Talking the business of sports

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

I don't think Tom Brady has his own national holiday, but we might as well just say it's today because Tom Brady is all we're going to talk about. What I think I'm trying to say here is that if you don't like reading about Tom Brady, then it might be best if you just skip today's newsletter. I won't be offended. 

If you stick around, you'll find out where Tom Brady went during his 11-day hiatus, plus you'll learn just how close Brady came to signing with the Raiders in 2020. We'll also maybe talk about non-Brady things like preseason football. 

Alright, that's enough of that, let's get to the rundown. 

As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link.

After an 11-day absence, Tom Brady is back , but let's be honest, after he takes one look at the current state of the Buccaneers offensive line, he might decide to go on another hiatus. 

Let's check in on how things are going in Tampa Bay. 

The Buccaneers did trade for right guard Shaq Mason in March, but that might not be enough to keep Brady standing upright. 

I thought for sure that Tom Brady taking 11 days off during the middle of training camp would be the craziest thing we heard about Tom Brady this month, but it turns out I was wrong. Apparently, Brady almost signed with the Raiders back in 2020, at least according to Dana White. 

The UFC president joined Rob Gronkowski for an interview during the first ever GronkCast on Saturday and White had a wild story about Brady's free agency. (By the way, Gronk and his family will apparently now be GronkCasting during certain UFC fights, so be on the look out for that). 

Here's what White had to say :

The craziest part of all this is that it now seems like the Buccaneers were Brady's FOURTH OPTION during his free agency tour in 2020. Based reporting over the past two years, it now seems that Brady was eyeing the Dolphins, Raiders and 49ers before he eventually signed with Tampa Bay. 

For the second straight week, we're ranking how rookie quarterbacks played in the preseason and for the second straight week, Kenny Pickett is at the top of our rankings. 

Once again, Pickett was brilliant and the crazy thing about his performances over the past two weeks is that he's looked like the best QB on the Steelers' roster. That doesn't necessarily mean he'll overtake Mitchell Trubisky to win the starting job, but it does mean that Mike Tomlin is going to have a lot to think about over the next three weeks. 

During Pittsburgh's 16-15 win over Jacksonville, Pickett finished 6 of 7 for 76 yards and a TD on two possessions. Pickett also had a 19-yard completion to George Pickens called back after the Steelers were called for holding. The big difference between last week and this week is that Pickett's performance came against legit NFL players. In Week 1, Pickett played the fourth quarter and was mostly going up against the bottom of the Seahawks' defensive roster. This week, Pickett was going up against a Jaguars defense that featured mostly first- and second-stringers. 

If Tomlin wants to give Pickett a chance to win the job, he could start him next week against the Lions to see what he can do. 

Anyway, here is a look at this week's ranking of each rookie quarterback (via Cody Benjamin). 

1. Kenny Pickett, Steelers: 6 of 7 for 76 yards, 1 TD 2. Malik Willis, Titans: 7 of 17 for 80 yards, 1 TD -- five rushes for 42 yards 3. Skylar Thompson, Dolphins: 9 of 10, 129 yards, 1 TD  4. Jack Coan, Colts: 7 of 11, 83 yards, 1 TD 5. Brock Purdy, 49ers: 14 of 23, 128 yards

If you want to check out our full look at how each rookie QB played this weekend, then be sure to click here . 

Note: Desmond Ridder will be playing tonight when the Falcons play the Jets and if dices up New York's secondary, then we'll update our rankings accordingly. 

Every week during the preseason, we'll be creating a winners and losers list, and this week is no exception. Cody Benjamin sat in front of a television for 72 straight hours this weekend so that he could watch every preseason game the NFL threw at us. 

After watching everyone play, here's the list of winners and losers the came up with:  

For a full look at Cody's complete list of winners and losers, be sure to click here . 

The Cowboys made a surprising announcement over the weekend when they revealed that they'll be wearing a second alternate helmet this year. They say everything is bigger in Texas, so I guess it makes sense that the Cowboys will be the ONLY team in the NFL with two alternate helmets.  

Here's what we know about the new look:

If you want to see the Cowboys introduction video for their new helmet, be sure to click here.  

It was a wild weekend in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. 

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