NFL Training Camps: Updates, Rumors & Analysis for August 1

One main question dominates the early days of training camp: Who is doing what?

We want to know whether Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is progressing well after his rotator cuff surgery, and if Indianapolis Colts signal-caller Andrew Luck will be healthy for Week 1. Newton is getting routine maintenance days, but the word on Luck is less encouraging, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reported he could miss regular-season time.

We also want to know who is already banged up, such as Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman, who seemingly suffered a hamstring injury Tuesday, per ESPN.com's Jamison Hensley. Meanwhile, Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed has no timetable to return from his toe injury, per the team.

And we want to know which players are making a positive impression on coaches. To no one's surprise, Houston Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson might not have to wait long for his starting debut.

Questions such as these percolate throughout training camp, and not all of them are answered. A few such answers did emerge Tuesday, as well as some dark news.

We'll touch on the latest injury reports in this dive into the latest training camp buzz. But first, some uplifting news for both Seattle Seahawks fans and safety Kam Chancellor's pocket.

Seahawks Lock Up Kam Chancellor, Knocking One Extension Off Their List

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In 2015, Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor used the primary source of leverage a player has in the pursuit of a new contract: not playing.

The result of that defiant stand was two lost game checks. The Seahawks didn't budge even after losing two games without Chancellor, and he had to crawl back without fresh new money on his contract.

Two years later, Seattle finally rewarded Chancellor for being one of the best at his position and for roaming the secondary as a fast-moving battering ram every week.

On Tuesday morning, the Seahawks signed Chancellor to a three-year extension worth $36 million, according to ESPN's Josina Anderson, which includes $25 million guaranteed. At a per-year average of $12 million, it makes Chancellor the league's third-highest-paid safety, per Spotrac.

He's plenty deserving of that title after four Pro Bowl appearances in seven NFL seasons. The 29-year-old is still playing at a high level, too. He recorded eight passes defensed and two interceptions in 2016 along with 85 tackles, even while missing four games due to injury. Chancellor excels against both the run and pass, and he also finished 2016 with 35 defensive stops, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Seahawks will now turn their attention to the other pricey extensions they'll have to hand out in the coming years. Tight end Jimmy Graham's current contract expires following the 2017 season, and cornerback Richard Sherman, fellow safety Earl Thomas, defensive end Cliff Avril and linebacker K.J. Wright are all pending free agents after 2018.

Cam Newton Not Throwing Due to Sore Shoulder

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This headline may set off alarms regarding Newton's Week 1 status. Please treat those alarms like the one that wakes you up in the morning—hit snooze a few times.

Newton has been progressing well in his rehab from shoulder surgery, but Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is still going to manage his workload carefully. With meaningful football still far away, there's no reason to push him early in training camp. 

Heading into Sunday, Newton had thrown in five straight practices, per Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. He then sat out for part of practice that day, and the Panthers had Monday off. He felt some soreness in his shoulder Tuesday, and as a result, he was parked the sideline during throwing drills.

"He started warming up this morning and said he still felt a little bit sore," Rivera said, via Max Henson of Panthers.com. "Why push it? Why have him throw with a sore arm and make it worse? It made no sense to have him throw with a sore shoulder."

Newton's absence Tuesday would be more concerning if hen hadn't thrown much yet. It would also cause more fretting if it wasn't Aug. 1, and the former MVP still needed his practice snaps to be monitored closer to the regular season.

But he has been throwing, and it is Aug. 1. Right now, Newton is going through the typical recovery process as his body rebounds from rotator cuff surgery and he increases activity. The Panthers are taking it slow, as they should, so Carolina fans should wait until later in the month before starting to pull hair out.

Bill O'Brien: 'Deshaun Is Ahead of Any Rookie Quarterback I've Ever Been Around'

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Deshaun Watson is more than just the Houston Texans' long-term solution at quarterback. He's the short-term solution as well, and he'll surely start games in 2017.

Fans know that, Texans players know it and the front office undoubtedly does, too. Head coach Bill O'Brien also recognizes how mediocre quarterback play could submarine an otherwise talented Texans roster. As such, trotting out Tom Savage for anything more than a handful of games could lead to more quarterback-driven tears for the franchise.

O'Brien still needed to do the standard brake-pumping routine on his rookie quarterback throughout the offseason. In late June, he praised Watson's performance and quick development while also saying the former Clemson stud wasn't ready to start yet.

"He's a very poised guy," O'Brien said to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle at the time. "I like the way he carries himself. I like the way he operates. He's a rookie, and he's not nearly where he needs to be to be a full-time starter in this league, but you can tell he's got a lot of qualities you like."

A little over a month later, O'Brien's went from brake-pumping to hitting the accelerator instead.

"Deshaun is ahead of any rookie quarterback I've ever been around," he said Tuesday, via the team's Twitter account.

That comment merits context, as prior to Watson, the best NFL rookie quarterback O'Brien worked with was probably Ryan Mallett. In that sense, the bar is low.

However, O'Brien is a highly experienced coach who has witnessed plenty of awful and spectacular quarterback play during a career that started in 1993. He has the eye to identify special talent, and he's suddenly not being shy about singing Watson's praises publicly.

It won't be long before those glowing words turn into action and Watson starts games as a rookie.

Contract Extension Talks Haven't Started Between Giants and Beckham

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New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has already piled up 4,122 receiving yards over only three NFL seasons. That ranks third at his position since he entered the league, according to Pro Football Reference, and his 35 touchdowns tie him for first.

He reached those top-tier marks despite missing five games and not starting a sixth. At the age of 24, he has also already recorded three straight 90-plus-reception seasons. Beckham has quickly become a generational talent, but his paycheck doesn't reflect that status.

Beckham will only pocket roughly $1.8 million in 2017 during the fourth year of his rookie contract, per Spotrac. He was a top-five producer in every major receiving category during the 2016 season (receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns), yet his 2017 salary will rank a laughable 66th at his position, per Spotrac.

Due to the rookie contract scale, any talented player endures the same fate when they're spectacular right away. Beckham skipped OTAs in search of the megadeal he deserves, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, but it appears as though he'll still have to wait for a while.

Giants owner John Mara recently said Beckham's payday is coming, per ESPN.com's Jordan Raanan, just not yet.

"He deserves to get paid, we're going to pay him," Mara said. "It's just a question of when we enter into the contract, and I don't have a timetable on it right now. I just don't think there's any need to rush into it. He's going to end up getting paid at some point."

The Giants have already made the no-brainer decision to pick up Beckham's fifth-year option. That will give him a nice pay hike to nearly $8.5 million in 2018, which is still substantially behind the Steelers' Antonio Brown, the league's highest-paid receiver who earns an average of $17 million annually.

Eventually, the Giants will shower Beckham in a similar amount of money. For now, though, he'll have to be content with making slightly more than Albert Wilson of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017.

Ryan Clady Is Walking Off into the Football Sunset

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Players often don't get to decide when their careers are over. Instead, the game decides for them.

The latter scenario somewhat unfolded for Ryan Clady, who was one of the NFL's best left tackles in the not-so distant past. But it also sort of didn't, as until he announced his retirement Tuesday, teams were supposedly interested in his services.

Clady was a four-time Pro Bowler and appeared in the league's all-star showcase as recently as 2014. According to PFF, he ranked inside the top 25 in pass-blocking efficiency during four of his eight NFL seasons.

The 2008 first-round pick is best known for providing a consistently sturdy wall on the left side of the Denver Broncos' offensive line. He then spent one year with the New York Jets in 2016.

At that point, however, Clady was a shell of his former self after tearing his ACL during OTAs in 2015. He missed all of that season and never fully regained his mobility and solid blocking base.

Clady will turn 31 in early September, and he's still young enough to play a few more seasons if he ever chooses to come back. That seems unlikely, though, since he walked away now after turning down opportunities to play. 

Breshad Perriman Pulled Up with a Hamstring Injury

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Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman could be back out on the practice field soon enough, and his hobbling off Tuesday will be only a distant memory. But given his injury history, every tiny tweak has the potential to grow into something much larger.

That's why Perriman's shortened practice Tuesday is alarming. As Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun observed, the 23-year-old pulled up on a route and left practice after about 45 minutes. He appeared to be favoring his right leg.

Perriman has supersonic speed when healthy, having run the 40-yard dash in 4.25 seconds during his 2015 pro day, per NFL.com's Chase Goodbread. That speed rocketed him up draft boards, and the Ravens snatched the former Central Florida standout with their first-round pick that year. Perriman turned his speed into an average of over 20 yards per reception during each of his two final collegiate seasons.

The Ravens' aim was clear back then: Paired with quarterback Joe Flacco's cannon of an arm, the two would play long-distance catch on Sundays for many, many years.

Two seasons later, we're still waiting to see whether Perriman can fulfill his NFL potential. A recurring knee issue cost him all of his rookie season, and he made only a limited impact in 2016, finishing with 33 receptions for 499 yards.

The Ravens have a mountain of targets to replace in 2017. Wide receivers Steve Smith and Kamar Aiken are gone, and tight ends Dennis Pitta and Crockett Gillmore have already suffered season-ending injuries, along with running back Kenneth Dixon. Flacco is also currently sitting out with a back injury, though he'll likely return soon, as head coach John Harbaugh told ESPN's Dianna Russini.

Baltimore has already reached an injury inflection point in the first week of August. So yes, every Perriman tweak is significant.

In Other Ravens Season-Ending Injury News, Nico Siragusa Is Done for the Year

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Ravens players have been dropping like flies this offseason. The latest example is Nico Siragusa.

Baltimore had been impressed with the rookie guard, enough to hand him first-team snaps while he competed for an open position. But since nearly everyone important to the Ravens is suffering some sort of serious injury, Siragusa left practice Tuesday on a cart.

He couldn't put any weight on his left knee while being whisked away, per Zrebiec, which made the result feel inevitable. But the diagnosis was even worse than feared, as Siragusa tore his ACL, MCL and PCL, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Just like that, the fourth-round pick's rookie season is done. The severity of the injury may also bring the early part of 2018 into question as well.

The Ravens will have to forge ahead without a rookie who could have started and been an immediate solution at an area of need. Their offensive line will be weaker for it, as Siragusa is coming off a 2016 college season in which San Diego State averaged 8.2 yards per carry on runs into gaps adjacent to him, per PFF.

Dating back to OTAs, the Ravens have already lost seven players for the 2017 season due to injuries, suspensions or retirement, per Zrebiec. Seven!

There's Still No Timetable for Jordan Reed's Return

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The Washington Redskins keep batting down concerns about the status of fragile tight end Jordan Reed, who has been hampered by a toe ailment. But much like Perriman, Reed's lengthy injury history makes it tough to look past even the most seemingly minor training camp issues.

In late July, head coach Jay Gruden told Mike Jones of the Washington Post he didn't think Reed's toe injury was a serious problem. But to believe Gruden, it would be nice to have a hint of when Reed will return.

That isn't coming, though, and it might be a while before Reed is back on the practice field..

While speaking to the media Tuesday afternoon, Gruden revealed Reed traveled to Charlotte to see a specialist about his toe injury, via the Redskins official Twitter account. There's currently no timetable for his return.

Reed is a matchup nightmare when healthy and is a red-zone magnet. He's scored 20 times n just 46 regular-season games, and 17 of those touchdowns came over just the past two seasons.

But to consistently contribute on a high level, Reed needs to be on the field. However, the 27-year-old has already missed 18 games over his four NFL seasons.