Soden: NFL Notebook - July 9

Dan Soden

Jimmy Graham is a Tight End

Arbitrator Stephen Burbank is the man responsible for your favorite tight end changing his Twitter bio to “pass catcher”. The man in charge of the Jimmy Graham/Saints franchise tag dispute ruled this week in favor of the Saints  deeming Graham a tight end...go figure.

This whole situation is far from over as Graham is most likely going to appeal the ruling, which you can’t blame him as the difference in tags is $5.3 million.

The Saints have till July 15 to reach a long-term with Graham and make things all good with their star tight end.

Week of Suspensions

Just before the holiday weekend the NFL decided to give us three suspensions, every writer's dream. First on deck we have second year player out of Oregon Dion Jordan. The Dolphins defensive end was given a four game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances, in his case he claims it was stimulants. I’d love to know what kind of stimulants allow you to gain 17 pounds of muscle like that. Jordan isn’t a terrible loss for the Dolphins who need to be more worried about the loss of Pro-Bowl center Mike Pouncey who will be out  for 3-4 months due to hip surgery and the major concerns with running back Knowshon Moreno’s knees.

Next on board is the Colts wide receiver LaVon Brazill who is looking at a year long suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances.  This isn’t his first suspension as Brazill was given four games last year for the same reason.

And last but not least we have the Kansas City Chiefs guard Rokevious Watkins who is staring down the barrel of a four game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances. Watkins who has spent the majority of his career battling weight issues and injuries has the most to lose here. Aside from Brazill who reports suggest could have a serious problem, Watkins could be facing a release if things don’t pan out for him this summer.


Cowboys Acquire Retired Linebacker

Rolando McClain is ready to give the NFL one more shot, and this time its with the Dallas Cowboys. The troubled linebacker attempted a comeback earlier in the year by unretiring and trying to workout with the Ravens before he retired once again.

The Cowboys needed someone to come in and replace injured linebacker Sean Lee and my guess is they feel McClain is a low risk high reward as he only cost the Cowboys a sixth round pick, plus they got a seventh round pick in return.

What Can Brown do for You?

It was just a year ago when rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso erupted onto the scene for the Bills with one of the better rookie seasons as of late, and now we will have to wait to see what else he has to offer. Alonso went down this week with a torn ACL while working out and is expected to miss the entire season.

Well it looks like its going to be the next man up for the Bills and rookie linebacker Preston Brown will get his shot to impress us at weakside linebacker. Brown has already been pretty impressive during OTA’s and minicamp, only issue is that it was at middle linebacker, but the Bills are hoping he can quickly adjust to WLB.

Andre Johnson Tried to Kill Michael Strahan.


Tell me that headline isn’t attention grabbing, luckily for the Houston Texans Johnson isn’t trying to kill Giants legend Michael Strahan, but rather a 25-year-old homeless man with a serrated knife was.

On Tuesday Johnson was arrested outside of ABC’s Times Square studio, where he planned to kill Strahan with his knife. Police say Strahan was never in any actual danger which is good to know, but the man did tell police “I was there to kill Michael Strahan.”

Johnson was charged with attempted assault, menacing, and criminal possession of a weapon.

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Loose ends

New England is hoping to reduce some of the traffic at Gillette Stadium by building a private road to shuttle stadium workers from a separate parking lot.

Khalil Mack aims to win Rookie of the Year by putting Peyton Manning on his back.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew is okay with doing more blocking this season.

Joey Porter continues to impress as a coach in Pittsburgh.

Giants expect Will Beatty to bounce back from his lackluster 2013 campaign

No charges against Aldon Smith for the bomb threat incident. 

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