The NFL just had a billion dollar weekend

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Good morning, Winners! And by Winners, I mean everyone in the NFL who got a piece of that billion-dollar pie this weekend.

They say NFL owners usually don't like to spend a ton of money, but if you just started paying attention to the league this weekend, you certainly wouldn't be able to tell. Massive contracts were dished out left and right across to star players across the league.

NFL teams spent a little over $1 billion on contracts over the weekend, according to Front Office Sports. The players got paid.

Some highlights:

• Josh Allen signed a six-year, $330 million extension with the Bills.
• Myles Garrett signed a four-year, $160 million extension with the Browns.
• DK Metcalf got traded and signed a $150 million extension with the Steelers
• Davante Adams signed a two-year $46 million deal with the Rams

Guys. Free agency (technically) hasn't even started yet and we're already seeing this much cash thrown around. The legal tampering period begins at noon on Monday. It's a bit surreal watching it all unfold.

It's happening for a couple of reasons. Our Christian D'Andrea explained a few weeks ago that NFL free agency was going to be pretty boring with so many big names off the table, but it was also going to be expensive, too. Teams collectively had $1.2 billion in cap space to fill.

There are still some interesting names on the table. Sam Darnold is in line for a big payday after a career year. Josh Sweat and Milton Williams are looking for paydays after winning the Super Bowl. We're sure to see some solid deals over the next few days.

Stay tuned, folks. Things are somehow only going to get more expensive.

Dawn Staley calls her shot

After South Carolina whooped on Texas in one of the most highly anticipated SEC conference championship matchups in recent memory, Dawn Staley wants her team's dominance recognized in a major way.

The Gamecocks entered the tournament as a projected No. 2 overall seed for March Madness. Now, after a dominant run through the SEC, Staley says her team deserves to be the No. 1 overall seed, Meg Hall writes.

"When you win this tournament and play the schedule that we play, I do think we're the No. 1 overall seed. We manufactured our schedule to put ourselves in this situation. So I hope the committee doesn't discount our entire resume," Staley told reporters after the game.

Honestly, it's kind of hard to argue with her. South Carolina's run through the SEC was insane. South Carolina beat:

• No. 2 ranked Texas in the championship game (64-45) and No. 10 ranked Oklahoma in the semifinal (93-75).
• South Carolina won each of its games by at least 18 points. There was no competition against some of the best teams in the nation.

Staley makes a pretty compelling case here, if we're being honest.

At the same time, despite avenging its first loss against Texas, it'll be hard for the selection committee to overlook South Carolina's loss to UCLA (who won the Big Ten) and the absolute beatdown by UConn.

South Carolina probably does end up as a No. 1 seed, but No. 1 overall probably won't happen. We'll see. Regardless, you won't catch me picking aginst this team anytime soon.

Fanatics, WYD?

If it's not the jerseys (which are better now), then it's something else. It's always something in baseball, am I right?

I think we all can agree that we've seen a number of MLB hats in our lifetimes that are, uh, let's call them a bit more creative than usual.

Fanatics is dropping what they're calling "overlap" MLB hats. They stack two logos on top of each other — one is just the team's name and the other is its main logo. It looks extremely weird, yes. But it also makes for some hilarious team name typos.

The Nationals new name, you ask? NaWals. Phillies? That's not Phipies. Marlins? MMmi. Not even going to do the Angels. It's diabolical.

I'm not sure who signed off on this one but I'm thankful they did.

Quick hits: LeBron James vs. Stephen A. Smith continues ... The latest QB rumors ... and more

— LeBron James is still dunking on Stephen A. after confronting him about Bronny. Charles Curtis has more.

— Here are the latest rumors about the quarterback carousel in the NFL. Things are going to get hectic today.

— Christian D'Andrea asks if Abdul Carter can help fix some of the Browns' big issues in his latest mock draft. Plus, we got a QB at No. 1 overall.

— The big winner from Myles Garrett's new deal? Micah Parsons. Robert Zeglinski has more here.

— Speaking of LeBron James, this groin strain will keep him sidelined for a while. This is tough.

— Meg Hall asks if Madison Booker can win Texas a national championship. Personally? I think so.

That's a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Monday. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️