NFL new england Patriots

Retired NFL quarterback Trent Green is the first-ever guest columnist of MMQB, filling in while Peter King is on vacation. Green provided an interesting read on subjects relating to the league's personal conduct policy, concussions and the expanded season. And of course it wouldn't be a MMQB without a healthy dose of Favre thrown in for good measure.

What jumps out of Green's article is his prediction that 10 quarterbacks will have over 4,000 yards passing this season. He says six are a lock to do it (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Phillip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers), and seven have the potential to do it (Jay Cutler, Matt Cassel, Carson Palmer, Matt Schaub, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Matt Hasselbeck).

Let's put this prediction in context:

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady are, on a very rare occasion or two, scrutinized by the paparazzi. The proverbial heat is probably going to get cranked even more based on the newest rumor: Gisele is pregnant.

So sayeth People (who claim that speculation has grown since Bundchen recently appeared in photos with a "perceptible bump" underneath her shirt).

"Gisele will be an excellent mother," a source tells PEOPLE. "She's always wanted kids." Reps for Bündchen reached by PEOPLE for confirmation refused to comment.

Michael Vick is now free, both legally and professionally. He got out of the joint last month, and yesterday, the Falcons, the team that selected him with the first-overall pick in 2000, released him.

Even before Atlanta made it official, much of the talk this offseason (when we weren't discussing the implications of another Brett Favre fake retirement) has been about where Vick might play in 2009. Plenty of teams have issued "Yeah, we're not interested" statements, but athleticism trumps off-field troubles and there's a good chance Vick is playing somewhere next season, even if it's not at quarterback.

Bill Belichick is a lot of things, both real and imagined, but he rarely uses the media to take shots at opponents. Yes, he went off on Freddie Mitchell, but I'm not even sure that counts. Mitchell was flapping his gums about the Patriots prior to Super Bowl XXXIX and it prompted this response from Belichick: "All he does is talk. He's terrible, and you can print that. I was happy when he was in the game."

I mention that encounter because despite Belichick's sometimes tumultuous relationship with the New York Jets -- he resigned a half-hour after accepting the gig in 1999, and didn't appear to be particularly fond of former assistant Eric Mangini once he took the job in 2006 (This probably didn't help; on the upside, Bill and Herm never had any problems, and there's video evidence as proof. [Waves at camera, mouths "hello," laughs hysterically.]) -- he has yet to go "FredEx" on anybody associated with the team.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Look, the NFL offseason is freaking boring. I know, I know, if you're reading this, you're a die-hard and you can't get enough NFL news, even in June. But the fact is there's little-to-nothing going on this time of year. Which is why you've got to love Jets coach Rex Ryan and Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder for spicing things up the way they have the past couple of days.

Ryan and Crowder have been hooked up in a little war of words for the past week. And their dispute, rooted in Ryan's tough talk about not being intimidated by anybody else in the AFC East and Crowder's hurt feelings on behalf of a division-champion team that he feels isn't being given enough credit for its 2008 accomplishment, continued today.

If you need a quick chuckle on this Hump-Day morning, just picture a future Hall of Fame quarterback needing to be rescued from a kayaking mishap -- while watching his supermodel wife safely scooting down the stream.

Yes, Tom Brady -- the all-everything quarterback of the New England Patriots -- rented a pair of kayaks Sunday with wife Gisele Bundchen so they could ride down the Charles River side-by-side. Whether he was a bit more adventurous or less capable with the kayak, we don't know. What we do know is that Brady cap-sized his ride and needed to be saved by another man.

Pio Sagapolutele, a former player for the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints, passed away after a massive stroke and heart attack Sunday. The Samoan-born defensive lineman was only 39 years old.

UPDATE: Reports have now surfaced that Sagapoutele actually died of a brain aneurysm, not a heart attack and stroke as was originally reported.

Sagapolutele was born in American Samoa, grew up in Hawaii, and attended San Diego State University before being selected by the Browns in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He played 92 games in seven seasons, amassing seven career sacks and 89 solo tackles. He started at right defensive tackle in Super Bowl XXXI for Bill Parcells' Patriots. A bevy of injuries forced Sagapolutele to retire in 1999.

When Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison were introduced as the newest members of NBC's NFL commentating team, I figured that NBC was trying a "good cop/bad cop" routine.

Dungy could appear on Football Night in America to offer his analysis from his perspective as the consummate nice guy, while Harrison could play the heel, ripping everyone and everything.

In one of Harrison's first interviews since getting the NBC job, he strongly indicated that the bad cop will, indeed, be his role.

Well, whaddya know, Joey Porter is back at the complaint department. The easily irritated Dolphin linebacker doesn't like all this talk about the Patriots being the favorite to win the AFC East in 2009.

"I don't understand how you can put somebody in front of us. We won the championship. We were AFC East champions. I just don't think it's supposed to happen like that. You've got to beat somebody to be the champs. We had to beat somebody to be the champs."

The only problem with Porter's reasoning is that the Dolphins had to beat the Chargers to be the champs.

Sports Illustrated's Don Banks has thrown out a topic guaranteed to stir up a lot of passion and a lot of hate by ranking the 32 NFL teams over the past decade. That leads to the bigger question: is the title of team of the decade still up for grabs?

The Packers were the team of the 1960s, the Steelers claimed the 1970s, the 49ers dominated the 80s and the Cowboys were the team of the 1990s (even if their domination lasted for only the first half of the decade). Heading into the final year of the decade, the Patriots are the clear leaders to earn the title "Team of the 00s" with three Super Bowl rings and four Super Bowl appearances, but Banks argues that the Steelers could end up stealing that moniker with a second-straight Lombardi Trophy that would also give them three rings this decade.

And Banks even goes as far as saying that the Colts could move into the argument with their second Super Bowl title since they could end the decade with a better record than the Patriots.