diff --git a/CRAN-SUBMISSION b/CRAN-SUBMISSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..216f599
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CRAN-SUBMISSION
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Version: 1.6.0
+Date: 2025-11-14 15:54:04 UTC
+SHA: bf02fecf6caf26be69dccf5197355ff1a89431e1
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 6f57a01..5f51aa2 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: nflplotR
 Title: NFL Logo Plots in 'ggplot2' and 'gt'
-Version: 1.5.0.9003
+Version: 1.6.0
 Authors@R: 
     person("Sebastian", "Carl", , "mrcaseb@gmail.com", role = c("aut", "cre"))
 Description: A set of functions to visualize National Football League
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 5ac0fef..ccaa025 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# nflplotR (development version)
+# nflplotR 1.6.0
 
 * Added new experimental function `gt_pct_bar()`. A helper that adds filled percentage bars to 'gt' table to add context to values. (#76, #77)
 * Changed css styling of images in package documentation by CRAN request. (#90)
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 * The theme elements `element_nfl_logo()` and `element_nfl_wordmark()` now clean team abbreviations by calling `nflreadr::clean_team_abbrs()` and insert empty grobs for mismatches. 
 * All geoms and theme elements will print more informative warnings about team abbreviation, or player ID mismatches.
 * The gt logo rendering functions now add alt text for accessibility and to silence an annoying pkgdown warning. (#69)
-* nflplotR now requires R 4.1 because magick needs this R version. This also follows the [Tidyverse R version support rules](https://www.tidyverse.org/blog/2019/04/r-version-support/). (#71)
+* nflplotR now requires R 4.1 because magick needs this R version. This also follows the [Tidyverse R version support rules](https://tidyverse.org/blog/2019/04/r-version-support/). (#71)
 
 # nflplotR 1.4.0
 
diff --git a/R/nfl_team_factors.R b/R/nfl_team_factors.R
index 63f5d9d..40d4693 100644
--- a/R/nfl_team_factors.R
+++ b/R/nfl_team_factors.R
@@ -66,7 +66,13 @@ nfl_team_factor <- function(teams, ...) {
   n_args <- rlang::dots_n(...)
 
   # load nflreadr teams and make it a data.table
-  nfl_teams <- data.table::setDT(nflreadr::load_teams())
+  nfl_teams <- try(data.table::setDT(nflreadr::load_teams()), silent = TRUE)
+  if (nrow(nfl_teams) == 0L) {
+    cli::cli_alert_warning(
+      "Failed to download team info. Will return teams data."
+    )
+    return(teams)
+  }
   div_split <- data.table::tstrsplit(nfl_teams$team_division, " ")
   nfl_teams$team_division_rev <- paste(div_split[[2]], div_split[[1]])
 
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index d6c20c4..ab43263 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ NULL
 # nocov start
 release_bullets <- function() {
   c(
-    '`devtools::check_mac_release()`',
     '`nflfastR:::my_rhub_check()`',
     '`pkgdown::check_pkgdown()`',
     '`nflfastR:::nflverse_thanks()`',
diff --git a/cran-comments.md b/cran-comments.md
index 227d6f1..6c209e9 100644
--- a/cran-comments.md
+++ b/cran-comments.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Submission
 
-This is a minor release that makes nflplotR compatible with ggplot2 v4 and now fully transitioned its internals to ggpath v1.1.0
+This is a minor release that fixes an issue with images in Rd files (requested by CRAN) and introduces a new experimental feature.
 
 ## R CMD check results