NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The Colts have a lot of weapons on their offense. From Peyton Manning to Dwight Freeney, the Colts have a lot of weapons on their team which has made them one of the most dominant teams for the past decade. The Colts have a new weapon, and he is a secret. An experiment.

He is John Chick, a defensive end coming out from the Canadian Football League. He has had a vast amount of success in the CFL and was signed by the Colts during the 2009-10 season. However, he really didn't do much. Chick has won the Defensive Most Valuable Player award and has been a great leader with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

However, Chick is trying to make a good roster spot. He's trying to make the team for Indy. He is currently competing against Ervin Baldwin for the fifth string defensive end spot. Chick isn't that good to compete with the likes of Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, and Jerry Hughes yet. Maybe never. But he will be a solid contributor.

At 27, Chick can do a lot for the next seven years or so if he commits to the National Football League. He may be undersized at 6?4? and 248 pounds, but does that stop 6?2? 245-pound Robert Mathis? Chick can do a lot and I look forward to his contributions on the field.

The Browns have a new veteran wide out on the roster, as today the team came to terms with free agent wide receiver Bobby Engram. Terms of the deal announced Thursday were not disclosed.

The 37-year-old Engram had five receptions for 61 yards in five games last season with the Chiefs.

Engram, a 14-year veteran, was a second-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1996. His most productive season came with the Seahawks in 2007, when he had 94 catches for 1,147 yards and six touchdowns.

This is a topic I've discussed with many people this offseason. Although DeSean Jackson is a Pro Bowl level player, he is still signed under his rookie contract and getting paid no where close to the money he deserves. The Eagles aren't obligated to give him a new contract, but the fact of the matter is that he deserves one.

Unlike Chris Johnson, who is in the same boat as Jackson, we have not heard a whole lot of talk from DeSean regarding his contract. He has been asked about it several times but doesn't make a big deal out of the topic when it is brought up.

Jackson hired Drew Rosenhaus last year, and many people began to worry as he hasn't had such a good running record with the Eagles. He's good at what he does but he can make himself and his players look like real jerks until they get what they want. There's no doubt that Jackson would love to see a pay day, but I also feel like he knows that he is developing into a young superstar and that a holdout could hurt him.

The Eagles still have two rookie contracts to get out of the way (Riley Cooper and Brandon Graham) so I'm curious if that puts Jackson on the back burner. What I'm even more curious about is whether or not they will work on anything at all for Jackson.

I'm hoping that they at least do something that increases his salary for this year, until they can sign him to a long-term deal. However, I hope they have something in the works.

No one knows if DeSean Jackson would actually holdout come Training Camp, but I'm hoping we don't find out the hard way.

Seems that the Bus hasn’t been heard from for awhile, so it’s no shock that he is coming out and stating what he thinks about his buddy and former QB Ben Roethlisberger.

Jerome Bettis spoke to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about Ben, and about what he thinks the QB has to do to get back some love from the fans and those teammates that might not be so happy with him right now.

“It is a situation where he has to prove his heart is in the right place,” Bettis said. “And I know from knowing Ben that his heart is in the right place.”

Bettis said he hasn’t had much of a shot to catch up with Roethlisberger, but has exchanged text messages with the quarterback.

The QB was suspended by the NFL for violating the NFL personal-conduct policy, and will sit for the first four games at least.

“He has to keep his head down, play hard and give back to the community,” Bettis said. “If he does that, slowly but surely, he will be able to work through the process. It is not going to be a quick fix.”

Despite the release awhile ago of QB JaMarcus Russell, the team made a statement about the QB’s recent arrest for having codeine syrup.

“We did all that we could to intervene and assist with a myriad of issues with JaMarcus Russell,” the Raiders said in a statement.

“NFL policy restricts our ability to comment publicly at this time. Therefore, those in the media who declare what the Raiders knew or should have known or what the Raiders did or should have done, are reckless, irresponsible and offensive, and do a disservice to all concerned, including the public.”

Russell is free on bail, and further away from being with a team more than ever.

The end has arrived for Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, as he has announced he is retiring from the NFL after nine seasons and is joining ESPN as and NFL analyst.

Pierce had spent the past five seasons with the Giants and was released by the team in February. He was the Giants' defensive captain and helped team defeat the Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl.

Pierce spent four seasons with the Washington Redskins before moving to the Giants. He played in 137 games, plus seven playoff games. He finishes his career with 687 tackles, nine sacks and seven interceptions.

He will appear on NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and 1050 ESPN New York.