Syracuse Professional Athletes

Kyle McCord Put on a Show. Now What?

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord may have played himself into a headache for the Green Bay Packers front office — or at least forced a real conversation where there might not have been one before.

In the Packers' preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals, McCord was nothing short of electric. He threw for 226 yards, four touchdowns, and posted a 119.5 passer rating, capping his night by engineering a fourth-quarter comeback in a wild 42-38 Green Bay victory. It was the kind of performance that gets highlight reels made and depth charts reconsidered.

The problem — if you can call it that — is what comes next.

Despite the four-score outing, early roster projections from Yahoo Sports suggest the Packers still view McCord as their QB3, not QB2. The backup quarterback battle has been framed all preseason as Tyrod Taylor's job to lose, and one brilliant preseason finale may not be enough to upend the veteran's incumbency. Taylor brings experience and a known commodity to a team that runs through Jordan Love; McCord brings upside and, now, a legitimate case.

The debate has been loud enough to merit multiple rounds of takes: arguments for McCord center on his arm talent, his clutch performance under pressure, and his youth. Arguments for Taylor lean on veteran steadiness and a lower bust risk for a team with genuine Super Bowl aspirations. Love, for his part, served as the play caller from the sideline in the second half of the finale — a sign the Packers aren't risking their franchise quarterback in August exhibitions. That puts even more weight on what the backups did, and McCord used every snap to make his case.

The roster cutdown deadline will render the verdict soon. But McCord's preseason has unambiguously changed the tenor of that decision.

Elsewhere in Orange Nation

McCord wasn't the only Syracuse alum drawing attention this week. In Los Angeles, linebacker Marlowe Wax earned recognition from Pro Football Focus following the Chargers' preseason matchup against the 49ers, where he was cited among the standout performers. Wax's strong showing adds to what has been a competitive camp for a Chargers defense looking to take a step forward in 2026.

Over in New York, safety Andre Cisco is locked in a legitimate starting job competition with the Jets. Cisco has been vocal about staying focused on the team's broader goals rather than fixating on the individual battle with Dane Belton for the starting safety spot. His experience and versatility in the secondary make him a live candidate to win the role outright when final rosters are set.

Three Syracuse alumni — McCord, Wax, and Cisco — all with something real to play for as the regular season approaches. For a program that has worked to rebuild its NFL pipeline, the week offered a useful reminder that the Orange continues to produce players who matter when it counts.

McCord's four-touchdown night is the headliner. But the depth of Syracuse's presence across NFL rosters this preseason is worth noting in its own right.

Three Syracuse alumni are making noise across the NFL this preseason — for reasons both promising and painful.

Garrett Williams Is Back, and the Cardinals Want Answers

The most significant Syracuse story of the week belongs to Garrett Williams. The Cardinals activated the cornerback from the active/physically unable to perform list Thursday, ending a stint on PUP that had kept him sidelined to open camp. The bigger question now isn't whether Williams is healthy — it's where he fits on a Cardinals defense that was moving pieces around without him.

According to Yahoo Sports, Arizona's secondary has been getting healthier across the board, which raises the stakes on Williams proving he belongs in the rotation. A former second-round pick, he has the pedigree to compete for meaningful snaps. Getting off PUP is step one. Earning a role in a crowded room is the harder climb ahead.

McCord Gets His Runway in Green Bay

Meanwhile in Green Bay, Kyle McCord is quietly positioning himself as the Packers' QB3 — and the competition just got a little thinner. The Packers released Kyron Drones, clearing the path for McCord to absorb more reps in training camp and preseason action.

This is exactly the kind of opportunity McCord needed. In a quarterback room defined by Jordan Love at the top, every snap McCord gets in practice and preseason games is résumé-building. Making a 53-man roster as a third quarterback in the NFL is a legitimate accomplishment, and right now, the job appears to be his to lose. The Syracuse signal-caller who made his name in college football's transfer portal era is now navigating a different kind of depth chart battle — and the Packers just gave him more room to make his case.

LeQuint Allen Jr. Caught in Jacksonville's Injury Wave

The week wasn't all good news out of the Orange alumni network. LeQuint Allen Jr. is dealing with an injury in Jaguars camp, adding his name to a growing list of Jacksonville offensive players who have gone down this week. Per Yahoo Sports, the Jaguars have lost three prominent offensive players to injury in a short stretch — a brutal run that puts real pressure on the depth of their roster heading into the preseason.

Allen, a rookie out of Syracuse, was already fighting to carve out a role in a crowded backfield. Time missed in camp is time not spent making the impression he needs. Jacksonville's injury situation could create opportunity for some — but not for a player who's also sidelined.

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Three alumni, three different stories: a veteran cornerback clawing his way back to relevance, a young quarterback seizing a cleared lane, and a promising rookie watching precious preseason days slip by from the sideline. The Syracuse pipeline into the NFL is active — but August has a way of sorting who's really ready.

Two Syracuse alumni are generating NFL preseason buzz this week — for very different reasons.

Bergeron's Big Payday Draws Scrutiny in Atlanta

Matthew Bergeron, the Syracuse offensive lineman who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2023, has landed a significant contract extension — but the deal is drawing more skepticism than celebration depending on who you ask.

The extension arrives as part of a broader Falcons spending spree that also includes a new deal for tight end Kyle Pitts. Critics aren't exactly popping champagne. A Yahoo Sports analysis frames both contracts as Atlanta doubling down on unproven potential rather than demonstrated results — a pattern, the argument goes, that reveals a front office still searching for a winning formula. Bergeron, talented as he may be, hasn't yet ascended to the level of a sure-thing, game-changing guard in the NFL — and the Falcons are now paying him like one.

For Orange faithful, the headline is still a milestone: a Syracuse interior lineman securing a meaningful second contract in the league is no small thing. Whether Bergeron grows into the investment is the question Atlanta's coaching staff will spend the 2026 season trying to answer.

Clark Helped Off Field in Cowboys Camp

Meanwhile, in Oxnard, the news out of Dallas Cowboys camp was more unsettling for Syracuse fans tracking Alijah Clark. The Cowboys defensive back was helped off the field on Tuesday after needing attention from training staff, according to Yahoo Sports.

Details on the nature of the injury remain limited, but being assisted off the field during training camp is never a reassuring image — particularly for a player still working to carve out his role on a stacked Cowboys secondary. Clark, a DB who came out of Syracuse in 2022, has been competing for a spot on a Dallas defense that doesn't hand out roster real estate cheaply. An injury setback, even a minor one, complicates his camp trajectory at the worst possible time.

No official timetable or severity assessment was reported in the sourced coverage, so the full picture on Clark's status remains to be seen as camp continues.

The Bigger Orange Picture

Bergeron and Clark are two of more than 20 Syracuse alumni currently active on NFL rosters — a headcount that speaks to the program's consistent pipeline to the league. Others to watch this preseason include Oronde Gadsden II (Chargers), Andre Cisco (Jets), and Sean Tucker (Buccaneers), among others, as rosters begin to take shape ahead of the regular season.

This week, though, the Orange spotlight belongs to a guard getting paid in Atlanta and a defensive back getting helped off a field in Texas. One storyline carries optimism; the other carries uncertainty. That's training camp in a nutshell.

Matthew Bergeron Cashes In

Three years into his NFL career, Matthew Bergeron has gone from Syracuse draft prospect to one of the most handsomely paid guards in the league. The Atlanta Falcons locked up their fourth-year lineman to a four-year, $96 million extension this week, a blockbuster commitment that underscores just how quickly Bergeron has risen through the ranks since becoming an instant starter as a rookie in 2023.

The deal signals that Atlanta views Bergeron not merely as a quality starter but as a genuine franchise cornerstone — the kind of player teams build Super Bowl aspirations around. For a guard to command that kind of money in Year 4, the production has to match the price tag. The Falcons, evidently, have no doubts.

Bergeron's ascent has been a quiet but compelling story for Orange alumni tracking the pro game. Drafted and plugged straight into the starting lineup, the Canadian lineman never needed a developmental runway — he was protecting quarterbacks and opening lanes from Day 1. Now he's rewarded for it with one of the most significant contracts any Syracuse offensive lineman has signed in recent memory.

Around the Rest of the Orange

Bergeron wasn't the only Syracuse alum drawing attention this week. In Dallas, Cowboys defensive back Alijah Clark was helped off the field during Tuesday's practice session after an apparent injury, adding his name to the team's watch list heading into the preseason stretch. The nature and severity of the injury weren't detailed in early reports.

Elsewhere across the league, the Syracuse alumni footprint remains impressively wide. Zaire Franklin is in Green Bay competing at linebacker for the Packers. Oronde Gadsden II is with the Chargers at tight end. Andre Cisco made the move to the Jets at free safety. Sean Tucker, Nolan Cooney, Riley Dixon, and Ifeatu Melifonwu are all on the Buccaneers' roster — a remarkable concentration of Orange talent on a single NFC South squad. LeQuint Allen is in Jacksonville, Andre Szmyt is handling kicking duties in Cleveland, and Garrett Williams and Trishton Jackson are both in Arizona.

The depth of Syracuse's NFL presence is easy to take for granted, but it's a genuine testament to the program's pipeline. Still, this week belonged to Bergeron. A $96 million extension for an offensive lineman barely into his twenties is the kind of validation that resonates far beyond Atlanta — it echoes back to the Carrier Dome and everything the program has been building on the line of scrimmage.

For Orange fans, the blueprint is clear: trust the trenches.