1. Add Patriots owner Robert Kraft to the growing list of owners that want a team in Las Vegas, saying the move "would be good for the NFL."
"I came into the league in '94," said Kraft, via USA Today. "Back then, any exploration of that market was dismissed out of hand. I'm looking where we are today and thinking of the last 10 to 15 years, and the emergence of new media, with Google and Facebook and the like. We're just living in a different world, technology wise. The risks in Vegas are no longer exclusive to Vegas."
And Kraft is right. Gambling and Daily Fantasy Sports are so prevalent that it doesn't matter whether a team is located in the heart of Vegas; there will be access to gambling in the most remote areas of Vermont.
So bring on Vegas.
2. We talked about NFL teams making moves purely for financial gains last week, but the San Francisco 49ers have more to gain than some other franchises with the move. The NFL Bylaws specifically covers the shared territory of San Francisco and Oakland and the removal of the Raiders will free up San Francisco's market.
The 49ers and Raiders have joint control over the bay, in the same way that the Giants and Jets have joint control over New York. Section 10.4(B) says that "no road game of either the Oakland Raiders or San Francisco 49ers respectively may be televised back to the home territory of the other club on any day when the other club is playing a game at home."
If the Raiders move, then the 49ers gain full control over the bay and every game can and will be televised in the region. That's a nice bonus.
3. I always like when the curtain gets pulled back and we get to see how a team or player operates and we have a pair of great articles this week.
The Chargers released an immediate oral history of the scouting process and selection of 3rd overall pick Joey Bosa and it's fantastic. The article follows all of the scouts, executives, coaches, and Bosa himself through each step of the way.
Jenny Vrentas of Monday Morning Quarterback also released a great article about new Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler and his thought process behind jumping teams. Osweiler seems very excited about head coach, and former Patriots offensive coordinator, Bill O'Brien's offensive schemes, and I wouldn't be surprised if MMQB let us look inside the Texans locker room on a few occasions this upcoming year.
4. Jaguars 1st round pick Jalen Ramsey just suffered a knee injury in camp, but is expected to return this year. This is after their 2015 first round pick Dante Fowler suffered from a knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2015 season. The Jaguars also added Myles Jack in the early second round, who is battling serious knee issues of his own.
Can someone just make a robotic knee? I feel like that would be better at this point.
But seriously, knee injuries deserve further scrutiny, especially in Patriots land, because they are no longer career enders; Bill Belichick even views them as a market inefficiency.
The Patriots drafted Dominique Easley in the 2014 1st round, despite his knee injuries, and there are some concerns about 2016 4th round pick Malcolm Mitchell. In Belichick's view, these knee injuries are a way for the Patriots to add talent that would never otherwise be available when the Patriots draft.
If they don't pan out, then c'est la vie. If they do, then it's Rob Gronkowski.
5. Speaking of injuries, Bills head coach Rex Ryan is now trying to claim that he wanted to trade for Odell Beckham Jr. when the wide receiver was battling a hamstring injury as a rookie. Okay.
The Bills front office is also saying that they're "playing with house money," since Bills 1st round pick Shaq Lawson is undergoing shoulder surgery that should hinder him for the majority of his rookie season. Bills general manager Doug Whaley says that the Bills would have been happy to take 2nd round linebacker Reggie Ragland in the 1st round, so his argument is that Buffalo has a player they weren't even counting on having.
That Lawson/Ragland duo also seems very similar to the Patriots Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower draft in 2012. Ragland and Hightower were both star linebackers from National Champion Alabama teams, while Lawson and Jones were both pass rushers from ACC schools that wear orange jerseys (okay, Syracuse wasn't in the ACC until 2013).
Hopefully the Bills won't have that same level of success.
6. Take a chance to read this post from my friend Jon, who is a fantasy sports writer from RotoViz. He had the opportunity to travel around the world over the course of three months and it helped shape an interesting life philosophy.