Those watching could sense the awkwardness between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick during a cringeworthy moment late in “The Roast of Tom Brady.”

But to hear Julian Edelman and Drew Bledsoe tell it, and to hear what they recalled from the green room well before Kraft’s public praise of Belichick and the ensuing on-stage shot, well, it all but confirms the tension.

“Bill’s opening up, he’s having fun,” Edelman said of the backstage moment while hosting Bledsoe on his “Games with Names” podcast released Monday. “He’s talking war stories, talking rookie skits, talking fun (expletive) — doing the (expletive) we...

Joy Taylor believes the Dolphins should make the deal happen.

The looming question of Tua Tagovailoa’s new contract is slowly but surely bleeding into the 2024 season, and I’m skeptical about a deal getting done anytime soon. It’s being reported that they have “gotten the ball rolling and started dialogue” on a new contract, but that’s the beginning phases of negotiations.

There are still months to go before the boys get back on the field, but Tua’s contract will be a top debate topic across all NFL media, and the longer you wait, the more people speculate and the more...

Daily news and links for Wednesday

TEAM TALK

• Paul Perillo’s Draft profiles: 3rd-round Caedan Wallace and 4th-round Layden Robinson.
• Paul Perillo’s NFL Notes: Two weeks later, Falcons move still makes little sense.
• Press Conferences: Demario Douglas (6.41 min. video) and Christian Gonzalez (10 min. video)
• Patriots Unfiltered: Tom Brady roast reaction, recent offseason workouts, Rookie Minicamp preview. (2 hours)

LOCAL LINKS

• Andy Hart says the local media will get a first look at the team’s draft picks this week at rookie mini-camp action. Here’s a rundown of the buzz heading into their first practice action....

Nathan Rourke was claimed by the Giants after he was waived by the New England Patriots earlier this week.

But as it turns out, New York apparently wasn’t the only team interested in the quarterback’s services.

The Falcons also put in a waiver claim for Rourke, according to a report Wednesday morning from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. But since Brian Daboll’s side was higher on the NFL’s priority list than Raheem Morris’, the 25-year-old ended up in the Meadowlands rather than Atlanta.

Had Rourke landed with the Falcons, he would have joined one of the league’s most fascinating signal-caller situations. Atlanta...

The New England Patriots are bringing in some outside front-office options for interviews today. The Patriots GM search (or head of football operations, whichever title is used) seemed stalled yesterday. New England must comply with The Rooney Rule before hiring anyone, but yesterday multiple minority candidates turned down interview requests. With Eliot Wolf occupying the ‘de facto’ role, some candidates did not want to interview for a job they didn’t believe they had a chance to land.

New England is bringing in two candidates today for interviews, It is not clear whether both are interviewing for the top job or...

The thought experiment continues

A common refrain among Bills Mafia during the 2023 NFL season and continuing now is the sentiment that Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott should be replaced. By whom? Many don’t seem to care — with the idea that Josh Allen is a generational talent who creates an “easy button” for a head coach.

That got me thinking. What if we plugged Josh Allen into the underachieving Bills teams of the past? For these editions we do rapid fire of all the years that didn’t get a full article.

Dick Jauron Era

2006...

The Phinsider Mailbag has been missing for far too long. Today, we ask you to leave us your Miami Dolphins questions. We will answer them later this week.

It has been almost a year since we used The Phinsider mailbag. Our last time using it was as training camp opened in 2023. Well, The Phinsider mailbag has been away for far too long and it feels like we need to starting using it again for the 2024 season.

For that reason, as the Miami Dolphins get ready for their rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday, today seems like a perfect...

Tom Brady was the primary subject of Sunday night’s roast in Los Angeles, but every pillar of the Patriots dynasty in attendance at Kia Forum caught some heat.

It concluded was Robert Kraft, who took a dig from Jeff Ross early in the event. Ross referenced a past legal incident involving the Patriots owner, which prompted Brady to get up from his seat and tell the veteran roaster to stay off the subject. And as Drew Bledsoe revealed after the Netflix special, that wasn’t a bit planned by Ross and the former New England quarterback.

But was Brady actually irked...

Bringing your daily links to the NFL’s New York Jets

Good morning, Gang Green Nation. I hope you’re all having a great start to the day. While the New York Jets brass tries to save face by claiming that they always wanted Olu Fashanu if he fell at tenth overall, it’s become quite clear that the Jets’ original plans were for the team to target Washington WR Rome Odunze. It’s also quite likely that the Jets tried to make a trade to acquire Odunze by leap-frogging the Chicago Bears, but that seems unlikely to be leaked for the time being....

Douglas was New England’s most productive wide receiver in 2023.

Despite being a sixth-round draft selection, DeMario Douglas became the most productive rookie wide receiver in the Bill Belichick era last season. The rookie posted 49 receptions and 561 receiving yards in his rookie year with the New England Patriots.

Regardless of the achievement, he knows there is more to prove.

“It’s a blessing,” Douglas said Tuesday about his production. “But, I feel like I still haven’t done anything, honestly.”

Entering Year 2, Douglas has attacked his first NFL offseason in order to help turn things around record wise, and...

Weekly, we take a look around the SB Nation family of NFL blogs. Here are the news stories and analysis they are discussing.

AFC EAST:

New England Patriots (via Pats Pulpit)

Patriots begin search for new head of football operations, per report - Pats Pulpit
The Patriots have replaced Bill Belichick as head coach, but his former job as top football executive remains unoccupied.

New York Jets (via Gang Green Nation)

Jets fans overwhelmingly view the team as a 2024 NFL Draft winner - Gang Green Nation
Close to 90 percent of voters in our poll think...

New England selected the Tennessee passer in the sixth round.

The New England Patriots entered the 2024 NFL Draft with a major need at quarterback, and they wasted no time to address it. With the third overall pick in the first round, North Carolina’s Drake Maye was brought aboard in hopes of stabilizing the most important position on the field.

But even with Maye added to the mix and holes across the roster, the Patriots were not done at quarterback. They selected another prospect on Day 3 of the draft: Tennessee’s Joe Milton was picked 193rd overall.

Why did New...