Safety Kevin Byard III, NFL's interceptions leader in 2025, reportedly signs 1-year deal with Patriots

No defense recorded more turnovers last season than the Chicago Bears. Kevin Byard III played a big role in the havoc-wreaking Bears racking up a league-high 33 takeaways during the 2025 campaign.

Now the 32-year-old safety is reportedly headed east, where he'll take his ball-hawking skills to the New England Patriots on a one-year, $9 million deal,according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

In 2025, Byard led the NFL in interceptions — a feat he also accomplished with the Tennessee Titans in 2017 — and finished as a first-team All-Pro for the third time in his career.

Byard picked off seven passes, accounting for 21.2% of the turnovers the Bears forced last season. He sniffed the career-high eight picks he logged with the Titans eight years earlier. At that time, he was a second-year player out of Middle Tennessee and he was playing for then-Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

The two of them will be reunited in New England.

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Byard, a 2016 third-round pick, spent the first seven-plus seasons of his career in Tennessee beforehe was traded midseason in 2023 to the Philadelphia Eagles. His time withhis hometown Eagleswas short-lived, however.

Byardsigned with the Bears ahead of the 2024 season, marking the beginning of his two-year run in Chicago.

This past season, he helped Chicago return to the playoffs for the first time in five years and log a winning record for the first time in seven years.

In addition to his seven interceptions, Byard also tallied 93 total tackles, including 61 solos and 4 TFLs. He also allowed just 24 receptions, 282 receiving yards and three touchdowns through the air, per Pro Football Focus.

Byard will join a Patriots team that was tied for 19th in the league with 19 takeaways in 2025 but forced eight turnovers in the playoffs en route to the Super Bowl.

byJastin Mags

in

March 11, 2026

Safety Kevin Byard III, NFL's interceptions leader in 2025, reportedly signs 1-year deal with Patriots

No defense recorded more turnovers last season than the Chicago Bears. Kevin Byard III played a big role in the havoc-wr...

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Jennifer Lopez Says She Had to 'Sit in What Had Happened' After Her Divorce from Ben Affleck: 'I Couldn't Blame Anybody Else'

Jennifer Lopez says she "had to stop everything" and take a year off after filing for divorce from ex Ben Affleck in 2024

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• "I just decided to be home and sit in what had happened without running away from it through work, through another person, through anything — just sit," said Lopez

• Lopez also said that she is "so happy" being single and focusing on her kids at the moment

After her divorce fromBen Affleck,Jennifer Lopezsays she was done "running away."

In a preview of her upcoming interview onNightlinethat aired Wednesday, March 11, onGood Morning America, the singer-actress, 56, told anchor Juju Chang that she put everything on pause afterfiling for divorce from Affleck, 53, in 2024.

"I had to stop everything and I took a year off. I canceled tours," Lopez told Chang, referring to theMay 2024 cancellation of her This Is Me... Live tour. "I just decided to be home and sit in what had happened without running away from it through work, through another person, through anything — just sit."

The star then added that, in addition to processing what she had been through, it was her kids who took precedence over all else in the wake of her and Affleck's high-profile split.

"I needed to be home with my kids," she said of her twins, whom she shares with ex-husbandMarc Anthony, adding that the teens were "the priority at that time."

"I was just at a point where I was like, 'What is going on with you?' Because I couldn't blame anybody else because I don't think that that's where the lesson is," Lopez added, "and so I really wanted to figure myself out."

Elsewhere in theNightlineinterview, the mom of tworevealed that she is "happy" and loving single life at the moment.Asked if she is "dating up a storm," the star laughed and told Chang, "No. I'm not! God forbid, I don't want to ruin anything!"

As for what there is to "ruin," Lopez went on to explain that she is loving her life as it is at the moment. "It's so nice right now. I'm so happy," the star said. "It's the best. I just feel really good right now."

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"And that was the scary thing for me when I was younger. Like, I didn't know if I could do that," she said of being single. "I was always afraid to do that."

The star also said that she is currently "surrounded by love" despite no current flame in her life.

"I am a mom of graduates this year who are going to college," she said of18-year-old twins,Maximilian "Max" David MunizandEmme Maribel Muniz. "I am a showgirl, and an entertainer and an actor. An entrepreneur. And I am happy. I am happy. And I am healthy. And I am grateful."

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Lopez — who is currently busy with her Las Vegas residency,Up All Night— filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024.

At the time, a source told PEOPLE, "She tried really hard to make things work, and is heartbroken," and added that the star's "kids are a top priority, as they always have been."

Lopez and Affleck had famouslyrekindled their romancein 2021 — more than 17 years after they initially were engaged andpostponed a planned September 2003 wedding.

The stars officiallybroke upfor the first time in January 2004, but remained friendly.

Read the original article onPeople

byJastin Mags

in

March 11, 2026

Jennifer Lopez Says She Had to 'Sit in What Had Happened' After Her Divorce from Ben Affleck: 'I Couldn't Blame Anybody Else'

Jennifer Lopez says she "had to stop everything" and take a year off after filing for divorce from ex Ben Affl...

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Maxx Crosby's surgeon says pass rusher is 'doing very well' in rehab from surgery after Ravens pulled out of trade

The Baltimore Ravens were concerned enough about Maxx Crosby's recovery from offseason knee surgery that theteam pulled outof its expensive trade for the pass rusher. His surgeon, however, believes Crosby is right where he needs to be in his recovery.

Dr. Neal ElAttrache told ESPN that Crosby is "doing  an excellent job attacking his rehab," and that the timing of his physical with the Ravens was unfortunate, as the pass rusher's prognosis will improve the further out he gets from surgery.

ElAttrache's full statement read:

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"Maxx Crosby is doing very well in the early part of his rehab and recovery from surgery to treat a significant meniscus tear and the related stress injury to the bone and cartilage in his knee. He is certainly on track in his planned program … he feels very well and is already much improved compared to before surgery.

"We truly respect the work of the Ravens staff with Maxx regarding the contract physical exam. We also understand the challenge the staff faces when tasked to provide a future risk assessment based on an evaluation early in the recovery process. This is especially challenging when dealing with an elite player like Maxx considering the level of commitment necessary for a team to obtain him. The timing of this assessment is unfortunate because the apparent risk will lessen as his recovery progresses and his return to performance over the next few months becomes clear.

"At this point, Maxx is doing an excellent job attacking his rehab and his knee is responding very well. We look forward to Maxx returning to his elite level of performance this season as planned and for several more to come."

NFL teams interested in trading for Crosby, including the Ravens, reportedly had team doctors meet with ElAttrache, per The Athletic. Both Ravens doctors and independent doctors reportedly believed Crosby's short-term prognosis was positive, but hislong-term status was a much bigger question. That's ultimately what caused Baltimore to pull out of the deal.

It's tough to know what happens next for both Crosby and the Raiders. The team is reportedly open to every option,including keeping the pass rusherdespite splurging on free agents after it looked as though Crosby's salary was off the books. Teams less concerned about Crosby's medicals could re-engage the Raiders in trade talks, but the market for Crosby has lessened in the opening days of free agency. Teams that presumably would have given up significant draft picks have bolstered their defensive lines by instead signing players on the free-agent market.

Given Crosby's immense talent, it wouldn't be a surprise if trade discussions continued to take place. Whether a deal gets done could depend on how teams feel about Crosby's status after a closer look at his medical exams, something Crosby's surgeon says should improve the further the pass rusher is removed from surgery.

byJastin Mags

in

March 11, 2026

Maxx Crosby's surgeon says pass rusher is 'doing very well' in rehab from surgery after Ravens pulled out of trade

The Baltimore Ravens were concerned enough about Maxx Crosby's recovery from offseason knee surgery that theteam pul...

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