Philip Bump: Unable to get attention for peace, Donald Trump turns to the prospect of war.

The former special counsel wanted the chance to tell the story of President Donald Trump’s crimes in public. Now he’s got it.

Letter: The fact that our allies are seriously wondering whether the U.S. is turning into 1930s Germany should be our wake-up call.

Jack Smith's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee marked the first open testimony about his work after presiding over two federal criminal indictments of President Trump.

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It's a big offseason for the Packers.

The Green Bay Packers are getting ready for another franchise-altering offseason. Their first and most important decision has already been made: who is going to be the head coach of this football team. That question was answered with an emphatic Matt LaFleur. The Packers handed him a reportedly lucrative extension to remain their head coach, and included in that was no requirement to make any changes to his staff. A sign that the team is going to be in the Matt LaFleur business for years to come. The second most important decision is who is going to be his defensive coordinator. Jeff Hafley is now the head coach in Miami, leaving the Packers with an opening at DC. I would expect LaFleur to take his time and cast a wide search for the best candidate. That brings us to the list of the Packers’ nine pending unrestricted free agents. A quick glance at the list and you can glean who is a lock to leave: Malik Willis, Rasheed Walker, and Romeo Doubs. Thank you for your contributions and good luck in your future endeavors, but the Packers are not going to shell out big-time contracts in their cap-strapped state to those three. The one player I can’t make heads or tails of is Sean Rhyan. The former third-round pick is hitting free agency for the first time in his career and is one of the more interesting choices this team is going to need to make early in this offseason. Rhyan started the season as a guard, rotating in with former first-round pick Jordan Morgan. It wasn’t until former guard-turned-center Elgton Jenkins was lost for the season with a severe ankle injury that Rhyan was forced into a starting role. The results were a mixed bag overall. His PFF grades at center showed significant inconsistency, with strong performances such as the Thanksgiving Day game against the Lions with a 70.4 grade and an 82.2 grade versus the Bears in Week 16, as well as some poor performances, such as his 28.3 pass-block grade in Week 14 in the first Bears matchup. For a player who hadn’t played center at the NFL level until midway through his fourth season, I don’t think the Packers could have asked for much more. After all, it’s not like Jenkins was lighting it up there either. Rhyan at least brought them a younger, more athletic option. Throw in the fact that he can swing over and play an adequate level at guard, and it gives the versatility-loving Packers even more options as they look to rebuild their offensive line after a disappointing 2025 season. The real question in my mind isn’t so much whether the Packers would want Rhyan back; it’s more a question of what the number is going to be to make that happen and if it makes sense. Spotrac estimates him to land a three-year, $19.7 million deal on the open market. At a $6.6 million AAV, which is similar to the contract former Packer center Josh Myers signed with the Jets, I think the Packers jump at that. The Packers could decide to promote Jacob Monk to starter. He did have an impressive showing in his lone career start in Week 18 against Minnesota, but I’m skeptical they would entrust such an inexperienced player (57 career snaps) in what’s shaping up to be an increasingly important Super Bowl-run season. Monk is a fine backup and will likely stay that way. Behind him, there isn’t any additional competition, and with a limited array of draft picks thanks to the Micah Parsons trade, the Packers will need to use the picks they do have to fortify other roster holes such as defensive line, cornerback, and other parts of the offensive line. If the Packers wanted to go the draft route, there are only two centers ranked in the top 100 prospects, and one of them, Connor Lew, tore his ACL in October and won’t be ready to start the season, still leaving them with a hole at center.  It’s hard to see Green Bay opting to use their limited free-agent dollars on the top free agent on the market, Tyler Linderbaum. Spotrac is projecting him to receive a deal in the $17 million-per-year range. That’s way too rich for Green Bay given their cap constraints. Connor McGovern, Ted Karras, and Ethan Pocic round out the rankings of the top five free-agent centers (in addition to Rhyan), but McGovern will be too pricey, and Karras (age) and Pocic (Achilles injury) will likely take them out of consideration for a Green Bay offense that loves it's youth and doesn’t need any additional rehabbing players. Rhyan's knee injury suffered on the final drive of the season isn't anything of long term concern by all reports.  Factoring in the lack of free-agent options and dollars, along with the dearth of prospects in this year’s draft, it makes all the sense in the world to bring back Sean Rhyan if they can make the numbers match up. Out of all nine of the Packers’ pending unrestricted free agents set to hit the market this offseason, bringing back Sean Rhyan to help provide some level of stability should be an easier decision for Brian Gutekunst. Filed Under: FeaturedGreen Bay PackersDan Saia -Dan Saia NFL Categories: Green Bay PackersTags: Sean RhyanGreen Bay Packers free agentsNFL offseason Like 0 points

The Green Bay Packers have four starters who are now scheduled to be unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins in March. They include left tackle Rasheed Walker, offensive lineman Sean Rhyan, wide receiver Romeo Doubs and linebacker Quay Walker. Based on the team’s current cap situation and lack of first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, the player that it makes the most sense to re-sign among those four is Rhyan even though he may be the least glamorous of the bunch. There are several reasons that re-signing Rhyan to a short-term deal makes sense for the Packers. The most obvious is cost. The Packers won’t have as much money to spend in free agency this year so re-signing Doubs, Quay Walker, and Rasheed Walker will be more difficult. As an offensive tackle. Rasheed Walker could command $20 million per year according to spotrac.com. That would be far more than what Walker’s shaky 2025 season indicates he’s worth. The Packers also have cheaper alternatives already on the roster in 2024 first round pick, Jordan Morgan and 2025 second round selection Anthony Belton. As an inside linebacker, Quay Walker has been projected to get close to $10 million per year. That’s also more than the Packers are probably willing to pay. The Packers have Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper on the roster to compete for Walker’s role and could also add a player in the draft to compete with them. The Packers have depth at wide receiver with Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, 2025 first round pick Matthew Golden and 2025 third round pick Savion Williams returning. Watson would be the only one of those players not on a rookie contract. Under those circumstances, it wouldn’t make sense to pay Doubs the roughly $12 million per year he’s projected to be offered on the free agent market. But Rhyan would be cheaper. The market for the former UCLA star isn’t expected to be as robust, and the Packers may be able to bring him back on a two-year deal at around $6-$7 million per season. That could fit into their budget a lot easier than the other potential free agents. Rhyan also offers the team versatility. He has started at both guard positions and at center. He cannot be considered anything more than an average starter, but he does bring tenacity and toughness to the table. Rhyan has graded out better as a run blocker than a pass protector. The overall run blocking of the Packers offensive line has been a major shortcoming for the team this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Rhyan ranked in the bottom 20 percent of qualified centers this season but was still considered a starting caliber player. The Packers offensive line is already facing major changes. Rasheed Walker is expected to depart in free agency. The Packers are also expected to part ways with veteran Elgton Jenkins for salary cap reasons. Jenkins was the starting center until he suffered a season-ending injury midseason and Rhyan took over. If Rhyan also departs, then three-fifths of the starters will be gone heading into next season. One of the returning players, right tackle Zach Tom, will be returning from a season-ending injury as well. The only other center the Packers have available now is Jacob Monk. Monk remains unproven. In two NFL seasons, the former Duke star has taken just 57 snaps on offense. They came in the final two games of the 2025 campaign with 51 of them coming in the season finale against the Vikings. That was Monk’s first career NFL start. Again, the Packers could draft another interior offensive lineman, but it would be difficult to rely on the combination of a rookie and Monk to start at either center or guard. If the money is right, a short-term deal could make sense for both sides. For Rhyan, signing a short-term deal with the Packers would give him a chance to fight for a starting job in a system he is familiar with. If he plays well, he can either sign another extension in Green Bay or hit the free agent market with more leverage than he’d have now. For the Packers, it would add continuity to the offensive line and give the team a versatile player who could fill in anywhere along the interior of the offensive line much like Lucas Patrick did a few years ago. Plus, the risk would be minimal as Russ Ball would almost certainly structure the deal in a way that would make it easy for the Packers to talk away after one year if things didn’t work out. Bringing back Rhyan may not be a headline making move, but it could be a win-win for the player and the team and add some stability and depth to a unit that needs both. Filed Under: FeaturedGil Martin   PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE. __________________________ You can follow Gil Martin on Twitter @GilPackers __________________________ NFL Categories: Green Bay PackersTags: Green Bay PackersSean RhyanBrian GutekunstJacob MonkRasheed Walker Like 0 points

The civil rights attorney is being charged in connection with an anti-ICE protest in a St. Paul church.

It’s time again for CatVideoFest, a celebration of cats and their adorable antics.

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