Antoine Winfield says he is 100%

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 23, 2012, 2:59 PM EDT

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Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield turns 35 on Sunday and is coming off a season in which injuries limited him to just five games. But he doesn’t think he’s close to being done.

Winfield, who missed Weeks 5-8 of 2011 with a neck injury and then broke his collarbone in his first game back after that, said he’s now completely healthy and ready to go.

Andre Carter seems likely to re-sign with Patriots

Posted by Evan Silva on June 23, 2012, 6:26 PM EDT

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On June 2, we broke down ten of the top free agent football players left on the open market. Just one of them has been signed. Among the unsigned remains defensive end Andre Carter, who recorded ten sacks in 14 starts with the Patriots last season.

Carter has spent the offseason rehabbing a torn quadriceps muscle. In a June 12 interview with Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, Carter revealed his qaud “pop[ped] off the bone,” leading to an extended recovery period.

As Field Yates of ESPN Boston noted in a Saturday glance at the Patriots’ roster, New England has filled 89 of 90 possible roster spots with one month left before training camp. Yates writes that Carter “very well” could fill that 90th spot while pointing out that the Patriots have yet to assign Carter’s jersey No. 93 to another player.

The Patriots have done a nice job of upgrading their defensive end depth chart this offseason, drafting Chandler Jones in the first round and Jake Bequette in the third. They also signed versatile defensive end/tackle Jonathan Fanene, and end/linebacker Trevor Scott.

Carter’s return could round out the depth chart.

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Scott Fujita insists that it was pay for performance, not injury

Posted by Mike Florio on June 22, 2012, 8:48 PM EDT

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Lawyer Peter Ginsberg wasn’t the only one who had tough words for Commissioner Roger Goodell at Monday’s appeal hearing in the bounty case.  Browns linebacker Scott Fujitawas far more brief, and far more pointed.

“I saw [Goodell] in the [appeal] hearings and he offered to shake all of our hands,” Fujita told Dave Zirin of SiriusXM Radio’s Edge of Sports Radio, via SI.com.  ”Some of the other players didn’t, but I went ahead and shook his hand, and I just said to him, ‘What the hell are you doing, Roger?‘”

How did the Commissioner respond?

Vernon Davis: "I'll be the best tight end to ever play this game"

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 22, 2012, 7:41 PM EDT

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Vernon Davis went back home to Washington, D.C., today and gave a talk to young football players about setting goals for themselves. And Davis told them that he’s setting the bar very high when making his own goals.

According to WUSA, Davis said that his goal is to become the best tight end in football history. And he says that’s a goal he’s confident he’s going to reach.

“I will be the best tight end to ever play this game. I have a vision,” Davis said.

Asked afterward how he plans to go about achieving that vision, Davis said that it’s all about hard work and having a plan.

“Anything is possible,” Davis said. “I say that because . . . what can happen? If I don’t make it, then I don’t make it. It’s as simple as that. Ain’t nothing nobody can do, ain’t nothing nobody can say. But if I do? Then I spoke it into existence.”

The last time we heard from Davis, he was saying that he strongly believes the 49ers should be Super Bowl favorites. Now he says he believes he’ll go down in history as the greatest ever to play his position. Nobody can accuse Davis of lacking confidence.

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