Are the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers tipping their respective draft hands?

With running back Reggie Bush and linebacker A.J. Hawk now looking for work, two of the top teams in the NFC suddenly have even more glaring needs at those positions than they did before. This, itself, is a little surprising because it wasn’t exactly as if the Lions and Packers weren’t already targeting those spots already.

Neither cut was massively surprising.

Bush was not the multi-tool offensive weapon that he was supposed to be when joining the Lions and he had trouble staying on the field, missing seven games over two seasons with Detroit and being hampered by injury in a handful more.

Though he was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2013, the Lions didn’t need him much last season and reached the playoffs without him. They will save $1.7 million thanks to the release and are left with Joique Bell and Theo Riddick as the top backs on the roster.

Drafting 23^rd overall, the Lions could be in an incredible position to select whichever back they want in the class, including Georgia’s Todd Gurley or Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon. Even if they wait for one of the middle rounds in April, running back is one of the better-stocked positions in an otherwise-weak draft class.

Maybe the Lions were going to always draft a back in April, but suddenly it’s a must.

As for the Packers, drafting an inside linebacker was likely always in the cards—even within the first couple of rounds. Hawk was one of the worst linebackers in the league for the past couple of seasons and Brad Jones was already cut thanks to his part in the Packers’ epic playoff collapse against the Seattle Seahawks.

Like the Lions with running backs, the Packers might be able to grab the pick of their litter and take one of the top interior linebackers in the draft. Depending on general manager Ted Thompson and his scouting staff, that could mean anyone from UCLA’s Eric Kendricks to Mississippi State’s Benardrick McKinney.

They could (should?) even double up, taking multiple interior linebackers to help fill what has become a blackhole of talent on an otherwise stellar team.

A lot can happen between now and the draft because of free agency, but the Lions and Packers leave February with more draft needs than they entered the month.

What in the World is Going On With Dez Bryant?

Something is happening with Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant…unless it isn’t.

No one knows.

Seriously, when ESPN’s Adam Schefter admits he doesn’t know, it means that no one knows.

Schefter told ESPN Chicago, Wednesday, that he’s been working the story since September when he first heard the rumor that a scandalous tape of “Ray Rice levels” existed that could potentially derail the talented young wide receiver’s career.

No one has seen the tape.

No one has seen the reported still images that exist from the tape.

No one has heard the audio from the tape.

There’s two sides to this reporting across the Internet, both are very important, and there’s really not a whole lot of right or wrong, yet. (Though, admittedly, it seems like some are coming awfully close.)

This isn’t even “innocent until proven guilty” territory. This seems more like the court of public opinion at its kangaroo-i-est. People are just waiting for some grainy, context-free, clearly extortion-related video to come out from a group of people that are clearly trying to get money from an NFL player—according to both Bryant and literally every shred of common sense.

Think about it.

The scuttlebutt around this supposed video has been going on at least since September. No news organization (from ESPN to TMZ) can get their hands on it even though they’ve all been trying, and neither the Cowboys nor Bryant’s camp seem worried in the slightest.

That said, we’ve reached the point where the innuendo itself (and potential extortion plot, for that matter) has become a story worth talking about. It would be both unethical and unscrupulous to talk about a video that may or may not exist, but the fact that we’re talking about something means that something is going on in Bryant’s life, either around him or against him.

Overall, it’s just a weird situation right now, but one can assume just about everyone involved just wants it to be over.

Is Brian Hoyer “Mr. Right Now” for the Browns Once Again?

With Johnny Manziel’s NFL future up in the air, Brian Hoyer might be the best option under center for the Browns in 2015.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported that the two sides are planning on meeting, and the idea makes more than a little sense. Hoyer may not know the system any longer with an impending switch at offensive coordinator, but he knows the team and he’s already led the locker room.

Hoyer is also a steady presence who is a known commodity. Though his 2014 season ended terribly, there is enough good tape on him, that it’s arguable that he’s not only the best choice as “the devil they know” but also simply the best quarterback they’ll find available.

It is a terribly thin quarterback free agency crop, and there’s no real proof that Mark Sanchez would do any better in 2015 for the Browns than Hoyer might. The trade market is thin, and even that consists mostly of St. Louis’ injury-prone Sam Bradford, which isn’t exactly anything better than Hoyer might be either.

The draft has only two quarterbacks considered quality-starting material, Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, and the latter may need some extra time to acclimate to the pro game while the former may not get past the No. 1 pick.

So, the Browns are either mortgaging their future for one of those guys or settling for a lesser passer anyway.

Hoyer may not be the future, but it’s looking a whole lot like he might be the present.