It’s no secret that Colt McCoy, the incumbent starter for the Cleveland Browns, can be had in a trade. The Browns drafted Brandon Weeden in the 1^st round of the 2012 NFL Draft to replace the mediocre McCoy and immediately shopped him on draft day with no results. They have reportedly lowered their asking price and will accept “minimal compensation” in order to give McCoy “new team, a new opportunity, to spare him the ignominy of being released,” according to both ESPN Cleveland and NFL.com.

Colt McCoy’s younger brother Case, currently a quarterback at Colt’s alma mater The University of Texas, fell victim to a fake Twitter report that Colt had been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and tweeted “Good luck Brandon (Weeden)! Fan of you, but my brother’s pulling the lucky straw on this one! Cleveland is only going downhill” before realizing that it was fake and apologizing. It’s definitely possible that tweet is also the sentiment being felt by McCoy as he hears his name in trade talks, that the Browns are “only going downhill.”

Even if McCoy hasn’t actually been traded yet, it’s looking more and more likely that he will be by Training Camp. The Browns already have a veteran backup in Seneca Wallace, who has a lot more experience than McCoy, while McCoy might make Weeden feel uneasy, even if only a little, about his job security if he struggles as a rookie and would fetch more in a trade.

One name that keeps coming up is the Green Bay Packers, which makes sense since the drop off from Aaron Rodgers to Graham Harrell is incredibly significant. McCoy might not be a starting caliber quarterback, but he can be a solid backup. He’s still young, experienced, and cheap and would be an obvious upgrade over Harrell.

That being said, the team from the fake report also makes a ton of sense, the Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick is one of the most injury prone quarterbacks in the league, if not the most injury prone and while Mike Kafka has earned praise for his performance this offseason, McCoy is significantly more experienced and has more talent. It might be worth a 7^th round pick for the Eagles to acquire someone like McCoy since Vick figures to miss another 2-4+ games this season again. McCoy is a good fit for Andy Reid’s scheme as well, so my money is on McCoy wearing an Eagles uniform by the start of the 2012 NFL season.

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Amari Spievey was one of the worst starting safeties in the league last year, ranking 76^th out of 86 on ProFootballFocus. The Lions didn’t bring in any competition for him this offseason, but according to DetroitLions.com, veteran Erik Coleman, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, will compete with Spievey for the starting job now that he is healthy. Coleman, 30, is a marginal player at best, but Spievey was so bad last year that he could give him a run for his money in a competition for the starting job. Both are splitting 1^st team reps. Whoever wins the competition, strong safety figures to be a position of major weakness for the Lions again in 2012.

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A 2^nd round pick of the Patriots in 2011, Ras-I Dowling missed most of his rookie year with injuries after missing most of his senior season at Virginia with injuries. However, he is incredibly talented and Pro Football Weekly reports that they are hearing that Dowling will start opposite Devin McCourty if healthy. That would put Kyle Arrington, who was arguably their best cornerback last year, 3^rd on the depth chart and focusing on the slot.

If healthy is the key part. Reports earlier this offseason said that Dowling was not healthy, calling him “very stiff” and “working his way back from the ground floor.” McCourty and Arrington have each had strong years in the past 2 years, though unfortunately not concurrently. In 2010, McCourty allowing 55 completions on 99 attempts (55.6%) for 586 yards (5.9 YPA), 4 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 12 deflections, and 5 penalties, making the Pro Bowl in the process, while Arrington allowed 48 completions on 73 attempts (65.8%) for 735 yards (10.1 YPA), 4 touchdowns, 1 interceptions, 5 deflections, and 1 penalty.

Last season, the two basically flipped. Arrington was the league’s leader in interceptions and allowed 55 completions on 101 attempts (54.5%) for 817 yards (8.1 YPA), 5 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 6 deflections, and 3 penalties, while McCourty allowed 62 completions on 101 attempts (61.4%) for 1004 yards (9.9 YPA), 6 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 8 deflections, and 5 penalties.

McCourty has played slightly better over the past 2 years combined and has more upside for the future as a 2010 1^st round pick. My money would still be on both starting at cornerback to begin the season with Dowling working his way back into shape in the sub packages before possibly supplanting Arrington in the starting lineup later in the season.

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Josh Cribbs is a dynamic return man who has returned 8 kickoffs and 3 punts to the house in his career, but because they’ve been so thin at wide receiver recently, the Browns have been working on turning Cribbs into someone who can produce offensively as a receiver as well. Cribbs had decent production last year with 41 catches for 528 yards and 4 touchdowns.

However, the Browns have been focusing on upgrading their receiving corps this offseason and appear to be phasing Cribbs out of the offense, according to ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi, who says he’ll be used in a “more limited capacity” offensively because he is “invaluable” as a special teamer. The Browns brought in Travis Benjamin through the draft, with a 4^th round pick, and feel they’ve unearthed a gem in undrafted free agent Josh Cooper, and are also expecting breakout years from Greg Little and Mohamed Massaquoi. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for Cribbs in their plans offensively.

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According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, it’s  “a given” that the Packers will keep 6 wide receivers on their 53 man roster this season. That’s very good news for the largely unknown Diondre Borel, a collegiate quarterback who drew rave reviews from both Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy this week for his work as a wide receiver in his 2^nd season after going undrafted out of Utah State in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Aside from a trade involving one of the guys ahead of him on the depth chart, the only way Borel would have been able to make the roster would be if they carried 6 receivers as Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, James Jones, and Donald Driver are all locks to make the roster. This report also makes it seem less likely that Jones will be traded. Jones had his name in trade rumors involving the Houston Texans earlier this week. They could still trade Jones and keep 6 wide receivers if they feel that another largely unknown receiver, Tori Gurley, is ready for the active roster.

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LaDainian Tomlinson confirmed today what many had expected all offseason, that the future Hall of Famer would be hanging them up. Tomlinson will officially retire with the Chargers on Monday, after signing a 1 day contract with the team. Tomlinson spent 9 years with the Chargers after being selected with the 5^th overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft and had all of his best years with the team. Even though he didn’t go out on the best terms in San Diego, it still makes a lot of sense that he’d retire with them. When he goes into the Hall of Fame, likely after waiting only 5 years, it will be wearing a Chargers helmet.

Tomlinson, who turns 33 next week, spent the last 2 seasons with the New York Jets, but was a shell of his former self, managing just 914 yards and 6 touchdowns on 219 carries in 2010 and 280 yards and 1 touchdown on 75 carries last season. Tomlinson holds the single season record for touchdowns and ranks behind only Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith all-time in touchdowns. His 13684 rushing yards rank 5^th all-time behind Smith, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, and Curtis Martin, while his 18456 all purpose yards rank 7^th. He is definitely the best back of the past decade and deserves entrance to Canton on his 1^st try.

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Joe Banner was let go as the Eagles’ President earlier this month, after many successful years with the team. According to Boston Globe reported Greg Bedard, Banner is “having a good laugh” at the DeSean Jackson deal. This suggests that the phasing out of Banner and takeover of complete control by Head Coach Andy Reid and GM Howie Roseman began before this offseason, when Jackson was extended. Bedard says that Banner “never would have done that deal.”

It certainly was peculiar when the Eagles signed Jackson to a 47 million dollar deal over 5 years after a down season, even though he was completely fine playing out the season under the 9.515 million dollar franchise tender. That being said, the stress relief that comes with a new deal might be just what the doctor ordered for Jackson, if you believe his struggles last year were due to him feeling snubbed by the Eagles by not getting a long term deal. We’ll have to see if he bounces back this season.

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The Jaguars signed Clint Sessions to a large deal last offseason, giving him 29 million over 5 years with 11.5 million guaranteed and stealing a starter away from division rival Indianapolis. However, Session barely played in his first season in Jacksonville thanks to 3 concussions and didn’t play all that well when he was healthy. In fact, backup Russell Allen not only played more snaps (293 to 258), but also graded out better on ProFootballFocus.

Session is supposedly healthy now, but the Jaguars aren’t in any rush to give him his starting job back. According to the Florida Times Union, the Jaguars will make Session compete with Allen for his starting job and he’s not necessarily a lock to win that competition. At the very least, Allen will be their top reserve linebacker and a big part of their special teams this season. If he wins the starting job, it’ll make Session that much more of a free agency bust. He’s still owed a good amount of guaranteed money so the cap hit would likely be too much for the Jaguars to release Session now.

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Rob Gronkowski just got a record extension for a tight end, 54 million over 6 years, but don’t expect the same to happen for Jimmy Graham. Graham essentially matched Gronkowski in production last season and is also heading into his 3^rd year after being taken in the 3^rd round in the 2010 NFL Draft, the same draft where Gronkowski went in the 2^nd round.

Like Gronkowski did, Graham still has 2 years left on his current deal, but unlike the Patriots, the Saints are not in a hurry to get him extended. In fact, according to Pro Football Weekly, it is “difficult to envision” the Saints extending Graham this offseason, citing their limited cap space and the fact that they’re still tied up in ongoing and more important negotiations with Drew Brees.

That’s totally reasonable, but if Graham continues to play this well, they may regret not signing Graham to a Gronkowski like deal this offseason. If Graham leads the team in receiving in 2012 and 2013, like he did by a wide margin in 2011, he’ll point to Marques Colston, who is making 40 million over 5 years, in negotiations, say that he has outproduced Colston on the same offense for 3 years, and possibly demand upwards of 50 million over 5 years. All of a sudden, the Patriots’ deal for Gronkowski, who is a significantly better blocker, will look like a steal.

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The Vikings used the 4^th overall selection on Matt Kalil in the 2012 NFL Draft and will plug him in at left tackle, where he will be a major upgrade. However, that doesn’t solve all of their offensive line problems. Guard is still a major position of weakness for them. The Vikings started Steve Hutchinson and Anthony Herrera there last offseason and now both are gone. Hutchinson signed in Tennessee, while Herrera remains available on the open market, which shows just how much he struggled last season.

At one guard spot, the Vikings have moved Charlie Johnson, who struggled mightily at left tackle last season, inside to play left guard. We’ll see how that works out. At the other guard spot, the Vikings signed Geoff Schwartz, who was once a solid starter, but missed all of last season with injuries. According to ESPN Twin Cities, however, Schwartz is not a lock to start there as Brandon Fusco will be given “every opportunity” to win the job. Fusco, a 6^th round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, was a collegiate center and played just 26 snaps last season.

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