The Miami Dolphins already extended one player heading into a contract year, Cameron Wake, this offseason, but it appears they are not done. According to the Miami Herald, the Dolphins are expected to begin work on an extension with defensive tackle Randy Starks, as well as possibly cornerback/safety Sean Smith and wide receiver Brian Hartline, in the coming weeks.

It makes sense that they’d try to extend these players now because, as they announced earlier today, they will be using the franchise tag on Jake Long next offseason if a deal can’t be worked out between the Dolphins and their former #1 overall pick before then. Long and the Dolphins are currently far apart on a deal and the Dolphins might feel it would be easier to extend some of their “lesser” players now and deal with Long later, rather than the other way around.

It’s interesting to note that Reggie Bush, who is also heading into a contract year, was not named in the report. Bush had a strong season for the Dolphins in 2011, rushing for 1086 yards and 6 touchdowns on 216 carries, but aside from that has little to no history of being a reliable lead back. He’ll also be 28 next May. With Daniel Thomas and Lamar Miller on the roster behind him, they might let him hit the open market. He’s owed 4.5 million in 2012 in the final year of a 2 year restructured contract that he signed last offseason after the Dolphins acquired him from the New Orleans Saints.

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The Browns lost starting safety Mike Adams this offseason to the Denver Broncos. Usama Young, who played decent in place of the injured TJ Ward last season at safety, seemed like a natural fit to be promoted from within. However, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, it is Eric Hagg, not Young, who is working out with the 1^st team in OTAs and “has the early edge” on being promoted from within for the starting job.

Hagg was a 7^th round pick in 2011 and played sparingly as a rookie, but he reportedly is impressing in OTAs and the Browns seem to feel he’s poised for a breakout year in 2012. He would start opposite TJ Ward, who is one of the better young safeties in the league when healthy. When healthy is the key term as Ward as an extensive injury history going back to his days at Oregon. He stayed healthy as a rookie in 2010, but chances are that if Usama Young doesn’t win the starting safety job over Hagg, he will still make a few spot starts in place of an injured Ward in 2012.

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Kenyon Coleman was a starter for the Cowboys last season, but he wasn’t that great and he turned 33 this offseason. He’s owed 1.9 million in the final year of his deal and could now the Dallas Cowboys official website is saying that Coleman could be a cap casualty. Even though Coleman was a starter last year, the Cowboys used so much rotation on the defensive line that he only managed 425 snaps, 2^nd among his position on the team.

The Cowboys can more than make up for his absence with 3^rd round rookie Tyrone Crawford and by giving Sean Lissemore, who played very well in limited snaps last season, more playing time. In addition to Crawford and Lissemore, the Cowboys have Jason Hatcher, an incumbent starter and Marcus Spears, their top backup, at defensive end.

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In an interview with the Minnesota Star-Tribune, the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson said he is “locked in” on a week 1 return and can’t “even entertain” the possibility of not being out there week 1. A return to the football field roughly 9 months after tearing his ACL seems ridiculous, but remember Wes Welker did it in even less time and Adrian Peterson is simply a physical freak. A physical therapist overseeing his rehab says that Peterson “has a different protoplasm than the rest of the world.”

It’s worth noting that Welker had his worst season as a Patriot in the year after he returned from his injury. Peterson could average a career low YPC in 2012 (right now his low is 4.4). Peterson will also likely see fewer carries than normal if he’s out there, in an attempt to preserve him. Backup Toby Gerhart is a capable back. Still, Peterson will have strong fantasy football value if he’s out there week 1. My money would be on him being out there then. Peterson has already exceeded expectations in his recovery and the Vikings were confident enough to not draft a running back in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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Rob Ninkovich has played primarily at outside linebacker in his career, but the 6-2 255 pounder has been seeing some snaps at defensive end for the Patriots in OTAs. Ninkovich is yet another diamond in the rough that the Patriots have unearthed, ranking 10^th among all 4-3 outside linebackers last year and totaling 6 sacks, 5 hits, and 28 quarterback pressures as a situational pass rusher.

With Dont’a Hightower coming in, it was unclear where Ninkovich would play in base 4-3 packages as Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, and Hightower figure to start at the 3 linebacker spots. It’s possible that end might be his spot in their base package. At defensive end, the Patriots have 2 rookies, Chandler Jones and Jake Bequette, as well as veteran Trevor Scott, a career situational player that some feel could have a breakout year this year. Brandon Deaderick, who was played a situational role for the Patriots over the past few years, can also play there in addition to defensive tackle.

The Patriots love rotation, different looks, and using a lot of different specialty type front 7 players. Ninkovich figures to see snaps at both defensive end and outside linebacker, but probably won’t see the 913 snaps he had last season. We’ll have to see how everything shakes out for the Patriots in 2012.

Jake Long is heading into the final year of his 5 year rookie deal in 2012 and the Dolphins are trying to extend their franchise left tackle. However, the two sides are currently not close right now. Long wants a deal equal to or greater than the 92 million over 8 years that Joe Thomas got last offseason and the Dolphins are not willing to give that to him because of all the injuries he’s dealt with over the past 2 years, though he’s only missed 2 games.

According to the Miami Herald, if the Dolphins cannot reach an extension with him before the season or during the season, they will franchise tag him next offseason. It’s rare for teams to announce this kind of thing this early, so it shows just how serious they are about keeping Long. That makes a lot of sense. Left tackles don’t grow on trees and rarely are allowed to hit the open market, perhaps less often than any position other than quarterback. Long is a former #1 overall pick who has lived up to his billing, making 4 Pro Bowls in as many seasons.

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The Jets have been a base 3-4 defense for years and that has remained the case under Head Coach Rex Ryan. However, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine says they will be using more 4 man defensive lines in 2012 because it “makes sense.” I agree with Pettine. The Jets’ 4 man line would probably have Sione Pouha and Muhammad Wilkerson at tackle and Quinton Coples and Calvin Pace at end with Coples moving to tackle on nickel downs and Aaron Maybin playing end. The Jets still will use lots of 3-4 and 46 fronts this season. They’ll show offenses lots of different looks.

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The Ravens and Joe Flacco have been discussing a contract extension this offseason as Flacco heads into the final year of his 5 year rookie deal. However, these talks have so far gone nowhere and, according to the Carroll County Times, they aren’t getting any better. The talks were described as “not anywhere close.” This makes sense considering Flacco wants to be paid like a top-5 quarterback and he has so far not performed like that.

The good news for the Ravens is that Flacco is not holding out or anything. He has been at all of the Ravens’ OTAs. The Ravens will probably try to get a deal done with Ray Rice first, as he is not at OTAs. Rice’s demands are also a little bit more reasonable. Flacco and the Ravens might head into 2012 without a new deal. In that case, expect them to use the franchise tag on him next offseason.

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The Steelers cut long time veteran Aaron Smith, who had played 13 years with the team, this offseason, opening up a starting job on the defensive line. The Steelers were prepared for this day as they spent 2 first round picks on defensive linemen, Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward, in the 2009 and 2011 NFL Draft respectively, with Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel getting up there in age.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Hood has the inside track on the starting job. Hood has seen a good amount of the field over the past 2 seasons with Smith hurt, but graded out as the league’s worst 3-4 defensive end last year according to ProFootballFocus. The Steelers seem to be banking on Hood, who is still young, bouncing back in 2012 in what would be his first full season as a starter. Heyward is still in the competition and would step in if Hood continues to struggle, but the Steelers obviously hope Hood can pan out and Heyward can be the starter opposite him in 2013, when Keisel, 34 in September will probably be gone.

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The Jets took Vladimir Ducasse in the 2^nd round in 2010, taking a chance on his size, upside, and versatility. Ducaase has yet to establish himself as a starter at either guard or tackle, even with Wayne Hunter struggling mightily at right tackle last year. Ducasse was moved to right tackle this offseason and had been working with the 2^nd team in OTAs. He was expected to push Hunter for a starting job this season.

However, that experiment seems to have been short lived. Ducaase has moved back to guard as the Jets have added veteran Ray Willis and Stephon Heyer at right tackle. ESPN New York says this was a clear sign of no confidence in Ducasse. As Ducasse changes positions once again, it’s fair to wonder if he’s on the roster bubble.

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