Earlier in the day, there was what looked like a false alarm involving Chad Ochocinco’s release from the Patriots. Ochocinco left OTAs after 10-15 minutes and removed all affiliation to the Patriots from his Twitter bio. However, it was then reported that Ochocinco left because he had an eye appointment. Regardless of whether or not that is true, what is true is that Ochocinco is now no longer a member of the New England Patriots.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots have released Ochocinco after desperately trying to trade the receiver during the day. It’s possible the eye appointment story was fabricated by the normally tight lipped Patriots as not to kill any trade value Ochocinco had left. However, at age 34 after a career worst season in which he caught 15 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown, Ochocinco probably didn’t have any trade value no matter what.

The Patriots acquired Ochocinco last offseason in a move that generated a lot of fanfare and possibly flashbacks of the Patriots trading for Randy Moss before the 2007 season. However, Ochocinco struggled to learn the playbook and barely saw the field at all down the stretch as the Patriots went to the Super Bowl. He continued to struggle with the playbook this offseason and with tons of depth at wide receiver, Ochocinco’s fate was sealed, even after he restructured his contract down to a 1 million dollar salary this season.

As for the rest of the Patriots’ receivers, Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd, and Jabar Gaffney are locks to make the roster. Deion Branch is a veteran receiver who could stay on the roster. Julian Edelman and Matt Slater are also possibilities to stay on the roster because of their versatility and ability to play special teams and defensive back. It’s possible the Patriots could keep all 6.

As for Ochocinco, he could easily be done at age 34. If no one wanted him in a trade at the salary of 1 million dollars, he probably won’t generate much interest on the open market, even for the veteran’s minimum. If he is, in fact, done, Ochocinco would retire with 766 catches for 11059 yards and 67 touchdowns in 12 seasons. He is 26^th all-time in receiving yards and would have to wait and see if the Hall of Fame calls. It’s possible his “antics” could keep him out, but statistically he would appear to possibly deserve it.

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Less than a week after Roddy White admitted he’d be seeing less of the ball this year, running back Michael Turner admitted today that the Falcons will be passing more and running less this season. Turner has carried the ball 300 times in 3 of the last 4 years, but he’s now 30 years old and on his last legs. Head Coach Mike Smith has said that he’ll have a reduced role this season, in favor of 2011 5^th rounder Jacquizz Rodgers.

Now that even he is admitting the Falcons will be running less under new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, Turner should have a major “stay away” stamp in fantasy football leagues. Let him be someone else’s problem. Meanwhile, Matt Ryan could easily have the best season of his career statistically. Julio Jones’ emergence will increase his statistical production, as will more pass attempts. He’s undervalued in fantasy football leagues, along with Julio Jones and Jacquizz Rodgers. Turner and Roddy White are overvalued.

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Head Coach Jim Harbaugh singled out Vernon Davis today as someone having “an outstanding offseason.” This is just a continuation of what Davis did down the stretch last year. In his last 5 games, including playoffs, he had 28 catches for 536 yards and 5 touchdowns. Davis struggled with the playbook earlier in the season, which he himself admits. However, before last year when he caught 67 passes for 792 yards and 6 touchdowns, Davis had 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2009 and 56 catches for 914 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2010. He’s definitely a nice buy low candidate in fantasy leagues.

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Less than a month after he had a 2^nd surgery on his knee, after missing most of last season with a torn ACL, Kenny Britt has begun running and cutting on the side at OTAs. The Titans will definitely hope he’s back and 100% by week 1 as he has had 56 catches for 1046 yards and 12 touchdowns in his last 14 games and is supposed to be part of an explosive receiving corps consisting of him, Kendall Wright, Nate Washington, and Jared Cook. Britt is in a race to play week 1 and when asked about it he said that he is “praying for it.” It’ll definitely be a situation to monitor, especially for fantasy football players.

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When the Texans drafted DeVier Posey in the 3^rd round despite work ethic and character concerns, it was a surprise pick. Posey has all the physical talent, but has never lived up to it on the field and has had some off the field issues. He was also underwhelming in the Senior Bowl, frustrating coaches in practice. It appears Posey is not done frustrating coaches as his new Head Coach, Gary Kubiak, has reportedly been “hollering at” Posey more than any player, according to houstontexans.com.

This is notable because Kubiak has gone out of his way to praise 4^th round rookie Keshawn Martin, as well as 2011 undrafted free agent Lester Jean. It appears that both of those guys are ahead of Posey on the depth chart, as are veterans Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter. He still has upside, but I’d bet against Posey having any sort of impact as a rookie. He appears to be having trouble getting his head back in the game after missing 10 games last season with suspension.

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Mike Goodson didn’t get a carry last season, but he has some experience and he’s still young, so the Raiders traded a reserve offensive lineman to get him from the Carolina Panthers. Now he is getting the bulk of the 1^st team reps in OTAs at running back. This is not an indictment on Darren McFadden, who is simply absent while leading a youth football camp, but it is something worth taking note of. Darren McFadden has a long injury history and has only once gone over 113 carries in a season. If and when he gets hurt, it appears that Mike Goodson, not Taiwan Jones, would get the bulk of the carries. He has fantasy value for that reason.

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Ty Warren has missed the entirety of the last 2 seasons with two separate injuries so there was no chance he was seeing the 4 million he was owed this season. After taking a while to decide, Warren has agreed to restructure his deal, in exchange for not being cut. Warren must have realized that the Broncos were the neediest team in the league at defensive tackle and that he wouldn’t have gotten more money or playing time elsewhere.

It was not immediately released how much Warren agreed to lower his salary to, but the Broncos wanted him to restructure down to 1-1.5 million. If healthy, he could still make an impact in a situational role in 2012 for the Broncos, who are incredibly thin at defensive tackle after losing both Brodrick Bunkley and Marcus Thomas this offseason.

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A 2^nd round pick in 2011, Stefen Wisniewski didn’t have the best rookie year for the Oakland Raiders in 2011, but he had an excuse. According to a report by the Oakland Tribune this season, Wisniewski played the entirety of last season with a torn labrum. Moving to his natural position, center, and with new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp installing a zone blocking scheme he fits better, all signs point to Wisniewski having a strong season in 2012 for the Raiders, barring another injury.

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Justin Blackmon was arrested over the weekend for driving with blood alcohol levels of .24 and .26 on separate measures. He had a press conference today to address the situation. He appeared apologetic, but possibly in a staged manner. He said he was done drinking, but added “for now” and did not admit that he had a drinking problem. For something he had days to script, he really didn’t do a great job of winning over the public. The good news for Blackmon is that ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is “very unlikely” to be suspended. He also had his charges dropped to a misdemeanor and doesn’t face any jail time.

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It may sound weird now that he’s won his 2^nd Super Bowl in 5 seasons, but if Miles Austin hadn’t dropped a touchdown pass week 17, Tom Coughlin could have easily been fired as the Giants would have lost to the Cowboys and missed the playoffs. However, with his 2^nd ring, Coughlin, the league’s oldest coach, essentially has job security for the rest of his life and can coach as long as he wants. Heading into the final year of his contract, the Giants gave him a new deal today, paying him 20 million dollars total over the next 3 seasons and keeping him as the Head Coach through the 2014 season, when Coughlin will be 68. The deal makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the NFL.

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