In 2011, per the game-charting of NFL.com's Brian McIntyre, the Seattle Seahawks put two tight ends on the field 39 percent of the time, one of the highest figures in the NFL. However, they didn't get much production from those tight ends. Former Oakland Raiders tight end Zach Miller, acquired as a free agent before the 2011 season, caught just 25 passes on 44 targets for 233 yards and no touchdowns -- Seattle's injury-weakened offensive line put Miller in a position to block most of the time. Despite that, Miller led the team in all categories at the position.

On Monday evening, the Seahawks endeavored to become more productive with the 2-TE sets they prefer by trading for ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow. For assuming Winslow's contract, the Seahawks gave up just a seventh-round draft pick in 2013 (conditional sixth if Winslow meets certain performance guidelines). Winslow has three years left in a six-year, $36.1 million contract he signed in 2009, but the $3.3 million he's due this season in base salary is not guaranteed.

The eight-year veteran was deemed expendable by new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano after missing a recent round of OTAs, and it was Winslow himself who revealed the news -- last Saturday, Schiano told him that the Bucs were looking to make a deal and get him out of there. In his place, the Bucs signed former Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark to a one-year deal.

[Related: Trading Kellen Winslow could be risky for the Buccaneers]

"It's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow told Ross Tucker of SIRIUS NFL Radio on Monday morning. " [Schiano] said he was upset that I wasn't working out with the team in the offseason, and then, the first week of OTAs. But, look -- I've been there the last three years, and I've had a successful career so far, and you just don't get rid of one of your best players because of that. That's just what I was told, but I have nothing bad to say about coach Schiano -- it was just a disagreement on why I'm not there yet. I was training in San Diego, and I was going to start [in OTAs with the team] today, but I got the call on Saturday that they're looking for somebody else."

Winslow was especially surprised, given his claim that he has participated in a team event before in this preseason. "There was a previous minicamp -- I went to that. It was a three-day minicamp and then, I came back down to San Diego to train, and I was going to start [back with the team] today."

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If things like this keep happening, I'm going to start believing all the people who tell me that football is a violent game. When the Detroit Lions took the field for their OTAs on Monday, receiver Titus Young was conspicuous by his absence. Turned out that Young, the second-year player taken in the second round out of Boise State, had a "confrontation" with veteran safety Louis Delmas during last week's voluntary workouts. What kind of "confrontation"? According to Anwar Richardson of MLive.com, Young punched Delmas when the safety wasn't looking after the two players got into a little barking.

After that fracas, the Lions punished Young by barring him from OTAs and minicamps until further notice. Delmas was on hand Monday and practiced, which tells you who the coaches are most likely blaming in this case.

"This is the voluntary part of our offseason program," head coach Jim Schwartz said after practice. "There is no need to comment. It sort of entails that it is not voluntary. I'm not going to comment on any other thing."

As our buddy Ian Rapoport of NFL.com pointed out, it's a good thing teammates pulled Young away, because Delmas has a well-deserved reputation as a guy you wouldn't want to mess with.

[Related: Matt Stafford spends $15K on auction, donates prize to fan's family]

Young caught 48 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, and that touchdown total was the fourth-highest in franchise history for any first-year player. But concerns about Young's attitude have dogged him since his college days. As the Associated Press put it in 2010,"Titus Young was once so deep in [Boise State head coach] Chris Petersen's doghouse that just seeing the football field again was going to be an accomplishment."

He was benched for most of the 2008 season, but fought his way back (in a figurative sense) and excelled through his last two collegiate seasons. It's clear that Young has the talent to make the NFL work for him, but will he learn that you have to keep your head straight?

In a game against the New Orleans Saints last season, he incurred a personal foul penalty that had teammate Dominic Raiola getting in the rookie's face and telling him to grow up -- with several stronger words mixed in.

"I'll take a setback as a setup for a comeback," Young told the AP in 2010. "I learned from my mistakes and it's unfortunate I wasn't on the field for that time, but I still have the opportunity to play right now and I'm looking forward to the future. That was the past, just keep on building, keep on playing, keep on practicing."

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Matthew Stafford attended the Griese-Hutchinson-Woodson Champions for Children's Hearts weekend to benefit the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Before he left, the Detroit Lions quarterback reached into his pocket and made a huge difference in the life of a family.

After befriending Mott patient Faith Falzone and her brother Will, Stafford learned that his family liked to visit Chicago and were big Lions fans. According to Faith and Will's mother, Mary Ann, Stafford and his girlfriend took a genuine interest in the family.

The auction started, and a "Monday Night Football" package for the Lions game at Chicago from ESPN's Mike Tirico came up. Retired NFL linebacker and Michigan alum Dhani Jones, who was serving as auctioneer, asked Stafford to throw in some game tickets. Stafford agreed and donated six tickets.

When the bidding began, Stafford joined in. Will and Faith's mother was surprised to see this:

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Friday was a pretty good day for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Not only did Justin Verlander come within two outs of his third career no-hitter in a 6-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates, but Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson provided some interesting fireworks for the home crowd before the game even started.

Johnson warms up with a couple hacks, the third swing provides a blooper not unlike the Josh Harrison single that ended Verlander's potential gem, and then ... wham! Swing No. 5 heads out to the bullpen.

Not surprisingly, Johnson has been a baseball guy for a long time. The former center fielder grew up in Tyrone, Ga., with a love for the game and didn't play football for the first time until the seventh grade. "My mom wouldn't let me play," Johnson told the Lions' official website just one day before his BP dinger. "I always wanted to play, but she wouldn't let me when I was little. She was afraid I'd get hurt."

Baseball was something Johnson did from a much earlier age. "I know more baseball history than I know football history," he said. "I've always been a Ken Griffey fan ... [Fred] McGriff was my dude. He had long arms and used to have his own baseball camp — I remember all of that."

Johnson was contacted by the Tigers and asked to throw out the first pitch of the Pirates game, with the added perk that he could grab a bat as well. He did the same in 2007, and he's the second Lions player to do so this season -- quarterback Matthew Stafford (a pitcher in high school) had the honor on April 22.

Johnson remembers pitching as well ("My best pitches were slider and cut fastball — cut fastball was my best"), but he really wanted to knock one out of there.

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Given today's economy, any recent college grad would consider themselves lucky to have two viable options. Andrew Sweat, former linebacker at Ohio State, does have two options, and he's choosing to be a 1L instead of an LB.

He had a chance to make the Cleveland Browns roster as an undrafted free agent, but instead declared on Twitter that he was heading to law school.

Fair enough. Sweat did sustain a concussion in college and if that, plus the ongoing concern surrounding football-related head injuries, has persuaded him that the NFL isn't a good option, then it doesn't seem like it's an unreasonable decision. Not that it would be my place to call it reasonable or unreasonable.

Some did criticize, though. Eli Mystal, a former lawyer and current editor of legal blog Above the Law, took Sweat to task over bailing on the NFL, saying the decision was "the biggest mistake of his life." Deadspin followed suit.

Sweat responded, again via Twitter.

I suppose that does add another layer of sense to things. His dad can get him a job in the legal field, so unless Andrew Sweat was raised in an "Andrew has two daddies" situation and the other one is Pat Shurmur, then the law thing is probably more of a slam dunk. It would be hard to fault a guy for taking the sure thing.

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One of the more far-reaching ramifications of America's increasing concern with football safety is the increasing percentage of parents -- including former NFL players -- who would hesitate to let their sons play football. As we discussed in February, the fact that there could be millions of young men suffering from concussions at the sub-college level may erode the sport by providing a diminishing talent base as more potential young stars are driven to other sports by the inherent risks of the game.

[Related: Ohio State linebacker Andrew Sweat chooses torts over tackles]

Though the NFL has been reactionary at best on this subject, a new initiative put forth by the league, the Players Association, and other organizations provides a source of reason and hope. As the NFL Communications press release states:

The initiative will remove helmets that are 10 years old or older and replace them with new helmets at no cost to the beneficiary leagues and will provide coaches with the latest educational information to help keep their young athletes safer and healthier.

In its first year, the program is being piloted in four markets: the California Bay Area, Gulf Coast region, Northern Ohio, and the tri-state region around New York City.  The NFL, NFLPA, NCAA and NOCSAE have committed a combined total of approximately $1 million to the program in its first year. The pilot program is designed to provide valuable information on the state of youth football helmets, including the number of helmets 10 years old or older in use.  As of 2012, NAERA members will no longer recondition or recertify any helmet that is 10 years of age or older.  NOCSAE will collect the helmets when removed and use them for ongoing research programs.

The program, initiated by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum, will educate thousands of coaches on concussion awareness, and distribute more than 13,000 helmets to low-income areas.

"The time has come to accelerate the culture change needed to improve the health and safety of youth football players," Tenenbaum said.  "Even with our push for improved safety equipment, it is vital that parents, coaches and players understand that there is no such thing as a concussion-proof helmet.  The best answer is safer and smarter play, which is why this game-changing program is aimed at reducing hits to the head and trauma to the brain.  I want to thank everyone involved in this initiative for joining together in a common commitment to youth player safety."

In addition to the NFL, NFLPA and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, involvement comes from USA Football, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association, the NCAA, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), and equipment manufactures Rawlings, Riddell, Schutt and Xenith.

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The three biggest reasons that Donovan McNabb is not employed as an NFL quarterback right now are 1) his age, 2) the fact that he hasn't performed that well in recent years, and 3) he's not willing to play anywhere that won't give him a chance to be a starting quarterback.

If there's a fourth reason, maybe it's the perception that he's not in great shape. But since he can't do anything about the first two reasons, and seems unwilling to do anything about the third, it's that fourth thing that he's rectifying.

The before and after pictures aren't dramatic, but, according to McNabb, it was more about perception than reality anyway. McNabb talked to ESPN, via The Huddle:

"I'm in great shape, dropped 15-20 pounds," he said. "But again, it's not really about that. Because for me, people may have seen how strong I looked, and they kind of (assumed I was) maybe out of shape or whatever. But now that I'm lighter, people all of a sudden (are saying), 'Well, he's in shape.' I've been in shape."

OK, so now he's definitely in shape. I'm going to wager that his phone is still not ringing off the hook.

That's not to say that he can't help a team ‒ I believe he still can. But given how he looked in Washington and Minnesota, has McNabb gotten to the point where the productivity boost he'll give a team in place of a rookie is no longer worth the cost of having that rookie sit on the bench?

[Also: QB Kellen Moore trying to prove himself at Detroit Lions minicamp]

That's pretty much what happened with McNabb in Minnesota last year. He opened the season as a starter and went 1-5 while playing just OK. His quarterback rating was 82.9. But at 1-5, what's the point at sticking with the veteran, when you can give that time to someone who might be able to help you for the next 10 years? So the Vikings put Christian Ponder in the lineup ahead of McNabb. And no, Ponder wasn't an improvement ‒ but he'll be better in 2012 because he played in 2011.

That's what McNabb couldn't offer.

[Related: Olympian Shawn Johnson lost 25 pounds after 'hurtful' weight criticism]

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If you're the type of person who's already interested in the line for the Week 8 game between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers -- and, let's face it; you're on Shutdown Corner on a Wednesday afternoon four months from the start of the season, so we know the answer -- then you may want to clear the next 20 minutes.

Cantor Gaming, a company that runs a number of Las Vegas sportsbooks, has released lines for every NFL game through Week 16 of the 2012 NFL season. Want to bet on the Lions-49ers rematch? Hoping to get on the RGIII bandwagon early? Eager to throw some money on your favorite team to win after their bye week? Desperate to find another way to lose your paycheck in Vegas? You're in luck, my degenerate friends.

What do the odds show? Vegas loves the Philadelphia Eagles, has no idea what to do with Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos, wavers on the decimated New Orleans Saints and is fairly certain how Mike Mularkey's first season in Jacksonville is going to go. The season spreads contain few surprises -- the Indianapolis Colts are expected to be bad, the Green Bay Packers are expected to be good -- but are a good way to kill some time during the NFL's May doldrums.

A week-by-week selection of the most interesting lines (via Covers.com):

Week 2

Detroit Lions (+3.5) at San Francisco 49ers

Week 3

New York Giants (PK) at Carolina Panthers

Week 4

New York Giants (+4) at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 5

Green Bay Packers (+9.5) at Indianapolis Colts

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The cover that will destroy Calvin Johnson's career made its way online this week.

Johnson, the Detroit Lions wide receiver who will soon tear his ACL/be involved in a freak circus accident/become the only human to fulfill the Mayan 2012 curse, recently won the cover vote for Madden NFL 13. The team posted the first photo of his inevitable downfall on Wednesday.

Doesn't he look more like a 6-year-old playing catch for the first time rather than the NFL's best receiver? Why does he look so unsure of himself? He's Calvin Johnson! He exudes football machismo. Everything he does on the football field looks awesome, like he was born to do it. This just looks awkward.

Here's a picture of Megatron in a similar stance, snapped prior to a 2011 game:

What's different? Three things jump out:

1. Visors look cool when they reflect, not so cool when they're totally clear.

2. The presence of a football greatly helps. When Johnson has his hands up in the bottom picture, you're shown why. He could be doing anything in that Madden cover.

3. With his open mouth, Johnson is just as likely to catch flies as a football.

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Two things stand out looking at the 10 best rookie quarterback seasons in modern (post-merger) NFL history: one, that there aren't very many great ones; and two, that most of those are recent. If the trend continues, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III  could wind up positioned well on lists like this one in the future.

For now, though, here's who they're chasing. These are the quarterbacks who have gotten off to great starts.

10. Vince Young (Tennessee Titans, 2006)
Vince Young won't appear on many lists of tremendous quarterbacking accomplishments, but he does squeeze onto this one. VY went 8-5 as a starter as a rookie, and just finished on the wrong side of the TD/INT ratio, with 12/13. That doesn't set the world on fire, but for a rookie, it's at least decent. Young's legs added a ton of value, giving the Titans an extra 552 rushing yards and seven rushing TDs.

9. Sam Bradford (St. Louis Rams, 2010)
Bradford threw the ball an insane 590 times as a rookie, trailing only Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in attempts in 2010. And he completed 60 percent of those, which is a plateau not often reached by rookie QBs. It also feels like it's worth pointing out that the top two receivers on that 2010 Rams team were Danny Amendola and Brandon Gibson. That ups the degree of difficulty significantly.

[Related: The best skits from Eli Manning's 'Saturday Night Live' gig]

8. Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens, 2008)
All Joe Flacco did in his rookie year was compile a record of 11-5 and lead the Ravens to the AFC Championship game. He also hit the 60 percent completion mark, and had more TDs than interceptions, and ended up being named the Rookie of the Year. The only blip was in Baltimore's last game of the season, the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh, which is not an ideal scenario for a rookie QB. Pittsburgh killed him, forcing him into a 13-of-30, 0 TD, 3 INT performance.

7. Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals, 2011)
Dalton was perhaps overshadowed a bit by Cam Newton, but you could argue that he was just as good, especially if you're into the "Quarterback Wins" statistic. Even without it, though, Dalton was formidable: 3,398 yards, with 20 TDs against just 13 INTs. And before the season, most people expected the Bengals to be just horrific. They exceeded all expectations and made the playoffs, due in large part to Dalton's steady play.

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