A week after having a meltdown in OTAs, the Jets’ mercurial wide receiver Santonio Holmes will miss the Jets’ minicamp this week with a hamstring problem. Holmes’ meltdown last week was because he felt he was being overworked by the coaching staff, despite only taking 25 reps. Holmes did not mention anything about a hamstring problem in his public explanation of the situation. The past week or so has undone a lot of the good that Holmes had done to get back on good terms with the organization this offseason. He was almost cut at the end of last season because the headaches were outweighing his production.

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Despite tearing his Achilles last November, Leon Hall says his recovery is going very well and that he expects to be ready for the 1^st day of Training Camp next month. A return for Training Camp seems very optimistic since he’ll be only 8 months removed from an injury that normally takes 10-12 months, but some players do heal better than others.

Joe Reedy, one of the Bengals’ top beat writers, believes that Hall will be ready for the start of the regular season, which would be about 9 ½ months after the injury. If he can’t go, rookie Dre Kirkpatrick will likely start opposite veteran Nate Clements. If Hall recovers for Training Camp and Kirkpatrick impressed in camp, the Bengals may cut Clements rather than pay him 4.3 million this year. The Bengals don’t want to rush Kirkpatrick into action too quickly though.

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In an interview with Bengals.com, Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said he sees no reason to add a veteran receiver and that he’d be surprised if someone didn’t pan out from the current group. The Bengals currently have a young group of receivers, Brandon Tate, Marvin Jones, Armon Binns, Mohamed Sanu, Jordan Shipley, and Ryan Whalen behind clear #1 receiver AJ Green. One veteran they were linked to earlier this offseason was Braylon Edwards, but it appears the Bengals are yet another team that will not be offering him a contract.

Shipley is pretty solidified in the slot, assuming he’s healthy. Meanwhile, the Bengals are hoping one of the rest of the bunch can step up as a starter opposite Green. The favorite right now, based off of comments made by the Bengals coaching staff in the past, would seem to be Mohamed Sanu, their 3^rd round pick in this past NFL Draft. Armon Binns, a 2011 undrafted free agent, and Jones, a 5^th rounder this year, would then compete for the #4 receiver spot. Tate and Whalen are on the roster bubble. There’s still a lot up in the air though, but it doesn’t look like the Bengals will be adding a veteran either way.

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In an interview with the Associated Press today, Steve Smith said that he wants to play “3 or 4 more years” before retiring. This is very consistent with the contract he just signed, so it makes sense. Smith is signed through the 2015 season, 4 seasons from now, for a total of 37.75 million. Smith had a major bounce back season in 2011, catching 79 passes for 1394 yards and 7 touchdowns, after just 46 catches for 554 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2010.

However, his age, 33, is a major issue. If you take a look at the 11 receivers who have played in the last decade and rank in the top 20 all time in receiving, you’d see that even the average top 20 all-time receiver has his last 1000 yard season at age 34-35, averages 48 catches for 594 yards and 3 touchdowns for 2 more seasons after age 34-35, and is done playing by age 36-37. Smith currently ranks 32^nd on this list, but will likely finish top-20. The point is that Smith would have to defy a lot of history to continue to be a #1 receiver for more than 2 years.

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A 2^nd round pick in 2009, Andy Levitre finally emerged as an above average player last year, after 2 mediocre years in 2009-2010. Levitre ranked 6^th among all guards on ProFootballFocus last season, making 12 starts at left guard. He also made 3 starts at left tackle and 1 at center, though he graded out much better at guard than anywhere else. He allowed 5 sacks and 11 pressures, while committing 5 penalties on the season, but only allowed 4 sacks and 7 pressures, with 4 penalties, in his 12 games at guard.

Heading into the final year of his 4 year rookie deal, the Bills have begun extension talks with Levitre. He’s not an elite talent, but he’s above average, versatile, and has started all 48 games of his career. He won’t command Davin Joseph, Carl Nicks, or Jahri Evans money, but he could get a deal similar to Evan Mathis or Ben Grubbs. This offseason, Mathis got 25 million over 5 years and Grubbs got 36 million over 5 years. Both would be a major pay raise over the 615 thousand Levitre is owed this season.

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Maurice Jones Drew and Chris Clemons were two of the three under contract players to skip the 1^st day of his team’s mandatory minicamp. The other was Ed Reed, but unlike MJD and Clemons, he didn’t do so in search of a new contract. Reed is still not 100% committed to play in 2012, which would be his 12^th in the NFL and his age 34 season. The Ravens can fine Reed 60 thousand for missing minicamp.

Even though he said earlier this offseason he was not 100% sure he wanted to play this season, most have assumed he would return. His absence at minicamp is a bad sign, but it’s still highly unlikely that he retires. He’s known for wanting to use the offseason to spend time with his family and workout solo. Ray Lewis says that Reed will, for sure, be there for Training Camp. Ravens’ fans should still be more concerned about Reed’s age, injury history, and contract status (he’s unsigned after this season), than about Reed potentially retiring.

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Unlike Chris Clemons and Maurice Jones Drew, Darrelle Revis was not a no show for mandatory minicamp today. However, he still refused to commit for Training Camp and reiterated his desire for a new deal. He says he wants a “sit down” with owner Woody Johnson, GM Mike Tannenbaum, and Head Coach Rex Ryan. It sounds like Revis is trying to be civil about the situation, but may change his tune if he’s not given a new deal by Training Camp.

Revis has finished with the frontloaded 2 years of his 4 year deal and has lived up to the 32.5 million he’s made over the last 2 years. He’s set to make just 13.5 million over the next 2 seasons. There’s still a good chance that Revis was promised a new deal in 2012, 2 years ago, if he continued to be the best cornerback in the league, which he did. He might get a new deal without holding out. This new deal would likely exceed the 60 million over 5 years that Nnamdi Asomugha got last offseason.

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Maurice Jones Drew was the most high profile holdout going official today, but it wasn’t the only one. Seahawks’ defensive end Chris Clemons was also a no show at mandatory minicamp today. Clemons is seeking a new deal as he heads into a contract year. He’s owed 4.5 million this season, which is very inexpensive for a player who has emerged as one of the best pass rushers in the league in 2 years with the Seahawks. He has 24 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, and 97 quarterback pressures over that time period.

However, Clemons turns 31 in October so the Seahawks might be wary of giving him the long term deal he wants. They also just used a 1^st round pick on a player with a similar skill set at his position, Bruce Irvin. The idea with Irvin was likely for him to serve as a situational player as a rookie and then play a bigger role in his 2^nd season with Clemons gone. There’s a very good chance that Clemons won’t get paid and will have to serve the final year of his contract and try to get paid on the open market in 2013 as a 31 year old who has never produced outside of Pete Carroll’s specific system. He doesn’t have much leverage.

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Maurice Jones Drew has made it very clear this offseason that he wants a new deal and today he made it even clearer. MJD was not present for the start of the Jaguars’ 3 day mandatory minicamp today and is not expected to attend at all, which officially makes him a holdout. The Jaguars can fine him 60 thousand for missing all 3 days, but that money is a drop in the ocean compared to what he’s seeking in terms of a raise in a long term deal.

Maurice Jones Drew is one of the league’s top running backs and the Jaguars’ best offensive player by far. He’s set to make just 9.4 million over the next 2 seasons and is seeking, presumably, to be paid in the neighborhood of what LeSean McCoy, Arian Foster, and Chris Johnson have gotten in the last calendar year, 5 years, 8-9 million per.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, have said that they are not going to give him a new deal and want MJD to “fulfill his obligation,” even though they, like every team in the league, frequently rip up the contracts of underperforming players rather than “fulfilling their obligation.” The Jaguars just recently did that with Aaron Kampman. The two sides seem very, very far apart right now and MJD seems very, very serious about wanting a new deal.

Adam Schefter believes this hold out could go into the preseason and even the regular season, which would be a huge loss for an already bad team. This is the most serious hold out this season and reminds me a lot of Chris Johnson’s last year. Johnson got his money right before the season, but had his worst season as a pro because he failed to stay in shape during his holdout. A similar thing could happen with MJD this season. Given that he’s coming off a season in which he led the league in carries and that he plays on a stagnant offense, let him be someone else’s problem in Fantasy Football leagues.

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According to Todd McClure, an offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons will put more emphasis on the screen game in 2012. This is a major change from their offensive philosophy in 2011 (the Falcons targeted backs a mere 97 times last year out of 594 attempts, one of the lowest percentages in the league), but offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter has been making major changes all offseason. The Falcons will pass more, go to the no huddle more, feature Julio Jones more and Roddy White less, and give Jacquizz Rodgers more carries and Michael Turner less.

This is yet another red flag for Michael Turner’s fantasy value. Turner was already set to get significantly fewer carries in 2012. The Falcons will run less overall and Mike Smith said that Turner would have a reduced role, in favor of Jacquizz Rodgers, a talented 2011 5^th round pick who the coaching staff really likes. Turner will be on the field less the more the Falcons use screen plays because catching passes out of the backfield is one major weakness in Turner’s game. Let Turner, who is now 30, be someone else’s problem in fantasy football leagues. Rodgers, meanwhile, is a nice late sleeper, especially in PPR leagues.

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