Dwight Jones had 2^nd or 3^rd round talent, but went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. He was scooped up by the Texans as an undrafted free agent, but it doesn’t appear he’ll ever play for them. Jones has reportedly told the team that he no longer wants to play football. This is not surprising at all. Because he’s so talented and has never had a major off the field issue, there had to be something that came up in interviews that led to him getting undrafted.

If teams noticed a lack of passion, combined with his disappointing offseason workouts, it definitely explains why no one spent a draft pick on him. The Texans aren’t losing anything with Jones essentially retiring. He was a long shot for the roster and, as I mentioned, they didn’t use a draft pick on the 6-3 receiver out of North Carolina.

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They had been turned down by many other teams, but HBO’s Hard Knocks has finally found a suitor: the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins will appear on the behind the scenes show about what goes on with an NFL team. In a way, Hard Knocks and the Dolphins are perfect for each other. The Hard Knocks had been turned down by many teams and the Dolphins were turned down by many quarterbacks this offseason. Both have also seen better days.

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Hakeem Nicks had surgery on his broken foot just 4 days ago, but he is telling Head Coach Tom Coughlin that he is already pain free. Nicks was given an initial recovery of 12 weeks, which would him make questionable at best for week 1, but other reports have put his recovery at 4-6 weeks and there’s still some uncertainty with the time frame.

If he is, in fact, pain free already, it’s definitely a sign that it could end up being closer to 4-6 weeks. For what it’s worth ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio believes it’s overly optimistic that he’ll be back by Training Camp in July. My money would still be on him playing week 1, even if he does miss most of Training Camp and the Preseason.

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The 49ers franchise tagged Dashon Goldson earlier this offseason, but so far he has skipped all of the 49ers’ voluntary OTAs and reports say he has no plans to come to the Bay Area anytime soon, which sounds like a potential holdout. Now reports, according to CSN Bay Area, say exactly how much Goldson is looking for long term.

Goldson reportedly is seeking a deal similar to the one that Eric Weddle got last offseason, 40 million over 5 years. Goldson is only owed 6.212 million this season under the franchise tag. The 49ers are not expected to offer him anything close to that and they’d be stupid to offer him even half of that. Goldson did make the Pro Bowl last season, but he didn’t do anything before last year. There’s a reason he went unsigned deep into last offseason.

Though Goldson did have 6 picks last year, the 49ers’ strong front 7 is to credit for a lot of that. Goldson was an opportunistic safety, but really struggled in pure one-on-one coverage, ranking 4^th in yards allowed among safeties. He’s certainly not worth what Weddle, one of the league’s top safeties on a yearly basis, got last offseason. Goldson wanted a big contract last offseason and the 49ers let him try to find one elsewhere, which he couldn’t, leaving him to settle for a small one year deal in San Francisco. The 49ers could play hardball with Goldson again this offseason. This could be a long holdout.

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According to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Dallas Cowboys will deal Mike Jenkins in Training Camp. Clayton says the demand for him is strong and the Cowboys could end up getting a 4^th or even 3^rd round pick for him. He also says that the Cowboys are just playing hardball with teams now to drive up the price. The Cowboys are publicly stating that they will not be moving him, in order to keep their depth at cornerback and possibly even frequently use 4-cornerback sets. Head Coach Jason Garrett was the first to say that Jenkins would not be moved and now Owner and GM Jerry Jones is seconding that.

While Clayton believes he’ll get moved, ESPN Dallas’ Ed Warder, who knows the Cowboys well, doesn’t see it happening. Right now, it looks like the Cowboys will not move Jenkins unless they’re blown away by a deal. However, they could be. If offered a 4^th or 3^rd round pick, I have to think they’d pull the trigger. Jenkins is their 4^th cornerback, disgruntled, and a free agent after the season. A 3^rd or 4^th round pick is worth a lot more.

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Longtime Packer Donald Driver has been absent from the Packers’ OTAs so far, but not for unknown reasons. Driver has been skipping the voluntary workouts to focus on Dancing with the Stars, the offseason reality show he competed in and won earlier this month. Driver’s agent said that he and the Packers would likely agree to a restructured deal to get Driver on the field for his 14^th NFL season, all with the Packers.

No such deal has been reached yet, but according to ESPN Milwaukee, Driver will attend OTAs for the first time this offseason later this week, whether or not a deal has been reached. They also said that a restructured deal is a matter of when and not if for Driver and the Packers. Driver is owed 2.6 million this year, as well as a 1.5 million dollar roster bonus on July 25^th. He won’t see nearly that much money, but he doesn’t seem to mind. At this stage of his career, Driver will take whatever he can get just to say with the team. He’ll probably be a 4^th or 5^th receiver at best this season.

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There was a time when Albert Haynesworth was one of the best defensive linemen in the league and the most valuable free agent of the 2009 free agent class. He landed a 100 million dollar deal with the Washington Redskins and spent 2 mediocre and controversy filled years there before being shipped to the Patriots for next to nothing. He was then cut midseason by the Patriots and scooped up by the Buccaneers, who cut him again after the season. Now, he’s still out of work.

According to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora, his next shot in the NFL might come from the man who gave him his first shot, Jeff Fisher, who was with the Titans when they used the 15^th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft on Haynesworth. Fisher was also the Head Coach during all of Haynesworth’s best years. Now with the Rams, Fisher is reportedly considering bringing in Haynesworth for a workout.

Still only 31 in June, Haynesworth makes a lot of sense for the Rams, considering who their Head Coach is and their need for another rotational defensive tackle. La Canfora was not reporting an official visit yet, just passing along speculation, so we’ll have to see if Fisher does give him a shot, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all. Likewise, if he does not give him a shot, it’s unclear who would at this point. His former defensive line coach, Jim Washburn, is in Philadelphia, but so far they have shown no interest. Haynesworth may enter 2012 without a team.

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Titus Young had been absent for Lions’ OTAs for a week or so and he was the only Lions wide receiver not present at Calvin Johnson’s ceremonial 1^st pitch at the Tigers game a couple weeks ago. The Lions would not say publicly why Young was not present or even say if it was a team mandated thing or not, but multiple reports said it was for starting a fight with defensive back Louis Delmas. However, whatever the case, Young is back with the Lions at OTAs today.

Young was a 2^nd round pick of the Lions last year and he had a solid rookie year with 48 catches for 607 yards and 6 touchdowns. In his 2^nd season in the league, he is expected to at least challenge veteran Nate Burleson for the starting job opposite Calvin Johnson. It’s unclear if his absence will hurt him in that attempt or not. There’s definite fantasy upside with Young this year, however.

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Deion Branch has returned 7 punts in his career and none since 2004. He also turns 33 in July, but apparently the Patriots think it’s never too late to become a return man, even though return duties are normally saved for younger players in the prime of their athletic ability who have yet to master a position on offense or defense. Even though that is the exact opposite of what Deion Branch is at this stage of his career, the Patriots are nonetheless giving him as reps as a punt returner in OTAs.

The Patriots are known for being unconventional and this move is no different. Branch is likely competing for a roster spot with Julian Edelman and Matt Slater, two guys who also play other positions other than wide receiver. Both are solid special teamers who saw some snaps at defensive back last year. The Patriots are probably just seeing if Branch can do anything else other than play wide receiver so they have all the information when it comes time to make their decision. Given that, it’s pretty damning evidence that Chad Ochocinco is not being worked out on special teams. He’s also competing for a spot at wide receiver. The Patriots may have already made up their mind on him.

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The Cowboys are refusing to move disgruntled cornerback Mike Jenkins, who lost his starting job this offseason when the Cowboys signed Brandon Carr and drafted Morris Claiborne. They have ignored trade requests from the Colts and the Lions. One of the reasons for this, according to NFL.com, is because the Cowboys want to use their extra depth at cornerback to counter their lack of depth and starting caliber talent at safety.

In this plan, Jenkins would play on the slot in some or most nickel packages, while nickelback Orlando Scandrick would slide further inside to safety next to Gerald Sensabaugh. This would allow the Cowboys to get 4 cornerbacks on the field on around 50% or so of their snaps if they use the formation enough, given how much teams are in nickel sub packages these days. Presumably, Scandrick would move back to cornerback in dime packages.

This would allow the Cowboys to mask the fact that they really only have one starting caliber cornerback on the roster. Sensabaugh is a solid player, but at the other safety spot, the oft injured Brodney Pool will compete with the inexperienced Barry Church for the starting job. They also used a 4^th round pick on Matt Johnson, a safety, but he’ll probably focus on special teams as a rookie.

The plan makes a lot of sense, except for the fact today that Scandrick spoke out against the plan saying a move to safety was “not happening.” It’s rare for a player to speak out so strongly against a coach’s plan and it’s definitely not a good sign for the Cowboys who already have one disgruntled cornerback. ESPN’s John Clayton originally reported that the Cowboys would not be making any moves in the secondary until Training Camp. That probably is still the case. If Jenkins is moved, it’ll be then.

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