A quick look around the NFL..
- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has to succeed in a few areas of his game in order to justify his hefty $99MM deal, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler writes. For starters, he’ll have to improve his turnover numbers in the playoffs as he has a career 21-to-19 TD to INT ratio. He’ll also have to build on his continuity with Todd Haley and help to make the team’s younger players better. Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton, and Sammie Coates are all believed to possess serious upside and it’s up to Big Ben to ensure that they reach their potential.
- The fault lies with Ray McDonald, not the people in the Bears organization who gave him one more chance, John Mullin of CSNChicago.com writes. In fact, Mullin credits owner George McCaskey for sending out a strong accountability message to his players by dropping McDonald after his most recent arrest.
- Undrafted linebacker Kevin Snyder could be an intriguing prospect for the Lions, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes. Snyder showed promise while he was at Rutgers, but he didn’t shine in 2014 as he played through a painful turf toe injury. Rutgers position coach Bob Fraser convinced Lions linebackers coach Bill Sheridan to take a chance on the youngster. “I said, ‘Bill, look, I really think if the guy is going to make your squad, he’s going to be a good special teams guy because he can run, he’s big and people don’t understand he had this turf toe which slowed him down,’” Fraser said. “He couldn’t push off. So sometimes he couldn’t hit people. He couldn’t plant off it and push, and that’s hard to do out there. That’s not the easiest thing for a linebacker, you know.”