In the race to be first with breaking news, NFL insiders sometimes get it wrong. And in the feeding frenzy that erupts when NFL free agency starts each season, the potential for mistakes increases exponentially.
The NFL world saw that happen in real time Thursday afternoon with a pair of conflicting reports on former San Francisco 49ers defensive star Arik Armstead.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted at 3:59 p.m., “A dark horse emerges: The #Jaguars are closing in on a deal to add a huge presence to their defense, as they are set to sign former #49ers DT Arik Armstead, sources say.”
A dark horse emerges: The #Jaguars are closing in on a deal to add a huge presence to their defense, as they are set to sign former #49ers DT Arik Armstead, sources say. pic.twitter.com/YsnBllY6NJ
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2024
At almost exactly the same time, The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini tweeted, “Former 49er DT Arik Armstead is signing with the Bills, per sources.”
As it turns out, Armstead is headed to Jacksonville. Russini almost immediately deleted her post. A minute or two later, she tweeted a correction.
“My mistake, my source with the Bills who was in on Arik Armstead said done deal. Not with Buffalo. Deal is done with the Jaguars,” Russini posted.
https://twitter.com/DMRussini/status/1768367539527012409
Several minutes later, she posted another tweet explaining in detail the behind-the-scenes negotiations going on involving Armstead.
Arik Armstead was in discussions with several teams including the Bills and Titans. In fact the 49ers and Texans had a player-for-player deal in place — Armstead for Collins — but it fell apart after the Texans agreed to terms with edge rusher Danielle Hunter, sources tell me and…
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 14, 2024
Sometimes, these errant reports can be a study in bad reporting. Other times, these errors are just honest mistakes, as in Russini’s case Thursday. If an NFL insider hasn’t made a handful of these errors, they’re either new at the job or they’re not trying hard enough.
Russini is widely admired for her work with The Athletic and before that, as an ESPN SportsCenter anchor and insider. She’s had her share of adventures through the years, including one hilarious tale she shared earlier this month on Pardon My Take. She was on the phone talking with an NFL executive about a story when her 1-year-old went No. 2 in the bathtub.
Every parent has dealt with poop in the tub. The worst. Especially when an NFL GM is calling you @PardonMyTake pic.twitter.com/YL7I6egLvl
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) March 6, 2024
Cleaning up after Thursday’s errant report had to be a breeze compared to that little surprise in the tub. But yes, Armstead is indeed headed to the Jaguars, not the Bills.
[Ian Rapoport and Dianna Russini on Twitter/X]
