Mr. Scot

Not sure where he's seeing it but Ellis is saying the deal contains no guaranteed money.

Word is they're letting center Austin Reiter hit free agency too. Working to try and keep Mike Remmers though (at right tackle).

Jeff Howe confirming... @TheCasillas, good call. Also...

Breer elaborates on the contract terms... According to Florio, Newton ended up earning about 3.7 million of that potential 7.5 million last season. Sounds like "worth up to 14 million" might be a more accurate description.

Would you spend a top ten pick on a guy who's "somewhere in the middle"? Not to start another "should have lost the Washington game" conversation but we're really not in a great spot right now.

There's been word that the Patriots are interested in Curtis Samuel.

I wouldn't see it as a top priority (quarterback and offensive line take those spots) but it's valid to point out that the kind of offense we run looks a lot better when you've got a good third receiver.

The latter part of the season is where the big test will be. Have said before: It's a lot easier to look good in Week Two than it is in Week Twelve.

McGinn is generally a good read.

Yeah, I had him only in about the 10-12 range. Admittedly, I wasn't paying super close attention to his salary. Just a general feeling...

I don't know that teams are really willing to go to as much effort to create smokescreens as some of us think they are. Sending a GM and head coach on a scouting trip just to fool people sounds kind of extreme to me. Granted it's high stakes poker, but I do think we overanalyze this stuff sometimes.

Don't know. Adam Schefter and Tom Pelissero both said this move doesn't necessarily preclude the Patriots from adding another quarterback, so who knows? It's low pay for a starter, but pretty high pay for a backup. Last year's highest backup salary was apparently about 16 million for Alex Smith. Josh Klein said Newton will be making less than Taysom Hill this year. I didn't remember Hill making that much.

Gantt said the same. Honestly though, I think the bigger question applies to Belichick. Last season had folks asking whether Belichick's greatness was really due to Brady. Regardless of what happens with Newton, if the Patriots struggle again this year, those questions are gonna get louder.

If he looks bad though, does that really help us?

Decent sized pay package, per Schefter.

More Belichick or more McDaniels? That'd be a pretty huge contrast between two quarterbacks for sure.

And then there's this from Getzenberg (citing a Patriots writer)

Palardy to the Dolphins...

Yeah, if we're talking about the Cowboys of the 90s, I'd figure more cocaine than alcohol. Heck, back even earlier, I'm pretty sure Hollywood Henderson went to some games high as a kite.

Read the same in some of the PFT comments.

I'm guessing you missed the sarcasm here

Sorry...what?

Jon Kitna says he once saw a teammate drunk during a game "There were some things that were hard to believe (with the Bengals). There was a time that I played a game with a guy that was drunk in the huddle," Kitna said...I'm not sure if the staff knew. But I think the guy was like - that was kind of his normal. I mean he was drunk and had close to 200 yards receiving now. So, it was crazy." PFT adds a little context. Kitna didn’t name names, but the circumstances make it not impossible to identify the possibilities. Given that Kitna played for the Bengals from 2001 through 2005, it’s not difficult to identify which receivers “had close to 200 yards receiving” in a game during that five-year stretch. We’ve done the research and compiled a list of players that it could have been. Three had games of more than 150 receiving yards during Kitna’s time with the team. One had games of 189, 161, and 152. One had 171. Another had 152. Kitna didn’t name names, so we won’t, either. There are so few that it could be that the ones who it isn’t should be upset that Kitna has defined the possibilities so narrowly.

Everyone being contrary about other people being contrary, it's almost like...contraception! Wait...

And speaking of the Lions, GM and head coach both there despite their recent trade for Jared Goff. Could also be looking at LT though.