Football

Dear pants, Things lately have not been going well between us. What with summer approaching and the Hawks offseason smorgasboard, I have been feeling some distance. Things were great during the many 100-loss seasons for the M's, the rebuilding after the Huskies 0-12 season and the cold empty winters of no NBA basketball. You were my go to thing when i needed to feel some warmth inside. But recently the Hawks started getting good...very good. They signed and traded for some unbelievable players, had another underrated draft class and appear on their way to forming a dynasty to end all dynasties. These events have been causing a lot of excitement for me and has torn us apart. The more I try to hang on, the more distant you become with each successive franchise move. For that reason i think we need to go our seperate ways. Who knows, maybe somewhere down the line we'll meet up again. Like at the next Mariner game I attend with Aaron Harang as the pitcher. Please don't cry, its not you, its me. Till we meet again. Sincerely , Eric Dear pants, Things lately have not been going well between us. What with summer approaching and the Hawks offseason smorgasboard, I have been feeling some distance. Things were great during the many 100-loss seasons for the M's, the rebuilding after the Huskies 0-12 season and the cold empty winters of no NBA basketball. You were my go to thing when i needed to feel some warmth inside. But recently the Hawks started getting good...very good. They signed and traded for some unbelievable players, had another underrated draft class and appear on their way to forming a dynasty to end all dynasties. These events have been causing a lot of excitement for me and has torn us apart. The more I try to hang on, the more distant you become with each successive franchise move. For that reason i think we need to go our seperate ways. Who knows, maybe somewhere down the line we'll meet up again. Like at the next Mariner game I attend with Aaron Harang as the pitcher. Please don't cry, its not you, its me. Till we meet again. Sincerely , Eric

Here we go again with some more tweets and updates about Thursday's OTAs. Again, if you find more please include them in the comments: SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Dex tweaked hammy, but should be OK. Next week: AFC-specific scouting. #Chiefs #NFL SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Still rotating Stanzi and Bray at No. 3 QB. Says this week was Bray's turn for more reps. #Chiefs #NFL Bob Fescoe ‏@bobfescoe Reid hopes Moeaki is ready for training camp #chiefs SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Very likely won't see Moeaki on the field until training camp. #Chiefs #NFL shaun smith ‏@autumnsjs90 @bobfescoe he not a lock to make team might get traded or cut (this was in response to Fescoe's tweet about Moeaki) Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Back from last #Chiefs practice of week. McCluster injured hamstring diving for pass early in session. Didn't return. Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Reid said he thought McCluster would return to work next week. Junior Hemingway took McCluster's snaps SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Big day for Tyson Jackson, and the D in general (again). Also, Clark Hunt was in the house today. #Chiefs #NFL Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Knile Davis didn't return kickoffs at Arkansas, but he was the #1 returner in practice today with McCluster out Here we go again with some more tweets and updates about Thursday's OTAs. Again, if you find more please include them in the comments: SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Dex tweaked hammy, but should be OK. Next week: AFC-specific scouting. #Chiefs #NFL SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Still rotating Stanzi and Bray at No. 3 QB. Says this week was Bray's turn for more reps. #Chiefs #NFL Bob Fescoe ‏@bobfescoe Reid hopes Moeaki is ready for training camp #chiefs SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Reid: Very likely won't see Moeaki on the field until training camp. #Chiefs #NFL shaun smith ‏@autumnsjs90 @bobfescoe he not a lock to make team might get traded or cut (this was in response to Fescoe's tweet about Moeaki) Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Back from last #Chiefs practice of week. McCluster injured hamstring diving for pass early in session. Didn't return. Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Reid said he thought McCluster would return to work next week. Junior Hemingway took McCluster's snaps SeanKeeler ‏@SeanKeeler Big day for Tyson Jackson, and the D in general (again). Also, Clark Hunt was in the house today. #Chiefs #NFL Adam Teicher ‏@adamteicher Knile Davis didn't return kickoffs at Arkansas, but he was the #1 returner in practice today with McCluster out

Following the addition of Charles Woodson and his $1.38 million base salary, the Raiders have restructured Matt Flynn's contract to save $1 million off the 2013 salary cap according to Ian Rappoport. #Raiders restructured QB Matt Flynn's deal to convert much of his $3.25M base salary to a signing bonus. Creates cap room. #Math coming... — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 Why would the #Raiders need cap room? Well… They had just $179,987 available as of this morning. And draft picks to sign. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 #Raiders saved about $1 million with the Matt Flynn restructure. Add that to the $179,987 cap room they had… and now they have more #Math — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 23, 2013 This saves money now and shifts that money to next year when the Raiders are set to have around $50 million to spend under the cap. Whether this is really about signing draft picks is debatable. The team will also get another $8 million after June 1st when Michael Huff's dead money prorates and there is no rush to sign their picks now. The team didn't sign their draft picks until July last year. Follow @LeviDamien

By GARY ESTWICK…Click to Continue »

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports The Kansas City Chiefs are in their second week of OTAs and team leader Derrick Johnson is already beginning to see the benefits that Qb Alex Smith will bring to the 2013 team. Smith, who the Chiefs traded for before the 2013 NFL Draft, is quickly making his mark on his teammates, a fact not lost on Johnson. “He’s a smart quarterback,” said Johnson. “He’s a quarterback that gets in and out of the huddle really easily. His communication skills are great. Defensively, if we show him a certain coverage, he’s going to know exactly what it is. On that part of it, we have to do a lot of disguising. We have to be straight on with our defenses and we’ve got to execute it. If not, Alex will pick us apart.” Smarts appears to be one of the primary reasons Andy Reid and John Dorsey went after Smith. Though the former first-round pick is not without physical talents, his ability to read defenses figures to be a big asset in Reid’s offensive system. On defense, Johnson will have a new starting ILB playing next to him in the base 3-4 set. At this point, however, the position is still up for grabs. Draft pick Nick Johnson could get the gig, if he can overtake veteran addition Akeem Jordan. Johnson says the battle for the sport is already heating up. “Nico Johnson is a guy that’s competing for a starting job,” said Johnson. “He and Akeem [Jordan] have been going at it for now. Right now, he probably can’t move up the depth chart right now because we don’t have any pads on – that’s where you really show what people can do. Nico’s a young guy that’s a big guy and looks like a hitter and I can’t wait to get in pads and see all the young guys run around and hit.” If the Chiefs hop to succeed this season, they’ll need to rely heavily on their young and talented defense. Johnson says new defensive coordinator Bob Sutton is bringing an attacking-style defense to KC that is challenging the players in these early days of OTAs. “It’s an aggressive, attack-style defense,” said Johnson. “I love it. Doing a lot of different things as far as blitzing, covering different receivers, covering tight ends at times. It’s a new scheme, everybody has their thinking caps on right now during camp and OTAs. But I think it’s going good for us right now. What do you think, Addicts? Will Smith make a big difference? Will Nico overtake Jordan? And finally, are you excited to see a different style of KC Chiefs defense?

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks about the start of the football season.

Saints coach Sean Payton said Brown sustained an injury in the weight room

Saints Coach Sean Payton cautioned not to read too much into depth chart since guys will rotate on daily basis

Move saves Oakland around $1 million against the salary cap.

Another anonymous New York Jets player has spoken, this time telling CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman that the players like Mark Sanchez but, "It's time to give someone else a chance."