Broncos guard Chris Kuper broke his leg week 17 and missed the Broncos’ two playoff games. When he got hurt, he was given a 4-6 month recovery and he seems to be right on track. Once considered a possible candidate for the PUP, Kuper could be ready for June minicamp, this according to DenverBroncos.com.

Kuper graded out as the Broncos’ 2^nd best offensive lineman in 2011, according to ProFootballFocus. He’s an awful run blocker, but was above average as a pass protector. His presence was missed in a playoff loss to the Patriots where Tim Tebow was under pressure on seemingly every play. His return will be a welcome addition to a Broncos offensive line that graded as ProFootballFocus’ 8^th worst pass blocking offensive line and absolute worst run blocking offensive line.

The upgrade from Tim Tebow to Peyton Manning will help, but Manning is 36 and coming off of 4 neck surgeries so they can’t afford to let him take a lot of hits. The only possible upgrade they got in the offseason was Philip Blake, a 4^th round pick who can play guard and center. At some point, he might be their starting center over JD Walton, who graded out as ProFootballFocus’ worst center.

[switch_ad_hub]

Mat McBriar was a Pro Bowler as recently as 2010, but after a down year in 2011, in which he averaged 43.8 yards per punt and 36.7 net yards per punt, and an offseason knee surgery, he remains unsigned. The Cowboys have Chris Jones, a 2^nd year player who averaged 42.6 yards per punt last season in 2 starts, but would prefer to resign McBriar according to DallasCowboys.com. If he’s healthy, they could definitely resign him and have him at least compete for the starting job. If they don’t sign him, someone else easily could given how recent his last Pro Bowl was.

[ad_switch_hub]

Wes Welker made news this past week for saying he wouldn’t hold out into the season, signing his franchise tender, and then complaining that talks between him and the Patriots had gotten worse. Then he made news because of a report that said the Patriots were mad that he was making news in the first place, especially by saying that the talks had been regressing. The normally tight lipped Patriots were not pleased by that.

Welker then backtracked by saying that he “probably misspoke,” whatever that meant. In addition to that, he says he now “not frustrated whatsoever.” The Patriots demand that their players keep stuff in house and I’d imagine the Patriots reminded him of that this week, which is why Welker came out apologetic. He understands the “Patriot Way” more than almost anyone and he probably attributes a lot of his success to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and would like to continue to be with them. He has said he’s fine playing out the season under the 9.515 million dollar franchise tag. That might be what ends up happening since the Patriots don’t seem to want to budge from a deal in the 2-3 year range.

[switch_ad_hub]

Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson skipped voluntary conditioning sessions this week. The conditioning sessions are, as their name says, voluntary and players do frequently skip them to train on their own. However, this is newsworthy because Jackson is in a tight competition to not only retain his starting job, but to stay on the roster.

The Seahawks brought two quarterbacks in this offseason to compete with the incumbent Jackson, free agent Matt Flynn and 3^rd round rookie Russell Wilson. They gave Flynn a good chunk of cash and they have been talking up the rookie Wilson endlessly this offseason, even comparing him to Drew Brees.

Owed 4 million next year, Jackson could easily be cut if he doesn’t look down one of the top 2 spots on the quarterback depth chart. All 3 spots are open for competition and when Pete Carroll chooses the order when the time comes, he’ll look at everything, possibly even whether or not the players attended all of the voluntary team activities.

[switch_ad_hub]

Tim Jennings was a starter at cornerback for the Bears last season opposite Charles Tillman, but the Bears brought in several cornerbacks this offseason, 2 in free agency in Kelvin Hayden and Jonathan Wilhite, and two through the draft in Isaiah Frey and Greg McCoy. Nonetheless, it sounds like Jennings will keep his starting job. According to the Chicago Tribune, “all signs” point to him doing so.

Jennings, one of the league’s most underrated cornerbacks, was resigned for 6.6 million over 2 years earlier this offseason. Jennings doesn’t have elite physical skills and is undersized at 5-8 185, but he’s a perfect fit for the Bears scheme. He was one of two starting cornerbacks to not surrender a touchdown last season and graded out as ProFootballFocus’ 17^th ranked cornerback. I see no reason why he should lose his starting job.

[switch_ad_hub]

In the 2012 NFL Draft, the Cowboys gave up a 2^nd round pick to jump 8 spots to #6 and grab Morris Claiborne, in spite of the fact that he had wrist surgery. Earlier this week, reports said that Claiborne would probably be healthy for the Cowboys June minicamp, but now it sounds like that’s not going to happen. The Cowboys’ say their target for Claiborne is to have him back for Training Camp.

Claiborne figures to be a week 1 starter opposite Brandon Carr, but young cornerbacks can take a bit to develop and he’s misses valuable practice time. With solid depth in Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, there’s no rush for the Cowboys to start Claiborne week 1 if they feel he’s not ready, but more than likely he will be.

[switch_ad_hub]

Montario Hardesty was once a promising 2^nd round pick of the Cleveland Browns. However, he got hurt as a rookie in 2010 and missed the entire season, losing his job to Peyton Hillis in the process. Then in 2011, when Hillis was hurt, he struggled to establish himself as the lead back, averaging just 3.0 YPC on 88 carries and suffering through injuries of his own.

With Peyton Hillis signing in Kansas City this offseason, the Browns showed no confidence in giving Hardesty the lead back job, trading up to use the 3^rd overall pick on Trent Richardson to be their lead back. When that happened, it looked like Hardesty would be destined to just be a scarcely used backup this season, but now that might not even be the case. According to ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi, it’s Brandon Jackson, not Hardesty, who will be #2 on Cleveland’s depth chart behind Richardson likely because he’s a more refined pass catcher and pass protector.

Grossi also reportedly earlier this offseason that Hardesty’s roster spot could even be in danger because the Browns like what Brandon Jackson and Chris Ogbonnaya can do on 3^rd down and special teams. If he’s not healthy, I could definitely see that happening for Hardesty. Either way, it’s become very clear very quickly that Hardesty is as big of a bust as a 2^nd round pick can be.

[switch_ad_hub]

After trading Brandon Marshall this offseason, the Dolphins’ receiving corps instantly turned into one of the worst in the league. They didn’t spend any premium picks on the position through the draft, opting instead to address their other many needs, and as of right now, it’s very, very unclear how the depth chart order will shake out at wide receiver for the Dolphins.

Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland is not the man who will have the final decision on the matter, but he did assemble this group so his comments today were interesting. He called Brian Hartline and Davone Bess “players with tremendous experience,” said Legedu Naanee has “looked really good” in practice, and then talked up Marlon Moore and Robert Wallace.

It’s looking like a case of tremendous delusion in Miami. Even if Naanee does look really good in practice, there is no logical way to define Brian Hartline and Davone Bess as “players with tremendous experience.” The two have a combined 369 career catches over 7 career combined seasons. It’s actually kind of sad and telling that “experience” was the best thing he could come up with for those two, though I guess compared to the rest of the receiving corps, they are experienced.

Naanee, meanwhile, had 44 catches last season as a slot receiver in Carolina. He’s a decent, but unspectacular player who has only surpassed 24 catches once in 5 seasons. Moore and Wallace, meanwhile, are 2^nd year players who have 6 catches each thus far in their careers. They’ll probably be non-factors once again this year behind Hartline, Bess, and Naanee.

It’s interesting to note that Ireland named 5 players before getting to Clyde Gates, BJ Cunningham, and Jeff Fuller. Gates was a 4^th round pick of Ireland’s last year, but it doesn’t sound like the speedy one trick pony is progressing as Ireland would have hoped. Cunningham and Fuller are both rookies, Cunningham going in the 6^th round and Fuller going undrafted, and it doesn’t appear that either will have a major impact this season if they even make the roster. Gates’ roster spot is reportedly in danger as well. All in all, the whoever the Dolphins’ quarterback is, he’s going to have a miserable time finding open receivers this season.

Yeremiah Bell signed a one year deal with the Jets earlier this week, picking them over the Eagles, who were also interested in the veteran safety. It’s now clear why. ESPN New York is reporting that the Jets signed Bell to be a starter, an opportunity that he wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere because he’s 34 years old and pretty washed up.

However, for the Jets, Bell actually does represent an upgrade over incumbent Eric Smith. Smith could still see the field a lot this season, however, because their other safety LaRon Landry is not healthy and might not be all season. It’s safe to say Bell and Smith would represent the worst safety tandem in the NFL. The Jets are really hoping that the oft injured, but gritty Jim Leonhard can be healthy for Training Camp and resign with the team. They also took fliers on two safeties late in the 2012 NFL Draft, Josh Bush and Antonio Allen.

[switch_ad_hub]

The Raiders traded a 1^st and a 2^nd round pick to Cincinnati last year for Carson Palmer and then signed Matt Leinart to be his backup, but don’t try to tell Terrelle Pryor that. Pryor today was quoted as saying that he “isn’t planning” on being a backup. It’s unclear whether he’s just saying that to sound competitive or if he’s completely delusional, but he did acknowledge in that interview that Carson Palmer is the starter so maybe it’s the former.

Pryor will enter the season as the Raiders’ #3 quarterback. There has been some talk this offseason of him playing different positions like tight end, wide receiver, and/or wildcat. Barring major injuries at the quarterback position, his best bet to get onto the field this year is probably going to be at another position, if at all.

Pryor was highly thought of by Al Davis, who used a 3^rd round compensatory pick on him last offseason, but when Davis passed away last October, Pryor lost his biggest and possibly only supporter. Most of the league did not share Davis’ assessment of Pryor, not an uncommon occurrence in Davis’ life, and it doesn’t look like the Raiders’ new regime believes Pryor can develop into the player Davis thought he could.

[switch_ad_hub]