in NFL National Football League

Kelvin Benjamin Tears ACL; So Does Louis Delmas

Benjamin and Delmas are both out for the season after suffering ACL injuries 20 minutes apart Wednesday at a joint Panthers - Dolphins practice.

We’ve not even hit the second preseason game and we’ve already lost two of the league’s better players. Carolina Panthers wide receiver was carted off the field Wednesday with a knee injury that turned out to be season-ending. Benjamin tore his ACL, leaving a gaping playmaking hole in the Panthers’ offense. Benjamin injured his knee in a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins, who got some bad news of their own.

Benjamin’s importance to the Panthers’ offense can not be overstated. Last year as a rookie out of Florida State Benjamin caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns. More than that, he was quarterback Cam Newton’s only reliable target. Newton completed just 33 passes total to other Panthers’ pass-catchers last season for a total of 335 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Needless to say, this is a blow that Carolina has to address post haste. The Panthers did improve their receiver squad by drafting Devin Funchess out of Michigan and signing Ted Ginn Jr.

Replacing Benjamin’s production with guys already on the roster will be tough, but there are some free agent options out there that will certainly help out. Brandon Lloyd, recently with the San Francisco 49ers or Robert Meachem from the New Orleans Saints are both still looking for a job as is Kevin Ogletree after getting let go by the New York Giants.

Signing Reggie Wayne would almost be a no-brainer at this point and, frankly, the Panthers should have been working his phone even before this happened.

Delmas out for Dolphins

Safety Louis Delmas won’t see the field this year either after tearing his ACL at practice Wednesday too at the same practice.

Delmas tore his ACL last December and has been battling to return to form. Now he’ll be out another year. Delmas’ injury happened 20 minutes after Benjamin’s in a bad joint practice for both teams.

In 13 games with the Miami last season before getting injured, Delmas had 61 tackles, a sack, two fumble recoveries, one pick, three passes defended and one defensive touchdown.

Delmas’ job now falls to third-year safety Michael Thomas out of Stanford. Thomas played in eight games last season and recorded 18 tackles.

Bills get good news on LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams

The Buffalo Bills should expect to have running back LeSean McCoy back for the regular season after he injured his hamstring in a joint practice with the Cleveland Browns Tuesday.

Karlos Williams, who suffered what is officially being called an undisclosed injury that occurred while he was weightlifting at home. Williams had surgery to repair whatever it was and is expected to miss two weeks.

Bills’ head coach Rex Ryan was coy about the injury, with Mike Rodak of ESPN reporting that Williams’ surgery was “a sensitive thing” and pointed toward his lower abdomen. So there’s speculation that it could be a hernia.

Raiders’ Holmes will miss three-to-four weeks with broken hand

Andre Holmes had a productive season last year for the Oakland Raiders and seemed a lock to play more in the slot and as a reserve behind starters Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree this season. That took a hit as the Raiders announced that Holmes fractured his hand at practice Sunday and may have to sit out nearly a month.

Holmes caught 47 passes for 693 yards and four touchdowns last season. Holmes is a fourth-year player that was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Tom Brady and Roger Goodell discuss DeflateGate settlement

Tuesday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was forced to spend four hours with Tom Brady before today’s DeflateGate hearing, discussing a possible settlement of their court case where Brady wants to pretend he didn’t order two Patriots locker room schlubs to deflate footballs in a specific effort to circumvent NFL rules, or as we humans like to call it; cheating.

Reportedly Brady offered to drop the case and take a single game suspension for “failing to cooperate” with the NFL, but not for cheating, which he is guilty of completely. Goodell doesn’t seem interested according to CBS Sports and is content to let it work itself out in court.

Eli Manning disputes report he wants to be highest paid player in NFL

The NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport reported Tuesday that New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning wanted to be the NFL’s highest-paid player when he re-ups his contract. There was only one problem with that. No one checked with Eli Manning.

In fact, Manning had no clue his name was even in the news until his father Archie Manning told him about. Manning was a little perturbed.

“The reports are all wrong,” Manning told ESPN. “That’s never been said. It’s never come out of my mouth. I’ve never said it to my agent. I don’t know where people are getting their information.”

Manning is in the final year of his current contract and will easily join the $20 million club with his next deal. It’s possible he might end up as the highest-paid player, but he obviously hasn’t asked to be and shouldn’t. His two Super Bowl rings and performance in the playoffs should speak volumes for him.

Manning is one of only three quarterbacks currently in the NFL that have won multiple Super Bowls and of those three, he’s the only who has never been accused of cheating and/or rape.

Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

5 New SEC Starters Most Likely To Dominate This Season

Houston Astros vs Tampa Bay Rays Game Pick