NFL Off Season News

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Training camps are beginning all over the league with some Johnny-come-lately's like the Texans not having their first practices until tomorrow. But, the awesome thing is the NFL for the 2014 season has begun and that ain't a bad thing.

> Rob Gronkowski is back on the field and not on PUP which, for New England, is a good thing. Now, if he stays healthy in the pre season he'll likely be the No. 2 TE taken in fantasy drafts. The biggest question is, are his injury woes behind him? Hmmmmm.

> The Ravens Ray Rice got a 2 game suspension from the NFL for cold cocking his then fiancée in an Atlantic City elevator earlier this year. Keith Olberman had a rant on his ESPN program decrying the NFL for only giving Rice 2 games to think about abuse of a woman. He correctly pointed out that Albert Hainesworth got 8 games for ripping off Dallas center Andre Guroud's helmet and stopping on his head that resulted in 30 stitches to close the wound. You say yeah but 30 freaking stitches! You could argue that but Olberman's point was the NFL cares less about domestic violence victims than it does about violence gone amok in a violent game. The NFL got the black eye in Hainesworth's case and the commish always protects The Shield. The message, according to Olberman, was a star player can get away with domestic abuse on his own time but it counts more on company time. I would think that women's rights advocates are seething right now.

Andre Johnson reported to Texans training camp and claimed he was ready to give his all as usual. I get it. WRs just need to blow off some steam and who needs those stinking OTAs anyway for a 10+ year vet? I'm glad Dre is back in fold, let's hope his learning curve isn't too steep that Johnson lands in Bill O'Brien's dog house--again. Seems like O'Brien and his staff are like Belichick in one way--they don't put up

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There were significant moves in the NFL over the weekend and yesterday so lets take a look.

> Thought Cincy was going to cut ties with Andy Dalton? Guess again. The Bengals and Dalton agreed on a 6 year $96 mm extension. The difference in this and most other extensions you read about is that there isn't a lot of up-front money. He only got a $12 mm signing bonus and he will receive a $5 mm roster bonus later this week. The rest of the deal is a sort of pay-as-you-go deal that allows the Bengals to cut ties with Dalton without a huge cap hit if he doesn't do any better in the playoffs than he has to date. This gives the two young guys, 2nd year QB from Arizona Matt Scott and 2014 5th round draft choice A J McCarron from Alabama, time to develop and be ready in year two or three or whatever of Dalton's deal. Now, Cincy has to focus on a new deal for A J Green.

> The New York Giants have advised RB David Wilson to retire from the NFL after only 2 years in the league because of the neck injury he suffered last season. Illustrating how serious the Giants are they waived/injured Wilson yesterday. It's too bad because of the promise he showed in his brief opportunities. He was going to be a third down back/change of pace back this season as Rashad Jenning was signed to be the lead back. This gives a rookie from Boston College, Andre Williams, a bigger opportunity to play going forward. Williams was impressive in the Giants win on Sunday in the HOF game.

> C J Spiller could be traded? That's the speculation in Buffalo as the Bills traded a 4th round draft pick to Eagles for backup Bryce Brown in May and they signed Freddie Jackson to a one year extension in July leaving CJ Spiller feeling a little unloved in Buffalo. Spiller is a good fit in Doug Marone's offense and with his production the last couple of years and his fumbling issues way back in the rear view mirror it's incredible that Spiller would even be considered for a trade. But, it's true that Spiller said yesterday that he hopes he's still in Buffalo this season.

> The Bears TE Martellus Bennett who has been criticized so far in training camp for his lackadaisical effort slammed teammate Kyle Fuller to the ground in practice on Monday in frustration has been fined and suspended. How much and how long is not known right now but according to the CBA the rules for punishment for conduct detrimental to the team is either a fine of one week's salary and/or up to four weeks unpaid suspension. The altercation between Bennett and Fuller occurred about 10 minutes before the end of practice and head coach Mark Trestman figured that was enough for one day and he called the practice over. Bennett, who had his issues while with the Cowboys was quoted as saying, "It's practice. Practice is practice," Bennett said Monday. "I know I sound like Allen Iverson right now, but at the end of the day it's practice. In practice, (stuff) happens. You learn from it, that's why you practice. You learn from things that happen in practice." Bennett obviously doesn't get it and he probably never will. Talent isn't the issue with Bennett, never has been. It is the space between his ears that has been the problem since he was drafted by Dallas in 2008. Fuller, BTW, is the Bears first round pick out of Virginia Tech that Chicago hopes to fill a void at cornerback. Bennett not only pulled a boner of major proportions but he pulled it on a first round draft pick. It's no wonder Trestman decided to make a example of Bennett.

Finally, I don't understand people at all. The so-called experts made up their minds about Alex Smith when he struggled under his first head coach Mike Singletary. When Jim Harbaugh took over in 2011 Smith shined until Harbaugh decided to replace Smith with Colin Kaepernick in 2012. In 2013 Smith joined QB friendly coach Andy Reid in Kansas City and all he did was lead the previously woeful Chiefs to the playoffs after beginning the season 9-0 and finishing 11-5. In the Wild Card game vs Indianapolis Smith led the Chiefs to a 38-10 lead but ultimately fell to Indy 45-44 because injuries to the defense made the Chiefs incapable of stopping the Andrew Luck led Colts. Now questions on NFL.com are asking, Is Alex Smith better than a mid tier QB? I think Smith is more than a mid tier QB and he's proven it when given a chance. He deserves to be paid like a starting QB and the Chiefs undoubtedly will. Smith will continue to flourish under Andy Reid and the Chiefs are a team to contend with in the strong AFC West.

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Had to check out the Browns game last night. Johnny Football and all. This was a typical first pre season game. Some good, some bad and some eh. Manziel wasn't great and he wasn't bad. Decent first effort. BTW Detroit trailed most of the game until the 4th quarter when they scored the only TD of the game giving them a 13-12 win. Prior to that last TD Cleveland was ahead 12-6 on 4 Billy Cundiff field goals.

The highest scoring game of the weekend was in the Bears 34-28 win over Philly. The game featured two QBs trying to restart their careers. Mark Sanchez in relief of Nick Foles was 7-10 for 79 yards in his time on the field and the Bears featured former No 1 pick from Notre Dame Jimmy Clausen who went 7-13 for 150 yards and 2 TDs. Speaking of Foles, his night wasn't all that special. After tossing just 2 INT's in 2013 he equaled that total in his brief appearance Friday night. Oh well, it is preseason.

It seemed like half the starting QBs in the NFL sat out the first week's games. It wasn't half but the list is impressive. Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford and Aaron Rodgers.

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Aside from injuries, and there haven't been that many unless you consider Dallas' defense it's been a rather uneventful preseason. After only one game a lot can't be judged as yet. The Browns did release Tyler Thigpen and sign Rex Grossman but that's neither here nor there because the competition is between Hoyer and Manziel. Mike Pettine has said that H and M have been splitting 1st team reps so that doesn't leave much for a 3rd QB to work with.

The Arizona Cards GM is bragging that he hasn't seen a receiver like rookie John Brown since Anquan Bolden. High praise indeed.

Broncos LB Danny Trevathan will be out 6-8 weeks with a fractured knee cap. Trevathan, Cowboys fans will remember, was the guy whose diving interception ended the final Cowboys drive in the thrilling 51-48 Broncos win last season.

The newest member of the D-line in Denver had a good 1st game last weekend recording a sack, a couple of QB pressures and a tackle behind the line. Of course I'm talking about former Cowboy DeMarcus Ware. All things considered with the Cowboys injury woes in training I'm sure they wish they had Ware back but all they, and we, can do is wish Ware luck and good health going forward.

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What is with these NFL players anyway. Do they think they won't get caught when the do something? The latest addition to the NFL Knucklehead Club is Kansas City Chief WR Dwayne Bowe who will serve a one game suspension to begin the season as a result of being arrested last November for possession of marijuana. The charges were bargained down to defective equipment and littering (WTF?!) but the NFL felt compelled to suspend Bowe for the possession charge. The NFL has come down hard on recreational drug users like Josh Gordon who is still waiting for a ruling on his marijuana use appeal is facing a year long suspension if so ruled. Orlando Scandrick of the Cowboys was suspended 4 games for using a recreational drug while on vacation in Mexico. He admitted taking a Molly which I have come to find out is ecstasy. The four game suspension came as a result of the fact that form of ecstasy has an amphetamine in that is considered a performance enhancing substance. Hence, the 4 game suspension. I'm showing my age here I guess but to me a "molly" was speed. There were black molly's and yellow molly's but both were used for a variety of things including recreational use. Now, in the club scene, Molly means something completely different. Either way, Bowe gets to sit for a game and think about it.

I think I will quit posting to this thread and start relaying NFL new to the Fantasy Nation 2014 thread since the news now has a direct impact on fantasy football and the status of players who may be affected. Thanks for following this thread and check Boomer and me on the other thread.