It’s becoming increasing clearer by the day that Chargers GM A.J. Smith would rather clean toilets at a state penitentiary than pay Vincent Jackson what he wants (i.e. roughly $47.5 million over four years), which is the deal Brandon Marshall got from the Dolphins). With that in mind, will he inevitably try to trade the talented receiver?

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chargers have made it known that Jackson (who remains an unhappy, unsigned restricted free agent) is available via trade. Assuming the Bolts don’t want to trade Jackson to a division rival or a playoff contender in the AFC, below are the teams that make the most sense if San Diego does indeed trade him.

REDSKINS: Daniel Snyder is so reckless with his money that he wouldn’t bat an eye if it came to paying Jackson as much as Marshall received. The Skins are also desperate for wideout help seeing as how Santana Moss, Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas formed one of the least productive receiver corps in the league last year. Mike Shanahan knows Jackson well from his days as head coach in Denver and therefore, knows how productive he can be in all areas of the game (route running, stretching the field, run-blocking, you name it). The Skins might be the front-runners for Jackson, assuming they’re willing to part with at least a first round pick to acquire his services.

SEAHAWKS: One would think that Seattle wouldn’t be looking for receiving help after investing so much dough in T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Deion Branch, not to mention drafting Golden Tate in April. But Pistol Pete Carroll’s Hawks were in hot pursuit of Marshall before the Dolphins eventually snagged him and they’ve been linked to Jackson this offseason as well. Carroll is aggressive by nature and won’t hesitate to add as much talent to his roster as he can, so don’t count the Seahawks out of the Jackson sweepstakes.

JAGUARS: Speaking of no receiving depth, Jacksonville would love to pair Jackson with Mike Sims-Walker in order to give David Garrard another weapon in the passing game. But there are two major roadblocks here: 1) the Jaguars are cheap and might not be willing to give Jackson a new deal and 2) they might not be willing to give up a first round pick either, seeing as how they like to build through the draft. A Jackson-Jacksonville marriage seems unlikely, but it can’t be ruled out.

BROWNS: Cleveland seems like a great landing spot for Jackson on the surface, but the Browns really like youngsters Mohamed Massaquoi and Brian Robiskie, and appear willing to let the two second-year players develop. Plus, Mike Holmgren knows that teams have to build through the draft and given how new he is in Cleveland, chances are he’s going to want to hang onto his picks for the next couple of years (especially first-rounders).

Comment starter: If the Chargers eventually decided to trade Jackson, where do you see him winding up?

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A week ago, word out of Cincinnati was that Cedric Benson wanted a new contract and the Bengals were entertaining the thought of granting his wish. But Benson’s latest misstep with the law might have cost him the opportunity to earn a little financial security from his current employer.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The Austin American Statesmen is reporting that Bengals running back Cedric Benson was arrested and charged with assault with injury early Tuesday after an incident last month at an Austin bar where witnesses said he punched a bar employee in the face.

Benson was booked into the Travis County jail where he later posted bail and was released, authorities said.

According to the Austin police arrest affidavit, Benson was at Annie's West bar in the Sixth Street entertainment district on May 30 when he got into an altercation with another patron that left him spitting blood from a cut lip.

After staff intervened, witnesses told police Benson shoved a bar worker and was verbally abusive. After being asked to leave, Benson was escorted to the door.

Bar employee Bryan White told police that once outside, Benson complained that “all these white boys are ganging up on me and kicking me out,�then punched White in the face.

After signing with the Bengals, he said of his legal trouble: "Just, it's a humbling experience. It keeps you grounded. It will bring your feet back to the ground if your feet weren't grounded. Just kind of bring you home, (an) opportunity to look in the mirror, re-evaluate yourself and change yourself for the better. I just had to make a better decision, a few better decisions."

This is exactly why I wrote last week that the Bengals should wait to give Benson a new deal. He had gotten into trouble multiple times with the Bears before arriving to Cincinnati and he’s under contract for the 2010 season. Thus, there’s no reason for the Bengals to give him a new deal before he proves that he can produce again on the field and stay out of trouble.

If the NFL suspends him, chances are he can kiss a long-term deal goodbye. The Bengals have proven time after time that they don’t make wise decisions when it comes to signing troubled players, but even they aren’t stupid enough to give Benson a new contract after this. In fact, he could be looking at nothing but one or two-year deals from here on out because no team is going to trust him.

He potentially cost himself millions of dollars because he had to be an idiot in a bar. Talk about bad timing.

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I’m not a doctor and therefore, I’m not qualified to draw conclusions about what eventually happens to people’s brains after years of playing contact sports �most notably football.

But the latest news involving Chris Henry’s death has sprouted a discussion that everyone can be a part of because it strips away the football aspect of the game and reminds us that athletes�long-term health is at risk.

Henry died last December when he fell out of the back of a truck and suffered serious head trauma. Despite the fact that he had no documented instances of concussions while at West Virginia or with the Bengals, recent reports state that he had suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, before his death. (In layman’s terms, he was dealing with brain damage even before he met his tragic end.)

According to doctors, symptoms of CTE can include failure at personal and business relationships, use of drugs and alcohol, depression and even suicide. Henry’s legal troubles over the years have been well documented and just recently, his mother claims that he suffered two concussions while playing high school football, which resulted in headaches. She also states that he started smoking marijuana right around the same time.

But just because Henry smoked pot doesn’t mean that it was because he had brain damage from playing football. He could have made a conscious decision to toke up, just as he could have made a conscious decision to conceal a firearm in January of 2006 (which led to an arrest), assault a valet attendant in Kentucky in 2007, as well as punch an 18-year-old boy while throwing a beer bottle through the window of his car in 2008.

My point is that just because Henry had CTE, it doesn’t mean that anyone can draw conclusions that his issues with the law were directly related to brain damage. Nor can anyone definitively say that playing football caused his CTE. Millions of people play football every year and not all of them are doing drugs, getting arrested for assault or suffering from brain damage.

That said, we can’t say that playing football didn’t cause his CTE either. And perhaps that’s the most frightening aspect of this entire situation. The NFL has had a huge problem on its hands for a while, and that’s protecting the long-term health of its players. That’s why it’s vital that the league continues to do research on the latest equipment to ensure that their athletes are as protected from serious injuries as possible �especially head injuries.

Over the last couple of years, the league has taken a proactive approach in updating the padding of players�helmets and have put rules in place that prohibit players from returning to the field too soon after suffering from concussions. It’s a good start, but the NFL can’t stop there.

The league needs to invest in long-term research about what happens to players�bodies long after they’ve hung up their cleats. Chances are that had Henry not died, his brain damage wouldn’t have been discovered. But even though his death was tragic, maybe it will serve as a wake up call to the NFL that it needs to be even more proactive when it comes to researching what the game’s affects can have on a players�health.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cubs�starter Carlos Zambrano will undergo counseling to help him control his emotional outbursts, much like the one that occurred last Friday when he went bonkers in the dugout in a game against the White Sox. He’s not expected to return to the club until sometime after the All-Star break.

Whether treatment will fix everything in the future is a question Hendry couldn't answer Monday.

''My sense is that after a few days [since Friday], he feels quite remorseful,'' Hendry said after their first talk since Friday. ''We all make mistakes. He's probably made a few more in the last few years than we'd like.

''I think we all agree it's time he got help and then address the apologies later. It's not time for words a few days after the fact, but some action. Hopefully he goes and gets the help he needs and can rectify some of his actions with his teammates and move forward after the break.''

Zambrano will go to New York on Wednesday to meet with two doctors approved by all parties. They will prescribe a course of treatment.

''He certainly understands the situation, and he and his representative signed off on it,'' Hendry said.

Zambrano hadn't spoken to his teammates since the incident. Several tried unsuccessfully to contact him over the weekend.

Hopefully Big Z does get some help and the situation will get resolved. It doesn’t do him, his teammates or the Cubs organization any good if he comes back from treatment and throws another tantrum sometime down the line.

Of course, whether or not he fixes his on-field issues is another question.

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The United States is out of the 2010 World Cup and the most remarkable thing about that fact is that most of the country knows it. Record-breaking audiences in America watched their national soccer team match England, get robbed of a victory against Slovenia and dazzle in the late minutes against Algeria. This was all en route to the knockout stage -- a destination they were expected to make given their pool. But nobody cared about that -- only a small percentage of Americans watching knew any back story about their team. They cared because their friend cared, or their neighbor, co-worker or sibling. Everybody seemed to be watching, or was curious at the very least. It left as quickly as it arrived -- the excitement -- but in its brief period, the American public -- a people largely disinterested in the sport -- got themselves a fast and free education about the beautiful game.

1. Soccer is not a beautiful game.

I wasn't around to witness the Pele-era Brazil teams run circles around other nations with short passes, dead-on accurate crosses and goals kissed into the net with just the right touch. But I've seen footage, and I played on and against enough teams growing up to experience soccer as a cruel game of keep-away, where one side has the otherworldly chemistry to never lose control of the ball. It's amazing. It's art. It's not the 2010 World Cup. Players flop all over place, turning the pitch into a minefield of prima donnas. As frustration builds, cooler heads don't prevail, and they commit fouls. Of course, the center referee is blowing his whistle every 30 seconds attempting to keep things in order. But nothing is. It's sloppy soccer -- soccer with brute force. Goals in this World Cup are made on indecent opportunities -- when the other team has its guard down, or a referee is too scared to be sure.

2. Our team needs a set agenda before each game.

How many times did the U.S. have the lead going into the second half? Answer: none. For a team that won their pool, that's incredible. Preposterous, actually. That fact alone should not have had anyone expecting a run deeper than the quarterfinals. When a team is always playing catch-up, something needs to be changed. In each of these games, Bob Bradley had to adjust his squad accordingly. Bradley couldn't construct an offense that forced the other team to react. As it exciting as it was, the U.S. is too talented to rely on miracles. It's time to trash the fairy tales.

3. A goal in soccer is the most exciting point in sports.

It's the same old argument: there's not enough scoring in soccer. That's why there's basketball, where one basket equals two points. (Note: I know the free-throw dilemma. I know. But I hate free throws.) Patience is a virtue, and a goal is soccer is the most virtuous achievement in all of sport. When this year's World Cup began, so many people complained about the scoring. "How can we get excited when we don't see goal?" Then Landon Donovan netted the winner against Algeria and all those same people rightfully shut up. You experienced the goal; you saw the YouTube video of all the celebrations; you went nuts; you hugged somebody you didn't know; you wouldn't have done any of this with a score of 10-9.

4. Refereeing is just as suspect as in the other sports.

From what I can remember (and from what I've read), it's never been this bad. The thing about referee blunders in soccer is that, because there's so little scoring, one early in the game can dismantle a team's focus to the point of no return. It happened against England, and now they're going home to have their bums chapped by the Queen.

The U.S. had to battle back from a blown call in two games. Who knows? If they hadn't rebounded this team wouldn't have advanced -- they'd be just another crappy U.S. soccer team. Given the amount of control soccer referees have on the game, it's ridiculous how poor they are on the national stage. Of course, the room for error and public scrutiny is there: the field is absolutely gigantic, but yet they only work with a three-man crew; there is no instant replay; they don't have to discuss their performance to the players, coaches or press; they may not be open to dialogue of the game (which takes shape in head-hunting or the ability for players to understand calls) because of a language barrier; they suck.

5. The U.S. national team deserves both worldwide praise and critique.

And it's not because of their performance. The world knows we supported our team as nation, not just as a cluster of groups at local sports bars. With this newfound attention, fans will demand more out of the U.S. squad. Hey, Bob Bradley's job is already in question, even though he coached well. I'm not saying Americans are going to rigorously follow their soccer team over the next four years, but they'll care enough to see that they have a confidant coach and able roster. Am I crazy to think that? It doesn't look like it.

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And this week’s Cliff Lee rumor is brought to you by…Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse and Rotoworld!

Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse has confirmed that the Cardinals are indeed interested in Mariners lefty Cliff Lee.

Where the talks currently stand is anyone's guess. The Cardinals have a very thin farm system and really only boast one top prospect: 19-year-old potential ace Shelby Miller, who has struck out 60 batters in 44 1/3 innings at Single-A this season. If a deal is to happen, he will need to be part of it. Lee, 31, has a 2.39 ERA, a 0.91 WHIP and an incredible 76/4 K/BB ratio through 11 starts this year. He has thrown four complete games, one shutout.

The Mariners are looking for young bats in exchange for Lee and as Rotoworld points out, the Cards are a little thin in that area. If (and that’s a big if) the Rangers were able to overcome their financial restrictions and get involved, then it would be hard for St. Louis to match the compensation that Texas could offer out of its farm.

That said, the Cards have already shown that they’ll do whatever it takes to add missing pieces, as they proved last year by trading for Matt Holliday (who provided much-needed protection behind Albert Pujols). If there’s a deal to be worked out and St. Louis is seriously interested, then expect the Cards to be major players in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes.

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Two years ago, the Buccaneers appeared destined for another playoff run after amassing a 9-3 record behind veteran players like Derrick Brooks, Jeff Garcia, Stylez G. White, Barrett Ruud, Kevin Carter and Antonio Bryant.

But the team faded down the stretch, losing all four of its remaining games (including an embarrassing defeat to the hapless Raiders in the final week of the year) to miss the playoffs entirely. Following the season, both head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen were fired and replaced by the experienced Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik, respectively.

Last year was a disaster for Morris and the Bucs, who finished 3-13 and statistically had one of the worst offenses in the league. Until Morris took over the play calling duties midway through the season, the once proud Tampa Bay defense also took a significant step back from what it was earlier in the decade under former coordinator Monte Kiffin (who left the team following the �8 season to coach with his son at the University of Tennessee).

But one of the main reasons the Glazers fired Gruden and Allen was because of the pair’s desire to rely mostly on veteran players. There was a lot of turnover from year to year under Gruden and Allen and the Glazers felt as though the two weren’t building a young core that could compete for many years, not just one.

While the tag team of Morris and Dominik still has a long way to go in order to prove itself, the Bucs are finally starting to build through the draft and formulate a young core. Quarterback Josh Freeman suffered growing pains as a rookie last season, but the team is encouraged by his development. Kellen Winslow Jr. was acquired via trade last offseason and there’s no doubt that he was the Bucs�most consistent playmaker last season. The defense also has some budding young talent in cornerback Aqib Talib, safety Tanard Jackson and 2010 first round pick Gerald McCoy, to go along with steady veterans like White and Ruud.

Now, there’s no guarantee that Freeman and McCoy will develop into Pro Bowlers or that Winslow will stay healthy. The offensive line (which was supposed to be the team’s strength last season) has to raise its level of production as well and the team still has to find Freeman more weapons to throw to in the passing game. (The hope is that youngsters Mike Williams and Arrelious Benn will develop quickly, but they’re only rookies.)

But considering Morris and Freeman have a season under their belts, it stands to reason that the Bucs will show a lot of improvement this year. That’s not to say that they’ll contend for a playoff spot or even have a winning season, but at least in theory, it appears as though this team is moving forward again.

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While speaking at the NFL’s Rookie Symposium over the weekend, commissioner Roger Goodell said that Titans�quarterback Vince Young is unlikely to be suspended following an incident in which he punched a man in a strip club earlier this month.

From FOX Sports.com:

Goodell acknowledged that a first-time legal offender like Young is unlikely to face an NFL suspension. Young, though, is guilty of embarrassing the NFL with a physical confrontation that was caught on the strip club’s security camera.

When announcing a six-game suspension for Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in April, Goodell said one of the reasons for the punishment stemmed from behavior that “undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs or players.�/p>

Asked whether Young did the same and if that would factor into his final decision, Goodell said, “I think you have to look at these cases individually and understand them in a way of what are the issues going on with any individual. The intent of the (personal conduct) policy is to intervene so you help some individuals make a better decision and avoid these troubles. So when I sit down and look at all the facts around Vince or any other player, you want to make sure they understand that and what the policy was designed to do and more importantly understand the responsibility (of being an NFL player).�/blockquote>

Some think that Goodell is too harsh on players and maybe he is. But the thing he does well is look at each situation separately when it comes to making a decision about whether or not to punish a player. If he needs to compare two separate incidents in order to determine the appropriate punishment for a player he will, but he’s not going to suspend Young for six games just because he served Big Ben for that amount. Nor should he.

Young made a mistake, but this was also the first time he’s been in any sort of trouble. Goodell recognizes that and while he can’t be pleased that the incident occurred, I think it’s fair that Young goes without punishment.

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According to a report by the Cincinnati Enquirer, former Bengals receiver Chris Henry suffered from a chronic brain injury that may have influenced his mental state and behavior before he died last year.

Bailes and fellow researchers believe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is caused by multiple head impacts, regardless of whether those blows result in a concussion diagnosis. A number of studies, including one commissioned by the NFL, have found that retired professional football players may have a higher rate than normal of Alzheimer's disease and other memory problems.

What's interesting, Bailes said, is that Henry was only 26, and neither NFL nor WVU records show he was diagnosed with a concussion during his playing career.

CTE carries specific neurobehavioral symptoms, Bailies said �typically, failure at personal and business relationships, use of drugs and alcohol, depression and suicide.

Bailes said he and Omalu have now analyzed the brains of 27 modern athletes, and the majority showed evidence of CTE. But it's found in only a small number of players, he said.

Whether Henry’s brain damage can be attributed to playing football or not, it’s vital that doctors continue to research ways to make the game safer. Football is a violent game and while the league has taken steps to improve the equipment that players wear, they should never be satisfied when it comes to protecting the athletes.

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