New England Patriots links 6/30/16 - Malcom Brown has leadership, versatility qualities desired by the Patriots

TEAM TALK

• Paul Perillo continues the position-by-position breakdown of the roster: Offensive line.
• Lauren Williams tells us Julian Edelman served as the clue to a $400 question on Jeopardy! the other night.
• Angelique Fiske reports us on Rob Gronkowski making his television hosting debut.

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss sees Malcom Brown as a good example of solid scouting at defensive tackle.
• Ryan Hannable shares Tom Brady's latest Facebook post, challenging Danny Amendola to a ping-pong rematch.
• Christopher Price notes Vince Wilfork will make his modeling debut in this year's edition of The body Issue in ESPN Magazine, and he issued a good-natured challenge to Tom and Gisele.
• Nick O'Malley reviews Rob Gronkowski's new TV show on Nickelodeon, "Crashletes," that premiered earlier this week as part of a 20-episode order centered around bloopers and overall "sports fails."
• Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Photos: Dont'a Hightower takes in Red Sox game.
• Christopher Price remembers when Vladimir Putin swiped Robert Kraft's Super Bowl XXXIX ring 11 years ago this week.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Jacob Feldman (SI) The NFL’s best inside linebackers. No. 8 Dont'a Hightower.
• Luke Easterling (DraftWire) New England Patriots' biggest steal, reach in the 2016 NFL draft.
• Marc Sessler (NFL.com) Amendola: Jimmy Garoppolo was 'great' this offseason.
• Gil Alcaraz (NFL Spinzone) 5 Reasons why New England Patriots could win Super Bowl 51.
• Matt Bowen (ESPN) How NFL veterans are affected by condensed offseason program.
• Justis Mosqueda (Bleacher Report) Who's the talk of every NFL team's offseason so far? New England: Tom Brady.
• James Walker (ESPN) AFC East Q&A: What will addition of Laremy Tunsil do for Ryan Tannehill?
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) Tiny Super Bowl windows forcing these five teams into do-or-die mode.
• Andrea Hangst (Sports on Earth) Safeties under pressure in '16.
• Cameron DaSilva (Fox Sports) Ranking the top 10 tight ends in the NFL.
• Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) Ranking the top 12 defensive lines in the NFL.
• Jenny Vrentas (The MMQB) 10 Things I think I think: How to fix the NFL kickoff.
• Chris Burke (SI) Andrew Luck’s new contract conveys franchise QB expectations from Colts.
• Zac Jackson (ProFootballTalk) Luck just the latest from QB class of 2012 to cash in.
• David Steele (Sporting News) Andrew Luck, as great as he is, will never play up to contract, or Manning's ghost.
• Dan Graziano (ESPN) Andrew Luck got paid, but he should have held out for more.
• Nick Dimengo (Bleacher Report) The Top 10 greatest teams that couldn't finish the job. No. 1 2007-08 New England Patriots. (right after No. 2: Golden State Warriors.)
• Kyle Schroeder (The Sports Quotient) The three worst contracts in the NFL.
• Kevin Kolbe (Football Outsiders) Quarterbacks and salary, 2015.
• Jack Moore (The Guardian) History shows 'smarter' football is no match for concussion.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Packers president: 17-game season could facilitate more international play.
• Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) NFLPA executive gets a good laugh about latest 17-game suggestion.
• Ross Tucker (Sports on Earth) PSLs in the NFL: Money for nothing.
• Jake Henning (The Sports Quotient) How are NFL viewership and revenue higher than ever?
• Ken Fang (Awful Announcing) Mike Tirico’s last day at ESPN is Thursday, 25 years to the day he joined the network.

DEFLATEGATE, DUMPSTER DIVE

• Michael Hurley barely holds back the snark as Chris Simms demonstrate his awesome intellect on the subject of deflategate.
• Glen Farley writes about deflategate's holding pattern as it's been more than five weeks since Tom Brady's legal team requested a hearing.
• Hunter Perkins (Patriots Insider) Gronk takes a stance on Affleck's rant.
• Michael Hurley notes the NFLPA is not willing to simply bow to the NFL's demands on player interviews in PED investigation.
• Dan Graziano (ESPN) What you need to know about the NFL's PED investigation.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Judge throws out all remaining claims against NFL in Tony Romo's fantasy football convention lawsuit.