A little known Packers wide receiver earned public praise today from two very important men, Head Coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That wide receiver is Diondre Borel. Borel is not a well known player by any stretch of the imagination. He is a 2^nd year player out of Utah State and was a collegiate quarterback, spending last season on the practice squad learning the wide receiver position.

The Packers have a knack for finding diamonds in the rough like this and Borel could definitely end up making the 53 man roster, especially if the Packers trade James Jones. Borel’s development, as well as the development of 2011 2^nd round pick Randall Cobb, could make James Jones expendable and he’s already seen his name in trade rumors with the Houston Texans this week.

If Jones is traded, Borel could make the roster and even compete with veteran Donald Driver for the #4 receiver job. If Jones stays, Borel’s chances of making the roster would be much smaller and would be tied to the Packers keeping 6 wide receivers as Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, James Jones, Randall Cobb, and Donald Driver are all virtual locks to make the roster for various reasons.

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The New Orleans Times-Picayune says that 4^th round rookie Nick Toon has a good chance to win the #4 receiver job, a competition that the New Orleans Times-Picayune predicted would be a heated one earlier in the week. Toon reportedly impressed in minicamp, catching “nearly everything” thrown his way and “seems to be better than a 4^th round pick” which is a sentiment I agreed with when I called Toon a steal in the 4^th round. Toon’s other competition for the job is two unproven players, Adrian Arrington and Joseph Morgan.

The competition for the #4 receiver job in New Orleans is significant because new starting receiver Devery Henderson is unproven and if he struggles, the Saints would likely insert their #4 receiver into the starting lineup opposite Marques Colston because they prefer to keep Lance Moore in the slot. They did the same thing this offseason, moving Devery Henderson into the starting lineup from the #4 spot when Robert Meachem signed in San Diego. Toon could easily end the season as a starter, which makes him an interesting fantasy sleeper, especially in keeper leagues, given how explosive the Saints’ offense is.

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The Cardinals are one of several teams holding a competition for starting quarterback this offseason. They traded a 2^nd round pick and a starting cornerback for Kevin Kolb last offseason and gave him a 5 year deal worth max 63 million, but John Skelton arguably outplayed him last season, putting up similar stats and going 6-2, as opposed to 2-6 for Kevin Kolb.

When asked about the situation today, Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt says he’s in no rush to name a starting quarterback and admitted that the competition could go deep into the preseason, possibly even to the 3^rd week. The Cardinals really seem like they have no idea who they’re quarterback will be and want to take as long as possible to make sure they pick the right one and that they’ll be able to count on him for 16 games. Both are splitting 1^st teams reps evenly, and, while Ken Whisenhunt admits he wants Kolb to win the starting job because of how much the team invested in him, he’ll pick the quarterback he thinks he will him the most games. Another bad year could put Whisenhunt on the hot seat.

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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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