NFL Player News

The Seahawks have offered quarterback Russell Wilson a deal worth $21 million per year, sources have told Pro Football Talk.

That is only one million annually less than what Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is earning and he is the highest-paid player at his position in the NFL.

Wilson and his team remain at an impasse in contract negotiations with training camp set to open Friday.

Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford continues to make progress from his knee injury and is expected to be ready to go when training camp opens, sources told NJ.com.

Bradford is recovering from his second ACL tear in his knee over the last two seasons. The Eagles begin training camp Aug. 2 and it appears Bradford will be able to fully participate in 11-on-11 drills.

The Seahawks and quarterback Russell Wilson aren't close on a contract extension, according to a report by NFL.com.

Wilson is scheduled to make $1.54 million this season. The two sides reportedly won't negotiate past the start of training camp. The deadline of the July 30 start of camp means that talks should accelerate over the next two weeks. 

If Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is suspended at the start of the season in the Deflategate scandal, one of the more interesting storylines would be the play of Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garroppolo, who was a rookie in 2014, has little game experience. However, Patriots wide receiver Brandon LaFell says he has confidence in the backup quarterback and says a year learning under Brady should suit him well.

"Jimmy has grown a lot since he first stepped foot up there in Foxborough last year," LaFell said, per ESPN. "He got a little experience during the later part of the season against Buffalo; he showed a little glimpse of what he can do. He’s been having a nice OTAs, a nice offseason with us.

"I feel like studying behind Tom has been great for him. If we have to be without Tom for the first couple games, I’m pretty sure Tom will be in Jimmy’s ear helping him prepare each and every way he can to go out here and lead this team. I think we have a great group of guys around him that will kind of take the pressure off Jimmy so he won’t have to feel like he has to go out there and win the game himself."

Quarterback Russell Wilson, whose contract status has developed into one of the offseason's major storylines, said that despite the issue with his deal, he still wants to remain with the Seahawks. 

"The rest will work out. The contract will work itself out. I'm excited about it and excited to hopefully be a Seattle Seahawk for a really, really long time," Wilson said during a football camp. "So, that's the goal."

Wilson is slated to play out the final year of his rookie contract in 2015, making $1.54 million, a figure wildly below market value for a player who has been to back-to-back Super Bowls. 

Buccaneers rookie quarterback Jameis Winston wants to use the offseason as an opportunity to lose weight and get into better shape, per NFL.com.

Winston will have a few weeks off as he prepares for training camp, so he will use that time to study his playbook and get into shape.

"Trying to lose some weight, try to get back skinny," Winston said, per NFL.com. "Right now I'm 238 (pounds), I'm trying to be my redshirt freshman year (weight), about 230. I mean, learn that playbook too, man, you can never go wrong with that."

Winston also added that he doesn't feel any extra pressure on himself because he was the top pick in the draft, or because of his previous off the field problems.

"I have nothing to prove," Winston said. "I believe that people make mistakes, but I also believe that you bounce back from those and I'm just moving forward."

The Bengals have signed free agent quarterback Keith Wenning, per the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The 2014 sixth-round pick of Baltimore spent all of his rookie season on its practice squad before he was released in May.

Wenning was a four-year starter at Ball State.

One of only a few knocks against Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has been occasional inaccuracy. His penchant for throwing deep and taking chances on the field often results in incompletions.

But Stafford hit on 60.3 percent of his passes a year ago, the second-best rate of his career. And Jim Caldwell believes that will improve this year. His work in offseason practices have provided encouragement.

"He's improved," Caldwell told MLive.com. "He has a better feel for the system. You can see our timing's better, receivers have a better sense of the routes that they're running. All around I think we've made some improvement."

Caldwell added that he anticipates Stafford will improve his completion percentage in 2015.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson hopes he plays this season under a new, more lucrative contract. But caution has trumped hope.

Wilson confirmed that he has taken out an insurance policy in case he gets badly hurt during the final year of his rookie deal that will pay him a comparatively meager $1.5 million.

"That's just being smart," Wilson told the Tacoma News Tribune. "If I do have to play this season (without a new contract), that's just being smart. That's all that is, really. I think that's the right thing to do."

Wilson added that negotiations that extend into the season will not distract him from maximizing his performance. Pete Carroll can certainly see the possibility of talks taking place during the year.

"I don't care how long we keep working," he said. "Whatever it takes, to do the right thing. ... That's why we are working."

The Eagles have begun preliminary contract negotiations with quarterback Sam Bradford, sources told the NFL Network.

While the two sides have met a few times, no significant progress has been made. Bradford is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract and he can become a free agent after the 2015 season if no deal is reached.