When the Seahawks lost middle linebacker David Hawthorne in the offseason to the New Orleans Saints, middle linebacker became arguably their biggest need. They signed veteran Barrett Ruud, previously of the Tennessee Titans, and also used a 2^nd round pick on Bobby Wagner out of Utah State. Ruud was once one of the most promising young linebackers in the league, but his promise was destroyed by injuries and he has bounced around the league from Tampa Bay to Tennessee to Seattle over the past few years.

Wagner has gotten the chance to work out at middle linebacker with the 1^st team during OTAs with Ruud nursing yet another injury and according to the Tacoma News Tribune, he probably won’t let go of that starting job and will probably play on every down. He’ll play in between KJ Wright and LeRoy Hill at linebacker.

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The Rams had the worst offensive line in the league in terms of total sacks allowed last season. Both tackles, Jason Smith and Rodger Saffold struggled mightily through injuries and their replacements were any better. Meanwhile, left guard Jacob Bell was awful, as was center Jason Brown. The Rams cut Jason Brown and signed a new center, Scott Wells of the Green Bay Packers, one of the best in the league at the position, but they didn’t address an offensive lineman until the 5^th round, attending to other needs.

Some felt they could move one of Saffold or Smith inside to guard and draft a new starting offensive tackle, but they did not do that. They will give Saffold and Smith each one more chance on the outside, though if they struggle again out there, I expect it’d be their last chance at the position. Saffold and Smith could bounce back from injuries outside and they are still young, but they’re left with a gaping hole at left guard.

Incumbent Jacob Bell was not resigned, for obvious reasons. He signed in Cincinnati briefly as a backup before retiring. The Rams are holding an open competition for the spot and all 4 of the candidates as underwhelming at best. Bryan Mattison, Tim Barnes, and Rob Turner are the “veterans,” but none of them have much experience at all, nor were they high draft picks. Rokevious Watkins was their 5^th round pick rookie and he might be their best bet at the position, which is how sad the situation is. The starting job will be decided in Training Camp and the Preseason.

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Rob Sims is a starting guard for the Detroit Lions who played last season at 300 pounds. However, he has bulked up this offseason to 315. Often when offensive linemen gain a significant amount of weight in the offseason, it’s a bad thing, but while Sims acknowledges this will hurt his quickness, it sounds like it was done with the blessing of the coaching staff. ProFootballFocus graded Sims as the Lions’ top offensive lineman last season. We’ll have to see if the added weight helps, hurts, or has no effect.

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Earlier this week, the agent for Donald Driver said his client and the Packers would argue to a restructured contract after Driver was done on Dancing with the Stars. Driver has since commented saying that he wants to be a “Packer for life.” This doesn’t relate much to his contract situation or make it any more or less likely that he’s retained, but it does suggest that, like Hines Ward with the Steelers, if released, Driver would retire rather than trying to catch on somewhere else. A 37 year old former 7^th round pick, Driver has 735 catches for 10060 yards and 59 touchdowns in his career, all with the Packers. He’ll probably end up in Canton and have his number retired by the organization, along with former quarterback Brett Favre.

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The Chargers lost backup running back Mike Tolbert behind Ryan Mathews this offseason and have yet to sign a replacement. It’s possible that they are fine with making Ryan Mathews a true feature back for the first time in his 3 year career, as well as giving backup Curtis Brinkley more carries and running more than normal with fullback Le’Ron McClain, one of the league’s best carrying fullbacks.

However, according to ProFootballWeekly, they are interested in adding a veteran running back. This could mean they aren’t confident in Brinkley and his 32 career carries, as well as 7^th round rookie Edwin Baker. The top two veteran running backs available are probably Cedric Benson and Ryan Grant, but they’ve also worked out Jackie Battle and not Benson or Grant. Battle has been a career backup with divisional rival Chiefs. At the same time, it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t add a back.

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Rolando McClain is facing 6 months in jail for assault with a deadly weapon, though he is appealing the sentence. He’ll begin his jail time when the appeal is over and there’s a strong possibility that he misses games because of this. He could also be given a suspension from the commissioner on top of that. However, the Raiders themselves will not be handing down any punishment to their starting middle linebacker.

According to the Contra Costa Times, the Raiders will give McClain one more year, play him if available, and then reassess his position with the organization next offseason. If and when he misses games, Travis Goethel would start in his absence. The Raiders’ unwillingness to move on or hand down punishment to McClain could be a sign that they don’t believe in Goethel as a starter.

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A 2^nd round pick in 2010, the Buccaneers’ Brian Price has been a bit of a disappointment with injury, weight, and attitude issues in 2 years. He’s yet to lock down a starting job at defensive tackle and he was benched permanently late last season after a penalty. Now it seems Price has had yet another setback in his life. After the death of his sister Bridget earlier this week in a car accident, Price has been hospitalized for exhaustion and grief. This death comes after his brothers Eddie and Damon were killed in gang violence. Obviously, I hope for the best for Price and that he can make it on the field this season in what could be a breakout 3^rd year.

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Earlier this week Drew Brees called the negotiations between him and the New Orleans Saints “extremely frustrating,” a very understandable sentiment because of how much Brees has done for the organization and the city of New Orleans. Some Saints fans are getting restless with the negotiations and feel they should just pay the man what he’s earned, rather than believing he owes them for taking a chance on him when he was hurt, which they reportedly told him in negotiations.

With BountyGate as well, Saints fans are not happy with their organization and the front office has had to do some damage control. First GM Mickey Loomis commented saying that he fully expects a deal to get done and now owner Tom Benson is saying that he’s not worried about the negotiations either. I don’t know how much that will comfort Saints fans who want to see their leader get what he deserves and be in the black and gold for years to come.

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The Browns’ offense might have been the most devoid of playmakers of any team in the league last year. They changed that this offseason by adding one of the draft’s most dynamic playmakers, Trent Richardson, and upgrading their starting quarterback from Colt McCoy to Brandon Weeden. If you ask the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns also have one more dynamic playmaker on their offense.

Cabot says she believes that Greg Little is capable of a Pro Bowl year if Brandon Weeden plays well. Little had 61 catches for 709 yards and 2 touchdowns last season as a rookie 2^nd round pick. He also led the league in drops and had a very low yards per target ratio of 6.3. However, he was very raw as a 2^nd round pick rookie. He has all the physical tools, but fell to the 2^nd round because he missed his final season at North Carolina with a suspension and because he never had elite production.

The Browns knew he was a project when they drafted him. They just didn’t have another other choice but to target him frequently last year. With a better quarterback and another year of experience, those numbers could definitely see a noticeable increase this season, especially since Brandon Weeden doesn’t have much else in terms of receiving options. There’s definitely some fantasy sleeper value with him and while Cabot does sound like a bit of a homer saying he could make the Pro Bowl, she’s not wrong in projecting a breakout season for him.

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A big sticking point of the lockout dispute last offseason was about offseason practices. The players got what they wanted, fewer mandated offseason practices, but it appears it’s backfired in their faces at least for Terrell Suggs and Jason Peters. With fewer mandated practices, players have to stay in shape on their own and sometimes when they attempt to do that, they get hurt, like Peters and Suggs did. Unfortunately, if a player gets hurt on his own, they’re often in breach of contract and liable to forfeit part or all of their salary for the upcoming season, whereas that would not be the case if they were injured during team activities.

While the Eagles are expected to take back 3.25 million from Jason Peters (they amount it cost them to sign replacement Demetress Bell), the Ravens will not be doing the same with Terrell Suggs, this according to the Baltimore Sun. Rather than putting him on the non-football injury list, they’ll reportedly be placing him on the PUP list with his torn Achilles to start the season, allowing him to continue getting paychecks.

This is a classy move for a proud organization and one of its best players and the reigning defensive player of the year. However, it does make you wonder if the same thing would have happened if the Ravens had been forced to go external for a replacement like the Eagles, rather than promoting from within. 2^nd round rookie Courtney Upshaw to expected to see the bulk of Suggs’ old snaps, but Paul Kruger and Pernell McPhee could also see increases in playing time. The Ravens optimistic expect Suggs back by November, but that would be a major recovery.

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