The 49ers took a chance on a 35 year old Randy Moss this offseason, even though Moss was out of football last season and barely played towards the end of an atrocious season in 2010. The 49ers were looking for a playmaker on the outside at wide receiver. Multiple reports out of San Francisco have said that Moss has looked very good, some even saying that he’s looked like his old self. A report from Pro Football Weekly today was no different, citing multiple sources that said Moss was very impressive in the 49ers’ minicamp this week.

I’m still skeptical about Moss because he looked really done in 2010 and didn’t play at all last year, but it’s possible he might be finally motivated again. That being said, I can’t imagine that motivation was the issue in 2010 because he was let go by 2 different teams and still struggled. If that didn’t motivated him, I don’t know what will. I’ll believe Moss can be productive when I see it, but we’ll all get a chance to see it in the preseason if he still has it. If he does, he’d likely be the starting receiver opposite Michael Crabtree, with Mario Manningham in the slot and rookie 1^st rounder AJ Jenkins being eased into action as the 4^th receiver. That’s probably the ideal situation for the 49ers.

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Braylon Edwards is one of several big name wide receivers still without a job, as well as Terrell Owens and Plaxico Burress. However, while both of those players are known for causing headaches like Edwards does, Edwards is different in one significant area: his age. Edwards, a former 1^st round pick, is still only heading into his age 29 season, yet he is still unwanted in mid June. Even Chad Ochocinco got signed this week, signing with the Miami Dolphins. It’s a bit perplexing that Edwards can’t find a home.

You can cross one more team off the list of teams not interested in him: the New York Jets. The Jets, for whom Edwards caught 88 passes for 1445 yards and 11 touchdowns in 30 games in 2009 and 2010, have said they are not interested in bringing back Edwards, according to a report from the Newark Star-Ledger. The Jets appear thin on paper at wide receiver, but they like 2^nd round rookie Stephen Hill, 2011 5^th round pick Jeremy Kerley, and free agent acquisition Chaz Schilens, behind Santonio Holmes.

The Bengals and Cowboys are two other teams who have showed interested in Edwards this offseason, but neither has offered him a contract and recent reports say the Edwards are no longer interested thanks to the play of their young receivers in OTAs and minicamp. As I said, Edwards is still young, but he’s also still rehabbing an injury that held him to just 15 catches for 181 yards last season for the San Francisco 49ers and he’s been known for being a headache in the past. Still, at his 29 years of age, less than 2 years removed from being a productive starter, I can’t imagine Edwards not finding a team at some point this offseason. Edwards had 80 catches for 1289 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2007 with the Cleveland Browns.

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With both heading into the final years of their respective contracts, the Texans have extended both Head Coach Gary Kubiak and GM Rick Smith, through 2014 and 2016 respectively. Both have, at various times in their tenure in Houston, had people call for them to be fired as the Texans were missing the playoffs every season and perennially underachieving.

However, after the Texans made the playoffs last season with a 10-6 record and made it to the NFL’s final 8, it appears all is forgiven. They accomplished that last season despite losing Matt Schaub and Mario Williams midway through the season, as well as missing Andre Johnson for good portions of the year and Arian Foster for a smaller portion of the year.

The Texans have even higher hopes for their 2012 season, despite the losses of DeMeco Ryans, Jason Allen, Mario Williams, Joel Dreessen, Mike Brisiel, and Eric Winston this offseason. Still, they look to have solidified themselves to the point where they can be perennial contenders for at least the next few years. Kubiak and Smith are a big part of that.

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Tim Tebow has been bulking up this offseason and the Jets would like him to continue to do so. They want him around 250 pounds. Tebow is reportedly pretty close to that weight now and, according to reports, is still in fantastic shape as all of the weight gained has been pure muscle. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone with Tebow’s work ethic.

The Jets’ desire for Tebow to gain weight is likely due to the Jets’ desire to have Tebow contribute as a running back or fullback around the goal line. They’ve said they’ll have about 20 plays per game for him, even if that means playing him in a bunch of different positions. It appears he’ll start out the season in that role, but, even though Rex Ryan is continuing to express confidence in Mark Sanchez, don’t think for a second that he’ll hesitate to make the switch at quarterback and put Tebow back there if Sanchez struggles. They didn’t trade a 4^th round pick for him just to have him be a fullback and a punt protector if Sanchez struggles. My money is on Tebow finishing the season as the Jets’ starting quarterback.

Wes Welker is one of the few franchise players who have signed their tender, signing the 9.515 million dollar tender earlier this offseason, but he has yet to receive a long term deal. According to ESPN Boston, there has been “no meaningful progress” between the two sides lately. Welker was offered a deal after signing his tender that he said was worse than the 2 year, 16 million dollar deal he was offered during the season. He said he was frustrated with the situation after that, but then backtracked when the Patriots got mad.

It’s appearing more and more likely that he’ll play out the season under the one year tender and then negotiate a new deal next offseason with the Patriots, when he’ll be a free agent. The Patriots have all the leverage because both sides know Welker is worth a lot more in New England’s system than anywhere else. There’s also been some speculation that the Patriots could pull another shocker and trade Welker before the season. They’ve certainly done similar shocking things in the past with Richard Seymour and Randy Moss, and then, of course, there was the infamous release of Lawyer Milloy before the 2003 season. I wouldn’t put it past them.

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The Rams have signed free agent outside linebacker Rocky McIntosh. It’s June so there are not a lot of impact signings, if any, but this move might have any impact for the Rams. McIntosh was only still available on the market this long because he struggled in Washington’s 3-4 over the last 2 seasons, losing his starting job to Perry Riley in the middle of last season. However, he was at least a marginal starter for the Redskins from 2007-2009 as an outside linebacker in the Redskins 4-3 before the scheme switch and the Rams run a similar 4-3.

He’s still relatively young, heading into his age 30 season, and the Rams are incredibly thin at outside linebacker so McIntosh could start or at least see a good amount of snaps for the Rams. Their other options at the position include Mario Haggan, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and 7^th round rookie Aaron Wilson. McIntosh was a very logical signing for the Rams.

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Yesterday, Lions’ GM Martin Mayhew praised 3 players who stood out in offseason practices, Jahvid Best, Nick Fairley, and Willie Young. Today, Head Coach Jim Schwartz threw in a 4^th name, a name that has been getting a lot of praise from members of the media this offseason. That player is Titus Young, a 2^nd round pick in 2011.

Young started the offseason off by getting suspended for allegedly getting into a fight with defensive back Louis Delmas, though the team denied that was the reason. However, now that he’s back at practice, he’s done nothing but impress and it appears his strong play has gotten him back on his coach’s good side. It’s a very promising sign for Young as he attempts to leapfrog Nate Burleson on the depth chart and land a starting role. Last season, as a rookie, Young caught 48 passes for 607 yards and 6 touchdowns. Now in his 2^nd season, those numbers would appear to be his absolute floor. He’s got plenty of upside as well since even the marginal Nate Burleson was able to catch 73 passes for 757 yards and 3 touchdowns as a starter last season.

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Michael Griffin is still an unsigned franchise player, but unlike other unsigned franchise players, guys like Matt Forte, Dwayne Bowe, Ray Rice, and Drew Brees, Griffin is still attending the Titans’ minicamp. Minicamp is mandatory for all of those players under contract and since Griffin is technically not under contract, he doesn’t have to be there. In fact, he doesn’t have to report until Training Camp and he has until July 16^th to sign his tender.

Nonetheless, Griffin is there, an obvious sign that he’d be fine playing out the season under his 6.2 million dollar tender if necessary. The fact that he has still yet to sign shows that he’s still hoping for a long term deal, but he’s being very civil about it. We’ll have to see if his civility gets him the long term deal he wants. He’s a very talented player and the Titans would obviously rather keep him than watch him hit the open market next offseason. He was ProFootballFocus’ 13^th rated safety last season.

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Beanie Wells led the Cardinals in carries last season and the 2009 1^st round pick had his first 1000 yard season, rushing 1047 yards and 10 touchdowns on 245 carries. However, he had offseason knee surgery and has yet to practice this offseason, a bad sign for a player with a history of injuries. Today his Head Coach, Ken Whisenhunt, challenged him by saying that he better “bust his tail” because other running backs have impressed in practice.

By other running backs, he likely means Ryan Williams, their talented 2^nd round rookie, who missed all of last season with a torn patellar tendon meniscus and has progressed to full squad practice at minicamp. Williams was brought in last offseason to challenge Wells, who was to that point, a disappointment in his career. He played well last season, but it appears his injuries have made him a disappointment again. Williams has real sleeper value in fantasy leagues behind Wells.

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The Titans lost one stud cornerback this offseason and they apparently do not want the same thing to happen next offseason. The Titans have entered extension talks with Jason McCourty, who will become the Titans’ #1 cornerback in 2012 after the loss of Cortland Finnegan. A 6^th round pick in 2009, McCourty has well exceeded his draft range.

As the Titans #2 cornerback last season, McCourty graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 7^th ranked cornerback allowing 71 completions on 117 attempts (60.7%) for 802 yards (6.9 YPA), 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, and 10 deflections. He also graded out as the league’s best cornerback against the run, with 93 solo tackles and 34 stops, both most at his position. He’s owed 1.26 million in the final year of a 4 year rookie deal. If the Titans can’t agree to a new deal with him, they’ll probably have the franchise tag available for him.

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