-Jets tight end Kareem Brown, a former Patriots draft choice, had to return to Miami over the weekend to bury a friend who was killed in a one-car crash. Brown was in the car driving behind 24-year-old Jeffrey Nelson Jr. when the crash occurred. Brown seemed shaken when he returned to camp yesterday, saying the experience of being on scene for a friend's death will stay with him forever. It's yet another challenge for Brown, who is already trying to convert to tight end from defensive line after dropping 60 pounds from his college playing weight. Brown has appeared in just one game since being drafted by the Patriots in 2007, and that was with the Jets after the Patriots waived him in the middle of his rookie season.

-The Giants have reached a contract agreement with quarterback Eli Manning that will make Manning the highest-paid player in the NFL. The agreement is for six-years and $97 million, or an average of $15.3 million a year.

-Browns wide receiver Braylon Edwards is in full pads and back on the practice field today after missing Cleveland's first four days of training camp with an undisclosed injury, the AP reports.

-Wide receiver Mike Walker of the Jacksonville Jaguars has had such a miserable two years -- nagging knee injury, staph infection that required hospitalization, death of a close friend and death of his father -- that he's swapped jersey numbers and is planning to alter his name.

-The best player on the worst team in the league -- Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson -- hopes to improve on his already extraordinary numbers from last season.

-Raiders offensive tackle Khalif Barnes, who is competing for a starting spot, had to leave practice on Tuesday after suffering knee and ankle injuries when offensive lineman James Marten blocked defensive end Ryan Boschetti into the back of Barnes' left leg, the Contra Costa Times reports. Barnes had an MRI; more information is expected today.

-Speaking of the Raiders, no one can question the speed of first-round draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey. Problem is he can't catch the ball, and that's a pretty big issue when you're a wide receiver. (Sacramento Bee)

-Texans cornerback Jacques Reeves broke his leg in practice yesterday and will be out six to eight weeks, the Houston Chronicle reports.

-The Vikings will apparently have to work out a new contract agreement with first-round draft pick Percy Harvin, since the NFL rejected the contract due to violations of the collective-barganing agreement, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports.

-Eagles head coach Andy Reid blasted the media yesterday for going directly to middle linebacker Stewart Bradley for information on what turned out to be a season-ending injury. Philadelphia apparently was hoping to wait on an announcement until they could scour the free-agent ranks for a replacement. Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports writes that there is always some kind of controversy with the Eagles, whom he calls "champions of drama, both self-inflicted and organic."

-Speaking of drama, Packers GM Ted Thompson started some when he declined to rule out a Michael Vick signing, but ESPN's Chris Mortensen sees no fit for Vick in Green Bay.

-Drama is never in short supply for Josh McDaniels in Denver, but he got some good news when disgruntled former first-round draft pick Jarvis Moss returned to the team after taking three days to contemplate his future.

-The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi says the death of the Arena Football League -- which survived for many years as a low-cost, family-friendly enterprise -- occurred because of a combination of players demanding too much money and celebrity owners spending other teams into bankruptcy.

-In the latest of its series of profiles of members of the incoming Hall of Fame class, the AP looks at the career of "Bullet" Bob Hayes, who introduced game-changing speed to the NFL.