Hightower missed the entire 2012 season because he was released by the Redskins just before the year began. He played in only 5 games in 2011 before tearing his ACL. He has recovered from the injury, but the Redskins went with Alfred Morris and weren’t disappointed. Now they’re thinking Hightower can be of service.

The Giants have Andre Brown and David Wilson, but would like to have another running back after letting go of Ahmad Bradshaw. Hightower ran for 736 yards during his best season (2010), playing for the Arizona Cardinals, but has never been a high usage running back. It did start out that way when he moved to the Washington Redsksins in 2011, averaging a career high 16.8 carries per game before tearing his ACL.

The Redskins themselves aren’t looking for someone to take on much of a load. They have Alfred Morris and are expecting Roy Helu to be a bigger part of the offense in 2013, especially with RGIII under a very close watch as to the amount of rushing plays he executes and the risks he takes.

Hightower wouldn’t only provide with a capable and proven backup, but can be used in a multitude of scenarios. He caught 63 passes for 428 yards during his second season in the league, and is regarded a very good pass-blocker, which is something the Redskins need more of, knowing how vulnerable Robert Griffin III will be once he returns from his injury.

A bad season, or something similar to what we saw from his this year, which was about throwing the ball to Brandon Marshall and nothing much else, might still lead to the franchise tag. Cutler is a good quarterback, and the Bears might not be able to find someone better to lead their franchise next year. They won’t be bad enough to get a top pick for a superstar coming out of college, if there even is one at the position, and it’s unlikely they’ll find a better one than Cutler as more than just a short term solution in 12 months from now.

So either way, Cutler has a good chance of being franchised. The way the contracts for franchise quarterbacks have been going lately – Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco and soon Matt Ryan, the Bears are going to have and give up a lot of money for Cutler, who has yet to have a season with a pass rating that’s higher than 86.3, or throw for more than 27 touchdowns/3600 yards since arriving in Chicago.

A bad season from Cutler will mean a high draft pick, but most project it to be the so-so kind of year, unless the Bears surprise with their success in fixing the front line. The franchise tag will give them time to try and work out a long term deal for the 7 year veteran, or simply keep him in a sort of ‘prove it’ mode, denying him the luxury of feeling comfortable and secure in his long-term future with the team until he plays well enough to earn it.

Cutler played in 15 games last season for the Bears, completing 58.8% of his passes, throwing for 3033 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He was fifth in the NFL when it came to hitting the ground, sacked a total of 38 times.

Brendan Rodgers was in attendance to watch the Cup Final between Manchester City and Wigan last weekend, doing it in an attempt to get a closer look at the two players he’s thinking of going after this summer. Liverpool aren’t going to bring in anyone older than 25, or so it seems, and they’re also hoping for players who won’t be costing too much. Rodgers is rumored to have a £25-30 million piggy bank to use, and he needs to spend it on a number of players.

McManaman might be the more intriguing option of the two, emerging this season at the age of 22, especially late in the year. It wasn’t enough to help Wigan be saved, and he did earn a notorious name for himself with his horror tackle on Massadio Haidara (Newcastle). But McManaman was named as the man of the match of the FA Cup final, and shows some impressive moments in the 20 matches he has played for Wigan this season, only 7 of them as a starter.

McManaman is a name Liverpool fans look fondly back on, but this youngster, 22, is a different kind of player. A forward more known for his passing and aggression than vision and abundance of talent. It’s a bit hard to say if he’s the kind of player that can upgrade the club.

As for McCarthy, he’s been actually on the Liverpool shortlist for a while, even before Rodgers arrived at the club. The 22 Irishman who was born in Glasgow has been a very dominant player for Wigan over the last couple of years, showing both enforcer and creative qualities in the middle of the pitch. He has scored three goals this season, but it his influence in the middle of the pitch - distribution with defensive abilities that has caught the eyes of his admirers.

Fee? For both of them, Wigan will probably ask for £8 million together, maybe slightly more. They’re both signed till 2016, but the pressure to leave the club will be greater now that they’re no longer in the Premier League. McCarthy would obviously be the bigger change for the club, although it’s unclear if he’ll be able to grab a place in the lineup with the current crop of players at the club. McManaman seems like an even longer “project for the future”, and both of them might not worth the hassle.

Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski. Only one of them is an actual striker, and he isn’t very good. Walcott and Podolski are both better scorers, but aren’t a real target man in the full sense of the word. Higuain might not be as well, but he’s one of those players who doesn’t do too many things too well, except for scoring goals.

How well? In 188 La Liga matches for Real Madrid, he has scored 105 goals. While it took him time during his first couple of seasons, arriving as a teenager from River Plate (although he was born in France), his tally from 2008 and onward greatly improved, getting more and more playing time in his favored position. Over the last five seasons, Higuain has scored 95 goals in 144 matches, inlcuding three seasons of more than 22 goals on one of the most demanding clubs in the world.

For the national team, Higuain has scored 19 times in his 32 caps, including a hat-trick in the 2010 World Cup, which ended in the quarterfinals for the side. He’s battled with Karim Benzema for a place next to Cristiano Ronaldo in recent years, usually winning the battle unless Mourinho went with the three-strikers formation.

The price? While Arsenal value Higuain at £18 million, Real Madrid know they can probably get a little bit more out of them. There’s also interest from other clubs, which should help Arsenal add a few figures to the amount they wire, something around £22-23 million, which sounds about right for a prolific striker who is only 25 and has a few more years of his best football to give.

According to reports in Portugal, United are offering £25 million to Benfica for the Argentine talent, who has been playing for Benfica since 2010, and has gotten used to finishing second behind Porto through the years.

He had impressed in both the Champions League and the Europa League this season, in all scoring 4 goals and adding 12 assists in 41 matches. While he is a natural attacking midfielder, he often plays on the left wing for Benfica, cutting to the middle as much as possible.

While United have the starting position behind the striker quite covered – Shinji Kagawa is hoping to get more playing time and go through less injuries next season, and that is even before we start talking about Wayne Rooney, the wings are quite vacant. No one really impressed playing on either left or right this season, which means Gaitan should have no problem, at least initially, grabbing the spot on the left flank.

Signed until 2016, Gaitan has a release clause fee of €45 million, but United aren’t planning on just sending money for him. Trying to get rid of their two big disappointments over the last couple of seasons: Anderson and Nani will eventually lead to one of them being part of some sort of exchange package with either Porto or Benfica. At the moment, United are closer to Gaitan from Benfica than James Rodriguez from Porto, and so Anderson is the one being offered as part of the deal.

The 25 year old has appeared six times for the national team, but hasn’t been capped since June 2011.

All the questions of uncertainty are back on the table once more, even if the season isn’t completely over. Cristiano Ronaldo went back to his younger, foolish and hot tempered self by trying to kick the head off of Gabi. Jose Mourinho simply continued the awful road he’s been on this season which reeks of opportunism, selfishness and sabotaging. Mesut Ozil, just like in other big matches over the last few seasons, simply wasn’t there when Real Madrid needed him to.

Luck makes everything seem so different. Cristiano Ronaldo had another one of those matches in which he scores an early goal but does nothing else for the rest of the match, which lasted more than 90 minutes this time. If you take a closer inspection at his history, you’ll see that these bad matches happen when he scores one of his trademarks #Hangtime goals.

Real Madrid hit the post three times, including once by Ronaldo and once by Mesut Ozil. Thibault Courtois, who is proving this season he is the best young goalkeeper in Europe, made quite a few spectacular, instinctive saves, including a few in one on one situations, leaving Mesut Ozil broken and shattered at the end, knowing that he had the best of ‘em that the goalkeeper, and one goal-line clearance earlier one, made a world of difference.

Ronaldo let his frustration eat him up. He doesn’t know how to lose to Atletico Madrid, and its weird being in the Santiago Bernabeu and feeling most of the stadium is against you. Behind in overtime and less than a second after being aggressively fouled from behind, Ronaldo did something only super-athletic players can. While falling on his back he tried to kick Gabi in the head, with not intention of hiding it. He only clipped his nose, but there was nothing he could do but hold his hands to his waist and see a bench brawl emerge thanks to the peaceful personalities of Diego Costa and Pepe.

Mourinho didn’t lose tactically to Simeone. Real Madrid were the much better side, while Atletico, for the third time this season, struggled to move the ball well and show their regular ability. But they made plays happen, contrary to the two previous meetings. Falcao didn’t do anything all match long, but his assist to Diego Costa was a wonderful blend of talent, inspiration and determination.

But Mourinho lost his head, and after everything that has happened this season, it’s hard to know if it’s on purpose in his ploy to get fired and pick up severance money, or is it really something he felt strongly about. It seems he has lost his players’ respect, and is losing huge chucks of dignity as well as the season come to an end. A failure, no one can deny, which might cast a bad light on the entire three-year tenure for him, and even the four-year tenure of Ronaldo and the beginning of the Galacticos 2.0.

The third season is a failure. This is the worst season of my life. For many coaches it would be good, but for me it’s terrible. I had never finished a season without one of the important trophies. The Supercopa does not satisfy me.

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Splitter hasn’t been used much in this series, but finally, over the last couple of games, he has shaken off his injury problems and the Spurs have looked much better definitively for it, limiting the Warriors to 86.5 points per game. Splitter was incredible off the pick-and-roll all night, scoring 14 points, including two layups early in the fourth quarter that kept the Warriors from getting any closer to six. Ginobili wasn’t hitting shots (1-6) from the field, but he was finding open men all over the place, finishing with 11 assists in the 94-82 win.

Tony Parker was only 3-for-16 throughout the game, scoring 13 points and adding 8 assists. The Spurs were so efficient off Pick-and-rolls for their big man, especially for Duncan and Splitter, combining for 16 points. It was especially evident and effective considering how badly the Warriors’ big men fizzled out, scoring only 3 points on such plays, as the Spurs once again took away the Stephen Curry weapon, leaving the Warriors looking like a very limited team.

Curry simply didn’t recover from game 1, because it forced the Spurs to keep a much better eye on him, and the same goes from Klay Thompson, who hardly contributed during the series except for game 2. The return of Splitter made the defensive adjustments much more comfortable for the Spurs, and Leonard made life very difficult for Thompson, scoring only 10 points on 4-12 from the field.

Curry? He couldn’t score off the dribble, making only 38% of those shots in game 6 and a terrible 33% in games 2 through 6. The Spurs sent Danny Green on him more and more throughout the series, and his 22 points in the 82-94 loss to close out the series didn’t negate the fact that the Spurs continued attacking him on offense, with Curry posting a -19 during his 40 minutes on the floor.

San Antonio are going to have a very different series when they face the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western finals. A lot less chasing around the perimeter (Although Mike Conley is going to be a major factor), a lot more falling into the paint and trying to help Duncan and Splitter on Gasol and Randolph. San Antonio showed they can learn while going forward, making the right kind of adjustments as the series goes on.

More importantly? The emergence of Green, Leonard and the return of Splitter. While the preferred way to win is still when Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili do most of the damage through ball handling and Tim Duncan is amazing in the post, their younger, newer and less proven players have what it takes to be more than just role players. They have what it takes to be leaders for a championship caliber team.

You wouldn’t expect the Knicks to be the winners against the Indiana Pacers in a game that both teams score a total of 160 points (85-75) in, but the Knicks made the most of George Hill not playing due to a concussion while Roy Hibbert played a series-low 31 minutes due to foul trouble, which gave the Knicks a little bit of a breather when it came to grabbing some rebounds.

Anthony finally shot more than 40% from the field, which hasn’t happened too often in this postseason

Anthony led the scoring with 28 points on 12-for-28 from the field. He still had a hard time getting to the line (only 4 times), but unlike the previous two losses, in which Anthony didn’t score in both fourth quarters, he made a couple of big baskets while not trying to force anything during that quarter. His first basket, with six minutes left to play, gave the Knicks a six point lead, as he posted up successfully on Sam Young. The second basket, with 03:07 on the clock, Anthony finally managed to make a shot while posting up on Paul George.

The rest was defense. The Pacers have been very successful on offense in the series running the pick & roll, averaging 0.81 points per possession on such plays. They tried even more Pick & Rolls in game 5, but were a lot less successful in those plays. The Pick-and-roll ball handlers shot only 27.3% from the field in game 5, while turning the ball over four times. With George Hill calling those shots, the Pacers were 50% on those plays through the first four games in the series.

It was also the decision making in the clutch. Paul George is a good shooter, but when he has the ball too much in his hands, it doesn’t end up too well for the Pacers. He’s not the kind to be a point-forward just yet, as the Pacers turned the ball over on three of their last four possessions, adding two missed free throws to make it a terrible finale in another one of those road games in which nothing worked for them.

I was totally impressed because we met the challenge. I think as a coach you come into games like this and you want to see who’s going to step up and make plays, and I thought we did that tonight. We were the better team in terms of doing that. We’re not going away without a fight.

J.R. Smith gets pushed from behind while taking a shot, so he gets to show his ballet skills

The Knicks enjoyed Roy Hibbert’s 17 minutes off the court, getting a +10 in those while being even with the confused Pacers (17 turnovers) while he was on the court. Hibbert finished with 9 points and 7 rebounds, but the Knicks weren’t crushed under the basket, and had David West playing a bigger role in the paint than he would like to, giving the Pacers a smaller look that hasn’t worked well for them in this postseason.

Heading into game 6, the Knicks know it’s a lot more about what the Pacers do or don’t do than it is about them. If George Hill is back, the same defensive problems will show up once again. If Roy Hibbert avoids fouls early on, Tyson Chandler is in trouble. Chris Copeland isn’t going to score 13 points against big lineups, and there doesn’t seem to be a single player on the Knicks except for Carmelo Anthony that seems even a little bit confident in his ability to get points on the board.

Freeney has been on a constant decline over the last four seasons, even in the 4-3 system. From 13.5 sacks in 2009 to 10 sacks in 2010 to 8.5 sacks in 2011 and a disappointing 5 sacks last season , playing as an outside linebacker in Chuck Pagano’s 3-4 defense that doesn’t really suit Freeney’s talents, who is fifth among active players with 107.5 career sacks and is a three-time First Team All-Pro.

The Chargers have already made a minor backup plan come to life by signing Thomas Keiser, who last played for the Carolina Panthers. A surprising start in 2011 turned into a disappointing 2012 for him, limited by an elbow injury. In case Freeney doesn’t sign, there’s a chance Keiser will get a second chance to show he can be a consistent pass-rush threat in the NFL.

The Chargers, who play in a 3-4 defense, lost two linebackers to free agency this off-season:  Antwan Barnes (New York Jets) and Shaun Phillips (Denver Broncos), which made Ingram their top option on the edge after not getting too many chances during his rookie season. He got injured during organized team activities this week, and is out for the season.

Freeney has been courted by plenty of teams this off-season, but until this month he actually thought he might be able to be signed for around $6 million a season. The NFL Draft and reality hit him in the face, and it seems it’s no longer a matter of money, but just finding someone who can give him a job, and a minimal number of snaps each game.

Starks has been with the Steelers since 2004, winning two Super Bowls with the team, and the starting left tackle in Pittsburgh since 2008. While he did have some injury problems hold him back prior to 2012, he played the full 16 game schedule last season, and is looking in what might be the best shape of his career entering the fourth decade of his life.

Both the Chargers and the Cardinals need a lot of help in the offensive line, and their picks in the drafts, both using a first round pick on an offensive lineman, won’t be enough to make their quarterbacks – Carsom Palmer in Arizona and Philip Rivers in San Diego, safe and confident that they can perform at their absolute best without being prepared to take a vicious hit.

The Cardinals allowed more sacks than anyone else last season as they used three different quarterbacks due to injuries destroying their season. They used their number one pick (7th overall) on Jonathan Cooper, a guard out of North Carolina, and added another guard, Earl Watford out of James Madison, in the fourth round. It’s clear that they still need some help around the edges, and Starks, who has visited with the team, is their top choice.

Same goes for the Charges, who took D.J. Fluker out of Alabama as their number one pick in their revamping of the offensive line, but they’re hoping that they find someone better than King Dunlap to man the left tackle position. Max Starks seems to be that number option to be that guy, although there rumors suggesting a third and fourth team are involved in the courting process.

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