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The NCAA returns to a federal courtroom Wednesday to continue its fight against one of the many current challenges to its amateurism-based business model.

If this slow march toward something more akin to professional sports is starting to feel to you like the equivalent of an 18-play, 14-minute drive engineered by a triple-option offense, you’re not alone. The legal battles that have occupied the past several college football offseasons are tedious, repetitive and filled with a head-spinning menu of overlapping threats. It’s still unclear which threat among the current options has the best chance of breaking through, but the NCAA enters this offseason looking increasingly like a defense spread thin and on its heels, hoping for some unexpected help to get a stop.

Wednesday’s hearing in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia is the next step in the Johnson v. NCAA case, in which several former college athletes argue they should have been paid an hourly wage like other student workers on their campuses. The NCAA contends that its business is unique and that the normal rules that determine whether someone fits the definition of an employee don’t make sense for college athletes. The appellate judges will eventually decide whether the standard tests for employee status should be applied to college athletes and their schools.

“This particular case is flying under the radar compared to some of the others we hear about much more frequently, but it’s important,” said Sarah Wake, who advises universities on athletic compliance issues in her role as an attorney at McGuireWoods.

Wake said the Johnson case is further along in its legal process than many of the other threats facing the NCAA. Although it’s tough to predict which one is most likely to deliver a major blow to amateurism in college sports, each new threat increases the odds that some challenger will find a sympathetic ear with the power to force significant change.

“One of these things is going to stick,” Wake said. “It’s only a matter of time before something goes in favor of the student-athletes.”

By 2024, the College Football Playoff will triple in size and the two most powerful football conferences in the country will officially welcome four of the sport’s biggest brand names (Texas and Oklahoma will play their first season in the SEC that year, and USC and UCLA are scheduled to arrive in the Big Ten). Those changes were sparked and accelerated by the exchange of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Where will college athletes stand in this multibillion-dollar industry by then? Here’s what you need to know about how the Johnson case could provide an answer and where it fits among the looming legal forces reshaping college sports:

What is the Johnson case?

Filed by former Villanova football player Trey Johnson, this case argues that college athletes fit the definition of an employee and have been denied rights that are protected in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Those rights include making a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay.

Plaintiff’s attorney Paul McDonald said his goal is to give athletes the same kind of rights that fellow students who take tickets or sell concessions to their games have when they are working for the university.

“All these years they’ve said you can’t be both students and employees, but we’ve always had kids working on campus, working in dining halls, libraries and offices, working at the games themselves,” McDonald said. “They’re trying to disadvantage athletes vis-à-vis other kids on campus. It seems fundamentally unfair to do that.”

The NCAA and its lawyers have argued in court documents that playing a sport in college is not work done in exchange for compensation. They say that it is instead part of the educational experience for athletes on campus. To make athletes employees of their school, some members have argued, is not affordable for most college athletic departments. NCAA members say they’re open to “modernizing” their rules but have drawn a hard line at calling their athletes school employees.

What’s happening this week?

This week’s hearing is part of an interlocutory appeal — an appeal filed on a specific issue in the middle of a case before a verdict is reached. The NCAA asked U.S. District Judge John Padova to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that other circuit courts have already determined that playing a college sport doesn’t count as work. Padova declined that request, and now the NCAA is appealing his decision in an effort to prevent the case from moving forward.

The appellate court won’t make a ruling Wednesday (that will likely take several weeks or months), but the questions asked might provide some insight into how the judges are viewing the NCAA’s request. For example, late last month the judges asked lawyers from both sides to be prepared to discuss the impact that making athletes into employees could have on Title IX obligations for the schools — an indication that the court is considering the broader implications of its decision.

If other courts have already ruled in favor of the NCAA, what’s different now?

The 9th Circuit and 7th Circuit courts have both ruled that college athletes are not employees protected by FLSA law. Those cases (Dawson v. NCAA and Berger v. NCAA) concluded in 2019 and 2016, respectively. The idea of viewing college athletes as employees is less jarring now than it was even a few years ago, thanks in large part to changes in name, image and likeness rules. Other courts have also shown less deference in the past few years to the NCAA’s argument that it’s not like other industries — most notably the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled unanimously that the organization was violating antitrust law in the June 2021 Alston v. NCAA case.

“The general sentiment has shifted in a lot of minds,” sports attorney Mit Winter said. “In the past it was hard to even think about college athletes as employees.”

The Supreme Court’s decision in the Alston case — especially Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion — opened the door to viewing the NCAA in the same light as other entertainment industry groups rather than an academic-focused institution, which makes every legal challenge the organization has faced since then a larger potential threat.

What are the other legal battles the NCAA is fighting?

Two other groups are fighting for employee status for college athletes using a different legal lever — the National Labor Relations Board. Success for the claimants in either of those cases could potentially lead to the ability for college athletes to form unions and bargain collectively. One of those efforts took a significant step forward in December, but it is also still likely at least a year from reaching a conclusion.

Antitrust lawsuits also remain a large, looming threat for the NCAA. While the Alston decision affirmed it was illegal for the NCAA to limit what kind of academic-related benefits a school could provide to its athletes, others are already looking to expand that list of benefits. Another antitrust lawsuit (House v. NCAA) making its way through the courts could take away the NCAA’s power to enforce any restrictions on endorsements for college athletes and put the association on the hook to pay a potentially crippling financial settlement to past athletes who were prevented from making endorsement money while in college. That case isn’t slated to reach a trial until September 2024.

Outside the courtroom, NCAA leaders are increasingly wary of state lawmakers creating legislation that either grants employees’ rights to college athletes or would force schools to share significant portions of their revenue with teams that turn a profit. It was, after all, state legislators who forced the NIL rule changes into existence after years of unsuccessful legal attempts. They could prove to be a similar catalyst in the next frontier of professionalizing college sports.

What is the NCAA’s argument in the Johnson case?

The NCAA’s lawyers have presented the court with other examples of industries in which the normal tests of employee status don’t effectively capture the “economic reality” of the relationship between parties. They have successfully argued that the athlete-to-school relationship deserves special consideration in the Berger and Dawson cases mentioned above.

McDonald says the root source of legal precedent for their argument is a case called Vanskike v. Peters. A judge in that case ruled that inmates who do work while they are incarcerated don’t qualify as employees of the prison. The judge justified the ruling by citing the 13th Amendment, which says that slavery is illegal except as punishment for a crime.

Are they really comparing college athletes to prison inmates?

No, not really. The NCAA’s lawyers use the Vanskike case to argue that the court system recognizes there are some circumstances when the normal test for employee status doesn’t work. Although they say both college sports and imprisonment are examples of special circumstances, they aren’t arguing that the circumstances are the same.

Despite the noteworthy nuance in its argument, the NCAA is still building its legal argument on a case that tethers back to the slavery loophole of the 13th Amendment. McDonald, the plaintiff’s attorney, said the implication is, at best, racially insensitive given the high percentage of Black athletes in the NCAA’s most profitable sports.

The NCAA and its lawyers were certainly aware of the comparisons they might be inviting by mentioning college sports and a prison labor case in the same legal filings. Legal analysts say that, if nothing else, the use of the Vanskike case at least illustrates the limited options the NCAA has to make its best case.

“There is nuance in the argument, but it just looks bad. It’s tone-deaf,” Winter said. “The people who work in the NCAA are smart people. They had to have known and considered the PR aspect of it. They probably just determined: This is the argument we have to make to put forth our best arguments.”

What happens if the appellate court rules against the NCAA?

The NCAA could appeal the 3rd Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court immediately, or it might wait to see how the case concludes in the district court. In either event, if the plaintiffs are going to succeed in making athletes into employees, it won’t happen before the NCAA asks the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue.

The country’s highest court declines the overwhelming majority of requests it receives for appeal, but there’s reason to believe this case could have better odds than most of piquing the justices’ interest. If the 3rd Circuit judge rules in favor of the plaintiffs in this case, that will be disagreeing with previous rulings in other federal circuits on a high-profile subject. Those types of inconsistencies are often what garners interest from the Supreme Court.

What else is the NCAA doing to maintain its current rules?

At the NCAA convention last month, board of governors chair Linda Livingstone told reporters that the NCAA wanted federal legislators to create a new law that would codify their argument that college athletes aren’t employees and give them some protection against the antitrust lawsuits they are facing. Livingstone said she felt a sense of urgency to get a new law because “Congress is really the only entity that can affirm student-athletes’ unique status.”

NCAA members are hoping that the arrival of the organization’s new president — former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker — will help them make some friends on Capitol Hill when he starts his tenure March 1. Lobbying efforts under outgoing president Mark Emmert failed to gain any real momentum in Washington. Even if they are able to gain more of a foothold with legislators moving forward, Livingstone and others realize they are fighting against time to try to get a new law signed before one of the ongoing legal efforts deems athletes to be employees. Wednesday’s hearing could provide a good indication of how short their window might be.

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The Polar Bear in Boston? A return to Queens? Potential free agent fits for Pete Alonso

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November 22, 2025

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The Polar Bear in Boston? A return to Queens? Potential free agent fits for Pete Alonso

  • Jorge CastilloNov 21, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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      ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.

NEW YORK — A year after discovering teams across Major League Baseball did not deem him worthy of a lengthy contract, Pete Alonso is back on the free agent market searching for long-term love again.

In February, after an extended standoff, Alonso settled for a two-year, $54 million deal to return to the New York Mets with an opt-out after the 2025 season. He was paid $30 million for this year and posted numbers good enough to make opting out the clear choice. And Alonso didn’t waste time, announcing that was his plan minutes after the Mets lost their final regular-season game against the Miami Marlins to fall short of the playoffs.

His chances of finding a long-term partner are higher this time around for a few reasons. The first one is clear: He’s coming off a significantly stronger campaign. Alonso had his worst season in 2024, slashing .240/.329/.459 with 34 home runs. That, in a vacuum, was good production. But it was his fourth straight season with declining numbers — an alarming pattern considering Alonso was about to turn 30 and didn’t add value on defense or the basepaths.

The metrics suggested Alonso was still one of the worst defensive first basemen in baseball in 2025 — his minus-9 defensive runs saved and minus-9 outs above average both ranked 18th out of 18 qualified first basemen — but he rebounded in the batter’s box. With an adjusted swing and approach, Alonso hit the ball harder — his 93.5 mph average exit velocity was a career high — and the production followed.

He slashed .272/.347/.524 with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs mostly hitting behind Juan Soto. His 141 wRC+ was tied for the second-largest output of his career. He set the franchise record for career home runs, further solidifying his place as one of the most beloved Mets in recent history.

Also of note: Alonso played in all 162 games for the second consecutive season and has appeared in 1,008 of the Mets’ 1,032 regular-season games since debuting in 2019. He has started 993 of those games at first base, 60 at DH.

Over that span, his 264 career home runs rank third in baseball behind only Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber, a fellow free agent. Alonso is durable and consistent.

Then there’s the market. Alonso and Schwarber are the two premier power bats available in free agency this offseason. At first base, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s decision to sign a 14-year, $500 million extension with Toronto in April removed Alonso’s stiffest positional competition. Josh Naylor is a tier below — and a different player with less power but better defensively and on the bases — and Seattle wasn’t going to spend the necessary money for Alonso, but the Mariners retaining their first baseman nevertheless removes an option at the position for other clubs.

Add it up and Alonso should find a deal in the range of four to five years. The question is where. Here are a few possible landing spots for the five-time All-Star, starting with his three most aggressive suitors so far, including the only team he has ever known.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said last week that he would “love” to bring back Alonso and closer Edwin Diaz, another All-Star free agent. Alonso’s stated willingness to serve as a designated hitter, at least in a part-time capacity, doesn’t hurt as the Mets prioritize improving a defense that regressed in 2025.

“He’s clearly a really good offensive player,” Stearns said at the GM meetings in Las Vegas. “And I think for any team the ability to get his bat in the lineup in multiple ways is helpful. And it’s great to know that Pete is open to stuff like that.”

But the Mets’ top offseason priority is pitching — in the rotation and the bullpen — and they have internal options for first base and DH in the short and long term. Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil could play first base. Juan Soto, after a poor defensive year in right field, will eventually see time at DH. Further, Stearns’ unwillingness to give Alonso what he wanted last winter indicates he prefers not to make that level of investment in him.

The Mets haven’t had someone other than Alonso start at first base on Opening Day since Adrián González began a 54-game cameo to conclude his career in 2018. A year later, Alonso debuted and went on to club 54 home runs en route to being named National League Rookie of the Year. He became a fan favorite in Queens over his seven seasons. But he could find himself in another uniform in 2026.

First base production in 2025: .244/.305/.386, 16 HR, 86 wRC+, -0.7 fWAR

Primary first basemen: Abraham Toro (57 starts), Romy Gonzalez (41), Triston Casas (27), Nathaniel Lowe (26)

Designated hitter production in 2025: .272/.361/.465, 26 HR, 125 wRC+, 2.5 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: Rafael Devers (73), Masataka Yoshida (44), Rob Refsnyder (18), Roman Anthony (17)

Most of Boston’s DH production last season came from Devers before he was traded in June. First base was a major problem beginning with Casas’ slow start and exacerbated when he was lost for the season with a knee injury in early May. The logical choice to replace him — Devers — refused the assignment, which led to Boston shipping him to San Francisco.

Toro, Gonzalez and Lowe, who was signed in August, handled the duty for the remainder of the season. Toro was designated for assignment in August. Lowe met the same fate Tuesday.

The Red Sox president of baseball operations, Craig Breslow, has made it clear: He wants to acquire an accomplished middle-of-the-order bat, preferably a right-handed one. Trading Devers, combined with Alex Bregman‘s free agency, has left the Red Sox without much proven slug in their lineup. A reunion with Bregman would check that box. As would signing Alonso, who could split time at first base and DH with Casas if Boston were to keep him.

Do the Red Sox have the appetite for both free agents? Trading Devers moved $29.1 million off the competitive balance tax payroll for each of the next eight years. The Red Sox had approximately $98 million of their relatively modest $201 million CBT payroll come off the books after the season. Their 2026 payroll is projected to include more than $50 million in raises, but Boston is a big-market club with plenty of money to fill its needs.

First base production in 2025: .252/.318/.445, 29 HR, 107 wRC+, 2.0 fWAR

Primary first basemen: Spencer Steer (113 starts), Christian Encarnacion-Strand (25)

Designated hitter production in 2025: .240/.313/.407, 21 HR, 96 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: Gavin Lux (57 starts), Austin Hays (38), Miguel Andujar (20), Tyler Stephenson (17), Steer (16)

The Reds finished 14th in the majors in runs scored, but their collective 92 wRC+, a metric that adjusts for park factors and league context, ranked 24th. The Reds know there’s room for improvement playing half of their games at Great American Ball Park, a hitter’s haven, so they’re seeking to strengthen their offense.

First base and DH aren’t obvious needs. Spencer Steer clubbed 21 home runs in 146 games. Sal Stewart, who turns 22 next month, will be a bigger part of the calculus after posting a 121 OPS+ in his first 18 career games. But Alonso resides on another level. As does Schwarber, a Cincinnati-area native.

Now, the money part. Signing either slugger would require the largest free agent contract in franchise history; the current high mark is the two four-year, $64 million deals given to Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas in 2020. The Reds are estimated to carry a $120 million CBT payroll for next season after finishing with a $143 million payroll in 2025, their highest since 2021. That projection includes expected raises. If investing in a premier free agent is too rich — or if they all simply decide to play elsewhere — the Reds could land a cheaper alternative in the trade market by dealing from their starting rotation depth.

First base production in 2025: .262/.351/.479, 32 HR, 128 wRC+, 3.9 fWAR

Primary first basemen: Bryce Harper (130 starts)

Designated hitter production in 2025: .238/.362/.566, 57 HR, 152 wRC+, 5.1 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: Kyle Schwarber (154 starts)

With Bryce Harper at first base, Alonso probably would only make sense for the Phillies if they do not re-sign Schwarber — the best designated hitter in the majors this side of Shohei Ohtani. But Phillies owner John Middleton isn’t afraid to spend money, and the team could make both Alonso and Schwarber work by moving Harper back to the outfield. Offensively, Alonso’s right-handed bat makes sense, since the Phillies are expected to move on from Nick Castellanos, catcher J.T. Realmuto is a free agent, and Alec Bohm is a candidate for a trade.

First base production in 2025: .246/.323/.411, 18 HR, 103 wRC+, 1.3 fWAR

Primary first basemen: Spencer Horwitz (93 starts), Enmanuel Valdez (22)

Designated hitter production in 2025: .238/.328/.390, 19 HR, 98 wRC+, 0.0 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: Andrew McCutchen (120 starts), Bryan Reynolds (34)

This is a long shot, but the Pirates want to spend money on upgrading their offense to complement a strong pitching staff headlined by Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes. Like the A’s last winter in their quest to upgrade their starting rotation, that could require overpaying for an impact bat. The price of doing business.

First base production in 2025: .243/.310/.369, 14 HR, 92 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR

Primary first basemen: Coby Mayo (67 starts), Ryan Mountcastle (50), Ryan O’Hearn (39)

Designated hitter production in 2025: .221/.296/.380, 22 HR, 90 wRC+, -0.5 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: Mountcastle (33 starts), O’Hearn (31), Adley Rutschman (18), Jordan Westburg (16), Tyler O’Neill (13)

At the GM meetings, Orioles general manager Mike Elias said he wanted to add a power hitter, preferably an outfielder, this offseason. Acquiring Taylor Ward for right-hander Grayson Rodriguez on Tuesday checked that box. But they could always add more slug and Alonso would give them plenty.

Designated hitter production in 2025: .282/.354/.484, 34 HR, 133 wRC+, 3.6 fWAR

Primary designated hitters: George Springer (80 starts), Anthony Santander (30), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (24)

This fit isn’t clean, but the Blue Jays could lose the right-handed-hitting Bo Bichette in free agency this winter and Alonso could serve as a replacement. The Blue Jays expressed interest in Alonso last winter, but that was when Guerrero’s future was very uncertain. We’re not even going to bother listing first base as a possibility for Alonso in Toronto because that’s Guerrero’s job for a very long time. Springer enjoyed a resurgent season primarily as Toronto’s DH, so he would have to move back to the outfield to make room for Alonso.

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$400 million extension, blockbuster trade or let it ride? MLB insiders break down Tigers’ Tarik Skubal options

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November 22, 2025

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0 million extension, blockbuster trade or let it ride? MLB insiders break down Tigers' Tarik Skubal options

  • Kiley McDanielNov 20, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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    • ESPN MLB Insider
    • Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency.
    • Has worked for three MLB teams.
      • Co-author of Author of ‘Future Value’

After three seasons with a face-of-the-franchise-type superstar to headline the winter, there is no Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto in the 2025-26 free agent class. But there is still one player whose potential availability could rock the offseason ahead: Tarik Skubal.

Why would the Detroit Tigers possibly move their ace on the heels of his second straight American League Cy Young Award and the team’s second consecutive postseason appearance?

Quite simply, because keeping Skubal in Detroit is going to become very expensive, very soon. The 28-year-old left-hander will enter the final year of his contract in 2026 before he is scheduled to reach free agency after the season. If he does hit the market next winter, Skubal has a chance of surpassing Los Angeles Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s record $325 million contract, and he could even become baseball’s first $400 million pitcher.

With Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris facing a decision that will shape the future of the franchise — and impact all of MLB — we talked with 11 industry insiders about what Detroit should do this offseason, broken into three main options.

1. Trade Skubal this winter

This was the least-popular option among our panel and one rival executive explained why.

“The whole reason you do all this is to start a season with a potential contender that has an ace. You can’t throw that away before the season starts. How long will it take to get here again?”

Some panelists hemmed and hawed about how much a team would have to overpay to get Detroit to consider a trade, believing an offer that included a young starting pitcher with front-line potential would be enough to start internal conversations — but nobody could get themselves logically to advocate for a deal unless something completely illogical was offered. And that type of deal increasingly doesn’t happen in modern baseball.

If the Tigers were to trade Skubal for anything less than a gobsmacking return, it would likely mean their competitive window would be tighter — and it would be hard to call Detroit a contender without Skubal next season. Dealing away a player of his caliber would label the Tigers a small-market team, at least by mindset, and bring into question whether they would find themselves in this situation again as other star players approach free agency. It’s much easier to push some, but not all, of their chips to the middle for the upcoming season and see what they can do with Skubal leading the way. Who knows when the next opportunity will come?

When I asked these sources what the Tigers should do, they seemed unsure about how Detroit was viewing the situation but leaned toward believing the Tigers would keep Skubal going into next season. That said, knowing what the market will bear is what Harris likes to do, so the drumbeat of Skubal being available in the right deal — or at least in the sense that Detroit would listen before hanging up — will likely continue.

2. Keep Skubal, but trade him at the deadline if the season doesn’t go as planned

In the event things go sideways during the first half of the 2026 season, everyone on our panel agreed that this was the right move. Defining what “going sideways” means with the expanded playoffs is hard, but battling for a wild-card spot around the trade deadline was where the gray area began for our panelists.

“You cannot, under any circumstances, hold Skubal through the trade deadline and miss the playoffs. That would be a catastrophe,” said one agent.

The haul would still be formidable for a rental deal — back-of-the-envelope math says two prospects ranking later in the top 100 or one elite young player, roughly speaking — but also because the offers would have to clear the bar of Detroit receiving a compensation pick just after the first round to even be considered, as that’s what the Tigers would get if Skubal walked in free agency (under the current free agency system).

Another rival executive has an informed theory on Harris’ focus: “He has his eyes set on 2027 and 2028 as his prime contending years.” If things go well in 2026, the window would expand to include it as well. Top prospects Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark, the No. 2 and No. 6 prospects in the sport, could be core players as soon as the second half of 2026, so aiming for things to really take off in 2027 is logical.

Opinions vary on whether Skubal would fetch more this winter or at the deadline because it’s hard to project how desperate a contender could hypothetically be at the deadline versus what that team would offer to get an entire season of Skubal plus a first-round pick when he walks. It’s safe to assume the return would likely be a bit less at the deadline.

3. Keep Skubal no matter what, try to extend him and take the draft pick if he ends up leaving

This would be a bold move in the era of the asset value-focused approach that so many teams are taking now. If Skubal were to walk in free agency, the compensation would likely be a draft pick in the 30s the following summer — and that’s it. That type of pick is valued at roughly $8-10 million of surplus value, depending on your source.

There is more value that would come before that for Detroit, but it’s hard to quantify. The Tigers would get another title run with the reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young winner and more time to convince him to stay in Detroit. Maybe that combination could make magic and both sides could land on a deal before he hits free agency. Skubal has said he wants to stay in Detroit, so you can’t rule it out. Another rival executive thinks Harris is focused on how to make this happen. “[Harris] will never believe he can’t sign Skubal.”

That being said, Skubal being represented by Scott Boras makes it unlikely he will sign a deal without at least testing the market, as Boras typically advises clients to hit free agency.

There’s one more variable, though, that is unique to the timing of Skubal’s free agency: the expected labor strife next winter, with the current CBA expiring on Dec. 1, 2026. It’s unlikely Boras wants Skubal to be on the market through a labor stoppage that would leave him potentially signing right before spring training after some teams have spent their available cash and with the economic model of the game potentially changing in a way that hurts Skubal’s market. One source said the CBA complication moves the odds that Skubal signs an extension before free agency from 0% to 10%.

The last time there was a labor stoppage hanging over free agency, we saw a frenzy of late-November deals before the Dec. 1 lockout. A similar quicker free agent process that ends with Skubal signing around Thanksgiving would give Detroit a slight leg up, given the familiarity and exclusive negotiating window before free agency, relative to a protracted, winter-long bidding war.

The contract marks to beat are Yamamoto’s $325 million guarantee that is the most ever for pitchers and Max Fried’s $218 million guarantee that is tops among left-handers all-time. Both of those contracts were landed by agencies other than Boras Corp., and setting precedents is a large part of how top agencies market themselves to potential nine-figure clients.

It’s also worth noting Skubal had Tommy John surgery in college and flexor tendon surgery in 2022, which are factors to consider when projecting a long-term deal in free agency.

Are Harris and the Tigers likely to win a straight bidding war with a precedent-setting guarantee? No, but if they can offer a shorter deal at an AAV record with opt-outs, they would at least have a path, albeit a narrow one, to keeping their ace.

The real issue for Detroit is their payroll. They finished last season with a $155 million competitive balance tax (CBT) payroll figure, over $90 million below the first CBT tax threshold. If Skubal will be getting an AAV in the $30 millions or even the low $40 millions, can the Tigers really justify giving a quarter of their payroll to one player? Would Harris do that, or would signing Skubal be part of a larger move to a payroll number that can justify fitting Skubal in there as the Tigers see their peak competitive window opening? If McGonigle and Clark show up late in 2026 and look like future stars, that won’t bump the payroll, but it could make the Tigers look more competitive going forward and that could help their long-term case to Skubal, as well.

This logic — if things go well in 2026, the Tigers will contend and hold onto Skubal through the season — is also why another executive mused on Detroit’s options if it traded Skubal at the deadline. “You could still trade [Skubal] and then sign him back long-term, but I can’t imagine the series of events where that would actually happen.”

There’s also the reading of the tea leaves for this winter. Some sources mentioned Detroit is targeting pitching depth early in free agency. Is that to backfill for a potential Skubal trade? A deal now or at the deadline? Or just to create depth for a title run like all contending teams need? Or to create leverage/depth so they have maximum optionality for all of 2026? You can see what you want to see when it comes to the Rorschach test that is the team-building conundrum of the winter.

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Records: WMU police called twice to aid Kneeland

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November 22, 2025

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Records: WMU police called twice to aid Kneeland

  • Anthony Olivieri

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    Anthony Olivieri

    ESPN Staff Writer

      Anthony Olivieri is a staff writer for ESPN. He has a degree in communications with a concentration in journalism from Marist College. He’s been with ESPN since 2012.

  • Elizabeth Merrill

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    Elizabeth Merrill

    ESPN Senior Writer

      Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.

Nov 21, 2025, 03:26 PM ET

Western Michigan University police were twice called to perform welfare checks on Marshawn Kneeland while he played for the school, including by coaches who worried about him possessing a gun, according to records obtained by ESPN.

Kneeland, a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, died Nov. 6 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Frisco, Texas. He was 24. The documents obtained by ESPN via an open-records request show that there were concerns about his mental health as early as 2020.

One incident, in June 2023, came 10 months before Dallas picked him in the second round of the NFL draft. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor and then-defensive coordinator Lou Esposito called police with a “concern that [Kneeland] recently separated from his girlfriend” and that they “wanted to make sure he was mentally fit to possess a firearm,” according to a campus police report.

“After speaking with Kneeland, he voluntarily turned the firearm into WMUPD for safekeeping until cleared by a counselor,” the officer wrote.

Twelve days later, Kneeland retrieved his gun from police after obtaining a letter from a social worker at the Western Michigan Sindecuse Health Center stating that Kneeland was examined and determined not to be a threat to himself or others, according to the report.

Taylor and Esposito did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday. “WMU’s football program and our greater community are heartbroken by the loss of Marshawn,” according to a statement from the Western Michigan athletic department provided to ESPN. “He was deeply loved and cared for here. Bronco Athletics provides holistic support for all our student-athletes including mental health services with professional counselors. Marshawn made use of those mental health resources during his time at WMU. The entire football staff was proud of Marshawn, who grew to become a captain and a leader in the program, and ultimately a graduate of Western Michigan University.” The counselor named in the report did not respond to messages from ESPN.

In another incident in September 2020, an unnamed friend of Kneeland’s called 911 to express concern for his well-being, and police found Kneeland near train tracks in Kalamazoo.

“Kneeland told me he was sitting across the tracks in hopes a train would run him over to end his life,” the responding officer wrote in a report. “Kneeland told me life overall and the lack of playing football at WMU had him feeling down. He told me he had been feeling like this for a while. When asked to clarify how long he felt that way, he did not answer. Kneeland said he does not see a therapist or take any medication for his mental health crisis.”

The report states that Kneeland did not want to seek medical help but that Kent County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the scene sent Kneeland to Borgess Hospital (now Beacon Kalamazoo). The report does not state when or why Kneeland was released from the hospital.

A Cowboys spokesperson declined to answer questions Friday about whether the team had been aware of Kneeland’s previous incidents.

Kneeland’s cousin Nicole Kneeland-Woods, a family spokesperson, told ESPN that she had no knowledge of those incidents. “None at all,” she said.

On Thursday, Kneeland’s family held a private memorial service in Wyoming, Michigan. Kneeland-Woods said it was invitation-only, with family, close friends and some of his coaches.

“Right now for us, it’s just trying to move forward,” she said. “Now we can really start the healing process.”

Texas police found Kneeland’s body in the early morning of Nov. 6 after he had evaded officers during a traffic pursuit, crashed his car and fled on foot. According to a report released Friday by the Texas Department of Public Safety, a trooper saw Kneeland’s car speeding down the highway, sometimes traveling more than 145 miles per hour and making “several unsafe lane changes.” The trooper ultimately lost sight of Kneeland’s car. While officers searched for Kneeland, they said they received information that he had expressed “suicidal ideations.”

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