Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston is no longer a Nike man.

A Nike official told ESPN on Friday that Winston’s deal expired and the company elected not to renew the former No. 1 overall draft pick.

Sources say Winston’s contract expired before the NFL announced he would be suspended for the first three games of the regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The violation relates to a 2016 incident in which Winston was accused of groping a female Uber driver.

Winston apologized in a statement following the suspension, after denying seven months before that the incident took place.

Nike’s biggest bets on former Heisman Trophy winners haven’t panned out. In 2010, they signed Tim Tebow, whose career on the gridiron faltered. In 2016, when he switched to baseball, he went to Adidas.

EAGAN, Minn. — If the hit Anthony Barr laid on Aaron Rodgers last season — which broke the Green Bay quarterback’s collarbone — took place this season, it would be deemed a penalty.

According to NFL official Pete Morelli, who explained the league’s rule changes to a group of Twin Cities media on Thursday, Barr’s hit would fall under a point of emphasis the NFL has instituted for 2018. It would be a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer.

Rule 12 in the NFL’s 2018 rulebook details player conduct. Under Article 9, which explains the rules around roughing the passer, the manner in which a quarterback in a defenseless position (which is just after he’s completed throwing a pass) is tackled is the point of emphasis.

The rule states the following:

“A rushing defender is prohibited from committing such intimidating and punishing acts as ‘stuffing’ a passer into the ground or unnecessarily wrestling or driving him down after the passer has thrown the ball, even if the rusher makes his initial contact with the passer within the one-step limitation provided for in (a) above, When tackling a passer who is in a defenseless posture (e.g., during or just after throwing a pass), a defensive player must not unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight. Instead, the defensive player must strive to wrap up the passer with the defensive player’s arms and not land on the passer with all or most of his body weight.”

According to Morelli, everything boils down to whether a defender uses his full body weight to bring down a quarterback any time he is in a defenseless position.

“Players will have to kind of roll to the side when they make that tackle instead of plopping down on him (the quarterback),” Morelli said. “The Aaron Rodgers would be a foul this year. As long as he’s out of the pocket, established and all that. But if he’s running, that’s not the same.”

On the play in question, Rodgers rolled out of the pocket to his right and launched a pass. Barr took the two steps required before wrapping the quarterback up by the waist and tackling him.

Upon being tackled, Rodgers braced himself with his right (throwing) arm as he hit the turf. Barr brought Rodgers to the ground and rolled off the quarterback’s left shoulder within seconds of completing the tackle. Barr was not penalized.

The rule, according to Morelli, applies to a quarterback whenever he’s in a defenseless position, which could be in the pocket or whether he runs and sets up again outside of the pocket.

“If you roll out and get set up, you’re still a passer,” Morelli said. “But if you’re rolling out and throwing and a guy’s chasing you and tackles you, you’re not defenseless. They get two steps and they can tackle you. Becoming defenseless is setting up again outside the pocket.”

Offensive guard J.R. Sweezy is back with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks re-signed the veteran lineman on Wednesday. Terms were not disclosed. Seattle waived injured guard Avery Young in a corresponding move.

Sweezy, 29, spent his first four seasons with the Seahawks after being selected in the seventh round of the 2012 draft, starting 49 games. He signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2016.

But the Buccaneers released Sweezy on June 29, moving on from the veteran offensive lineman who started 14 games at right guard for the team in 2017.

Sweezy had missed OTAs and mandatory minicamp this offseason recovering from a leg injury. A source told ESPN that Sweezy has officially been cleared to resume football activities.

After Logan Mankins retired, the Bucs signed Sweezy to a five-year contract worth $32.5 million in 2016. But after Sweezy missed that season while recovering from back surgery, the Bucs restructured his contract heading into 2017.

ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this report.

RENTON, Wash. – Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin is expected to miss “a couple weeks” with a knee injury, coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday.

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  Seahawks reporter Brady Henderson and Cowboys reporter Todd Archer answer some of the key questions surrounding a potential Earl Thomas-to-Dallas deal.

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  Seahawks linebacker Josh Perry announced his decision to retire Monday in a statement on Twitter, saying the most recent of his six concussions was a result of a “pedestrian” hit.