The Cleveland Browns are the lone remaining NFL team with a head coaching vacancy following the recent hires of Joe Judge in New York, Matt Rhule in Carolina and Mike McCarthy in Dallas.
The state of play: The Browns have already interviewed Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, Ravens OC Greg Roman and 49ers DC Robert Saleh. Eagles DC Jim Schwartz, Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski and Patriots OC Josh McDaniels will be interviewed later this week. There's an announcement expected by Saturday.
With MLB nearing a decision on the Astros front, the sign-stealing controversy has broadened, with anonymous team sources telling The Athletic that the Red Sox "cheated" during their 2018 World Series championship season.
How it worked: Players allegedly visited the video replay room — a room near the dugout meant to help managers decide whether to challenge a call — to steal signs and relay them to the dugout. That information was then shared with a baserunner, who would use body movements to communicate with the batter.
The Houston Astros allegedly used technology to steal signs, and now MLB wants to use technology to rid sign-stealing from the Earth.
Driving the news: The commissioner's office is currently developing multiple prototype devices to encode pitcher-catcher communication, including a wearable random-number generator and lights in the mound, per Yahoo Sports.
Viewership of televised NFL games was up 5% to 16.5 million for the 2019 regular season, its second consecutive annual increase of 5%.
Why it matters: The rebound in viewership from previous two years will give the NFL higher leverage when negotiating new distribution deals with media partners.