The Lions slapped defensive end Cliff Avril with the franchise tender earlier this offseason. However, he has yet to sign the 10.605 million dollar tender. He and the Lions are in negotiations, but reportedly are not close. Avril wants to make that franchise tender amount for 4-5 seasons, according to NFL.com’s Albert Breer, who says Avril is shooting for 42 million over 4 years with more than half of that guaranteed.

The Lions, meanwhile, won’t budge from 8-9 million per year. Jason La Canfora, also of NFL.com, reports that the two sides are not close and not even talking at the moment. I would still say the two sides will get a deal done before Training Camp, but I can’t say for sure. Avril is undersized at 6-3 260, but has 30 sacks in 4 seasons after going in the 3^rd round in 2008, including 11 last year. He is also an ideal fit for the Lions wide nine scheme.

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Staying true to his word that there would be an open competition for starting quarterback, Pete Carroll is giving Matt Flynn, Tarvaris Jackson, and Russell Wilson equal reps in OTAs. Jackson is the incumbent and a mediocre starter for a 7-9 team with a 23^rd ranked offense last year. Matt Flynn was a big money offseason acquisition as Aaron Rodgers’ former backup. He’s played very well in 2 career starts. Russell Wilson was their 3^rd round pick and someone they’ve talked up endlessly this offseason. All signs right now are pointing to Flynn winning the starting job, Wilson being his backup, and Jackson, owed 4 million, will be cut as part of final cuts. Nothing is set in stone, however, and Carroll loves competition.

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The first major injury of OTAs happened today as Giants wideout Hakeem Nicks broke a bone in his foot. Nicks was given a time table of 12 weeks for recovery, which would put him back right around the end of August. Head Coach Tim Coughlin acknowledged that Nicks’ status for week 1 would be “close.” It’s definitely possible he’ll miss the entirety of the preseason, at the least. Despite catching 76 passes for 1192 yards and 7 touchdowns last season, he’s a risky pick atop fantasy drafts this year.

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Once a 2^nd round pick in 2009, Ron Brace is now on the roster bubble for the Patriots. A 330 pound defensive tackle, Brace has just 35 tackles, 3 for loss, and 1 forced fumble in 3 seasons and could be behind Vince Wilfork, Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Myron Pryor, and Gerard Warren on the depth chart at defensive tackle. He’s facing an uphill battle to stay on the roster. He has been a rare miss by Bill Belichick early in the draft.

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When the Dolphins drafted Lamar Miller in the 4^th round of the 2012 NFL Draft, it didn’t fill a need at all at running back as they already have Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas. However, Miller was just too good of a value to pass on. The Dolphins are trying to come up with creative ways to get him in involved. He is expected to return kicks for them.

Now the Dolphins are also saying they will be using him some as a receiver, which makes a lot of sense since they have very little proven depth at receiver. Reggie Bush is still very injury prone so there’s a chance that Miller could end up seeing a good amount of snaps at running back. Bush is a free agent after the season so Miller, once projected to go in the 2^nd round, could have a much larger offensive role in 2013.

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When the Texans traded DeMeco Ryans this offseason, they did it presumably to get Daryl Sharpton some more playing time. Sharpton, a 2010 4^th round pick, was solid in limited action last season. The Texans also signed Bradie James this offseason. James, an aging veteran at 31, has 4 years of experience in Wade Phillips defense from Dallas. According to linebackers coach Reggie Herring, it is James, not Sharpton, who is the favorite to start week 1 for the Texans next to Brian Cushing. James’ best days are behind him so we still could definitely see Sharpton play a good deal this season.

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Eric Steinbach was once one of the better guards in the league for the Browns, but he missed all of last season with a back injury. Due 6 million in 2012, the Browns cut Steinbach, 32, this offseason, but there was some speculation that they could resign him at a lower rate because Jason Pinkston and Shawn Lauvao both struggled at guard last season.

GM Tom Heckert killed any speculation and ruled out resigning Steinbach today. The Browns didn’t use a draft pick on an interior offensive lineman and seem confident that Pinkston and Lauvao can improve in their 2^nd seasons as starters. Steinbach, meanwhile, has drawn no interest from any other teams this offseason and may have to retire.

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With Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator, the Bears did not use the tight end much in their offense. Martz has never figured out how to incorporate tight ends into his very specific offense, struggling to do so with both Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen. The Bears traded Greg Olsen last season because he didn’t fit with what Martz was trying to do and basically gave up on the tight end position last year. Kellen Davis led the way with 18 catches out of the tight end position.

In 2012, we can expect the Bears to use the tight end more, with Martz gone. The Bears have talked very publicly about how they believe Davis, already a great blocker at 6-7 262, can develop into an every down tight end, capable of producing in the passing game. They also used a 4^th round pick on Evan Rodriguez, who can be a passing catching specialist for them at tight end and create mismatches in the seam.

Statements made today from Bears’ 3^rd string tight end Matt Speath only solidified the belief that the tight end will be used more this season, as he said, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, that the tight end would be used a lot more in the passing game this year. We do need to consider the source in this situation, but I see no reason why Speath would be wrong.

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There might not have been a more publicly shamed group than the Eagles’ linebackers last year. Poor linebacker play became the poster child for the failure of the so called “Dream Team” last year as the Eagles, widely projected to win 12-13 games, won 8 and missed the playoffs. The Eagles, who have always notoriously devalued the linebacker position, have spent a lot of focus this offseason on getting better in that area, bringing in veteran former Pro Bowler DeMeco Ryans through a trade and Mychal Kendricks in the 2^nd round of the draft.

As of recently, it remained pretty unclear how everyone would line up at linebacker for the Eagles this season, but with the start of OTAs, it’s becoming more clear. Ryans will play middle linebacker, which is obvious for a player who has made the Pro Bowl out of that spot before. Ryans could have a bounce back season now that he’s back in a 4-3. Mychal Kendricks will likely start at strong side linebacker, barring an injury or unforeseen awful play between now and the start of the season.

At weak side linebacker, incumbent Brian Rolle will face competition from Jamar Chaney, who will be playing his 3^rd different linebacker position in 3 years. Chaney started last year as the starting strong side linebacker before moving to middle linebacker. Casey Matthews will likely not be part of that competition and will instead remain at middle linebacker, where he was a starter briefly last year, as Ryan’s backup. He could see action on passing downs because of his ability in coverage. The Eagles seem to have shored up their biggest weakness and are still a very talented bunch. They ended last season on a 4 game winning streak and could carry that into this season and resemble the team they were supposed to be last season.

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The 49ers won 13 games last year in the regular season, but still had one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Alex Smith was sacked more times than any single quarterback last year. This offseason, they lost starter Adam Snyder at right guard and have yet to find a true replacement for him. Snyder played poorly last season, so he probably won’t be missed, but the 49ers still have a hugely unsettled situation at right guard.

Head Coach Jim Harbaugh shed some light on the situation this week by calling Alex Boone the favorite. Boone faces competition from 4^th round pick rookie Joe Looney, who is currently out with a foot injury, and 2011 5^th round pick Daniel Kilgore. Boone is a massive offensive lineman (6-7 328) who went undrafted in 2009, largely for off the field problems. Those seem to be behind him and the 49ers believe strongly both privately and publicly in his potential.

There was also some talk, according to CSN Bay Area, earlier this offseason that Boone could potentially stay at his natural position of right tackle. This would move Anthony Davis, who has allowed 21 sacks in 2 seasons since being selected 11^th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, to right guard in an attempt to salvage his career. So far those have just been rumors and theories, but if Davis continues to struggle and Boone wins the right guard job and plays well there, we could see them switch spots midseason. Meanwhile, Looney and Kilgore will be backups and depth. Kilgore can also play center and may be the 49ers’ 2^nd string center heading into the season.

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