April Fools’ Day: Six NFL storylines, quotes and news items that feel like jokes but are actually real

I’m here to wish everyone an unhappy April Fools’ Day.

Now listen, a well-done, harmless prank is a good one. But April 1 is the worst if you work in news. There’s already far too much misinformation and far too many people who think they got the inside scoop from their friend’s mom’s coworker’s Uber driver, who happened to know another Uber driver who picked up a team’s GM at the airport. Having to double-check every social media post to make sure it’s not a parody is one of the more frustrating — but absolutely necessary — aspects of the job.

The NFL produces plenty of 100% legit headlines that read like April Fools’ jokes, and there’s been no shortage recently. Yes, we double-checked. Yes, these are real stories this offseason, no joking, no fooling. That doesn’t mean they won’t make you laugh, though.

1. Chicago Bears exploring move to Indiana

The Bears have been in Chicago for more than 100 years. They are the second-oldest active franchise in the NFL. They have called Soldier Field, on the banks of Lake Michigan and snugly fit into downtown Chicago, their permanent home for more than 50 years.

And now … Indiana is in the picture? Shortly before the 2025 season began, team president and CEO Kevin Warren announced the team intended to build a new stadium in a move to Arlington Heights, Illinois, some 25 miles north of Soldier Field.

“This project does not represent us leaving, it represents us expanding,” Warren’s letter said.

If that announcement ruffled some feathers — and it did — you can imagine how fans reacted when Warren published another letter to fans in December saying Illinois state leaders told him that helping build an Arlington Heights stadium wasn’t a priority in 2026. And then he brought up “Northwest Indiana” as a potential new home.

Then, in February, the Indiana House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means passed a bill (by a vote of 24-0) establishing a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium.

The Bears were very pleased by this, by the way: one state not making them a priority, and the other unanimously doing so.

“The passage of [the bill] would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date,” the Bears said in a statement, via the Associated Press.

I suppose northwest Indiana isn’t that far from Chicago, but it’s in an entire different state! And where are they gonna play? Gary, Indiana? Are we going to nickname them, as I saw on social media and chuckled, the “Gare Bears” like they’re some little kid named Gary?

I get that neither the New York Jets nor the New York Giants play in New York, but I can tell you, as someone who has visited and driven through all four places multiple times, East Rutherford, New Jersey feels a lot more like New York City than Gary, Indiana feels like Chicago.

2. Aaron Glenn says Geno Smith will lead Jets to ‘promised land’

Listen, I’m not going to rag on Aaron Glenn too much for this quote from league meetings about Geno Smith: “I just feel like he’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land.”

It’s a coach’s job to empower his players. Glenn and Smith both could use some belief after their brutal 2025 seasons. The Jets went 3-14 in Glenn’s debut as head coach. The Raiders also went 3-14, and Smith led the NFL with 17 interceptions and 55 sacks.

I like Geno Smith. I think he’s much better than what he showed in 2025, which was a disastrous year. The offensive line was a mess. The only reliable pass catcher, Brock Bowers, was hurt on and off, leaving Smith to throw to a group of rookies, journeymen and backups. Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly got fired midseason, and coach Pete Carroll was gone shortly thereafter. Smith was a Pro Bowler in 2022 and 2023, and his comeback story has been a remarkable one.

The Jets have two first-round picks this year and three next year. They’d love for Smith to simply stay healthy, play decent football and provide a level of stability for an offense that had none last year. If that’s Glenn’s “promised land” — and maybe it is considering the Jets haven’t been above .500 since 2015 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2010 — that’s fine. But the “promised land” as in Super Bowl? Probably not.

3. Jimmy Haslam says Deshaun Watson has a ‘great chance’ to be Browns starter, gets ‘fresh start’

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, at long last, admitted the Deshaun Watson addition was a “swing and a miss” last year. That’s putting it nicely considering Cleveland sent 2022, 2023 and 2024 first-rounders (and other picks) to the Texans and then signed Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal. Watson, who was facing several civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct, didn’t play at all for Houston in 2021 and was later suspended the first 11 games of 2022.

Watson has been awful when on the field for Cleveland, and he’s rarely been on the field. He had season-ending shoulder surgery in 2023 and tore his Achilles in 2024. He re-tore his Achilles a few months later, causing him to miss all of 2025. Overall, he has played in 19 of a potential 68 games.

But Haslam changed his tune at this year’s league meetings.

“Deshaun has a great chance, fresh start, offensive-minded coach, who has in his past been able to work with all kinds of different quarterbacks and make them successful,” Haslam said, per ESPN.

The Browns also have Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, both heading into their second season, on the roster. Playing Watson, 30, would make little sense. The best thing the Browns can do is simply, mercifully get out of his contract, which ends after this upcoming season.

4. Maxx Crosby trade falling through, and the fallout

There’s nothing like a good Friday-night news dump, and the Maxx Crosby deal was certainly a big one: The Ravens were sending two first-round picks to the Raiders for the five-time Pro Bowler.

And then, four days later, they weren’t. At first, the Raiders simply posted this statement:

That felt like April Fools’ Day came early. But it was very much real. The Ravens had failed Crosby on his physical — he had undergone knee surgery just months earlier — but some hypothesized Baltimore simply got cold feet after realizing the massive price it was set to pay.

“How can a team ever trust the Ravens again?” one agent asked CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.

Either way, the next morning, the Ravens signed Trey Hendrickson. Hendrickson then said he had expected to play with Crosby in Baltimore, which obviously never came to be. What a whirlwind.

Inside the NFL’s reaction to Ravens backing out of blockbuster Maxx Crosby trade with Raiders

Jonathan Jones

5. Replacement refs could be on the way

We wish this one was a joke: The NFL has been authorized to hire replacement referees as the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Referees Association barrels toward its May expiration. As Jonathan Jones explained, the league doesn’t have a ton of leverage here; NFL referees are part-time employees, and even though they make mistakes, they are scarce.

Let’s not forget there were replacement refs in 2012, and they were a disaster. “Fail Mary,” anyone?

NFL owners have approved — for 2026 only — to allow the NFL Officiating Department to correct “clear and obvious” misses by on-field officials, should the league have to resort to replacement refs.

6. Welcome to NFL Wednesdays

College football announcers often say, “He’ll be playing on Sundays” when discussing a top player who will eventually play in the NFL. But over time, the NFL expanded to Monday night, Thursday night and, recently, Friday, too.

And now? Welcome to NFL Wednesdays. The 2026 season will open on a Wednesday with the reigning Super Bowl-champion Seahawks playing team TBD. The Rams will play the 49ers in Australia the next day (technically, it will be Friday morning in Australia, and Thursday night in the U.S.)

It’s just the second time in the last 75 years the NFL season has opened on a Wednesday. The other was in 2012, when the Giants and the Cowboys played on a Wednesday to avoid President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.

That’s not all. The NFL is also looking into playing a game on Thanksgiving eve this year.