Ray Rice can now afford all the Muscle Milk he wants. (Getty Images)There were two franchise-caliber running backs hoping to get long-term contracts for themselves before Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline, and both of them — Chicago's Matt Forte and Baltimore's Ray Rice — wound up with success.

We've already reported the Forte deal, and the Ravens came in just under the deadline by signing Rice to a five-year contract worth $40 million maxed out; $17 million in the first season, $25 million over the first two seasons and the first $24 million guaranteed.

"This is another example of [team owner] Steve Bisciotti's commitment to the team and to our fans to retain our core players," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said in the press release announcing the deal. "Ray has been an integral part of us earning the playoffs in each of his four seasons, and that includes helping us get to two AFC championship games. His production on the field speaks for itself, and his leadership in the locker room is outstanding.

"I should say something about his community efforts; I think they are almost unmatched by any player in the NFL. You'd have a hard time finding a player who does more or is as serious about helping others as Ray is. He is one of those players you can proudly say, 'He's on our team.'"

The deal puts Rice in line with the NFL's best-compensated backs, including Adrian Peterson (seven years, $100 million, $30 million guaranteed), Chris Johnson (four years, $53.5 million, $30 million guaranteed), LeSean McCoy (five years, $45.6million, $20.8 million guaranteed), and Arian Foster (five years, $43.5 million, $20.8 million guaranteed). It's also quite a bit pricier than Forte's four-year, $32 million deal with $18 million guaranteed, but Rice has earned every bit of his new agreement.

[Related: Buyer beware when it comes to DeMarco Murray's fantasy value]

It's a crucial move for the Ravens, because Rice has grown into the fulcrum of their offense. It's not what was expected out of a "too short, too small" back selected in the late second round of the 2008 draft out of Rutgers. Rice had a chip on his shoulder from Day 1, and he proved as soon as he was able that he could do anything and everything expected of an elite NFL back.

(Getty Images)

Yesterday, we told you about Elvis Dumervil's arrest for felony assault; the Denver Broncos defensive end was taken into police custody on Saturday night and later released on $7,500 bond. We didn't have any other information at the time, beyond nebulous statements from the Broncos and Dumervil's attorney. On Monday, the events of the incident became clearer.

According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, Dumervil was involved in a road rage confrontation at roughly 5 p.m. Saturday evening in Miami Beach. Dumervil and friend Andy Auguste stepped out of Dumervil's Land Rover on Collins Avenue, approached the accusers in the white Impala in front of them, and lifted their shirts to display guns.

Per the police report obtained by the Post, Dumervil was driving, following a gray Mercedes, and the driver of the Impala merged in-between the two cars. Honking and name-calling ensued, and when traffic came to a stop, Dumervil and Auguste left their cars to provide a more physical and tangible threat. According to a witness, someone in the Impala threw something that stuck Dumervil's Land Rover.

When police arrived, traffic was still at a standstill. Dumervil was ordered out of his car at gunpoint, and an officer asked if he had a gun in his car. He stated no but police subsequently found a gun in his glove compartment. Dumervil was arrested and his car was towed.

Eric Wright speaks with Performance Gaines trainer Jamal Liggin. (Doug Farrar)

LOS ANGELES — "Everything will be said pretty soon. I can't really speak about it at all, but it will be [out] soon enough. Those types of things tend to work themselves out. Good, bad or indifferent, the information always seems to get out. So, things will be OK."

That's what Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Eric Wright told me last week, when he was busy training for the season at Performance Gaines, the new L.A. gym run by Travelle Gaines. He was talking about his felony DUI arrest on July 2, when he rear-ended a car in L.A. and refused to submit to a breathalyzer or field sobriety test. Late last week, it was revealed that the Los Angeles County District Attorney would not press charges against Wright.  Though he knew this when I talked with him, Wright kept it to himself and was far more focused on getting ready for a new season in a new city. Wright, who has played for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions, signed a five-year, $38 million contract with the Buccaneers this offseason. And judging from what I saw at Performance Gaines, Wright was doing everything he possibly could to live up to those numbers.

"He's a really good trainer, and he pays attention to everyone's personal needs," Wright said of Gaines, who had about 30 NFL players rolling in and out of his gym last week. "He does a great job in trying to keep the numbers down, as small as possible. He divides it up so that you get the same kind of attention as if he was just your personal trainer, even though there's 8 to 10 guys in here at a time."

Wright hits the bike, timed by Travelle Gaines. (Doug Farrar)

Key to Wright's preparation in 2012 is the need for speed, and that's an unsung part of the offseason experience -- players change their circumstances, and the training has to change, as well.

"For me, I'm trying to be a little slimmer, and a lot more lean," Wright said. "Which is different for me, going into my sixth year. As opposed to the other years, when I was trying to pack on more weight, because it was hard for me to hold the weight. Now that I'm older, and Travelle's been through the offseasons with me, he's watched me grow as an athlete. Now that I can hold the weight, we keep it tight and slim, and that's a focus for me this offseason. Not to just pound on a bunch of weight, but to keep it tight and lean, and he's done a great job in adapting, because it hasn't been like that before."

And it isn't just about moving to a different part of the gym because your new position coach has you as more of a run-fit defender this season -- as Wright told me, there are purely football and purely athletic concerns to consider, and they will clash at times.

"First and foremost, the run tests are different, and that's what you're obligated to do when you show up to camp," he said. "Things change a little bit, and you have to cater your workouts to that -- being prepared for the football aspect, but also being prepared to take a run test. That's something totally different than being in football shape. So, it's sort of a task for Travelle to make sure he meshes both of those elements. You can run sprints and gassers, but you won't be ready to play football. And vice versa -- someone can do football-specific stuff, and not pass the conditioning test. it's a juggling act for Travelle to make sure he integrates both sides."

Offseason conditioning is different for everyone, and Wright could tell you as well as anyone what can happen in the five-week void between the last OTA and the first day of training camp. Getting in a gym with other NFL players isn't just about keeping in shape and making camp easier -- it's also about maintaining that locker-room vibe (one thing Gaines' clients' universally speak of when asked why they train with him), and making sure that the peer pressure stays high.

"Just this environment -- it's filled with guys who have that competitive spirit," Wright said. "You add that to the training program like this, and it just brings out the best in you. Everybody's focused on the same things, and that's personal and team goals. By the time you show up to camp from here, you've already been around guys who bust their tails, and you're better-prepared because you've been in this type of atmosphere.

"You see everybody here from different teams -- we know the kind of work that's being put in. The people that are here -- we care about making each other better, and ultimately, that's going to make you better because you're pushing that next person to be great just like you're pushing yourself to be great. We support each other and push each other, and then when it's time to go at it, we go at it."

Now that he's "going at it" with a different team -- a team led by a severe disciplinarian in new head coach Greg Schiano, and a team that invested heavily in his services -- Wright understands the responsibility to do things the right way.

"It's huge, because the focus is always going to be on what we feel it should be on. And that's not only on winning games, but pushing the Bucs' organization into an arena where we're looked at as one of the best. And that's on the field, off the field, in the community. We care about our perception, and I think that's the way it should be. You should have guys who set great examples, like [veteran cornerback] Ronde. A coach who holds us accountable. That's the way it should be, and that's the way it is. That's why I'm excited  to be a part of such a great organization."

Wright understands that his perception changed in some eyes because of the incident -- charges dropped or not. All he can do, he says, is prove that he's about the game in the one place where everybody can see him.

"At the end of the day, this game is about winning," he said.

Elvis Dumervil could be in serious trouble. (Getty Images)On Saturday night, Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil was arrested in Miami on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm, per Dade County records. Dumervil's charge is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Dumervil posted $7,500 bail according to KCNC in Denver, and was released later Saturday evening.

Further details regarding the arrest are not available at this time.

The Broncos had been in touch with Dade County officials, and released this statement on Sunday:

"Our organization is aware of the matter and is continuing to gather facts. This is a very serious allegation, and we will thoroughly review the details while the legal process runs its course."

Harvey Steinberg, Dumervil's attorney, told ESPN's Adam Schefter that "No charges have been filed. No aggravated assault or assault took place. And it is likely that once the full investigation is complete, no charges will be filed against Mr. Dumervil."

Dumervil was charged with assault and disturbing the peace following an altercation with a parking attendant at Invesco Field (the Broncos' home stadium) in 2010, but all charges were eventually dropped.

Could 2012 be the last season we see Wes Welker in a Pats uniform? (Getty Images)

According to multiple reports, the New England Patriots will not endeavor to close the gap of approximately $5 million that complicates a new long-term deal for receiver Wes Welker. The Patriots, who franchised Welker to the tune of $9.515 million, have until tomorrow afternoon to meet the NFL's deadline for closing long-term deals with franchised players. If they miss the 4:00 p.m. deadline tomorrow, Welker will play under the tag, and the Pats couldn't sign him to an extension until after the last regular-season game of 2012.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has said that while Welker is very valuable to the team, "it requires intelligence ... what's going to happen in the next few years with the cap, you have to have a core group of players that you can plan around as the foundation of your team," per Greg Bedard of the Boston Globe.

Most likely, Welker -- who has led the NFL in receptions three of the last five seasons -- will play out the entire 2012 season under the tag, and the two sides will see where they are in the offseason. The Pats could tag Welker again in 2013, but it would cost them $11.418 million, or 120 percent of the 2012 tender.

That's pretty rich for a 31-year-old slot receiver, but Welker is no ordinary player, especially in the current Patriots' offense, which has no single dominant wideout. In 2011, he caught 122 passes (one shy of his career high), and set career marks in receiving yards (1,569), touchdowns (9), and longest pass caught (99 yards). In an NFL where offensive formations are more multiple than ever and the slot receiver/slot corner battles happen in prime real estate, it would be easy to see Welker as a prime receiver on many teams. He has never seen fewer than 124 targets in any season since 2007, and his 173 targets in 2011 was another career high.

The Patriots, however, have other issues to address. They're tied Rob Gronkowski up with a six-year, $54 million extension, but they'll have tight end Aaron Hernandez's contract to deal with before the end of next season, and it's quite possible that Hernandez will aim hard for receiver money, because he's so rarely lined up in the roles seen as traditional for his position.

Brady Quinn and Charlie Weis in 2006. (Getty Images)

Current Kansas University head coach Charlie Weis' reputation as an offensive mastermind is built primarily on one very large base -- the development and advancement of Tom Brady as a professional quarterback. As the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots from 2000 through 2004, and a longstanding member of the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick coaching tree, Weis was the one who inherited Brady after Drew Bledsoe's injury in the 2001 season changed the entire NFL landscape in a major way.

Weis has improved many NFL offenses through his time in the league -- from the New York Giants of the early 1990s, to the Patriots of the mid-1990s (under Parcells), the Pats again under Belichick, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after he was named their head coach in 2005, and the 2010 Kansas City Chiefs.

That's all well and good, but as we have seen from the likes of Gregg Williams, gaining a huge rep as a genius on one side of the ball can lead to a bit of unnecessary hubris. This seemed to be the case recently, when Weis told the Kansas City Star that quarterback Brady Quinn, who played for Weis at Notre Dame in 2005 and 2006, might have been the second guy with a Brady in his name to benefit from his tutelage had the two ever hooked up in the pros.

"Brady could have been a starting quarterback for me in the NFL," Weis told Rustin Dodd. "Go back and look at those numbers for the two years he played for me," Weis said. "He was great. He wasn't good. And I know if I had him as a quarterback, I would have felt very comfortable that I could have won no matter where we were."

Quinn, who now plays for the Chiefs in a backup role, has been one of the least impressive first-round quarterbacks in NFL history. Selected 22nd overall in the 2007 draft by the Cleveland Browns, Quinn has put together an entire career that your average NFL starting quarterback would consider to be a pretty disappointing half-season -- 184 completions, 1,902 yards, 10 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in 353 attempts. Quinn hasn't thrown a pass in a regular-season game since December 20, 2009, and these days, he's more well-known for sniping with Tim Tebow than anything else.

But Weis believes that under him, things would have been different. I have two words for Charlie Weis: Jimmy Clausen. Like Quinn, Clausen played for Weis at Notre Dame in a pass-heavy offense that allowed the quarterback to look better on the stat sheets than the actual game tape would imply. Like Quinn, Clausen put up gaudy numbers for Weis in a two-year span (2008 and 2009). And like Quinn, Clausen has proven to be perfectly ill-suited to overcome the speed, complexity, and violence of NFL defenses.

The Carolina Panthers selected Clausen in the second round of the 2010 draft, and Clausen was horrible in a historical sense. He completed 157 of 299 passes (a 52.5 completion rate) for 1,558 yards (an absolutely preposterous 5.2 yards per attempt), nine interceptions, and just three touchdowns. He was sacked 33 times, and his yards lost per sack (4.0) was almost as low as his yards per attempt was high. The Panthers couldn't wait to paint over Clausen in 2011, taking Cam Newton with the first overall pick and engineering one of the greatest single-season offensive improvements we will ever see. Like Quinn, Clausen wasn't just league-average -- he was below  league-average after the concept of league-average went on a weekend bender and fell down an elevator shaft.

Adrian Peterson's recent arrest might not hold up, but other Vikings need help figuring things out. (AP)

The NFL has its own Rookie Symposium, in which first-year players are advised to take care of their money, avoid the wrong kinds of entanglements, stay away from obviously risky situations, and keep their eye on the ball at all times. This season, Adam "Pacman" Jones and Michael Vick were among the veterans who spoke to the rookies about the best ways to avoid their own cautionary tales. It's a good idea that presents some level of benefit, but the Minnesota Vikings aren't satisfied with sending their kids off to the NFL's lecture series -- they have set up their own.

For the second time in the last three seasons, the Vikings organization has invited Sean Bishop, the "director of advertising" of a Daytona Beach strip club called the Lollipops Gentlemen's Club (he was stripped of his proprietor title after going to jail for six months after attempting to bribe two county commissioners) to speak at the team's Winter Park facility.

"I don't need their money," Bishop recently told Brian Murphy of Twincities.com. "I tell them I am a scumbag club owner who will use and abuse you. I just don't want to see any of them ruin their lives. They need to be protected from themselves."

As a man who has lived a lot of his life on the edge of the law, Bishop would know what that kind of life can get you. Lollipops is known as a prime hangout for NASCAR folks, but his clientele also includes many members of the local Hell's Angels, and he isn't known as the Tony Soprano of Daytona Beach because he resembles James Gandolfini.

In fact, the tatted- and muscled-up Bishop looks more like Dog the Bounty Hunter with a do-rag, but his message should be prime listening for the team that has led the NFL in arrests with 10 since 2011, and 39 since 2000. No, it's not the Detroit Lions; it's the Vikings. Adrian Peterson's recent arrest in a Houston club looks fishier and fishier the more you peer under the hood, but the truth is the same -- this is a team that consistently has trouble understanding how to stay on the right side of things.

Bishop tried to tell the young players that club owners like him see NFL players as easy marks.

"I can buy 100 cases of Crown Royal [whiskey] for $36,000, and the distributor will just give me 15 cases of Captain Morgan [rum] that I can sell for $5.25 a shot and [pay off] the whole transaction. I can sell a guy a bottle of beer for $4.25 when it costs me 26 cents, and Uncle Sam keeps track of every nickel.

"But I get a $3 cut for every $20 lap dance, and on a race week it's nothing to get 4,000 lap dances. And that doesn't include the $10 it costs to enter the VIP area or the $60 each girl pays to work here as an independent contractor. I'm buying drinks for pennies, and I'm making a percentage off your thousands."

Bishop, who has also been invited by the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders to talk with their young players, is a longtime friend of Vikings executive director of player development Les Pico, and that's how this started.

"He's not a choirboy by any means," Pico told Murphy about Bishop. "I can't legislate morality. Sean's a guy who isn't afraid to talk negatively about the business he's in. Our owners give us great latitude allowing us to run these programs and put a convicted felon on a plane to come here and talk to our rookies about why they shouldn't be in strip clubs."

And that's the message. You think you're invincible, kid? You're not, and Sean Bishop has seen more than enough to tell you you're not.

Drew Brees has been the epicenter of the Saints franchise since 2006. (Getty Images)

With everything that has happened to the New Orleans Saints this season, the one thing nobody could quite fathom was a future without the most important player in the history of a franchise that goes back to 1967. And after an extended game of contract chicken, the team finally loaded up and made quarterback Drew Brees the highest-paid player in the history of professional football.

"What Drew has accomplished in his time with the Saints, he deserves to be the highest paid player in the league," said Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis in a statement released by the team. "We are excited to have this deal done and behind us and look forward to the next five years with Drew as our QB."

"I think I said this before, it wasn't a question of 'if,' it was a question of 'when,'" suspended head coach Sean Payton told NOLA.com. "I'm excited. I'm excited and happy for him as well as the Saints. I think it's a good deal for both parties. I know a lot of work's gone into it, with [General Manager Mickey Loomis] and [Brees' agent] Tom Condon.

[Related: Jason Cole: Prolonged Drew Brees negotiations were waste of time by Saints]

"I kind of look at things in a glass-half-full way. It just came down to the last couple days, and I felt confident all along that both parties would be able to work something out, and I'm happy they did."

Brees will discuss the deal at a July 24 press conference at the team's headquarters in Metairie, La.

Brees, who broke Dan Marino's single-season passing-yardage record in 2011, agreed to a five-year, $100 million contract with $60 million guaranteed in the first three years, and a stunning $40 million in the first year of the deal. The contract keeps Brees in New Orleans through his 36th birthday.