Rakitic decide entre Xavi, Iniesta y Modric: "Solo tuve un año con él" — and more

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While the news of Stefon Diggs’ upcoming release dominated headlines, the New England Patriots quietly made another personnel decision.

Cornerback Alex Austin will not be tendered as a restricted free agent and enter the open market next Wednesday. NFL insider Jordan Schultz was first to report the news.

Austin, 24, arrived in the NFL as a seventh-round selection by the Bills in the 2023 draft. After relatively brief stints in Buffalo and Houston, he joined the Patriots in November of his rookie campaign and has since appeared in 29 games with six starts. He registered 31 tackles as well as an interception.

In 2025, Austin appeared in 15 of 21 contests but was on the field for only 11.2% of defensive snaps and none from Week 5 on. He lost his fourth position on the cornerback depth chart to Charles Woods early in the season, missed time on injured reserve with a wrist injury, and was employed exclusively on special teams down the stretch.

Austin entered the offseason as one of five restricted free agents the Patriots had to take care of. In addition to him, quarterback Tommy DeVito, offensive tackle Yasir Durant, defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy and linebacker Jack Gibbens are also RFAs.

The Patriots have until 3:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Mar. 11, to either tender them or let them become unrestricted free agents.

We asked for your views after Celtic's 2-1 win at Aberdeen which moved them up to second in the Scottish Premiership.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Kev: With 16 and 13 points respectively from the last six league matches, Motherwell and Celtic are the form teams in the run-in. Rangers have only gained 10/18. Viljami Sinisalo and Benjamin Arthur have strengthened Celtic's defence. Benjamin Nygren is a constant goal threat and James Forrest continues to lead by example. Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda remain key players and should start against Rangers. The league and cup double is there to be won.

John: It's the same theme every game. Grinding out results. It's not good to watch but still in the hunt. I also think it's about time to leave Meada out the squad. He is just an empty jersey.

Hugh: Our main deficiency remains a natural striker, the stats clearly show we have not scored enough goals and have the poorest goals total of the top four teams. Our board have had three transfer windows to sort this issue out and have failed to do so yet no one has been accountable or held responsible for this glaring and obvious failure.

Ian: I don't even know how we are still in this title race. Extraordinary. If Martin O'Neill can win the title this year, what a legend.

Eck: Another poor performance by Celtic. Week in, week out this team are playing well below standard. The only players that have played consistently well are Kieran Tierney, Nygren and Forrest when he gets a chance. Martin has done his best with a poor team, the Celtic board should try and get Henrik Larsson or Scott Brown when Martin finishes up and invest in a decent striker and central defender.

Benny: At this stage of the season it's about getting three points, however Celtic again were lacklustre and huffed and puffed their way to a win. There is no cutting edge to this side and they are far too slow in the build-up play to win games convincingly. Tomas Cvancara up front was starved of service but his overall game was poor and his movement slow. Sebastian Tounekti continues to frustrate by not being direct enough. Thankfully Nygren saved the game with another valuable goal.

Gerry: A must-win game, well won. This result after the draw against Rangers shows how important that one point was. We move above Rangers and now can concentrate on chasing Hearts. Nygren scores another crucial goal too.

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