Bill Barnwell

@espn

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Some personal news courtesy of @TonyReali and the wonderful people at @AroundtheHorn!

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

They're drubbing Paraguay!

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Paraguay's right back has the Kyle Shanahan microscope on him

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

We've come a long way from "Goals Goals Goals (For the Red, White, and Blue)" https://t.co/r9YK45Q78e

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

The only thing this is missing is FIFA suggesting that the fans on the concourse were inspired by FIFA protocols and decided to have their own hydration breaks

[FIFA Media @fifamedia]

Official attendance figures reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match. FIFA works closely with stadium authorities and ticketing teams to ensure all published figures are based on verified operational data.

Please note that, during last night’s match in Guadalajara, several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats throughout the match.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

@geoffschwartz The bonus point is a really good one.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Looking back now and not sure why people are mad at the Spurs for taking lots of threes in the second half after they went 14-of-26 in the first half.

If the Spurs had taken and missed a bunch of twos in the second half, people would have been mad at them for changing their offensive style. "Stick with what was working in the first half!" And they were 5-of-24 from two in the second half, anyway.

Spurs made whatever they took in the first half and missed whatever they took in the second half. Every philosophy's going to work when everything's going in and no philosophy's going to work when everything's clanging off the iron.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

I would trust your instincts (or the coach's instincts) over mine as to what the better strategy is after they've started to go cold from deep in the third-fourth quarter. And not saying all of those threes were good shots. But I'm really focused on the difference between how the reaction is influenced by process vs. outcome.

If the Spurs had continued to hit threes, would anyone have said "they should have tried to take higher-percentage shots?" Or if they had changed their strategy and struggled, would anyone have said "they missed those shots, but at least they mixed things up?"

It feels like we're blaming the process when the outcome was really the issue. Especially given that when they did stop taking threes, they were also awful on those shots, too. If they had been dominating in the paint, it would feel like a much more realistic alternative.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Had the wrong link for this one earlier but here it is! https://t.co/ZADDup3Kas

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

New podcast: @robertmays and I pick which players we think have the best shot of becoming first-time first-team All-Pros in 2026 https://t.co/ZADDup3Kas

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

@stanverrett If they had been really successful in the paint, I could see the case. But they were just whiffing from everywhere.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

New podcast: @robertmays and I pick which players we think have the best shot of becoming first-time first-team All-Pros in 2026 https://t.co/ZADDup3Kas

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

New column: In light of Patrick Mahomes becoming the highest-paid player in NFL history yesterday, let's go position-by-position and identify which player will reset the market at every spot in the lineup https://t.co/vCQtLRIFRD

[Daniel Dale @ddale8]

Theory I’m so confident in: Mike Breen was going to debut the triple BANG if the Brunson shot went down, which is why he instead did a triple “it’s good”

[Bill Connelly @ESPN_BillC]

Taking something that already existed (director of analytics, in this case) and cramming “AI” in there to make it seem cutting edge. College football really is like every other industry.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

@Marcel_LJ Soccer would be the number one sport in America overnight

[Mark Bullock @MarkBullockNFL]

There's been a lot of talk this offseason about the Commanders getting under center more often with new OC David Blough. But why do they want to do that and why did Kliff Kingsbury prefer using the shotgun? I broke down the merits of both looks: https://t.co/9eO6U8GLEM

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

More than 15 coaches, players and executive shed light on the back-to-back trades that went down one week ago today:

https://t.co/0i2yk3tzCG

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

New podcast: Mailbag episode with lots of questions about the Myles Garrett and A.J. Brown trades, including which teams will look back and regret not getting each star https://t.co/TTjDTeupWW

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Watson basically gets the Alec Pierce contract (4/114) but with a slightly larger signing bonus.

Packers now have a $55m/year QB and WRs making $27m & $17m/year. They had the 11th-lowest pass rate on early downs in neutral game scripts last year. Do they throw more often in '26?

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

ESPN sources: Green Bay WR Christian Watson and the Packers reached agreement today on a four-year, $110.5 million contract extension that includes a $31 million signing bonus.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

@greggrosenthal Micah might be the answer!

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

What I really think is fascinating about the Garrett trade:

He might be the best NFL player to ever be traded in the absolute prime of his career.

Other guys who came to mind were Randy Moss and Eric Dickerson. But a guy with two DPOY awards in three years? Hard to top.

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

I wrote two trade deep dives yesterday:

Myles Garrett to the Rams https://t.co/3TBrGPtjTV

A.J. Brown to the Patriots https://t.co/oAAXPjZwZD

[Bill Barnwell @billbarnwell]

Herbig is a great player. Think there will be teams calling the Steelers about Alex Highsmith if they aren't already

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

Edge Nick Herbig and the Pittsburgh Steelers reached agreement today on a four-year, $100 million dollar extension that includes $42 million guaranteed per @MikeGarafolo and me.

The deal was negotiated by Joe DiBenedetto, Andy Simms and Ken Sarnoff of @1OF1FOOTBALL.