5 things you need to know for Thursday

Hello football fans! Here are the five things you need to know from Wednesday to start your day:

In the latest edition of his Teaching Tape series, PFF’s Mike Renner dove deep on the Dallas Cowboys and the running game. Except, in what might seem like a surprise twist, the running game in question is the Cowboys’ run defense. Dallas had a sneaky-good run defense in 2016, allowing the fewest total rushing yards in the league and the eighth-best yards per carry. They did that despite no big names or big salaries playing run defense.
Per reports from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and others, the Raiders and QB Derek Carr are reportedly close on a contract extension. The contract would be worth a reported $25 million a year, which would make Carr the highest-paid quarterback in the league. Entering his fourth season, Carr has made steady improvement, and he finished 2016 as the sixth-highest-graded quarterback.
New Ravens WR Jeremy Maclin says he played last season in Kansas City with a torn groin. Maclin’s PFF grade of 67.2 in 2016 was only 78th-best out of 115 qualifying receivers, and he struggled to stay on the field, playing only 631 snaps out of 1,022 possible. The Chiefs released Maclin earlier this month, freeing him to sign with the Ravens.
Carolina TE Greg Olsen wouldn’t close the door on the possibility of a training camp holdout. Olsen spoke on Adam Schefter’s podcast Tuesday about the chances he pushes for a new contract in training camp this year, coming off of three straight seasons as a top-three tight end per PFF grades, including a career-high 87.5 grade in 2016.
The notion of handcuffing in fantasy has been a hotly debated topic. PFF Fantasy’s George Kritikos takes that a step further, investigating the idea of handcuffing — pairing a backup running back with the starter to more-or-less ensure having a particular team’s running game locked up — in dynasty leagues, to have more long-term security at the position.