Even though he retired in 2011 at age 35, former Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green still wants to play in the NFL.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

On Wednesday, Green said to FOXSportsWisconsin.com, “I’ve got at least five years left in me to play football.” And it doesn’t necessary have to at running back even though he had success at it with 9,205 yards rushing in a 12-year career.

He added, “I came into the league in special teams, and I’d have no problem doing that again. Just put me anywhere. I’m a football player first. That’s something my dad always reminded me. ‘You’re a football player, not just a running back.’”

Green made a short run in the Canadian Football League last season with the Montreal Alouettes but was released by them. He’d love to return and play with the Packers but he is open to any team that calls.

He said of the Packers, “I know that I could help the team. I’d be happy to play along with Aaron (Rodgers) a few more years and help those guys win another Super Bowl. I would love to be around.”

He played his last game with the team on Jan. 10, 2010 in the playoff loss against the Arizona Cardinals.

Green won’t wait forever for an opportunity. He said, “I can’t sit around and wait forever, so if it doesn’t happen, I’ve got to move on with my life.”

Brandon Marshall Will Not be Charged for Nightclub Incident

According to Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, charges will not be brought against the player for the March nightclub incident.

A woman filed a complaint against Marshall, alleging that he hit her in the face outside Manhattan’s Marquee club.

Steinberg said to AP, “We maintained all along he is a victim and there is no basis to believe these charges.”

The New York City Police department is still investigating the case and on Thursday, Detective Brian Sessa said the case remains open.

Marshall has maintained his innocence and recently said on ESPN’s Waddle and Silvy Show, “The situation in New York, it’s unfortunate. You never want to see anyone get hurt, but just the allegation of me balling my fist up and hitting a woman is just a lie. When the judicial system takes its course I’m very confident I will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

“My wife was the victim in this situation.”

Marshall’s wife had been hit in the head with a bottle and went to the hospital for treatment.

The wide receiver was traded by the Miami Dolphins this spring to the Chicago Bears.

In a relatively on the QT contract negotiations, the Philadelphia Eagles and running back LeSean McCoy have agreed on a five-year extension.

According to PFT, the deal is for $45 million and runs through 2017. It includes the following: an $8.5 million signing bonus with  salaries of $615,000 (2012), $3.25 million (2013), $8 million (2014), $10.25 million (2015), $7.15 million (2016) and $7.85 million (2017).

McCoy’s last two seasons have been 1,000-yards plus. In 2011, he carried 273 times for 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns (a franchise record). He also had 48 catches for 315 yards in receiving.

In the previous year, McCoy carried 207 times for 1,080 yards and seven touchdowns; he also had 78 catches for 592 yards. As a starter the last two years, he’s averaged 5.0 yards per carry with 29 touchdowns.

He also earned All Pro and Pro Bowl honors and led the league with 102 first downs and 48 runs of 10-plus yards. McCoy was the NFL’s fourth-best rusher with 1,309 yards, according to ESPN.

Not too bad for a 23-year-old.

Quarterback competition in Arizona

The Arizona Cardinals have a good old-fashioned quarterback competition going on between Kevin Kolb and John Skelton.

According to Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, he’ll select his starting quarterback based on “who looks better” up until September; currently, there is no favorite.

Appearing on Jim Rome’s Rome, he has no idea who the starter is right now and yes, he’s eager to see who steps up to the role.

He said to Rome, “That’s the question that’s going to be answered through the workouts this spring and in training camp this summer. They’ve both been working hard at it. It’s been good to get out on the field and actually work on techniques and fundamentals with these guys. At times last year they both showed they can do good things. But consistency at that position is something we’ve got to improve on. So hopefully the competition between both of them will sharpen up one of them enough that he’ll be a good starter for us.”

Things change quickly in a year. Kolb had been viewed as the team’s franchise quarterback. You’d think he’d be the favorite but Whisenhunt said he doesn’t want one; he wants both players to show they deserve the job.

He added, “I think the knee-jerk reaction would be to say that it is Kevin’s job to lose. But then you have to look at what John Skelton did last year in winning those games when he was in there. So I think you have to give John a lot of credit for winning those games. I certainly have a lot of respect for Kevin and what he’s done in this league and we made the commitment to bring him in to our football team. So it’s going to start out as even as it possibly can, and we’re going to let the best player take it from there. We did that many years ago when we had Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart, and it worked out pretty good for us. So hopefully we’ll have that same kind of magic.”

After getting tagged by the New Orleans Saints in the spring, quarterback Drew Brees is still without a long-term contract and an unsigned tender offer.

On Wednesday, Brees said in an interview on New Orleans’ WWL-AM about the contract talks, “It’s extremely frustrating for me, but here we are. I know I’m certainly committed to getting a long-term deal, as I have been throughout this entire process.”

He added, “This is a big time for our team, especially when you look at what’s happened in this offseason, missing our head coach, Sean Payton. There should be a sense of urgency and yet it seems like there’s not.”

According to PFT, Brees said he and his agent have reached out to the team on numerous occasions for a deal; they feel they’re trying harder to accomplish something than the Saints. He said, “We’ve reached out on a number of occasions and at times I’ve been frustrated by the lack of response.”

For the Saints, are they holding out in the hopes Brees will sign the one-year tender offer or will he give in and take less money?

Brees sounds like he’s sticking to his guns about a hefty, long-term deal. He said Saints owner Tom Benson has not presented anything to him that is close to the money he wants.

He said of the talks, “Maybe not as close as people would be led to believe. I would say that the numbers that have been thrown around by ESPN and some of these other places, at times, have been pretty heavily inflated.”

Brees is looking for the Saints to show their loyalty, as the type given by him, with a “reasonable” and “appropriate” contract, reported PFT.

Darrelle Revis Gushes About Tim Tebow

New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has become a huge fan of the team’s new backup quarterback, Tim Tebow.

Revis said to ESPNNew York.com on Wednesday, “He’s a born leader, he really is. Very few athletes have the gift he has.  He tries to lead by example all the time.  He tries to be positive, which is awesome, and that [has resulted] in his success on the field. . . .

“Some people have it, some guys don’t.  It’s the passion within, wanting to be a leader, wanting to win. You see it all the time, eating lunch, walking down the hallway.  You see it.”

Probably not a bad thing for Tebow to have this guy in his corner.

Revis added, “He’s a playmaker, he makes plays, he wins games. He’s one of those guys.  He’s very positive.  He has passion for whatever he does.  You can see it on him.”

Meanwhile, Revis did not add the same comments about the Jets starting quarterback Mark Sanchez.

According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the two could lose millions of dollars because they come under the nonfootball-injury provision of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). From Article 20, Section 3 provision, it states, “A player who is placed on a Nonfootball injury or Illness list (“N-F/I”) is not entitled to any compensation under his contract while on such list …”

Both players have said their injuries came in off-site training sessions. The NFL and the union both can agree that any injury that doesn’t happen either at a team’s facility or while under its direction, it is considered a “Nonfootball injury.”

Both players have been transparent where the injuries occurred but what does it mean for them?

For Peters, he could lose $3.25 million from his $7.9 million base salary as that is the sum the Eagles will pay Demetress Bell as his replacement. According to ESPN, the two sides have had a friendly discussion recently about a possible financial hit.

While he tore his Achilles on March 27 and had surgery in April, Peters recently re-injured his Achilles and his road to recovery has taken a step back.

Suggs is a different story

He had surgery for his partially torn Achilles on May 7; he supposedly tore it in Arizona while performing his “usual” offseason training. He has been adamant he will play this season and may be back in October.

If he goes on the PUP list at the start of the season, he will be absent from the first six games. The Ravens could possibly forgo paying him for those games; he has a base salary of $4.9 million.

As noted by the CBA, the teams are not required to pay a salary to either player but sources have said that because Suggs and Peters are both important players to their teams and in good standing, for both organizations to not pay them is probably unlikely.

In addition, the Eagles and Ravens will also need their players to rehab well.

As PFT noted, there could be a lesson learned from his incident. If the players do lose money, then in the future they will probably workout at their team facilities. Both players have said they were injured while participating in conditioning work but they do sit on the Non Football Injury list because they worked out independently.

For Williams, now that he’s done with football, he’s not exactly losing sleep about concussions.

He said, according to Yahoo!’s Shutdown Corner, ”I have no idea, and I’m not a really big fan of the way the NFL is handling concussions. Maybe I’m stupid or whatever, but if I got a concussion, and I could see straight and I could carry a football, I’m not telling anybody … From what I’ve seen, [the NFL is] all about prevention — but can you prevent a concussion? I mean, you can definitely have safer helmets, and I had what I think was the safest helmet when I played, and I think you can definitely pay more attention. But ultimately, it’s about the players. And I think all this attention given to prevention — it seems like they haven’t done anything, because they don’t believe they can actually treat a concussion.”

Le Betard supposedly didn’t understand what Williams was saying and the player further elaborated with, “Most of the research around concussions is to find that 100 percent of football players have brain trauma. Well — I don’t want someone to tell me that, right? I don’t want someone to tell me that, because if it’s a ‘doctor’ (Williams used air quotes when he said the word ‘doctor’), I don’t buy it.”

The TV host then asked Williams if he believed there was not a link between football and concussions. Williams responded, ”I don’t buy it. I’m only speaking from my personal experience, because I haven’t allowed myself to buy it, and I haven’t been affected. Yes, I’m aware that football is a rough sport, but instead of saying, ‘Oh — I’m doomed to brain trauma,” I said, ‘What can I do about it?’ And I just started taking care of my body. I found people, places, and things that really helped me — again, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me in 10 years, but I look at the other things I’ve learned about, and the way I see the world.”

He ended with, “Science is the deity, but should it be?”

Here’s a link to the interview.

Williams played for 11 years in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens; he gained 10,000+plus rushing yards. He retired in February at age 34.

After trying to stick to his guns for a long-term contract, New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker signed his tender offer on Tuesday.

This means two things from his actions: Welker will attend the team’s OTAs which will begin on Monday and now he’s guaranteed $9.5 million this year in a one-year contract.

On Monday, Welker was adamant about his desire to attend this upcoming season’s games. He said to Patriots Rapid Reporter Greg Bedard, ”There’s $9.5 million reasons why I won’t miss any regular season games.”

Upon signing his tender, Welker tweeted, “I signed my tender today. I love the game and I love my teammates! Hopefully doing the right thing gets the right results. #leapoffaith.”

Not everyone supported Welker’s decision. Mike Freeman of CBS Sports tweeted about the news, “Wes Welker says he signed tender to do the right thing. Honorable. But NFL GMs have a term for that: sucker.”

Monk, Casper Named to College Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, Art Monk and Dave Casper had been named to college’s Hall of Fame.

According to ESPN, Monk, a Syracuse University alum, received three times the number of votes as opposed to Casper; he was a Notre Dame All-American on the 1973 national championship team and has been named to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Monk was part of three Washington Redskins Super Bowl winning teams. He started his Syracuse days as a running back but moved to  wide receiver. He holds a Syracuse record for most receptions in a game with 14; this came in 1977 against Navy

Casper brings two Super Bowl appearances from the Oakland Raiders. As a Notre Dame player, he spent two seasons as an offensive lineman but switched to tight end. He was also a team leader as a 1973 co-captain of the Fighting Irish that defeated Alabama to win the Sugar Bowl and win the AP national title.

Additional players for this year’s class, according to The Washington Post includes Jimmy Johnson aka coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jonathan Ogden of UCLA; quarterback, Ty Detmer, running backs Charles Alexander of LSU and Otis Armstrong of Purdue; quarterback Tommy Kramer of Rice; defensive backs Scott Thomas of Air Force and Greg Myers of Colorado State; split end Hal Bedsole of Southern California; defensive end Gabe Rivera of Texas Tech; linebacker Mark Simoneau of Kansas State; and guard John Wooten of Colorado.

In addition to the players nominated to the Hall of Fame, Johnson will also be joined by Phillip Fulmer, the 1998 BCS title winner, Tennessee’s quarterback and R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M’s highest winning coach.

After a good start as a freshman at the University of Michigan, Tate Forcier soon saw his college career decline but now he’s ready to keep his football career alive in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

On Monday, Forcier told ESPN that he has signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL. He will report to the team at month’s end.

With his contract, he has now ceased any opportunities to play college ball again.

He said, “I’m so excited and happy to have this chance after everything I’ve gone through.”

It’s been an interesting road for Forcier. After having a successful start as a true freshman under Rich Rodriguez, quarterback phenom Denard Robinson took over the starting role from him in his second season. He left the school after academic problems  and then thought about transferring to the University of Miami but he had a change of plans.

Next up was a transfer to San Jose State but that didn’t work out either.

Forcier next set his sights on the CFL and recently had been training with former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia to help him get ready for the league.

The Tiger-Cats’ quarterback is veteran Henry Burriss and Forcier will likely be his backup. The team’s season begins on June 13.

Eagles Jason Peters Hurts Achilles Again

After rupturing his right Achilles tendon this spring, Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters has done it again.

According to CSN Philly, the injury came after Peters was trying to a maneuver a vehicle, called a Roll-A-Bout, after a second surgery; it broke in his kitchen. Peters took a face plant and again injured his Achilles.

NFL.com is reporting that Peters plans to sue the manufacturer.

The Eagles have confirmed the injury.

Peters first had surgery in April after he ruptured the tendon on March 27 during a workout.

At the time, Dr. Michael Kaplan, ESPN’s medical analyst, had said after surgery Peters’ ankle would be immobilized for a few weeks before he began physical therapy and strengthening for many months. Kaplan, acting as an expert and not Peters’ doctor, projected the player would be out between four to six months.

The Eagles quickly signed former Bills lineman Demetress Bell as Peters’s replacement earlier in the spring.

Cutler said to Sean Jensen of The Chicago Sun-Times, “It’s a tough subject, it’s a touchy subject, I think you have to be careful what you say and don’t say. Some guys are totally on one side of the and other guys are on the other side of the fence. You know, I signed up to play football. I understand that. I understand you’re going to take hits, you’re going to get beat up.

The veteran quarterback reportedly has had three concussions combined from his college and NFL career.

He added that with the choice to play football, comes an acceptance for some risks. Cutler said, “At the end of the day, it’s a tough sport. You’re going to take shots in the head, and you’re going to get concussions from time to time. But no one made me play football. Not one put a gun to my head and said, ‘You have to play football.’ It’s what I love to do. And I knew the risks and benefits going into it.”

Here’s the more important question in the Cutler interview with The Sun-Times. He was asked by Jensen about the lingering concerns about the Bears’ offensive line.

Cutler responded, “You know, the offensive line is definitely going to be a concern and seeing where those guys are going to fit in and seeing what five we go with. If Gabe [Carimi] comes back, if J’Marcus [Webb] pans out. Where are we going to put Chris Williams? There are some question marks there. Until we really get that resolved, and get our front five settled in, we’ve got some work to do on offense.”

Meanwhile Bears sophomore offensive tackle Carimi recently had an answer to Cutler’s concerns; he believes he’ll be ready to go before the Bears’ minicamp in June.

Last season, he incurred a  knee injury in Week 2 and basically didn’t contribute to the team before hitting injured reserve and subsequently having surgery.

Expectations are high for this No. 1 pick and on Saturday he said to Jensen, “I’m feeling really good. They’re saying another couple of weeks and I’ll be here for [offseason training activities] and minicamps. I’m just champing at the bit to get back and actually be back with the O-line and not on the outside looking in.”

The Bears as usual have been quiet about his return but head coach Lovie Smith had an encouraging comment on Friday about Carimi, “He’s right on schedule. Right on schedule, but we can’t tell you what that schedule is. But we’re right on it.”

But will he step up and perform this season when he does return?

In a March incident that alleged Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall punched a woman in the face at a night club, the investigation is coming to an end and it looks like Marshall will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

According to ESPN, police have been challenged to find any evidence against the wide receiver and neither charges are likely to be filed nor will the case remain open.

Marshall has maintained his innocence and reiterated it last week in a radio interview. He said on ESPN 1000′s The Waddle & Silvy Show, “You definitely have to let the judicial system take its course but again this also is one of those things as a result of everything I’ve been through in the past. When you go through things that I’ve been through it makes you a bigger target. Not only am I an NFL player, I’m an NFL player that has had trouble in the past. Whenever I step out the target on my back is pretty much bigger than 90 percent, 95 percent of the guys in the league because of who I am and what I’ve been through.”

While legal charges may be dropped against Marshall, it doesn’t mean that he may not dodge a suspension bullet from the league.

Jerome Simpson Wants Forgiveness

New Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jerome Simpson has recently served a 15-day jail term and now he wants people to forgive him.

The jail visit comes on a felony drug charge. When Simpson was with the Cincinnati Bengals last season, two pounds of marijuana had been delivered to his home.

Simpson said in an interview with Bob Sansevere of the Pioneer Press, “I’m not a drug dealer or anything. I’m not out there like that. I just made a poor decision. I paid my debt to society. I want to help people not make the same decision I made. One of my goals is to help people not go down that path like I did.”

He also spoke about his recent jail term.

“Those 15 days I spent in jail, it was terrible. It sucked. Any kids out there, that’s a place you don’t want to be. Somebody tells you when to wake up, when to make your bed, when to take a shower, when you can have a snack. That’s an obstacle you don’t want to face. I want all kids to learn not to go down that path and to learn from me. Things happen for a reason. The man upstairs wanted me to change. It sucked I had to go through it that way. It made me a stronger, better person.”

While trying to put this behind him, Simpson will have one more hurdle to overcome. He will serve a three-game suspension at the beginning of the regular season.

Rookie Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson had a good rookie minicamp this past weekend, enough so that head coach Pete Carroll sees him in the mix for the starting quarterback competition.

Carroll said on the team’s official website, “He showed us enough. He’s in the competition. That is going to tax us, as we know. It was already going to be taxing with two, but he’s shown us enough that we need to see where he fits in with these guys.”

So what exactly did Wilson do to work his way into the mix?

According to NFL.com, this weekend Wilson took all the snaps while the other two rookie quarterbacks–Chris Hart and Josh McGregor –just watched the show. He was challenged with deep throws but it wasn’t a poor enough of a performance that Carroll couldn’t still see all the positives.

Wilson brings with from his last season at Wisconsin: 225 completed passes for 3,175 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Rounding out the starting quarterback competition is recently signed Matt Flynn, former Green Bay backup quarterback. In March, he penned a three-year, $26 million contract. He has two NFL starts under his belt, which were impressive.

Then there’s “veteran” Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. Last season he finished as the team’s starter but struggled with a pectoral injury. He did start in 14 games, throwing for 3,091 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Brees, Saints Not Close to Long-Term Deal

Meanwhile, while Seattle has a plethora of good quarterbacks, the New Orleans Saints aren’t so lucky.

Starting quarterback Drew Brees was tagged by the Saints this spring but the paperwork remains unsigned by him. The clock is ticking as the team is scheduled for offseason organized training activities on May 22 and for now, it looks like they’ll be withouth Brees.

Mike Triplett of The Times-Picayune wrote on Saturday, “The chances of Drew Brees signing a long-term contract with the Saints before the first OTA practice May 22 are practically zero.”

He explained that two sides could wait until the 11th hour before the July 16 deadline to sign a long-term deal. Communication between the two sides hasn’t happened in a month and when it will change is yet to be determined.

Should Brees have to accept the franchise tag, he’ll have a one-year, $16.371 million contract.  After that, by holding out, he could lose more than $1 million for every regular season game that he misses.

So who’s behind Brees as his backup? Chase Daniel.