Terry Bradshaw showed interest in coaching job

As a former star quarterback of the National Football League with an experience of leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl victories, Terry Bradshaw recently thought he was qualified to work for the NFL again as a quarterback coach or something like that.

After retiring from the NFL, Bradshaw spent most part of his retirement life as a TV show host. He has been much less popular since taking off the honored No.12 Terry Bradshaw jersey and always appeared jealous when seeing new star quarterbacks attract much more attention to him. But he never gave up reminding people of himself and his past as a star quarterback. However, after some initial controversies on his harsh comment about other quarterbacks, people soon got fed up with his show. We can still hear of Bradshaw’s name sometimes, but it always appeared with another much more popular guy. So recently Bradshaw showed his intention to return to NFL to regain his popularity.

I’m not sure working as a quarterback coach could help Bradshaw receive more attention from the public, but at least he could have authority to make comments on the quarterbacks he is going to coach, and what he says of his quarterback could be more taken more seriously by people. However, I don’t see his chance to be employed by any NFL team; after all, being a good quarterback does not necessarily mean the qualification to be a good QB coach. And Bradshaw could just be better fit for a TV show host.

Judge released ruling, Vikings jerseys may still face suspension

Hennepin County District Judge Gary Larson released his ruling on the case of Minnesota Vikings players Kevin Williams and Pat Williams on Thursday, but it seems that things are still not close to an end as the judge’s decision is a mixed one.

The judge’s ruling said that the NFL did violate Minnesota labor laws in its handling of the case, but it also said that the league had the authority to impose the suspension. So, although it seems that the Williamses won the lawsuit, they just still face threatening of the four-game suspension.

Causes of the result could include pressures from all other US pro sports leagues, including the Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. They all filed papers with the court to support the NFL, so the ruling to the judge is expected to have the same effects across the country.

Because of the previously pending lawsuit, the two Vikings tackles have not served their suspension since testing positive for a banned diuretic in 2008. So we still saw them in Vikings jerseys all through the 2009 season. But whether they are going to play all the 2010 regular-season games is still pending.

Two RBs are expected to wear new NFL jerseys

The Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch and the Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown are both available for trade to teams that are in need of running backs. Both have potentials to be great running back as former high-round draft picks but both have been expendable to their current teams.

Lynch was drafted by the Bills in 2007 as a first-round pick but has not been able to live up to expectation because of multiple off-field incidents and lost his starting job to Fred Jackson. His performance in last season was totally disappointing with only 450 rushing yards in 13 games.

As for Brown, who was a 2005 first-round pick, he has spent all of his first five seasons with the Dolphins but became expendable more than one year ago because of continual injuries. That last straw could be the Lisfranc fracture in his foot that was suffered on Nov. 15 and ended Brown’s season early after he started only nine games in Dolphins jersey. The Dolphins even have already had a plan of replacement to Brown if they manage to have Brown put on another team’s NFL jersey—33-year-old Ricky Williams, who had four 100-yard rushing games while replacing injured Brown last season, is expected to be the starting running back in the new season.

Bears plan to trade DE Alex Brown to save money

Spending quite a big amount of money on signing free agent defensive end Julius Peppers, the Chicago Bears now feel pressed on money, so they let former starter at this position, Adewale Ogunleye, leave and still plan to trade the other defensive end, nine-year veteran Alex Brown.

According to reports, the Bears are actively shopping Brown and plan to release him if no team comes to make an offer. This comes on the heels of the announcement by Coach Lovie Smith on Wednesday at the owners meeting in Orlando, Fla., that defensive tackle Israel Idonije will move outside from tackle to end. Besides the Bears are also coveting restricted free agent end Mark Anderson. Thus the defensive end group will be too crowded if Brown stays in Bears jersey.

Having six sacks last season and 29 ½ in the last five years, Brown had 3 ½ more sacks than Kyle Vanden Bosch over the same period. While Vanden Bosch received a $26 million, four-year contract from the Detroit Lions with $11 million guaranteed, it’s unreasonable if there is no taker for Brown.

McNabb wants to remain with Eagles before retirement

Having spent all the thirteen career seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, quarterback Donovan McNabb has made it clear that he does not want to put on other teams’ NFL jerseys before retirement, which is likely to happen within a few years as the quarterback is 34 years old now.

"My position hasn’t changed. I’ve said all along that I would like to win a Super Bowl and finish my career in Philadelphia.” McNabb said in a statement on his website Wednesday. "I understand the situation well and just hope whichever direction the Eagles decide to go in, they do it quickly. I think that would be best for me, Kevin, Michael, the Eagles, and any other teams involved. No matter what happens, I’ve already begun preparing to have an outstanding season in 2010."

However, what the Eagles are thinking is all about how to make the most of their three quarterbacks including McNabb, backup Kevin Kolb and third-stringer Michael Vick, who will all be entering their final year of their contracts in 2010. It could not be necessary for the Eagles to keep all the three big-name quarterbacks and it has been reported that they will trade at least one of them to get a draft pick that would bring the Eagles some good help in other positions. And a latest report said that the St. Louis are trying their best to acquire McNabb by offering a safety and a second-round draft pick that has been needed by the Eagles.

Raiders will not guarantee QB Russell a starting job

According to the Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable, last year’s starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell will have to win his starting job back with proven ability and better performance than another quarterback, Bruce Gradkowski, who filled in the starting quarterback when Russell was sidelined with injuries last season.

Cable made the comment during a media session Tuesday at the annual league meetings. He reiterated that Russell is working out with the team and won’t be handed anything.

"I think that it’s like anything in life, you can bring that on yourself," Cable told reporters. "If you want to not let that be who you are, then you need to do something about it. So you change. The fact that he’s there working is really important right now. That’s the biggest step right now, and that’s a big step."

That stance is considered to be reasonable as Russell failed to live up to expectation since putting on the Raiders jerseys as a first over-all draft pick out of LSU in 2007. While he had 1,287 passing yards, 3 touchdowns with an average of 107.2 yards per game and QB rating of 50% during the 12 games he started last season, Gradkowski had 1,007 passing yards, six touchdowns with an average of 143.9 yards per game and QB rating of 80.6% in the seven games he played in.

Browns plan to draft a quarterback in middle rounds

Although the Cleveland Browns are in urgent need of a productive quarterback and determined to get on through any possible ways, they just do not expect the very quarterback they want could be found in the first two rounds of this year.

According to Browns’ team President Mike Holmgren, it would be pretty hard to use the second-round pick to get an effective quarterback that would be able to help improve the offensive line, but the team is determined to get on this year and so the chance could be in the middle rounds.

The Browns has signed veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme and made a trade with the Seattle Seahawks to acquire quarterback Seneca Wallace, but both are over or around 30 years old and a young quarterback that could develop into a franchise leader has been always what the Browns look for since they returned to NFL in 1999. Previously they had two such quarterbacks but none had lived up to expectation. Brady Quinn taken in the first round in 2007 was traded to the Denver Broncos last week, and the first-overall draft pick in 1999 Tim Couch spent only five seasons without much production before taking off his Browns jersey.

Released by the Browns, QB Anderson found backup job in Cardinals

He might be considered expendable by the old team Cleveland Browns, but he still earns chance to prove his value to another team, the Arizona Cardinals, who signed a two-year contract with the free agent quarterback Derek Anderson.

Anderson is aware that he will be offered only the backup job with a chance to push up for the starting job from Matt Leinart, who has become the Cardinals’ leading role as the only quarterback on the team’s roster since Kurt Warner announced his retirement in the early offseason.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of growth from Matt. He has worked hard,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said Wednesday, “but I am also excited about Derek and there will be competition at that position. That’s not anything different than what we have at other positions.”

While playing in the Browns jerseys, Anderson had five up-and-down seasons, losing his starting job to Brady Quinn at the start of last season, winning it back, losing it again and re-gaining it again when Quinn got hurt. He made the Pro Bowl in 2007 when he threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns, leading the Browns to a 10-6 record, but he knows well that Leinart is ahead of him on the depth chart, and it would be a hard competition to win the starting job over him, and he will be just fine with the No. 2 role.

Released by the Browns, QB Anderson found backup job in Cardinals

He might be considered expendable by the old team Cleveland Browns, but he still earns chance to prove his value to another team, the Arizona Cardinals, who signed a two-year contract with the free agent quarterback Derek Anderson.

Anderson is aware that he will be offered only the backup job with a chance to push up for the starting job from Matt Leinart, who has become the Cardinals’ leading role as the only quarterback on the team’s roster since Kurt Warner announced his retirement in the early offseason.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of growth from Matt. He has worked hard,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said Wednesday, “but I am also excited about Derek and there will be competition at that position. That’s not anything different than what we have at other positions.”

While playing in the Browns jerseys, Anderson had five up-and-down seasons, losing his starting job to Brady Quinn at the start of last season, winning it back, losing it again and re-gaining it again when Quinn got hurt. He made the Pro Bowl in 2007 when he threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns, leading the Browns to a 10-6 record, but he knows well that Leinart is ahead of him on the depth chart, and it would be a hard competition to win the starting job over him, and he will be just fine with the No. 2 role.

LB Wimbley went to Oakland in another trade from Browns

One the same day when the Cleveland Browns traded quarterback Brady Quinn to the Denver Broncos, former first-round pick Kamerion Wimbley also departed in another trade. The Browns traded him to the Oakland Raiders with an undisclosed draft pick in return.

Oakland senior executive John Herrera confirmed the deal, saying Oakland gave up a pick it had acquired in a previous deal. It was said that the pick could be the third-round pick the Raiders acquired from the New England Patriots in a deal for defensive end Derrick Burgess last summer. While it seemed that the Browns are trying to collect as many draft picks possible to increase chance of getting great talented young players, the Raiders think that Wimbley will help bolster their pass rush and made him the first player from another organization to put on the Raiders jersey since the start of free agency.

It’s quite hard to understand how the Browns came to the decision to trade Wimbley as he did show flashes of being a talented defensive player with 11 sacks in his rookie year and 6 1/2 sacks and 48 tackles in 15 games last season. Becoming the fourth former first-round pick on Oakland’s defense, Wimbley will join defensive end Richard Seymour, cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and Michael Huff to improve the team’s defensive line. He could either be used as replacement for defensive end Greg Ellis, who was released by the Raiders earlier this month, or as an outside linebacker to replace Trevor Scott.

Released free agent QB Delhomme plans to visit Browns

On one side, free agent quarterback Jake Delhomme is still looking for a new job in the NFL after being released by the Carolina Panthers, on the other side, the Cleveland Browns have been actively shopping for a quarterback. So unsurprisingly, there was a meeting between the released quarterback and the quarterback-wanting team.

Since their NFL expansion return in 1999, the Browns have not been able to have enough quarterback to improve their passing game. Finishing the 2009 season as one of the worst teams again, the Browns are determined to do something with the quarterbacks. They rleased Derek Anderson and acquired backup quarterback Seneca Wallace in a trade from the Seattle Seahawks. They seem interested in getting a better starting quarterback than Brady Quinn, who is just 3-9 in 12 career starts in Browns jerseys.

The problem with Delhomme is that he is 35 years old now. He went 58-40 in seven seasons as the Panthers’ starter and led them to their only Super Bowl appearance, but he also threw 18 interceptions last season and lost the starting job to Matt Moore in late last season. With 11 draft picks in hand, the Browns are most likely to draft a quarterback out of 2010 draft.

Panthers released another veteran FB Hoover

Continuing with their purge of veteran players, the Carolina Panthers released another veteran player who is over 30 years old on Monday. This time it was longtime fullback Brad Hoover who had to take off his Panthers jersey.

"I want to thank the organization for 10 great years and the fans that supported me," Hoover said in a statement released by his agent, Tim Irwin. "I leave with a heavy heart, but I will be trying to play somewhere else."

Releasing 33-year-old Hoover will save the Panthers nearly $1 million in payroll for the 2010 season and ends his 10-year stay with the Panthers. The Panthers has gotten everything ready, with a plan to have second-year pro Tony Fiammetta replace Hoover.

During the one week before Hoover was released, the Panthers had already cut quite a few veterans including defensive end Julius Peppers, quarterback Jake Delhomme, defensive tackles Damione Lewis and Maake Kemoeatu and linebackers Na’il Diggs and Landon Johnson.

Jaguars added former Packers DE Kampman to roster

Finishing last season with a franchise-low 14 sacks, the Jacksonville Jaguars are determined to revamp the defensive line that did not work well even with different schemes, various blitzes and some new faces, so their first action to improve it is to get more quarterback pressure by adding a great defensive end.

That’s the background for the Jaguars to sign two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Aaron Kampman, who has finished all the last eight seasons in Green Bay Packers jerseys. The 30-year-old defensive end signed with the Jaguars on Sunday, giving the small-market franchise a big-time boost to their pass-rush woes.

The Jaguars targeted Kampman and former Tennessee Titans DE Kyle Vanden Bosch even before the free agency began on Friday. While Bosch has signed a four-year contract worth $26 million with the Detroit Lions, the Jaguars made their choice without hesitation to sign Kampman, who is a year younger than Vanden Bosch but finished 2009 season with half a sack more than Vanden Bosch.

WR Marshall visit Seahawks, causing trade speculation

Although it is really a big challenge for the Seattle Seahawks to acquire wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos, they still welcomed him when the receiver decided to have visit with the team on Saturday. Would Marshall like to put on Seahawks jersey or will the Seahawks be willing to spend as much as the Broncos require to obtain the talented receiver? Well, I guess things will be worked out in the next couple of days.

The Broncos slapped a first-round tender on Marshall earlier this week, thus the Seahawks would have to pay the No. 6 pick in April’s draft as the compensation to the Broncos if no trade can be agreed. It really depends on how the Seahawks value Marshall, who has caught more than 100 passes in each of the last three straight seasons. Even he was benched by Coach Josh McDaniels for several games last season, Marshall still managed to catch 101 passes and 10 touchdowns.

The first-round tender offer will guarantee the 26-year-old Marshall a 14.7 percent raise in salary to $2.521 million if he continues playing for the Broncos in 2010 season. However, the receiver has made it clear that he would like to leave Denver for a new team. Some reports said that he was angry with the team’s medical staff for misdiagnosing a hip injury that required surgery, some said he was unhappy with his current contract with the Broncos, and there were also reports saying that Marshall wants to leave because of the death of his former teammate, Darrent Williams, who was with Marshall and other teammates before being shot to death on New Year’s Day 2007.

Chargers placed the maximum tender on RB Sproles

Until the last day before March 5 deadline for free agency, the San Diego Chargers finally took action to retain running back Darren Sproles: they placed the maximum first- and third-round tender on the running back on Thursday, releasing tackle Jamal Williams instead.

It has been long guessed that the Sproles would finally join LaDainian Tomlinson to enter the free agent market, and Chargers’ final move was really a surprise. Being offered a contract for $7,283,000, the five-year veteran Sproles can still make his own choices to sign with another team, but the Chargers would also have the right to match offers from other teams or receiver first- and third-round draft picks as compensation for losing Sproles. With Tomlinson being released, the Chargers are very likely to name Sproles the starting running back for 2010 season if he chooses to continue wearing Chargers jersey. So staying could be the best choice for Sproles.

Releasing 12-year veteran tackle Williams was the other surprise. Being picked by former general manager Bobby Beathard in the second round of the 1998 supplemental draft, Williams has spent all his 12 seasons with the Chargers and has been the run-stuffing anchor of the defensive line. The most likely reason for his being released could be the arm injury he sustained in the 2009 season opener and caused him to miss the rest of the year. It could also be his age and history of knee injuries.

Ravens offered first-round tender to LT Gaither

With only two days left before the March 5 deadline, the Baltimore Ravens are among the several teams who began to take actions to retain free agents. Their action was to assign their starting offensive left tackle Jared Gaither the first-round tender.

As a former supplemental draft pick out of the University of Maryland, 6-foot-9, 340-pound Gaither has formed a strong young tackle tandem with Michael Oher, who put on Ravens jersey last year as a first-round draft pick. When Gaither was taking care of his neck injury last season, Oher filled in at left tackle.

Gaither’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has expressed that he wants to get a long-term contract for his client from the Ravens, but by so far nothing has been worked out. But at least it still good news that Gaither can still play for the Ravens and tries to prove that he deserves a long-term deal. It’s really hard to say whether the three-year veteran could fine better NFL home in open market.

Redskins are trying to retain QB Campbell with highest possible tender

According to latest reports, the Washington Redskins have offered restricted free agent quarterback Jason Campbell a first-round tender of about $3.1 million, that will most likely cause other teams to think more carefully about signing away the quarterback and thus the Redskins will have the chance to keep him in Redskins jersey.

Campbell has started 52 games in his five seasons with the Redskins. He has his best statistical season last year, but the team struggled and finished 4-12. New Redskins coach Mike Shanahan had said that the team would like to retain Campbell but would not guarantee him with the starting job, indicating that Campbell would have to compete for the starting job with other quarterbacks after playing as starting quarterback in Redskins jersey for the past 3 1/2 seasons.

The Redskins are expected to announce their full slate of tender offers Thursday, one day before the March 5 deadline for free agency. And Campbell, who has said that he only wants to stay as starter, still has the right to negotiate with another team but it’s unlikely that there is any team who is willing to give up a first-round pick for him.

Bears do not need Pace any more

The Chicago Bears have no patience with those who can barely help them. Only one year after signing left tackle Orlando Pace, the Bears did not hesitate to waive him on Monday, making his an unrestricted free agent again.

Pace started 11 games last season at left tackle before a minor groin injury sidelined him for a few weeks. With Pace being sidelined, the Bears then moved former first-round draft pick Chris Williams from right tackle to left. Pace, who struggled run blocking but held up vs. the pass rush, allowing only three sacks, thus became an unnecessary part of the team.

When putting on Bears jersey last April with a $15 million, three-year contract, Pace brought a lot of hopes to the team. The former No. 1 overall draft pick from Ohio State in 1997 spent all of his first 12 seasons with the St. Louis Rams. He was selected seven times to Pro Bowl and played in two Super Bowl games as a Ram. However, he did not provide much help to Bears’ faulty offensive line. Instead, the Bears found help from someone else and have depth at the position after all. They have Williams at left tackle and Kevin Shaffer at right tackle. They even have Frank Omiyale to compete with Shaffer for the starting job and James Marten as a backup.

As he said at the end of the season, Pace is having dim future. In order to continue with his NFL career, he may have to accept a reserve role somewhere.

Titans are unlikely to re-sign DE Kearse

According to the Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher, the team has not had any discussion with free-agent defensive end Jevon Kearse about his new contract. And it has been rumored the 11-year veteran would end his NFL career before turning 34 in September.

"He did a great job for us over the years," Fisher told The Tennessean. "He came in and was prepared to play and ready to play and played hard. But in his case, similar to (center) Kevin (Mawae’s), we’re going to commit to the younger players."

Kearse was inactive on game days for much of the 2009 season although he was actually healthy. The first-round and 16th overall pick of the 1999 draft has been wearing Titans jersey for his first five and last two seasons, with the 2004-2008 stretch being spent with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Browns plan to retain RB Harrison with high tender

While the San Diego Chargers are letting top running backs of the league leave for free agent market, the Cleveland Browns are doing the contrary. According to team president Mike Holmgren, the team plans to keep running back Jerome Harrison from being a restricted free agent by offering him a high-level tender.

The Browns will either assign Harrison the first-round tender of $2.521 million or the first and third-round tender of $3.168 million for continuing to wear Browns jersey. And Holmgren said the Browns plan to do so to make it very difficult for other teams to come in and get him. They will also retain the right of first refusal.

Although the Browns realize that Harrison is in lack of ideal size and that could affect his durability if he was called upon as an every-down back, they still consider he is worth the offer with his great performance in last season. Besides, the Browns plan to get some new running back s from the draft to co-work with Harrison as complement.