefing at the State Department, a spokesman, Mark Toner, said the administration was "steadfastly committed" to accepting 10,000 Syrians but had not reached a conclusion about the legality of the states' position. Governors can ask the State Department, the primary agency managing the refugee program, not to send Syrians to their states. But some legal scholars were adamant that the governors' efforts to bar Syrians on their own were unconstitutional. "This is an exclusively federal issue," said Laurence H. Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University. "Under our Constitution, we sink or swim together," he said. Yet many Republicans cited language in their state constitutions that they said justified blocking refugees, while others challenged Mr. Obama's motives. Representative Steve King of Iowa, a fierce critic of the nation's immigration system, used his endorsement of Mr. Cruz on Monday to draw a connection between Mr. Obama's refugee plan and his executive orders to block the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Both actions, he said, were intended to counter low fertility rates of native-born citizens and "fill America up in a fashion that has kicked sideways this thing that we've embraced for my lifetime, which is called assimilation into the American dream, the American civilization." Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook , Twitter and the First Draft newsletter .


Just hours before the kick-off of this week's G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan, Vladimir Putin previewed his hopes for a meeting with UK Prime Minister Theresa May, in a wide-ranging interview with the Financial Times on Thursday. At the summit in Osaka, one of the Russian leader's most-anticipated events will be a bilateral meeting with the outgoing May, with whom Putin hopes to make "a few preliminary steps" toward a better UK-Russian relationship, he said. Relations between the UK and Russia have been frosty since a high-profile 2018 poisoning incident on UK soil: Former Russian spy Skripal, 66, was found slumped on a bench in Salisbury on March 4, 2018, along with his daughter, Yulia, after being exposed to novichok, a military-grade nerve agent . The UK government blamed the poisoning on Russian intelligence officers, which Russia denied. "This spy story, as we say, it is not worth five kopecks. Or even five pounds, for that matter," Putin told the Financial Times' Lionel Barber, comparing it to the scale of relations between nations. Because the G20 is expected to be one of May's last outings as leader on a global stage, Putin reasoned that this might improve the odds of progress in their talks at the G20, because "she is leaving and is free to do what she thinks is right, important and necessary and not to bother about some domestic political consequences." "I think that both Russia and the UK are interested in fully restoring our relations," he also said. But a Downing Street spokesperson told CNN Wednesday that May and Putin's G20 meeting Friday "does not represent a normalization of relations". "The Prime Minister's position on Salisbury and Russia's wider pattern of malign behavior is well-known. As she has said, we remain open to a different relationship but that can only happen if Russia desists from activity that undermines international treaties and our collective security," the spokesperson added. "This meeting is an important opportunity to deliver this message leader-to-leader to ensure the UK's position is fully understood." Slideshow by photo services


Losing weight , as a concept, seems relatively simple: Eat fewer calories than you burn in a given day, and pounds will drop off… right? Well, unfortunately, anyone who has ever tried a diet knows it's not that simple. Losing weight can be difficult and confusing to boot, and while you may find yourself wondering why it is so hard to lose weight, it's important to note that achieving your goals is far from impossible. We spoke to experts to pinpoint what it is exactly that makes losing weight so tricky and what you can do to demystify weight loss , once and for all. And for more insight, be sure to check out our 200 Best Weight Loss Tips ! Figure out what's causing your weight gain. The first thing to note is that weight gain is a complex issue that could be linked to a number of factors, which then makes losing weight even more complicated. "I always start with the physiological," says Elise Museles, certified Eating Psychology and Nutrition Expert and podcast host of Once Upon a Food Story . "Sometimes, it's more objective to rule some things out." Metabolism, allergies, intolerances, and preexisting conditions like PCOS can all contribute to weight gain, as can hormone imbalances, notes Alisa Vitti, a functional nutrition and women's hormone expert and founder of FLO Living , a modern hormone healthcare company. "I feel that for women, weight loss is made more difficult because they don't factor in their hormones like insulin, cortisol, and estrogen, and how they fluctuate throughout the cycle and affect metabolism, muscle gain, and fat loss," she says. Museles also notes that issues, like not getting enough sleep or not drinking enough water, can hinder weight loss efforts, too. "When you're really tired, you often crave carbohydrates," she notes. "And when you don't sleep well, you're not thinking as clearly, and you don't make good choices. It's unbelievable how when you're properly hydrated, your body works smoother." Once these physical issues are off the table, you can then focus on the root cause behind most weight loss woes: your brain. Museles notes that many people are "stuck in a story" about the cause of their weight gain, thinking in their minds 'I have a slow metabolism, or I'm unlucky, or these are my genes.' But, she cautions, these sorts of preconceived notions might actually be causing the issue you think you're diagnosing. "Your thoughts can actually create a stress response in your system," she says. "If you believe all of those things, and you sit down to a meal, thinking 'Oh my God, am I going to gain weight? Am I doing it right?' You're releasing cortisol, and that has a whole hormonal cascade. Your metabolism doesn't work as efficiently; everything just shuts down and doesn't function the way it does when you're relaxed." J.D. Roth, co-creator of reality show The Biggest Loser , notes that it's easy to get stuck in a rut of self-sabotage if you don't confront the psychological reasons behind your weight gain. "When people lose sense of purpose or sense of passion, they create this pleasure principle in the brain: 'I feel bad, I eat a donut, I feel good,'" he says. "So it's just this self-fulfilling prophecy that continues, and unless you deal with the emotional side of things, there's no diet or food type that's going to help you long-term." Museles recommends reframing your thoughts around food as much as you can, and above all, being kind to yourself as you set off on your weight loss journey. "You want to try to work on your mind as much as you're working on your body," she says. "You can still want to change and improve, but from a loving place. Nothing good comes out of hating yourself." Don't take a one-size-fits-all approach. It's tempting to be inspired by the weight loss successes of a family member, friend, or co-worker, and you might try whatever their secret is and see it doesn't really do much to help you shed those unwanted pounds. It's easy to understand why this would confuse you, but instead, keep in mind not all weight loss techniques will work for all people. "I like to think of our bodies as fingerprints, unique to ourselves and incomparable to another," says Saskia (Sassy) Gregson-Williams, a former ballerina, personal trainer, best-selling cookbook author, and founder of Naturally Sassy , an online workout studio, recipe platform, and app. "This approach helps us understand that there is no general rule of thumb and that all lifestyle factors will look different per the individual." When it comes to choosing a weight loss protocol, from keto to paleo to veganism to calorie counting, consider the emotional and psychological factors of the diet that may help or hinder your weight loss. Are you going to be able to maintain cutting out whole food groups, for example? Will you have time to cook all of your meals at home, or will you end up overwhelmed and ordering takeout? Use the answers to these questions to guide your experimentation with different protocols. "I think that curiosity is great when it comes to losing weight," says Museles. "Even if you choose something that might not be right for you, you're still stopping whatever patterns you were in and trying to become aware of what they were and what you want it to be. I think that awareness is the first step for weight loss for everyone. Just saying, 'I'm gonna do things differently,' is huge." She also recommends tweaking eating protocols to suit your lifestyle and needs. "I think that there's a culture now where people are clinging to diet labels too tightly," she says. "Use those philosophies that have worked for so many people as a jumping-off point." From there, let your body and your intuition be your guide. Of course, to follow this tip, it's essential to hone in on a skill that many are sorely lacking that often can contribute to the confusion you might have when it comes to losing weight: listening to our bodies. But recovering this instinct isn't out of reach. "It's amazing what you do if you just sit there and you take three deep breaths before you decide what to eat," says Museles. "It makes such a difference in your clarity and in the hormones while you're eating your meal." Ideally, you just want to find a plan that works for you. This might begin with experimentation, but for our experts, it should also include a professional. "Dietitians can help you set yourself up for success and de-bunk some beliefs you may have about your current diet," says Gregson-Williams. An expert can also help you get to the bottom of why certain protocols might work better for you than others. "It's important to understand that weight loss is no longer a conversation about calories in vs. calories burned via exercise that leads to fat loss it's about looking at inflammation, gut health, hormones, fitness, and food quality," says Vitti. "I think it's essential to do your research and get connected to a community of like-minded individuals who share your goals and struggles the support and accountability are key." Don't be afraid to get help from other sources as well, like meal kit companies , which will take much of the guesswork out of planning and shopping for meals. "Obviously I'm a big believer in getting support where you need it," says Museles. "In an ideal world, we would all cook our own meals. We would do things from scratch. But I understand that that's not realistic for everyone, so having healthier options ready is so much better than calling takeout." Small steps are better than taking none. Whatever system you pick, commitment is key and as soon as possible. "It doesn't have to be Monday or New Year's," says Museles. "You can change it the very next meal. People forget that, and they wait for the perfect, ideal circumstances, and that's not how life is." Once you've made the commitment, announce it to those around you to help keep yourself honest. "I really believe that asking for help is the number one thing you can do, so by that I mean, plant the flag in your purpose, your mission," says Roth. "This year, I'm gonna lose 50 pounds.' Tell everybody! The more people you tell, the less shame you'll have." Above all, remember that there are no quick fixes: a diet might help you lose weight, but it's not the key to keeping it off. "Diet culture feeds into the idea that the quicker and more extreme diets are the ones to follow, and this route to weight loss is often very short-lived," says Gregson-Williams. "One may lose the weight quickly but won't be able to maintain it once they revert to their regular diet and exercise program." So instead, set yourself up for success with realizable goals that will stretch over a long period of time. "Small but consistent steps are key," says Gregson-Williams. "When it comes to exercising, don't set yourself up to fail by promising you'll workout longer than you know is feasible right now. It's better to do 15 minutes every day at home than an hour once a week. Once you get into the habit of 15 minutes daily and stick to that for a month you can increase the time to 20 or 25 minutes." And above all, don't beat yourself up if you misstep. "You have 21 chances a week to make a good choice," says Roth. "What defines you is not the mistake you make it's what you do the minute after you make the mistake." And for more, here are some of the exact things you should never say to someone who is trying to lose weight . Gallery: 20 ways to overcome a weight-loss plateau


Most of the articles listing the top 30 storylines for 2019 consist of analysis. This one actually has some news. The question of whether retired Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been discussed in many settings and contexts, and the video attached to this item paints the boundaries of the bigger picture. When football season starts, Gronk may feel differently about his decision to walk away. But will he actually come back? A source close to Gronkowski pegs his potential for a first annual unretirement at 40 percent. For now, Gronk isn't thinking about football. He's enjoying his life, he doesn't need the money, and he's having a blast. The question becomes whether Gronkowski misses his teammates and/or the games after August becomes September. While he won't miss dealing with training camp and the preseason, he could miss the game once they start playing games that count. And here's a factor that needs to be considered: If quarterback Tom Brady makes a direct appeal to Gronk, that could be the difference maker. So what about the notion that Gronkowski has withered away to a shell of his former self? He has said that he's lost only 18 pounds (I found half of that last week at the beach), and the attached photo of Gronk from last Thursday shows that he's still got an impressive physique. It's also believed that coach Bill Belichick, who has declined to discuss the hypothetical possibility that Gronkowski will return, will not be an impediment to an unretirement. Although Belichick easily could take the position that he doesn't want to create a precedent that encourages veterans to retire through the parts of the calendar that they don't like and then return for the good stuff, Belichick has been very supportive of Gronkowski, we're told. Also, a general softening of Belichick has been noticed, with a different side emerging and an approach that is more player-friendly. The fact that Gronkowski could help the Patriots get a record-setting seventh Lombardi Trophy makes the question of whether he'll come back even more significant. Still, for now, Gronkowski is retired. Just like Brett Favre was at this time in 2008. And 2009. And 2010.


Vandalism discovered Sunday morning at a church in Pickens County called for the release of a pipe bombing suspect. The message was painted on a building at Bible Baptist Church, on Gentry Memorial Highway near Pickens. The vandalism references Michael Seabrooke, who was arrested in early July. Police said Seabrooke confessed to exploding two pipe bombs at the Pickens County Courthouse and putting destructive devices on the roof of the Pickens County DSS building. "It's senseless," said Mark Dibler, the Pastor of Bible Baptist Church. "We don't know anybody connected with that case, and I guess I'm trying to figure out the mindset." Dibler said someone also broke most of the church's windows. "I noticed something sparkling on the floor and I got closer and I looked in my office and lots of glass over all the desk and table and all the way out the hallway," he said. Sunday afternoon, church members scrubbed the side of the building and plastered the word "Forgiven" atop the church billboard. Dilber said the congregation planned to have a service when they were done the cleanup. "What would thrill me is if the person, or persons, who did this one day hear the gospel, get saved and maybe they'll come back to our church and testify how they vandalized the church but got saved, and hey, we'll hug 'em," he said. Authorities are working to determine who is responsible for the vandalism. READ MORE: Vandalism at Upstate church calls for release of pipe bombing suspect CHECK OUT WYFF: Get the latest Greenville news and weather. For live, local, late-breaking Greenville, SC, news coverage, WYFF is the place to be.


CHICAGO (AP) Jon Lester showed he still has got it all going on in his 14th major league season. Lester homered, tied a career high with three RBIs and pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4 on Saturday. All-Star catcher Willson Contreras' three-run homer and Lester's two-run single off the left-field wall were the big hits in the Cubs' seven-run first inning. In the third, the 35-year-old left-hander connected for his third career home run - all with the Cubs at Wrigley Field - for the NL Central leaders. ''I think this is the best version of Jon that I've seen as a total athlete, a pitcher,'' manager Joe Maddon said. ''You talk about his hitting also if you want, everything about his performance.'' Lester (9-6) allowed three runs and eight hits, while striking out six and walking none in 6 2/3 innings before leaving after 98 pitches. Lester joked that he's feeling old and has to mind more details to keep performing at a level that's made him a five-time All-Star. But the lefty has won four of his last five starts and is showing no signs of slowing down. ''The last I don't know how many outings I've felt better about my stuff and where I've been at,'' Lester said. ''Hopefully I can kind of ride that momentum as we go forward in the second half and down the stretch.'' After spending his first nine seasons in the American League, Lester has embraced hitting in this last five with the Cubs. ''I take a little more pride in that since I've been over here,'' he said. ''Just trying to get quality at-bats and see some pitches.'' Addison Russell drove in two runs as the Cubs won for the fourth time in five games. Starling Marte hit a pair of solo shots to give him three homers in two days in Chicago, and Jung Ho Kang also had a long solo homer. Chicago sent 12 batters to the plate in the first and chased Pittsburgh starter Jordan Lyles (5-6) after only two outs. Anthony Rizzo beat a shift with a dribbling RBI single to left to start the scoring before Contreras hit his 19th homer to the basket in right-center. After Lester drove in two more, Javier Baez added an RBI double. Lyles yielded seven runs and four hits with four walks before being replaced by Chris Stratton. ''I was just spraying balls all over the place,'' Lyles said. ''There was a lot that went on in that first inning, a couple of unnecessary walks. Just a bad day overall.'' Lester's homer to left made it 8-0 in the third. Russell singled in two runs in the fourth to push it to 10-0. Kang homered in the fifth and Marte connected in the sixth. Lester was replaced by Brandon Kintzler in the seventh after the Pirates stroked three singles to made it 10-3. Marte homered again in the eighth off Randy Rosario. FIGHTING FANS A group of fans shoved and punched each other in the center-field bleachers in the top of the third inning. The skirmish prompted oohs and aahs from the crowd of 40,286 and looks from Cubs players on the field before security personnel intervened. CATCHING UP Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, out since suffering a concussion on May 25, said he's working with a new doctor and pursuing ''difficult and hard'' therapy he hopes will make him feel ''normal.'' He had no timetable for his return. Cervelli was hurt when he was struck in the helmet by Joc Pederson's broken bat backswing in a game against the Dodgers at Pittsburgh. While sidelined, the 33-year-old has practiced at other positions, but on Saturday he denied he had ruled out ever catching again. TRAINER'S ROOM Pirates: OF Corey Dickerson (right groin strain) was out of the starting lineup again, but pinch-hit in the seventh and grounded into a fielder's choice. Cubs: LHP Cole Hamels (left oblique strain) threw off flat ground for a second straight day on Saturday. Hamels has been out since suffering the injury in a start at Cincinnati on June 28. ... RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (left thoracic strain) was scheduled to make a rehab appearance at Triple-A Iowa on Saturday. ... LHP Xavier Cedeno (left wrist inflammation) is expected to pitch at Iowa on Sunday UP NEXT Pirates RHP Trevor Williams (3-2, 4.54) faces Cubs LHP Jose Quintana (6-7, 4.19) on Sunday. Williams is 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA in three starts since returning from a right side strain. Quintana has been sharp in his last two starts, winning both and allowing just three runs over 13 innings. --- More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports


Kylie knows lip kits, but does she know skin care? We toss around the phrase "break the Internet" a lot, but there are few people who truly manage to. The Kardashian-Jenners always do, particularly Kylie. In 2015 she did just that with the launch of her makeup line Kylie Lip Kits (now Kylie Cosmetics ). Her signature lip kits sold out in mere seconds, with resellers on eBay charging up to $3,000 for certain shades. Four years and a billion dollars later, Kylie Cosmetics is an empire in its own right, and has branched out into nearly every color cosmetic category. Now she's venturing into skin care, another savvy business move, given that the category is quickly outpacing makeup sales . Fans caught on that she might have skin care in the works back in October , and the formal announcement and separate Instagram page  came earlier this month. What's most notable (besides the very Glossier-esque baby pink packaging) is the price nothing costs more than $30, which isn't too surprising since her fan base skews younger. The same can be said for the products themselves. While nothing in it is going to be a potent game changer for someone with serious concerns (think acne, discoloration, or wrinkles), Kylie makes good on the basics. The line's got two different types of face washes: a foaming cleanser and a walnut scrub (which was met with some skepticism on social media when Jenner announced it). There's also a vanilla-scented toner, an eye cream, a vitamin C serum, and a moisturizer. Or you can get everything in a bundle for $125. Diehards no doubt will drop the cash for the full line, but for the rest who are curious about whether Kylie Skin stacks up to her makeup, we recruited Glamour editors to give the products an initial test run ahead of the May 22 launch. Here are our first impressions. Kylie Skin Vanilla Milk Toner $22, Kylie Skin. Get it now! For whatever reason I m a huge sucker for products with  milk  in the name (see my Milky Jelly obsession). I was a little worried about the soft vanilla fragrance irritating my sensitive skin and also confused about why a toner would smell like vanilla but I had no issues with itching or redness, and the scent is surprisingly pleasant. The toner was less thick and hydrating than I expected something called "milk" would be, but I really like the texture. It's soothing and left my skin feeling balanced, like it was moisturized but without any grease or dew. I think it'll be a great way to get some extra lightweight hydration for summer. Plus, it looks so cute in my bathroom.  Bella Cacciatore, beauty assistant Kylie Skin Face Moisturizer $24, Kylie Skin. Get it now! As someone with sensitive skin, I lean more toward clinical products to avoid irritation. And I'm pleased to inform you Kylie's moisturizer holds up. It has almost no smell, is extremely lightweight, and blends into your skin without a hint of residue. The packaging feels surprisingly luxe, and I love that the pump helps you easily control the amount that comes out. The one thing I wish it had was SPF, but the good news is that the light, nongreasy finish layers really well underneath my daily sunscreen.  Alexa De Paulis, junior designer Kylie Skin Vitamin C Serum $28, Kylie Skin. Get it now! The best vitamin C serums I've ever tried like SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF and Joanna Vargas Rescue Serum have a few things in common. They have a more liquidy consistency (so they can penetrate deep), they have a slightly pungent smell, and they're expensive. We're talking $150 or more. While Kylie's goes on like a lightweight lotion (it uses a pump instead of a bottle with a dropper), it does have that trade-tell scent, albeit not as potent. I haven't been using it for enough time to see long-term results, but I do think it's a solid gateway option into vitamin C for someone who hasn't been using an antioxidant serum. It easily melts into your skin and leaves a hydrated (but not sticky) feel behind. My skin feels great every time I've worn it.  Lindsay Schallon, senior beauty editor Kylie Skin Foaming Face Wash $24, Kylie Skin. Get it now! I was definitely one of the skeptics, but don't knock Kylie Skin until you try it. This face wash was really nice! I usually find foaming cleansers a little drying, and they often leave my face feeling stripped, which wasn't the case here. It's hydrating and refreshing. I don t think it will replace my regular face wash, but I ll definitely keep playing with it to see if it works with my skin long-term.  Tara Gonzalez, associate commerce editor Kylie Skin Walnut Face Scrub $22, Kylie Skin. Get it now! Face scrubs that use crushed walnut powder as an exfoliant have been polarizing for years. Derms typically don't recommend them since there are more gentle exfoliators and acids available now. And St. Ives was famously sued over its best-selling Apricot scrub (which, it should be noted, was ultimately thrown out of court because the claims that it damages your skin couldn't be proved). So you can probably guess that this thing got a lot of hate on Twitter when Kylie first announced it. I wanted to see what all the drama was about for myself, which is why I volunteered my face as tribute. Personally, I loved it. I use scrubs sparingly, so the fact that it was a bit more harsh was fine for me. I used a light layer about the size of a penny on my hand and rubbed very gently in circular motions all across my face. My face looked brighter and less dull immediately. But know that if you're going to try it, it's definitely a one- or twice-a-week thing, nothing more.  Samantha Leach, assistant culture editor Kylie Skin Eye Cream $20, Kylie Skin. Get it now! My skin is sensitive, so I had some doubts about how great the quality of Kylie Skin would be. That said, I love her makeup, so I took a leap of faith on her eye cream. It feels really refreshing from the moment you put it on, and I definitely thought the caffeine and green tea in the formula helped me look more awake. I'm excited to try it over the next couple of weeks to see if I notice any more results.  Michaela O'Shaughnessy, senior social media manager


SEATTLE, WA   A South Park homeowner armed with a rifle shot and wounded a would-be burglar early Thursday morning   but not before the burglar also squeezed off a few shots. The incident happened just after midnight Thursday at a home along the Duwamish River. Police arrived to find the 41-year-old burglar wounded in the shoulder. The woman was perched on her roof holding a rifle. The burglar fired several shots with his gun, but only damaged the woman's home, police said. The burglar was taken to Harborview in serious condition. Another man seen running from the area was arrested.


Taco Bell's latest limited-time offer isn't Nacho Fries   it's a hotel. The Mexican fast-food chain is taking over a Palm Springs, California, hotel and resort in its latest move to recognize the brand's super fans. Reservations will open in June, and guests can start checking in Aug. 9. The Yum Brands unit didn't specify how long it would operate the hotel. The Bell will feature a gift shop with exclusive Taco Bell-themed apparel and an on-site salon with Taco Bell-inspired nail art and hair styling services. Taco Bell's Chief Brand Officer Marisa Thalberg said that the idea for a Taco Bell-themed hotel is meant to be playful and fun, but the brand sincerely intends for it to be an "unparalleled experience," and opted to house the Bell in a fully operational hotel. "I have often quipped that Taco Bell is the fast fashion of food. We have our everyday classics, but then we're always introducing these cool limited-edition experiences to do something new and different," Thalberg said in an interview. Other experiences include wedding customers in a Taco Bell-themed ceremony for $600 at its Las Vegas Cantina flagship location. To date, Taco Bell has had over 165 wedding registrations. The brand has also teamed with fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 to sell clothes with its logo and imagery. This isn't even the first time that Taco Bell has invited customers to stay the night. In 2016, the brand teamed Airbnb to reward four people with an overnight stay at a location in Canada.


Looking to check out the best florists in town? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top florists in Pittsburgh, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to venture next time you're in the market for florists. 1. Jim Ludwig's Blumengarten Florist Topping the list is Jim Ludwig's Blumengarten Florist . Located at 2650 Penn Ave. in Strip District, the florist is the highest rated florist in Pittsburgh, boasting 4.5 stars out of 65 reviews on Yelp. 2. The Farmer's Daughter Flowers Next up is East Allegheny's The Farmer's Daughter Flowers , situated at 431 E. Ohio St. With 4.5 stars out of 36 reviews on Yelp, the florist has proven to be a local favorite. 3. Harold's Flower Shop Central Business District's Harold's Flower Shop , located at 700 Fifth Ave., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the florist 4.5 stars out of 15 reviews. 4. GreenSinner Floral Event Design GreenSinner Floral Event Design , a florist, plant nursery and floral designer spot in Upper Lawrenceville, is another much-loved go-to, with 4.5 stars out of 14 Yelp reviews. Head over to 5232 Butler St. to see for yourself. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Two people were killed Saturday night in a three-vehicle, head-on crash in Fremont Township along Fairfield Road, north of Route 60. Shortly after 9 p.m., Lake County sheriff's deputies were dispatched and determined a Ford E350 driven by a 51-year-old Round Lake Beach man had been traveling southbound on Fairfield Road, north of Route 60, according to a Sheriff's Office news release. The driver of the Ford crossed the median into the northbound lanes and his vehicle struck the driver's side of a northbound Honda Odyssey, driven by a 42-year-old Hainesville man. The Ford then struck a northbound Kia Forte, driven by a 56-year-old Ingleside woman of Ingleside, head-on. The driver of the Kia was pronounced dead at the scene. A front-seat passenger in the Kia, a 64-year-old Round Lake Beach woman, was also pronounced dead. The drivers of the Ford and Honda were transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Sheriff's Office. The Lake County Coroner's Office responded to the scene and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday for the two occupants of the Kia. The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office Technical Crash Investigations Unit. Crash investigators will work to determine why the driver of the Ford crossed the median into the wrong lane of traffic Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.


It's now officially official. In late April, Sawyer Smith took his first step in moving on from Troy by announcing on social media that he had placed his name into the NCAA transfer database. Two weeks later, the quarterback used social media to reveal that his next stop at the collegiate level would be at Kentucky. Monday, Smith's expected new home confirmed the player's addition to the roster. "We're excited to have Sawyer join our program," UK head coach Mark Stoops said in a statement. "It's great to add a quarterback with his experience and success. He helped lead Troy to an outstanding season last year and we're glad to have him here." As Smith comes to the Wildcats as a graduate transfer, he'll be eligible to compete for a starting job immediately. Additionally, he'll have another season of eligibility he could use in 2020. Smith played in 13 games this past season, including starts in the last seven. In those appearances, the Florida native completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 1,669 yards and 14 touchdowns to go along with six interceptions. He also rushed for 191 yards and another touchdown. Terry Wilson started all 13 games for the Wildcats in a 2018 season that saw UK reach double digits in wins for the first time since Jimmy Carter was sitting in the Oval Office. Wilson, though, was 10th in the SEC and 63rd nationally with a 133.9 pass efficiency rating. For what it's worth, Smith's 139 rating was fifth in the Sun Belt Conference and 47th in the country.


SAVANNAH, Ga.   Authorities in Georgia are investigating after they say two Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officers and a third person were shot. News outlets in Savannah report that the officers were shot around midnight Tuesday. Police spokeswoman Eunicia Baker says both officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities say a third person was shot, but no further details have been given on that person's condition. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident. No information as to what led to the shootings was immediately released.


Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but Bears Hall of Fame defensive end Richard Dent senses something familiar about the current edition of his former team. "To me, this team looks just like us in '84, '85 ," Dent said over the weekend in connection with the franchise's 100th season celebration, via the Associated Press . "We really started to jell, to be the best that we can be. We beat one another, and when you beat one another, no one else can beat you but yourself. That's what drove us to be the best that we can be." These Bears have a long way to go to be the '85 Bears, especially on defense. But they are amassing the kind of collective talent that could create real headaches when it's time to try to stop any, some, or all of them. "You can't double everybody," Dent said. "That's just like us." The 1984 Bears went 10-6, and their Super Bowl run ended one step short of the championship game, with a 23-0 loss to the 49ers. That disappointing ending fueled the surge that came the next year, driving the team to take it to the next level. While the 2019 Bears should aspire to be the 1985 Bears (hell, every team should aspire to be the 1985 Bears), it also will be critical to avoid becoming the 1986, 1987, and/or 1988 Bears. Those teams by all accounts underachieved relative to their talent. For these Bears, trying to one up the legacy of the '85 Bears would be a very good problem to have. Their goal, obviously, for the franchise's 100th season will be to put themselves in that position.