Jumbo Package: First Gump day of May

What they're saying nationally about Nick Saban's new salary

From Twitter:

-- "The state of Alabama could give Nick Saban a blank check & whatever number he filled in wouldn't be enough 4 what he has done in that state." SEC Network's Booger McFarland.

-- There are overpaid coaches in college athletics. Nick Saban is not one of them." -- Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel.

-- "From reporting within ESPN: There is no current coach ESPN would love to hire more than Nick Saban. Bet he'll be there after contract is up." Sports Illustrated's media reporter Richard Deitsch.

-- Alabama football coach Nick Saban will make more than 92 TIMES what Alabama's governor Kay Ivey will make this year." ESPN's Darren Rovell.

-- "#Alabama OLB coach Tosh Lupoi, who turned down DC jobs, gets a raise to $950K..no program's more committed to CFB at highest level than Bama." Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman.

-- "Pay the man!!!! Thanks for Teaching me how to be a pro coach @CoachLup." Former Alabama LB Ryan Anderson on Lupoi.

Right now, all the news surrounding the Alabama football program is that of Nick Saban’s new, massive contract extension through 2025. We posted a thread on this yesterday, so I won’t go into too much depth today. Check out CB969’s post here. And if you want to read even more links, the AL.com article I linked above has even more links.

With the new extension, it’s pretty safe to say that Saban is trying to make it clear to the rest of the world that he intends to stay at Alabama until he retires. It also nips in the bud any whisperings from other coaches with the intent of swaying recruits away from the Tide by insisting that Saban is about to retire.

Knowing Nick, I wouldn’t be surprised if that latter side effect was actually his main driving force for getting the contract done and out into the news.

Alabama a contender for 5-star Micah Parsons; Crimson Tide coaches see elite QB recruits

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Parsons earned an invite to NIKE's The Opening Finals in Beaverton, Ore., which will be held from June 28-July 3.

Parsons, the nation's No. 3 overall recruit, recently decommitted from Penn State. He told PennLive.com that he is in no rush to make another decision. Alabama will be in the mix.

"It's pretty cool," he said of hearing from the Tide. "[One of the coaches] said he's gonna come down some time next week. It was just a blessing."

Co-offensive coordinator Mike Locksley recruits the area and would likely be the assistant who makes the trip.

Penn State, USC, Ohio State and Georgia are among schools in the mix.

Read the full report from PennLive.com. Alabama has offered Parsons the chance to also play running back, he said on Twitter earlier this year.

Speaking of the recruiting world, Parsons would be a huge pick-up for Alabama if we could swing it. The #3 overall player would easily be the highest rated quarterback of the Saban-era, above even Blake Barnett and Tua Tagovailoa.

Also, check out that last line. Saban also offered him the chance to play running back. So, a 6’3” 235 pound QB who can also play running back? Sounds like a Tim Tebow athletic clone to me.

Recapping Alabama's spring: Running backs

-- Defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick on freshman Najee Harris: “Najee, he runs hard. He doesn’t want to go to the ground, and you can see that every time he touches the ball. He’s really hard to tackle in the open field. Like you said, he’s jumping over people, he’s running through people, running around people and he’s a great athlete. A really fast runner, really explosive. It’s really good to see him out there.”

-- Wide receiver Cam Sims on freshmen running backs: “Big backs that know how to run. That know how to move. It’s something I’ve never seen before. It’s like Derrick Henry. (Harris’ hurdles) was my first time seeing something like that in real life.”

247 also has some analysis and stats on the running backs from this spring in the article, but I always like reading player interviews and quotes on how they feel about their teammates.

Najee Harris continues to make a great impression with even the veterans, despite the fact that he’ll likely enter as #4 on the depth chart. It’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t find some way onto the field this season. Maybe as a kick returner? He made a few appearances there during the A-day game.

The Opening Finals 2017 Official Roster

Xavier Williams:

This is a crafty pass catcher that does a nice job of working both underneath and behind the defense. Williams is a reliable target that does a good job of catching the ball away from his body, but also flashes impressive body control and concentration when dragging his feet in bounds and adjusting to poorly thrown balls. Williams isn't the biggest wide receiver across the map, but he can certainly get vertical and attack the football at its highest point. Williams is always looking to advance the football after the catch and does a good job doing so, but you definitely can't overlook his personality and qualities away from the field as well.

Nike has released the roster for the Opening Finals 2017 for this summer. As of right now, Florida receiver Xavier Williams is the only Tide commit on the roster. But it would still be good to take a look and familiarize yourselves with some of the names, because by next February, there’s a good shot quite a few of them will be signing on to come to Tuscaloosa.

That said, LSU and Florida State both have way too many commits on this roster... It makes me a little uncomfortable.

These SEC undrafted players still have a shot

LS Cole Mazza, New York Jets: You might be saying, "Who?" right now. Chances are you don’t know Mazza’s name, and that’s sort of the point. It was his job as long snapper to go unnoticed, and at Alabama he did a spectacular job of never botching a field goal or punt opportunity. That reliability should serve him well for a long time in the NFL, even if it never led to him hearing his name on draft night.

Mazza has as good of a chance as any to make it in the pros. Every single NFL team has a long-snapper, and most are always looking to get one on a rookie deal, as they all hate to spend any more money than they have to on a position that only plays a few snaps each game.