Behind The Scoreboard
Serena Williams has done it again – setting the Open era record with her 23rd Grand Slam title.
Serena defeated her sister, Venus Williams (6-4, 6-4) in the Australian Open final on Saturday. This win marked her 23rd major title, breaking the record she had shared with Steffi Graf.
It’s Serena’s seventh Australian Open title and second in the past three tournaments in Melbourne. She also has seven titles at Wimbledon, six at the U.S. Open, and three at the French Open. Serena remains one Grand Slam championship behind the all-time leader, Margaret Court, who has 24 titles in the Open.
Venus, a seven-time Slam champion (two U.S. Open and five Wimbledon), was in the final of the Australian Open for the first time since 2003.
Over to the NFL – who’s in and who’s out?
Now is the perfect time to start looking forward to the NFL offseason and wondering about the decisions 2016’s playoff teams will have to make in order to get back to the post-season in 2017.
Most of these teams have key players who will hit the unrestricted free agency market. Many have decisions to make on veterans whose cap hits are bigger than their recent levels of production. Plus the decisions on back-ups who want to get more playing time and the bargain players who want to make more money.
A few of these teams are already thinking about 2017. So, let’s begin with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs find themselves in a dilemma. They are faced with the possibility of losing one of their two Pro-Bowl defenders to free agency – DT Dontari Poe and safety Eric Berry.
Of the two, Berry has been more impactful and has fewer health concerns going forward. The Chiefs may be a little concerned about Poe’s back – which required surgery in 2015. Coming to terms on an extension with one of their defensive star players would allow the Chiefs to franchise or hold the threat of a franchise tag over the other.
For the Houston Texans, re-signing cornerback A.J. Bouye will likely be the team’s priority. Bouye has emerged as one of the league’s better third cornerbacks. He will probably serve in that role again in 2017 before taking over as a full-time starter for Johnathan Joseph, who will be 33 and a free agent after next season. The Texans might look to the draft to replace DT Vince Wilfork.
This was going to be a critical offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers even without QB Ben Roethlisberger (hints about his retirement). For the first time in years, the Steelers are finally in a decent cap shape after allowing LB Lawrence Timmons’ contract to finish without another restructure. Timmons’ cap hit a staggering $15.1 million, nearly $5 million more than any other inside line backer. The Steelers might choose to bring him back, but with less than half of that cap figure.