Paralympic champion claims Britain’s first title of the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships

The Great Britain and Northern Ireland team enjoyed a golden start to the World Para Athletics Championships on Thursday as Paul Blake claimed victory in the T36 800m in Dubai.

Taking control of the race, the Paralympic 400m champion went through halfway in 62.38 and went on to win in a season’s best of 2:07.44 to finish eight seconds ahead of Algeria’s Sid Ali Bouzourine.

Adding this latest title to his world 800m gold medals from Lyon in 2013 and Doha in 2015, Blake said: “To be honest, I think this is the best one. The way the last two years have panned out, this is really special. To execute the race exactly as I wanted to and to win the gold, I’m really pleased with myself.”

The Paralympic 400m champion added: “It’s amazing to be the first gold medallist of the champs for Great Britain and hopefully this will spur on the rest of the team to deliver great performances.”

He will return to the track for the heats of the one-lap event on Wednesday.

Paul Blake, GB’s first gold medallist of the World @ParaAthletics Championships in Dubai, talks to @stuartweir about his T36 800m victory #Dubai2019 @wizards_1 @BritAthletics pic.twitter.com/IqkcdDdjCU

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) November 7, 2019

Also among the athletes to impress on day one of the championships was Australia’s Jaryd Clifford who clocked 3:47.78 to break his own T13 1500m world record and get gold ahead of Russia’s Anton Kuliatin (3:47.91) and Algeria’s Paralympic champion Abdellatif Baka (3:49.30).

“To get the gold medal against such a quality competition is a huge confidence for the next year,” said Clifford, who is classified as legally blind and competed at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Finland last year.

“I could hear someone behind me and it was like ‘this is over’, but I never gave up. It was crazy when I crossed the line.”

Another surprise came in the T13 400m as Brazil’s debutante Rayane Soares da Silva ran a PB of 57.30 to beat Portugal’s Carolina Duarte (57.46) and Ukraine’s defending world champion Leilia Adzhametova (57.55).

Uzbekistan’s Doniyor Saliev won the men’s T12 long jump with a championship record of 7.44m, while there was an Asian record recorded by Iran’s Mahdi Olad as he threw 14.44m in the F11 shot put.

Sammi Kinghorn’s title defence remains on track as the Scottish wheelchair racer clocked 16.39 to win her T53 100m heat.

“I’m really happy with that race,” she said. “16.39 is not what I was expecting. It’s one of the quickest times I’ve ever done. I’m so, so pleased with it.

“My aim here was to reach the final and win a medal, any medal. I had an operation earlier in the season which put me back a bit, mentally and physically, so you don’t know where you are. But I’m really proud to have worked hard to put on the British kit again for the first time since London (2017).”

.@Sam_Kinghorn speaks with @stuartweir after winning her T53 100m heat at the World @ParaAthletics Championships in Dubai @BritAthletics @scotathletics pic.twitter.com/vQHKkdJcA3

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) November 7, 2019

Her fellow Brit Nathan Maguire placed eighth in his T54 100m semi-final in 14.73, while Richard Chiassaro placed fourth in his heat in 14.91, with both athletes now taking on longer distances at the championships.

Mickey Bushell was fifth in his T53 100m heat in 15.47.

Full results can be found here.

American runner criticises Alberto Salazar and Nike Oregon Project in extraordinary New York Times video

A shocked athletics world has reacted with alarm at the revelations from Mary Cain that she suffered multiple bone fractures, three years of missed periods and suicidal thoughts after being pressured to lose weight when she was training with the Nike Oregon Project.

A teenage running prodigy, Cain set US high school records from 800m to 5000m, represented the United States at the 2013 World Championships aged just 17 and the following year won the world junior 3000m title. Her high school 1500m record of 4:04.62, for example, was 10 seconds faster than the next best US high school runner in history.

She was coached by Alberto Salazar at the Nike Oregon Project during that period but left in 2016 and now, in a video produced by the New York Times, she has launched a stinging criticism of Salazar and the NOP.

“I was emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by Alberto and endorsed by Nike,” she says, adding that self-harm and suicidal thoughts were caused by pressure from Salazar to lose weight in order to run faster.

Cain says she missed her period for three years and broke five bones as her health deteriorated. It has led a number of big-name athletes to come out in her support.

Allyson Felix, the sprints legend who criticised Nike for failing to support her when she gave birth to her first child, said: “This is heart breaking.”

Thank you for speaking your truth Mary. This is heartbreaking. Thank you @lindsaycrouse for continuing to share these powerful & important stories. https://t.co/cIFs8UNB1x

— Allyson Felix (@allysonfelix) November 7, 2019

Shalane Flanagan, the 2017 New York City Marathon winner and a recently-retired athlete with the Nike Bowerman Track Club in Oregon, tweeted: “I had no idea it was this bad. I’m so sorry @runmarycain that I never reached out to you when I saw you struggling. I made excuses to myself as to why I should mind my own business. We let you down. I will never turn my head again.”

Lauren Fleshman, a former US 5000m champion and Oregon-based athlete, said: “What happened to Mary Cain was worse than I feared. This story is familiar to thousands of girls and young women in sports. It has to STOP. Thank you for your bravery Mary.”

British distance runner Jess Judd added: “Such a brave thing to do, thank you Mary for sharing your story. We owe a lot to strong powerful women like @runmarycain and @karagoucher for telling their stories to give us faith that things can change for the better in the future.”

Such a brave thing to do, thank you Mary for sharing your story.
We owe a lot to strong powerful women like @runmarycain and @karagoucher for telling their stories to give us faith that things can change for the better in the future. https://t.co/zMkogYRQei

— Jess Judd (@jessjuddxx) November 7, 2019

Lee Troop, one of Australia’s best known distance runners, said: “This is absolutely terrible! To all of you that were in the inner sanctum of NOP & turned a blind eye to this abuse, #screwyou! To all of you who continue to defend #Salazar, a double screw you!! As a father, listening to this, it’s heartbreaking.”

In her video, Cain, who is now 23, said: “Alberto was constantly trying to get me to lose weight. He created an arbitrary number of 114lb and would usually weigh me in front of my team-mates and publicly shame if I wasn’t hitting weight.

“He wanted to give me birth control pills and diuretics to lose weight — the latter of which isn’t allowed in track and field. I ran terrible during this time.

“We reached a point where I was on the starting line and I’d lost the race before I started because in my head all I was thinking of was not the time I was trying to hit but the number on the scale I saw earlier that day.”

In 2013, at the height of her best performances and the ‘Cain-mania’ as it was known at the time, AW ran an article headlined “handle with care” along with quotes from Salazar, who said: “She’s got a lot of talent and my job is to make sure that talent is fulfilled. I didn’t make Mary Cain. She was already made. My job is to keep her healthy and allow her to continue to improve.”

Salazar denies some of Cain’s claims in her New York Times video and says he supported her health and welfare.

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — Brian Brown Racing and Casey’s General Stores will remain together through the end of the 2021 sprint car racing season.

Casey’s has extended its sponsorship of the Brown and the No. 21 racing team for another two years.

Brown earned his third Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway track championship this season.

“It’s an honor to have the Casey’s General Stores logo on our car and to be a Casey’s brand ambassador on and off the track,” Brown said. “It has been an amazing partnership for the last decade and we’re excited to continue to grow and expand together in 2020 and beyond.”

Casey’s General Stores is a Fortune 500 company operating over 2,100 convenience stores in 16 states.

“We’re excited to renew our partnership with Brian as he’s a loyal brand ambassador for Casey’s,” said Chris Jones, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of Casey’s General Stores. “Motorsports brings together passionate fans across the communities we call home and this includes Casey’s guests and team members.”

The 2020 season will mark the ninth season that Casey’s has sponsored Brian Brown Racing.

Brown concludes the season this weekend during the Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – From a harrowing two-wheel incident to a now four-wheel champion, it’s been an unpredictable year for racer Chad Reed.

It was only eight months ago that the wildly popular, championship-winning motorcross and supercross rider was sidelined with multiple broken bones and other injuries stemming from a Supercross incident. Just three months later Reed returned to racing – this time of behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO.

It began when Reed connected with IMSA driver Ryan Hardwick through mutual friends. The pair headed to Las Vegas earlier this summer for Reed’s first ever test in a Lamborghini Super Trofeo race car for Dream Racing.

“The test went well right away,” said Reed. “The owner, Enrico (Bertaggia) was like, ‘I’ll know in five minutes whether we’re going to put him in the car or not.’ I guess I passed the test.”

One week later, Reed found himself headed to Watkins Glen international in New York to make his debut in the IMSA-sanctioned Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series as a part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen weekend.

“I had heard a lot about Watkins Glen, but I had never been there,” Reed explained. “We race close by in a place called Unadilla, about an hour and 45 minutes away. So, though I’ve been to that part of the country quite a lot, I’d never gotten out to Watkins Glen. It was really exciting to go and see a pretty historic venue for IMSA racing.”

Originally competing in the Pro-Am class with Hardwick, Reed moved to the LB Cup class in July after Hardwick suffered a season-ending knee injury of his own in a crash during a WeatherTech Championship practice at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Last month – following four wins in eight LB Cup races alongside new co-driver Justin Price – Reed headed to Circuito de Jerez in Spain to compete in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals. The duo won the final race of the 12-round Super Trofeo North America season, before Reed prepared to contend individually for the World Final LB Cup Championship amongst Lamborghini Super Trofeo competitors from around the world.

“I actually lived in Europe in 2001, so when I first left my native country Australia as an 18-year-old kid, I went to race the World Championship in Europe,” said Reed. “I got to venture all over Europe and I got to spend some time there. I’m a huge MotoGP fan and Jerez is a big part of that championship and testing program, so I knew the venue quite well.

“I had never been there, but I’d known it well enough that I’d watched so much of it that basically going there for the first time didn’t feel like the first time. To get to go to a venue I knew so much about and cared about its heritage, to race a Lamborghini there was really exciting.”

After winning the first of two World Final races, Reed finished second in race two to clinch the LB Cup World Championship, adding his first four-wheel title to his already impressive collection of championships on two wheels.

“I’ve been a professional athlete for 22 years,” said Reed. “I come from a lot of experience in the racing world and in my opinion, racing is racing, always. From two wheel to four wheel, it’s a little different here and there but for the most part, racing at the highest level is always the same. It always takes the same mindset and it always takes the same successful way of going about it that is rewarded in every way. That’s just what I think.”

But what is it that keeps the drive going for the multi-time AMA/World Supercross champion? His participation in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America shows just that – his desire to learn.

“It’s that progression at never arriving and always trying to be better and trying to figure out what it is,” explained Reed. “That desire to jump into something and try to find more. Though I won in Jerez, already immediately I re-watched the race. I got to watch it on TV and a lot of the battles I was in.

“With watching it, already your mind says, ‘Ah, I could do this better, I could do that better or I could approach this better.’ The competitive side of you, you’re always looking for more and always trying to find that competitive edge and understanding of how to be better. I guess that just drives me and it fuels me.”

Reed added how competing in four races at Jerez – instead of the traditional two at IMSA weekends – added even more fuel to his fire.

“Four races is double the time, so you have double the day there and double the experience and double the learning,” he said. “I’m left on this high where, ‘When’s the next time I get in a car?’”

Although now in the IMSA offseason, Reed hopes it won’t be long before he returns to a race car. The now 37-year-old is becoming more aware of the impending end to his two-wheel career, but has no intentions of quitting racing any time soon.

“I’m at the tail end of my Motocross career and life beyond motorcycles is becoming more real each and every year,” said Reed. “At this point, I’m not sure how many more years I’ll race. But it just feels normal to go racing. I feel the change. I really enjoyed my time in the car this year.

“The goal currently is to do Super Trofeo again. I think that’d be awesome to get in a car by myself and try to maximize my time, jump up a class into the Am class, then go learn and try to figure that out. That’s pretty much where I’m at, just figuring out what I can do.

“As far as being in IMSA racing, that is the goal. I love racing so much. It’s like I see Sebring and Daytona and the Six Hours at Watkins Glen. I don’t know why, but that seems really appealing to me and it seems fun. I love that grinding away, finding the limit. If I could find a level of driving that I feel I need to get to, where I can be competitive at that level, then obviously a GTD or something like that would be something I would really enjoy and love to do.”

CONCORD, N.C. – A last-minute conversation led to a very familiar opportunity for Spencer Bayston to return to the Can-Am World Finals this weekend at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Bayston, from Lebanon, Ind., is returning to the Swindell SpeedLab No. 39 for this weekend’s two-night World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season finale, the same team he drove for on a part-time basis last season before taking the leap into full-time 410 competition this year.

After an up-and-down year that saw Bayston depart Pete Grove’s Premier Motorsports operation mid-season, the 21-year-old is pleased to be back in a familiar situation with a shot to win this weekend.

“It feels really good,” Bayston told Sprint Car & Midget of being back with owner Kevin Swindell. “This is where I got my feet wet first in the sprint car. We built a lot over those last couple of years, and obviously it’s been a little bit since I’ve been in this car, but we left off on a really good foot here last year. Coming back to this track with these guys, I feel ultra-comfortable going into it.

“We’re looking forward to getting back together and seeing what we can do with this thing.”

Bayston, who dabbled in a Hayward-Thomas Motorsports midget during the early fall but hadn’t been in a sprint car on a big stage since the Knoxville Nationals in August, admitted that he didn’t have plans to run the World Finals before the Swindells reached out to him in the days leading up to the race.

“Jordan actually just texted me the other night to ask if I could do this, so it came together quick,” Bayston said. “Obviously their thing this year was running the big races … or the races that matter, I should say, and putting the right people in their seat. I’m grateful for the opportunity to come back and drive this thing. Yes, it was kind of last minute, but we are here and the car is ready to go.

“I know this thing will have speed, so hopefully I haven’t forgotten how to drive in circles and we can have a good weekend.”

Though he hasn’t been driving a sprint car – or with the Swindells, more specifically – in recent months, Bayston said it was a fairly-seamless step back in with the No. 39 team and that he feels ready going into the pursuit of a pair of victories.

“It’ll be just like riding a bicycle, hopefully,” joked Bayston, who ran fourth and sixth in last year’s World Finals features with the SpeedLab operation. “It’s a good feeling knowing how good we were here last year. I was talking to Kevin a little bit ago and just mentioning how this is pretty much the same car. We’re going to do the same stuff to it, and maybe try a couple of different things here and there, but overall, we’ve got a pretty good notebook for here at Charlotte, I feel like.

“All of that makes me feel a little more comfortable and a little more confident coming into this deal.”

St. Louis Blues forward Alexander Steen will miss at least four weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain during Wednesday's game, general manager Doug Armstrong announced Thursday.

Steen left the Blues' 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday after an awkward collision with Alex Chiasson late in the second period.

He returned to St. Louis, was placed on injured reserve and will be reevaluated in four weeks, the team said. The Blues have one game remaining on a four-game road trip.

Steen has zero goals and five assists in 17 games this season for the 11-3-3 Blues.

The Blues are already without top-line winger Vladimir Tarasenko for the rest of the regular season following right shoulder surgery. Earlier this week, they traded 2014 first-round pick Robby Fabbri to the Detroit Red Wings for Jacob de la Rose.

St. Louis has won six in a row and is tied with the Washington Capitals for the most points in the NHL.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- One of USC athletic director Mike Bohn's first official acts on the job will be to evaluate a struggling football program and its embattled head coach.

But during his introductory news conference on USC's campus Thursday, Bohn said it was too early to discuss anything pertaining to the future of Clay Helton's job or the direction of the football program.

"We all understand the importance of football; it's very similar to every institution that I've been a part of," said Bohn, who came to USC from Cincinnati. "It'd be premature to be talking about coaches or any situation when I just arrived and am in the process of learning and trying to listen. But I have a good sense of really quickly being able to connect and find out how we're doing and where we're going, and I want to impact recruiting."

Bohn, who was announced as USC's ninth athletic director on Thursday, said he hasn't met with or spoken to Helton but has talked to a lot of people about the coach and is "anxious to meet him."

Questions surrounding Helton's job security began after the Trojans went 5-7 in 2018 -- the program's first losing season since 2000 -- and have continued with USC 5-4 heading into Saturday's game at Arizona State (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). The Trojans had led the Pac-12 South Division for most of the season, but last week's 56-24 loss to Oregon at the Coliseum put the Trojans a game behind No. 8 Utah.

Though the Trojans own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Utes -- beating them 30-23 in September -- they will likely need to win out and have Utah lose at least one of its three remaining games to UCLA, Arizona or Colorado, none of which has a winning record.

Helton guided USC to a Pac-12 championship and Rose Bowl victory in his first full season in 2016. The Trojans went 11-3 and won the Pac-12 South the next season. But 2018's losing season and this year's struggles have intensified the criticism.

The Trojans are also struggling in recruiting. USC's 2020 class of 11 prospects, which includes no ESPN 300 recruits, is outside of ESPN's top-40 team rankings, after the Trojans finished 19th in 2019.

Bohn said it was important for the football program to be viable in recruiting, outreach, attendance and "intensity of interest," all of which support the program.

While Bohn wouldn't talk about specifics when it came to evaluating Helton, either during the three final weeks of this season or after, the athletic director did say the expectation for the coach and his football team is simply to win.

"Just like any program this time of year, we expect him to finish strong," Bohn said. "I mentioned 'Fight on' and the sense of being able to do that, but it's also 'Fight on to victory.' It's important to win. I'm not trying to add more pressure to him or the student-athletes who represent him, but we always want to finish strong. Good programs finish strong, so the idea is we want to see him and his team finish strong, and I'm going to do everything I can to support those young men and those coaches and everybody tied to the program to do exactly that."

Bohn said he won't be in Tempe, Arizona, for the Trojans' game against Arizona State this weekend because he will be back at Cincinnati to say goodbye. He intends to fly to Los Angeles on Sunday and be in his office Monday.

USC president Carol Folt joined Bohn in saying that she too wasn't ready to fully evaluate Helton, saying the two need more time to talk about the situation before they can make a decision.

"We're not there yet," she said. "One thing I do know is I never say things I don't know yet."

Folt added: "I also know how to be a leader that lets your leaders actually do the job they're special at doing and then work with me where it's important for me to be a part of it."

Bohn and Folt both denied recent reports that the two had discussions -- and possible hesitations -- about potentially hiring former Ohio State coach and current Fox college football analyst Urban Meyer to replace Helton.

"Absolutely not," Bohn said. "There's no legs to that."

Bohn spent most of his nearly 30-minute news conference talking about making sure that USC had a winning athletic department in all areas, but the focus on Bohn over the next few weeks will be on the direction of the football program. Bohn said it was "premature to even mention and think about" a reasonable timeline for the football team to get back to "competing at the highest level," but he made it clear that championships are the standard for USC.

"I think that's why I came here," he said. "We want to compete for national championships across all sports, and that includes, obviously, the football program, and we want to be in the Rose Bowl."

The Washington Redskins have placed Trent Williams on the reserve/non-football injury list, ending his season.

The team announced the move Thursday, ending a monthslong saga involving the star offensive tackle and the team.

Williams last week revealed a cancer diagnosis that played a part in his lengthy holdout and distrust of the team's medical staff and organization.

He said he told the team of the medical issue six years ago and that a growth on his head grew substantially over time. The 31-year-old said he had a tumor removed from his skull and needs to get checked out every six months to make sure he's OK.

The seven-time Pro Bowl selection had three surgeries during the offseason to remove the tumor and remained away from the team during that time. Williams said it got pretty serious, and he was "told some scary things'' by doctors that changed his outlook on life.

The Redskins later released a statement saying they requested that the NFL's Management Council convene a joint committee with the NFL Players Association to review the medical records and care given to Williams.

After reporting to the Redskins on Oct. 29, Williams told the team that he felt discomfort on his scalp after putting on a helmet during his physical. It was enough for the Redskins to fail his physical. The team had been trying to find a customized helmet for Williams.

Williams also expressed dissatisfaction with his contract, which runs through 2020 without guaranteed dollars. Despite returning, he would not commit to playing again for the organization that drafted him fourth overall in 2010.

The holdout was an expensive one for Williams. He was fined at least $1.2 million this summer while also losing 25% of his signing bonus proration for missing training camp and another 25% for missing the first game. He missed eight game checks at $638,000 per week as well. In total, the holdout cost him approximately $7 million.

The NFLPA also came to Williams' defense Sunday, tweeting a statement that accused NFL Network and former Redskins general manager and current network analyst Charley Casserly of using misinformation in an attempt to tarnish the offensive tackle's reputation.

ESPN's John Keim and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW ORLEANS -- Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, who had surgery on his right knee just prior to the season, on Thursday said he's "getting stronger" but gave no indication of when he'll return to action.

"When [the training staff] feels like I'm back to myself, they'll let me play," Williamson said as he met with reporters for the first time since the injury. "It's as simple as that."

Williamson, who suffered a torn lateral meniscus, was given a timetable of six to eight weeks for his return, which would fall in the first half of December.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft said he's doing his best to keep a positive attitude as rehabs his knee.

"I do feel like I'm getting stronger day by day," Williamson said Thursday. "The trainers are telling me it's getting stronger and I can feel the difference day by day."

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Williamson's recovery is on schedule and said it would be "very ambitious" to think Williamson could be back at the end of November.

Williamson still can't pinpoint when he actually suffered the injury. He just remembers feeling soreness in the knee after a preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 13. Eight days later, he was having surgery for the first time in his life.

"I wasn't as nervous," Williamson said. "I was just like, let's go in and get it done and let's start the recovery process."

Williamson said he was "hurt" at first that he was going to have to delay his NBA debut, but he quickly pointed out that he's "not out forever."

"It's 82 games," Williamson said. "I'm not even missing half the season."

Guard Jrue Holiday said the Pelicans, who are off to a 1-6 start, are glad Williamson is back around his teammates at the facility.

Holiday, who missed 107 games in his first three seasons with New Orleans, can also give Williamson some insight on working his way back from injury.

"Be patient," Holiday said. "He's 19. Be patient. I've been through some injuries myself. I know how frustrating that can be. Maybe even sometimes feeling like you're on the outside because everybody is playing.

"Knowing him, he wants to be out there helping his teammates up. He feels like he can do a lot for us, which we think he can. Not to have that pressure. We'll hold it down until he gets back."

We're past the halfway point of the NFL's regular season, which means some teams are closer to the end than the beginning, and for some of those teams and fan bases, that has to feel like a good thing.

If your team is hopelessly out of it, your attention is likely turning to the 2020 offseason. Even if your team is in it, you're likely holding open at least some small corner of your imagination to consider what comes after your inevitable Super Bowl parade.

We're here for the forward-thinkers. The look-aheaders. Those of you whose minds just can't stay in the now. At the midpoint of the 2019 season, we proudly offer 20 predictions for the 2020 offseason:

Jump to a player mentioned:
Bell | Bridgewater | Cousins
Dalton | Mahomes | Manning
McCaffrey | Newton | Prescott

1. Two from the group of Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers stay put

Which two? Don't know. Heck, could be all three. But there's enough uncertainty around these three great veteran quarterbacks, none of whom has a contract for next season, to make me think there's one seismic shocker coming.

Maybe Brees wins the Super Bowl and goes out Elway-style. Maybe Rivers decides to try his luck somewhere else. Maybe Brady hangs 'em up or signs with some other team. (Maybe one that hires Josh McDaniels as its coach?)

Each of these quarterbacks feels like he can still perform at a high level, and all three are in pretty good situations. So I'm not envisioning a mass retirement or overhaul at the geezer end of the QB spectrum. Which is why I say two stay put. I just think at this point it's a lot to expect all three to do so.

2. The Browns hire Mike McCarthy as their coach

This assumes the second half in Cleveland is as ugly as the first was, or close to it, and the Browns decide Freddie Kitchens was the wrong man for the job.

Former Packers coach McCarthy, who couldn't get an offer on the 2019 job market, has a lot of former Packers front-office colleagues in that Browns front office. And if Cleveland decides to make a change because the guy it hired before this season was too inexperienced, common sense says the Browns look for someone with a whole bunch of experience.

3. Six other teams change coaches

On the face of it, this sounds crazy, but it more or less happens every year, even though teams end up regretting the perpetual overhauls. The Washington job is already open. The Atlanta job could come open any week.

People around the league who track these things have their eyes on the situations in Chicago, Cleveland, Carolina, Jacksonville and both New York teams. Add in Dallas if things bottom out there and Denver if the second half goes south and the Broncos decide to blow up the whole thing.

The question isn't whether a bunch of jobs will come open -- it concerns the quality and number of candidates available to fill them. We wrote about some possible names last month, in case you're curious.

4. Dak Prescott will become the league's highest-paid player

Prescott's discipline in turning down the Cowboys' contract offers has been remarkable, and it sets up the strong possibility that he'll be franchised in March if they can't reach a deal before then. He's not leaving Dallas, I promise you that.

But I don't think Jerry Jones wants this to be acrimonious, and if Prescott finishes the season the way he began it and the Cowboys win another division title, it's going to be hard (and kind of silly) not to give Prescott what he wants. Russell Wilson currently holds the top spot with an average salary of $35 million. I say Prescott ends up topping him, which would be proof of the value of waiting and betting on yourself.

5. Le'Veon Bell will be traded

One of the marquee signings of 2019 free agency, Bell ends up changing teams again in 2020. This is especially sure to happen if coach Adam Gase keeps his job with the Jets. But even if he doesn't, general manager Joe Douglas wasn't there for this signing and likely will be able to get something nice in return for a suddenly tradable Bell contract.

The Jets already paid the $8 million signing bonus and his $2 million in 2019 salary and bonuses. The only guarantee left on the deal is a $4.5 million 2020 roster bonus and an $8.5 million 2020 salary, meaning a team can get Bell in a trade and owe him only $13 million for one season. A contending team with a need at running back will jump at this chance. Is it crazy to imagine him on the Chiefs?

6. The top pick in the 2020 draft won't be a quarterback

My eyes automatically roll when I hear the phrase "Tanking for Tua," and part of the reason is I don't know for sure whether Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa is a sure thing to be the top quarterback taken in the draft. NFL teams really haven't done enough digging on these guys yet for anyone to know that.

But the main reason for this prediction is that Ohio State pass-rusher Chase Young is the guy over whom everyone seems to be drooling right now. And while the Dolphins or Bengals could easily snag the top pick and use it on a quarterback, that's not likely to be the call if the top pick ends up with the Jets, Falcons, Giants or Washington.

7. Cam Newton will end up in Denver

Elway's next attempt to fix a quarterback is his boldest since Peyton Manning. Carolina releases Newton from the final year of his contract, saving $19.1 million in cap space it can apply to Christian McCaffrey's new deal, and Elway signs the former MVP for the team that beat Newton in his lone Super Bowl appearance.

8. The 'franchise-and-trade' trend will continue with pass-rushers

Last offseason, Frank Clark, Dee Ford and Jadeveon Clowney were all franchised by teams that didn't want to commit long-term contracts with them and traded to teams that did (or, in Clowney's case, might).

Whether it's for salary-cap reasons, scheme reasons or good old-fashioned cold feet, a lot of teams just can't stomach the idea of giving out quarterback-type contracts to non-quarterbacks. But they also don't want to lose pass-rushers for nothing, so the template set this past offseason could guide the situations of guys like Yannick Ngakoue in Jacksonville, Shaq Barrett in Tampa Bay, Bud Dupree in Pittsburgh and Matthew Judon in Baltimore.

9. Kirk Cousins will get a contract extension in Minnesota

After the season, Cousins will have one year and $29.5 million left on the three-year, fully guaranteed contract he signed with the Vikings 20 months ago. Yeah, life comes at you fast.

Thing is, it looks as if the Vikings are going to have a good season and be in position for a playoff run. And when the season is over, they're going to have major salary-cap issues. Whatever you think of him, Cousins surely will have played well enough for the Vikings to consider him a better 2020 option than wandering the quarterback wilderness. They won't be able to restructure his contract for cap relief, because it's got only the one year left, so an extension is likely to be their best option. Seriously. Don't @ me. Do the math.

10. Christian McCaffrey will reset the running back market

The Panthers have McCaffrey under contract for two more years after 2019. The fourth year of his rookie contract is 2020, and they hold a fifth-year option for 2021. This is the exact situation in which the Cowboys found themselves with Ezekiel Elliott this past summer, and Elliott held out of camp until he got a record-setting deal. Not saying McCaffrey will or won't hold out, but (A) he should if they don't pay him and (B) the Panthers probably will want to get this settled anyway.

If McCaffrey keeps up what he has done this season, there will be no argument against making him the highest-paid player in the league at his position, which means more than $15 million per year and about $30 million fully guaranteed.

This is what's happening to the running back market. Leonard Fournette is in the same boat (though he's not putting up McCaffrey's numbers), and we'll be writing the same thing about Saquon Barkley this time next year.

11. The CBA negotiations will drag on and remain unresolved

A month ago, I still thought the NFL and NFLPA could reach a deal this season. I am no longer that optimistic. This is based on the current state of the negotiations, which are dormant, and the conversations I've had with people on both sides of it. I could be wrong. I would love to be wrong. I'd be totally fine with them doing a new collective bargaining agreement the week before Thanksgiving and somebody tweeting me the link to this story with a snarky, "This didn't age well ..." as if they were the first person who ever thought of that.

But there hasn't been enough movement toward a deal in the past few weeks to convince me there's momentum here. And if nothing gets done this month, the owners likely turn their attention to the new TV deals on the horizon and slide this thing to the back burner. That means a bunch of weird rules for the 2020 offseason and the possibility of the 2020 season being played under the threat of a work stoppage. The current CBA expires after the 2020 season.

12. The Browns will trade for Trent Williams

This is another thing that should have happened this year, but the situation with Williams in Washington got too ugly for anyone to resolve it sensibly. He's not going to play for that team again, and in the offseason, it'll be easier for Washington to trade him since it knows exactly what picks it is getting.

Browns general manager John Dorsey makes it happen this time as he tries to reposition his still-talented roster as a post-hype 2020 sleeper.

13. The Bears will bring in Andy Dalton

The prediction here is that Chicago declines the 2021 option on Mitchell Trubisky's contract, setting 2020 up as a walk year, and brings in a veteran to compete with him and/or motivate him. Something like what the Titans did this season with Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill.

This move wouldn't be as obviously threatening as it would if the Bears brought in someone such as Newton or Jameis Winston. Signing Brady or Rivers (pipe dream, but who knows?) would necessitate moving on from Trubisky entirely. And the Bears are probably not getting Teddy Bridgewater unless they promise him the starting job.

Dalton isn't the most thrilling pickup, but he might make the most sense for what Chicago needs.

14. Nick Caserio will leave New England to become the Texans' general manager

This move was supposed to happen earlier this year, but the Patriots got annoyed and blocked it. With Caserio's contract up after this season, there won't be anything Bill Belichick can do this time to keep his director of player personnel.

Caserio and Bill O'Brien unite in Houston, where they can try to build a new AFC South dynasty around Deshaun Watson, though the Texans don't have first-round picks in 2020 or 2021.

15. Eli Manning will retire as a Giant

Manning believes he can still play, but who's going to bring him in to be their unquestioned, unchallenged starter in camp? Would he take a prove-it deal somewhere? What does this two-time Super Bowl MVP, who has never missed a game due to injury and never made any waves about losing his job to a rookie in 2019, have left to prove to himself or to anyone else?

Manning always said he never wanted to play anywhere else, and when it comes time to make that choice, I'm betting he decides that's the right call.

16. The league will put the pass-interference replay review rule out of its misery

I'm not big on saying, "I told you so," but sometimes I can understand why people like it so much. It was straight-up idiotic for the NFL to approve a rule that allows pass interference -- which is by definition a judgment call even in slow motion -- to be subject to replay review.

The first half of the season has made it clear that the NFL will not overturn pass-interference calls in either direction except in some obscenely extreme case. Basically, they put the rule in because the NFC Championship Game got messed up by a blown interference call, and that's about what would have to happen again in order to activate it.

Like a lot of rule changes, this one was put in place on a one-year trial period. It's hard to imagine owners voting in March to make it permanent.

17. Teddy Bridgewater will stay in New Orleans

This would be either for another season as Drew Brees' backup -- not a bad life he has carved out for himself -- or as the new starter if Brees decides to retire.

Bridgewater seemed to make it clear this past offseason that he wasn't going to abandon the Saints' backup job for just any old starting job. Another year in New Orleans, especially if it makes a Super Bowl run, should only make him feel more warmly about the place and the situation.

18. The Giants will draft Jerry Jeudy

Telling you, guys. This is Dave Gettleman's 2020 draft crush. And the Giants' general manager gets his man, the Alabama wide receiver who is projected to be a top-five pick.

The Giants should be picking high enough to pull this off, and Gettleman will be able to sit there convinced he built the core of an offensive monster with his top picks in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 drafts. He'd just better find a left tackle and a pass-rusher elsewhere.

19. Andrew Luck's name will come up ... but he won't come back

At least one team, and likely many, will call Luck's agent to gauge his interest in returning to football after he retired from the Colts before the start of this season. In the end, though, I'm taking Luck at his word that he's done with the game.

And logistically, even if he wanted back in, the whole thing would be tough to pull off. The Colts still have his rights, and his contract would have to be navigated and rearranged. You'll hear Luck's name connected seriously with at least one team, I guarantee. But don't get your hopes up.

20. Patrick Mahomes will wait to do his contract

After this season, the Chiefs are legally permitted to talk about a contract extension with the 2019 MVP. He's under contract through 2020, they'll surely pick up his 2021 option and -- assuming the new CBA rules don't change significantly -- they will likely have the ability to franchise him for 2022 and 2023. So they don't have to do anything with the contract this offseason. They might want to, though, and if they do, I predict Mahomes waits it out. Especially if things have worked out well for Dak Prescott in the meantime.

Mahomes surely wants to see what Prescott gets first, and he might want to see what Deshaun Watson gets before topping it. Given the possibility that he can blow past the $40 million-per-year benchmark when he finally does sign, it would be wise for Mahomes not to rush into anything.