RJ Hamster
SI:AM | A Pair of Huge NFL Trades
DAN GARTLAND
Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I can’t believe Serena Williams is returning to professional tennis after four years in retirement.
In today’s SI:AM:
Stars on the move
Two huge trades went down yesterday in the NFL. One had been expected for months. The other came as a total shock.
As had long been rumored, the Eagles sent three-time Pro Bowl receiver A.J. Brown to the Patriots in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a ’27 fifth-rounder.
Brown had seemed destined to move on from Philadelphia after a rocky 2025 season that was statistically his worst on the field in an Eagles uniform and also saw Brown publicly complain about his role in the offense. Brown was tied to the Patriots as early as mid-February, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported in late April, just before the NFL draft, that a Brown trade to New England was “likely.” The trade was finally consummated yesterday because executing the deal after June 1 reduced the amount of dead money that counts against the Eagles’ salary cap this season.
The more surprising news was the Rams’ trade for Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year. In return, the Browns received Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a second-round pick in ’28 and a ’29 third-rounder.
It’s a trade that reflects where both teams currently sit on the competitive spectrum. Garrett is a Browns franchise icon and one of the best defensive players in league history, but his presence won’t be the difference between the Browns contending in the AFC North and another lost season. The Rams, meanwhile, play in the most challenging division in the league and came tantalizingly close to reaching the Super Bowl last season. Adding Garrett to a defense that already ranked fourth in quarterback pressure rate last year gives Los Angeles a better chance to make the most of what could be Matthew Stafford’s final season.
Texas Tech’s heart-stopping run continues
NATHAN J. FISH/Imagn Images
I mentioned yesterday how the Texas Tech softball team won a wild game against UCLA to remain alive in the Women’s College World Series. Well, the Red Raiders did it again—twice.
Sunday’s victory over the Bruins meant that Texas Tech would face Alabama on Monday with a spot in the WCWS finals on the line. Tech had already lost one game in the double-elimination format, while Alabama was unbeaten. That meant that if the Red Raiders won the first game, it’d set up a winner-take-all second game.
The outcome could not have been more dramatic.
Texas Tech held a 4–2 lead entering the top of the seventh and final inning, but Alabama tied it on a two-run homer by Jena Young. But then Texas Tech’s Mia Williams led off the bottom of the inning with a walk-off homer to force the do-or-die game.
The moment led to a fantastic call from ESPN play-by-play voice Kevin Brown, who said, “See you in a half hour!” That’s because the teams had to turn right back around and play the decisive game immediately after the dramatic finish. (A similar situation played out earlier in the day, as Texas saved its season with a win over Tennessee, then beat the Volunteers again to advance to the championship series.)
Texas Tech’s star player NiJaree Canady was incredible in the rematch. After an uncharacteristically mediocre pitching performance in Sunday’s game, Canady shut down the Crimson Tide to send her team to the championship series. She allowed just two hits with six strikeouts and one walk over seven scoreless innings in a 2–0 Texas Tech victory.
That sets up a rematch between Texas and Texas Tech for the championship. The Longhorns won the best-of-three series last year after Canady was roughed up in the first inning of the decisive game. Now, she has a chance at revenge.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The NFL season is now under 100 days away, which means it’s time for Conor Orr’s 100 bold predictions for the 2026 season.
- Albert Breer has the details on how the Browns and Rams pieced the Garrett blockbuster trade together, and Orr explains why Sean McVay’s coaching staff is uniquely positioned to use Garrett in fresh ways to torture opposing offenses.
- Orr also sifts through the ripple effects of the Myles Garrett and A.J. Brown trades in the MMQB’s first ever June 1 winners and losers breakdown.
- After Spurs star forward Victor Wembanyama shone in the spotlight and Thunder center Chet Holmgren shrank in it, Chris Mannix says that Holmgren needs to find his confidence and improve for Oklahoma City to win moving forward.
- With a third of the season completed, Tom Verducci says history shows these eight teams have almost no hope of making the playoffs.
- Now that rosters have started to settle, Kevin Sweeney reveals his way-too-early men’s college basketball Top 25.
- Sweeney also identifies five NBA draft prospects who could become Wembanyama stoppers.
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Joe Rondone/Imagn Images
👀 The top five …
… defensive plays on the diamond yesterday:
5. Tennessee third baseman Ella Dodge’s diving catch.
4. Reds third baseman Sal Stewart’s ridiculous throw across his body.
3. A sliding play on a sharp liner by Diamondbacks centerfielder Jorge Barrosa.
2. Some smart defense by Mariners second baseman Cole Young to turn a double play. (Young hit a walk-off single later in the game to beat the Mets.)
1. Mets rookie A.J. Ewing’s diving catch in center.
🎥 The Best of SI Video
Pat Forde, Bryan Fischer and Kevin Sweeney dissect the state of the Big 12 and the conference’s strengths and weaknesses in both football and basketball in the latest episode of Others Receiving Votes.
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