Whisenhunt: I want Kolb to be the starter

Posted by Josh Alper on May 31, 2012, 7:20 PM EDT

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The Cardinals are alternating Kevin Kolb andJohn Skelton with the first offense during OTAs, the tangible sign that the competition they promised is moving right along.

Some people had a hard time believing that the competition between the two men would truly be open. The basis for that doubt was the trade that sent a second-round pick and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to Philadelphia for Kolb and the $19 million they’ve paid Kolb since the deal. On Thursday, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt addressed those doubts.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think about that when you’re on the field,” Whisenhunt said, via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. “I don’t look at a player and think what’s he’s making or what you did to get him here. I look at them based on what kind of plays they’re making. I’ll be honest with you, I obviously know how much we invested in Kevin. I want Kevin to be successful. I want him to be our quarterback but I’m not going to ignore the fact that John Skelton worked pretty hard and did a good job in there when he was playing, too. He’s earned the right to compete for that spot.”

It’s a pretty honest answer from Whisenhunt about what goes through his mind when it comes to the quarterbacks. Saying that he wants Kolb to be the quarterback is natural given all they gave up for him, but he’s pretty clear that he won’t just get the job because of his contract. Having said that, the answer also makes you think Skelton’s going to have to be considerably better than Kolb in order to actually wind up as the starting quarterback come the first week of the season.

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Jack Del Rio's son commits to Oklahoma State

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 31, 2012, 6:37 PM EDT

AP

Congratulations are in order to Luke Del Rio, the high school quarterback son of Jack Del Rio, who has earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State.

Luke transferred from a Florida high school to a Colorado high school a few months ago, after his father was fired as coach of the Jaguars and hired as defensive coordinator of the Broncos. He was on the radar of a few smaller football programs previously, but after a strong performance at a football camp in California, he got the offer from Oklahoma State.

Players are buying into Schiano's meticulous methods

Posted by Evan Silva on May 31, 2012, 6:11 PM EDT

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Peter King of SI.com recently published a story that alluded to new Bucs coach Greg Schiano’s control-freakish insistence on monitoring the precise room temperature of hotel team meetings for road games while Schiano coached at Rutgers.

Interviewed by NFL.com’s Albert Breer, Schiano confirmed the story and explained himself.

“If you’ve ever been with a group of men in a meeting room, you know that if you put 70 guys in a room, the temperature goes up right away,” Schiano said. “That might make it harder to focus, if you’re worried about trying not to suffocate.

“Those are the details most people don’t tend to. I don’t know if I put more on that than anyone else, but I make sure we’re thorough. You can bitch about the stuff when it doesn’t go right. Or you can get out in front of it.”

Schiano has brought his meticulous, detail-oriented style to Tampa Bay, and he thinks it’ll work.

“We’re all men here with different roles — mine is head coach and theirs are as players,” Schiano explained. “It’s demanding, what we’re asking, it’s not easy, but it’s the best thing. … The buy-in has been great, they’ve been working incredibly hard. We gave them off this week, and we’ll come back with OTAs and the minicamp.

“But so far, the guys have been excellent. It was a change for them, but we didn’t just do it to do it. We explain to them the reasoning, and once they hear that, they get it. Hey, they want to win.”

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Shawne Merriman looks healthy for once

Posted by Josh Alper on May 31, 2012, 3:26 PM EDT

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It’s lights on for Lights Out.

Defensive end Shawne Merriman joined the Bills at practice on Thursday, his first time taking part in offseason work since undergoing surgery on his Achilles and shoulder last season. According to the Bills website, Merriman wasn’t limited at all during the session and he took part in both team and individual drills.

Merriman played just five games for the Bills last season before being shut down because of injuries. That made four straight seasons filled with more missed games than sacks for a player who was once one of the premier pass rushers in all of football. With Mario Williams and Mark Anderson in the fold, Merriman’s role will likely be that of a situational pass rusher.

A less demanding role could help Merriman remain healthy for a full season, although it is anyone’s guess how far he’ll be able to go after so much time lost to injuries. With $3 million in guaranteed money coming to Merriman this season, he’ll definitely be around the Bills long enough to find out.

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Ray Lewis proud his son is a Miami Hurricane

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 31, 2012, 2:07 PM EDT

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We’ve been so besieged recently by parents talking about how they wouldn’t want their kids playing football that it’s refreshing to hear the pride in the voice of Ray Lewis when he discusses his son getting a football scholarship to the University of Miami.

Lewis said in an interview with Michael Irvin on WQAM that he couldn’t be prouder of his son, a running back and linebacker named Ray Lewis III who will become a Hurricane in 2013.

“There’s no greater reward, as a father,” Lewis said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “To walk into your alma mater and look at your baby — my baby — who was born on that campus. That’s what’s so special about what all happened. That boy was born on that campus my senior year, 1995. And when I walked him back there, [Miami coach Al Golden] looked at him and said, ‘We want you to be a Hurricane.’”

Lewis views having a son playing football as a blessing.

“All my hard work, all my pain, everything I’ve ever been through in life, God rewarded me that day,” Lewis said. “That thing right there, it kept motivating me all over again this offseason.”

Those who say they don’t want their sons to play cite the risks associated with the game of football. But there are also great rewards. And unlike many of the men who have been rewarded by the game of football and are now saying they wouldn’t want their sons to pursue those rewards, Lewis thinks one of the greatest rewards is that he gets to pass his passion for the game on to the next generation.

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Hines Ward joins NBC

Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2012, 3:00 PM EDT

AP

Former Steelers receiver Hines Ward will have a new Gotham Rogues action figure in November.  Before it comes out, he’ll have a new job.

Ward has joined NBC Sports Group.

NBC has announced that Ward, a 14-year veteran, four-time Pro Bowler, two-time Super Bowl champion, Super bowl XL MVP, and Dancing With The Stars winner, will become an analyst across the NBC Sports Group’s NFL, college, and studio programming.

Bradfords new deal helps rams free up lots of cap space

Mike Sando - ESPN

Sam Bradford reworked his contract with the St. Louis Rams. 

Bradford

Howard Balzer has the details. 

Less clear: what it all means. 

The way I read it, Bradford gives up some guaranteed money in 2014 and 2015. In exchange, the team gives Bradford $6 million of the $12 million owed to him for 2012 right now, instead of throughout the season. The remaining $6 million is no longer guaranteed. 

Not much of a difference, really. Perhaps there is a compelling reason Bradford wants $6 million now instead of later in the year. The team isn't going to release him this season, obviously, so the guarantees for this season aren't particularly significant. The guarantees Bradford concedes for 2014 and 2015 exceed $6 million total. By then, Bradford could be in line for a new deal, anyway. 

Bradford signed his deal under the old labor agreement. The new labor deal dramatically cut guaranteed money for top picks. The reworked deal does reduce some of the guaranteed money, bringing it more in line with what the top rookies are commanding under the new CBA. But Bradford is still getting more than top picks are getting now. 

Overall, this change doesn't seem to change much fundamentally. Bradford is still the Rams' franchise quarterback. 

Update: In speaking with people familiar with the deal, Bradford still gets $51 million in the first four years, with $50 million guaranteed. The future guarantees disappeared, anyway (upon exercise of an option in 2010). Sounds like there were some changes in language, but nothing of consequence.

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Vikings continue to hype Jerome Simpson

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 31, 2012, 12:30 PM EDT

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Jerome Simpson had a difficult offseason before signing with the Vikings, having to serve 15 days in jail and getting suspended for three games for a drug conviction. But the reviews of Simpson’s performance on the practice field in Minnesota have been overwhelmingly positive.

Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave has called Simpson the juice the team needs, and now Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has offered up similar praise.

“Jerome was running a dig, which is 20-yard in-route and the cushion was unbelievable because everyone’s afraid he’s going to run right by them he’s so fast,” Ponder told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. “That just adds a whole other dimension to our offense.“

Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman called Simpson “outstanding” and added, “you can see that he’s at a different speed.”

The off-field questions about Simpson aside, there’s no question that he’s a phenomenal athlete on the field. The Vikings think he’s going to be a game changer, even though they’ll have to wait until the fourth game of the season.

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Philbin says quarterback competition is close in Miami

Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2012, 10:28 AM EDT

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Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has said thatMatt Moore probably will be the starting quarterback in 2012.  Joe Philbin has beenmuch more equivocal.

Appearing Thursday with Joe Rose of WQAM, Philbin said that the three-headed competition has yielded no clear favorite.

“I think it’s very close,” Philbin told Rose.  “I think it’s very close.  I think they all bring different attributes to the table.  I will say that the room itself, the quality of the individuals in the room, I think is excellent.  I mean, as you know Matt came in here [and] was voted as the [team's] Most Valuable Player, really played well down the stretch, and he’s picked up the [new] offense very well.  David Garrard, when you look at his last season that he was active, obviously he didn’t play last year, he played very well in 2010.  And he’s been working his tail off.  And then we’ve got a young guy that has some familiarity with the offense but not a lot of familiarity with the NFL game.  But he’s holding his own, very much so.  So it’s been a good competition so far.”

If it’s close, it’s hard not to think the job will go to the eighth overall pick in the draft.  But that will be one of the stories to watch during Hard Knocks.

We’ll ask more about the quarterback competition and other issues relevant to the 2012 Dolphins with Coach Philbin on Thursday’s edition of PFT Live.  Click the box on the right rail at 12:00 p.m. ET to watch.

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Cam Newton show maturity and avoids controversy

Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2012, 9:57 AM EDT

AP

49ers quarterback Alex Smith recently strayed out of character to criticize the Panthers and quarterback Cam Newton in defending Smith’s own statistically-challenged performance.  The remarks sparked a back-and-forth, with Panthers linebacker Jon Beason taking on Smith, and 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis defending his quarterback.

On Wednesday, Newton was asked if he wanted to respond.

“What do you think?” Newton said, via Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer.

Receiver Steve Smith provided something a little more intriguing.  “Cam’s my quarterback. Alex is from the University of Utah,” Smith, a former Ute, said.  “I just smile. . . .  I’m learning.  You know that old adage, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?’  I’m not going to say anything at all because I don’t have anything nice to say.”

Newton recently didn’t have anything nice to say about himself, saying that he was a bad teammate in 2011.  It’s hard not to wonder whether that was Newton’s response to Smith; instead of criticizing Smith, Newton criticized himself.

If that’s the case, Newton is well on his way to becoming the kind of mature, responsible leader that would even make the 49ers consider “evaluating” him, if he ever were available.

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Adrian Peterson healthy enough to rave Harvin uphill

Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2012, 7:15 AM EDT

AP

It’s still unclear whether Vikings running backAdrian Peterson will be ready to suit up and play come Week One of the 2012 season, due to a torn ACL suffered on Christmas Eve against the Redskins.  It is clear, however, that roughly five months after the injury he’s able to sprint.  Against teammate Percy Harvin.

Up a hill.

Evidence of Peterson and Harvin running side by side appears at the website of theMinneapolis Star Tribune, as part of a video review of the day’s practice session.

“I missed that,” coach Leslie Frazier said in comments distributed by the team. O “ur trainer was telling me about it and we have it on tape so I’m looking forward to seeing that but he was telling me that they looked real good.  The good thing is those guys are competing, they push one another and that’s good for us, two great athletes like that pushing each other in competition in their rehab, that’s a good thing.”

It doesn’t mean Peterson would be ready to play any time soon.  But he still has 101 more days to prepare for the regular-season opener.

For now, he’s looking no different than any other guy who’s getting ready for football season.

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Brian Banks gets a shot with the Seahawks

Doug Farrar - Yahoo! Shutdown Corner

Based on what we now know, it's pretty easy to create an alternate universe in which former high school star linebacker Brian Banks goes to a major college, becomes a stud at the NCAA level, and then goes on to make a pretty serious dent in the NFL. Of course, none of that ever happened, because when Banks was 16 years old, he was accused and then convicted of a rape he didn't commit.

He spent five years in prison after pleading no contest to the charge, and spent five more years on probation. It wasn't until last year, when the woman who accused him of the crime requested that he become her friend on Facebook, that Banks had his way to exoneration. Banks agreed to meet with his false accuser, got her recorded admission that the charges were not real, and finally saw all charges dropped and his freedom regained last week.

Now, it seems that several NFL teams want to give Banks the shot he never had before. On Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that they will bring Banks in for a workout on June 7, and at least three other teams -- the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and Miami Dolphins, according to ESPN.com -- are looking to bring Banks in to see what he might have in the tank.

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is very familiar with Banks -- back in 2001 and 2002, when Carroll was USC's head coach, he was recruiting the former Long Beach Polytechnic High star, as were Ohio State, the University of Michigan, and several other schools, and Banks verbally agreed to attend USC. Carroll was not available to speak about Banks after Wednesday's organized team activity, but given his propensity for second chances, there's no doubt that seeing what Banks can do would be incredibly appealing.

Banks, who has been working out six days a week in preparation, just wants a chance. "Let me show you what I can produce," Banks recently told the Today Show when asked about his NFL dreams. "I think that any team that gives me an opportunity will be really impressed with what I can do."

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Cowboys accept cap penalty, not trading Jenkins

By Stephen Hawkins, AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jerry Jones says the Dallas Cowboys have no intention of trading CB Mike Jenkins or any interest in going to federal court to further fight the NFL about a $10 million salary-cap reduction.

Jones made it clear Wednesday that he fully expects Jenkins to stay with the Cowboys, even as the cornerback was missing another week of voluntary workouts. Jenkins has remained home in Florida after shoulder surgery, and there have been numerous reports he wants to be traded after Dallas added two prominent cornerbacks in recent weeks.

"I'm real excited about what we can do defensively with having his skills along with the other corners we have. ... We could really have a chance to do something exceptional in our secondary, and I want to give us every chance to do that," Jones said. "I'm sure not interested in the future. I'm all about what we can do next season."

Ashe Allen to address his sudden retirement soon

Posted by Mike Florio on May 30, 2012, 11:59 PM EDT

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Vikings cornerback Asher Allen surprised his team — and the rest of the league — by retiring from football at the age of 24, after only three NFL seasons.  The reasons remain unclear, but more information is expected to emerge, eventually.

“He will talk about it more at some point,” coach Leslie Frazier said Wednesday, via comments distributed by the team.  “He explained to me that this is something that he wanted to do and he had given it a lot of thought and that is what he wanted to do.”

Frazier knew about the situation for less than a week.  “He came in my office last Thursday and we talked about it and he informed me of what he wanted to do,” Frazier said.

Allen was expected to provide depth behind likely starters Antoine Winfield and Chris Cook.  “You have to keep looking [for replacements] like we would even if he were here to create competition and continue to upgrade that position and that’s what we’ll do,” Frazier said.  “We want depth, we want competition in the secondary and he definitely helped to provide that but that opens up another spot and we’ll continue to comb the waiver wire.  I know that Rick [Spielman] and his staff are doing that and we’ll try to see what we’ll have by training camp.”

In a division that includes the Packers and Aaron Rodgers, the Lions andMatthew Stafford, and the Bears and Jay Cutler, the Vikings will need something more potent than the waiver wire if they hope to develop the kind of secondary that can keep their division rivals under 40 points in any given game.

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Leroy Kelly's son gets another shot with Browns

Posted by Mike Florio on May 30, 2012, 10:35 PM EDT

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Hall of Fame running back Leroy Kelly Sr. has a son who plays football.  And Leroy Kelly Jr. will get another chance next week to win a roster spot on the team for which his dad played.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns will give Kelly a tryout on Monday.

It’ll be the second time that Kelly has had an audition with the Browns.  He got his first look-see in 2008.

Kelly, 27, plays safety and returns kicks.  “I’m very, very excited,” he said.  “Especially because it’s the Cleveland Browns.  It would mean a