OL Trent Brown has battled weight issues throughout his career. He has many reasons to stay in Foxborough before training camp.
He has a clause in his contract that will pay him $200,000 if he weighs 365 pounds by July 15th. It remains to be seen if he collects the money.
There are players out there who will never make it to training camp at the end of July. Some will elect to retire or have no other option when their team releases them.
This happens every year. We will hear some great retirement stories from players at all levels in the league.
Retirement comes to all.
I read a column in the Boston Globe that mentioned a number of NFL players and coaches who are on the "hot seat" this season.
These lists are always silly with a claim that Coach Belichick must have double digit wins this season or his legacy is on the line and so on.
They need to fill space on a slow Sunday in June.
Tim Tebow is getting more attention than he should. He is just another guy on the Jaguars 90 man roster, with only 53 spots available.
Every team faces a situation with the roster they bring to training camp. You start with 90 and end with 53. Some could go on IR or the practice squad.
Football will end for some. It happens every year.
During the Coach Belichick era, the team has called upon their running backs to play a certain role in the offense. It has worked out in most cases
How do you compare James White and Kevin Faulk? Both are very similar in their role and had many big games.
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There seem to be talk about a possible trade of DE Chase Winovich. He might be caught up in a numbers game. Maybe the Pats feel they can get a draft pick. It's better than releasing him during training camp.
I saw a breakdown of his contract. Guys like him earn less than $2 million for the season. Teams can always find a cheaper version with a younger player.
The over/under for wins by the Pats is 9 according to DraftKings. Most of the money line is going to more than nine wins.
It's going to be a very interesting season with the extra game.
It's good for Eli Manning and the Giants that they are back together again as he will assume a role in the front office. Some of it is loosely defined, but he will be involved with fan engagement activities and "content development".
He will have his #10 retired on Sept 26th during a halftime ceremony at MetLife Stadium, in addition to being added to the team's Ring of Honor.
Another two NFL players made the news for the wrong reasons. One was shot four times while visiting his family and another was involved in a motor vehicle stop for reckless operation.
They join a list that stands at three, but will have more names before training camp.
It was only a matter of time before a NFL player got arrested during the break before training camp.
Chiefs DE Frank Clark was that guy in Los Angeles after a traffic stop where he was found to have an Uzi in a bag in his vehicle.
He was detained for several hours after his arrest before being release on bond. His case will focus on whether he was legally possessing the weapon in California.
He will now be monitored by the league.
It's always a big deal for players to get featured on the cover of Madden Football which has been around since 1988. This year's video game will feature Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes.
All players and coaches who are members of their respective unions receive royalty payments for the use of their image by EA Sports.
Coach Belichick isn't a member of the coach's union and has not been part of the game since 2005. It has forced EA to use randomly named characters in his place such as Chad Masters, Josh Moore, Griffin Murphy, Hal Ophamer and the generic "NE Coach". The graphic likeness has a striking resemblance to former front office guy Mike Lombardi.
Belichick has never discussed his reason for opting out and leaving money on the table.
When stars with big contracts demand a trade, the compensation usually isn't the best, especially when they are coming back from an injury.
WR Julio Jones finally got his wish to be traded from the Falcons. He ended up going to the Titans, along with a sixth- round pick in 2023 for a second rounder in 2022 and a fourth in 2023.
The deal leaves the Falcons with $7.75 million in dead salary cap money. The Titans will assume his three year contract, including $15.3 million for this season.
The Falcons are taking a risk, but a healthy Jones will make them a playoff contender.
QB Robert Griffin III faces a career choice at this point. The former #2 overall pick in 2012 is without a team after being released by the Ravens where he spent the last three years as a backup
Injuries derailed his career with the Washington Football Team to the point where he was out of football in 2017 before getting a 1 year/$1 million contract with the Ravens in 2018. He was able to parlay that into a 2 year/$4.5 million deal to be the backup to Lamar Jackson.
Teams are not beating a path to his door, but he recently had an audition with ESPN as an analyst. A television career appears to be an option if he walks away from the game at 31.
Teams around the league are concluding their mini-camps and won't see their players again until training camp starts.
This is always a challenging time for teams to ensure that nobody gets into any legal trouble, but it always happens to a few.
The incidents vary, but it's a mix of what we see every year. It's only a matter of time before we read about someone.
Pats LB Dont'a Hightower spoke to the press today. He cleared up any rumors of retirement and looks to make an impact on the team.
It's well known that his $8 million price tag is a bit high for the Pats. Could he become a salary cap casualty if he doesn't restructure his contract?
The media and sports talk shows are loving the perceived quarterback competition with the Pats.
Cam Newton is the guy until Bill Belichick says otherwise. They say Mac Jones looks good in practice.
Nobody really knows.
QB Cam Newton was on the field throwing the ball for part of the Pats first day of mandatory mini-camp today. He looked fine, but all of that was scripted.
Hopefully, he is well and able to maintain his active role with the offense.
The Pats begin their three day mandatory mini-camp on Monday. Will CB Stephon Gilmore show up?
He is in the last year of his contract that gave him five seasons with $65 million in earnings.
At 31, the Pats don't appear to be ready to open their wallet to a long term deal. He might not have too many options.
We hear a lot of criticism about the four team College Football Playoff system. There are always teams left out much to the anger of fans and the media.
ESPN currently pays $470 million annually for the broadcast rights. If the playoffs expanded to 12 teams, the rights could be worth $1.9 billion annually according to experts.
That's enough money to get the decision makers thinking about a change.
Teams are trying so hard to keep players from getting injured during OTA's. Cam Newton is a prime example of what can happen on one play.
The stark reality is that so many teams often lose a rookie draft pick to injury before the end of training camp. Some of these players aggravate a previous situation, but freaky things happen every year.
The media was quick to jump all over Jaguars rookie QB Trevor Lawrence after he threw two pick-6's during practice.
As the number one overall pick this year, he will be under a microscope and face all sorts of criticism if the team doesn't do well.
It remains to be seen if they can get off to a good start. Trevor will have his challenges ahead of him.
After losing $4 billion in revenue last year, the NFL really wants to fill stadiums with fans who will spend all sorts of money.
There is a great incentive to have a safe and healthy season this time around.
The media is creating a quarterback competition between Jarrett Stidham and Mac Jones during the absence of Cam Newton. The media will draw their own conclusions and spin the story.
Nobody knows how long Cam will be out. Some might claim to know, but they really don't
It looks like Nick Saban can coach at Alabama as long as he wants to after signing an extension that will keep him there until February 2028.
He will be 77 by then which gives him eight more seasons to add to his legacy after wining seven National College Football Championships, including one at LSU.
His career record stands at 256-65-1, while being 165-23 with Alabama since 2007. He has a tremendous recruitment process in place which brings him the best players annually.
It's interesting to look at NFL teams and see who's showing up at their OTA's. Tom Brady has been leading a group of Bucs at the New York Yankees training complex.
Players who feel secure can afford to skip them. The bottom 20% of the roster might not see the end of training camp. They know they need to make some type of impression on the coaching staff.
When QB Cam Newton injured his throwing hand Friday, Jarrett Stidham and Mac Jones moved up to get more snaps with the first team. It gave Coach Belichick a reason to keep both of them around.
Cam might be out until training camp. It was described as a bruise he got after hitting a teammate's helmet while throwing a pass during one of the team's OTA's,
He will now be used as an example of why veteran players should skip OTA's.
Tom Brady told a great story of being at a wedding in 2015 with former Pats QB Cliff Kingsbury who was with the team in 2003.
Kingsbury went on to a successful college coaching career which lead to his present head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals.
It's amazing to think how many have played with Brady.
The great thing about this time of year is that players write their own story with the way they handle being released or traded.
Everyone has a story that repeats through the years. It's part of the game and a personnel transaction.
Former Pats RB Rex Burkhead signed with the Texans today. I'm sure GM Nick Casserio played a major role with their mutual connection to Foxborough.
It's an opportunity for Burkhead to showcase his talent after coming back from a torn ACL suffered in Week 11 last season.
He still needs to make the team. His career is on the line when it comes to his physical well-being.
The sports talk and print media will be sad to see the resolution of the Julio Jones situation. Where will he end up?
Whoever trades for him will either pay his full $15.3 million salary for 2021 or negotiate a new deal.
I don't think the Pats are willing to take on a salary like that, but there are other ways to be creative on a one year deal.
Jones gets a lot of talk because he is so talented, but this is a new season and he wants a fresh start somewhere else.
