Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! 

I have no idea how it happened, but football is already back. I repeat, football is back. There is going to be actual NFL football on TV tonight and there's a 100% chance I'm going to watch, if only so I can see the new kickoff rule in action. If you still have no idea how the new kickoff rule is going to work, don't worry, we're going to cover it in today's newsletter. 

We'll also be covering a few other things, so let's get to the rundown. 

As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter and if you don't have any friends, then just tell some random person that you run into today. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. 

When it comes to the Hall of Fame game, you rarely ever see any starters on the field, but I'm going to be watching anyway because it's first NFL action of the 2024 season and I was starting to have serious withdrawals. 

If you only plan on watching the five minutes of the game, make it the first five minutes. The NFL's new kickoff rule will be used for the first time tonight and it will happen on the opening kickoff. The rule is so crazy that we're going to have a kickoff rule refresher coming up later in the newsletter

If you're wondering who's going to be on the field, Bryan DeArdo answered a few key questions about tonight's game, including who you can expect to see: 

• Will Caleb Williams or C.J. Stroud play? "No, neither starting quarterback will be taking part in Thursday's game. With Williams out, Tyson Bagent will get a chance to show what he can do. An undrafted rookie last year, Bagent split his four regular-season starts while completing nearly 66% of his throws. While it isn't official, it's expected that Davis Mills will start in Stroud's place."
• Will ANY starters play for either team? "The Bears have already announced that none of their starters will play. The Texans are also not expected to play any of their starters. Thursday night will largely be a chance to watch young players who are looking to take advantage of the spotlight."
• Bears and Texans history in the Hall of Fame Game. "Chicago is 4-1 all time in Hall of Fame games. Ironically, the Bears have made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons they've participated in this exhibition (1977, 1990, 2005 and 2018). The Texans' first-ever game was actually their matchup against the Giants in the 2002 Hall of Fame Game."
• Why the Bears and Texans were chosen to play in the game. "The two teams picked for the Hall of Fame Game are picked based on whether they have any Hall of Famers being inducted this year. The Bears have Devin Hester and Steve McMichael being inducted to the Hall this weekend. For the Texans, former wideout Andre Johnson will become the franchise's first player to be enshrined."

Breech's pick: Texans 20-13 over Bears (Texans cover +1.5). It's the bottom of the Bears roster against the bottom of the Texans roster, which means I'm going to take the team that I think has the better roster and that's the Texans. 

Look, I'm not going to lie: 80% of the reason that I'll be tuning into the Hall of Fame Game tonight is just so I can see the new kickoff rule in action. The NFL's 32 owners approved the kickoff change in March and what they approved is one of the most dramatic rule changes in modern NFL history. 

Here's a refresher on the new rule. 

Of the 22 players on the field for the play, 21 of them will be in the receiving team's territory. That number will break down like this for the kicking team: 

• Kicker will be by himself. The kicker will set up the ball at his own 35-yard line and after kicking it, he won't be able to cross midfield until the ball is in play. The ball will be considered in play if the returner catches it or if the ball hits the ground in the landing zone or if the ball gets to the end zone. 
• Coverage team will be lined up together.  The other 10 players on the kicking team will be lining up at the receiving team's 40-yard line. Each player has to have at least one foot on the 40 before the play can start. Also, the kicking team has to have five players on each side of ball, so they won't be able to load up to one side. 

As for the receiving team, their setup will be slightly different. 

• Most of the receiving team will be at the 35-yard line. The receiving team has a 5-yard setup zone that runs from its own 30 to its 35-yard line. Seven players from the receiving team must have their foot on the 35-yard line. The receiving team can also have two more players who are in the setup zone, but who aren't touching the 35-yard line. Those two players will be lined up outside the hashes. 
• Receiving team can have two returners.  The receiving team can put one or two returners back to field the football, but if they decide to utilize just one returner, then the extra player will have to line up in the set-up zone between the 30- and 35-yard line. 

Now that we have the formations out of the way, let's get to the next part of the rule: The landing zone. 

• What is the landing zone? This is the part of the field that's between the receiving team's goal line and the receiving team's 20-yard line. The kickoff coverage team and the blockers on the receiving team CAN'T MOVE until the football has either been fielded by a returner or touches the ground in the landing zone. 
• Fair catches will likely be nonexistent.  Players will have the option of making a fair catch, but there's no incentive to do it. Under last year's rule, a fair catch by a returner that came anywhere inside the 25-yard line meant that his team would get the ball at the 25-yard line. Under the new rule, if a player calls for a fair catch, his team will get the ball at the spot where the fair catch was called, according to an NFL spokesman. This means that if a player calls for a fair catch at his 11-yard line, then his team will take over at the 11-yard line. 

The new rule will also add three different types of touchbacks and this is where things get kind of confusing, so you're definitely going to want to pay attention here. 

• Touchback at the 40-yard line. If the kickoff doesn't make it past the return team's 20-yard line, then the ball is considered out of bounds and the return team will get possession at its own 40-yard line (or 25 yards from the spot of the kick). If the ball is kicked out of bounds, the receiving team will get the ball at its own 40 or the spot where the ball went out of bounds.  
• Touchback at the 30-yard line.  If the ball is kicked into the end zone on the fly, then the receiving team gets a touchback at its own 30-yard line. This touchback also applies if the ball is kicked out of the back of the end zone. 
• Touchback at the 20-yard line. If a ball hits the ground in the landing zone and then rolls into the end zone -- and doesn't get returned -- then the touchback will only go out to the 20.

These new touchback rules are in place to encourage more returns. 

Anyway, hopefully this will all make sense once you see the rule in action tonight, and if it still doesn't, then blame the NFL for making such a complicated rule. 

The Buccaneers have quietly been dealing with a contract situation involving Tristan Wirfs during training camp, but that drama is now over after the offensive tackle agreed to a record-setting deal on Thursday. 

Here's what you need to know: 

• Wirfs is now the highest-paid offensive linemen in NFL history. The three-time Pro Bowler has agreed to a five-year, $140.63 million extension that includes $88.24 million in guaranteed money. The 25-year-old will be pulling in an average of $28.1 million per year, which edges Detroit's Penei Sewell ($28 million per year) for the title of highest-paid offensive linemen. 
• Buccaneers had no choice here. After being selected with the 13th overall pick in 2020, Wirfs spent the first three seasons of his career at right tackle. However, he made the switch over to left tackle last season and after earning a Pro Bowl nod at his new position, it became pretty apparent that the Bucs were going to have to reward him with a monster contract. 
• This isn't good news for San Francisco. The starting left tackle for the 49ers, Trent Williams, is currently holding out of training camp because he wants a bigger contract. The fact that the tackle market just went up isn't good news for the 49ers, because it means that Williams' asking price might also have just gone up. 

As for Wirfs, although he was looking to get a new deal this offseason, he didn't hold out. Instead, he staged a hold-in, which is where a player shows up, but doesn't practice. Wirfs was at minicamp and he reported to training camp, but he had been sitting out the padded practices. You can check out our full story on Wirfs here. 

This is a big year for several quarterbacks out there who have yet to answer the question of whether they can actually be a star QB in the NFL. With that in mind, Tyler Sullivan decided to take a look at five unproven quarterbacks who have a chance to shine this year. 

Sully ranked the quarterbacks based on who has the best chance of having a big year. Let's check out the top three guys in his rankings: 

1. Jordan Love. "When you just became one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, it's hard to make an honest case of still needing to prove yourself. Contract aside, however, Love does still need to show that his run down the stretch last season was no fluke."

2. Will Levis. "After spending the entire offseason and summer preparing to be the full-time starter and Tennessee boosting the roster around him, Levis could surprise people with just how big of a leap he takes."

3. Anthony Richardson. "No one is denying Richardson's talent. Even in the small sample size we saw as a rookie last year, it's clear why the Colts were so enamored with him that they selected the Florida product with the No. 4 overall pick. That said, Richardson's play style does leave some cause for concern going forward."

If you want to see Sullivan's full ranking, you can check that out here. 

The NFL took a huge punch to the gut last month when the league was ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages for violating anti-trust laws with its 'Sunday Ticket' distribution model. Although the league lost the case, there's a chance that the NFL might not have to hand over any money in the case. 

• The NFL is asking the court to dump the verdict. The league was back in court on Wednesday in an effort to get the judgement thrown out. "Today we asked the district court to set aside the jury's verdict in this case, which is contrary to the law and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial," the league wrote in a statement. "The NFL's media distribution model is the most fan friendly in sports, with all games broadcast locally on free over-the-air television in addition to many other choices available to fans who want even more access to NFL content. We will continue to pursue all avenues in defense of the claims brought in this case."
• The judge could throw out the verdict. It's not clear what's going to happen, but there's certainly a chance that U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez decides to rule in the NFL's favor. According to the Associated Press, Gutierrez does not like the fact that the jury went rogue when it came up with the amount of damages the NFL was expected to pay. Since the jury didn't follow Gutierrez's instructions, he could lower the amount of damages or he could throw out the entire verdict and order a new trial. 
• NFL will take it on the chin if it loses.  If Gutierrez rules against the NFL, the league could end up paying out a total of $14.1 billion since damages can be tripled in federal antitrust cases. If Gutierrez sticks with the ruling, the NFL still wouldn't have to pay out any money just yet because the league would then be able to appeal the case. 

Gutierrez will be making a decision at some point, but the judge hasn't given any sort of timetable for his decision, so that will be something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks. You can read more details on the case here. 

It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Tarik Cohen retires. The former All-Pro kick returner, who was looking to make an NFL comeback with the Jets, has decided to retire, according to ESPN. This is a shocking decision, considering the 29-year-old was having a solid camp with the Jets. Cohen hadn't played in an NFL game since 2020, but he seemed to have a decent shot to make the Jets' roster. 
• Packers unveil white helmet for 2024. For the first time in franchise history, the Packers will be wearing white from head to toe for a game. The team unveiled a white helmet on Thursday and that helmet will be worn with their white color rush uniforms. The new look will make its debut in Week 7. You can check out the white helmets here. 
• Aaron Rodgers might actually play in the preseason after all. Jets coach Robert Saleh made it sound like Rodgers wouldn't be playing in the preseason, but apparently, no one told the QB about those plans. "That's news to me," Rodgers said. Based on his response, it seems like there's at least a chance that he might try to talk Saleh into letting him see some action in at least one game. 
• NFL to use Hawk-Eye technology in preseason. The chain gang could soon be going the way of the dinosaur. The NFL will be using Hawk-Eye technology during the preseason this year to measure first downs and if things go well, it could be implemented for the regular season in 2025. You can read more details about the league's plans here. 
• Pro Bowl staying in Orlando. For the second straight year, the Pro Bowl will be played in Orlando, the NFL announced on Thursday. Over the past 10 years, the Pro Bowl has been held in three different cities: Orlando, Las Vegas and Honolulu. Orlando hosted the games in February and will now get it again.