Posted by Ryan Wilson

Still no sign of Chris Johnson in Tennessee. He wants a new contract (he's currently slated to make $800,000), but the Titans say they won't negotiate until he comes to camp. So Johnson remains MIA, even though the new collective bargaining agreement stipulates that if holdouts don't show up by August 9, they could lose a year of accrued free agency.

As CBSSports.com's Josh Katzowitz wrote Tuesday, "Johnson probably isn’t worried about his free agent status because, assuming he gets the long-term deal that he wants, the year he’s losing won’t matter at all."

This assumes, of course, that Johnson gets paid. (While we think Johnson's one of the two best backs in the league, we don't think the Titans should give him "Adrian Peterson money" -- or anything close to it.)

This has to be very troubling for Johnson's teammates, the guys relying on him to help carry this offense in 2011, right? Not if you're talking to Tennessee's new (old) quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, who will pull down $9 million this year to serve as Jake Locker's mentor and start a few games, too.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Hasselbeck was asked if he was more concerned about Johnson's holdout or Kenny Britt's string of off-field issues. “I’m not concerned about either one," he said, according to PFT.com.

Turns out, this isn't Hasselbeck's first holdout rodeo.

“I played in Seattle when Walter Jones was doing his holdout thing,” he said. “He was holding out and he’d show up on Wednesday before the first game. And the feeling in the building was, We know Walter Jones is good enough just to show up, and the best part about this is that there’s no chance he gets hurt. No chance someone rolls up on his ankle or knee or whatever. We know that we’re at least going to have him healthy.

"I’ve sort of been there,” he added. “Not stressing about that.”

And Johnson could probably show up the Wednesday before the first game and be productive, too. The difference is that the Seahawks would've been hard-pressed to win without Jones. For as good as Johnson is, the Titans can win without him. (Tennessee won 13 games CJ's rookie season, eight games in 2009 and six games in '10.) That's the nature of the game; you build an offense around a franchise QB and a left tackle who can protect him, not an all-galaxy running back.

We mentioned it last week but it Bears repeating here: the previous eight Super Bowl winners didn't have a high-priced, top-5 running back on the roster. What they did have, however, was a franchise quarterback. Teams can survive without one but not the other.

But hey, we applaud Johnson for his convictions. There's something to be said for not making stuff up.

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Posted by Will Brinson

For the most part, the NFL has avoided a run of players getting in trouble with the law while not under team supervision. (Kenny Britt being the exception, of course.) The news, however, that Cedric Benson was arrested in Austin, Texas, early Sunday morning won't help that cause.

UPDATE (8:45 p.m. ET): According to wire reports, Benson was released from jail on Sunday following an arrest on an assault charge, the second year in a row he has gotten into trouble in his home state.

More details:

Travis County sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said Benson was arrested in downtown Austin on a misdemeanor count of assault with bodily injury with family violence. Benson attorney Sam Bassett said in a statement the arrest followed "a conflict" between Benson and a male former roommate.

Wade said Benson posted a $10,000 bond and was released just before 2 p.m.

Bassett considers the "family violence" aspect of the charge erroneous "since the alleged male victim no longer is Mr. Benson's household member and was not a household member for the past few days." Conviction of assault with family violence would draw a stiffer penalty than simple assault.

The Bengals were predictably mum on the situation. "In cases like this, we don't feel it's appropriate to comment before there's some kind of legal resolution," team spokesman Jack Brennan said. 

Benson will be an unrestricted free agent in 2011 (assuming a reversion to old CBA rules), and there was a good chance that he could land a nice contract because of the market's demand for running backs.

Benson/Bengals Offseason

Brinson: RB is Denver's No. 1 priority in FA Judge: Palmer's not playing with Bengals Katzowitz: Benson not on board with Palmer? Eye on Football: Latest Bengals news/updates

This arrest -- along with the fact that Benson has a previous assault charge from June 2010, in Austin -- won't do much to boost his value.

And depending on whether commissioner Roger Goodell and the league can enforce the personal conduct policy while the players are locked out, Benson could end up facing a suspension, something he miraculously avoided the last time he was arrested for assault.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Posted by Ryan Wilson

With each passing day we're inching closer to the 2011 NFL season. Last month, the word on the street was that there would be a new collective bargaining agreement by mid-July. It now sounds like July 21 is the date a CBA would be ratified and the league season would officially begin.

CBSSports.com columnist Mike Freeman joins Eye on Football host Will Brinson to talk about whether the lockout's actually coming to a close, what Roger Goodell needs to do to repair his reputation with the players (related: what he should also do with Kenny Britt), and if the Hall of Fame Game will go off as scheduled on August 7.

Talking starts below.

Just hit the play button and don't forget to Subscribe via iTunes.



If you can't view the podcast, click here to download.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

• Broncos coach John Fox has a vague idea who will start at quarterback for his team next season. But he is positive about one thing: "I prefer a gamer to a good practice player.”

• In case you missed it, CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman compared the career paths taken by Cowboys WR Miles Austin and Titans WR Kenny Britt.

• You know what would make Mark Sanchez happy? If the Jets signed their free agents.

• In regards to Redskins QB John Beck, ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano is pretty sure the Redskins aren’t trying to tank the season in order to grab Andrew Luck No. 1 in the 2012 draft.

• Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs is going to be holding a reunion for those he coached from 1981-92 in Huntersville, N.C. Hopefully, all the cool kids will be fat and balding and all the nerds will have hot wives.

• The Steelers have held training camp at St. Vincent College for the past 45 seasons. The organization and the school, if at all possible, would like to continue the streak, assuming the lockout is lifted in time.

• The Chiefs are being sued for about $640,000 in regards to Arrowhead Stadium renovations.

• The Pewter Report believes that Cadillac Williams will not be retained by the Buccaneers for 2011.

• The Giants will not train in Albany, N.Y., this year. So, those rookies can forget about a field trip to the state capital. Stupid lockout.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.

Posted by Ryan Wilson

We're getting there, people. An end to the lockout could be a week away, maybe days.

In the latest Eye on Football podcast, we talk about who NFL commissioner Roger Goodell might have in his crosshairs for violating the personal conduct policy in recent months (we're looking right at you, Kenny Britt), as well as which teams would be willing to fork over $19 million a year for Nnamdi Asomugha, even though free agents like Johnathan Joseph and Ike Taylor would come much cheaper (somewhere in the $9 million-a-year range).

Here's to hoping that this is our last lockout podcast ever, because there's only so many times you can discuss where Tiki Barber might sit on the bench next season.

Talking starts below.

Just hit the play button and don't forget to Subscribe via iTunes.



If you can't view the podcast, click here to download.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Kenny Britt made it a whopping two days into July without getting mentioned in some sort of public imbroglio. Which, I suppose, is kind of impressive given his unbelievably embarrassing streak of run-ins with the law -- and Facebook! -- over the summer.

The City Paper in Nashville is reporting that Britt's now being sued by Harold E. Pointer, the man who he wrassled with at Broadway's Karma Lounge in Nashville last year.

Pointer has filed a civil lawsuit against Britt, seeking $150,000 in punitive and compensatory damages.

As you may recall, this scuffle led to then Titans coach Jeff Fisher to do a little CSI: Nashville snooping around the nightclub. (Which, in turn, led to me photoshopping this picture and using it no less than 40 times last year.)

Britt will likely need some investigative help this time around, too, if he wants to avoid a settlement that'll cost him some money.

Even though it's a he-said/he-said scenario, Britt's run-ins with the law this summer don't exactly put him in a good position to claim status as a model American.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Kenny Britt, who's been the most prominent police-blotter name in the NFL this offseason, turned himself into police today and is back free on a $2,000 bond.

That's according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean, who notes that Britt had outstanding warrants for his arrest issued by the Tennessee Highway Patrol "from a false application on a license."

Britt's court date has been set at July 18th.

Yes, for those tracking, this is the third legal issue this summer that Britt will be dealing with -- he's already pled guilty to reckless/careless driving, managed to get nailed for resisting arrest the day after he was in court, and now he's got the warrant business we just found out about a few weeks ago. (At least the charges got downgraded? I don't even know what to think at this point.)

And that probably means he's got some sort of suspension heading his way once a labor agreement is reached.

That's based on Roger Goodell's recent indication that the NFL will dole out punishments for folks who broke the law while locked out from work.

Welp, at least Britt should get a second chance to complain publicly have his Facebook account hacked.

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