Torrey Smith says his former teammate is being blackballed and treated more harshly than players in the league who have committed crimes.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara recently said that he received a number of "emotional" letters from fans saying that if any Giants players protest the way Kaepernick did, by kneeling during the national anthem, they would never come to another game.

"I heard he's one of the best owners in the league, so I don't want people to think I'm disrespecting this guy. I'm not," Smith said. "But it's just the fact that he commented about people, the fans, being mad about that but you just had a [kicker] on your team who you were trying to hold onto for dear life until it was too late."

Smith was referencing Josh Brown, whom the Giants re-signed despite a domestic violence allegation against him. They ultimately released Brown in October.

"People are accepting and willing to [forgive] people when they beat the hell out of women, sell drugs, do whatever and commit all kinds of crimes and you're able to forget that," said Smith, who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles. "I'm a believer in second chances. I believe in second chances for a guy like [Bengals rookie] Joe Mixon, even though I'm an advocate against domestic violence.

"But I think you have to be open-minded to know that [Kaepernick] did not commit a crime, he didn't hurt anybody, he didn't do anything. It was a protest, and now people are kind of locking him out or don't want to support anybody that's associated with him when you're willing to support people who beat women, do all kinds of other crazy things. It just doesn't make sense."

Derek Carr has given the Oakland Raiders a deadline of training camp to discuss a contract extension.

Carr will break off talks and play the 2017 season under the final season of his rookie contract if the two sides are unable to agree upon an extension by the start of training camp.

"I wouldn't even answer my phone," Carr said Tuesday, following the Raiders' open-to-the-media OTA practice. "The money isn't the thing that drives me. ... What drives me is making sure I'm giving everything that I have with my abilities, and making sure that we win. And I don't want anything distracting my thought process at all.

"Now, that's not a jab, or anything like that. That's just me saying I'm not going to deal with anything that's not helping me just focus on winning."

The Seattle Seahawks are unlikely to sign Colin Kaepernick.

The Seahawks have been the only team to express interest in Kaepernick this offseason.

Despite starting last season for the San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick has received little to no interest in free agency.

Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem throughout the 2016 season, but he's said he won't do so again in 2017.

Matt Asiata has signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions.

Asiata had an extended tryout with the team during rookie minicamp two weeks ago and the Lions didn't initially sign him. After the first week of OTAs, though, the team made a move.

Asiata has played his entire career with the Minnesota Vikings, recording 361 carries for 1,259 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also showed some ability as a receiver, catching 101 passes for 722 yards and a touchdown.

"Anybody knows who has seen him work, he's a good special-teamer," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said before the minicamp. "He's tough. He's a very good pass protector and he carries the ball. He runs behind his pads. He's always been a very, very effective player in this league."

Victor Cruz has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears.

Cruz, 30, joined the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of UMass in 2010 and quickly made his mark. He starred on their Super Bowl XLVI-winning team in 2011 and had 303 catches, 4,549 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns during his time with the Giants.

The Bears were thin at wide receiver following the departure of Alshon Jeffery.

Cruz is 2½ years removed from major knee surgery and would have counted for $9.4 million against the Giants' salary cap in 2017. New York freed up $7.5 million in cap space with his release.

The New England Patriots have signed Andrew Hawkins to a one-year deal.

"I'm super excited about the opportunity to join the reigning football champions. I exited Cleveland, and I said it was about joining a contender and the Patriots are the contender, the reigning champs. The program is top-notch and you get the opportunity to play with the best quarterback and the best coach in NFL history," said Hawkins.

Hawkins, 31, worked out for the team last week. He most recently made headlines by earning his master's degree from Columbia with a 4.0 GPA.

The Browns had released him on Feb. 27 in a move the wide receiver agreed was best for all parties.

Kirk Cousins says he's in a "good place" with his current contract with Washington.

The quarterback's long-term status with Washington has yet to be addressed. The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign a long-term contract is July 15.

"I've had very positive conversations with everybody involved throughout the process this offseason," Cousins said. "I feel like everybody is on the same page and I really have nothing further to add from what's already been said. I feel good about where I'm at, where this team is at, where my teammates are at so now it's a matter of trying to move forward and we'll see what happens come July 15. It will be a telling date as it was last summer."

The Seattle Seahawks are scheduled to work out some veteran quarterbacks and Colin Kaepernick is slated to be among them, according to sources.

Pete Carroll said earlier this month that the Seahawks would consider Kaepernick when looking for a backup to Russell Wilson.

The New England Patriots have restructured Rob Gronkowski's contract for the 2017 season, giving him the chance to become the NFL's highest-paid tight end through incentives.

The new deal will give Gronkowski a chance to boost his salary this year from $5.25 million to $10.75 million.

Gronkowski, 28, hasn't played a 16-game season since 2011. Including the playoffs, he has missed 30 of the team's 92 games over the past five seasons.

Washington remains engaged with Kirk Cousins on a long-term contract.

While Bruce Allen remains optimistic, he knows there might not be much movement for another two months.

Washington and Cousins have until July 15th to agree upon a long-term deal.

"There’s been constant dialogue," Allen said at the Redskins Charitable Foundation Golf Tournament at Army Navy Country Club. "I don’t want to say it’s every day. I do believe the July 15 league deadline will be the driving point, but it’s ongoing."

Cousins will make $24 million in guaranteed money this season if he plays under the franchise tag.

"I'm always an optimist," he said. "Even Kirk said it, there's a lot of players in the league on one-year deals. It’s the nature of it. We’d like to get a long-term deal and he should want to get a long-term deal."