Monday Morning Digest: Training Camp Kickoff Spectacular!

Greetings, NFL junkies! Training camp is underway, and like Antonio Brown, Monday Morning Digest knows how to roll up in style. This training camp preview is chock-full of everything you need to enjoy the start of the NFL preseason, including:

• The real reason the Patriots planned so many joint practices with other teams;
• Bold predictions on how the quarterback controversies in Denver and elsewhere will play out;
• A guide to which old running back is most likely to help his new team and your fantasy team;
• A rundown of the most compelling camp soap operas;
• Odell Beckham, Le'Veon Bell and other financial news;

...and much more!

So hop inside Digest's vintage convertible. We'll drive you straight to the practice field.

Choose Your Own Super Bowl Prediction Adventure

Morry Gash/Associated Press

Love NFL previews but hate silly pre-camp Super Bowl predictions? Well, the Digest team feels your pain. In fact, our research has determined that all early Super Bowl predictions fall into six major categories.

Don't labor too hard on the perfect Super Bowl prediction. Just select from the menu below* and keep in mind that no one will remember or care in six weeks who you thought would win the Super Bowl at the start of camp.

Lazy Prediction: Patriots vs. Whoever

Lock down the AFC with the obvious choice and you are free to make an esoteric selection for the NFC, knowing that you are almost guaranteed to be half-right. Double down on the laziness with a top contender like the Cowboys or Seahawks if you like, but it's more fun to swing for the fences. Maybe this is finally the Lions' year…to lose to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Traditionalist Prediction: Steelers vs. Packers

Two perennial powerhouses with grand histories and huge national fanbases. You get all the edgy style points of not picking the Patriots without really going out on a limb. This selection is totally feasible and insulates you from criticism behind a firewall of Cheeseheads, Cheatriots truthers and Iron City Light drinkers.

Trendy Prediction: Raiders vs. Cowboys

Prove you're ahead of the curve by picking two teams on the rise with lots of young talent. The Raiders and Cowboys are also retro-chic, like mid-century wood paneling—you can enjoy them both ironically and unironically! If either team acquired a real pass defense in the offseason, they might prove you right.

Try-Too-Hard Trendy Prediction: Titans vs. Buccaneers

You don't actually think either of these interesting but still-gestating teams will reach the Super Bowl. But this pick is your way of asserting that all the cool bands play the side stage. By the time both teams finish among the wild-card herd, you will be too busy assembling your 2022 draft board to notice.

Defense-Wins-Championships Prediction: Broncos vs. Seahawks

Both the Broncos and Seahawks won recent Super Bowls with their defenses, so why not predict it will happen again? Russell Wilson was sacked three times and the Broncos switched quarterbacks while you were answering that question.

Storyline-Lover's Prediction: Texans vs. Giants

All the Texans needed was a quarterback, and now they have Deshaun Watson. All the Giants needed were more weapons, and now they have Brandon Marshall.

No one should believe football is that easy, but these teams are much more fun to talk about than the stodgy old Steelers, Packers and Patriots. And unless you are in a Vegas book with a mortgage payment in your hand, start-of-camp Super Bowl predictions are all about being fun, not necessarily being right.

*Substitute the Patriots for any AFC team on this list for an additional $2.50.

Quarterback Controversy Digest

Bob Levey/Associated Press

Training camp's most compelling quarterback competitions, listed in descending order of desperation and sadness.

Denver Broncos

Paxton Lynch is the talented-but-raw specimen who reminds John Elway of John Elway. Trevor Siemian is the extra-thirsty try-hard who earned last year's starting job by reminding Gary Kubiak of Gary Kubiak. Here's a hint how this one will turn out: Elway is the boss, and Kubiak has been reassigned from head coach to Guy in Corner Office With Vague Responsibilities (aka Senior Personnel Advisor).

Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson will win the starting job. John McClain of the Houston Chronicle has already busted out Warren Moon comparisons, and he isn't prone to fits of hyperbole. But we're supposed to play along with Watson "winning" a competition against Tom Savage or somebody, so try to act surprised when he starts the first three preseason games.

Chicago Bears

Mike Glennon will win the job because he is tall, has a pretty delivery and will absolutely crush seven-on-seven drills. He will then throw the football out of bounds and curl into the fetal position as soon as he faces live pass-rushers, but that still puts him ahead of No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky, who had trouble taking snaps under center Saturday, per Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.

Cleveland Browns

By the end of OTAs, Texans castoff Brock Osweiler had finally perfected the art of the mistake-free press conference. Head coach Hue Jackson told reporters rookie DeShone Kizer is further along than expected, so he may be a great quarterback by 2021. High-effort, budget-friendly Cody Kessler is probably the best option for Week 1. The franchise's biannual front office upheaval as a result of this quarterback quagmire is tentatively scheduled for Week 17.

New York Jets

If they won't bother trying to be competitive, I won't bother trying to write jokes.

Player Spotlight: Odell Beckham Jr.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

Heading Into Camp

Beckham announced on UNINTERRUPTED that he hopes to someday be the NFL's highest-paid player…period.

It was exactly the kind of message every coach, GM and fanbase wants to hear on the eve of the season: I'm totally focused on achieving my goals (which are financial).

What to Expect

Beckham's money musings unsurprisingly dominated team news as Giants camp opened. Owner John Mara made soothing reassurances that the team cherishes OBJ and would one day give him a hefty new contract. Brandon Marshall, already warming to the receiver/team spokesman/deputy GM role he played in previous stops, said Beckham "obviously is the best player in the NFL."

Again, owners and veterans enjoy nothing more than deflecting contract demands/stroking a teammate's ego before anyone puts on full pads.

Beckham was reportedly brilliant in early camp drills—when he's healthy, he's the best practice player I have ever seen—and everyone sounds like they are getting along splendidly. Let's check back after they realize that the only way to get OBJ, Marshall, Sterling Shepard and rookie tight end Evan Engram all the touches they want is for Eli Manning to throw 75 passes per game.

Bottom Line

It’s OK to love Beckham's game, hope he gets paid gobs of money and acknowledge that filming pre-camp contract-demand ransom videos isn't a great look for a player who last was seen remodeling the hallways of Lambeau Field with his fists after a playoff loss. The Giants' greatest enemy this season (other than opposing pass-rushers) will be drama, and Beckham always delivers above his pay grade in that department. He'll need to reel himself in just a bit to get what he wants.

Team Spotlight: New England Patriots

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Heading Into Camp

Expectations for the Patriots range anywhere from a 19-0 season to "Gillette Stadium morphs into a mothership and flies the team to another galaxy to create a utopian society."

Camp Stories

With Foxboro in typical Pentagon lockdown mode and the press treating Tom Brady's 40th birthday like it's America's bicentennial, don't expect lots of hard-hitting inside stories. But there are still some interesting events on the Patriots calendar:

• Joint Practices: The Patriots will host the Jaguars on August 7-8, visit the Texans on August 15-16 and spend a day with the Lions before their August 25th preseason game. The meeting with the Texans may be the most intriguing development, as Bill O'Brien's wannabes are legit AFC rivals who face the Patriots in the regular season this year. Maybe Bill Belichick just wants a round of golf and a mineral bath at the Greenbrier resort where the Texans are holding camp. (Fun fact: When Tom Brady takes a mineral bath, he makes the water purer.)

• The Inevitable Trade: At some point, the Patriots will trade a supposedly irreplaceable veteran to a bad team in exchange for draft picks. Some unheralded player will replace the veteran and make a big play in the Super Bowl, the Patriots will draft some future unheralded player with the pick and the veteran will sign a $50 million contract before getting injured.

• The Inevitable Jets Trolling: At some other point, the Patriots will sign someone released by the Jets and make a useful player out of him. For variety's sake this year, look for the Patriots to steal a gem from the bottom of some other team's roster, like the Texans, Jaguars or Lions.

Bottom Line

The Patriots' only true threats are the expectations of an undefeated season, self-help bestsellers and GOAT conversations. Belichick has been a master of keeping the hype out of Foxborough for over a decade, so it's telling that he is now turning the facility into a bed-and-breakfast for other teams. Belichick clearly wants his players out of their own heads and in the faces of opponents as often as possible. Is it the right decision? Only a fool second-guesses the Patriots.

Player Spotlight: Le'Veon Bell

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Heading Into Camp

Bell is the highest-profile no-show in the NFL as camp opens around the league. He turned down a reported five-year contract offer from Pittsburgh with $30 million over the first two years and $42 million over the first three, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. Bell reportedly wants to be paid like a top running back and a No. 2 receiver, according to NFL Network's Ike Taylor (via NFL.com's Chris Wesseling), in keeping with the dual roles he played in the offense last year.

It's an innovative new compensation package. If the Steelers were to acquiesce to Bell's reasoning—bold prediction: they won't—it would open them up to demands from their other multidimensional stars:

• Antonio Brown should be paid like a No. 1 receiver and a punt returner.
• Because he so often returns from injury weeks before he is supposed to, Ben Roethlisberger should be paid like both a franchise quarterback and his own veteran backup.
• James Harrison should be paid as a top pass-rusher, conditioning coach and guest motivational speaker.

What to Expect

Head coach Mike Tomlin is already talking about consequences for Bell's absence, as the Steelers are not a franchise that revels in this kind of drama. Meanwhile, inspirational rookie grinder James Conner and much-traveled, fumble-prone Knile Davis are getting extra reps in Bell's place, and the Steelers' effort to take "No. 2 receiver" off Bell's job description has been slowed by setbacks to their many No. 2 receiver options (see the Camp Battles slide).

No one is panicking yet. Give it about a week.

Bottom Line

Go-to backs like Bell are the most underpaid superstars in American professional sports. That said, the "rusher and receiver" concept is ridiculous, as most star running backs are major factors in their teams' passing games.

Bell will be back soon since a career year under the franchise tag is the only real path to the compensation he seeks. Once he returns, the Steelers can begin making their bid to be Super Bowl contenders. Tomlin and the organization would be happier if that bid were already underway.

Team Spotlight: Atlanta Falcons

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Heading Into Camp

National buzz around the reigning NFC champs is currently nonexistent, because we all assume they will be trapped forever reliving the fourth quarter and overtime of Super Bowl LI, Edge of Tomorrow-style.

Camp Stories

• Turning the Page: The Falcons held a team meeting in April to purge their Super Bowl demons and move forward. (Great idea!) Matt Ryan kvetched in July to Pete Prisco of CBS Sports about the Super Bowl play-calling. (Oops.) Whether through paintball battles or mass hypnosis, the Falcons must do anything possible to exorcise the ghosts of 28-3 without turning it into a "whatever you do, don't think about purple elephants" situation.

• New Coordinators: Steve Sarkisian (offense) and Marquand Manuel (defense) are tasked with making the team just a few plays better, not installing whole new schemes. Sometimes, that's harder.

• Defensive Upgrades: Veteran run-plugger Dontari Poe, injured shutdown cornerback Desmond Trufant and rookie pass-rush raptor Takkarist McKinley should beef up a defense that matured from "comical" to "adequate" last season before falling apart you-know-when.

• Injury Watch: McKinney will be brought along slowly while he recovers from shoulder surgery. Foot injuries slowed Julio Jones through the end of the season and playoffs. Factor in Trufant, and the Falcons can get better just by getting healthier.

Bottom Line

Quiet is good for a team that never called much attention to itself in the first place. Eventually, we'll stop asking the Falcons about the Super Bowl and remember how talented they are on both sides of the ball. Armchair psychoanalysis aside, the Falcons have the potential to be great again.

Training Camp Battles Digest

ANDY KING/Associated Press

Quarterbacks already had their own slide. Here are some of the most compelling camp battles to watch at other positions:

Running Back: Vikings

Latavius Murray, a talented rusher with a knack for squandering gift-wrapped opportunities to be his team's featured back, started camp on the PUP list. That opens the door for rookie Dalvin Cook to claim the mantle of Adrian Peterson's successor, though all-purpose back Jerick McKinnon is seeing some first team reps.

Wide Receiver: Steelers

Martavis Bryant is trapped in a web of NFL red tape and cannot practice. Sammie Coates is on the PUP list with a knee injury. Rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster dinged his ankle on the first day of practice. At least Eli Rogers is ready to work at something—he showed up for camp wearing a hard hat and overalls. The Steelers have at least four viable No. 2 receivers; now they need everyone in uniform and healthy so they can select one good one to team with Antonio Brown.

Offensive Line: Seahawks

General manager John Schneider and offensive line coach Tom Cable cobbled together some new blood this season for Russell Wilson, including former Jaguars second overall pick Luke Joeckel and rookie former LSU standout Ethan Pocic. Because Cable is too innovative to keep a lineman at his natural position, Joeckel will move from tackle to guard, while Pocic is sliding from center to either guard or tackle. If those plans make no sense to you, don't worry; Cable will come up with two or three more before the season starts.

Defensive Line: Broncos

Newcomers Domata Peko and rookie DeMarcus Walker are expected to supercharge both the Broncos' run defense and pass rush. But injuries to edge-rushers Shane Ray and Shaquil Barrett may leave Von Miller without a bookend rusher at the start of the season. German import and longtime practice-squad player Kasim Edebali is suddenly penciled in as a starter on what is supposed to be a championship-caliber defense, which is why Troy Renck of Denver7 News believes the Broncos may see if Dwight Freeney is willing to take his Spin Move for Hire routine to Denver.

Secondary: Cardinals

The battle to start opposite Patrick Peterson has taken a heavy toll early in camp. Veteran Justin Bethel (great special teamer, fine nickel defender, so-so cornerback) has already suffered a hyperextended knee, per Darren Urban of the team's website. Unheralded Ronald Zamort turned heads as his replacement before being carted off the field with a torn ACL on Saturday, per Kent Somers of AZCentral.com. Sophomore Brandon Williams is the favorite to complement Peterson, but depth and competition at the position are key. With an outstanding secondary, the Cardinals will look more like their 2015 selves and less like their 2016 iteration.

Kicker: Panthers

Rookie Harrison Butker is battling Graham Gano on a team that is looking for salary-cap savings so it can extend veteran contracts. Results of Butker's first day on the job were mixed yet encouraging. What, you were expecting the Buccaneers? Nick Folk is going to beat Roberto Aguayo, folks. 

Soap Opera Digest

Chuck Burton/Associated Press

Training camp is a lot like reality television. Sometimes it actually is reality television. If Twitter play-by-play reports of seven-on-seven drills isn't your bag, here's a rundown of the five teams must likely to lapse into sizzling telenovela mode:

Baltimore Ravens

A severe early-camp injury plague worked its way to quarterback, where Joe Flacco has hit the PUP list with a back ailment. This led to inevitable Colin Kaepernick questions, and out-of-context Flacco mumbles were reinterpreted to suggest he fears competition from his one-time Super Bowl rival and McDonalds commercial co-star. Meanwhile, Ryan Mallett somehow threw five interceptions in one practice, per NFL.com's Dan Hanzus, prompting smack talk from linebacker Terrell Suggs.

One of these days, some team will figure out that not signing Kaepernick is too much of a distraction. But the Ravens won't be that team.

Carolina Panthers

Jerry Richardson fired general manager Dave Gettleman two weeks ago and brought back former GM Marty Hurney on an interim basis. You can't spell "ATM" without Marty, so the money could soon start flowing to aging veterans as Richardson tries to restore the culture of a team which was most successful when Gettleman was making unpopular decisions.

The front office intrigue was so juicy that we almost missed Cam Newton arriving for his first press conference dressed like he just returned from Benny Hill's Seaside Holiday Camp!

Dallas Cowboys

Every time Ezekiel Elliott hits the news wire, it feels like the tremor that the mayor downplays at the beginning of an earthquake movie. The other stories out of Cowboys camp weave a surreal tale of mistaken identity, nipple mutilation, forgery or pet abduction, as if David Cronenberg and the Coen Brothers collaborated to direct a gritty Netflix reboot of North Dallas Forty. During lulls, look for Jerry Jones to toss accelerant on any and all fires.

Seattle Seahawks

We should know what to expect from a Seahawks drama by now.

• Day 1: A well-reported expose about friction and ego clashes within the team.
• Day 2: Heated denials of Day 1's report.
• Day 3: Threatened media boycott.
• Day 4: Richard Sherman throws a sideline fit about a play call during a seven-on-seven drill.

Repeat until playoff loss.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tune in to Hard Knocks to peer beyond Jameis Winston's custom-renovated image, root for Doug Martin's redemption story or figure out what really makes DeSean Jackson tick if you like. But be forewarned: The show will probably just be an hour-long attempt to catch the kicker crying.

Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins and GM Bruce Allen enter camp as the couple who are just staying together one more year so the kids don't have to change schools.

Aging Superstar Running Back Digest

Ben Margot/Associated Press

During the offseason, some great running backs relocated to new teams. Do these aging superstars still have anything left for their new teams or your fantasy teams? A preview of what to expect:

Adrian Peterson, New Orleans Saints

How He Spent the Offseason: Fighting the perception that he's a one-dimensional I-formation plow-horse who expects 25 touches per game.

Worst-Case Scenario: Peterson grows disgruntled with his small role in the Saints offense (and reduced profile on the team's star-studded offense) but swears it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a one-dimensional I-formation plow-horse who expects 25 touches per game.

Best-Case Scenario: The Saints offense remains so awesome—and their defense finally climbs back to "adequate" for the first time since BountyGate—that the team can afford to grind out victories by giving Peterson about 25 touches out of the I-formation.

Marshawn Lynch: Oakland Raiders

How He Spent the Offseason: Becoming a folk hero, leading the West Coast in jersey sales, throwing out the first pitch at an Athletics game, knocking over soccer nets and cracking on the Un Chien Andalou in Stage 12 of the Tour de France. (I may have hallucinated that last one.)

Best-Case Scenario: Lynch becomes the power back in the Raiders rotation, scores 15 regular-season touchdowns and blasts across the goal line with six seconds to play in the Super Bowl.

Worst-Case Scenario: I love Lynch. But after nearly two years away from the game, he looked just a little like the goofy uncle showing off at a backyard barbecue this summer, the one who tries to execute his old juke move and ends up limping for six weeks.

Jamaal Charles: Broncos

How He Spent the Offseason: Rehabbing his surgically repaired knee, defiantly insisting that he is not washed up after playing just eight games in the last two seasons.

Worst-Case Scenario: Charles is washed up after playing just eight games in the last two seasons.

Best-Case Scenario: If Charles somehow emerges as the Broncos' featured back, it may not be the best sign for C.J. Anderson, Devontae Booker and an organization trying to forge a youthful new identity on offense. But Charles looked good early in camp, and seeing him go out on his own terms as an often-used all-purpose back would be swell.

LeGarrette Blount: Eagles

How He Spent the Offseason: Wondering how no one noticed that he led the NFL in touchdowns last year and was a valuable (and non-controversial) role player for two Super Bowl teams in the last three years.

Best-Case Scenario: Blount gives the Eagles two things they lacked last year: a goal-line thumper and someone who can absorb fourth-quarter carries without fumbling.  

Worst-Case Scenario: Blount turns into a gremlin the moment the Eagles lose two consecutive games.

Indispensible Hall of Fame Game Preview!

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Planning to watch the Cowboys-Cardinals preseason kickoff on Thursday night? So am I! Granted, it's my job to do so, whereas you are investing precious leisure time on the worst event on the NFL calendar, but regardless...here's all you need to know to get ready for the big game.

Why Cowboys versus Cardinals?

Jerry Jones is being enshrined, and he is most gracious and generous to the local community when he gets to travel with his full coterie, just like Genghis Khan. The Cardinals are playing because Kurt Warner will be enshrined and the NFL is still pretending it never had a team in St. Louis.

Will the Game Even Be Played?

Last year's game was cancelled because of gloopy, ACL-threatening paint on the playing surface. This year, Benson Stadium is part of a $700 million Hall of Fame Village renovation project. There will be temporary bleachers and scoreboards, but that was always part of the plan to get through this year. "It will be done, but just don't brush up against any walls because the paint may be fresh," joked Kevin Shiplett, one of the executives in charge of the project, to Todd Porter of the Canton Repository.

In the highly unlikely event that the game is cancelled for a second consecutive year due to facilities issues, watching NFL officials with wet paint streaks on their suits explain what happened will be at least twice as entertaining as the game itself could ever be.

How long will the starters play?

Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald were ruled out the moment Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians cleared his throat at his first camp press conference. If there is an established NFL starter on the field by the midpoint of the first quarter, I will eat a shoe.

What about interesting rookies and backups?

Ah, savvy preseason viewer: You know that a rookie backup quarterback or running back can turn a humdrum exhibition into appointment viewing! Unfortunately, the Cowboys and Cardinals employ two of the most boring backups in the business—junior-varsity-sized Kellen Moore for Dallas and longtime Palmer stunt double Drew Stanton in Arizona. Blaine Gabbert is also on the Cardinals roster, hoping no one notices him. The second half will find undrafted rookies Cooper Rush (Cowboys) and Trevor Knight (Cardinals) battling like it's a pre-Christmas college bowl game.

What about those sideline Hall of Famer interviews?

Warner, Terrell Davis and LaDainian Tomlinson are all polished national television personalities we get to see and hear all the time, and Dolphins fans can catch up with Jason Taylor on local broadcasts. Kenny Easley will tell tales of 1980s Seahawks teams no one under 40 and outside the Pacific Northwest remembers. If Morten Andersen gives the greatest kicker interview ever, it will still be a kicker interview. The sole highlight will be Jerry Jones claiming he invented helmets and forward passing, possibly with a white paint streak on his pants.

Bold Prediction

We'll hear lots and lots of vague, uncomfortable speculation about how Ezekiel Elliott needs to "grow up." And, I dunno, 23-13 Cardinals.