Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery is entering just his second season in the league, and after a rookie year that included the usual ups and downs from a first-year player, the expectations are much higher for Year 2.

Montgomery ended last season with 889 yards and six touchdowns, but his 3.7 yards per carry left a bit to be desired. He ran hard; he ran determined. But in today's NFL, sub-900 yards just isn't good enough.

Montgomery will run behind an improved offensive line in 2020 with the addition of Germain Ifedi and the coaching upgrade through Juan Castillo. The quarterback play should be improved, too, even if Mitch Trubisky wins the job over Nick Foles. Those two factors will create bigger running lanes and a greater likelihood Montgomery will find his way to the second level of opposing defenses, the story all said. The piece also pointed out a big 2021 free agent class at RB that could potentially replace Montgomery if he doesn't bust out in 2020.

Alshon Jeffery is almost certain to start training camp on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list. He can come off of PUP at any time during training camp, but must remain on PUP for at least six weeks if he is still on it at the start of the regular season.

If some GM called up Roseman and said, "Hey give us your fifth rounder next year and we’ll eat $10 million in cash for you," Roseman would have Jeffery on the first flight out of Philly. But that call probably isn't coming.

It seems like the Eagles would be fine to part ways with Jeffery, who many think was an unnamed source who bashed teammate and quarterback Carson Wentz over the last two years. According to the story, trading Jeffery is still possible, but unlikely. Any team trading for Jeffery would be acquiring a slow, recently injured receiver in each of the last two seasons. He would count for $9,910,000 on any acquiring team's cap, but more importantly, he would deplete $9,910,000 of that team's cash, the story said.

Came Newton will certainly open up new aspects to the Patriots offense that the team wasn't able to really deploy with Tom Brady, especially in the running game. With Newton, OC Josh McDaniels, if he so chooses, will have the option to unleash a different style offense than the "death by a million paper cuts" passing game that they ran with Brady. Thanks to Newton's mobility along with his arm, the Patriots offense could utilize more bootlegs and RPOs to further give depth to the unit.

The author feels change is something the Pats seemingly will embrace. HC Bill Belichick noted earlier this offseason the Patriots would cater the offense around whoever ultimately earns the job under center, the story said. Newton also referred to himself as a "ticked off dog." We rank Newton 15th on our QB list with an ADP of the 12th round in 12-team leagues.

Titans and Derrick Henry are not expected to reach a long-term deal by Wednesday deadline for franchise players, per source.

Henry already singed his tender and is scheduled to make $10.27 million this season. He would become a free agent in the offseason, Schefter went on to say.

Despite Wednesday’s deadline to sign Dak Prescott to a long-term deal, there are no scheduled talks between the Dallas Cowboys and the quarterback’s agent, Todd France, according to multiple sources.

This falls right in line with a report we had on Sunday about a lack of optimism. As the story said, things can change quickly with a simple phone call. But, there was expected to be more urgency in getting a deal done that would lock the team and Prescott together for the long term while making the quarterback one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. Prescott already signed his franchise tender and without a deal with make a little less than $31.5 million this season.

The Rams expect that Josh Reynolds will, or at least play a significantly increased role, this season.

Related players: Van Jefferson, Greg Dortch, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Nsimba Webster

The Rams think Reynolds can step in with the loss of Brandin Cooks to the Texans. A fourth-round pick in 2017, Reynolds served mostly as a backup the past three seasons, but filled in as a starter when needed. In 48 games, Reynolds caught 61 passes for 832 yards and seven touchdowns.

A sixth-year pro, Malcolm Brown provides experience and is dependable -- he rushed for a career-high five touchdowns last season. But expect the young backs to be featured after the Rams recently invested in them with early draft picks.

Related players: Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, John Kelly

The Rams traded up to get Henderson last year, but he only played on 8% of the snaps in 2019. Akers was a second round pick back in April, so it makes sense one of these two takes over at some point. The writer feels Akers should be a presence between the tackles but missing offseason workouts because of the pandemic could hurt him, perhaps at least to start the season. We rank Akers the highest among the Ram backs.

Source said Sunday afternoon Cowboys are not close to reaching a multi-year contract with QB Dak Prescott.

The deadline is July 15, which is this Wednesday, and while the situation could change, the report of not being close isn't exactly optimistic. Prescott would enter 2020 season on $31.4M franchise tag if no deal by deadline, the tweet went on to say.

Sony Michel posted a picture on his Instagram that shows him without a walking boot.

Beat writer Mike Reiss said some Patriots have already returned to the area, getting a head start on their quarantine. Michel is recovering from offseason surgery on his foot, and as a rehabbing player is allowed to use the team's facilities, which he's been taking advantage of for several weeks now. Unfortunately, we don't see Michel's fantasy arrow pointing up with the loss of Tom Brady.

The Detroit Lions' backfield battle will be one to watch once training camp starts later this month.

Detroit drafted multifaceted Georgia product D'Andre Swift in the second round to bolster a running back crew that has lacked pizzazz when incumbent starter Kerryon Johnson has gone down with knee injuries.

Swift said in the story he's not sure what role he'll have this season with the Lions assuming Johnson is healthy and ready to go. The story added Swift brings a dual threat out of the backfield with his ability to catch passes. We have Swift 20th among our RBs with Johnson 47th, so we think Swift is the back to own now.