NFL Notebook, June 25: Joe Horn Set to Retire With Saints

Here's what's happening around the National Football League on Friday, June 25, 2010:

• Joe Horn, who holds franchise records for touchdown receptions (50) and 100-yard receiving games (27) signed with New Orleans on Friday so he can retire a Saint, the team announced.

Horn, 38, signed as an unrestricted free agent from Kansas City in 2000 and spent seven seasons with the Saints, starting 100 of 102 games.

In 2004, he tied for the NFC lead with 94 receptions -- which tied the franchise mark he set in 2000 -- and established a team mark with 11 touchdown catches. Marques Colston equaled that mark in 2007.

"Since he first arrived here in 2000, Joe made a significant impact on our team both on and off the field," owner Tom Benson said in a release. "In addition to being one of the top players of all-time to wear a Saints uniform, he was always generous with his time to youth and those less fortunate in our community. I am proud that Joe will retire as a member of the New Orleans Saints family."

A four-time Pro Bowler, Horn's 523 receptions and 7,622 yards rank second in team history behind Eric Martin's 532 catches and 7,854 yards.

"Joe's accomplishments throughout his NFL career were tremendous," Saints head coach Sean Payton said in the release. "He was one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL during the period in which he played. For the time that I worked with him he was a big part of us building this program up to where we reached the NFC Championship in 2006. I wish Joe happiness and success in his future endeavors."

• A trio of fights broke out at the Lions' final minicamp practice Friday, which left Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz in an ornery mood.

"We had that situation come up in OTAs and we sort of laughed that you can't fine the players. But guess what? There are going to be a lot of fines from today. It's not acceptable what happened,'' Schwartz said, according to MLive.com. "When you have guys entering fights that aren't involved in it, you know, that's unacceptable. They're going to get taxed pretty heavy for that.''

The Lions already forfeited a pair of OTA workouts, in part because of a skirmish that occurred during a practice earlier this offseason.

"I was tired of it,'' Schwartz said. "It's been addressed, it's going to be addressed more and, if it happens again, it's going to be addressed in a different way.''

Transaction Wire

• The Dolphins signed seventh-round LB Austin Spitler, the 252nd pick out of Ohio State, to a four-year deal.

• The Lions signed fourth-round OL Jason Fox to a four-year contract. Fox, the No. 128 overall pick out of Miami, is the first of Detroit's draft selections to sign.

• Cincinnati announced the signing of sixth-round WR Dezmon Briscoe to a contract. Briscoe, out of Kansas, is the school's all-time leader in receiving yards, touchdown catches and 100-yard games.

Injury Ward

• The Colts sound cautiously optimistic about Bob Sanders' health heading into 2010. Sanders' first six years in the league have been heavily injury-plagued -- he missed 14 games last season, 10 in 2008 and 12 in 2006. Still, Indianapolis is counting on him in the defensive backfield.

"He feels good about where he is physically, and when he feels good about himself physically, obviously he can relax and play the game the way he knows how," head coach Jim Caldwell told the Colts' official website. "All of us realize when he cuts it loose, some big things are bound to happen."

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• New Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes (@santonio10): "Can anyone educate me on what FIFA stand for?"