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Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

NFL News and Notes for July!!!

It's training camp month!!!! Yeah! the long off-season is nearly done! Of course, July opens with potentially bad news for the Eagles. Multiple published reports indicate that Lane Johnson, the Eagles starting right offensive tackle, will be forced to miss the first four games due to failing a drug test this off-season. There's been no formal announcement from the league yet, but indications are that a formal announcement will be coming soon. Ah well, I knew things were going too smoothly this off-season. Hopefully this is it for bad news for a while.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,105
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

Okay. I didn't see that coming. Jerry Jones has traded a sixth round pick to Baltimore and gotten a seventh round pick back to also get Rolando McClain, the former Raider linebacker who's retired twice in the last year or so. The kid had potential when he came out but he had some "issues" that ultimately led to him being cut and then retiring (twice.) If (and these are huge, huge ifs) he's got his head back in the game and out of the clouds and he's in football ready shape, he could be an upgrade for them. I'm just not so sure that he's got his head screwed back on or is in real football shape.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Trusted Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

I don't know anything about Rolando, but I don't see this as a bad move. We need a LB and only gave up a 6th round pick. I think it's worth the gamble. Time will tell if he's got his head in the game or back in just for the paycheck. Once he practices in our summer heat and humidity, he just may go back in retirement.

Honored Contributor
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Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

You didn't even really give up a whole sixth round pick either as you got a seventh round pick back, so it's not a bad gamble if he's got his head on straight. I might have gone more with a Brian Urlacher who's hinted pretty broadly he'd like one more go. You know where his head is, right between the numbers on the chest of the ball carrier. If McClain has gotten his head on straight (and that's a huge, huge if or else Baltimore wouldn't let him go for that little) then the Cowboys would have a good, solid young linebacker, but I'm just not sure I'd trust him not to walk away from the game in a crucial week. If he decides on the Saturday before a crucial game that he's had enough and he's retiring again, it won't be pretty. And that's the thing with this guy, you just don't truly know where his head is.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
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Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

And the season gets closer as more players get in trouble. Dion Jordan of the Dolphins is the latest player to get a four game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. Colts wide receiver LaVon Brazill is suspended for at least one year and the Chief's outside linebacker Rokevious Watkins suspended for the first four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

On the Eagles front, still no official word on the suspension of Lane Johnson. I'm not sure what's going on there. Maybe an appeal or an ambiguous test? LeSean McCoy has jumped aboard the Nick Foles bandwagon. (He was formerly backing Mike Vick most of the time.) He's now staunchly defending Foles and seems solidly behind him. That's a smart move by LeSean.

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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,501
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

This is not LaVon Brazill's first suspension. He was suspended four games in the 2013 season for drug violation. That's probably why this time it's for a full year.

That isn't a great loss for the Colts. Brazill was a back up and would be fighting for fifith place with Whalen or Da'Rick Rogers. The Colts already are set with wide receivers: Nicks, Wayne. Moncrief, to name a few. Kind of stupid move on Brazill's part, though. The players know the NFL's stand on drugs, yet so many of them still violate it.

Happy July 4th everyone! We're having a beautiful day here in IN. Hope everyone enjoys their day.

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."

Mark Twain
Honored Contributor
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Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

And the troubles keep coming. Josh Gordon (Browns wide receiver who was among the league leaders in receptions last year) who was already facing a likely year long ban for drug use, managed to get himself arrested for driving under the influence. You would think these guys would eventually learn not to do stupid stuff, but somehow the lesson never sinks in.

Just about two more weeks until training camp starts and that should keep some of the guys out of trouble for a while.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,501
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

The Colts waived LeVon Brazill. They acquired a player from Boise state named Aaron Burks. I don't know much about Burks, have to look him up.

Brazill definitely has a problem, so I'm not surprised at the news. I hope he turns his life around. No other team will be interested in him at this point.

I also saw that Washington's Tanard Jackson has been suspended indefinitely. The NFL has been going on a suspension spree lately.

Won't be long before the preseason begins. August is almost here.

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."

Mark Twain
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

Yeah, Tanard Jackson is one of those guys who was getting a second chance and blew it. He'd come off an indefinite suspension and the Skins gave him a chance only to have him fail a test before he ever got to play in a single game.

Less than two weeks before the Eagles open training camp now. Hopefully all of the guys stay out of trouble until then. There's been a long, long delay since the media learned that Lane Johnson has been suspended for the first four games for PED use with still no official word from the NFL. The local press is still saying they're right, but this long, long delay makes you wonder a bit.

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Honored Contributor
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Re: NFL News and Notes for July!!!

And with training camps just about to open a couple of the more contentious contract situations around the league have now been settled. The Saints reached an agreement with Jimmy Graham to make him the highest paid tight end in the league. And the Cowboys have apparently agreed to release Kyle Orton.

For those who haven't been following the Kyle Orton situation, he's the backup quarterback to Tony Romo who decided at the end of last season that he wanted to retire from football. There was just one problem. He would owe the Cowboys $3.25 million (or so) from his pro-rated signing bonus and he didn't want to repay that money. The Cowboys wanted him to come back and tried to use that as leverage to get him to come back as a backup one more time. The problem for the Cowboys is that it wasn't much leverage. The power was all on Orton's side in this case and he and his agent knew it. The Cowboys had to keep him on the roster tying up a valuable roster space, they had to count the $2 million he was due to earn this year against their salary cap, and he could sit out all of training camp and all they could do was fine him $30,000 a day for each day he missed and it takes a lot of $30,000 fines to make $3.25 million. The Cowboys have now apparently conceded defeat in this standoff and have now agreed to release Orton who will then likely announce his retirement and pocket the $3.25 million. For the Cowboys this does give them an extra roster space and another $2 million they can use this season.

Brian Orakpo of the Redskins didn't reach a long-term deal and will likely be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2014 season. That means he'll be playing hard all season to give himself the best shot at a big contract next year. The Redskins could tag him again, but tagging the same guy two years in a row really ups the price, so he's more likely to become a free agent and will probably be pretty highly sought after.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!