NFC North players in the crosshairs (Pro Football Weekly)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 12:18:48 PDT)
As training camp approaches, we take a look at the players on each team who will be most heavily scrutinized. The list contains a fair amount of quarterbacks — no stunner there — but we tried to highlight as many non-QBs as we could. The players highlighted range from rookies to veterans with 10 or more years of experience.

Vikings sign 4th-round draft pick Rhett Ellison (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 08:56:08 PDT)
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have signed tight end Rhett Ellison and now have seven of their 10 draft picks under contract.

New stadium could land another Super Bowl for Atlanta (National Football Post)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 07:46:12 PDT)
But Goodell says competition for big game serious

Tuesday's Sports in Brief (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 04:33:08 PDT)
ATLANTA (AP) The NFL made thigh and knee pads mandatory equipment for the 2013 season, a move that drew criticism from the players' union and some of the players.

Vikings getting ready for longer camp (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 23 May 2012 02:04:00 PDT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Vikings suffered from the limited preseason practice time during last year's work stoppage as much as any other NFL team.

Vikings get contracts done for 6 of 10 draft picks (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 16:46:47 PDT)
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have six of their 10 draft picks under contract.

Kellen Winslow Won't Be Happy with Seattle Seahawks: Fan Opinion (Yahoo! Contributor Network)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 12:05:00 PDT)
If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted to stick it to Kellen Winslow Jr. for missing a week's worth of organized team activities, they certainly succeeded in doing so by trading him to the Seattle Seahawks.

Seau's suicide prompts worries about post-NFL life (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 09:42:21 PDT)
Junior Seau's suicide is troubling NFL players.

NFL Hall of Famer Dickerson joins concussion suit (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 09:20:17 PDT)
HOUSTON (AP) Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson is the latest former player to sue the National Football League and seek compensation for head injuries.

The NFL's best short quarterbacks of all-time (National Football Post)
(Tue, 22 May 2012 07:36:13 PDT)
Tarkenton and Jurgensen lead the way.

Buccaneers deal TE Winslow to Seattle, sign Clark (The Associated Press)
(Mon, 21 May 2012 20:59:24 PDT)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded tight end Kellen Winslow to the Seattle Seahawks for a draft pick on Monday night and signed former Colts star Dallas Clark to replace him.

Beyond the Shutdown 50: Juron Criner, WR, Oakland Raiders (Shutdown Corner)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 17:38:39 PDT)
Now that the 2012 NFL draft is in the can, it's time to take the Shutdown 50 scouting format forward and get a closer look at some of the surprising and fascinating selections from this year's draft -- the guys we missed in the original 50, but who could be impact players now or down the road. Our next entry: Arizona receiver Juron Criner, selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 33rd pick in the fifth round (168th overall). Overview: While most of the talk about Pac-12 passing attacks in 2011 focused on the offenses led by Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley, the Arizona passing  game has been one of the more productive in the nation in recent seasons -- and receiver Juron Criner may be the primary reason for that. If you're in the group who believes that former Arizona and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles hurt that aerial attack as much as he helped it with his inaccuracy and questionable decision-making, Criner stands out in sharper relief. After catching seven passes for 88 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman, Criner moved up to 45/582/9 in 2009, and made a name for himself in 2010, when he caught 82 passes for 1,233 yards and 11 touchdowns. He repeated that touchdown figure last year, and the rest of the numbers almost matched up (75 for 926). Criner further set himself on the radar with an exciting week at the Senior Bowl. From our own Mike Tanier's report : Criner has probably helped his stock more than any other player during Senior Bowl practices this week ... [He] does not have breakaway speed, but he appears to have the rest of the package. "I'm very agile for a man my size," Criner said after Thursday's practice. That agility was evident earlier in the week, when he made smooth cuts and adjusted to poorly thrown balls in live practices. Criner has also been demonstrating good hands and pass-catching technique, and he looks more fluid and comfortable running routes than some of the other big receivers on the South squad. Janoris Jenkins (CB, North Alabama), the likely first-round pick who transferred from Florida because of personal issues, singled Criner out as the hardest South receiver to cover this week during his Thursday press conference. "He's kinda got ball skills," Jenkins said. "If you hit his hand, he'll catch it. And he's tall." So, there's that. When he's thrown to by good quarterbacks, Juron Criner tends to make plays. And even when he's thrown to by quarterbacks who couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat, he's going to do some interesting things. Now a proud member of the Oakland Raiders, Criner has a shot at doing what Tennessee wideout Denarius Moore did in 2011 -- come out of nowhere as a late-round pick and impress the NFL. Moore went off the hook in a relative sense in his rookie campaign, catching 33 passes for 618 yards and five touchdowns. Could Criner be the next guy on the Raiders' late-draft boards to flash that same kind of long-term potential? Strengths: Shows an impressive burst for an alleged "possession receiver" -- Criner gets up to speed quickly off the line and in end-arounds. Fires upfield with an impressive second gear. Good catch radius and fine hands in space -- Criner often contorted his body to make catches when Foles was throwing with questionable accuracy. Will adjust his body to catch deep balls without losing too much speed after he's already beaten the corner or safety down the seam. Made a lot of catches despite the fact that Foles was clearly targeting him as the first read, which allowed opponents to time their jumps on the ball. Will fight to get through contact before he's wrapped up and occasionally gets free to make a big play. Senior Bowl performances showed what he could do when targeted by quarterbacks with a clue, as has his brief performances in Raiders minicamp. Frequently listed as a possession receiver, but he's got more downfield speed than the title might imply. Weaknesses: Tends to lose control of the ball when contact is coming -- doesn't have alligator arms, per se, but has trouble bringing the ball in and securing it when a defender is bearing down on him. Will lose the ball too often upon contact, leading to fumbles and incompletions. Not an especially physical player when fighting for balls with defenders in short spaces.

Tanier’s Team Reviews: The Kansas City Chiefs, via Todd Haley (Shutdown Corner)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 07:30:30 PDT)
Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why. (For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator). In this segment, former Chiefs coach Todd Haley breaks down the offseason moves of the team that fired him at the end of last season. We have a bad feeling about this. TODD HALEY: Wash your windshield, mister? I don't scrub windshields for the money. I have a coaching job now as offensive coordinator for the Steelers. I carry this slop bucket because I like it. It's comforting to wash windows while the mad clown stares at me with his dead, gray eyes, whispering razor truths mortals dare not speak aloud, truths that pierce flesh and cut an inky scarlet line against the throat of the he-goat … Sorry, my thoughts meander sometimes. The Chiefs had a productive offseason. At the skill positions, they added Peyton Hillis to a running back committee that already includes Dexter McCluster and Jamaal Charles, who is ahead of schedule rehabbing his knee injury. Kevin Boss joins Tony Moeaki, also on schedule to return from a knee injury, to give the Chiefs two tight ends who can block and catch. Two rookie wide receivers, Devon Wylie and Junior Hemingway, will provide extra depth behind Dwayne Bowe, Steve Breaston and last year's top pick Jonathan Baldwin, who started to come on late in the season. Matt Cassel, yet another player who missed much of last season with injuries, won't have to worry about throwing to the likes of Keary Colbert or Anthony Becht. That's right, everyone gets to come back to Kansas City but me, the guy who got blamed for not being able to build an offense around Tyler Palko and Terrance Copper, while the dead-eyed clown stares back at me from the mirror and cackles. "You ever played cornhole with the devil, son?" he asks, his raspy voice a rusty hypodermic needle scraping gutter concrete. "He don't use no beanbags, boy." And that he-goat just brays and brays like he sees the end coming and don't know whether to fight it or welcome it. Moving on to the defense, Dontari Poe was one of the most physically gifted specimens in this year's draft class. The Chiefs have a bad habit of striking out with big defensive tackles, from Ryan Sims to Glenn Dorsey, so my former assistant Romeo Crennel will have to be careful about Poe's development and role if he doesn't want Poe to become an overpriced space-eater the greasepaint smears and the sharpened steel glints in the pickup truck headlights behind the barnyard. The loss of Brandon Carr is going to hurt at cornerback, because Stanford Routt is an adequate No. 2 corner behind Brandon Flowers. But the defense will be better if it is not  on the field as often, and when the muffled brays fade to pitch-black silence, vengeful darkness sated all-too-briefly by the still-quivering sacrifice .

NFP's Sunday Blitz: Kellen Moore, Russell Wilson fight to overcome size concerns (National Football Post)
(Sun, 20 May 2012 03:06:09 PDT)
Are Russell Wilson and Kellen Moore big enough? Plus, all the latest dope.

NFL: Packers waiting before retiring Favre's jersey (The SportsXchange)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 15:50:12 PDT)
The Green Bay Packers will wait at least another season to hold a ceremony to retire Brett Favre's No. 4.

Wife of ex-Vikings player wants new hit-run trial (The Associated Press)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 14:35:33 PDT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The attorney for the wife of former Minnesota Vikings player Joe Senser says his client didn't get a fair trial in a fatal hit-and-run.

Packers will wait 'year or two' before retiring Favre's number (The SportsXchange)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 08:30:14 PDT)
The Green Bay Packers will wait at least another season to hold a ceremony to retire Brett Favre's No. 4.

Tanier’s Team Reviews: The Seattle Seahawks, via Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson (Shutdown Corner)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 06:54:04 PDT)
Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why. (For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator). In this segment, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll breaks down his team's offseason moves. PETE CARROLL: What an awesome day! The sun is shining! The birds are chirping! Let me give a shout out to all the folks at The Circle Perk coffee shop for working so hard to keep all of us energized! And to all the crossing guards making sure kids get to school safely! And to the Seattle-area sewer workers: you guys are the thin line that separates good citizens from their own filth, and I cannot thank you enough! Fans really need to get amped about our three-way quarterback battle. The front-runner is Matt Flynn, who got America totally stoked in that awesome Packers-Lions game in Week 17. Next, there's rookie Russell Wilson, who is short but fiery. Isn't that right, Russell? RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrrrr... PETE CARROLL: I love this kid! He's like a feral cat! And finally, there's Tarvaris Jackson, the Taylor Hicks of NFL quarterbacks. You don't like him, you keep expecting him to lose, and then bang! He finds a way to win a starting job, if not many games. But enough about the offense. Let's talk defense!! We are going to have one of the best front sevens in the NFL!! Defensive tackle Jason Jones had a great, if quiet, season for the Titans last year. First-round pick Bruce Irvin may have seemed like a reach, but that is only because West Virginia had this crazy idea that a 245-pound speedster was a good fit at defensive end. I like my defensive ends Red Bryant-sized! When I am not being enthusiastic about everything, you can find me in my office drawing up creative defenses, and Irvin is going to be everywhere the offense doesn't expect him to be!!! Irvin and Wilson had awesome rookie camps. In fact, all of the rookies had awesome camps, as did our parking lot attendants and the people who work so hard to make sure the office wastebaskets are clean enough to guzzle energy drink out of!! Let me dedicate my Song of the Day to the rookies: "Dog Days are Over" by Florence + the Machine! That's right: I'm a 60-year old man who listens to Florence + the Machine!!! Nicky Minaj, too! And don't forget Ke$ha, who is tiny and has a nasty attitude, just like Russell Wilson!!! RUSSELL WILSON: Grrrr… PETE CARROLL: Excellent growling, buddy!!

Tanier’s Team Reviews: The Arizona Cardinals, via Kevin Kolb (Shutdown Corner)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 06:38:08 PDT)
Any website can post "offseason grades" for NFL teams, mixing the draft and free agency into transaction soup, then straining it through the mind of some sportswriter who doesn't know who half the players are. Only the Shutdown Corner has the resources to get actual players, coaches, and executives from each team to evaluate their own offseasons! That's right: over the next few weeks, you will get transaction evaluations straight from the horse's mouths: straight talk about who was signed, who was lost, who was drafted, and why. (For the satirically challenged: all player, coach, and executive remarks are made by an impersonator). In this segment, Cardinals quarterback (at least for now) Kevin Kolb breaks down the Arizona Cardinals' offseason moves. KEVIN KOLB: Howdy folks. Don't mind me. I'm just tyin' a few flies, polishin' up the outboard motor, gettin' ready to hit the lake. Goin' fishin' right after we're done. It won't take long, 'cuz the Cardinals didn't do much this offseason. We didn't get a new quarterback for one thing. Sure, the team chased Peyton Manning, but that was one big river bass with a lot of fight in him. So the quarterback job is mine to lose. And don't you worry, I'm gonna lose it. It's not that John Skelton is any better than me: he may have led just as many fourth-quarter comebacks as Tim Tebow last year (four), but only city slickers and TV blowhards in fancy suits pay attention to those cow chips. I just have no idea what to do in the pocket. So the third or fourth time I roll to my right and get dragged down by Aldon Smith or somebody, Coach Whisenhunt's gonna decide it's time to cut some fresh bait. I know Larry Fitzgerald's happy about our new second receiver, Malcolm Floyd. Floyd liked to hit the honky-tonks in college, but he's a big guy, and when he wants to be, he can be as fast as a boar gettin' flushed by three hound dogs.

Lions' Sims put on weight to go from good to great (The Associated Press)
(Fri, 18 May 2012 02:13:58 PDT)
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) Detroit Lions offensive guard Rob Sims has put on weight to go from good to great.

Eagles RB McCoy gets new deal through 2017 (The Associated Press)
(Thu, 17 May 2012 19:54:26 PDT)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) LeSean McCoy ran his way onto the short list of the best running backs in the NFL. He can now stamp his name among the highest paid.

McNabb has 'unfinished business' in NFL (The SportsXchange)
(Thu, 17 May 2012 13:10:08 PDT)
Quarterback Donovan McNabb is coming off two poor seasons since being jettisoned by the Eagles, but the 35-year-old said he plans to continue with his NFL career.

Vikings stretch training camp schedule to 3 weeks (The Associated Press)
(Wed, 16 May 2012 10:25:46 PDT)
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) The Minnesota Vikings will have a longer training camp this year.

Jones-Drew skips OTAs, wants contract extension (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 12:47:12 PDT)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) Maurice Jones-Drew was a no-show again.

Rams have big, bold plan for Edward Jones Dome (National Football Post)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 06:30:21 PDT)
Renovation to stadium could come with $700 million price tag

Monday's Sports in Brief (The Associated Press)
(Tue, 15 May 2012 04:02:56 PDT)
NEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseball has fired Sham Das, the arbitrator who overturned Ryan Braun's drug suspension in February.