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Patrick Mahomes is tracking way ahead of schedule in his ACL rehab and could return by Week 1. Aaron Rodgers still hasn't committed to Pittsburgh, while Anthony Richardson returned to the Colts facility with no trade market and no leverage. The Pisto
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Welcome to The Sports Hangover Daily, I'm Michael Benatar. Today on the show: Mahomes is already scaring the rest of the AFC with his rehab timeline, Aaron Rodgers is still playing hard to get in Pittsburgh, Anthony Richardson shows back up to work in Indy, and the Pistons punched the Cavs in the mouth in Game one. Let's get into it.
Alright, let's start in Kansas City. Brett Veach went on SiriusXM NFL Radio yesterday and basically told the entire league — yeah, Patrick Mahomes is coming back, and he's coming back fast. He said Mahomes is "way ahead of schedule" rehabbing the torn ACL and LCL from that December loss to the Chargers. Veach even brought up Mahomes coming back from a dislocated kneecap in three weeks a few years ago. Said this bump in the road wouldn't slow him down at all.
And when your GM is openly floating the idea that your franchise quarterback could be doing team work at OTAs starting May twenty-sixth, that's not just optimism. That's a warning shot to the rest of the conference. This was a devastating knee injury. Torn ACL AND LCL on the same play. Most guys, you're talking twelve months minimum. Mahomes is tracking to be back for Week one.
So what does this mean for the AFC West? Justin Fields was supposed to be the insurance policy. Maybe the bridge guy for the first month or two. Now it's looking like Fields is gonna be holding a clipboard from jump. Kansas City doesn't skip a beat, and the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders are all sitting there going — cool, so we get zero free games against this team.
I know it's May. I know we're months from real football. But the Mahomes rehab is the most important story in the NFL right now. If he's healthy, that team is right back in the Super Bowl conversation. No debate.
Sticking with the NFL — Aaron Rodgers still hasn't told the Steelers yes. For the second straight offseason, this man is treating his NFL future like a meditation retreat decision. Pittsburgh wants an answer by May eighteenth when OTAs start. Rodgers apparently has no issue with the money. He just — hasn't decided yet. He's forty-two years old. The Steelers drafted Drew Allar in the third round. They've got Will Howard and Mason Rudolph on the roster. And Schefter said he doesn't see a second destination right now. So it's Pittsburgh or retirement. That's the menu. And honestly? Pittsburgh's patience has to be running thin. Mike McCarthy is the new head coach. You drafted your developmental guy. At some point you need your starting quarterback to commit to showing up.
Now to Indy — Anthony Richardson walked back into the Colts facility yesterday after ghosting voluntary workouts for two weeks. His trade request hasn't been rescinded. Nobody wanted him in a trade. And the Colts declined his fifth-year option, so he's a free agent after this season no matter what. Albert Breer said there's a reason nobody took a flier on him, and it wouldn't have taken much. That's brutal. Richardson is showing up because he has no leverage and no market. That's not a comeback story. That's a hostage situation with a smile.
Quick hits around the league — Tucker Kraft is tracking to return early in the season for the Packers after his torn ACL. Green Bay also cut Desmond Ridder and brought in Tyrod Taylor as the backup. All charges were dropped against former Titans corner L'Jarius Sneed. D.J. Reader signed a two-year deal worth twelve and a half million with the Giants. And the NFL schedule release is targeting somewhere between May twelfth and fourteenth, but could slide to the week of May eighteenth. So we're close.
Over to the NBA — the Pistons opened their second-round series against Cleveland with a statement. Detroit took Game one, one eleven to one oh one. The Cavs just survived a seven-game war with Toronto on Sunday. They looked gassed. Detroit is the one seed for a reason, and they came out playing like it. This is a Pistons team that hasn't had a home playoff win since two thousand eight. Now they're rolling. Cleveland's gotta regroup fast because falling behind two-oh against Detroit in their building would be close to a death sentence.
Out West, OKC handled the Lakers, one oh eight to ninety. No Luka — he's still out with the hamstring. LeBron had twenty-seven but it didn't matter. The Thunder's defense was suffocating. Jarred Vanderbilt left the game with a pinkie finger injury on his right hand, which is worth monitoring. But even without Luka, the Lakers just don't have enough firepower to hang with this OKC roster.
Time for the Hangover Take. I wanna talk about Anthony Richardson for a second. Not what happened yesterday — what happens next. Because some team is gonna look at this twenty-three-year-old with all the physical tools in the world and convince themselves they can fix him. And that team is gonna regret it. Richardson has the arm. He has the athleticism. But ZERO teams called Indy with a trade offer. The league did its homework. They watched the tape. They talked to people inside that building. And they all passed. When a former top-five pick can't even fetch a late-round swap, that's not a market inefficiency. That's a consensus. Somebody will give him a shot next spring as a free agent. And I'm telling you right now — whoever that team is will be cutting him by the following August.
That's your hangover. Go hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow.