Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is very excited about the addition of two backup wide receivers, writes Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic. Ted Ginn Jr., signed in free agency, and John Brown, drafted in the third round, have made Arizona faster. “It opens up everything,” Palmer said. “It opens up the running game. You don’t want to leave a guy one-on-one in press coverage against Ted; it’s a tough matchup for any corner. So it takes an extra guy out of the box in some situations. It helps the running game.” More from around the league..
- Some may be wondering how much Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith has left in the tank, but Andy Benoit of MMQB believes that he was the best offseason signing in the NFL. Smith, he argues, still has the speed, stop/start acceleration and body control to consistently beat man coverage. The 35-year-old is 19th all-time in NFL history in receiving yards (12,197) and 25th in receptions (836).
- Bad news for Raiders tight end Nick Kasa as the preliminary reports are indicating that he has torn his ACL, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. If that’s the case, he’ll be done for the year and a source told Bair that he is in fact done for 2014.
- Former University of South Florida linebacker Aaron Lynch could wind up being the surprise pick of the 49ers‘ draft, writes Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Lynch had a number of red flags in the eyes of NFL scouts, but he has tremendous speed and is working hard to learn the position after playing defensive end in college.
- Packers GM Ted Thompson has been at this for a while, but he’s still critical of himself when he makes mistakes, writes Tyler Dunne of the Journal Sentinel. “We got through that annually when we’re gearing up for a new draft with post-draft analysis. You look at that. You don’t beat yourself up too much. It’s not an exact science,” said the GM.
- William Powell‘s two-year deal with the Texans is a split contract worth $1.08MM with minimum base salaries and no guaranteed money, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Powell last appeared in the NFL with the Cardinals in 2012, rushing for 216 yards off of 59 carries.
- Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith is a big, big fan of quarterback Josh McCown. In fact, Lovie likes him so much that he’s tried to sign him three times over the years and was successful twice, tweets Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. He was rebuffed once because McCown refused to renege on his UFL commitment.
- Poor salary cap management and planning by the Lions front office has all but eliminated the possibility of signing Ndamukong Suh to a contract extension that makes sense for the team, writes Jason Fitzgerald for The Sporting News. The best option at this point, he says, is for the Lions to strongly consider trading Suh to the highest bidder before the preseason concludes.