NFL Nuggets:

• Drew Brees’ 20th season will make him the 20th player in NFL history to have hit that mark.  
  • Of the other 19, five have been quarterbacks:
    • Tom Brady
    • Brett Favre
    • Earl Morrall
    • Vinny Testaverde
    • George Blanda

• The Bucs announced today they will be debuting new uniforms in April.
  • Anything without creamsicle is a waste of time.

• The Franchise Tag designation window has been pushed from February 25th to the 27th.
  • Meaning the closure of the period will be March 12th, not March 10th.
  • One team looking to avoid it – the Cowboys, with Dak Prescott.
    • To tag Dak for 2020, the price is over $33 million.
    • Because they also have to sign Amari Cooper & Robert Quinn to long-term deals.

• In ridiculous Combine news:
  • In news that should only matter to their girlfriends,  
    • Tua Tagovailoa has two different sized hands. One is 10-inches; the other is 9 7/8 inches.
    • Joe Burrow has 9-inch hands.

Finally, Vontaze Burfict has been reinstated after serving his 12-game suspension.

• It was his fourth suspension.
  • In total, he has missed 1.5 seasons due to suspension.
• He also becomes a free agent in March.
  • In advance of this, he has been working out at ASU under the tutelage of Defensive Coordinator Marvin Lewis, his former Bengals head coach.

NHL Trading Deadline: among the flurry of deals

Here’s who got moved up Pierre McGuire’s fantasy board:

• Ilya Kovalchuk – from the Habs to the Capitals, for a 2020 3rd-round pick.
• Mike Green – from the Wings to the Oilers, for Kyle Brodziak & a conditional 4th-round pick.
• Vladislav Namestnikov, from the Sens to the Avalanche for a 2021 4th-round pick.
• Jean-Gabriel Pageau, from the Seas to the Islanders, for a 2020 Conditional 1st-Round Pick, a 2020 2nd-Round Pick, and a 2022 Conditional 3rd-Round Pick if the Isles win the 2020 Stanley Cup.
• Vincent Trocheck, from the Panthers to the Hurricanes, for Delta House members Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark, Eetu Luostarinen and Chase Priskie.
• Patrick Marleau, from the Sharks to the Penguins, for a Conditional 3rd-round pick (which becomes a 2nd if the Pens win the Cup)
  • His wife has been torching him on Twitter all afternoon.

Growing up, Patrick’s favorite team was the @penguins and I have sooooo many hilarious photos to prove it 😂 pic.twitter.com/jzBDRkZOJg

— Christina Marleau (@c_marleau) February 24, 2020

• Wayne Simmonds, from the Devils to the Sabres, for a Conditional 2021 5th-Round Pick (that becomes a 4th if Simmonds plays 10 games & the Sabres make the playoffs).
• Nick Ritchie, from the Ducks to the Bruins for Danton Heinen.
• Andreas Athanasiou & Ryan Kuffner, from the Red Wings to the Oilers, for oft-traded Sam Gagner and 2nd-round picks in 2020 & 2021.
• Tyler Ennis, from the Senators to the Oilers for a 2021 5th-Round Pick.
• Sami Vatanen, from the Devils to the Hurricanes, for Janne Kuokkanen and a 2nd-round pick.
• Robin Lehner, from the Blackhawks to Vegas, for Malcom Subban, Slava Demin, and a 2020 2nd-Round Pick.
• Erik Gustafsson, from the Blackhawks to the Flames for a 2020 3rd-Round Pick.
• Brady Skjei, from the Rangers to the Hurricanes for a 1st-round pick.
  • Skjei is most famous for being the unpronounceable name from the Chance The Rapper SNL sketch.

There were other moves, but mostly involving late-round guys for late-round picks.

It was pretty obvious who were buyers versus sellers today. Ottawa got gutted like Scotchy visiting Hobotown, and will likely just turn all those picks into future Vegas Golden Knights, or magic beans. Detroit & Chicago also acquired a slew of draft picks, so their rebuilds are most definitely underway. But at least they have pieces they can build around, unlike Montreal, who were just shedding salary with no observable strategy behind their moves. The Leafs still suck.

If I were a betting man, I’d put down money on St. Louis, Edmonton, Washington & Tampa being the final four in the NHL come late-May. If the structure weren’t so asinine, Colorado would be a fourth instead of Edmonton, but the format is skewed to guarantee one team from each division, so there we are.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL: only one game; no national broadcast
• NBA:
  • Hawks at 76ers – 7:00PM | Sportsnet1
  • Timberwolves at Mavericks – 8:30PM | TSN
  • grizzlies at Clippers – 10:30PM | Sportsnet
• NCAA:
  • Men’s:
    • Louisville at Florida State – 7:00PM | ESPN / TSN4
    • West By God Virginia at Texas – 7:00PM | ESPNU
    • Oklahoma State at Kansas – 9:00PM | ESPN
  • Women’s:
    • Baylor at West By God Virginia – 7:00PM | FS1
      • Literally, Your Momma Don’t Dance versus Your Daddy Don’t Rock & Roll
    • Duke at North Carolina State – 7:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN3
      • Can the Lady Blue Devils gain revenge for the men’s defeat?
    • Oregon at Stanford – 9:00PM | ESPN2 / TSN3
• Wrasslin’
  • WWE Raw – 8:00PM | USA / Sportsnet360

A fairly full sports day. Hope you’ve got time to settle down with a quality beverage & spew your hatred at what your NHL team did or didn’t do today.