NFL Jabber 6/5/07

The Chargers have signed TE Scott Chandler to a four-year deal. Could make for some dangerous two TE sets if they want to use them.

"It was kind of surprise that it got taken care of so quickly but I'm really glad to have it done," Chandler said. "I didn't think it would happen until just before training camp but everything came together smoothly and I can just focus on getting settled and playing football."

First step for new Raiders coach, Lane Kiffen? Do the opposite of Art Shell in every way.

David Patten is looking to get his career back on track in New Orleans. Good place for him as the Saints won't expect him to be a superstar and they spread the ball around similar to his old team in New England.

The BIG news in Denver is that Sam Adams has been signed to join the new D-Line.

With Darrell Jackson gone somebody has to step up at WR in Seattle.

"Darrell has been a great part of our offense for seven years, and we will miss him," receivers coach Nolan Cromwell said. "But there's always changes -- people move on and retire. So other people have got to step up and make plays."

Porn Star, Lisa Ann Taylor (aka Mellisa Wolf) thinks that Tom Brady's boy next door looks make him the Sexiest Athlete. Do I smell a film career for Tom beyond SNL?

Kendrick Clancy and Milford Brown are going to be asked to take paycuts.

So some Bucs are going to be walking off the starters plank this year. Stephen F. Holder at www.sptimes.com rounds up the possible victims.

Technorati : broncos, buccaneers, bucs, cardinals, chargers, darrell jackson, david patton, football, lisa ann tayolr, nfl, patriots, porn, raiders, saints, sam adams, scott chandler, seahawks, sports, tom brady
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More NFL Jabber 6/4/07

ESPN continues it's "The Best" series. Today, The Best Defensive player...2 votes for Brian Urlacher, 2 votes for Champ Bailey. To break the tie I'm going to vote that Len Pastabelly's vote doesn't count so Urlacher wins.

Previously they have covered...

• The Best: Player you've never heard of


• The Best: Wide receiver


• The Best: Coach


• The Best: Quarterback


• The Best: Player I'd start a franchise with

Looks like they are tacking a felony obstruction of justice on to former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jack Trudeau's contributing charge.

For the second year in a row the Cardinals have sold out their season tickets.

Tank Johnson gets to sit out for half the season. I'm guessing he will gladly take that over the time he did in Casa Cook County.

"One day I want to be the face of the league for guys who have come through adversity and ultimately become the Man of the Year in the NFL," Johnson said in May following his release from jail. "That would be a tremendous ending to this story. That's something I'm striving for. I would love to do that."

Former Bills RB, Thurman Thomas, is getting set for his big day in Canton.

Given the drafting of a Center in the 2nd round by the Panthers, Justin Hartwig is wondering about his job.

"I was really surprised," Hartwig said Monday. "You immediately start to question things about yourself and what the team is doing."

Rod Marinelli is pleased with the turnout and work of his boys at minicamp.

"The attendance has been great," Marinelli said after Monday's workout. "The work's been great. I appreciate their work. I tell them that every day.

"Obviously, it's not mandatory. I think they've taken a tremendous professional approach to this game -- a real professional football team. They come out every day. They just go out and work -- the same pace, the same tempo.

"I've been very impressed with them."

Robert Meachum will undergo arthroscopic surgery tomorrow. He looks to miss 3-4 weeks.

Technorati : bailey, bears, best, bills, cardianls, colts, espn, football, jack trudeau, justin hartwig, lions, marinelli, meachum, nfl, panthers, saints, sports, tank johnson, thurman thomas, urlacher
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NFL Jabber 6/1/07

Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers are now back to full strength and on the field.

"I thought they looked good," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I mean, (Favre) just anticipates so well, and those are valuable reps for the younger players. You can see, one or two to James Jones, coming out of the break and the ball's there, those are the little things that you just can't get enough of, and I thought he threw the ball well.

"I think Aaron's throwing the ball extremely well. He's been throwing the ball well all spring, and now we've cut him loose medically. I'm very pleased with the progress he's made."

Despite the loss of Will Shields, the Chiefs are not concerned with their O-Line going into this season.

Thomas Jones is impressing staff and teammates at workouts.

"As you guys can see, he's a physical specimen," quarterback Chad Pennington said with a laugh after the team's voluntary workouts Thursday. "He works extremely hard," Pennington said. "He's never the first guy out. He's always staying in there, doing a little extra. He's a true professional."

One of the most interesting RB battles this season for me is going to be in Dallas. Chances are the loser here won't be around in 2008.

Mike Vick is becoming true tabloid material. If there is nothing else to say...talk about his haircut.

In real Mike Vick news...Air Tran is not going to renew his pitch contract.

DeAngelo Williams is dropping some pounds.

Cardinals camp may open two days earlier this year. The last few years it was not very fan friendly because it started on a Sunday. Beginning on a Friday would allow more fans to make the trip to Flagstaff.

The Bengals are set to go full speed in minicamp.

The Saints are not letting last season get them over confident.

Technorati : aaron rodgers, barber, bengals, camp, cardinals, chiefs, cowboys, falcons, favre, football, jets, jones, mini, nfl, packers, panthers, saints, sports, thomas, vick
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NFL Jabber 5/31/07

From the sounds of it, The Law has more witnesses stepping forward confirming that Mike Vick's dogs are competing for more than Best in Show. That is the way they word it anyway.

Chad Johnson is going to be running for a good cause...against a horse.

Cincinnati Bengals all-pro wide receiver Chad Johnson will race a horse at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio on Belmont Stakes Day, June 9, as a fund-raiser for Feed the Children, an Oklahoma City-based charity that provides food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities to children around the world. The race, billed as "man vs. beast," will be held on the turf course, with Johnson starting at the sixteenth pole and the horse, Restore the Roar, starting at the eighth pole.

400 plus touches is not enough for Larry Johnson in a season. They want to use him more catching the ball in 2007 as well (41 catches in 2006).

"That's the next step in his development as a running back in this league: His ability to come out of the backfield running routes," Edwards said. "We need to get the ball to our backs a little more than we did last year."

Joey Porter got his fine from the court but it still waiting to hear from the NFL jacking of Levi.

The Cards could start chopping heads this week to make cap space room for the rookies.

Jake Delhomme is pleased with what he can see in the new Panthers offense.

Cecil Sapp is joining the Running Back rotation in Denver.

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NFL Jabber 5/25/07

Pete Prisco wants to remind everyone that Mario Williams is going to be a stud.

Would someone please just trade for Trent Green already?!? His agent won't return the Fins calls.

Face value (like that will stay the same by noon today) for a 2011 Super Bowl ticket is $900.

Roman Harper is ready to comeback in New Orleans. Can you "comeback" when you barely started?

Big Ben wants the no huddle...and it appears they are going to give it to him.

"I like the way he wants to run the no-huddle," Roethlisberger said. "Last year, we talked and talked and talked about doing it and never did it. We did it in the preseason against coach [Mike] Tomlin and Minnesota -- we marched down the field and I was done for the rest of the game. It was great. And then we never saw it.

"I like that he wants to do that and I truly believe this year that we will do it."

The Dolphins have signed Lorenzo Booker.

Sean Payton has put a smackdown on the rumors that Will Smith is bitching about his contract.

Marvin Lewis is saying he is sorry for basically accusing the Cincy cops of chasing Bengals.

"Yesterday, I gave a radio interview and made some comments that did not illustrate the high regard I have for the Cincinnati Police Department. I apologize that what I said did not reflect my true feelings," Lewis said.

The Cards are happy with the turnout for camp. Edge James had some family bidness to tend to.

The Colts are looking to stick with a two back system...if they can figure out who the 2 back will be.

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NFL Jabber 5/4/07

With Matt Hasselbeck still on the mend, Seneca Wallace and David Green will get the reps in minicamp.

The Titans first rounder, Michael Griffen, will be moving from Safety to CB.

After what some think the best draft in the league, the Browns stay at work with rookie free agents. They are bringing in nine of them.

The Cards could top that as they look to bring in 20.

The Bengals will have 14 at minicamp.

Greg Ellis isn't a fan of the 1st round pick of the Cowboys.

"This was not some generic thing -- the guy came to my house," the Cowboys linebacker said. "It's the next step. Everybody's assuming I'm gone."

As hard as the Chiefs try to replace him, Eddie Kennison just won't go away.

Cam Inman of the Contra Costa Times has some sour grapes about Randy Moss. He thinks it won't be such a steal for the Pats come playoff time...at elast they will have to worry about playoff time, right?

Yes folks, Curtis Martin is still in the league...

Roy Williams and Mike Furrey went to bat telling the Lions they wanted Calvin Johnson.

The Packers are one of the teams looking into Keyshawn Johnson.

tag: nfl, draft, free agency, football, packers, lions, raiders, patriots, jets, cowboys, bengals, cardinals, browns, titans, seahawks, matt hasselbeck, seneca wallace, david green, michael griffen, greg ellis, eddie kennison, randy moss, curtis martin, calvin johnson, keyshawn johnson

Peterson could make 1/2 of scary duo

Last season the Saints had no choice but to take Reggie Bush when he fell to the #2 spot the night before the draft. Bush made the perfect sidekick to Deuce McAllister in the new Saints offense. The pairing worked perfectly because Bush did not take away from the bread and butter running of Deuce. He was used more to spell McAllister, decoy, and in the passing game.

This season a team that seems to have their #1 running back could face a decision if Adrian Peterson falls to them. Peterson is a different type of RB but teams are leaning more toward the running back by committee approach. Peterson has been projected to go anywhere from 3# to the Browns all the way to #12 with the Bills. The reason for the big gap is that many of those teams appear to be set, or at least manageable at the RB position. Let's have a look at what kind of pairings could develop if someone did pull the trigger. (No, I'm not always addressing teams needs, I'm talking about if it were to happen.)

Raiders
With the glaring needs in other positions it won't happen. Beyond the other needs, the signing of Dominic Rhoads and the current starter LaMont Jordan would make it too crowded.

Lions
It could have happened here but the Lions went out and got T.J. Duckett and Tatum Bell to carry the rock while Kevin Jones is recovering.

Browns
Easily the first place it could happen. Don't let the Jamal Lewis signing fool you. He is not the long term, or possibly even the short term answer. It may be the perfect situation for Peterson to share the load with Lewis in his first season. Many rookie RB's run out of gas toward the end of their first season.

Bucs
This would be a long shot since the Bucs have Caddy Williams on the squad and he was picked just two years ago. Granted, he had somewhat of a bomb of a season last year but two top 5 RB's in three drafts isn't likely. It could make for a nice pairing though.

Cardinals
The Edge would not be happy but this is a tasty scenerio as well. James is getting older but thinks he is going to play forever so it wouldn't make for a pretty locker room. If they got past that though you could have another reason to think this will be the breakout year for the Cards offense.

Redskins
Another crowded backfield. The Skins like Ladell Betts but could move him on draft day if they wanted to make room for Peterson. Don't think it will happen but Peterson and Portis would make a nice pairing.

Vikings
This is actually another projected spot for Peterson to fall. Chester Taylor had a decent season but he isn't the home run hitting franchise back that Peterson will be. The Vikings have not had THE guy since Robert Smith retired.

Falcons
Jerious Norwood had a decent rookie campaign last season. Peterson coming to Atlanta would give them the significant threat at the position though. They say they want to pound the ball and this could do it.

Dolphins
Like the Bucs, you don't take two RB's in the top 10 in three years. Pairing Peterson with Ronnie Brown could be interesting. Ricky Williams coming back could make for a crowded backfield but trading him away could make room for Peterson. Longest shot since the raiders in my eyes.

Texans
Another landing spot for Peterson on many mock drafts. Like the Browns, the Texans went out and got an RB in free agency in Ahman Green. Call me crazy but I think that Kubiak guy has been know to use more than one RB in Denver. I would love to see this be the place for Peterson to fall and that is because I want to see the Texans succeed.

49'ers
Frank Gore came out like a warrior last season. Not a logical choice at all but what a scary duo it would make .

Bills
No team needs Peterson more than the Bills. McGahee is gone and Anthony Thomas has not been the answer since his rookie season. The Bills would be blessed if Peterson somehow fell this far.

tag: nfl, draft, free agency, football, trade, sports, saints, raiders, lions, buccaneers, browns, cardinals, redskins, vikings, falcons, dolphins, texans, 49'ers, bills, adrian peterson, thomas, gore, ahman green, ricky williams, ronnie brown, cadilac williams, norwood, chester taylor, ladell betts, portis, edgerin james, jamal lewis, duckett, tatum bell, rhoads, jordan

NFL Jabber 4/15/07

Saints fans can be grateful that Marques Colston realized he had to work to make the team. Who knows what would have happened had he had the sense of entitlement that some players have. This guy is one that I want on my team.

"I was working out a little bit. . . . Obviously, not as much as I should have been," said Colston, who admits he was in poor physical shape when he arrived for his first minicamp in New Orleans, two weeks after being selected with the 252nd pick in the draft. "When I survived the first rookie minicamp, I realized something had to change. I had to come back in much better shape," said Colston, who indeed made an incredible transformation over the summer.

Anquan Boldin would like to take some of the rushing attempts for the Cardinals this season.

"I don't have to throw the ball, just put me in the backfield a couple of times and let me run it, I'll be OK," Boldin said with a smile.

Reports are that the Bengals are looking into the Bucs Tim Rattey for the backup QB job.

Mike O'Hare at detnews.com is calling for the head of Mike Williams.

At 33, Olindo Mare reminds John Carney how old he is.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for John,” said Mare, who will turn 34, nine years younger than Carney, before training camp. “He’s one of the best. He’s one of the guys that all us young guys, compared to John, I guess, want to be. Who doesn’t want to do what John has done in this league?”

There is a debate starting already less than a week into Drew Bledsoe's retirement...Hall of Fame? Playing a long time and racking up numbers are not enough unless your Dan Marino. Despite one Super Bowl appearance (not counting the Super Bowl on the bench)in an embarrassing loss to Green Bay, many are going to say Bledsoe didn't do enough in his career. Adam Schien of NFL Radio and FoxSports.com is one of those guys.

tag: nfl, free agency, draft, trade, football, sports, saints, cardinals, bengals, buccaneers, drew bledsoe, marques colston, olindo mare, john carney, mike o'hare, mike williams, tim rattey, adam schien

NFL Jabber 4/14/07

Al Wilson has been cut loose in Denver. Shame.

"My time is up as a Bronco," the eight-year veteran said. "It's time to move forward and try something else. You have to do what's best for your organization, just like a Fortune 500 company. Sometimes you have to let good employees go."

A sense of humor can go a long way in any field. Ken Whisenhunt cracked me up with a comment after the first practices in AZ.

"I don't know where to stand on the field," Whisenhunt said of the first of two practices Friday. "It's exciting, but it's different."

As practices start for Miami, the time is now for Daunte Culpepper to get a head start on the QB job. He however is not participating in mini-camp since his latest surgery.

Anthony Wright is the newest New York Giant. Wright agreed to a two-year deal.

David Carr has drive again in Charlotte. I really hope this guy gets his chance to show he can play on a different team.

"Honestly in the last five years we haven't had much spark. If we were stuck in the forest it would be hard to light a fire with what we had going on.'' "It's funny, the day I was signed by Carolina, I was throwing balls the next day. I've never done that before,'' Carr said. "I was out there throwing a ball for two or three hours and I couldn't really explain it except I was excited to get a new opportunity and a chance to show what I can do.''

The Texans are looking in their backyard for a backup QB. University of Houston Alum Kevin Kolb will meet with the team before the draft.

Keith Brooking has said before that he isn't a MLB...the Falcons tell him he is.

tag: nfl, draft, free agency, football, sports, falcons, texans, panthers, giants, dolphins, cardinals, broncos, al wilson, whisenhunt, culpepper, wright, carr, kolb, houston, brooking

NFL Jabber 4/10/07

The is a good article at The Washington Post on London Fletcher and the obstacles overcome. I love these stories. I get sick of hearing about the Pacman's.

"It slaps us in the face," said Gregg Williams, the Redskins' assistant head coach-defense. "He's had just horrible tragedy," added Dick Vermeil, Fletcher's first head coach in professional football. Only Fletcher will not frown along with them, his voice will not harden. Everything he has become is because of where he had been and the fact he had been able to break away when others never could.

"I think of my story as inspirational," he said. "If I can help one kid who may be going through the same things I did, then it is worth telling."

The Rams have 29 players set for pre-draft visits.

"To be honest, some of these (visiting players), we really, really like," Linehan said. "The rest of the them are a mixed bag. There's medical re-checks that we need on some players. And there were pro-day conflicts with some where we're really just getting more information on players."

Peter Sirmon has a one-year offer on the table from the Cardinals.

Mike Shanahan has signed a three-year extension with the Broncos. This guys has only had one losing season with the team.

The Colts are looking for another RB to replace Dominic Rhoads. Kevin Barlow is on the list of "talked to."

David Carr says he is okay with the backup job in Charlotte.

"I'm excited about the opportunity in Carolina," he said. "They've got a great team -- good offensive line, good receiving corps, solid defense ... Pat Hill (Carr's coach at Fresno State) and (Panthers coach) John Fox have been friends for a long time, and I know he's a great coach."

tag: nfl, draft, free agency, trade, football, sports, redskins, cardinals, colts, broncos, panthers, texans, rams, london fletcher, peter sirmon, mike shanahan, kevan barlow, david carr,

NFL Jabber 3/28/07

Mike Tomlin gives an example of his aggressiveness to the class by humiliating an airline employee that had it coming. After dealing with the airline over the phone regarding his lost bag and getting nowhere, Tomlin headed to the airport to do a little schooling.

"I get over there, and they tell me the bag is not there," Tomlin was saying at breakfast yesterday morning. "I said, 'I've been talking to your call center all weekend, and they said the bag is here.'

"They said, 'I don't care what they told you on the 1-800 number, your bag isn't here.' "

He was offered a $25 voucher on his next flight for his troubles.

"Well, somewhere during the conversation, I see my bag behind her in a pile," Tomlin said. "I said, 'That's my bag!' She said, 'Sir, your bag's not here, the computer says'... I said 'I understand what the computer says, but I'm looking at my bag! It's a black bag, Pittsburgh Steelers. It's my bag.'

"So, I walk around the counter and at that point, she started to get mad. I pulled the tag off and showed her it was my bag. I had to dig it out myself."

Frank Gore got new five-year deal in San Fran.

Manny Arora, the attorney for Pacman Jones is asking to see some evidence that proves his client should be charged with the felony that police are asking for in Vegas.

"My experience tells me if they would have been independent witnesses with a good recollection and no sort of bone to pick that they (police) would have acted on this weeks ago," Arora said.

Howard Bryant and Mark Maske of The Washington Post report that the Skins are being quiet on the Mr. Briggs goes to Washington talk. If John Clayton at ESPN is correct it could be sour grapes.If the trade did go through it would make for quite a change win the LB's in D.C. Briggs and London Fletcher would make for a scary pair. It's being brushed off as rumors by the skins.

"Right now, it's just a bunch of stuff that got thrown around" Monday, said Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs, interviewed yesterday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. "Just a bunch of rumors."

The Cardinals and Bengals were the only two teams to vote to get rid of Instant Replay. Regardless it was revealed on the last episode that the Zebra have the hidden immunity idol.

Chris Henry is doing his part to make sure that the Bengals are not upstage on The Police Beat.

Coach Kiffen comments on the luxury of the #1 pick and compares the top two QB's.

"With JaMarcus, you have somebody -- it's like a video game," Kiffin said. "That's what I tell our guys. There isn't a throw he can't make, probably. The throws he can make, I don't know if anybody else can. He can go way over there and throw the ball 70 yards back over there. That's really exciting and everything. How many times does that happen in a year? About two in 16 games. While that aspect is fun, you've got to dig deeper. That doesn't happen much. That's a scout's dream, to have a guy like that."

On Quinn...

"He's fun to watch in that situation, when they're down and he's bringing them back," Kiffin said. "He's a big-time competitor. He's fun. I've had some discussions with him.He's extremely intelligent. I'm really excited about Brady, and I like him a lot."

The Lions are jumping in the the Trent Green trade talks. That would shake things up once again in the draft given they are projected in many places to take Brady Quinn.

Mike Shanahan is chipper these days, at least he showed that when talking to the press yesterday. He covered many topics while at the meetings in Phoenix. While some questioned the Broncos signing Travis Henry when Willis McGahee and Thomas Jones were out there, Coach was high on him all along.

"Two of the guys you first mentioned there were draft choices involved. So you want to give draft choices away for a guy you can get free, that you might like more? I really thought Travis Henry was the MVP of (the Titans), that's what I thought. . . . You were able to sign a guy and not lose a draft choice. It's like getting a first rounder."

Could it be Houston fans? Could the Texans finally be looking to land a tackle in the first round? Rumor has it...

"There's a good chance; it depends on who's out there," Kubiak said about the possibility of selecting an offensive tackle first. "We have to continue to improve up there."

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tag: nfl, draft, free agency, trade, sports, football, texans, titans, broncos, steelers, raiders, bengals, cardinals, redskins, bears, chiefs, lions, 49'ers, frank gore, pacman jones, lance briggs, joe gibbs, jamarcu russell, brady quinn, mike tomlin, trent green,

PFT TURD WATCH Update

What's missing from this picture? The NFC East has goose eggs all around! Keeping with the East Coast theme...the AFC East would have a score of Zero as well if Joey Porter could handle losing at Black Jack better.

To get a list of the Police Beat click HERE to go to PFT.

clipped from www.profootballtalk.com PFT TURD WATCH LAST UPDATED: MARCH 27, 2007 STANDINGS AFC EAST Miami 3 AFC NORTH Cincinnati 14 Pittsburgh 3 AFC South Tennessee 30 Jacksonville 20 Indianapolis 6 AFC WEST Oakland 7 Denver 6 San Diego 2 Kansas City 1 NFC North Chicago 1 NFC South New Orleans 10 Atlanta 7 Carolina 6 NFC West St. Louis 3 Arizona 3 ABOUT TURD WATCH Turd Watch is a device for tracking and publicizing player arrests and convictions. Though some might find the name to be unpleasant, NFL scouts, coaches, players, and agents commonly use the term "turd" in reference to guys who are, well, turds.

tag: nfl, sports, football, dolphins, bengals, steelers, titans, jaguars, colts, raiders, broncos, chargers, chiefs, bears, saints, falcons, panthers, rams, cardinals, police, turd, watch, pro football talk

NFL Jabber 3/27/07

Marshall Faulk concedes that his body just can't do it anymore and officially retires. Heck of a career, huh?

"A very good friend of mind told me, 'There's not that many 34-year-old running backs that come back to play,''' Faulk recalled Monday. "I started thinking about it. It's a tough position to play."

"The (competitive) instinct, it never goes away," Faulk said. "That fire never dies. But in my training — where I wanted to be, how I wanted to feel — those things weren't coming around as fast as I wanted them to."

"If I felt like there was any doubt that I could finish a season, then I shouldn't go out," Faulk said. "Because I would not only be cheating myself, I'd be cheating other guys on that team that were depending on me to do a job. If I couldn't accomplish the task, why even start it?"

Vegas police asked the D.A. to file three charges on Pacman Jones for the Vegas strip club fiasco (hard to keep track of which fiasco).

Browns G.M. Phil Savage says they will take a pass on all the vet QB's available.

"I think we're content with what we're doing, to stay with the direction we're going," Savage said. "We've got six weeks of off-season conditioning and [organized] programs. Chud's putting the offense in, meeting with the quarterbacks, along with [assistant head coach] Rip Scherer. So I think we'll have a pretty good gauge of the two primary competitors, Charlie and Derek, by the time we get to the draft."

The Saints and the Colts will open the 2007 season in Indy on Thursday night.

"The Colts are the Super Bowl champions and New Orleans obviously was a terrific story on and off the field for the league," commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday at the NFL meetings. "We felt it's a great game to highlight during the 2007 season."

The Cardinals and 49'ers will play the second game of a MFL double header to open the season.

Bengals and Ravens will play in the early game.

The Lions DT Shaun Rogers decided to show up for work.

The Redskins are expected to make a move for Bears LB Lance Briggs.

The Eagles got LB Takeo Spikes and Kelly Holcomb from the Bills for DT Darwin Walker and a draft pick next year.

Green Bay Coach, Mike McCarthy doesn't understand all the negative talk around Aaron Rodgers.

"I don't understand and really care, because I don't know where it's being generated from, but the negativity toward Aaron Rodgers . . . usually your backup quarterback is on scholarship for a couple years and everyone loves him," McCarthy said. "For whatever reason, he's had a couple situations where people are trying to get after him. I've been in the position before with young quarterbacks. I'm very pleased where he's at right now. He's getting better."

Jon Gruden is happy with the Bucs offseason and is throwing out the smokescreen that they may move up and select a QB in the draft.

"Our offseason is just beginning, really,’’ said Gruden, coming off a 4-12 season that saw the Bucs tumble from first to last in the NFC South. ‘’We’ve still got the draft and some unattended business, but we’ve got some players in here that we know can play. It’s exciting to have a Jeff Garcia here. Luke Petitgout is a guy who has played left tackle and Cato June is a good football player. Kevin Carter can play a lot of positions and B.J. Askew is an interesting guy. It was nice to sit in quarterback school last week with a healthy Chris Simms, a Bruce Gradkowski, who has played 13 games in this league, plus a veteran guy we like. We’re excited about our quarterback situation, plus we’ve got Jake Plummer to talk about. We’ll see what happens there.’’

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