Details on the death of Aldon Smith, plus NFL teams most likely to end their Super Bowl drought

Details on the death of Aldon Smith, plus NFL teams most likely to end their Super Bowl drought Here's everything you need to know about the NFL for June 15 By John Breech Jun 15, 2026 at 12:58 pm ET • 13 min read Add CBS Sports on Google Getty Images Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!I don't know how it happened, but we have reached the end of the NFL offseason. By the end of this week, all 32 teams will be on vacation until late July when training camp opens.

But before that can happen, we have 11 teams that will be taking the field this week for mandatory minicamp. This is where I point out that not every team held a minicamp this year: The 49ers and Rams both canceled their mandatory minicamp. The NFL is a copycat league, so if either of those teams ends up winning the Super Bowl, I'm guessing everyone is going to cancel minicamp next year.

With the final round of minicamps getting underway, we'll go through some overreactions from last week's set of minicamps in today's newsletter. As always, here's your reminder to tell your friends to sign up for the newsletter. It makes the perfect Father's Day gift, and that's mostly because it's free.

Alright, let's get to the rundown. 1. Former NFL All-Pro Aldon Smith passes away at 36 Getty Images The NFL suffered a tragic loss over the weekend with the death of Aldon Smith.

The former 49ers All-Pro defensive end passed away on Saturday in the Bay Area at age 36. Here's what we know about the situation: Smith's final act was a display of kindness. Just hours before he died, Smith helped deliver some pizzas to a local charity, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Smith was with a friend, Amir Shirazi, on the day of his death. According to Shirazi, the two stopped at a gas station after delivering the pizzas and then made a pitstop at Shirazi's house in Los Gatos, California. Shirazi ran inside his house, and when he got back out, Smith was slumped over in the car.

"He was perfectly fine an hour before," Shirazi told the Chronicle. "I came out and he was basically dead in my front seat. I'm just in shock."

Smith was once viewed as one of the top young pass rushers in the NFL, but legal problems derailed his career, as he was arrested 10 times in nine years. Smith's career got off to a hot start. The 49ers selected Smith with the No.

7 overall pick in the 2011 draft, and he was a superstar almost right away. During his rookie year, Smith racked up 14 sacks, finishing as the runner-up for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award behind Von Miller. In 2012, Smith was even better: He totaled 19.

5 sacks, which earned him first-team All-Pro honors during a season in which the 49ers ended up making the Super Bowl. Smith still holds the NFL record for most sacks in a player's first two seasons with 33.5.

Smith's troubles started early. Smith dealt with multiple arrests, including an incident in October 2013 when he was hit with three felony charges of possessing illegal assault weapons. Smith was eventually hit with a nine-game suspension to start the 2014 season, and his downward spiral in the NFL started shortly after that.

The 49ers eventually cut Smith following the 2014 season, and he would only play 25 more games in his career (nine with the Raiders in 2015 and 16 with the Cowboys in 2020). After missing four seasons due to multiple suspensions from 2016 through 2019, Smith returned to the NFL in 2020 and had an impressive season with the Cowboys, but he never played another down after that. Smith's haunting final interview.

Just weeks before his death, Smith joined Tee Maultsby for a barbershop conversation. During that talk, he admitted that he wasn't doing well. "I've definitely had better days," Smith said.

"It's along the lines of, it's something I think I've been dealing with my whole life and I'm just struggling with accepting how it's playing out right now." The interview was released in three parts with part one here, part two here and part three here. We've got a full story on Smith, and you can see it here.

2. Ranking teams most likely to end their Super Bowl droughtIf no one in New York City shows up for work today, it's because they're all still out celebrating the Knicks' title win. The Knicks took down the Spurs on Saturday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to clinch their first championship in 53 years.

That's right, Knicks fans suffered for more than five decades before getting the chance to see their team return to the top of the NBA. With the Knicks ending their long drought, that got us thinking about which NFL team has the best chance of ending a long title drought this year. Bryan DeArdo ranked 17 teams based on their chance of bringing their drought to an end.

There are two ways a team could qualify for this ranking: Teams that have gone at least 30 years without an NFL title.Teams that have never won a title.Let's check out the top three teams in DeArdo's rankings: 1.

BillsLast title: 1965 AFL ChampionshipDeArdo's breakdown