Ten Thoughts on the NFL: Chicago Bears and beyond

1) It looks like the Houston Texans will be given the Hard Knocks treatment on HBO. I'm guessing this will catapult J.J. Watt to becoming an even bigger star than he already is. I can see the NFL pushing for him to be one of faces of the league.

2) Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is still griping about wanting to be traded, with his latest power move being a hint that he may hold out of camp and the retirement card may even be played. I just don't see Peterson holding any leverage in this situation.

3) As expected, veteran quarterback Josh McCown opened OTAs taking 1st team reps for the Cleveland Browns, with Johnny Manziel as the #2. After a rocky rookie year and off season for Manziel, he's doing and saying all the right things to make amends, and rebuild trust with his teammates. If he continues to show maturity I wouldn't be surprised if, at some point, he wins the #1 QB job.

4) The Free Tom Brady movement is a real thing. It's not a very big thing, but the fact that it's a thing at all is ludicrous.

Brady even has supporters from the recently deceased.

Some woman decided to defend Tom Brady one last time in her obituary http://t.co/Nl9cCaXoxc pic.twitter.com/OQ484W9sTq

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 23, 2015

5) In other ludicrous news, some Seattle Seahawks fan started up a GoFundMe page to raise money to keep Russell Wilson in Seattle. Wilson will receive a significant raise once his contract expires after he 2015 season, but the Seahawks have yet to agree an an extension. The GoFundMe goal is $5 million, but so far they've yet to reach $1,500 since May 12th.

6) Did you catch the recent Randy Moss story?

One special relationship was with Kassi Spier, a girl Moss met as a rookie in 1998 at a training camp autograph session. The toddler yelled "Randy" and instantly had his heart. She was 2 years old at the time.

The two have remained close ever since. Spier has overcome such hardships as battling through her 2000 diagnosis of leukemia, losing her father to a car accident in 2004 and being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2013.

Moss made a promise long ago to attend Spier's high school graduation, and on Friday night, he did just that by handing Spier her diploma during the Pelican Rapids High School's graduation ceremony in Minnesota.

Moss has had his share of troubles through the years, but he's also been very active with children's charities.

7) With the extra point rule changing last week, does anyone really think an NFL team will keep a player on their roster that is strictly a 2-point-conversion specialist? That's the buzz coming from some NFL analysts.

The Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to have signed Tim Tebow for that reason, but I can't see him sticking on a roster if he can't at least win the #3 QB job.

8) This may have snuck by you, but Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio recently remarked that he prefers big defensive lineman up front. Before the draft, a lot of Bears fans were under the assumption that Fangio wasn't looking for big bodied 3-4 defensive lineman because he really never had that type of player in San Francisco.

With 336 pound Eddie Goldman drafted to play the nose, that allows Jeramiah Ratliff (303 pounds) to play defensive end. The key of course, will be Goldman's ability to win the NT job.

Ego Ferguson (309) has some DE experience at LSU and will be in the mix there for the Bears, and 315 pound Jarvis Jenkins was signed to be a run stuffing DE for Fangio.

While not having the girth, Cornelius Washington (265) has the strength to hold the edge as a 3-4 DE. Will Sutton has the girth (315), but he's a little on the sort side at 6' to play DE.

Chicago is also hoping a couple of undrafted free agents can make waves this off season in 322 pound NT Terry Williams and 300 pound DE Olsen Pierre.

The defensive line is one of the most intriguing battles to keep an eye on during OTAs and training camp for the Bears.

9) Speaking of Chicago's defensive line, I thought they handled the entire Ray McDonald situation as well as can be expected. They really took their time vetting him before deciding to offer him a 1 year deal with no guaranteed money. His contract came with a zero tolerance policy and with his latest run in with the police, the Bears swiftly cut ties.

Hindsight tells us that the Bears were fooled by McDonald, and I'm sure this mistake will weigh on them if a similar situation arises.

10) The Bears will kick off Phase 3 of their off season tomorrow, which means the players will finally start to go 11 on 11, albeit non contact, plus all the coaches will all be allowed on the field. These OTAs are still voluntary, so we'll have to wait and see if Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett decide to show up.