Rashard Mendenhall wasn't the first NFL player to walk away from the game way earlier than expected, and he certainly won't be the last. Now, though, we're starting to believe his decision to retire at the age of 26 could spur a trend that will increase in frequency and popularity in the years to come.  […]

Eric Decker may be a hot name in free agency, but many have him pegged as a potential free agent bust in 2014. Every year at the beginning of free agency, a few teams take shots on big-name, big-salary players they believe will push them over the top. Even though this tactic rarely works in […]

One of the more interesting quarterback situations in the NFL may actually be in Jacksonville. In reality, their current position is something of a mess. Although the team has expressed a desire to keep former tenth overall draft pick Blaine Gabbert, he’s probably dead in the water. In addition, the team’s starting quarterback, Chad Henne, […]

It's looking more and more likely that Michael Vick will be available on the open market come Tuesday. And although the 33-year-old Vick is no longer the player he used to be, this is a quarterback-needy league, so Vick should expect to garner plenty of interest as a free agent.  In fact, there's a decent […]

Language is an issue in virtually any workplace, and the NFL is no exception. Last month, news hit on Pro Football Talk, among other sites, that the NFL was considering levying a 15-yard penalties for the use of racial slurs on the field. The question, should the NFL decide to move forward with penalizing teams […]

"Upon further review" is a recurring segment in which This Given Sunday analyzes quirks and fascinating tidbits from the NFL's history books.  The first "real" free agency period took place only 21 years ago this spring.  Hard to believe, isn't it? Before that, players — or at least decent ones — just didn't switch teams.  […]

Jimmy Graham may have been slapped with the franchise tag, but that doesn't guarantee he'll be a member of the New Orleans Saints next season. In order to poach a franchise player with a non-exclusive tag from his original club, a team would have to give Graham a contract that the Saints wouldn't match while […]

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the stability within the 49ers organization tested in a way most teams never have to worry about. First came the report from Pro Football Talk that the Browns and the 49ers had nearly struck a deal that would have sent 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh to the […]

If you're expecting us to arrive at a conclusive answer to this question, you're out of luck. The point we're going to attempt to make is that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is incredibly difficult to — for lack of a better term — appraise.  Kaepernick is undoubtedly one of the game's most dynamic […]

Not a lot can hurt the shield, but I truly think the NFL would risk screwing with the justness of results if it were to move extra points back from the 2-yard line to the 25-yard line, which according to NFL.com's Judy Battista is being discussed,  That's probably a longshot, and at least a long […]

The NFL is a copycat league, and if that simple truth holds firm, we’ll be seeing more and more option-centric offenses in the NFL. That’s all fine and great, but with the increase in option quarterbacks comes an increase in injuries to the NFL’s most popular stars. The NFL has always been about protecting its […]

In 2012, 21 of the NFL's 32 teams used the franchise tag in order to prevent one of their key players from hitting free agency. At that point, the tag was as popular as ever, having been applied to 33 players over a two-year span post-2011 lockout.  Since then, the tag total has been chopped […]

Sports betting in the NFL is a big business, and although the Super Bowl is long gone, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to continue throwing down money on the biggest sports league in America – right? Luckily, Vegas still has us covered, even in the offseason where we can bet on the most […]