NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

A top Redskins official said the team had been unable to sell season tickets for the thousands of seats it removed from FedEx Field this summer, a rare admission by the franchise that demand for its in-stadium product has declined according to Dan Steinberg and Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

Lon Rosenberg, the vice president of operations at FedEx Field, said in a radio interview Wednesday that the approximately 10,000 removed upper deck seats had been offered to fans on the team's season ticket waiting list, and that "these are seats that they were not wanting to buy."

In a telephone interview Thursday, Rosenberg described the removed seats as "the least desirable seats in the stadium," but added that the decision to remove the seats "has nothing to do with ticket sales."

"It's about making a more fan-friendly experience on game days," he said. "There will be less traffic, shorter lines and and again, enable us to better serve our fans."

Rosenberg estimated that the capacity of FedEx Field for the 2011 season will be around 82,000 — down from 91,704, which had made it the second-largest capacity in the NFL.

When the team began removing seats in the 400 levels of both end zones this spring, the Redskins published a story on their official Web site saying they would be replaced by standing-room only party decks that would offer fans a different in-game experience. The story called the decks "another major upgrade" that were expected to be completed "for the start of the 2012 season."

But Rosenberg said the team hasn't decided what, if anything, will replace the end zone seats, explaining that the impetus behind the project was to ease traffic congestion and lines at concession stands and bathrooms at the stadium in Landover.

Legendary senior writer jclombardi reports NFL labor deal probably coming next week.

ESPN MORT: NFL LOCKOUT UNRESOLVED ISSUES

ESPN–NFL Lockout unresolved issues: The outstanding unresolved issues according to sources: (1) Players want restoration of $320 million in lost benefits from the 2010 uncapped season (2) Players want to limit use of the franchise tag on unrestricted free agents to a one-time application (3) Settlement of the Brady antitrust lawsuit involving 10 named plaintiffs  (4) Workman’s compensation (5)  Settlement of the television damages case stemming from U.S. District Judge David Doty’s ruling that owners did not act in the best interests of players as directed by the previous CBA in creating “lockout insurance.”  Under a ratified agreement, teams would have an exclusive 72-hour window to negotiate contracts with their free agents Friday before those players hit open market at the start of league-wide free agency on July 25th.

The NFL and NFL players are closing in on a new Collective Bargaining agreement which should be finalized soon.

According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, it will be a 10 year agreement.

Owners and players will return to the negotiating table in a mediation setting on Monday and Tuesday to settle a handful of unresolved issues, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

According to sources, the sides will meet in either New York or Washington D.C., and U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan could join them on either day.

Bengals running back Cedric Benson was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury to a family member early Sunday morning in Central Texas according to the Associated Press.

No other details were available regarding the Class A misdemeanor charge from the Travis County sheriff’s office. Benson will be a free agent once a new collective bargaining agreement is in place.

Benson’s lawyer, Sam Bassett, released a statement Sunday stating that the incident involved a “former male roommate.”

“Mr. Benson has been charged with misdemeanor assault arising out of a conflict with a former male roommate.

The two had difficulties resulting from Mr. Benson asking the former male roommate to leave his home a few days prior to this incident. The conflict became physical early this morning and we intend to fully investigate. There is not enough information available at this time for further comment. Thank you.”

The former University of Texas rusher, set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the lockout, was previously arrested last June in Austin and charged with assault following a Memorial Day weekend bar dispute.

“The team is aware of the incident,” Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “However, as with most situations of this nature, it would (be) inappropriate for the team to comment until the matter is resolved through normal legal channels.”

Texans running back Arian Foster rushed for an NFL high 1,616 yards last season but did it with a torn meniscus in his knee.

Foster told Matt Crossman of Sporting News that he played the 2010 season with a torn meniscus in his knee, telling nobody until the season was over because he didn't want to lose his job.

Foster joined the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He replaced Steve Slaton as the teams starting running back last season.

Rebecca Lopez of WFAA TV in Dallas reports that according to sources, a former Cowboys player and a current Colts player were arrested Saturday night at a Dallas club.

The two athletes — were identified as former Cowboys linebacker Stephen Hodge and Colts defensive end Jerry Hughes. They were taken into custody at The Bank nightclub, 1313 Main Street, for public intoxication.

Legendary senior writer jclombardi muses about Packers bloggers rankings.

Recently, after another offseason of extensive reviews and research about Packers Blogs, we reviewed the top Packers blogs in the Packers Blogosphere.   Now, for its rankings, CHTV's subjective criteria: "Relevant, timely information delivered with a clear strong voice. A dedication to Packer fans that includes posting often during the off-season and every day during the season. These qualities separate the bench warmers from the starters."  Then, Total Packers added its list based upon its own traffic criteria. Shockingly, Packers Gab was not mentioned in the top "Packers blogs" list.  "Stunning, shocking! Oh, the humanity of it all!"

Anyway, the fans in the Packers nation begged the legendary senior writer and Packers lead blogger to present an updated impartial and accurate top rankings of Packers blogs based upon the lack of vanities, suck-ups, and egos with emphasis on quality narrative writings lacking awful trivia ramblings, delusional self-importance rhetoric, fancy graphics, and geek heads. Thus, after great soul searching, hard work, and an unbiased professional rankings of the major Packers blogs,  we present the official “jclombardi’s” ranking of the top Packers bloggers in the Packers (blogger and grade):    

COMMENTARY: Hard work! Meanwhile, we have witnessed the usual antics of professional competition among Packers bloggers in Packers Blogosphere. The sites come and go leaving interesting stories for fans.  Recently, PD had their violent la femme talk about Packers bloggers  with her amusing musings about leaving: (1) I will remember there's no guaranteed payday that goes along with blogging (2)  I will remember that as a blogger that I'm not a "professional journalist" (3)  I may not care for every player on the roster, but I don't have to. I will trust Ted and Mike to handle any player who doesn't live up to their expectations, on or off the field and (4) Lastly, and I'm going to remember that the people I interact with on Twitter and in the blogosphere are real people with real feelings, real family and real friends.  Yet, we were more struck with another recent fascinating story involving an elderly great Packers fan who ran MPU and making an eloquent narrative “retiring” speech. Both these Packers characters will be missed in the Packers Blogosphere.

According to the Twitter of Ricky Doyle of Your News Now, Cedric Benson has been arrested for assaulting a family member and is currently in Travis County Jail.

Benson’s assault is a Class A misdemeanor, just like it was with the assault he was arrested for in June 2010.

The Bengals actually benefit from this arrest if it lowers the number of teams courting Benson.