Vikings Sign Veteran Linebacker Kyle Van Noy as J.J. McCarthy Survives Roster Cuts

September 2, 2026 · 22 sources

Quick Hits

Baseball's biggest news: The Los Angeles Angels are being sold for a record $4 billion. Arte Moreno is out after 23 years, and Stan Kroenke — the billionaire who owns the NFL's Rams — is taking over the team with MLB's longest playoff drought (11 straight years, and counting).
NFL rosters are set: Teams cut down to 53 players this week, and a pair of struggling young quarterbacks — J.J. McCarthy and Anthony Richardson — both survived, meaning their teams are giving them more time.
The NFL-to-college saga is boiling over: Colts GM Chris Ballard called former NFL players returning to college ball "the stupidest s--- I've ever heard," and a Thursday court hearing could decide whether two of them can play for LSU.
Soccer transfer deadline day delivered a blockbuster: Manchester City is signing Chelsea's Enzo Fernández for a record-tying $170 million.
September is here, which means baseball's playoff races are officially heating up — ESPN ranked all of them, with a key Cubs-Brewers series among this week's headliners.

The Vikings have agreed to sign 13-year NFL veteran linebacker Kyle Van Noy, per ESPN (confirming multiple reports). He's 35 with 57 career sacks — an experienced, steady defender added just before the season kicks off.
Bigger Purple news: quarterback J.J. McCarthy, whose rough summer made him a cut-day talking point, kept his spot on the 53-man roster, per CBS Sports. Translation for non-football folks: every NFL team had to shrink its roster to 53 players this week, and Minnesota is standing by its young former first-round pick rather than moving on.
Otherwise a quiet day for the Twins, Wolves, Wild, Lynx, and United.

The rest of the cutdown-day fallout, per CBS Sports: an unusually high number of crowded quarterback rooms around the league, and what the outlet calls a "frightening" new pass-rushing duo formed by the Los Angeles Rams.
Colin Kaepernick, in an interview with NBC News, says he now shuns the NFL because the league is "actively blackballing me" — he'd rather watch college football.
With Week 1 upon us, CBS Sports graded every first-round rookie's preseason, headlined by names like Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson.
For the extremely forward-thinking: CBS' way-early 2027 mock draft has Miami landing Texas quarterback Arch Manning at No. 1 overall.

It's the quiet season, so the "news" is list-making: with the NBA entering its 80th season, CBS Sports is updating the league's famous "75 greatest players" list — arguing four new names belong on a hypothetical Top 80.

The Angels sale is the story of the day: Kroenke takes over a franchise that hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years and will miss again this season. ESPN's FAQ digs into what new ownership might mean for the team and star Mike Trout.
As the stretch run begins, ESPN ranked every playoff race; the Cubs-Brewers series that started Monday looms large. Among this week's fun pitching storylines: Rays starter Freddy Peralta faces the Mets just a month after they traded him — a revenge-game setup if there ever was one.
Also on the mound: scuffling Rangers ace Jacob deGrom drew a soft landing against a struggling Athletics team, per CBS — a game Texas really couldn't afford to lose.

The eligibility fight keeps getting stranger. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian condemned the trend of NFL players returning to college — even though his own Longhorns are using that exact loophole with offensive lineman Cole Hutson. Meanwhile, LSU's Lane Kiffin awaits that Thursday court hearing on whether ex-NFL players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris can play, while insisting, "We're focused on Clemson," his Week 1 opponent.
Truly odd footnote: CBS reports a third-party insurance company placed prediction-market trades on LSU's season worth up to $3 million — exactly matching the playoff bonus lane Kiffin's contract would pay him. No one's fully explained why.
Week 1 is here. ESPN ran 1 million simulations of the season and "found something for everyone" — teasing scenarios like Akron making the playoff and Cal winning it all — while another ESPN piece asks what's wrong with the SEC after three straight years without a national title.
Early hoops news: Michigan lost five-star freshman Brandon McCoy Jr. to a torn ACL (he'll miss the season), while Missouri got a boost when Mark Mitchell reversed course and returned instead of transferring to Kentucky.

Soccer's deadline day, beyond the Enzo Fernández megadeal (he reunites with coach Enzo Maresca in Manchester): USMNT striker Folarin Balogun's move from Monaco to Everton reportedly hit a medical snag, and Arsenal loaned 19-year-old prospect Ethan Nwaneri to Borussia Dortmund with a January recall clause.
Golf: The Presidents Cup rosters are set — Justin Thomas and young standout Jackson Koivun were among the captain's picks for the U.S. squad in the biennial team event against an international lineup.
US Open fun fact, via ESPN: the tournament's signature cocktail, the Honey Deuce, grew from a farmers market idea into a roughly $17 million-a-year staple — part drink, part souvenir, part status symbol.