FANTASY FOOTBALL

The Facts: Following up on the ongoing story. ...Brees has been waiting all offseason to get a long-term contract done, and he’s getting sick of waiting. Brees said in an interview with WWL radio that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with what he sees as the Saints dragging their feet in getting a new agreement worked out. “This is a big time for our team, especially when you look at what’s happened in this offseason, missing our head coach, Sean Payton,” Brees said. “There should be a sense of urgency and yet it seems like there’s not.” Reported by Profootballtalk.com

Diehards Line: As we've suggested in the past, until there is a true sense of urgency -- as opposed to a manufactured or media-driven urgency -- there won't be a deal. As for now? As PFT's Michael David Smith explained, from the Saints’ perspective, they know that they have him as their exclusive franchise player and therefore don’t have to worry about him signing with another team. The Saints may figure that they can just hold the line and eventually Brees will give in and accept the one-year franchise tender, or accept a long-term deal worth less money than Brees thinks he deserves -- and the QB clearly isn't happy about it. “It’s been extremely frustrating for me,” Brees said. “The negotiation shouldn’t have been this difficult. ..." So will Brees publicly expressing frustration create real urgency? Not as much, we suspect, as the start of training camp will.

The Facts: For a second consecutive year, the Lions used a second round draft choice on a WR -- Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles -- with the skill-set to make plays from the slot. Scheffler frequently played in the slot in Detroit's two-TE sets last season, but he's not worried about losing playing time to Broyles. "It's one of those things in the NFL where you learn to take care of your business and, as long as I do my job, I'm not really concerned with how he (Broyles) fits in," Scheffler said. "I'll help him out. We'll do a lot of similar stuff, so it's fun to have him. He's a great athlete and shoot, he's one of the best college wide receivers that ever played." Reported by NFL.com

Diehards Line: As NFL.com's Brian McIntyre reminded readers, in Matthew Stafford's 5,000-yard season, Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson were on the field 90 percent of the time, with 2011 second round pick Titus Young playing in nearly two-third of the snaps. Scheffler played in less than 30 percent of the plays, but was tied for second on the team with six receiving touchdowns. So even if Scheffler loses some playing time, he'll surely play a key role in the Lions' red zone offense. Indeed, appearing on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio's FootballDiehards show last weekend, Dan Miller, voice of the Lions, expressed his belief that Scheffler will continue to be a legitimate scoring threat. That doesn't make him a front-line Fantasy tight end -- but it makes him a viable emergency option in deeper leagues.