Jinger recalls laughing with her sisters at the mall while trying on a blonde wig as they joked about "being ready for headquarters."
Meaning, she writes, that the blonde hair made them look like "Gothard's Girls": Girls and young women, most with "long hair, big smiles and petite body types," many from single-parent homes "without a father or grandfather to guide and protect them," who worked at IBLP headquarters in Hillsdale, Ill.
"For us, this wasn't more than an odd quirk of our little world," Jinger writes. "Now, after everything that's happened over the past 10 years, I realize the joke wasn't funny."
Gothard would invite a girl to talk, she explains, and after awhile he'd "rub the women's feet and hold their hands, both of which were strictly forbidden between a man and woman who were not married. A lot of Gothard's girls have said that Gothard would touch them inappropriately or engage in explicitly sexual activity. Ten of those ladies filed a lawsuit against Gothard in 2016."
He resigned from the IBLP board in March 2014 amid a review by outside legal counsel into allegations he had sexually harassed and molested women. In June 2014, IBLP stated the investigation determined Gothard "acted in an inappropriate manner" but didn't commit criminal acts. (Gothard said in a since-deleted statement, "My actions of holding of hands, hugs, and touching of feet or hair with young ladies crossed the boundaries of discretion and were wrong.")
The 10 plaintiffs dropped their complaint in 2018, but said in a joint statement to Recovering Grace, "We want to make it abundantly clear that by dismissing our lawsuit at this time, we are not recanting our experiences or dismissing the incalculable damage that we believe Gothard has done by his actions and certain teachings. Nor are we disregarding that his organization chose to protect themselves instead of those under their care."
Gothard, now 88, has denied any wrongdoing, stating on his website that the same women who accused him of sexual misconduct "had written marvelous letters of gratefulness to me during those 20 years, thanking me for 'being their best friend,' 'bringing about the turning point" in their lives, and "giving them help and encouragement" that they will always remember. There was never a hint of harassment because there was none."
A group of illegal immigrants remain in protest outside the Watson Hotel in New York City, sleeping in the streets for nearly two days to push back against relocation from their taxpayer-funded hotel in Manhattan to a migrant crisis center in Brooklyn.
After entering into the U.S. through the southern border, tens of thousands of migrants were sent to New York City where they were given free housing at luxury hotels, while Mayor Eric Adams prepared a facility to control the influx of migrants pouring into the city.
The city prepared to move migrants, specifically single adult men, from the Watson Hotel in New York City to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal facility, but faced pushback on Sunday night from the individuals who refused to relocate.
The illegal migrants, who were given free rooms at the $300-per-night Hells Kitchen hotel, refused to vacate when asked to leave and were joined by migrant activists to rally outside the building. As of Tuesday morning, the group of migrants was still camped outside the hotel, according to several local news reports.
Migrants are seen outside of the Watson Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Monday, January 30, 2023. Some spent last night sleeping on the street rather than be relocated to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal over the weekend. (Jennifer Mitchell for Fox News Digital)
The immigrants remained there overnight, sleeping in tents on the sidewalk of the busy city. The NYPD since cleared out the tents that were blocking the sidewalks, however, the migrants remain posted outside the 3.5 star hotel.
Some individuals left the hotel for the migrant crisis center, but returned after claiming the facility was lacking in heat and water.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York immediately responded to the migrant protest, settling claims that the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal did not meet humane conditions.
"I just had to come here when I started hearing all the rumors that it was too cold, my brother got on shorts. It’s warm inside. About the food not being there, healthy food is present," Adams said in a video posted to Twitter Monday.
The Democratic Mayor also released photos of a cafeteria style food assortment reportedly available to the migrants and Adams is seen playing ping pong at one of the tables in the center.
"This weekend, we began the process of moving single adult men from the Watson Hotel to Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, as we transition the hotel to meet the large number of asylum-seeking families with children," Adams said in a statement.
Migrants speak with NYC Homeless Outreach members as they camp out in front of the Watson Hotel after being evicted on January 30, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago)
"More than 42,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since last spring, and we continue to surpass our moral obligations as we provide asylum seekers with shelter, food, health care, education, and a host of other services," the mayor continued.
The Brooklyn Cruise Terminal Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center, which will close this spring ahead of cruise season, was opened as housing for single adult men in order to provide more space for migrant families at the Watson Hotel.
Aubrie Spady is a Freelance Production Assistant for Fox News Digital.
In the girl’s home in Hertfordshire, England, you need a key code to enter the kitchen, where all the cupboards are under bolt and chain, and the garbage bin is locked shut. Without these measures, the child — whose name cannot be published because she’s currently in foster care — wouldn’t be able to stop eating, even scraps of raw meat or leftover pasta wasting away in the garbage.
“She is constantly alert to any possibility of gaining access to food,” her foster father told me, like a calorie-seeking missile. Her brain doesn’t register that she’s eaten. So she lives with a constant, raging hunger, an all-encompassing obsession about her next meal or snack, one that distracts from her other interests — in dolls, horse riding and drawing.
Age 12, the girl is thin, birdlike. If her foster parents didn’t police her every morsel, she’d be much larger, like many people who share her disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome. Patients with Prader-Willi can eat so much that in extreme cases, their stomachs burst open, causing death.
The disorder is a rare and devastating genetic cause of obesity. But it also exists on the far end of a spectrum of eating behavior common to us all, as I was told recently by Tony Goldstone, an Imperial College London endocrinology researcher and physician who works with patients with Prader-Willi. “People think they only eat because they want to eat, or they’re cognitively deciding to eat,” Dr. Goldstone said. “But much of it is not taking place at that conscious level.”
We tend to believe body size is something we can fully control, that we’re skinny or fat because of deliberate choices we make. After talking to hundreds of patients with obesity over the years, and clinicians and researchers who study the disease, let me assure you: Reality looks a lot less like free will. The advent of new and effective obesity drugs offers a stark illustration of this little-appreciated fact of physiology. The debates the medicines prompted also show how little we appreciate about obesity.
Biological systems, influenced by our environments and our genes, control the flow of energy through us: Energy goes into us in the form of food, and is used up or is stored in our bodies, primarily as fat. These systems, stemming from interactions between the brain and body, are in large part involuntary. They tick along, like our reproductive drive or the mechanisms that steady our body temperatures.
The Hertfordshire child with Prader-Willi “has an abnormality in the energy balance thermostat in her brain and she’s not responding,” Dr. Goldstone said. But she’s experiencing just a variation on the kinds of hunger and satiety signals we all live with.
It’s relatively easy to comprehend that our environment influences our eating behavior, and how much weight we gain. “Living next to a farmers market or in a food desert will have a far greater influence on whether a person makes healthy food choices than how much self-discipline they have,” Dan Brierley, a University College London neuroscientist studying obesity, told me. Many of us now live in places overflowing with cheap, ultra-processed calories, which may help explain soaring obesity rates.
But not everyone has obesity today. That’s because how we respond to our environment is also subject to internal controls — invisible nudges guiding us at every meal. Researchers observed this more than 100 years ago, and only recently began to truly unpack how these systems work. The new class of diabetes and obesity drugs — such as semaglutide (sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) — evolved from that research.
The cascade of discoveries leading to these injectable medications, considered the most effective ever approved for obesity, can be traced back to 1840, when doctors started sharing case studies of patients who, for reasons that seemed outside of their conscious control, overate to the point of severe obesity. On further examination, many had tumors in their brains. The tumors impinged on their physiology in mysterious ways that changed what and how much they ate.
Animal studies that followed hinted at a new understanding of what was going on: Body weight and eating behavior were regulated, not the product of conscious control alone, and the brain somehow orchestrated the process.
Genes also appeared to play a role. Scientists had long observed that obesity ran in families, but it wasn’t clear how much heredity or the environment explained that. A famous 1990 study of identical twins born in Sweden showed that pairs who were separated at birth and adopted had weights more similar to each other than to their adoptive families.
In the mid-1990s, scientists peered inside this complex machinery, to see at the molecular level how brains and genes shape appetite and weight. Early studies in mice revealed that the rodents produce a “factor” which sends a signal to the brain about how much body fat they had stored on them. Some mice with obesity lacked that factor and couldn’t stop eating. Researchers at the Rockefeller Institution in New York identified the factor in 1994: it was a hormone, which they named “leptin,” coded by a gene known as LEP.
Later, Cambridge University researchers discovered leptin’s role in humans, after finding patients with extreme forms of childhood obesity, caused by LEP mutations. Just as in mice, leptin is produced by body fat, and transported into the bloodstream, where it circulates to the brain. There it sends a message about how much energy is stored on the body in the form of fat. When leptin levels drop, or people have genetic abnormalities that don’t allow them to produce leptin or register leptin’s signal, the brain reads that there’s not enough fat on the body; people get hungry and eat more.
While leptin regulates energy balance over time horizons like weeks, there are many other signals that drive our nutritional choices from meal to meal (just as there are now more than a thousand known gene variants implicated in obesity). One well-known player is the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, which Wegovy and Ozempic mimic. Primarily produced by the gut, it tells the brain when we’ve had enough to eat.
The ability to sense such fullness — and hunger — varies, the result of genetic differences in brain circuits that control appetite. This manifests in a range of experiences, from people with Prader-Willi to that annoying friend who forgets to eat and is effortlessly skinny all his life (and therefore, perhaps can’t understand why anybody struggles with weight).
The new drugs are the first to manipulate the hormonal regulatory systems governing energy balance. The drugs simulate the action of our native GLP-1 but with longer-lasting effects, amplifying the fullness signal inside the body. People who struggle to feel sated suddenly don’t, effectively giving “someone the ‘will power’ of those lucky enough to have won the genetic lottery,” said Dr. Brierley.
Many people who have taken the medicines for obesity described to me how their experience of hunger had fundamentally changed. Patricia McEwan, who has injected Ozempic for nine months, said she planned to stay on the drug for life because it “shut off the intrusive constant thoughts about food” that had consumed too much of her mental space since childhood. Before Ozempic, Ms. McEwan thought her overeating was driven by her emotions and lack of will power. After Ozempic, she understood that how she responded to food was the product of her physiology.
There are open questions about how GLP-1-based drugs will work long term in individual patients, and what impact, if any, they’ll have on the surging global obesity rate. The data we have suggests people’s weight loss can plateau after a while, side effects are common, as is weight regain when patients go off the medicines.
There have been many reports about insurance hurdles or supply shortages that interrupt or block people’s access to obesity drugs in the United States, and it’s unclear how low-income people will get access to them. Meanwhile, the energy balance model of appetite regulation is being complicated by evidence that we have other kinds of nutrient appetites — for protein, for example — and there’s very little understanding of how the medicines will affect these.
At the very least, though, the way the drugs work can teach us that people who are larger did not necessarily choose to be, just as people who are smaller did not — and are not morally superior. This “isn’t a free pass, either to individuals who do have the capacity to choose better, nor does it take the heat off of food industries,” said a University of Sydney nutritional biologist, Stephen Simpson, but it’s “evidence that obesity isn’t a personal lifestyle choice.”
Learning about this science helped me see my own weight changes in a new light. When I became pregnant with my second child, I very quickly developed a voracious appetite. I felt a pain from hunger I’d never experienced, would obsess about my next snack or meal in ways I don’t usually, and ate quantities I would have found unimaginable (even unbearable) a few weeks prior. I also gained weight rapidly.
Suddenly in my second trimester, the increased appetite, and the weight gain, eased. But the preoccupation with food I’d just experienced recalled my earlier years, when I struggled with obesity. Now, I could see the changes were not the result of a sudden shortage in will power. My brain was telling my body to get more energy to support the growing fetus.
How women’s brains and bodies manage this during pregnancy and breastfeeding is still mysterious, a phenomenon that’s also been observed in lactating mice who tend to eat three times their usual calories. Some people with obesity are plagued by the kind of hunger I had in pregnancy all the time. It’s also not their choice.
Julia Belluz, a health journalist, is writing a book about nutrition and metabolism.
The Times is committed to publishinga diversity of lettersto the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are sometips. And here’s our email:letters@nytimes.com.
A bus is seen in Washington, DC, on December 12, 2022. - The Washington government voted to institute free bus rides for all starting in the summer of 2023.
Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images
Washington, D.C., has enacted a zero-fare bus bill into law, according to the D.C. Council.
Mayor Muriel Bowser declined to officially approve the bill, which eliminates the $2 fare for all city buses, adds a dozen 24-hour bus lines starting in July and calls for a $10 million investment into other service improvements to the bus lines.
But the council enacted the proposal without the mayor's signature, making Washington the largest U.S. city to codify a fare-free transit system as the movement takes off nationwide. Kansas City, Missouri, previously the largest city with such a law, made its own transit system zero-fare in 2019, though that city doesn't have a train system.
In December, the D.C. Council unanimously passed the bill, but it had been waiting on a response from the mayor's office before it could officially become law, said Councilmember Charles Allen, who initially proposed the Metro for D.C. bill in 2021.
Earlier this month, Washington's chief financial officer approved the funding for the fare-free bus service, baking in $11 million for fiscal year 2023, $43 million for fiscal year 2024 and increasingly more for each fiscal year afterward.
The council was made aware of the mayor's decision not to sign the legislation last week, according to Allen, and it was enacted without her signature on Thursday. The council officially announced the mayor's decision on Monday.
It's now debating whether to add an amendment that would subsidize rail travel for city residents, but the current version of the bill will go into effect in the meantime, Allen said.
"It's full steam ahead now," he said, adding that the mayor's resistance to sign the bill is largely symbolic.
"There's no practical difference at all," Allen said. "Maybe you might think of it as reflecting a different level of enthusiasm."
Bowser had previously taken issue with the fact that Maryland and Virginia weren't helping to fund the bill despite the benefit to their residents, NBC Washington reported. The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment.
The Washington Commanders' linebacker core was part of Jack Del Rio's seventh-ranked defense in the NFL. But while the defense as a whole performed well, the linebacker group was underwhelming.
Starting with Jamin Davis, the second-year linebacker had a standout year. He started 15 games for Del Rio's unit, finished the season leading the entire team in combined tackles (104), and totaled three sacks.
That's something to build on next season.
Unfortunately, that is about as good as it got for Washington, with Holcomb likely the next-best performer, despite only playing seven games. Others such as David Mayo, Milo Eifler, Khaleke Hudson, and Jon Bostic, did not cover themselves in glory.
That's not to say they weren't serviceable, but improvement needs to happen.
Combined, Washington's linebackers accounted for just four sacks on the season, with three coming from Davis.
Holcomb looked serviceable in his seven games, as he still ranks sixth in solo tackles for the team. Had he been able to play a full season, the linebacker core may have had a better output.
Both Mayo and Bostic, two veterans of Del Rio's rebuilt unit, played sparingly throughout the season, but it has become clear that upgrades are needed.
Talking of upgrades ...
Several free agent options are available for head coach Ron Rivera and Del Rio to take a look at.
These include Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, David Long from the Tennessee Titans, and Tremaine Edmunds from the Buffalo Bills. Even Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch could be a viable option along with Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards.
All fit a need for Washington, but all likely to want serious money.
Given what the unit has produced this season, aside from Davis and the flashes from Holcomb, depth is seriously needed heading into next year.
Making better fats could be the key to tastier meat-free products
Meat-free steak and sausages seem to be everywhere these days. Perhaps you have tried one.
But did you like it? Was it as good as the real thing? If it left you underwhelmed then it could be down to one missing ingredient - animal fats.
Many firms are betting that finding a good alternative to animal fats will provide a breakthrough when it comes to the flavour of meat-free products.
One person who is evangelical about better fat is Max Jamilly, co-founder of London-based Hoxton Farms.
"All of the taste, the sizzle, the browning, comes from fat," he enthuses.
Hoxton Farms is making animal fat, without the animals.
They start with just a few animal cells that are stored in a vat of liquid nitrogen.
Those cells are revived in an incubator, and cultured for around three weeks in a stirred tank bioreactor, essentially a laboratory mixer.
During that time, the cells are fed with a proprietary mixture of plant ingredients.
Eventually, out of a metal pipe that resembles a large syringe, will emerge a pale yellow, buttery substance: the fat.
Despite the company's name, there's not a farm animal in sight. And the lab is a more hygienic environment than many animal agriculture operations.
Max Jamilly (left) and Ed Steele founded Hoxton Farms, which produces fats in bioreactors
Mr Jamilly believes that while the alternative meat world has made great strides with protein, it's being held back by conventional fats.
In meat replacements these have included canola, palm, soy and sunflower oils.
The mainstay has been coconut oil but, compared to animal fat, this has a lower melting point, or the point at which fat turns from solid to liquid.
So during cooking, the oil in some alternative meats can melt away, leaving the end product without the juiciness of a real burger or steak.
If you've mashed your way through a vegan burger that started off juicy, but then turned to sawdust, the melting point may be the culprit.
Mr Jamilly and his fellow co-founder Ed Steele says their fat can counter that problem. As well as having a higher melting point, it can be easily dispersed through the product.
In contrast, some plant-based burgers might be studded with white specks of solid coconut oil that haven't been distributed uniformly.
Compared to some alternative proteins using coconut oil, Mr Steele believes "the difference is that it's juicy, not greasy".
Using coconut and other oils has one advantage though - they are widely available and relatively cheap.
Hoxton Farms thinks it can match traditional oils in the coming years, but it will have to expand.
Last year it raised $22m (£18m) to build a pilot production plant, but it will need to get even bigger.
Mr Steele believes their product can help keep manufacturer costs down, by providing so much flavour that they don't need to rely on additives like flavourings and bindings, in addition to plant oils.
Another alternative is precision fermentation, which ecologist Nicholas Carter believes is a major, underappreciated solution.
Precision fermentation involves engineering microbes to produce the desired material in a fermentation process. In Gothenburg, Sweden, for instance, Melt & Marble is tinkering with yeast cells to generate specific fats. The company is targeting prices below €5-10 per kg.
Mr Carter says that while cultivated fats could still be decades away, precision fermentation has already been commercialised. "With precision fermentation, you can have a lot more ingredient replacements." And with time, he believes, "there's no reason this should not cost the same or less" as conventional fats.
In California, Zero Acre Farms raised $37m in 2022 to produce alternative oil using microbial fermentation. While its oil is currently selling for several times the price of olive oil, Zero Acre Farms argues that making its product uses substantially less land and water than conventional plant oils, and has more culinary applications.
GoDrop! stabilises a mixture of plant oil and water
Another vegan-focused twist on an old food technology is emulsion. Friederike Grosse-Holz, who sits on the board of Barcelona-based Cubiq Foods, describes the company's fat alternative GoDrop!:
"The way it works is the plant-based product is an emulsion, so it's a mix of plant oil and water, a bit like a salad dressing. Only this emulsion is stabilised, so it gives you the kind of solid chunky fat type of feeling that you are used to from animal fat."
Ms Grosse-Holz, who is also a scientific director for the sustainable investment firm Blue Horizon, says that one advantage is that "the resulting plant-based sausage is lower in saturated fat, and can be made lower in total fat, than animal products".
Cubiq Foods, whose investors include controversial food giant Cargill, has aimed for a price comparable to coconut oil.
Overall, plant-based foods consultant Michele Simon is sceptical. Plant-based meats are already often more expensive than animal-based meats, which tend to be artificially cheap due to agricultural subsidies. "There are a lot of alternative facts about alternative fats," she says.
Ms Simon argues that with certain high-tech fat alternatives, "the technology is so far from being commercially viable," and the limited scale will drive up costs.
"Nature has done an amazing job providing healthy fats," says Ms Simon. She notes that taste and texture are much more complex than the fat source.
The challenge will be to scale up alternative sources of fat
While fat carries flavour, "the 'meaty' flavour can generally be imparted by using natural flavourings," says Linda Ho, the lead food scientist at the NAIT Centre for Culinary Innovation in Edmonton, Canada.
"There is quite a bit of research being done to replicate, using plant-based ingredients, the umami and savoury flavours experienced when consuming meats."
People like Ms Simon worry that alternative fat start-ups are in an economic bubble. And according to the market research firm Mintel, amidst cost-of-living pressures, Brits are less interested in pricey hyper-realistic meat substitutes, and more interested in inherently vegan foods that don't mimic meat.
However, there is plainly a great deal of market interest in innovative fats for realistic meat replacements. The Hoxton Farms co-founders say they have more interest from potential partners than they can supply. As with many other producers of innovative fats, their main customers are food manufacturers rather than ordinary consumers.
The barrier is how much they can produce, not how much business they can drum up, so Hoxton Farms is on a hiring and building spree.
"I think we're just at the cusp of a lot of things happening," says Mr Jamilly.
Even before WNBA free agency officially began, there were a few landscape-shifting trades — rare January trades for the league. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Saturday. Those deals can be signed beginning Feb. 1. The salary cap for 2023 is $1,420,500, according to Her Hoop Stats. Teams must have at least 11 players with a maximum of 12. The supermax is $234,936, per Her Hoop Stats. The maximum is $202,154 and the minimum for players with zero to two years of service is $62,285 and for three or more years is $74,305.
Who are the biggest free agents to watch?
Tracking WNBA trades
Tracking WNBA free agency deals
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 08: Candace Parker #3 of the Chicago Sky looks on prior to Game Five of the 2022 WNBA Playoffs semifinals at Wintrust Arena on September 08, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Amazon said the new charges are meant to help keep prices low and maintain consistent and fast deliveries.
Photo: cj gunther/Shutterstock
Amazon Prime members who order groceries online through Amazon Fresh will soon pay a lot more to get free delivery.
Starting Feb. 28, online Amazon Fresh grocery orders of less than $150 will incur delivery fees, Amazon.comInc. said in an email to Prime members.
Delivery charges will be $9.95 for orders under $50, $6.95 for orders between $50 and $100, and $3.95 for orders between $100 and $150, Amazon said.
Currently, Prime members outside of New York City who spend more than $35 on Amazon Fresh grocery orders qualify for free delivery. In the city, the threshold is $50 for free delivery. Customers who order less than that pay a delivery fee of $4.99.
The new fees are meant to help keep prices low and maintain consistent and fast deliveries, according to Amazon.
“We will continue to offer convenient two-hour delivery windows for all orders, and customers in some areas will be able to select a longer delivery window for a reduced fee,” a spokeswoman said.
Amazon users who pay $139 annually for Prime membership will still get free grocery delivery for online Amazon Fresh orders above $150.
The new fee scale comes two months after the online retail giant announced a round of layoffs in a cost-cutting measure.
As many as 10,000 workers, mainly concentrated in Amazon’s devices business, recruiting and retail operations, were likely to be affected, the company said at the time.
In early January, the Seattle-based company increased that number and said layoffs could affect more than 18,000 employees.
Many tech companies have cut jobs in recent months as companies recalibrate their head counts and tighten their belts amid concerns about a slowing economy.
The broader labor market has continued to add jobs, but growth has slowed. U.S. economic growth cooled to a 2.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter, capping a year of high inflation and rising interest rates.
The 2023 free agency period on the NFL calendar begins on March 15, but it will be before you know it. The Chargers have 15 pending free agents heading into the offseason.
General manager Tom Telesco will have to be selective when deciding who’s worthy of being brought back next season since the team does not have a lot of spendings this go around.
Los Angeles is projected to be $19.4 million over the salary cap in 2023, the fifth-worst situation in the NFL. However, they could free up some of that with internal moves.
With that, here’s a look at the top priorities based on their play from this past season when Los Angeles begins that process.
OT Trey Pipkins
AP Photo/Kyusung Gong
Pipkins entered last training camp in a battle with Storm Norton for the starting right tackle spot and ended up winning. Pipkins spent last offseason with offensive line developer Duke Manyweather, which benefited his game immensely. Despite battling through an MCL sprain he first suffered in Week 5, Pipkins played at a high level. Drafted as a project in 2019 and struggling to find his footing in the NFL in his first few seasons, Pipkins looked like a capable NFL tackle in his contract year. He only allowed two sacks on 586 pass-block snaps. With continuity being critical along the offensive line, Pipkins is deserving of manning the position for the foreseeable future.
LB Drue Tranquill
Harry How/Getty Images
When Derwin James and Joey Bosa were out to their respective injuries, Tranquill stepped up as the leader of the defense. Tranquill led the team in tackles with 146 and was second in tackles for loss (10). He was also viable in pass coverage, with four passes defended and an interception. Additionally, Tranquill came on as a blitzer, tied for third on the team in sacks with five. Linebacker is not a premium position in Staley’s system, as evident from the Chargers letting Kyzir White walk after an outstanding 2021 season. But Tranquill showed on the field that he is worthy of being kept around. And having him back gives the Chargers their energized playmaker and a vocal leader in the middle of the defense.
DT Morgan Fox
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Fox was inked to a veteran minimum contract last May to supply a pass-rush presence from the interior part of the defensive line. Fox went on to set a career-high in sacks (6.5). His previous best was 5.5, which he set with the Rams when Brandon Staley was their defensive coordinator in 2020. Additionally, while lauded for his pass-rush prowess, Fox’s play against the run continuously improved after being put into a starting role. He had 21 run stops on the season. Given that Los Angeles’ defensive line room is predominantly filled with run defense specialists, Fox should be a priority due to his ability to get after the quarterback. Plus, at just 28 years old, Fox is still in his prime.
S JK Scott
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Punters are people, too. Scott was brought in last offseason and ended up being a critical piece of the Chargers’ special teams revitalization. Los Angeles finished first in the NFL in total punt return yards allowed, as they gave up just 58 punt return yards on 19 attempts all season (3.1 yards per return). Scott’s hangtime played a vital role, leading the league in hangtime with 4.76 seconds.
Her emoji-filled tweets were a fun free agency Pictionary leading into an actual word tweet and the reporting around it that added another dimension to a crucial moment for the WNBA — and makes Stewart’s free agency one of the most pivotal moments in WNBA history for more reasons than where she will sign.
Stewart, 28, tweeted Sunday that she would “love to be part of a deal that helps subsidize charter travel for the entire WNBA.” She said she would contribute her name, image and likeness, social media posts and production hours for charters so that the health and safety of players would be prioritized, “which ultimately results in a better product.”
Stewart has turned a free-agency period centered on a prioritization clause that forces players into tough decisions on where in the world to play into one prioritizing the athlete’s highest-interest issue and potentially forcing the WNBA’s hand. Charter flights have been an ongoing stressor in the W, and Stewart is one of the players with the most marketability, money opportunities and, therefore, power.
How she uses it and what comes of it will shift the trajectory of the WNBA.
Breanna Stewart has made charter flights in the WNBA a top priority in her free-agency decision, which could shift the trajectory of the league. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Recap: Prioritization will determine who plays in the WNBA
The first domino will be if Stewart decides to play in the WNBA at all. There were significant wins for the players in the 2020 CBA, but those didn’t come without negotiation and hedging on other issues. Players received increased family planning benefits and better pay that nearly doubled that first season, but in return, team owners were able to put in a prioritization clause that requires players with three or more years of league experience to report to training camp on time or be fined. In 2024, players will be suspended for not reporting.
“The owners really stepped up on the compensation side for the players in this collective bargaining cycle, and I think the kind of quid pro quo for that was prioritization, showing up on time for our season,” commissioner Cathy Engelbert said ahead of the 2022 WNBA Finals.
That creates a conundrum because overseas postseasons are often not over by the time WNBA camp begins in late April, and players make the bulk of their money on those contracts. The clause is unpopular with players and especially difficult on the “middle class,” who are out of that rookie range but not making the money of a Stewart-caliber player in the W. Many of those players, as well as international stars, might choose not to return to the league in 2023.
WNBA leadership in return has touted league marketing deals, yet less than 10% of players are on them to offset what they might make overseas. While Engelbert has consistently pointed out that players can make “up to $700,000” a season, a host of stipulations and max bonuses from the league and team would need to happen for a player to reach that. The league will also not release detailed information about marketing deals, and that “middle-class” tier isn’t likely to land one, as they aren't among the most popular veterans or the up-and-coming rookies who can connect the league to collegiate fandom.
Two of the biggest stars in the league are likely not nearing that money. Stewart made a supermax contract of $228,294 in 2022 and added approximately $17,000 in merit bonuses as outlined in the CBA for All-WNBA, All-Star, All-WNBA defensive team and the Storm’s playoff finish. A’ja Wilson played on a slightly smaller contract and brought in approximately $76,000 because the Las Vegas Aces won the championship and Commissioner’s Cup, and she earned a list of accolades starting with MVP.
Stewart makes far more playing overseas (a reported $1.5 million with UMMC Ekaterinburg in 2021-22) where there are no salary caps and multitime Olympic winners can draw large paydays. She also has the benefit of marketing deals led by Puma, which continues to release new colorways for her signature shoe. It’s why she signed a one-year deal last year to contemplate if she'll return to the WNBA.
WNBA’s charter flight problem
Flying commercial has been a longtime problem for the WNBA. The Los Angeles Sparks were forced to sleep in an airport last season after delays, and the Aces opted not to play a game in 2018 after a full day of delay issues. Then there are the basic player concerns about health and safety that charter flights would avoid.
The CBA improved the flight situation by upgrading players to economy-plus or comfort seats for extra leg room. Charters would mean fewer delays, better travel arrangements in the case of shortened rest days (such as in the 2022 Finals, with travel from Las Vegas to Connecticut) and more player recovery time after flying. And while no one in the league has the fame of Griner right now, surely there are security issues when a player such as Wilson, whose face is now on bags of chips, goes through TSA.
Charters are not allowed in the CBA because they present a competitive advantage for teams that pay for them versus teams that do not. Team owner Joe Tsai was quietly paying for the New York Liberty to fly charter in late 2021 and was fined $500,000 by the board of governors for it. Sports Illustrated reported that Tsai made an unofficial proposal for default charter flights and found a way to have it compensated, but it did not have majority support from the board. The WNBA disputed that in a statement to SI: "At no point was there a New York Liberty proposal for the WNBA Board of Governors to consider offering three-years-worth of charter flights for WNBA teams. It was agreed that the Liberty would explore opportunities regarding charter flights and present it to the Board. To date, that has not happened.”
The league has provided charters in rare cases when needed, and the league paid for charters for the 2022 Finals. Estimates put charters for all 12 teams through an expanded 40-game season at anywhere between $20 million and $30 million.
NBA teams began chartering flights in the late 1980s ,and by 1991 — six years before the WNBA played its first game — there were three teams chartering all of their road trips and 20 of 27 chartering at least some. MLS, which played its first game a year before the WNBA and is a good comparison, agreed to new CBA in 2020 that requires charters for at least eight legs per season (a number that doubles in 2024) plus all postseason matches. Previously, teams were allowed to charter up to four legs (two round trips).
How Stewart can weaponize prioritization for charters
This is where Stewart — who is courting front-office personnel in Turkey, where she plays for powerhouse Fenerbahçe — can play her power cards. And it seems like that’s exactly what she’s doing with her tweet. Often, when powerful people go public, it’s because they can’t get the desired result behind closed doors.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Griner’s detainment, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the top players would choose lucrative overseas contracts and take summers off. Napheesa Collier said this on her podcast in 2019, but in December, she dubbed it “just not worth it.” Collier, who gave birth to her first child in 2022, is reportedly on a league marketing deal.
It has changed the dynamic for some but not others. Stewart, who welcomed a child in 2021, can opt to play an “if, then” game of “if you provide charters, then I’ll play in the WNBA.” She holds the benefit of having offered to contribute monetarily and received offers from fellow players to do the same. It makes them all look less greedy in the eyes of the public, which largely sides with team owners in disputes and believes the WNBA to be unprofitable. Stewart's move places power in the players’ hands.
Engelbert was asked ahead of the Finals if having players back in time is worth costing the league one of its better players. She mostly demurred on the answer.
“We understand the players are going to make the best decision for them and their families. We see that time and time again,” Engelbert said, in part. She ended, “But I understand, and we’re eyes wide open that some players may not choose to do that.”
If the league is moved by the thought that it could lose Stewart or if there is a player-led movement regarding charters before the CBA expires, it could talk to the board of governors to vote in accordance with allowing charters. The talk of charters has been a requirement for all, which is understandable, but it's clearly lofty in terms of price point. And not every trip might necessitate a charter. There must be an in-between option.
The players trading their NIL for an airplane deal would have to be large and substantial each season to make up the $30 million, or at least a fraction of it. Allowing charters but not requiring them for every road trip is an option that grinds competitive fairness to dust, altering the league for years to come. It could be worth it, or it could cause problems.
What available charters would mean long term
Stewart can then play an “if, then” game with teams if that’s the way the charter issue goes down. Tsai is clearly on the side of charters. Clara Wu Tsai, co-owner of the Liberty, is one of the personnel in Turkey as they chase Stewart in a way largely seen only in more established leagues such as the NBA.
Aces team owner Mark Davis, who previously pledged to find loopholes in the CBA to provide better accommodations and perks for his players, is also pro-charters. Aces head coach Becky Hammon, a former WNBA player and assistant in the NBA, called it a “glaring issue” that she wants to see “changed immediately.” Other less well-off team owners might not agree because it would hit their bottom lines.
In this scenario, high-caliber free agents such as Stewart would choose locations such as New York. It’s similar to how players are choosing teams for the benefits outside of the CBA, such as better arenas, practice courts, locker rooms and accommodations.
But not everyone can play in New York, and New York can’t afford to pay all of these top available players under the hard salary cap. Those non-charter teams would be at a disadvantage but would still be able to sign good players ranking maybe at the tippy top of the second tier or lower first tier. Talent is busting at the seams of available roster spots, so the drop-off isn’t as substantial as in seasons past. A good coach can put a team such as that at least in playoff contention.
Potentially, un-leveling the playing fields with charter flights might force the lower-level clubs to invest in the product through things like marketing or social media to grow into the top echelon. However, there is also the chance that those clubs fold. Engelbert has been very cautious about expansion teams and bringing them in before the league is financially viable. Any chance of making waves, which charter prices would do, could be a hard no.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league's board of governors could be forced to change their policies if players such as Breanna Stewart wield their power in choosing whether to play in the league. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
Stewie could lead first super-team
There’s the obvious impact that Stewart, one of the best and most marketable players from her time at UConn to now in the prime of her pro career, could switch teams. Her staying in Seattle would maintain the status quo and likely include a short rebuild period following Bird’s retirement. The club currently has only Jewell Loyd and Mercedes Russell signed to contracts.
Stewart signing with a different team surrounded by superstars would shift power within the league. She’s reportedly meeting with the Minnesota Lynx, who feature former Rookie of the Year Collier, the Washington Mystics with 2019 MVP Delle Donne and the Liberty.
The Liberty are Stewart's speculated landing spot and would create the league’s first super-team built almost exclusively through free agency. Skylar Diggins-Smith signed with the Mercury to create the “Big 3,” but both Diana Taurasi and Griner were draft picks there, which is similar to the 2022 champion Aces, the Lynx dynasty and the Houston Comets dynasty.
It was rare for WNBA free agency to hold any spark since previous CBAs weren’t friendly to player movement. The 2020 CBA changed that, leading 2016 champion and legend Candace Parker to the Chicago Sky to win her hometown team its first title. Her former teammate, Chelsea Gray, also left in free agency and won a championship with the Aces last fall.
New York, an original franchise that has yet to win a championship, added 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones via a trade this month and has a healthy Sabrina Ionescu on the last year of her rookie contract. Ionescu was the Liberty’s No. 1 pick in 2020. The Liberty are also reportedly pursuing Sky champion Courtney Vandersloot to run the point and, therefore, could also bring on Allie Quigley, her wife who is mulling retirement, as a sharpshooter off the bench.
It would be a win-now move given that the Liberty will need to pay Ionescu a significant increase off her rookie contract. Jones might opt not to play in 2024, when arriving a day late means an automatic suspension. That’s still on the table for Stewart as well.
The Tennessee Titans have a total of 34 pending free agents to make decisions on this offseason, with right guard Nate Davis being among Tennessee’s highest priorities.
After a shaky 2021 campaign, Davis rebounded well in 2022, and that’s despite the abject disaster that was the group as a whole.
He did miss five games due to injury, which is one of the bigger concerns about him, but the Charlotte product was easily Tennessee’s second-best offensive lineman after Ben Jones.
Davis is a solid player the Titans should be interested in bringing back, but at the right price.
But Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger goes a step further and believes that Davis is the one free agent Tennessee can’t afford to lose. Here’s his take.
The Titans’ offensive line was a major weakness throughout the 2022 season once left tackle Taylor Lewan went down with an injury, but Davis was a rare bright spot, earning a career-high 66.8 pass-blocking grade. The last thing Tennessee should be doing is letting solid offensive linemen walk, especially as they work out their quarterback situation going forward.
Linebacker David Long Jr. is another good option here, but Tennessee may need to save money on defense with two big edge defender contracts, two big safety contracts and a pending extension for interior defender Jeffery Simmons that should comfortably surpass $20 million per year.
Re-signing Davis solves at least one spot for the Titans in an offseason where they may need to fill four, and he’ll likely come at a reasonable price, which is important for a Tennessee team that won’t have a ton of cap space.
Spotrac estimates Davis’ market value at a three-year deal worth $7.4 million per, which would rank 19th among all guards. If that’s what it takes, Davis should remain in Nashville.
Related
Titans among teams to give their OTs the most help in 2022
As Tom Brady continues to mull his next career move, at least one team apparently plans to stay out of the mix of what could be a frantic free-agency pursuit of the seven-time Super Bowl champion: the Dolphins.
Miami is not expected to pursue Brady, even if the veteran quarterback decides to return to the NFL for the 2023 season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Instead, the Dolphins will stick with rising fourth-year signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa behind center.
Brady, who will turn 46 in August, has not yet announced if he plans to return for a 24th NFL season, but he stands to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the league year and should garner significant interest from teams around the league. He previously has been connected to the Dolphins, but the franchise was punished by the league this past offseason for tampering with Brady on multiple occasions in recent years.
Brady has made clear on more than one occasion that he plans to take his time when deciding what his future will entail after a difficult third season with the Buccaneers. The Bucs finished 8–9, narrowly scraping out an NFC South title before falling to the Cowboys in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Though the team may not have lived up to expectations, Brady still excelled in his 23rd season. He passed for 4,694 yards, which ranked third in the NFL, in addition to throwing 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Schefter previously reported that Miami remained committed to Tagovailoa after a season that saw the 24-year-old suffer multiple concussions and miss four games. Though he posted career highs in passing yards (3,548) and touchdowns (25) this past season, the former No. 5 pick remains in the league’s concusssion protocol over a month after he entered for the second time on Dec. 26.
Despite lingering concerns about Tagovailoa’s long-term health, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier maintained that the franchise expects the quarterback to be back to fully next season. He also suggested the team has no reason to believe that Tagovailoa will be any more prone to concussions moving forward in his career.
