Football

The Chicago Bears slapped the franchise tag on Pro Bowl defensive tackle Henry Melton to prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this off season. Melton accepted and signed his tag without the drama that surrounded last years tagged Bears player, Matt Forte. Melton is set to make $8,450,000 for his '13 season, but the Bears and Melton are expected to try and get a long term contract worked out before the July 15th deadline. Brad Biggs of the Tribune speculated on what a potential long term deal could look like. If the Bears use Forte's contract as a way of doing business with Melton, it will be easy to predict what kind of guarantee Melton could be looking at. Forte's franchise tag was for $7.742 million and the $17.1 million guaranteed he received was nearly the same as the cost the club would have had to tag Forte twice - a 120 percent raise in the second year. That figure would have been $17.03 million. Using that as a rough outline, Melton could be looking at a potential guarantee of $18.59 million ($8.45 million for 2013 and a 120 percent raise to $10.14 million in 2014 under a second franchise tag). But there are a myriad of variables to consider. Melton plays a different position. Both sides can make the case the market has changed. The length of the deal could differ as well. Whether he plays under the tag money or signs something long term, that's still a serious chunk of change. He finally broke through and made a Pro Bowl in 2012, and his first step and quickness is tailor made for the one gap defense the Bears run. What I wonder about his play however, is the best from Henry Melton yet to come? He chalked up 7 sacks two years ago, and another 6 last year, but what does 2013 hold? Will his Pro Bowl play plateau? Will the still young (26 years old) Melton take another jump in his play for 2013? What do expect out of Henry Melton this season?

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports News came out yesterday that Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly had asked two of his veteran offensive players, Jason Avant and Clay Harbor, to make a position change from offense to defense. This is curious and surprising news, especially for Avant, who has been a dependable veteran wideout for the Eagles with arguably the best set of hands on the squad. His best attribute could still come in handy, though, if he’s asked to play his new position at safety in a pinch come Sundays in September. For an Eagles team that lacked turnovers, he will have no trouble with reeling in errant passes from the opposing QB with his mitts. The other player being asked to try out a different position is tight end Clay Harbor. Harbor has outstanding athleticism as evidenced by his 4.62 40 time at the combine despite his 6-foot-3, 250 pound frame, and for a team like the Eagles that are currently devoid of solid depth at the outside linebacker spot, it is worth the risk to see what skills an excellent athlete like Harbor has at that position. Kelly has already done some pretty innovative things with the Eagles, from the carnival-like atmosphere at practices to his shiny new offense that he plans to implement.  This latest move isn’t totally unprecedented as New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick frequently asks some of his young and veteran players to show versatility by playing other positions. Kelly seems to be taking quite a few pages out of the Belichick school of football, and hopefully the same out-of-the-box thinking works as effectively for Kelly as it has for the legendary Belichick. For Both Avant and Harbor, this position switch can be seen as either a positive or a negative, as it may be coach Kelly seeing what these two great athletes can try their hand at, or it may be a sign that their standing on the team is in jeopardy. Will either or both stick, and will we see these two players on both sides of the field next year? Only time will tell.

From the moment we commenced the process of accepting nominations for each team’s Mt. Rushmore, we’ve received scattered communications from Patriots fans lamenting the task of identifying the four greatest figures in franchise history. The time has come, at least when it comes to coming up with the list of finalists. Nominate your favorite Patriots…

In a column that provides a snapshot look at some of the larger issues facing each team in the NFL, Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com writes a piece titled, "Pressing questions for all 32 teams heading into the summer." For the Patriots, Prisco focuses on the offense, with this question: "Who starts outside at receiver with Danny Amendola in the slot? As previously noted by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the club returns all but two starters and both are at the receiver position (Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd), so it makes sense that Prisco would look to that area.

Cary Edmondson – USA Today Sports Images In school, there are a lot of different types of students that you cross paths with. There are some students that just don’t care and ultimately fail, drop out, or just scrape by. There are some students that do just enough to get by, despite having tons of potential. There are some students that excel at everything they do. Then there are some that are obviously smart and able to succeed, but just get stuck in a bad home, class or situation. The latter of those cases is quite similar to the case of Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew for the upcoming 2013 NFL season. Jones-Drew is one of the most talented players in the league, but he’s stuck in an absolutely abysmal situation. Jones-Drew had his real breakout season in 2009 when he rushed for 1,391 yards on 312 carries and 15 touchdowns. He was an absolute monster. In the two years after that, Jones-Drew rushed form 1,324 yards and 1,606 yards respectively. Coming into last season, he worried many people as he held out for a contract, but was the starter for the Jags in week one. However, he suffered a mid-foot fracture in week seven of the season and subsequently missed the rest of year. Because of that he finished with just 414 yards on 86 carries, which would have put him on pace for another phenomenal season. Expectations are that he will be fully healthy and ready to go for week one in 2013, though. Though the team may be at full-health, they are still a franchise that has a long way to go before they are successful. They finished last season with a record of just 2-14 and, despite solid draft picks, still have one of the worst overall defenses in the league and a pretty paltry Blaine Gabbert led offense outside of Jones-Drew. Essentially, the star running back deserves a ton of sympathy from fans of football. He’s arguably a top-five back in the entire league, but he’s stuck on a largely incompetent team with no real help around him. That means defenses can focus on him and that there’s no one to help shoulder the burden for the team. All in all, that’s a pretty awful position to be in. Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.

LOS ANGELES - Uh oh. This can't be good. There is already a very serious division between two of the St. Louis Rams newest players, and it's over a very important issue, one central to the identity of the franchise. Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey were in the team's old stomping grounds this week for the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. They haven't spent too much time with the team yet, but enough that the two nearly inseparable teammates at college and pro teammates have different opinions of who has the most iconic hair feature at Rams Park: Les Snead's hair versus Jeff FIsher's mustache. "Snead's is better," Bailey said. "He looks like a mafia type." His teammate disagreed. "Definitely coach Fisher's mustache," Austin said, taking his stand. Both players spoke highly of the head coach and general manager. There was even some suggestion that each man derived some additional power from their main assets.

With all the criticism Mike Vick has absorbed during his NFL career, you’d think he’d be used to it by now. He apparently isn’t. Earlier this week, Vick got a little testy during an interview with Mike Missanelli of 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia on the topic of those who say he doesn’t read defenses…

The Falcons hosted their annual State of the Franchise event on Thursday evening, and president and CEO Rich McKay, general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Mike Smith had a number of interesting things to say about personnel and focus moving into the new season and plans for the new stadium, and they also fielded questions from fans. Rich McKay focused primarily on the new stadium in his remarks, as he is heavily involved in the process. McKay stated that the primary reason the Falcons are moving forward on the new stadium at this time is because their lease at the Georgia Dome is set to expire in 2017, and Arthur Blank believes that it's time to create a long-term solution that will benefit the Falcons organization as well as the city and the fans. McKay described the venture as a true public-private partnership, with the Falcons assuming the bulk of the risk. McKay emphasized the team's commitment to positively impact the surrounding community through this venture, and said that it's one of their top priorities as well as one of the biggest challenges they will face. The team has selected 360 Architecture, who designed Met Life Stadium and many others. As far as what to expect in the design of the new stadium, the Falcons are expecting the new stadium to be a standard-bearer and a game changer when it comes to stadiums. McKay said that, although there are some beautiful new stadiums around the league, the game day experience is pretty static. He took a subtle shot at Cowboys Stadium when he alluded to the fact that a "weird thing hung down the middle" of a stadium doesn't really change the game day experience for the fans. The Falcons want to set the bar high in creating a unique experience for fans in the new venue. Currently, the Georgia Dome is home to a number of high-profile regional events in addition to Falcons home games, such as the SEC Championship, but the Falcons want to create a venue that will be the best destination in the United States for high profile events. Not only that, but Arthur Blank envisions the new stadium as an iconic destination--something that people will go and see when they visit Atlanta even if they aren't planning to attend a sporting event there. When the new stadium committee met with 360 Architecture, the firm provided them with cards to flip through with "outside the box" ideas for the new stadium, designed to get them thinking of creative, new ways to enhance the game day experience--for example, "What if food trucks provided all of the concessions?" and "What if the fans controlled the scoreboard?" You've surely also heard about the potential for seats that vibrate after a big play, and the possibility of a 100 yard bar. They are still in the early stages of planning, but it's clear that they're thinking big, and that the new stadium will be truly unique. And they're not just thinking big about the stadium itself. McKay said that hosting a Super Bowl is not the team's goal. They intend to host multiple Super Bowls.

The Cowboys coach is prepared if this season is his last stand.

Owner Robert Kraft and tight end Rob Gronkowski are among team stars at a football clinic for youngsters in the stricken Connecticut town.