AP

Jets General Manager John Idzik said this week that when his team took a look at Josh Cribbs, they found that his knee “isn’t quite there yet.”

Cribbs, who subsequently signed with the Raiders, thinks Idzik was just trying to bring Cribbs’ price down.

“I don’t know why the Jets GM would come out and say that other than use it as a negotiation tactic,” Cribbs said in a conference call with the Oakland media.

Cribbs had offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and he said he feels fine and will be good to go in plenty of time for the start of the season.

“I’m doing well,” Cribbs said. “We never had planned to comment on injury but we play our first game in September or August and it’s barely June. We’re not lining up to play football. If we were lining up to play football in June then it would be a hot topic. I will be ready to play football when it’s time to play football and I think that is the important thing.”

The Raiders obviously agree. Regardless of what Idzik thinks.

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The New York Giants made a change at the tight end position on Thursday.

The Giants signed former Kentucky quarterback-turned-tight end Morgan Newton after having him in for a tryout during the team’s rookie mini-camp last week. Newton replaces former Atlanta Falcons tight end Michael Palmer, who signed with the team last week.

Palmer and cornerback Antonio Dennard were both waived/injured by the Giants.

Palmer had appeared in 43 games with five starts for the Falcons over the last three seasons. His most productive season was in 2011 when he caught 10 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Newton transitioned to tight end during his senior season at Kentucky but never caught a pass with the Wildcats. He did carry the ball 16 times for 63 yards and a touchdown.

AP

Just two days after losing Melvin Ingram to a torn ACL, the San Diego Chargers have made a move to bring in additional depth at the linebacker position.

The Chargers announced Thursday they have signed former Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Keiser. Keiser was waived by the Panthers on Monday.

Ingram suffered a torn ACL during offseason workouts on Tuesday and has to be considered a long-shot at best to play this season for the Chargers. Keiser showed promise as a rookie with the Panthers in 2011. He recorded four sacks and an interception in just eight games played. Keiser appeared in just four games last season before tearing ligaments in his elbow and landing on injured reserve.

In addition to Keiser, the Chargers are also looking into Dwight Freeney as a possible replacement for Ingram.

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Last year’s Saints bounty scandal nearly made everyone forget about the team’s 2010 Vicodin scandal.  And it definitely made everyone forget about a scandal from 2009 regarding movie tax credits that didn’t exist.

According to the Associated Press, coach Sean Payton has settled a lawsuit against former Saints long snapper Kevin Houser, who solicited investments from teammates and coaches under the assumption that Louisiana Film Studios, LLC, would apply for and receive tax credits.

The investment was supposed to generate a 33-percent return, which means it was way too good to be true.

Still, lawyer Daniel Becnel Jr. said that Payton received a “substantial” settlement.  While Becnel declined to provide details based on the confidential nature of the transaction, Becnel said “[w]e got exactly what we wanted and demanded and they paid it.”

So, basically, the details can be extrapolated based on any court filings showing what Payton wanted.  He originally sued Houser for $144,000.

Others who lost money included Drew Brees, Scott Shanle, Jeremy Shockey, Mitch Berger, Charles Grant, and New Orleans icon Archie Manning.  It’s unclear whether and to what extent other settlements or judgments have been secured.

In 2012, a federal appeals court ruled that Berger must pursue his claims through arbitration.  Claims filed by Payton, Grant, and Shockey weren’t affected by the ruling.

Houser, who had spent nine years with the team, was cut once the scam came to light.  (He later signed with the Seahawks.)  Wayne Read, who ran the film company, ultimately was sentenced to four years in prison on fraud charges.

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With Joe Flacco getting a new contract completed with the Baltimore Ravens early this offseason, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan became next in line on the list of young quarterbacks looking to cash in with a big second contract.

Ryan is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent following the upcoming season but it’s unlikely he will ever reach free agency. While the process of getting a new deal done has been slow so far, Atlanta Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has no doubts a deal with ultimately get done to keep Ryan in Atlanta.

Dimitroff addressed where discussions stand with Ryan during an appearance on Late Hits with Alex Marvez and James Miller on Sirius XM radio.

“Right now there’s nothing new on the contract,” Dimitroff said. “Understand that he will be here. We will get this done and we would prefer to have this done sooner than later.”

Dimitroff clearly stated a deal with Ryan was not a top priority in the lead-up to the NFL Draft at the end of April. Now that the draft is in the rear-view mirror, the Falcons can turn their attentions back toward getting their franchise quarterback locked up for the forseeable future.

“We have a very good working relationship with CAA (and Ryan’s agent Tom Condon) and I’m confident that this will, when the time is right, move expeditiously to get his done,” Dimitroff said.

Flacco earned a six-year, $120 million deal with the Ravens. With only one playoff win under his belt and Flacco already with a Super Bowl ring, it would seem difficult for Ryan’s contract to rise to the same level as Flacco’s deal. Ryan will get paid big money. It just seems to be a matter of time.

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The Oakland Raiders, pressed against the 90-man offseason roster limit, have found enough spots for not one but two.

The team announced on Thursday that receiver/return specialist Josh Cribbs has officially joined the team, along with undrafted rookie quarterback Matt McGloin.

McGloin joins the Raiders after post-draft tryouts with the Redskins and Panthers.

The Raiders have not yet officially added punter Chris Kluwe, because for now they can’t.  With precisely 90 players on the roster, the Raiders need to dump a player before adding another one.

AP

The Patriots will be hoping that the fourth time is a charm.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, tight end Rob Gronkowski will have his fourth arm surgery next week.  The specific date has not been selected.

Dr. James Andrews, we’re told, will serve as a consultant for the procedure, which will be performed by Dr. Jesse Jupiter.

The development means that doctors have determined that a lingering infection is finally gone.  The surgery will entail removal of the plate currently holding Gronkowski’s arm in place, and the replacement of it with a new one.

Gronkowski originally broke the arm during the 2012 regular season.  He returned for a divisional-round game against the Texans, and he broke it again.

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The odd voting on NFL Network’s Top 100 program continues.

On tonight’s episode of the show, on which the league-owned network counts down the 100 best players in the NFL as voted on by the players (or at least the players who felt like filling out ballots), Lions middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch landed at No. 63. Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Reivs came in at No. 67.

Does anyone really think Stephen Tulloch is better than Darrelle Revis?

Yes, I realize that Revis is coming off a season in which he played in only two games before suffering a serious knee injury. But come on. All indications are that Revis will be back at 100 percent this season, and Revis at 100 percent is one of the league’s truly elite players. Tulloch is most certainly not.

Put it another way: Does anyone really think any team would give up a first-round draft pick and $16 million a year for Tulloch? Because that’s what the Buccaneers gave up for Revis.

The bottom line is that the players who vote for NFL Network’s Top 100 rankings don’t take it very seriously. Which is how we get results like this.

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Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski has been battling for weeks a post-surgical infection in his arm.

Doctors, we’re told, now believe that the infection finally has subsided.  In the coming days, that will be confirmed.

The good news, if it’s confirmed, is that Gronkowski finally be infection-free.  The bad news, if it’s confirmed, is that he’ll be ready for the plate in his arm to be replaced.  Which means that he’ll have his fourth surgery since first breaking the arm during the 2012 regular season.

Gronkowski is approaching the one-year anniversary of his multi-year extension, one that looks a lot better for him in hindsight — but also one that the Patriots could choose to abandon (or at least renegotiate) when a $10 million option bonus comes due in 2016.

UPDATE 9:24 p.m. ET:  Gronkowski will indeed have surgery next week, with Dr. James Andrews consulting.

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In the aftermath of the draft, Jets second-round quarterback Geno Smith changed agents.  Now, three weeks after cornerback Dee Milliner became the ninth overall pick in the draft, he’s making a change, too.

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Milliner has parted ways with Mitch Frankel and Tony Fleming.  Per Mehta, “all signs point” to Milliner hiring Pat Dye, once the mandatory five-day waiting period ends.

Mehta explains that Milliner is making the change because he wasn’t a top-five pick in the draft.

If true, it’s a ridiculous reason for making a change.  The only team in the top five that reasonably could have taken Milliner was the Lions at No. 5, and they opted to go with defensive end Ziggy Ansah.

Milliner possibly believes that his former agents didn’t do enough to contain or respond to reports regarding his various surgeries.  While every team had access to that information, once it becomes public, more pressure is placed on General Managers who are considering picking the player.  If Milliner ended up being plagued with injuries, Lions G.M. Martin Mayhew would have been deemed the new Matt Millen in Motown.

Still, the facts are the facts, and there’s only so much any agent can do to control or shape them.  And if Milliner thinks his fall was disappointing, maybe he should talk to Smith, a supposed top-five lock who barely made it into the top 40.

AP

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has been fined, suspended and roundly criticized as a dirty player. But one of the greatest players ever to play his position says Suh should keep doing what he’s doing.

Mean Joe Greene, the Hall of Famer who played for the Steelers from 1969 to 1981, told the Detroit Free Press that Suh shouldn’t listen to those who want him to be a kinder, gentler player.

“He is a powerful man,” Greene said of Suh. “Unfortunately for him is that he’s letting some of this notoriety and publicity get in his head a little bit. By that I mean it changes the way he approaches the game, cause if he changes that he’s not Ndamukong anymore. And you need an edge to play in the pit. Anybody that talks about what you shouldn’t do hasn’t been in there. I think you have to play the game the way he does, but not go over the edge. A couple times he went over the edge, and he shouldn’t be afraid of that.”

Greene doesn’t think Suh’s critics understand what it takes to play defensive line in the NFL.

“I know that when the public gets involved and the talking heads get involved and they talk about something they don’t have any idea about — it’s nice and air conditioned where they’re sitting,” Greene said. “So he can’t let other voices dictate how he plays.”

Suh hasn’t responded to Greene’s comments, but I imagine that once he hears what Greene said about him, he’ll say, “Thanks, Mean Joe.”

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Add another name to the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback depth chart.

Brian Hoyer, who was released by the Cardinals this week, has agreed to a two-year deal with the Browns, according to Adam Caplan of SiriusXM Radio.

Hoyer got the first start of his NFL career in a Week 17 loss to the 49ers last season and played fairly well, at least by the standards of the 2012 Cardinals offense. He has also played for the Steelers and Patriots.

From all indications, Brandon Weeden will be the guy for the Browns this season, and Hoyer will compete with Jason Campbell and Thaddeus Lewis for the No. 2 spot.

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The Seahawks announced the signing of rookie fullback Spencer Ware on Thursday.

A sixth-round pick out of LSU, the 5-foot-10, 229-pound Ware rushed for 367 yards and a touchdown on 94 carries as a junior in 2012. He declared for the draft with one season of eligibility remaining.

Though Ware played running back at LSU, the Seahawks are listing him as a fullback, and it’s possible he could provide depth both behind starting lead blocker Michael Robinson and tailbacks Marshawn Lynch, Robert Turbin and Christine Michael.

Ware’s lack of wear-and-tear could be an asset; he racked up just 294 carries and 39 receptions in three collegiate seasons. Also, he does not turn 22 until November.

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Before quarterback Pat White joined the Redskins, he ditched a lawsuit claiming permanent injuries from concussions suffered during his one year with the Dolphins.

Apparently, “permanent” no longer means what it used to.

Seeing White’s audacity and raising it, defensive end Anthony Hargrove will sign a contract with the Cowboys – possibly without dropping his lawsuit.

Per a league spokesman, Hargrove had not dismissed his lawsuit as of 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Hargrove claimed in the civil action filed last month that he “has suffered and continues to suffer from permanent injuries including, but not limited to, severe headaches, memory loss, depression, isolation, mental anguish and diminished self-esteem.”

To summarize, playing pro football has caused many serious neurological injuries for Hargrove.  And now that someone wants him to play pro football, none of that matters.

Though we supported Hargrove during his bounty fight with the league, maneuvers like this cheapen the concussion litigation process and undermine the claims made by players who may have been seriously injured due to the NFL’s alleged failure to warn them or the risks, or due to the NFL’s failure to reasonably protect them.

The approach by players like White and Hargrove continues to perpetuate the idea that players who aren’t genuinely injured or whose rights weren’t actually violated see this not as a path to justice but as a way to supplement whatever income they earned while playing football.

In other words, Hargrove finally is saying “give me my money,” but in a very different context.

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Soccer fans in America often have a chip on their shoulder about football.  And for good reason.  Football is the dominant sport in the country, soccer isn’t.

Then again, soccer is boring.  Football isn’t.

It creates potential friction where an NFL team also owns a professional soccer team.  In New England, the Krafts are getting the brunt of some of that friction via fans of the soccer team the Krafts own.

Julian Cardillo of the Boston Globe (via SportsBusiness Daily) writes that “[i]t appears to many that the Revolution are the Kraft family’s second priority, rather than an equal investment, to the New England Patriots.”

If it appears that way, that appearance would be accurate.  The Patriots have become one of the elite franchises in the NFL, the premier professional sports league in the United States.  The Revolution are an also-ran, at best, in a league that is an also-ran, at best.

Revolution Brian Bilello seems to think that the griping comes from soccer’s anti-football bias.

“I think both the Kraft family and the Hunt family, because they have NFL sides as well, I think there’s a weird perception,” Bilello told Cardillo.  “Both families have been involved with the sport since the very beginning.  The fact that they’re involved in the NFL, that hurts them.”

Still, a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous players pegged the Krafts as the worst owners in the MLS, and players like Thierry Henry and David Beckham have balked at playing on the FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium.

“There’s a lot of great things about having the Krafts as owners,” Bilello said.  “They’ve supported this league.  They do things behind the scenes not just for the Revolution, but for the sport of soccer in this country.”

None of that matters to the average soccer fan, who can’t understand why Americans haven’t embraced the sport the way the rest of the world has.

Meanwhile, we can’t understand why the rest of the world hasn’t embraced football the way Americans have.