Mike Tolbert has been a backup running back in San Diego behind Ryan Mathews for the past 2 years, rushing for 1235 yards and 19 touchdowns on 303 carries, while catching 79 passes. Due to that production and his ability in short yardage situations, the 5-9 243 pounder was one of the most sought after running backs on a weak running back market this offseason as a free agent. Given that, it was a bit peculiar when he signed in Carolina. Carolina already has two running backs in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart and Tolbert didn’t get very much money, taking 8.4 million over 4 years.

Tolbert, who will play mostly fullback for the Panthers this year, has now given us a reason for the seemingly peculiar decision. Tolbert said that he left at least a million dollars on the table from the Chargers and a good deal more playing time to sign in Carolina because he wanted to raise his daughter in the South.

Originally from the Carolina area, Tolbert attended college at nearby Coastal Carolina University and feels it’s a “better place to raise a family.” In an era when so many decisions are made for financial reasons, it’s refreshing to see someone make a football decision because it makes him happy, not just richer. Tolbert could see more playing time in 2013 and beyond as Jonathan Stewart will be a free agent and DeAngelo Williams will be 30 next offseason.

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The Texans have had one of the best offensive lines in the league over the past few years, thanks to their scheme and their continuity as much as to their talent. However, the Texans lost that continuity this offseason when they lost two starters, Mike Brisiel and Eric Winston, in free agency. At right guard, 3^rd round rookie Brandon Brooks is competing with career backup Antoine Caldwell, a 3^rd round pick in 2009.

Meanwhile at right tackle, Rashad Butler, a career backup, has the inside track at the starting job, but according to Head Coach Gary Kubiak, 2011 7^th round pick Derek Newton is performing well enough to “compete for a starting job.” Kubiak did acknowledge that “we’re in shorts, so it’s hard to tell with big guys,” but it sounds like there will be a competition for that job as well.

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This late into the offseason, there are not a lot of veteran free agents left. However, the Texans managed to find two and sign them to contracts today, signing Justin Forsett and Alan Ball. Forsett was previously a backup running back in Seattle who managed 1287 yards and 7 touchdowns on 278 carries in 3 seasons with 97 catches.

Still only 26, it’s surprising that Forsett was still on the market this long. In Houston, he’ll be a #3 back behind Arian Foster and Ben Tate and won’t see very many carries. Derrick Ward had a mere 45 carries in that role last season. For what it’s worth, Forsett is a natural fit for the Texans’ zone scheme. As for Ball, he started 16 games at safety for the Cowboys in 2010 and played very poorly. Last season he played much more sparingly and he’ll probably play in that same role for the Texans this season. In a backup role, he provides versatility and experience.

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In 2010, Darrelle Revis held out well into Training Camp and the Preseason in search of a new contract. He got one, a 4 year deal, but 2 years later, he appears to be unsatisfied with deal once again. That’s not in doubt, but what is in doubt is whether or not he’ll attend Training Camp. Revis was noncommittal when asked about the issue in an interview with the New York Daily News.

Revis’ 4 year deal that he signed in 2010 was heavily frontloaded and will only pay him 13.5 million combined over the next 2 seasons. Both sides had to know that a disagreement was a strong possibility 2 years into the deal and the Jets might have had a plan to deal with the situation when the time came. Both sides probably want to avoid a long holdout because Revis struggled (by his standards) in 2010 after the holdout.

Revis made 32.5 million combined over the first 2 seasons of his deal and probably wants to be paid like that over the next 4-6 years. Only 26, Revis probably wants a deal that will top the 60 million over 5 years that Nnamdi Asomugha got from the Eagles last offseason at age 30. The two sides will probably get a deal done, it’s just a matter of when.

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Last season, Shonn Greene had a career high 254 carries with LaDainian Tomlinson in the tail end of his career. Greene turned that into 1054 yards and 6 touchdowns, while catching 30 passes, very underwhelming statistics for the amount of carries he had. There’s a reason the Jets tried to trade up for Trent Richardson. However, after missing out on Richardson and with Tomlinson gone, Greene says he has been led to believe by new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano that he will have another career high in carries.

Even though he’s a pretty marginal back, he’s experienced and the Jets don’t really have another option. Joe McKnight is just a situational player and he is reportedly out of shape, while 6^th round pick Terrence Ganaway might be a fullback long term. The Jets haven’t ruled out signing a veteran back, but it doesn’t sound like they will be. Greene has good fantasy football value if he gets a high volume of carries. If Tim Tebow takes over at quarterback, it’ll open up running lanes for Greene the way that he did for Willis McGahee last year and the way that Vince Young used to do for Chris Johnson.

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The Broncos used a 2^nd round pick on Derek Wolfe in the 2012 NFL Draft. Wolfe was a collegiate defensive tackle and defensive tackle is a major position of need for the Broncos. However, according to defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, the Broncos plan to use Wolfe, 6-6 295, at defensive end in base packages and move him inside to defensive tackle on passing downs in sub packages.

Robert Ayers was the defensive end opposite Elvis Dumervil in base packages last season and Von Miller would move down and play opposite Dumervil in sub packages to form a “Doom and Gloom” duo that combined for 21 sacks last season. That will continue to be the case this season, but it’s unclear what Ayers’ role will be next season with Wolfe in town. Ayers is a former 1^st round pick of the Josh McDaniels regime in 2009 and he finally had a solid season last year.

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When healthy, Patrick Chung is one of the best safeties in the NFL. The Patriots’ defense is noticeably better when he’s out there. The 2009 2^nd round pick will be a free agent next offseason, but the Patriots have not yet opened contract talks with him, according to the Boston Herald. Given that he missed 8 games last season, they probably won’t talk contract with him at any time this offseason.

The Patriots rarely talk extensions with players and they probably want to see Chung make it through a whole season first before paying him. They’ll have the option to franchise him next offseason at a fairly reasonable rate if he plays well so there’s not a lot of risk of them losing him for nothing. The franchise tag value for safety this offseason was a mere 6.2 million, one of the lowest franchise tag values for any position. It won’t be much more next offseason and the Patriots are frequent users of the franchise tag.

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Tight end Martellus Bennett was a 2^nd round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2008 and while he established himself as one of the better blocking tight ends in the league, he never managed to break out as a pass catcher, catching just 85 passes in 4 seasons. Bennett certainly has the upside to become a better pass catcher, running a 4.68 40 at The Combine and catching 45 passes in his final season at Texas A&M in 2007.

Needing tight end help after losing both Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard to torn ACLs in the Super Bowl, the Giants signed Martellus Bennett this offseason and it seemed like a natural fit. It gave Bennett a chance to finally be an every down tight end and the Giants require all their tight ends be great blockers. Eli Manning has gotten good receiving production out of blocking tight ends in the past with guys like Kevin Boss and Travis Beckum so there was definite upside with the Bennett signing.

However, the Giants may find themselves disappointed. Naturally in the 265-270 range, Bennett weighed in at 291 at OTAs for the Giants and tight end coach Kevin Pope acknowledged this was “too big for his legs to carry.” Bennett is currently sitting out with hamstring problems. He has done nothing to shake the notion that he doesn’t have the work ethic to live up to his potential.

If Bennett can’t get into shape, the Giants’ other options at tight end are pretty slim. They include 4^th round rookie Adrien Robinson, a raw pass catcher who managed just 12 catches last year at Cincinnati, a bunch of inexperienced no names, as well as the potential that Beckum and Ballard can make it back at some point this season.

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The Titans’ interior offensive line was one of the most publicly scrutinized units in the league last year and their poor play was a huge part of the reason why Chris Johnson had the worst season of his career. The Titans haven’t made any upgrades at the positions this offseason, with the exception of signing veteran free agent Steve Hutchinson. However, they didn’t use a draft pick on any of the 3 interior line spots.

That being said, it appears Eugene Amano’s job at center is not safe for next season. Amano is currently out with a knee injury and career backup Kevin Matthews is working with the 1^st team in his absence. According to the Nashville Tennessean, career backup Fernando Velasco and undrafted free agent William Vlachos are also in the mix.

Competition certainly can’t hurt their production at the position and whoever wins the job likely can’t be worse than Amano was last year. Amano graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 32^nd ranked center last year out of 35. Only Philadelphia’s Jason Kelce, Chicago’s Roberto Garza, and Denver’s JD Walton ranked lower. Whoever wins the job will start in between Hutchinson and LeRoy Harris, their highest rated starting interior offensive lineman last season.

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