NFL Notes: Saquon Barkley, Dolphins, Vikings

Saquon Barkley

• A high-level NFL executive tells Matt Miller of B/R that he believes Penn State RB Saquon Barkley has the potential to be “the best running back of the last decade” and a better player than either Leonard Fournette or Ezekiel Elliott.

Dolphins

Dolphins HC Adam Gase said Friday that they plan to get suspended S T.J. McDonald involved this offseason and during preseason games before his misses the first eights games.

“We’re just going to practice him,” Gase said, via Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post. “We’re going to give him the reps that he needs. We’ve got to go through our process with him. I’ve played against him, but I haven’t seen him practice and go through a daily routine and all those type of things, so we need to get used to him as he needs to get used to us.

Gase explained that safety was a position they needed to get better production from this year and they wanted to ensure that they had more depth there this season.

“It’s a good signing for us because we feel like that position is something that we didn’t do as well as we needed to,” Gase said. “Last year we got a little thin and some guys had to really step up and play and try to fill into some roles and they were playing multiple roles. We wanted to make sure that didn’t happen this year and we wanted to sign enough guys that we felt comfortable at that spot.”

Vikings

• Vikings HC Mike Zimmer mentioned Saturday at a youth football camp that he recently had an eighth eye surgery since he suffered a detached retina last year, via Ben Goessling.
• Zimmer is hopeful that this procedure will be his last but admits: “I’ve thought that before.”
• According to Zimmer, his eye is “healing” and hasn’t prevented from participating in things such as his charitable football camp.