The Miami Dolphins traded defensive end Jason Taylor on Sunday for two draft picks from the Washington Redskins. The Redskins gave the Dolphins a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round pick in 2010. Taylor is expected to report to Redskins training camp today. This was a good deal for Washington after the Redskins lost starting defensive end Phillip Daniels to a season-ending knee injury. Fans have already started buying tickets for the Redskins games.

After a brush with a chainsaw left a cut on his index finger, Dolphin quarterback Josh McCown needed six stitches. After being on a six week recovery process, McCown is expected to be fit before the start of training camp next week, reports agent Mike McCartney. McCown has vowed not to touch a chainsaw again. McCown was signed for a two year $6.25M contract this February. He has his eyes set on becoming the 13th starting quarterback after Miami’s Dan Marino retired. He will be competing with John Beck and Chad Henne for the bid. This will be a very exciting season for the Dolphins, and the fans already have their tickets to show their support.

 It is always hard to replace a star or veteran, but replacing a Jonathan Ogden is even harder.  Jared Gaither is the player that many are hoping can fill in admirably for Ogden.  Gaither is a second year player from the University of Maryland.  Ogden spent his 12 year career with Baltimore and many were shocked at his decision to retire from the NFL earlier this year.  Gaither will have giant shoes to fill and will do his best if he is chosen for the job.  The young tackle hans’t started many games but the Ravens believe he can fill in quite well with his size and speed.  Fans are hoping this will be a much better year than last, as the Ravens managed just 5 wins in the 2007 season.  It is no surprise fans are running to get their Baltimore Ravens tickets for the 2008 season as M&T Stadium is always a fan favorite for to get into the action.

The wide receiver and former player of the Green Bay Packers Bill Schroeder has informed the Packers of his decision to retire from the game as a Packer. Schroeder had his longest NFL spell with the Packers from 1997-2001 and made 20 touchdowns and 225 catches for 3,435 yards in his 74 game stint with the Packers. Bill Schroeder said that he was really pleased that the Packers have allowed him to end his career as a Packer and said that he will support the team and the community in all possible ways. The Packers General Manager Ted Thompson said that they were privileged to welcome Bill as a member of Packers alumni.

Some NFL investigators visited the convicted dealer of steroids who claimed to have supplied anabolic steroids as well as human growth hormone to many NFL players and offensive line man Matt Lehr. David Jacobs was sentenced to probation for possessing steroids with the intention of distributing it on May 1^st.  According to a press report, the investigators met the dealer on 2^nd May and asked for documentary evidences and other information regarding the NFL players he was dealing with. Greg Aiello, a NFL spokesman confirmed the news. The attorney of Matt Lehr denied the allegation about his client and said that Lehr has passed the necessary NFL drug tests.         

Scouts from all teams are having difficulty deciding the best cornerback who deserves a place in the NFL draft. With a great assortment of potential cornerbacks flooding the football scene, both fans and members of the press are on the edge of their seats trying to see who will be the next NFL star. Among those who are considered top notch prospects are Leodis McKelvin from Troy, Mike Jenkins from South Florida, Aqib Talib from Kansas as well as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from Tennessee State. NFL scouts have their jobs cut out for them and they need to quickly evaluate individual players, award them grade-point values and rank them according to their expertise. Their deadline is April 26, and that’s when the NFL draft commences.

Interestingly, more names have begun to crop up. Among those who are considered to be up-and-coming talents include Brandon Flowers from Virginia Tech, Antoine Cason from Arizona and Penn’s State Justin King.

Bryant Gumbel has announced that he would not return to the NFL Network as play by play announcer for the pre-season and eight game regular season package of NFL games. This statement has been confirmed by the NFL Network as well.

Sources further added that Gumbel on air game calling following his first season has resulted in NFL Network’s displeasure. They were dissatisfied but did not take action prior to last season. To date, Gumbel has never had play by play announcing experience before his stint at NFL Network.

NFL Network president and CEO Steve Bornstein was neutral about the whole drama, saying that “We appreciate everything Bryant did in helping us launch our NFL Network game telecasts. Bryant helped create an interest in our first foray into televising NFL regular season games.”

However, Gumbel’s partner, Cris Collinworth, gets to keep his job as color commentator. The latest update is that NFL Network is voraciously seeking Gumbel’s replacement. Gumbel is also host of HBO Channel’s Real Sports segment.

The House Judiciary Committee is not too pleased with the NFL and the NFL Players Association due to the fact that the league’s medical care system is “subject to a variety of conflicts of interest which appear to be detrimental to players” or in layman terms, their players are not given the best medical care that the NFL and the union can afford to provide.

Lawmakers of the Committee reacted based on findings provided by a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that reveals players’ disabilities and their benefits concerning medical care. Findings include facts that there is not particular party that tracks the health of retired NFL players. The NFL has also failed to comply to regulations and did not make the effort to obtain independent research to establish medical care policies. Additionally, the NFL Players Association also has very little authority over health issues concerning their  players, and to rub salt on wounds, the findings also discovered that the union’s medical adviser is a part timer!

Research also shows that NFL players have very limited access and knowledge about their own medical records. Will the NFL and its union be in hot soup? Only time will tell!

Michael brown, Mississippi State offensive lineman and Quinton Wesley, defensive lineman of the same football team have both been dismissed by the authorities of the school. This was announced by the school on Friday. They had earlier been arrested following an incident in the campus involving two handguns. There was however no harm done and the guns have been taken away by the police of the university.

Brown, who is a junior, was charged with possessing a firearm and Wesley who is a sophomore was accused of assault. Both of these are felony charges. Brown had been the left tackle for the team in the 2007 season. Wesley played in a total of 12 games and totaled 19 tackles.

 In another incident freshman Stephen Garcia was suspended from the South Carolina redshirt team. He is said to have violated the rules of the university and has been suspended through August 15.

There are likely going to be a lot of variations in the free agency signing period as there were few discussions and deliberations that have happened in the National Football League annual meeting at Palm Beach, Florida. The reports that have filtered through the meeting of the NFL is that there will be potential changes in the free agency signing period announced after the May 20th and 21st NFL meeting at Atlanta.

The NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is the one who has taken upon himself the job of cleaning up the National Football League and it is his idea of free agency cessation that has been discussed in the annual meeting of the NFL. Many of the free agency agents believe that a change has to be made to the existing policies of free agency and the new policies framed will be able to help a club to dwell on a lot of ways by which they can keep a free agent player in their team itself.