Todd Bowles’ language was about as colorful as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ ‘Creamsicle’ jerseys.

The Buccaneers dropped their Week 15 ‘Thursday Night Football’ matchup to the Atlanta Falcons 29-28, a walk-off loss after Tampa Bay held a 28-14 lead as the fourth quarter commenced.

With time ticking down, emotions ran high on the sideline. Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans was visibly frustrated even before Zane Gonzalez lined up to take the game-winning kick. Those emotions followed Evans into the locker room, and onto the podium postgame, where Bowles let loose an expletive-laden tirade regarding the collapse.

‘It’s inexcusable, you don’t make excuses,’ Bowles said when asked what his message to the team was after the loss. ‘You gotta (expletive) care enough, where this (expletive) hurts. You gotta (expletive) care enough where this (expletive) hurts.

‘It’s gotta (expletive) mean something. It’s more than a job, it’s your (expletive) livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can’t sugarcoat that (expletive). It was in-(expletive)-excusable. There was no (expletive) answer for it. There’s no excuse for it. That’s what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the (expletive) mirror.’

Bowles’ F-bomb count stopped at seven total, which now mirrors the amount of wins and losses the Buccaneers have on the season.

On Friday, Bowles said that the rant came at the heat of the moment, and wasn’t pre-planned.

‘It definitely wasn’t by design. That was how I felt at the time. That was honest, raw and right off the top. Usually my son’s watching, I don’t cuss as much, but I was still pissed off from the time I came in,’ he told reporters during his Friday media availability.

With a 7-7 record, Tampa Bay has given up control of the NFC South to the Carolina Panthers. The two squads play each other twice over the final three weeks of the season. Should the Panthers sweep, they’ll take the division.

The Falcons climb to 5-9 on the season, but were eliminated from NFL playoff contention in Week 14.

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson apologized early Dec. 12 for an insensitive remark.

Following the Falcons’ 29-28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Robinson was being interviewed during the Amazon Prime Video postgame show, where he let loose an insensitive and outdated name of a game he used to play when he was younger.

‘Smear the queer, that’s what we do,’ Robinson said. ‘Smear the queer.’

Analyst and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick jumped in immediately with a semi-correction of Robinson, dubbing the game ‘kill the carrier,’ the more common name of the backyard game.

Robinson posted an apology on X in the hours after the game.

‘Hey everyone I want to apologize for the insensitive comment I made in the broadcast, it was a football game we used to play as a kid but that’s not an excuse. I recognize the mistake and make sure to do better in the future. It was not reflective of my beliefs and I am so sorry to those I offended seriously!,’ he posted.

The Falcons running back finished the game with 19 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown to pair with eight catches for 82 yards.

The Falcons climbed to 5-9 on the season, while Tampa Bay fell to 7-7, ceding the NFC South division lead to the Carolina Panthers.

What is ‘kill the carrier?’

‘Kill the carrier’ is a schoolyard game played where one person holds a ball – typically a football – while the others attempt to tackle, strip or otherwise remove it from the carrier. It’s played without teams, with an every-man-for-himself focus.

Every week for the duration of the 2025 regular season, USA TODAY Sports will provide timely updates to the NFL’s ever-evolving playoff picture − typically starting Sunday afternoon and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday’s and Thursday’s games or Saturday’s, if applicable. And, when the holidays roll around, we’ll be watching then, too).

What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference’s seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized on Sunday, Jan. 4.

Here’s where things stand with Week 15 now underway:

NFC playoff picture

1. Los Angeles Rams (10-3), NFC West leaders: They’ve regained the inside track for home-field advantage and a first-round bye by demolishing the Cardinals and benefiting from Chicago’s loss to Green Bay in Week 14. The Rams’ Week 11 defeat of Seattle currently remains pivotal. Beat Detroit on Sunday, and a playoff spot is secured. Remaining schedule: vs. Lions, at Seahawks, at Falcons, vs. Cardinals

2. Green Bay Packers (9-3-1), NFC North leaders: They’re back on top of the division and just a half-game off the conference pace. But the Pack would need to beat Denver and for the Rams and Seahawks to lose in order to rise to the top spot Sunday. Remaining schedule: at Broncos, at Bears, vs. Ravens, at Vikings

3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-5), NFC East leaders: Three losses in a row not only mean a lot more scrutiny but − beware − a team that could still fall into the Cowboys’ clutches in the division if it’s not careful … though Vegas should be a get-right game. Remaining schedule: vs. Raiders, at Commanders, at Bills, vs. Commanders

4. Carolina Panthers (7-6), NFC South leaders: Coming out of their bye week, the Panthers pulled even atop the division over the weekend after the Bucs lost to New Orleans and then took outright possession Thursday night with Tampa Bay’s collapse to Atlanta. But Carolina and the Buccaneers will decide this on the field with two meetings between Weeks 16 and 18. Remaining schedule: at Saints, vs. Buccaneers, vs. Seahawks, at Buccaneers

5. Seattle Seahawks (10-3), wild card No. 1: Sunday’s rout of Atlanta moved them atop the conference … for a few hours. But the Rams’ win at Arizona pushed Seattle back to the wild-card echelon. All three of the ‘Hawks’ losses are against NFC opponents, including two in the division − defeats that don’t serve them well in tiebreaker scenarios. Remaining schedule: vs. Colts, vs. Rams, at Panthers, at 49ers

6. San Francisco 49ers (9-4), wild card No. 2: They’re in a precarious spot given their pursuers, yet are just behind the Rams and Seahawks for the NFC West lead as well. A two-week spin through the AFC South shouldn’t hurt. Remaining schedule: vs. Titans, at Colts, vs. Bears, vs. Seahawks

7. Chicago Bears (9-4), wild card No. 3: How tightly packed is the NFC? One narrow Week 14 loss dropped the Bears from first place in the conference to seventh, just a game ahead of the division rival Lions. Remaining schedule: vs. Browns, vs. Packers, at 49ers, vs. Lions

8. Detroit Lions (8-5), in the hunt: They’re within a game of the NFC’s final wild-card spot and in striking range of first place in the NFC North … even as they sit outside the NFC bracket at present. Remaining schedule: at Rams, vs. Steelers, at Vikings, at Bears

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7), in the hunt: A fifth loss in their past six games drops them to .500 and into ninth place in the conference. But beat Carolina twice, and the Bucs will still win the NFC South. A 5-5 mark in NFC games keeps Tampa Bay ahead of Dallas on the tiebreaker front. Remaining schedule: at Panthers, at Dolphins, vs. Panthers

10. Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1), in the hunt: Dallas’ best bet now is probably hoping that the Eagles continue to struggle and leave the NFC East in play, the Cowboys’ chances to qualify creeping up to 10% on Monday, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. Remaining schedule: vs. Vikings, vs. Chargers, at Commanders, at Giants

AFC playoff picture

1. Denver Broncos (11-2), AFC West leaders: They’ve won 10 in a row, matched New England’s victory total and overtook the Patriots for possession of the top seed last weekend by virtue of a conference record (7-2) that is a half-game better. But Denver has a much tougher finishing stretch. Remaining schedule: vs. Packers, vs. Jaguars, at Chiefs, vs. Chargers

2. New England Patriots (11-2), AFC East leaders: The first team in the league to reach 11 wins thanks to Week 13’s rollover of the Giants, the Pats remain in a very tight race with Denver, the teams’ airtight tiebreakers now in effect following the Patriots’ off week. New England will officially wrap up its division by sweeping the Bills on Sunday. Remaining schedule: vs. Bills, at Ravens, at Jets, vs. Dolphins

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4), AFC South leaders: They claimed first place outright by smashing the depleted Colts on Sunday in Duval County. The Texans now loom as the bona fide threat. Remaining schedule: vs. Jets, at Broncos, vs. Colts, at Titans

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6), AFC North leaders: They jumped up five spots, from out of the field back into the division lead by winning at Baltimore on Sunday. Remaining schedule: vs. Dolphins, at Lions, at Browns, vs. Ravens

5. Los Angeles Chargers (9-4), wild card No. 1: They’ve won five of six after surviving the Eagles on Monday night. A one-win advantage in AFC games (7-2) moved them ahead of Buffalo. Remaining schedule: at Chiefs, at Cowboys, vs. Texans, at Broncos

6. Buffalo Bills (9-4), wild card No. 2: Massive win over Cincinnati solidified their playoff standing heading into a notable showdown at Foxborough in Week 15 to face the AFC East-leading Pats. Remaining schedule: at Patriots, at Browns, vs. Eagles, vs. Jets

7. Houston Texans (8-5), wild card No. 3: They’ve won six of seven, including five in a row. Beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead moved Houston into a wild-card slot by virtue of its Week 13 defeat of Indianapolis. Remaining schedule: vs. Cardinals, vs. Raiders, at Chargers, vs. Colts

8. Indianapolis Colts (8-5), in the hunt: Now out of the projected playoff field and maybe soon in the hands of 44-year-old QB Philip Rivers, they face a steep climb back to relevance − their 7-1 start already starting to seem like ancient history. And the Colts’ schedule doesn’t let up the rest of the way. Remaining schedule: at Seahawks, vs. 49ers, vs. Jaguars, at Texans

9. Baltimore Ravens (6-7), in the hunt: Consecutive losses − and to AFC North foes (Bengals, Steelers) − has them on the outside looking in. At least a 4-5 record in AFC games places them ahead of K.C. and Miami in the three-way tiebreaker. Remaining schedule: at Bengals, vs. Patriots, at Packers, at Steelers

10. Kansas City Chiefs (6-7), in the hunt: Their chances to win a 10th straight AFC West title are officially null and void. And Sunday night’s loss to Houston means they’ll likely miss the postseason for the first time since 2014 − Andy Reid’s second year in K.C. And don’t forget they’ve lost to the Broncos, Chargers, Bills, Texans and Jags, who are all ahead of them. Lose to the Bolts on Sunday, and the Chiefs could be eliminated. Remaining schedule: vs. Chargers, at Titans, vs. Broncos, at Raiders

11. Miami Dolphins (6-7), in the hunt: They probably need to win the remainder of their games to even have a shot at postseason qualification but notched another one Sunday in New York. Remaining schedule: at Steelers, vs. Bengals, vs. Buccaneers, at Patriots

12. Cincinnati Bengals (4-9), in the hunt: They basically need to win the remainder of their games to even have a shot at postseason qualification … though they probably have a better one than Miami by virtue of living in this year’s surprisingly subpar AFC North. Remaining schedule: vs. Ravens, at Dolphins, vs. Cardinals, vs. Browns

NFL playoff-clinching scenarios for Week 15

Denver clinches a playoff berth with:

Win OR
Houston loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie (but not if both teams tie) OR
There are also multiple scenarios that involve a Broncos tie combined with losses and/or ties by other teams

New England clinches AFC East title with:

Win

New England clinches playoff berth with:

Houston loss or tie + Indianapolis loss or tie (but not if both teams tie) OR
There are also multiple scenarios that involve a Patriots tie combined with losses and/or ties by other teams

Los Angeles Rams clinch a playoff berth with:

Win

NFL teams eliminated from playoff contention in 2025

The special uniforms for the Army-Navy Game are a tradition that involves years of planning and research.
Each academy works with its apparel company to create intricate designs that honor military history.
The uniform designs are kept a closely guarded secret until they are revealed to the players and public.

What will be on the field for the 2025 Army-Navy Game is four years in the making.

It’s one of the many aspects that makes the battle of service academies one of the great traditions in college football — the uniforms.

Special uniforms for the game started modestly in 2008, but have become a spectacle with intricate designs for both sides since 2012. 

It’s a history lesson in a helmet, jersey and pants, with both branches typically paying respect to the people and moments that defined the U.S. military. Army and Navy aren’t just trying to beat each other on the field, but in the uniform game. 

Alternate uniforms are nothing new in college football; nearly every team has different looks and endless combinations to put out on the field. 

But none of them compare to Army-Navy. Because these uniforms involve years of planning, research, execution and hiding to pull off — resulting in a beautiful piece of storytelling that will again be on display when the Black Knights and Midshipmen take the field for the 126th meeting Saturday, Dec. 13 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. 

“We want everything to be perfect,” Navy athletic director for equipment operations Greg Morgenthaler told USA TODAY Sports.

Coming up with the uniform

The process to design the uniform for the Army-Navy Game begins two years before, with each academy meeting with their respective apparel company. Army has Nike and Navy has Under Armour

However, the 2025 game is special. In 2021 when planning the 2023 uniforms, Morgenthaler recalled letting Under Armour know 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the Naval Academy. So Under Armour had some time to think about this year’s uniforms, and plans were finalized around June 2024, 18 months before the game. Both teams decided on honoring 250th anniversaries of their branch.

From there, the apparel companies get to work. The first part is doing the research to determine what should be included in the uniform and is accurately depicted. Then a mood board is created with images and colors the teams want to draw inspiration from. After that, a toolkit for branding is created for other apparel.

All throughout the process, the academies are doing their own work. Army director of football equipment Thomas Cancalosi said the history department looks into its own research to make sure things are accurate. Both Army and Navy noted the apparel companies stay in touch through the entire process to not only make sure it looks good, but it makes sense. There’s been times where designs along the way were a little extreme, Morgenthaler said, but the final product always has the team excited.

For Navy, this year’s uniform is inspired by the USS Constitution, the only remaining of the six frigates that made up the first fleet. The washed blue primary color comes from the uniform of sailors and the copper helmet represents the copper sheathing of the ship, the tradition of coins being placed under the mast and the Save ‘Old Ironsides’ Campaign in 1924 when students across the country donated pennies to fund the restoration of the USS Constitution. Those are just a few of the several elements involved in each team’s uniform.

“You want to make sure that everything you put on a uniform or in a design has a meaning and has a purpose, not just because it looks cool,” said Colby Smith, Under Armour graphic designer for team sports. “We go into the design itself and have some checkpoints along the way, and usually we’ll go through about two to three revisions of the uniform before it’s finally signed off.”

Once the uniform is approved, then comes arguably the hardest part: keeping it a secret.

Keeping the secret

About two miles away from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland sits a warehouse. Starting in late August, it becomes another top secret military base, but there aren’t any documents coming in. 

It’s the gear for the Army-Navy Game, but it might as well be classified files. For all of the work that goes into creating the uniform, it takes just as much — if not more — to make sure it doesn’t get out before intended. 

The circle of trust is small on the project. Smith said about eight to 10 people at Under Armour know about it and don’t reveal it with people not involved. 

“Loose lips sink ships, so we try and keep all the ships afloat,” he said.

The same goes at Navy and Army. The equipment staff has to do their best to ensure there isn’t a leak and they’re the only ones that know what the look is. In a way, they are the most powerful people in the program.

“You really got to trust the people that work with you, that they’re not going to open up their mouths and not going to take pictures,” Morgenthaler said. “There’s a lot of hiding.”

The players don’t help with that either. From the moment summer camp starts, Morgenthaler and Cancalosi said they are constantly asked about them. Team members want to know what the theme will be or what they look like. 

It happens at least once a day in West Point as the anticipation continues to build toward release day. 

“They’ll try to get it out of you,” Cancalosi said. “But it’s been seven years for me now here, and they haven’t gotten out of me yet.”

The reason for it to remain kept behind closed doors is mainly neither team wants the public to get eyes on it. It’s meant for the academies and for when they want to show their teams and fan base. The last thing anyone wants is someone to leak something with such a special meaning.

All of the secrecy eventually pays off. Just a few weeks before the game comes the exciting part. The teams gather and are presented the story for their uniform. After learning about it, it is revealed for the players, a moment that always draws excitement. Seeing the reactions is what Morgenthaler said is “probably the best part” of his job.

Making the military proud

While the college football world will get to see the uniforms on the field and be wowed at all the details, it’s important to remember it’s not really for them. Cancalosi said the ultimate goal is to get the approval of everyone that was, is or going to be a soldier, including those on the field. 

He noted this year’s uniforms, which are marble to represent the headstones at Arlington National Cemetery and have purple outlined numbers for George Washington’s military badge of merit, which became the Purple Heart, truly represents the ultimate sacrifice every soldier gives in their service.

“The people who are in the United States Army, if they are proud of the product that we’ve created, then we’ve done our job to the fullest,” he said.

It’s the same mindset at the apparel companies, which is why Smith calls it an “honor and a privilege” to be part of such a unique project. It’s a long process with so many details to execute, but it’s rewarding to see how proud the players and academies are of it.

It won’t be long after the game is over when the process starts all over again. The uniforms and theme for the 2026 game are already set, so it’s 2027 currently being worked on. Just like all iterations of the game, no one plans to reveal any detail of what will come, other than Smith noting Under Armour always tries to one up itself.

But we do know it will be an extraordinary way to tell the story of Army and Navy. There’s no other game like it, and the long journey it takes for the uniform to appear on the field is what makes Morgenthaler call it “the coolest looking show on TV.”

The Moore allegations – an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with a staffer – are seedy enough. But the Michigan athletic department has long been a cesspool, and that’s squarely on athletic director Warde Manuel.

There was the basketball coach who smacked an opposing assistant in the face. Not to be confused with that same coach’s altercation with someone on his own staff. There was the toxic and misogynistic atmosphere in the hockey program. There was the gymnastics coach fired after police found him engaged in sexual activity with a student in a car. There was football’s sign-stealing scandal. The recruiting violations uncovered during the sign-stealing scandal.

The failure to monitor. The laundry list of staffers who’ve been arrested or sanctioned by the NCAA.

And these are just the things we know about!

“This conduct constitutes a clear violation of university policy,” Manuel said in a statement Wednesday announcing Moore’s dismissal, “and U-M maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Zero tolerance? Anything goes at Michigan, until you’re caught

Since when? Manuel has been running a department where anything goes, no sin too big to paper over or forgive. Unless the Michigan regents enjoy their school being the perpetual source of national embarrassment, Manuel has to go, too.

Whether Manuel had direct knowledge of or involvement in any of these scandals is irrelevant. He hired Moore despite all his baggage. He hired Juwan Howard and then stood by his basketball coach despite knowing the men’s basketball program was a ticking time bomb. He hired hockey coach Mel Pearson.

Manuel created an atmosphere in Michigan’s department where the big names and underlings alike saw rules as mere suggestions and the sole guiding principle was ‘by any means necessary.’ This is Manuel’s athletic department. Everything that occurs in it, the good, the bad and the criminal, is a reflection of his leadership.

(Manuel also hired Kevin Ollie when he was the AD at UConn, for what it’s worth, and we all know how well that turned out.)

This ‘Michigan man’ wins, but keeps damaging the university’s reputation

Manuel is a “Michigan man,” a defensive tackle under the legendary Bo Schembechler, and the Michigan regents might be reluctant to throw one of their own under the bus. Especially one who’s overseen as much success as Manuel has.

In addition to football’s national title in 2023, the women’s gymnastics team were NCAA champions in 2021 while John Beilein took the Wolverines to the men’s basketball title game in 2018.

But that success has come at what cost to Michigan’s reputation?

Michigan prides itself on being one of the country’s elite academic institutions, and its athletic programs are meant to reflect that higher-minded pursuit. The Wolverines do not chase fads or fashion, their block M and football’s winged helmets visible testaments to their time-honored traditions and values. They have produced champions and role models, not embarrassments and cringe-worthy memories.

They are supposed to be, in Michigan’s mind, the country’s best, setting a standard both on the field of play and off.

Yet Moore’s firing, and the circumstances around it, cement Michigan’s status as just another one of the renegades. A school with no moral compass or code of values. A school that prizes wins above else and thinks playing by the rules is for suckers.

This is Manuel’s legacy at Michigan, even more than those national titles and All-Americans.

Yes, Moore is the one who did wrong. Same as all those others at Michigan who cut corners and thought rules didn’t apply to them. But Manuel allowed it to happen. He is just as much to blame for Michigan’s shame.

(This story has been updated with additional information)

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

After an encouraging start, Major League Baseball’s offseason has stalled out, kind of like an unwanted weather pattern.

Its winter meetings produced a pair of semi-blockbuster deals for Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, yet a lot more of the groundwork-laying more associated with the general managers’ meetings one month earlier.

Sure, those chats and texts can bear fruit, evidenced by the run on relief pitchers continuing in the hours after the meetings. Yet industrywide momentum will prove elusive until a handful of situations are settled or franchises move definitively in a certain direction.

Let’s take a look at five agenda items that can go a long way toward producing a winter wonderland of transactions as the holiday season continues:

A destination for Kyle Tucker

Yeah, that’d be nice. It’s not often the postseason works in a top-down fashion, though it’s also not out of the question that the winter’s consensus top free agent signs before, during or shortly after the winter meetings (See: Juan Soto in 2024, Shohei Ohtani in 2023).

There’s been precious little smoke on Tucker, however, other than the decreasing likelihood that the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers will be in play for the slugging corner outfielder. And for some clubs, such as the Toronto Blue Jays, Tucker — who has been worth between 4.6 and 5.3 WAR in every full season of his career — doesn’t necessarily represent an either/or proposition. They can simply shift around what they have — think Addison Barger, Ernie Clement and Co. — without any major adds.

Yet for some clubs, engaging with Tucker and either succeeding or failing in that pursuit might determine several other paths. Which brings us to …

The Yankees: Do something?

GM Brian Cashman was generally both coy and vague (cague?) in his media briefings, exiting the meetings by noting that there was “not a lot of the inventory I’m interested in coming off the board yet,” and owner Hal Steinbrenner seems to indicate both that the Yankees are still at the forefront of player investment while also warning that the till may not be totally open.

Still, there’s always time for the biggest-market team to put together a stealth attack on a player like Tucker, who won’t command Soto money yet will still end up with a larger guarantee than, say, Aaron Judge. (Inflation these days, right?)

Closer to home, though, a Tucker resolution would also provide a lot more clarity for Cody Bellinger, whom the Yankees would like to retain, though not necessarily at a boutique price. Agent Scott Boras’s thinly coded assessment of Bellinger’s robust market indicates there could be a flock of very serious suitors, and it stands to reason exploiting the Tucker losers would maximize the return for his client.

The Yankees say they both need to close the gap on the Blue Jays yet are quick to note they won the same amount of games — 94 — in the regular season before Toronto flattened them in the ALDS. So it’s not a damn-the-torpedoes winter in the Bronx, yet things must be done. Right?

Starting pitchers: Who wants one?

Proving that there are no offseason absolutes, this was one market that did, in fact, unfold top-down: Dylan Cease’s $210 million pact with Toronto was agreed to before Thanksgiving, which one might intuit would spark a mini-frenzy in an area of import that’s always short on inventory.

Yet since then, nada — unless Michael Soroka to the Diamondbacks warms your hot stove.

A semi-informed decision: The next two pitchers on the board, left-handers Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez, aren’t the sort of arms a club would necessarily build its offseason around. Their markets will percolate and finally heat up, but it might not be until other clubs have exhausted other options or areas of greater need.

For instance, the Orioles might engage more furtively with Valdez now that Alonso has been secured for five years and $155 million. And once Valdez and Suarez go, the rest should follow with some rapidity, from the Zac Gallens and Michael Kings all the way down to fortysomething horses Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Homes for Munetaka Murakami and Tatsuya Imai

Hey, finally some hard and fast deadlines!

The slugging Murakami and the right-hander Imai are the biggest prizes posted from Japan this season, and the clock is ticking on their 45-day windows to sign with a major league club. Murakami must sign by 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 22, and he shouldn’t have a problem finding a fairly large deal with a club willing to bet his 246 home runs in eight seasons in Japan will translate nicely to the big leagues.

Imai should face an even more robust market. Teams have until Jan. 2 to reel in a 27-year-old who struck out 178 batters in 163 2/3 innings, with a 1.92 ERA, in what figures to be his last season in Japan.

Sure, that’s a ways out still. But at least there’s a defined endgame looming for both these guys.

The Cardinals: Trade somebody?

St. Louis and Nolan Arenado are staging a stirring remake of The Long Kiss Goodbye, starring a third baseman with a no-trade clause who can’t find the right fit. The Cardinals thought they had him dealt a year ago, then played another season with the 10-time Gold Glover. At this point, nobody’s waiting with bated breath for this deal.

Brendan Donovan? Now, that’s another story.

A 2025 All-Star second baseman who can toggle to two or three other positions with two years remaining before free agency? No wonder the Cardinals were popular with several teams at the meetings, particularly those who might want to plug a second base vacancy without the long-term commitment to slugging Ketel Marte.

The Cardinals certainly got the ball rolling on their tear-down by dealing pitcher Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox. Now, if they can find a landing spot for Donovan (and the Giants, Mariners, Astros and others have kicked the tires), that could greatly stimulate the trade market.