The 5 O'Clock Club: What to do on a slow day in the off-season

The 5 o’clock club aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

There’s a certain amount of pressure that comes with committing to putting up topics for discussion 7 days a week, and the task gets really challenging at certain times of the year. There’s a 3 or 4 week period between the tailing off of free agent frenzy and the draft (now), and another dead zone that kicks in around the beginning of May, after the draft has been digested, and lasts until sometime in July when training camps start.

On those occasions when I’m not sure what to put at the top of the 5 o’clock club, I often look at other NFL web sites for inspiration.

Today I clicked on OverTheCap — they haven’t posted a new article since 12 March (though they’ve certainly been busy keeping up with the contract changes of free agents, cuts and traded players).

NFL.com is usually an empty well for breaking news, as they are usually the last to publish, but they sometimes have some good articles on rankings & stuff like that. Today? Nothing inspiring.

My usual go-to for inspiration is Pro Football Talk, which makes a living out of monitoring Twitter, and turning tweets into 200-word articles all day long, then tossing in an editorial or three each day. Today, here’s what they offered me:

John O’Korn: I’m the most NFL-ready quarterback in the draft

I don’t know who John O’Korn is, and I’m not sure I want to know.

Earl Thomas: I’m going to be rich and happy wherever I play

I’m thrilled for Earl Thomas, but I can’t think of any way to turn this into a 5 o’clock club post.

NFL “looking into” Michael Bennett matter

Yeah, this is likely to be the 2018 version of last year’s Zeke Elliott affair. Too early to know what to think about it now.

Johnny Manziel: “This is the last of the last chances”

Really? Johnny was an ‘arm’ at a pro day. Somebody was paying off an old debt, I guess. Is anyone in the NFL still paying attention to him, or taking him seriously?

NFL not considering rule change on fumbles through the end zone

Breaking news. Stop the presses.

Martellus Bennett retires from the NFL

Trying to take the spotlight off of his brother, I guess. Apparently Marty’s gonna create kid’s books, or something like that...

Cardinals send Jared Veldheer to Broncos

Okay. At least this is football news, but I can’t find any way to figure out how to make this relevant to Hogs Haven readers at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning in March.

Andre Roberts signs one-year deal with Jets

No, we don’t get a comp pick for this just because Roberts used to play for the ‘Skins. Nice try, though.

Report: Bills release Ryan Davis

Defensive end depth player. Unless someone tells me otherwise, I’m not getting excited about this.

Tony Romo finishes last in PGA event

What I like about this is that Tony still counts for $8.9m against the Cowboys’ salary cap, and he is out playing bad golf while Jerry Jones struggles to find cash to sign players.

So, basically, I got nuthin’.