Monday Patriots Headlines

TRAINING CAMP COUNTDOWN: 24 days until Patriots training camp

A very sparse news day for the Patriots this morning, but here are what few stories out there this morning on the team, along with some NFL headlines as well.

We'll kick off this morning from an entry from Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald, who reported late yesterday that the timetable for Tom Brady's new deal may be starting to come to light, as Colts GM Bill Polian claims he's expecting to know about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in October. As we know Peyton Manning is also in the final year of his deal, and his deal from what we've heard will likely serve as a barometer for Brady's contract.

With less than four weeks to go until training camp begins, WEEI.com's Chris Price has an updated list of which Patriots rookies have already signed, along with a look at what it may take to get the remaining ones under contract.

Our friends over at NEPatriotsDraft.com have a look at which five players they feel will make the team with the Patriots, along with another five who likely will be looking for work once final cutdowns are made.

Matt Bowen of the National Football Post discusses ACL injuries, and says that he'll be watching Wes Welker to see how he does when he returns to action this season. Bowen suffered a similar injury when playing for Buffalo, and says it took him quite a while before he felt "normal" again.

Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has a story this morning that looks at New England's offensive line, and how they'll fare in the event the Patriots can't work out their differences with disgruntled guard Logan Mankins.

OTHER NFL HEADLINES:

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the death of former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair. WPRI.com out of Rhode Island revisits the bizarre story of a player who died far too young.

Some NFL coaches spent their 4th of July visiting Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, including Vikings coach Brad Childress, Philadelphia's Andy Reid, Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis and Carolina's John Fox. The twist in this story was the fact that Childress actually ran into his son, who is serving over there, with Childress becoming emotional after their improbable meeting.

"Honest to God, I had him by the hand and I didn't realize who I was looking at until …" said Childress, his voice trailing off as he retold the story during a phone conversation Friday. "I couldn't believe it. I had no idea that was going to happen. We were in one spot and he's in another. Somehow they pulled it off."

Pro Football Talk has an article on the Dolphins' Brandon Marshall, who received a tongue-lashing from a 5-year old at a recent football camp.

We'll end on this note: As some of you may have heard, Sports Illustrated's Peter King recently lost his brother, Bob, to a sudden heart attack. King filed a suprise Monday Morning quarterback entry this morning where he talks about some fond memories he has of him, along with some interesting NFL notes as well. It's a great read, and conisdering the fact that it's so quiet on the football front this morning, I definitely recommend it.

That's it for this morning. Hope everyone had a good holiday weekend and we'll have updates later on.