Raising The Salary Bar

Saints QB Drew Brees has raised the bar when it comes to the insane salaries being paid to some players. His five years for $100 million surpasses the $96 million contract signed by Peyton Manning.

The contract for Brees makes a bit more sense than Manning's. However, both teams will face salary cap issues down the road. Both of these players will have their contracts restructured at some point.

The NFL salary structure continues to be quite lopsided with a few players making all of the money. So many players end up playing for the veteran minimum, with some incentives thrown in.

A Site For Tissue

Everyone agrees that there might be a link between brain injuries and the violence on the playing field.The recent death of former LB Junior Seau shed light on a couple of institutions competing for a sample of his brain.

The NFL sponsored site at Boston University was vying for the tissue along with the Brain Injury Research Institute. The family finally decided on the National Institutes For Health. The government agency will issue their own findings.

Instead of competing with each other, everyone should be sharing research and working for the common goal. The BU center has been viewed as biased because of their affiliation with the league. It's important to do the research with out being concerned about who gets the credit.

I think the final results will be a nightmare for the NFL.

A Time To Sit

QB Drew Brees has been very adamant about getting a new multi-year contract from the Saints. He has talked about not reporting to training camp. He might now be looking at making a decision. He has until 4pm on next Monday to get a new contract. Otherwise, his only option is to sign for the franchise tag of $16.3 million dollars. He has until the 10th week of the season to sign the tender, but at that point, it will be pro-rated for games missed.

Fans have a hard time feeling bad for him. He will make at least $16.3 million this season, but will be back to square one at the end of the season. He might need to force the hands of the Saints by siting out part of camp.

The Saints have been turned upside down by Bountygate. I can see why he doesn't have a contract yet. Brees wants to play there. I just don't see them paying him the $20.3 million that he wants.

Donovan Time

Many players have their careers ended for them either an injury or lack of a contract from any team. QB Donovan MacNabb is seeing his time slip away as he attempts to find interest from any team..He asked for his release at the end of the 2011 season from the Vikings after being benched  with a 1-5 record and only 4 TD's The Vikings appear to be going with Christian Ponder under center.

This leaves MacNabb hoping to land on some team that needs a veteran back-up QB. His chances of starting are slim to none unless someone goes down with an injury and a team gets desperate. Being 35 years old doesn't help him. Teams are more inclined to groom a younger player for a possible starting job.

MacNabb is a great example of a player who doesn't want to end his career, but knows that his options are few. His end might come through no effort on his part.

Losing Players

College football is filled with players who live on the edge of the law. They are the future of the NFL. An interesting comment by a writer clearly illustrates this.

Of the top seven running backs coming out of high school in 2011, only two are with their same school. That is a horrible statistic. I wonder how the other positions fared.

There are too many arrests in college sports. Football programs seem to be out of control. Schools take a blind eye to it. They are more concerned with putting a successful team on the field and making it to a bowl game. After all, they need to keep the alumnae happy and the money flowing

Colleges stack their rosters with over 90 players. If someone messes up and gets kicked off the team, there is someone else on the depth chart to take their place.

He Might Be Relevant

Players drafted in late rounds sometimes would be better off if they not been drafted at all. They would have been able to sign with the team of their choice. Sometimes, it makes all of the difference in their career.

QB Chandler Harnish holds the distinction being tabbed Mr Irrelevant in this year's draft. He was the last selection, taken 253rd overall by the Colts.

The three year starter at Northern Illinois has a very impressive resume. You wonder why he slipped to the 7th round, but he did. Admittedly, he will have an uphill battle to make the Colts roster, especially with the drafting of QB Andrew Luck.

The last pick has produced some decent players over the years. Former Pats LB Marty Moore carved out a productive career over the course of seven seasons.It remains to be seen what will happen with Harnish. He might never take a snap or could be another Tom Brady. You never know with some of those late picks

Is He a Captain?

It didn't work last season when Jets Coach Rex Ryan appointed several  payers as captains. Mark Sanchez and Santonio Holmes ended up having a very public spat as the team floundered to a record of 8-8.

Now he is saying that the team has plenty of leaders and captains are not needed. He might be right on that as he tries a different approach this season. It can't get any worse from last season.

I wonder how the team will handle the pre-game coin toss. Usually the captains come out to mid-field. If Ryan designates a player, isn't he at least an honorary captain for the game?

Tale of the Ring

We always hear about players wanting to win a Super Bowl ring. It's all about getting one. Some players decide where to sign based on that. Whenever you hear of a player selling their ring, you wonder what the story is behind it.

Former Green Bay DT Jay Ross is selling the ring he received as a Practice Squad member on the Super Bowl XLV championship team. For him, it might be financial reasons.

He signed with Atlanta after being undrafted in 2010. He made it to the  final cut at  training camp. The Packers signed him on October 20, 2010 to their Practice Squad, but was never activated for any games.

He made it to the final cut of the Packer's 2011 camp, but never caught on with another team until the Buffalo Bills signed him to their 90 man roster. He gets another shot at making a living, but needs to make the roster to get a game check.

Ross is like so many other players on the fringes of the NFL. If they get on a Practice Squad, they will make about $5,000 per week. He also sat out last year because nobody wanted him. This might be one of his last chances.

Why not sell the ring if he needs the money.

Moving Around

It's very obvious that the league wants to get a team in Los Angeles and London sooner rather than later. LA has the 2nd largest media market in America. The NFL has been void from there for so long. They need to have a team there. London will work out whenever they decide to go forward. Those two are the best cities for future franchises.

The 22

The NFL does a great job in controlling the program content of the NFL Network. They announced that their "Game Rewind" program will show the "Coach's 22" film of the game. Fans will be able to see the same game video that the coaches analyze.

I'm a big supporter of this. I wonder if the NFL Network will show it during it's nightly programming. I'm sure they will.They do a great job with everything. It will be great to hear the comments of the coaches.

I'm sure Coach Belichick will give some incredible commentary whenever he does it.

The Inferno Dims For Dante

Some players make a big splash as first round draft picks and end their careers with little notice. We are seeing this with former QB Dante Culpepper. He is a great example of how one injury can alter a career.

He was a first round pick out of Central Florida by the Vikings in 2000. He didn't play until the following season, but made up for lost time. By 2004, he had played in three Pro Bowls and lead the league in 2004 with 4,717 passing yards and 379 completions. The following season he suffered a devestating knee injury that would alter his career.

He was released by the Vikings. Over the next four seasons, he played in a total of 38 games between Miami, Oakland and Detroit. He threw for 3,991 and 14 TD's . He was able to get five starts with Detroit in 2009 before his release.

He attempted to keep his career alive by signing with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League in 2010. He sat out the 2011 season.

In a recent interview, he acknowledged that his career is probably over, but he has not submitted his retirement papers. His time with the Vikings was brilliant, but it all ended so quickly on one play.

Not Part of the Core

The window is narrowing for the Pats to strike a long term deal with WR Wes Welker. Team owner Robert Kraft made some interesting comments about contract extensions. The team gave TE Rob Gronkowski one in spite of having two years left on his current contrcat. He said the team needed to sign its core players and use the salary cap in a productive manner to ensure stability.

Where does this leave Welker? Is he considered a core player? Does the team place a big emphasis on keeping a 31 year old slot receiver? I don't think they do.

I predict that the team will pay him the $9.5 million due this season and take a gamble that he might leave after the 2012 season.