Direct Hit! She's breaking up!

We start with injury news as Dez Bryant has suffered a suspected high ankle sprain, possibly sidelining him for 4-6 weeks. At least there will be no more arguments about carrying pads. Sources close to the situation suggested to ProFootballTalk.com that Jerry Jones was not best pleased, blaming the coaches for overworking the rookie. But at least he'll be back at some point this season which is more than can be said for Ravens Cornerback Domonique Foxworth who tore his ACL and will miss the entire season. Add that to Fabian Washington and Lardarius Webb fighting injuries, plus Ed Reed on the physically unable to perform list, and my Ravens pick for the AFC North just took a skydive without a parachute. Further proof of the futility of early predictions. On to contracts now and Rex Ryan has had his contract with the Jets extended by two more years which will carry him through the 2014 season. But he's not the only one getting paid. Tim Tebow, Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Trent Williams.... ah, a crap load of people got signed. None however earned the payday of the most recent signee. As I type this, ESPN, ProFootballTalk.com, Foxsports.com and just about every other pro football news site on the planet has erupted with the news that Sam Bradford has put pen to paper on a six year deal worth - take a breath - $50 million in guaranteed money. F*%£ me!! Add to that incentives and bonuses, and sources are reporting the total value of the contract could be worth $80-86 million dollars. For a guy who has never touched a football in a pro game. Just.... F*%£ me. Anyway, someone else who might be shouting random profanity at the sky, but who certainly cant complain about his contract is Albert Haynesworth, who has failed his conditioning test again. I do have to question however the legitimacy for football of a 300 yard shuttle drill with a 70 second time limit? I've never seen a player run 300 yards up and down a field on one play. It just doesn't make sense to me. What does make sense (see the rapid fire smooth segues?) is www.foxsports.com/nfl When compared to the leagues own NFL.com, it's like comparing sunshine with a thunder storm. The layout is more intuitive, the videos work properly and the articles read like they've been previously thought out instead of just being randomly mashed together to fill a deadline. One article that caught my eye in particular was this: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/San-Diego-Chargers-GM-AJ-Smith-not-afraid-to-play-hardball I like AJ Smith. I like his no-nonsense, business focused attitude to dealing with hold outs. In particular was the fun section where he referenced putting a good deal on the table, and if you don't take it, it's only going to decrease in size, not increase. It's hardball and it works. Yes you will lose some players to free agency, but overall you're going to keep the cost of the team down and keep people more interested in the on-field product and helping the team, than what they think they can milk out of the club. I also like the fact he hates agents, because that to me is as natural as hating Lawyers, Estate Agents and parking attendants. And Tom Brady. Because let's face it, everyone hates Tom Brady. And by the end of the season, the members of the NFLPA will be top of the "Brady hating" list. The reason is due to some comments he made to the press on Friday about his contract situation, specifically stating that he didn't want to be one of those: "... spoiled athletes, bitching about making millions of dollars. Everyone works hard to make a living for themselves. I certainly don't think we have much to gripe about." Are they gonna love you come next February. I have this picture in mind of Roger Goodell reclining back in a leather chair, a glass of whisky in one hand, a Cuban cigar in the other, with all the NFL owners listening in on speaker phone as Goodell plays this quote back to them, before proudly announcing "Game. Set. Match." in the sinister voice of a James Bond villain. Let's just recap here. One of the highest (soon to be more so) paid players in the league has just openly admitted that he and his fellow millionaire superstars are in no place to bitch about how much money they earn. This, in a year when a new CBA must be agreed. A CBA that the players say needs to give more cash to them and less to the owners. Remember this day. Friday, July 30th, 2010. The day that Tom Brady sank the good ship "NFLPA". Have a great day everyone. P.S. I'll do the NFC North training camp review thing tomorrow. E-mail me at keepingthechainsmoving@live.co.uk (finally listed it correctly) if you wish to complain vociferously about this delay.