Carroll will have Seattle ready

For all the offseason talk of dissension in their ranks, the Seahawks might be just where Pete Carroll wants them. We’ve seen that coach circle the wagons before and, knowing Carroll, he’ll harness any negative energy and make the most of it. He can beat that nobody-gave-usa-chance drum and make the most of it. That starts in training camp.

Gimmick or game-changer?

Christian McCaffrey, the star running back from Stanford, is not big at 5 feet 11, 202 pounds, but he’s a versatile, Swiss Army knife-type player who should be able to help Carolina in a lot of ways. The Panthers used the No. 8 pick on him after Jacksonville took 240-pound back Leonard

Fournette with the fourth pick. The Panthers want to take some of the responsibility off the shoulders of Cam

Newton, and a back theoretically can do that (along with providing additional protection). We’ll get a glimpse this summer at how the Panthers plan to use McCaffrey, assuming they reveal at least some of their playbook.

Is Lynch an answer for the Raiders?

Most running backs are done at 31, but “Beast Mode” could have something left in the tank. The Raiders, a likely Super Bowl contender, could definitely use the help. Signing Marshawn Lynch will pay dividends off the field, because that franchise needs all the good vibes it can get locally after announcing it is moving to Las Vegas in 2020. Lynch is from Oakland and played college ball in Berkeley, so he was quickly embraced. Question is, how quickly and effectively will defenders be able to embrace him?

Color him misguided

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians revealed he once drank paint as a kid because he thought it’d make it harder to tackle him. Or, as his pediatrician liked to call to young Arians’ stomach lining, the red zone.

Gone again

Lions DE Armonty Bryant got handed a four-game ban for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy — the third time he’s been suspended in less than a year. Probably not the three-andout his coaches had in mind.

Trying a different tee

John Elway is planning to try to qualify for the 2018 U.S. Senior Open. The strongest part of Elway’s game, insiders say, is the drive.

He said it

Drug-plagued QB Todd

Marinovich, to the Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun, on attempting a comeback at age 48: “My best friends weren’t betting on me, and that’s not betting on me to come back to play football, that’s on me coming back to be on the planet.” Packers LB Clay Matthews, to the NFL Network, on collecting 8½ of his 72½ career sacks against ex-Bear

Jay Cutler: “Hopefully the next in line in Chicago will be as equally willing to help me pad my stats.”

Eric Kolenich of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, after forward Otto Porter — the Wizards’ third-best player — landed a four-year, $106 million contract: “Upon hearing the news, Kirk Cousins spent the rest of the day practicing his fadeaway jumper.”