DALLAS — He doesn’t need this. He can walk away right now, and leave the unseemly unraveling of college sports to someone else.

Hop on a plane and escape Washington D.C. and the land of everybody’s got an angle, and be home in the DFW Metroplex in a matter of hours. An amateur sports world of turmoil in his wake.

Or he could do what he has always done. 

Fix the problem.  

“I’ve built and sold $15 billion worth of companies,” Cody Campbell says. “I’m not a dumbass.”

Of all the upheaval, of all the unthinkable moves over the last four years that have drastically changed college sports, none would be more improbable than this. 

A deep-pocket booster, a capital investment savant, saving college football – and by proxy, college sports – from itself.   

He knows what you’re thinking. What does a billionaire businessman, a Texas Tech sports sugar daddy, know about saving college football?

The logical response: what do university presidents know? Because they’re the men and women in charge of it all now — and doing a catastrophically poor job of it.

Cody Campbell part of Donald Trump’s team

Campbell, 43, sees the dichotomy of it all, and at this point, the only thing that matters is the most powerful man in the world believes Campbell has a chance to assess the problems of college sports – with its front porch money-maker, football – and fix it. 

Though the White House hasn’t officially announced it, President Trump and Campbell – a former offensive lineman at Texas Tech in the early 2000s – have spoken at length about how to fix the problems of the last four years of paradigm change within college sports. Change that seems to inevitably lead to the downsize, and in some cases, the elimination, of women’s and Olympic sports.

There won’t be a commission, as had been previously reported. A person close to the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told USA TODAY Sports that it will follow much in the same way Trump deals with other problems: he finds a point person, and that person reports directly to him.

When asked if he were that person, Campbell said, ‘I’ve been in conversations with President Trump for quite some time now, and the one thing I can tell you is he cares very much about preserving and maintaining college sports. Not just football, but women’s sports and Olympic sports, and the opportunities they provide. It’s one of the best things we have culturally in this country.

‘I don’t want to see it die. And we can all see it’s dying.”

Cody Campbell part of problem and solution?

It is here where we address the obvious. The same person who will be charged with finding the fix to a myriad of issues, is the same booster who has been, in the eyes of many, part of the problem.

This time last year, Campbell – through the Texas Tech Matador Club collective – was busy convincing All-America pitcher NiJaree Canady to leave Stanford for a record-breaking million-dollar NIL deal. Leave the history and tradition of Stanford softball, for the great unknown in Lubbock, Texas.  

A deal that quickly became the very definition of college sports losing its way. And soul. 

A year later, Tech advanced to its first Women’s College World Series behind Canady, and lost in the championship series to rival Texas. And that’s only the shallow end of a deep and committed dive for Campbell and a handful of private Texas Tech donors. 

But these are the rules laid out by those currently running college sports. There’s no rhyme or reason, no definitive lines to color between.

So Campbell and his donor group, like many others, take advantage of them. They know the rules, they’re playing the game. 

They’re chasing the Big Ten and SEC, the two super conferences who have seized control of the present and future of college sports. There’s currently only one way for schools in other conferences to reach them and compete at the same level.

With cold, hard cash.

Cody Campbell isn’t just trying to fix Texas Tech

Campbell knows what a win over Texas in the Women’s CWS would’ve meant to Texas Tech, and what a College Football Playoff run this season will mean. He and his donor group have invested more than $300 million in facilities upgrades for the football program, and currently have $55 million in NIL contracts for all Texas Tech athletes for the 2025 season — a number believed to be the largest (by far) in the NCAA.

And that’s the irony of this story. Campbell doesn’t need to jump into the cesspool of D.C. politics, or massage the egos of the big personalities of college sports and their insular nature of self-protection.

He could just keep throwing hundreds of millions at Texas Tech and attempt to buy championships, and avoid all the agita.

But this is much bigger than that. This is about sports and society, and protecting a unique opportunity for all ― not just for the 34 schools in the Big Ten and SEC, or other universities fortunate enough to have deep-pocket boosters to bridge any financial divide.

‘When he dives into something to fix it, there’s no stone left unturned,’ says Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire. ‘He’s going to find a way.’

There’s a reason officials in the Big Ten and SEC recoil at the mention of Campbell. It’s not just his brash use of existing NIL rules, but his public declarations that college sports is dying with a current caste system of winners and losers.

The winners: the Big Ten and SEC, with their billion-dollar media rights deals separating them from the rest of college sports.

The losers: everyone else, with media rights deals less than half of what the Big Ten and SEC earn.

The reorganization of college sports over the last four years is all about money. Those making it, and those losing it. 

But Campbell has a different idea: share the wealth, increase revenue and watch college sports grow like never before.

What does a billionaire businessman know about saving college sports, you ask? More than you think. 

Cody Campbell is built for job of saving college sports

This story begins two generations ago, where Bill Cagle, Campbell’s maternal grandfather, grew up in hardscrabble Childers, Texas. His family lived through the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, persevering through an ecological disaster in the Texas panhandle despite the barest of necessities.

Cagle made it out because he played football, earning a scholarship to Hardin-Simmons when it played in the old Division I Border Conference. Cagle, a member of the school’s Hall of Fame, was also captain of the baseball and track and field teams. A true Texas legend.  

Campbell’s dad, Cliff, grew up in tiny Haskell, Texas, and was the first on his side of the family to go to college. A mega recruit long before the days of recruiting rankings, if Cliff didn’t play football, he never would’ve seen the inside of a classroom at Texas Tech.

Then there’s Cody, who was part of coach Mike Leach’s first recruiting class at Texas Tech. A four-year letterman at Tech, Campbell had a cup of coffee in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts before deciding to use the business degree he earned. 

His latest business move this spring with partner John Sellers, another former Texas Tech football player and booster: selling some of their energy company’s assets in the Permian, Texas oil basin for $4 billion. His two deals prior to that: $2.8 billion (2017) and $6.4 billion (2021).

It’s hard to find a better example of the value of a college education and the college sports experience – the very thing Campbell and many others within higher education believe is lost in the reshaping of amateur sports – than the Campbell family tree.

And what’s getting lost, Campbell says, is the hundreds of thousands of stories over the years just like his. Some with significantly more difficult beginnings, and equally inspiring success.

The sea change in college sports

College sports was once a personal investment on and off the field, a grind of four or five difficult but rewarding years that shaped a future. Now it’s monetarily transactional, a way station to the path of least resistance.

“I met my wife, met all of my best friends, and my life is what it is because I had the opportunity to play college football,” Campbell said. “I feel like I owe it to the system, to the institution of college sports, to try to help fix it and make it work again.”

The plan to make it work begins and ends with the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which provides limited antitrust exemptions for sports leagues and allows them to pool media rights to sell collectively.

Campbell believes the four power conferences can pool their collective rights and generate significantly more revenue. The Big Ten and SEC, for numerous reasons – for starters, control of their brands and television windows on their own networks – want no part of it.

Or as one high-ranking SEC official, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said: “Why would we share revenue when we have the product that bears the fruit, and others don’t?”

Currently, the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 earn an estimated $3 billion combined annually from media rights. But a high-placed industry official told USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of the subject that a single-payer system (pooled rights) could double the current value of the combined power conference deals.

“But they can’t even agree on how many (conference) games to play,” the industry official said. “Do you really think they can agree on something like single payer?”

They may not have a choice.

The ink on the landmark House case settlement – which has ushered in revenue sharing between schools and players, and the need for increased revenue across college sports to pay for it – wasn’t even dry before multiple appeals were filed, including former athletes claiming Title IX violations in the disbursement of $2.8 billion backpay to former players.

But it’s the lawsuits that haven’t been filed that concern the presidents and chancellors of the power conferences. The House settlement also set the framework for private NIL deals that are not part of the university’s allowed maximum revenue share pool of $20.5 million for all athletes.

An accounting firm will decide “fair market value” for those private NIL deals, which will unquestionably be the difference in many high school and transfer portal signings. The firm has the power to cancel such deals it deems unfit. 

Needless to say, a fair market arbiter in a free market economy is rife with legal pitfalls.

This is where the federal government comes into play — and where Campbell and Trump’s focus on college sports can help sherpa legislation through a deeply divided Congress. But at a price. 

In the simplest of terms, if the SEC and Big Ten want protection from lawsuits and federal antitrust laws – officials from both conferences have had double-digit meetings with Congress over the last four years, begging for help – they’ll listen and negotiate and come to a viable agreement.

At least, in theory.    

Because getting their collective arms around this beast won’t be easy. The threat of antitrust and Title IX lawsuits are one thing, the tentacles from those big picture problems go much deeper. 

There’s employment law, creating a new governance structure for college sports, negotiation of complicated employment issues that pro sports spent decades figuring out — with the help of players as employees and collective bargaining.

College sports, meanwhile, is trying to shove it all through the eye of a needle. With multiple voices and opinions. 

During the SEC spring meetings in May, exasperated SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, admitted, ‘I have people in my room asking, ‘Why are we still in the NCAA?’”

As it currently stands, there are two ways to fix the fallout of the last four years of paradigm change: make players employees and collectively bargain, or find significant revenue streams and reset the financial structure.

University presidents don’t want players as employees, because once down that road, players will collectively bargain and earn significantly more in media rights — and universities will earn significantly less.

But if leaders of college sports don’t want players as employees, and want Congress to implement liability protection from future lawsuits, what will they give in return to avoid an unending wave of litigation aimed at an association that over the years has failed spectacularly in court?

Senators from the states of Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico and the like – where smaller Bowl Subdivision programs will be at a greater disadvantage with the advent of revenue sharing – aren’t going to for antitrust protection for the power conferences without financial gains that protect their respective universities.

Campbell, for lack of a better explanation, will be the deal-maker — with the power of the presidency, the threat of antitrust law and a growing disdain for the evolving state of college sports behind him.

None of his billion dollar deals of the past will have as much personal impact as this one. And here’s the kicker: he doesn’t need to do it. 

A majority of the holdings for Campbell and a group of private Texas Tech donors in the energy industry are in the Permian Basin, which is expected to account for nearly 50 percent of all U.S. oil production in 2026. 

They may as well be printing money.

The Texas Tech softball team finished national runner up. The basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA men’s tournament, and the football team just signed the No. 1 transfer portal class.   

“The best thing that could happen to Texas Tech is the same system persists,” Campbell said. “We are gaining ground on blue blood programs because we have donor money, and people willing to put it to work. Why would I do anything to fix things long term? I have no reason to do it other than the system, and the opportunity to change the trajectory of student athletes’ lives and preserve the system long-term for more than 500,000 student athletes. This isn’t a hobby, this has become my calling.”

The unsustainable limit

There was a time when BCS and CFP were hot-button acronyms of college football. Now it’s ROI.

Return On Investment. 

There are winners and losers in this new high stakes game of throwing cash at the right players. And boosters who aren’t seeing an agreeable return on their investments – success and/or individual production – are beginning to get out. 

USA TODAY Sports spoke with more than 10 boosters at high profile power conference schools, and only one outside of Campbell would talk on the record about the fluid crapshoot that is NIL and paying players.

Every booster contacted said there’s a limit to the giving — and it’s arriving sooner than later.

“NIL space for boosters is like throwing money into a deep, dark hole with little to no return on the investment,” said Florida booster Gary Condron. “Nobody likes this. Not athletic directors, not coaches, not boosters. The only ones who like it are the players, and the attorneys and agents.”

Condron, 67, like Campbell, is self-made and worked multiple jobs to pay his way through college. He walked on to play baseball at Florida in the mid-1970s, and his career was cut short from a rotator cuff injury.

But he earned his degree in building construction, and not long after founded a construction firm that specializes in light industrial structures. His firm is one of the leading builders for Amazon’s distribution centers around the country. 

It’s that process, Condron says, that grind and perseverance, that gets lost in the immediate satisfaction of pay for play — especially when high school players are paid before ever stepping on the field.    

“I came from a family that didn’t have two nickels to rub together,” Condron said. “If I had an opportunity to eat at the training table (at Florida) it was a blessing for me. If you saw what kids get today, the hair on your neck would stand up. I don’t know how much longer I can (fund NIL) unless we get some guardrails.”

The House settlement already has begun to build some guardrails, by sheer luck or evolution. The settlement allows for private NIL deals, but has no specific language about how those contracts are written. 

So boosters are taking the next move in protecting their investments. They’re using buyouts for players who leave early, and forcing schools who sign those players to pay the full terms of the contract left behind.

That simple fix – as long as a majority of power conference schools use similar contract language – will have a profound impact on controlling costs and player movement. But that’s only part of the problem.

“We have to change the economic model. Ninety percent of the people I talk to agree with that,” Campbell said. “We can easily create a model where the SEC and Big Ten make significantly more money than they do now, and where everybody else is above the poverty line. Where the rising tide lifts all boats.”

Campbell’s argument is simple: if big money and the transfer portal can help struggling programs advance to the college football holy land, why can’t that same big money from a pooled media rights contract and a standalone CFP deal help non-power conference schools save opportunities for all athletes by protecting women’s and Olympic sports?

“Why would we want to diminish opportunity?” Campbell said. ‘The goal is to create it.’ 

Earlier this spring, Campbell stood outside the entrance of a posh Fort Worth, Texas, hotel, trying to find a way to explain the importance of his mission. A valet pulled his late model Chevy Suburban into the half circle drive, a hard-working thorn unapologetically pushing through the beautiful parade of high-dollar European vehicles.

The reality is not lost on the moment. Money changes everything.

If Indiana, the armpit of college football for more than a century, can win 11 games in 2024 – its first double-digit win season in 126 years of the program – and advance to the CFP, why can’t Memphis?

If SMU, which hasn’t been among the college football elite since its rogue Southwest Conference days in the 1980s, hadn’t paid $200 million to join the ACC — would it have still reached the CFP last season as a member of the American Athletic Conference? 

What does a billionaire businessman know about fixing college football, you ask?

“I think some people feel like if they sabotage the White House project that I’m just going to go away. Well, I’m not,” Campbell said. “I have enough money to have my own lobbying effort.”

What does a billionaire businessman know about fixing college football, you ask? Enough to know that change on the field is insignificant compared to the need for future change in all of college sports.  

“I’m very confident the ideas I have are well researched and correct,” he continued. “They’re workable and won’t hurt anyone. And won’t wreak havoc on the system.”

Or the exact opposite of the last four years. 

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup semifinals begin Tuesday, with one of the favorites facing an impressive upstart as Chelsea takes on Brazilian side Fluminense at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Chelsea has seen a lot of what the Brazilian top flight has to offer already at this Club World Cup. One of the group stage’s major upsets saw Flamengo claim a 3-1 win over the Blues in Group D, leaving Chelsea in second place. Since then, Chelsea has been grinding it out, needing extra time to dispatch Benfica and a late own goal to knock off Palmeiras, another of Brazil’s four representatives in the tournament.

Fluminense had a quieter path through the group stage, with a win over Ulsan HD and two scoreless draws enough to seal second place in Group F. It’s in the knockout stage where they’ve made their big splash, shocking Inter Milan 2-0 in the round of 16 before ending Al-Hilal’s run with a 2-1 win in the quarterfinal round.

Here’s what to know ahead of this Club World Cup semifinal between Chelsea and Fluminense, including kickoff time and how to watch:

What time is Chelsea vs. Fluminense?

Tuesday’s Club World Cup semifinal between Chelsea and Fluminense kicks off at 3 p.m. ET.

How to watch Chelsea vs. Fluminense: TV channel, live stream

TV channel: TNT/truTV
Live stream: DAZN

Watch Club World Cup on DAZN

Chelsea vs. Fluminense odds

Odds via BetMGM

To win (regular time):

Chelsea -150
Fluminense +450
Draw +270

To advance:

Chelsea -325
Fluminense +240

Monday, July 7 marked a national holiday for college football video game enthusiasts as they finally were able to grab the controller and play EA Sports College Football 26.

Since April, fans of the iconic video game franchise have been clamoring for the next installment following the rousing return in 2024. EA Sports has spent much of the buildup advertising the new features to the game that should make it feel like an upgrade from the previous edition, giving hope the series can remain one of the top sports video games.

Even though early access just started — the standard release date in July 10 — there’s already noticeable changes that give optimism of this year’s game. Players have noticed several things they like, but here are the top ones so far for EA Sports College Football 26.

Big game atmospheres, presentation

College football is electric, and it must be translated in order for the game to feel authentic. Of course, not all matchups are the same, but when there are high stakes involved, players know it. Night, rivalry, highly ranked, conference title and College Football Playoff games have a different feel with louder crowds and star players in the spotlight, providing the best the sport has to offer. Mix that in with traditions like Virginia Tech’s ‘Enter Sandman,’ Michigan’s ‘Mr. Brightside’ or Alabama’s red LED lights and it either hypes up the home team, or could have the road squad feeling nervous.

The game presentation itself also got a big boost, with transition screens of the teams, player stats, rankings and rivalry history. Plus, the score bug is an upgrade, something that’s clearly hard to do in the real world.

Smoother gameplay

You don’t need to be a true X’s-and-O’s savant to play this game, but football nerds will enjoy being rewarded for knowing ball. There’s plenty of coaching adjustments players can — and should — make in the game.

Notice you keep getting beat on slant routes? You can adjust your coverage to stop that. Going against an inexperienced offensive line? Turn up the defensive pressure with blitz packages and stunts to get to the quarterback. In return, the computer has gotten smarter. If you keep running the same plays, it will pick up on it and stop it, forcing players to get creative and be more balanced to win.

Substitutions is also easily accessible in the pre-snap menu, making it easier to manage hurt players and guys that are hot while saving so much time from having to pause the game to make any roster changes.

Road to glory high school experience

High school is now in road to glory, and while people are upset you can’t play a full high school season, it’s still an upgrade from last year. The moments users have to play to secure scholarships and interest from schools make it a real challenge to get the career off to a good start, rather than just tearing up the high school ranks.

The experience is extremely unique to each career. A school could have interest in a dual-threat quarterback, but it might not again if it already got a commitment from the same type of player in another road to glory mode. Last year, it wasn’t much fun to just pick what type of recruit a user was and then start college with that. In the high school moments, it’s possible to go from a two-star to five-star, or even go down and schools lose interest. While deflating, it shows how tough football can be when a team decides to pull a scholarship offer.

The commitment ceremony with the hats is also a genius touch.

Real-life coaches add massive layer

So long generic names and faces, as actual coaches in the game not only makes the game feel more real, but also makes it fun in certain modes. Not all of the real-life coaches are in the game, but players will notice coach tendencies, like a play caller that loves to gamble on fourth down or is pass heavy.

In road the glory, it feels legit when Ryan Day reaches out to you about wanting to see if you got what it takes to be a Buckeye.

The best part about it is in dynasty mode. Trying to recruit against big-name coaches makes it more personal and satisfying when getting that commitment. Then there’s the coaching carousel, which goes absolutely insane in the offseason with changes you wouldn’t expect to actually happen. Example: after the 2025 season, Lane Kiffin became the head coach at LSU after Brian Kelly was fired, Dave Aranda is at Florida State and Kyle Wittingham didn’t retire — he took the job at Southern California.

Talk about video game madness.

Transfer portal craziness

Building off the wild coaching carousel, the transfer portal turns out to be just as chaotic. It’s extremely unpredictable, as there’s no telling who will be wanting to leave your school, and who will be looking for a fresh start. In one offseason, DJ Lagway decided to leave Florida after he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, and star defensive end Colin Simmons decided to leave Texas — after leading the Longhorns to the national championship.

It makes it that much more important to figure out player desires and who to prioritize to make sure a key contributor doesn’t jump ship, while making every offseason as exciting time period to stack or rebuild a roster. How crazy the transfer portal gets can be adjusted before a dynasty begins, but even leaving it as is could lead to some pretty ludicrous results.

Bonus: Home screen isn’t annoying

This one is so good, it had to be included. The repetitive, rage inducing generic drumline music is gone from the main screen menu, and now there’s a fresh selection of music to change it up and keep people from losing their minds while recruiting or upgrading their road to glory players. Some fight songs are in, and some marching band covers of songs like ‘Runaway Baby’ and ‘Industry Baby’ will play, alongside a wide variety of generic songs.

Now, it won’t be as bad after suffering a heart-breaking loss.

The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports’ newsletter.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Lionel Messi and Inter Miami return to action on the road against the New England Revolution on Wednesday, July 9. And some rest or limited minutes could be on the agenda for Messi, the Argentine World Cup champion.

Inter Miami will play its second match, following the FIFA Club World Cup, in a stretch of seven game they will play in the month of July.

Coach Javier Mascherano is managing a roster with four of his former Barcelona teammates in Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, while several youngsters who played heavy minutes earlier this season are working their way back from injury.

A rotation, of sorts, could be on the horizon for Messi and some Inter Miami players. But Mascherano also doesn’t want to disrupt their continuity as they push to make up ground in the MLS Eastern Conference standings.

Messi is coming off one of his best games of the season, where he scored two goals with an assist in a 4-1 win against CF Montreal last Saturday, July 5.

Messi’s status for the New England match will be confirmed when Inter Miami announces its starting lineup an hour before kickoff at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

“In Leo’s case, if Leo is fine and doesn’t have any problems, obviously my idea is always to let him play, because we know that if there’s anyone who knows how to manage himself on the pitch and knows his body, it’s him,” Mascherano said before Inter Miami’s practice on Tuesday, July 8.  

“So, we’ll see, we’ll take it as it comes. I don’t want to say one thing and then do another. It’s more a day-to-day thing, depending on how we feel. We can’t make too many rotations, but we’ll make the ones we can because we’re going to need everyone.”

Inter Miami midfielders Yannick Bright and David Ruiz practiced with the club Tuesday, but were held out of the Club World Cup due to muscle injuries. Standout defender Noah Allen is also sidelined with a hamstring injury he suffered during the Club World Cup round-of-16 loss to PSG

Only four MLS clubs will be in regular-season action playing a mid-week match Wednesday: Along with New England and Inter Miami, LAFC will host the Colorado Rapids. So, it’s an ideal match for Inter Miami to pursue three points in the standings, while eight MLS clubs participate in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals this week.

Inter Miami has 32 points from 17 matches (nine wins, three losses, five draws), while most MLS clubs have already played 20 or 21 matches this season.

“Well, obviously we’re not just thinking about [Wednesday’s] game, but also about the string of games we have coming up. We have three more games in practically ten days, so we’ll see how best to manage everyone’s minutes,” Mascherano said.

“I always say the same thing, and you know me: We’re going to put out the best possible 11. But clearly, my idea isn’t to make a lot of rotations, because I think that doing so disrupts the team too much. In the end, many of the guys, even if you don’t change too much within a team, aren’t used to playing together, so it’s like throwing a problem at the players. So, there will be a few changes to freshen things up, but we’ll try to keep the core of the team the same.”

How to watch Messi play in New England vs. Inter Miami match?

The New England vs. Inter Miami match begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will be available to live stream on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV.

Messi, Inter Miami upcoming schedule in July

July 9:New England vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET
July 12: Inter Miami vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m. ET
July 16: FC Cincinnati vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET
July 19: New York Red Bulls vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET
July 26: Inter Miami vs. FC Cincinnati, 7 p.m. ET
July 30: Inter Miami vs. Atlas, 7:30 p.m. ET (Leagues Cup)

Running backs Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley signed contract extensions this offseason. Could James Cook be the next running back to ink a new deal?

There’s growing optimism Cook and the Bills can reach a contract agreement by training camp, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Both sides are motivated to get a deal done and have been in talks since the team’s mandatory minicamp.

Bills veterans report to training camp on July 22.

‘Everything is a business, so no hard feelings,’ Cook said last month at Buffalo’s mandatory minicamp, via the team’s official website. ‘Everything gonna work how it’s supposed to work.’

The Bills have rewarded extensions to multiple key players this offseason. Quarterback Josh Allen, defensive end Greg Rousseau, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Christian Benford have all signed extensions.  

Cook is in the final year of his rookie deal. He’s due to make $5.2 million in base salary, per Over the Cap.

Cook said in February on Instagram Live that he hoped his next contract would pay him an annual average of $15 million. However, the running back market has since gone up.

Barkley’s new extension made him the first $20-plus million (per year) running back in NFL history. Las Vegas Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty signed a fully guaranteed four-year, $35.89 million contract as the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

Cook is coming off a second straight Pro Bowl season in which he tied an NFL-high with 16 rushing touchdowns. He’s produced two consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 rushing yards and 1,200 yards from scrimmage.

The Bills originally drafted Cook in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Georgia.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

Stars across the WNBA, including Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, recently called out Cathy Engelbert. The direct messages to the WNBA commissioner have a common theme: We deserve more.

The WNBA has experienced unprecedented growth over the last three seasons. The current trajectory, which includes continual waves of record-breaking numbers, is converging in real-time with the ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations between the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA).

The WNBPA has made it clear that among the many things players deserve, more money is at the top of the list. Clark, who rarely speaks on the subject, called out Engelbert after the Fever’s Commissioner’s Cup championship regarding the current pay structure that players receive.

“We get more for [the Commissioner’s Cup] than you do if you’re a [WNBA] champion. Makes no sense,’ Clark said. ‘Someone tell Cathy [Engelbert] to help us out.”

Players receive bonus money for marquee events like the Commissioner’s Cup and the WNBA Finals, but the disparity between the pots of money is bewildering. The Fever’s win on July 1 netted Indiana $500,000 to be split among the team. However, the New York Liberty, which won its first championship last October, got only $250,000 to share.

The Minnesota Lynx, who lost to New York in the finals, got much less.

‘Once our paycheck stops after regular season, and we go into playoff basketball, honestly, you’re just playing for pride at that point,’ Lynx star Courtney Williams said flatly. ‘We made it to the finals, bro, and making it to the last two teams of the finals, we got $3,000. Three thousand. That was the bonus to make it to the end.’

Several factors go into why player salaries are so low for WNBA athletes, including revenue and the percentage earned from the league’s current media rights deal. However, as long as the WNBA continues to trend upward, there will be increased pressure on Engelbert and league leadership to bring more to the table during CBA negotiations.

Players have already seen glimpses of what it looks like to have support. Current teams have made improvements to training facilities, arenas and resources. Franchises like the Golden State Valkyries, which began their inaugural season with top-end support for their players, have now become the baseline for expansion teams.

“The games have been really insane when you look at their crowd, and also when you look at what they’ve built, like, their infrastructure with their arena and everything they’ve done to make it feel like every game is a playoff game and create that atmosphere … They’re doing it right,’ Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams told USA TODAY.

Outside entities, like U.S.-based 3×3 basketball league Unrivaled, have also made it harder for the WNBA to delay in providing the best for its players. Unrivaled’s economic model was created to not only keep players stateside during the offseason but to pay them accordingly. The average Unrivaled salary for the league’s three-month season is $220,000, which is $100,000 more than the WNBA’s reported average salary ($119,590). Williams, who has spoken in the past about the WNBA’s prioritization clause as it relates to player salaries, praised Unrivaled for turning up the heat on the WNBA.

“Prioritization would make more sense if the salaries were higher. It’s hard to make prioritization a thing when we’re still paid much better overseas. It’s amazing that we now have Unrivaled,’ she revealed. ‘The WNBA owes a huge thank you to them. … Unrivaled has actually saved a lot of WNBA players and a lot of WNBA teams from not having players there on time because our contracts just aren’t enough to commit for a full season and nothing else here.”

Williams’ words strike a different chord, one not previously heard before, just days after the WNBA officially shared its first CBA offer with the players’ association. Her candor seemingly aligns with her colleagues, including Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally, who has been particularly critical of Engelbert and the WNBA regarding major decisions amid ongoing growth. Sabally’s stance regarding the league’s missteps hasn’t changed; in fact, her voice has only gotten louder.

‘We can focus on our players. We recently got a proposal from the league, which was, honestly, a slap in the face. We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now,’ Sabally shared during a scathing callout.

WNBPA vice president and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart echoed Sabally’s assessment of the ongoing negotiations, shedding light on how far the two sides remain apart ahead of scheduled meetings during WNBA All-Star weekend.

‘Anytime you go back and forth, you’re not expecting to hear that ‘yes’ on the first (proposal), but you’re expecting to have a conversation,’ Stewart said on July 3. ‘They kind of just ignored everything we said.’

Two days later, Stewart lamented the progress again.

“It’s like, we’re not even talking about the same thing right now. We’re talking about X’s and O’s at this point and completely different sides of the game.”