Kevin Barnes played in the slot for the Redskins last year, but played very poorly. DeAngelo Hall will be lining up on the slot this year, in addition to playing outside as a starter. Cedric Griffin, a free agent acquisition, will also play in 3-cornerback sets with Hall and Josh Wilson. Buried on the depth chart at cornerback behind those 3 and possibly Morgan Trent, Barnes is seeing some reps at safety in OTAs.

Barnes would have a much better chance to establish himself at safety because of who the Redskins currently have at the position. Tanard Jackson, Brandon Meriweather, and Madieu Williams are all mediocre talents at best who were mostly unwanted this offseason, while Reed Doughty struggled mightily last year for the Redskins and DeJon Gomes is inexperienced. Either way, Barnes, a 2009 3^rd round pick, is not guaranteed a roster spot in 2012.

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Derrick Ward was the Texans’ 3^rd string running back behind Arian Foster and Ben Tate last season, but the Texans signed Justin Forsett to play in that role for this season after Ward averaged just 3.4 YPC last year. Ward is still without a job and turns 32 in August. Ward tweeted that he’s going to “take some time off now & c what I want 2 do.” That sounds like code for retirement.

Ward played 6 years in the league, rushing for 2628 yards and 12 touchdowns on 551 carries. His best season was in 2008 when he rushed for 1025 yards and 2 touchdowns on 182 carries for the New York Giants. He turned that into a lucrative contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was a huge disappointment and they cut him after just 1 season. He spent the last 2 years in Houston as a backup.

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Bobbie Williams has been a long time Bengal and was a starter as recently as last year, starting in 9 games and missing 7 with injury. Williams had ankle surgery in December and says he’s about 85% right now. However, even though Williams played well last year, he turns 36 in September. The Bengals added two new starters at guard this offseason, Travelle Wharton as a free agent and Kevin Zeitler in the 1^st round of the draft, leaving Williams without a starting job. He worked out for the Bengals last week, but they don’t appear to have any interest in signing him. He might not get an offer anywhere and could have to retire after 13 years in the league.

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Sherrod Martin was a starter at safety for the Panthers last year, but he struggled so they added Haruki Nakamura to give him some competition. Martin is still starting at safety for the Panthers in OTAs, but according to the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers could have a platoon at safety with Martin playing on passing downs and Nakamura playing on running downs.

This makes sense since Martin was especially poor against the run last year, ranking 76^th out of 87 safeties on ProFootballFocus against the run, missing 15 tackles and recording only 12 total “stops” and 68 tackles. In coverage, Martin was slightly better, ranking 51^st, allowing 24 completions on 36 attempts for 361 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and 5 deflections. Overall, he ranked 59^th, which is pretty below average. Nakamura has played decent in a backup role in Baltimore over the past few years and should see more playing time this year.

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Once viewed as an elite prospect, Taylor Mays fell to the 2^nd round in 2010, where he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. Many felt the 49ers got a steal with him there, but he turned out to be the exact opposite of a steal for them. Mike Singletary, his biggest backer, was fired after Mays’ rookie year. Jim Harbaugh came in, decided he didn’t like Mays and shipped him to Cincinnati for a pack of peanuts. In his first year in Cincinnati, Mays played just 61 snaps.

Heading into his 3^rd year in the league, Taylor Mays seems to be getting his first chance at a starting job. He’s working out with the 1^st team in OTAs after the Bengals cut long-time starter Chris Crocker this offseason. He will have to hold off two other inexperienced players, Jeromy Miles and Robert Sands, as well as 5^th round rookie George Iloka, for the job. Mays has the inside track right now. He’s a perfect fit for Mike Zimmer’s system, which has had success with similar players like Roy Williams in the past, both in Cincinnati and in Dallas. If he can’t succeed in Cincinnati, he likely won’t succeed anywhere.

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Atari Bigby was a starter at safety for the Packers a few years ago, but injuries have sapped his abilities and turned him into a reserve for the Packers and Seahawks over the past few years, when healthy. Now in San Diego, it appears Bigby will be given another shot to start. Bigby is working out with the 1^st team in OTAs, ahead of 3^rd round rookie Brandon Taylor, but nothing is set in stone. Bigby probably doesn’t have much left as a player and the fact that he’s currently starting shows just how desperate the Chargers are at the position next to Eric Weddle. Unless Bigby has a really strong offseason, I see no reason why the rookie Taylor can’t start week 1.

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Brian Rolle was a starting linebacker for the Eagles last season, but given how poorly the Eagles’ linebackers played as a whole, that’s not necessarily a good thing. In fact, the Eagles have already added two new starters in their linebacking corps this offseason, DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks, and Rolle remains the only incumbent starter, at least for now.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Rolle’s future might be as a “situational player and a special teams ace,” which makes a lot of sense given his lack of size (5-10 227). That’s not a good sign for Rolle, who is in competition with Jamar Chaney, who was the incumbent starting linebacker on the opposite side last year. The smart money seems to be on Chaney starting at his 3^rd different position in 3 years in the league and playing the weak side for the Eagles this year, over Rolle.

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After drafting Brandon Weeden in the 1^st round, the Browns unsuccessfully tried to trade Colt McCoy during the draft. With Weeden prying the starting job from the veteran incumbent McCoy more and more on a daily basis, reports say that the Browns could still trade McCoy, according to the Akron Beacon-Journal. McCoy could still be a decent backup for some team, but most teams already have their backup situation figured out.

One team that was interested during the draft was the Green Bay Packers, as they lost Matt Flynn this offseason and might not be totally comfortable with Graham Harrell if Aaron Rodgers were to get hurt. Another team I’d like to throw out there, based off nothing but pure speculation, would be the Philadelphia Eagles, as they need a reliable backup behind the aging and injury prone Michael Vick. If he is traded anywhere, the Browns won’t get much in return. They may end up keeping him.

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As most know, Justin Blackmon was arrested this past weekend for aggravated DUI after blowing a .24 on a breathalyzer. Blackmon pleaded not guilty, but still faces league discipline from the NFL, as well as penalties in his contract negotiations with the Jaguars after being the 5^th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

New information on the subject came out today when it was reported by the Florida Times Union that Blackmon actually blew a .26 on the 2^nd measure, which shows that Blackmon has been drinking immediately before getting behind the wheel and that his body was still processing it. Reports estimated that it would have taken 12-14 drinks for a 210 pound man like Blackmon to get as drunk as he was. Any way you look at it, it’s a terrible error in decision making by Blackmon.

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They’re getting closer, but according to Pro Football Talk, the Saints and Drew Brees are still about 2 million per year apart on a long term extension. According to the report, Brees is asking for 20-21 million per year, while the Saints are offering 18-19. Considering a 36 year old Peyton Manning got 19.2 million per year from the Broncos after missing an entire season and having 4 neck surgeries, Brees’ demands aren’t outrageous, even though it would make him the highest paid player in the league. While Brees is probably pointing to Manning in negotiations, the Saints are probably pointing to Tom Brady, who signed a deal worth a very team friendly 18 million per year in 2010.

Brees is still very frustrated with the negotiations and has no plans to attend mandatory minicamp next week. I would still bet on the two sides meeting somewhere in the middle with a 5 year, 100 million dollar contract with about half that guaranteed sometime before Training Camp. Still, the longer it takes, the longer the Saints are without their leader in practice and the longer they look like the bad guys in the media, an especially bad thing after what happened with BountyGate this offseason.

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