10 NFL Storylines That Headlined the Past Week

With teams starting OTAs and certain off-field situations making headlines, this past week in the NFL offseason was as eventful as ever.

From a couple social media blunders to one ridiculous claim by a top-end running back, here are your top-10 storylines from around the NFL this past week.

1. Colin Kaepernick Has a Horrible Lapse of Sensitivity and Judgement

Kaepernick probably shouldn’t have had access to his electronic devises on Tuesday. The enigmatic quarterback posted a horrifically insensitive message regarding the floods that ravished the Houston, Texas area this past week—floods that caused multiple deaths. While Kaepernick did delete the post in time, the damage was already done. The lesson here? Think before hitting send.

2. Geno Smith’s Fading Memory

Interesting quote here. Maybe Smith’s lack of memory prompted new head coach Todd Bowles to backpedal from his original statement that the third-year quarterback would be the team’s starter. He’s now claiming that it’s Smith’s job to lose and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s to gain. While we might understand what Smith was saying, he could have orated it better. As it relates to the Jets’ quarterback situation, it sounds like Groundhog Day.

3. LeSean McCoy Can’t Get Over His Grudge

McCoy is still disgruntled about being traded to the Buffalo Bills back in March. He has since accused Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly of being a racist. Kelly denied McCoy’s claims and reportedly tried to reach out to McCoy a couple of times, but McCoy refused to take his calls. Since then, current Eagles players have come out in support of Kelly.

4. Tim Tebow is a Quarterback Only 

Chip Kelly reiterated to the world that Tebow is a quarterback and that is the position he will be playing this season. He’s not a two-point specialist or going to line up at any other position. Tebow is there to compete for the quarterback job. Sure, we’ll go with that for now.

5. Everybody Still Loves Tom Brady

From “Free Tom Brady” rallies to supportive teammates and celebrities, Brady still appears to be America’s hero. Like it or not.

Oh, and Brady’s appeal will be heard June 23rd by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

6. Minnesota Vikings Playing Hardball with Adrian Peterson Leads to Twitter Tantrum 

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer took a hard stance against Peterson this week. He indicated that Peterson could either play with the Vikings or not play at all. Peterson finally came out of hiding and reported personally that he was never seeking a trade.

Peterson then proceeded to fill his Twitter account with cryptic tweets about his contract.

Here are just a few examples:

What a confusing mess.

7. Russell Wilson Skips OTAs for the First Time, But with Good Reason

Although Wilson’s contract status remains unresolved, it was reported that he and tight end Jimmy Graham missed practices in order to attend the funeral of Graham’s manager.

8. Johnny Manziel is Getting Help From One of LeBron James’ Best Friends

James’ business partner, Maverick Carter, is helping Manziel stay sober and on a clean path. Meanwhile, current teammates continue to speak in glowing terms regarding the embattled young quarterback:

“He’s taken a big responsibility in making sure that Johnny’s doing all the right things,” Whitner said after the first day of organized team activities. “(Manziel) has a mentor, somebody to talk to, certain things that he really didn’t have the ability (to do) or somebody to talk to before. It looks like it’s working out so far.”

9. The Houston Texans on ‘Hard Knocks,” J.J. Watt Not Pleased

J.J. Watt is obviously the highest-profile member of the Houston Texans. With that well known, it probably didn’t sit well with HBO that Watt would rather focus on football than deal with the distraction that “Hard Knocks” is going to bring during training camp. A little drama and excitement would be fun to view, but it doesn’t look like Watt will provide much of it if he gets his way.

10. Ray McDonald Just Doesn’t Get it

McDonald was released by his second team in five months after an arrest on Monday stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident. He then violated his restraining order two days later and was arrested again. Brilliant.

McDonald’s NFL career is all but over.

Photo: USA Today Sports