NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

It’s something I have been pondering given the temporary quarterback situation here in Seattle.

What happens if Carson Palmer reports before the regular season in Cincinnati, forcing them to keep him for $11.5 million, trade him, or release him.

What happens when teams start hearing the whispers that they don’t want to keep him, and when that goes around, teams will just sit and wait for them to release him.

It’s a situation Palmer has tons of leverage in. The team has already committed to Andy Dalton as their franchise quarterback, they know that, fans know that, and other teams know that as well.

They are probably not about to install Palmer as the starter if he arrives, and they are definitely not paying him $11.5 million to sit on the bench either.

The only team really being linked to Palmer at this point has been the Seattle Seahawks. Palmer has moved his family to Seattle and it seems if he’s serious about retiring that if he were to play football he would want to play near his family.

If he does show up and teams just simply wait the situation out until Mike Brown has no choice to release him; what rationalization could Pete Carroll provide for not pursuing his former star?

The jump from Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst to Carson Palmer is astronomical. I have long been saying that the rest of this offense is built and ready to compete right now except a couple members of the right side of the offensive line and a certain quarterback whose making me envious of the Redskins situation. They have multiple pro bowl options in the passing attack and a pro bowl running back who just needs a stable offensive line to finally break free.

The defense has been stepping up as well and is posting impressive pre-season numbers. 11 forced fumbles and tied for 10th in sacks. If one unit can do good and one can be mediocre, that will be good enough to win the NFC West.

The problem is one unit can’t been good or even mediocre with Tarvaris Jackson as it’s starting quarterback.

Enter Palmer, and if the roster can stay sanely healthy, the NFC West would be a lock in my honest opinion.

If it does boil down to it and a trade is required, I believe at this point a fifth round draft choice would probably be enough given the unique circumstances and the crunch time involved with making a financial decision.

Remember under unique circumstances the Jets acquired Santonio Holmes for a fifth round draft choice recently and he ended up getting a 5 year, $50 million deal this off-season.

At this point, Seattle fans should be praying for Carson Palmer to report if they have any care about how the 2011 season turns out.

Adam Schefter has confirmed: Chris Johnson’s hold-out is over, as he has agreed to a 4-year, $53.5m extension with $30m guaranteed.

It would have been interesting to see how they would’ve started without him. Their other running backs Javon Ringer, Jamie Harper and Herb Donaldson are promising. It seems like either the Titans thought this dispute was a negative towards fan morale and selling tickets, they really think they can’t win without him, or Chris started to yield a little bit.

Chris Palmer, the Titans’ offensive coordinator, was a head coach last year for the UFL’s Hartford Colonials. What is fascinating about Palmer working for a head coach who used to be an O-lineman is that Chris’ offense features a lot of spreading out defenses, placing receivers in “doubles”. What’s not surprising is that this is a staple of the run-and-shoot, which was utilized by the Houston Oilers back when head coach Mike Munchak played for them and Chris Palmer coached receivers for them. They’ve also seen to be using the “switch” concept during pre-season, where two receivers running routes next to each other have multiple options based on coverages.

Palmer’s last stint as offensive coordinator was only 34 games long, with a Texans team (2003-2005) pretty thin on talent.

No matter what anyone at ESPN says, Chris Johnson is not the only elite skill position player for the offense. Kenny Britt is definitely one, and his stats would have ballooned if he had an accurate quarterback delivering the ball to him. Jared Cook is ready to step up in the way that Ed Dickson will for the Ravens with Todd Heap having exited. Cook’s size and dynamic ability pose match-up problems for linebackers.

Unfortunately, I do not think the Titans defense (15th in points allowed) will be enough to push them past the Colts in the division. However, if Matt Hasselbeck stays healthy – thus limiting the turnovers as a QB who threw for 34 TDs and 44 INTs in the last seasons -, that defense may only need to flash in the divisional games A great first test for the Titans is going to be week 2, as they welcome the Baltimore Ravens to LP Field.

It took awhile, but the talks between the Titans and running back Chris Johnson have paid off, as Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reports that the deal between the back and the team are done.

Johnson is getting a reported four-year deal that is worth $53.5 million. $30 mil of the money is guaranteed. Johnson has been a holdout since the start of camp, but should be in with the team and ready to go for the clubs season opener with the Jaguars.

Negotiations between Johnson and the Titans had picked up over the past two days as as the regular season closes in. Titans coach Mike Munchak said earlier this week that Johnson would likely need to have something done by this weekend in order to be able to be a full-go for the opener in Jacksonville.

By Chiefs Gab Columnist Jeremy Housewright

With a very unimpressive preseason, only time will tell if the Kansas City Chiefs look like the AFC West champs from last year or chumps.

It's been an abysmal preseason, to say the least. Fans paying hard earned money to attend preseason games have been left with a bad taste in their mouths. Are the Chiefs really as bad as they look? Did the departure of Charlie Weis really hurt the team that much? Is Matt Cassel the answer at quarterback? Can the Chiefs continue to dominate with their rushing attack? All these questions and more are on the minds of Chiefs Nation.

First of all, I have to believe that the Chiefs are not as bad as they have looked in the preseason. Todd Haley is not going to open his offensive playbook to expose his team for games that mean nothing. He has taken a different approach this season.

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He will go down as one of the great running backs of this era, and tomorrow, he will walk away as a member of the team that drafted him.

The Jaguars will ceremonially sign former running back Fred Taylor tomorrow so he can retire as a member of the Cats. Jacksonville will begin making cuts tomorrow, which will allow them space on the roster to make the move. The team must reduce its roster to 53 players by Saturday.

Taylor spent 11 seasons with the Jaguars and is the team’s leading rusher all time with 11,271 career yards in Jacksonville. He’s also third all time in receptions with 2,361 yards on 286 catches.

It’s getting down to crunch time between the Titans and running back Chris Johnson, as reports say the two sides are talking, and that the talk are starting to result in progress towards a long-term deal.

Johnson still has two years remaining on his rookie contract, but he has been holding out for a long-term deal which would pay him quite a bit more money than what he’s currently making.

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