Plaxico Burress reaches a one-year deal with the New York Jets. This all but assures Braylon Edwards will not be back. Look for Plax to line up opposite Santonio Holmes and be a solid red zone target for Mark Sanchez.
Marion Barber signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Bears. Barber will be a nice power back to complement Matt Forte and could see the lion's share of goal line carries. Look for him to continue to celebrate every two-yard run.
Marcedes Lewis will end his mini-holdout and report to camp Monday. It wasn't much of a holdout as the 2010 break-out tight end was seeking a long-term deal. There's still a good chance that Lewis gets his long-term deal and reporting to camp won't hurt his chances.
Hines Ward was placed on the PUP list after having thumb surgery on June 1. Ward has stated he thinks he's a week or two away from returning. He finally regressed somewhat last season but will remain a favorite target of Ben Roethlisberger. His footwork when running pass routes should also improve after a season on DWTS.
Cedric Benson signed a one-year deal with the Bengals. I can hear Jeff Erickson screaming all the way here on the east coast. Seriously, Benson had a 3.5 YPC and seven fumbles (five lost.) Ahmad Bradshaw had a scheduled visit so it comes as a surprise the Bengals didn't wait a tad longer to weigh their options. A word to the wise, ignore any Craigslist ads that say "running back seeks roommate for upcoming football season."
Ahmad Bradshaw will visit some teams not in the state of New York. Bradshaw is supposed to visit Cincinnati as well as possibly other teams. It remains to be seen if this is a clever ploy by a Drew Rosenhaus player or if it's for real. There is still a good possibility that Bradshaw ends up back with the GMen but at a minimum he'll posture like he won't.
Todd Heap signed a two-year deal with Arizona. Heap had a stellar season for the Ravens last year but was made expendable with the drafting of two tight ends (Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta) in the 2010 draft. Ed Dickson will likely take over as the starter in Baltimore while deep, deep sleeper Rob Housler takes a hit towards any type of fantasy relevance he could have had. Another note, Kevin Kolb in his short time in Philadelphia loved to lean on his tight end so Heap should benefit from the move to Tempe.
James Jones signed a three-year deal with the Packers. Totally unexpected as many thought Jordy Nelson would have a bigger role in the Packers offense this year. While many will remember a |STAR|slightly|STAR| bad drop in the SB when hearing Jones' name, it's worth noting that multiple sources said Aaron Rodgers campaigned for Jones' return.
Ryan Williams signed a four-year deal with Arizona while the Cardinals shipped Tim Hightower off to Washington. The Cards are also said to be in discussions with Braylon Edwards. Whew! Apparently Arizona is looking to upgrade the offense after the Heap signing and now talking about obtaining Edwards. The Cardinals received DE Vonnie Holliday in return for Tim Hightower, who was expendable with both Ryan Williams and Chris Wells already in the backfield. However this clouds the Washington backfield with Roy Helu Jr. and Ryan Torain already wearing a Redskins uniform.
Jacoby Ford will miss a couple of weeks with a broken hand. This isn't expected to impact his fantasy value for the season as he should get in plenty of preseason work once his hand has healed. Personally, I view him as a very intriguing sleeper as he may be the fastest player in the NFL. It doesn't hurt that coach Hue Jackson has stated that the Raiders will make every effort to give him more touches this season.
Nick Barnett agreed to a three-year deal with the Buffalo Bills. Personally, this was great news as a Bills fan. As a Penn State fan, I was highly disappointed with Paul Posluszny and view this as a huge upgrade for the Bills defense. However, outside of something miraculous happening, the Bills defense should be ignored although Barnett is an interesting IDP candidate.
Daniel Graham signed a three-year deal with the Tennessee Titans. In case you haven't read any of the football stuff on the site, I have a full-blown man-crush on Jared Cook. This signing? Loved it. It basically puts Graham in a blocking role which will allow Cook to run pass routes and with Matt Hasselbeck under center, a breakout season could be on the horizon.
J.J. Watt signed a four-year deal with the Texans. Watch out for Houston. While they missed out on the Ndamdi Asomugha sweepstakes, they've added enough pieces to significantly upgrade their defense. Locking up Watt will allow Mario Williams to move into a linebacker role and with Wade Phillips (great coordinator, notsomuch a great head coach) calling the shots, the Texans have a better than average shot of making the playoffs.