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.

DE DeVries is to wear back Lions jersey

One and a half months ago, defensive end Jared DeVries had to take off his No. 95 Detroit Lions jersey as the team considered him expendable and released him. But now his value to the team appeared to increase as he is going to be re-signed by the Lions on Monday.

Having spent the entire of his 9-year career with the Lions, DeVries was cut loose in late February before the team was due to pay him the $400,000 roster bonus on the start of the new league year. However, DeVries has not shown any interest in joining a new team for the new season but been expecting to wear back the Lions jersey and continue to be the team’s solid locker room presence.

According latest reports, DeVries is expected to earn $4.7 million in 2010 season with the new contract and that is no increase from his previous contract, but DeVries is still as happy because it’s good enough of the team to ask him back, especially there are still concerns on his tendon injury that was suffered in last summer’s training camp.

Steelers retained veteran QB Batch on a two-year contract

Thirteen-year veteran quarterback Charlie Batch is very likely to retire as Pittsburgh Steelers player as he just signed a new contract with team to remain in the Steelers jersey for another two year, and at age 35, he could end his NFL career when the contract expires.

Batch has been under contract with the Steelers for eight seasons, although he sat out 2004 and 2008 with injuries. He has thrown only two passes since 2007, and 135 overall during his time with Pittsburgh. He used to be a starter for the Detroit Lions during 1998 to 2001, but he has been only on the second stringer since joining the Steelers. After signing the new contract, he is expected to compete for the backup job with Dennis Dixon, who became the NO. 2 quarterback after Batch broke his left wrist on No. 22 while playing against the Kansas City Chiefs and started one game when starter Ben Roethlisberger was hurt last season. Now with the new chance to be the No. 2 quarterback, Batch should try his best to prove his worth before it’s too late.

Eagles may trade QB McNabb to Rams

A trade seems likely to happen between the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams on quarterback Donovan McNabb, who could become a starter for the Rams instead of a backup with the Eagles if the trade succeeds.

According to reports, the Rams plan to sent their best defensive player, safety O.J. Atogwe, to Philadelphia, along with their 2010 second-round pick (33rd overall in the draft) in exchange for McNabb. Such offer would fill the Eagles’ need of an immediate impact playmaking safety.

As for the Rams, acquiring McNabb would bring them a powerful threatening weapon and improve their rank in the Weak NFC West, especially as the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has retired and the San Francisco 49ers are banking much on Alex Smith. With McNabb to put on the Rams jersey and team up with Steven Jackson, the Rams will definitely have a much better offensive line. Therefore, the deal is really a win-win one and seems very likely to happen soon.

Either WR Marshall or Owens has little chance to join Dolphins

According to the Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, his team has little interest in free agent wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Terrell Owens, although each of the two receivers’ production in 2009 could almost equal to the total of the three receivers that played for the Dolphins last season.

Sparano told the media assembled at the owners meetings in Orlando, Fla. recently that he’s not sure if either Marshall or Owens would be a good fit for his team.

“I don’t know if they make sense for our ball club, one way or the other,” Sparano said Tuesday morning. “I’m happy with the group of players I have right now.”

It has been speculated for long that the Dolphins are in the free agent market looking for a big-play wide receiver that can help the team in the red zone. If neither Marshall nor Owens is their choice, they could plan to get young talent to put on the Dolphins jersey from the April’s draft with the 12th overall pick in their hand.

Former Dolphins LB Porter joined Cardinals on a three-year contract

A three-year contract will keep four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter in the Arizona Cardinals jersey for the 2010 season and the next two seasons. Finishing his eleventh season with the Miami Dolphins, Porter was released by the Dolphins in March and became a free agent before finding a proper job in Arizona.

Spending his first eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the last three with the Dolphins, Porter has had 92 career sacks and trails only Jason Taylor (127 1/2) among active players. He also has had 12 career interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, 23 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries with two returned for TDs. One of the reasons for Porter to join the Cardinals could be that the team’s coaching staff includes several members of the Steelers’ staff when he was with Pittsburgh.

The first meeting between the linebacker and the team was held on March 11, and one of the familiars was Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was an offensive coordinator with the Steelers when Porter was playing for the Pittsburgh. The familiarity with the coaches just helped Porter made an easier decision to stay in Arizona and ruling out the other suitor the Washington Redskins.

WR Bess, PK Carpenter and TE Haynos re-joined Dolphins

Three respective one-year contracts will keep wide receiver Davone Bess, punt kicker Dan Carpenter and tight end Joey Haynos in the Miami Dolphins jerseys for one more season. Thus the three exclusive-rights free agents all ended their free agency officially on Saturday.

Bess has been credited as a reliable wide receiver, who managed to lead the Dolphins with 76 catches and 758 yards receiving last season.

Carpenter hit 25-of-28 field goals and averaged 63.6 yards on kickoffs in 2009. He was named to the Pro Bowl when the San Diego Chargers punt kicker Nate Kaeding pulled out of the game with a groin injury.

As for the 6-foot-8, 270-pound Haynos, he caught 19 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns last season, his second with the Dolphins, and was a starter at his position for eight of the season’s games.

Bills signed free agent DE with 4-year contract

According to the latest reports, free agent defensive end Dwan Edwards will not wear back his No.93 Baltimore Ravens jersey for the 2010 season and even the following three seasons, instead, he is going to put on the Buffalo Bills jersey once a four-year contract is signed.

The six-year veteran was drafted by the Ravens as a second-round pick in 2004 and has spent all of his first five seasons with the Ravens. Missing the entire 2008 season with a neck injury, Edwards returned to the team last year to register 56 tackles and two sacks in 18 games, including playoffs.

As free agency began on March 5, Edwards did not receiver tender offer from the Ravens and had to join other free agents on the market to find new chance in a new team. he visited the Bills headquarters Tuesday, and reports said that the two sides have agreed on a four-year deal potentially worth close to $18 million.

There is likely to be a competition for starting job in Denver

Now that the former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was wearing the Denver Broncos jersey after the Sunday trade, it just becomes inevitable to discuss on the Broncos’ starting quarterback for the 2010 season that will begin in six months.

A competition is very likely to happen between Quinn and Kyle Orton, who was previously believed to be still the team’s starter for the new season. However, Quinn has made it clear that he also intends to have the starting job.

“I’ll put it this way, I think every quarterback on our roster wants to play,” Quinn said. “Believe me, whether it’s Tom (Brandstater), Kyle, or myself, we’re all quarterbacks. We’re going to be team players first, but we all want to be out there playing.”

Winning the starting job through a competition after joining the Broncos in last April’s trade for Jay Cutler, Orton led the team to a 6-2 start but finished the second half with 2-6 last season. By comparison, Quinn finished the last season with the Browns on injured reserve with a severely sprained left foot. He passed his physical on Monday and began participating in the Broncos’ offseason training program. He will take his time to impress the new team in efforts to convince them that he deserves the starting job.

RB Tomlinson continues with free agency trip to Jets

The free agent running back LaDainian Tomlinson just finished his visit to the Minnesota Vikings without any deal done, so he has to continue with his trip and the next stop is the New York Jets.

The former San Diego Chargers star running back reportedly enjoyed his meeting with the Vikings, and the team seemed like to have Tomlinson put on the Vikings jersey
to be a replacement for Chester Taylor, who was signed away by the Chicago Bears. However, it seemed that they did not make an offer that satisfied Tomlinson.

Well, I guess Tomlinson will still have to make another visit to another team after the Jets. The Jets released free agent veteran running back Thomas Jones despite objection from fans other players. Besides, they are still hopeful that starting runningback Leon Washington could return from his broken leg for the 2010 season. In that case, signing Tomlinson would not be a necessary move and even if they may decide to make an offer, that offer could not be a great one expected by Tomlinson.

Vikings added kickoff specialist Lloyd to roster

Already with one of the top return threats in the league in Percy Harvin, the Minnesota Vikings now added one of the top kickoff threats in the league to their team. With the determination to be a better team in 2010 season, the Vikings singed kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd on Monday.

Lloyd, who played in college at the University of Minnesota, was happy to put on Vikings jersey with the feeling of returning home. He will be banging kickoffs into the end zone for them. It’s a smart move by the Vikings. They just made their special teams unit much better.

Before announcing his decision to join the Vikings, Lloyd planned to get on plane and travel to New York on Tuesday to meet with the Giants, the second stop of trip since he became an unrestricted free agent after he did not receive any qualifying offer from his former team the Carolina Panthers as a restricted free agent.

Titans RB White wants starting job in new team

The Tennessee Titans running back LenDale White has been unhappy with his backup role to All-Pro running back Chris Johnson. He wants to be a starter, and if the Titans will not give him the starting job, he would like to go for another team that would value him as a starter.

"I did good with it for a year; I didn’t complain," White told The Tennessean. "I backed up greatness, a guy who ran for 2,000 yards. But now that that’s over I feel like … it is time for me to start somewhere. And that is what I want to do. I want to be a starter in the NFL, not a backup. I would definitely be interested in a trade. I don’t know where, or how (the Titans) might view that, but that is what I am hoping for. I can’t see me sitting in Tennessee as a backup any more. And that goes as no disrespect to the Titans or C.J., but I feel like it is time for me to get out of there. … Sometimes, it is just best to part ways."

While second-year running back Johnson successfully set the record of 2, 000 rushing yards, the four-year veteran White had only 64 carries for 222 yards last season. And in the last six games he totally had only three carries for 14 yards. But before Johnson put on Titans jersey as a first-round draft pick in 2008 and even when Johnson was a rookie, White’s performance was much better, with 1,110 rushing yards in 2007 and 773 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in 2008.

Jets officially released veteran RB Jones

Just as many reports said earlier, the New York Jets released running back Thomas Jones, and the move was made officially on Friday. Along with Jones, cornerback Donald Strickland was also cut on the first day of free agency.

"I just want to start off by thanking Thomas for everything he’s done on and off the field," Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said during a conference call today. "In terms of respect and admiration, I’d put Thomas up on the very short list of guys who’ve ever been through our program, not only because of what he’s done on the field but the leadership he brought as well and the passion he played with."

Jones finished last season with a career-high 1,402 rushing yards, and if he is indeed as good as Tannenbaum, why did the Jets still decide to release him?

Well, Tannenbaum said it was a “very difficult decision” after considering all factors including skill and budget, even though there will be no salary cap in 2010. The decision to release Jones has angered his teammates in Jets jerseys, but it was eventually made. However, Tannenbaum did not rule out having Jones wear back Jets jerseys but he said that Jones himself is looking at other opportunities.

Cowboys offered WR Austin the highest possible tender

On the last before the deadline for free agency, the Dallas Cowboys made a long-expected move to retain restricted free agent wide receiver Miles Austin: they gave the receiver the highest possible tender on Thursday, allowing Austin to earn at least $3.168 million for 2010 season.

The offer will require any team that wants to sign the Pro Bowl receiver to give up a first- and third-round draft pick as compensation to the Cowboys. On the other side, the Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has said he would like to give Austin a long-term lucrative contract. So it is very likely that Austin will remain in Cowboys jersey with a satisfying deal being done.

The Cowboys also offered tenders to 11 other restricted free agents and signed another to a one-year contract, leaving only kicker Shaun Suisham to struggle with his career future. Defensive tackle Marcus Spears is the only other RFA to receiver a first-round tender offer but that was at the original draft choice level, meaning less salary than Austin and a second round compensation for his departure.

Dolphins offered tender to RB Brown

With only two days left before the March 5 deadline, the Miami Dolphins are among the several teams who began to take actions to retain free agents. What they did was to offer a $3.97 million to running back Ronnie Brown and tender a contract at $1,176,000 to tight end Anthony Fasano.

Thus, the Dolphins would be owed a first-round draft pick should another team sign Brown and the Dolphins not match the offer. They will also have the right of first refusal plus the right to a pick in the player’s round if Fasano signs with another team and Miami not match the offer.

The 28-year-old Brown has a career rushing average of 4.4 yards per carry, so the first-round tender is still not enough to keep him in Dolphins jersey. Young and fast, he is still expected to be a hot pursue on the open market, so it really depends on whether the running back wants to stay with the Dolphins.

Raiders offered tender contracts to seven RFAs

With only two days left before the March 5 deadline, the Oakland Raiders are among the several teams who began to take actions to retain free agents. On Wednesday, they tendered contracts to seven restricted free agents.

First of all it was quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, who received a second-round tender that will make him earn at least $1.759 million for continuing playing next season in Raiders jersey. And if he chooses to join another team, the Raiders will have the right to match the offer or ask for a second-round pick as compensation. Replacing JaMarcus Russell as the starting quarterback midway through last season, Gradkowski led the Raiders to comeback victories in two of his first three starts. He did not play the rest of the season since suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right knee in the fourth start, but still had 54.7 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and three interceptions on the season. Therefore, the Raiders offer him a chance to compete for the starting job with Russell for 2010 season.

The other six RFAs who received tender offers on the same day included cornerback Stanford Routt (first and third-round tender), linebackers Thomas Howard (second-round tender), Ricky Brown (second-round tender), Kirk Morrison (third-round tender), Pro Bowl long snapper Jon Condo (second-round tender) and offensive lineman Chris Morris (original round tender).

Redskins LT Samuel will announce retirement this week

According to reports by the Washington Post, the Washington Redskins left tackle Chris Samuel will take off his NFL jersey once and for all this week, announcing his expected retirement before the deadline for free agency.

Samuel suffered a neck injury in an October loss to the Carolina Panthers and speculation has spread since then that he will retire after 10 years with the Redskins. According the reports, Samuel will announce his decision on a press conference this week, right before the Friday deadline for free agency.

Actually Samuel made the decision after consulting with a team of doctors since sustaining the neck injury. And all the doctors advised him not to continue playing football because that could cause paralysis. With Samuel’s retirement, the Redskins and first-year general manager Bruce Allen and first-year coach Mike Shanahan will have much more work to do to improve the team’s offensive line.

Safety Rolle is likely to be cut by Cardinals this week

Although the Arizona Cardinals would like to make their efforts to retain free agent safety Antrel Rolle, they may just let him to enter the free agent market this Friday as they are reluctant pay the $12 million Rolle’s current contract calls for his service in 2010 season.

“We will continue to work with him and treat him as if he is a free agent we are pursuing,” Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said. “We’ve always been under the impression Antrel wanted to remain an Arizona Cardinal. We have been able to develop him and we have seen him develop into an outstanding player and we want to keep that relationship going. We’re not looking to lose quality players, but again, all of those decisions have to make sense to us from a team standpoint. Obviously he is a top priority.”

Contrary to what Graves said, the Cardinals are actually losing quality players. Quarterback Kurt Warner has retired, linebacker Karlos Dansby is determined to join the free agent market and the club is determined to trade wide receiver Anquan Boldin. As the possibly best available safety, Rolle could expect great deal from several teams. To remain in Cardinals jersey could be the last choice.

Chargers may not plan to retain RB Sproles

The San Diego Chargers have released starting running back LaDainian Tomlinson, and they may do the same thing with backup running back Darren Sproles, who is likely to join Tomlinson in free agent market as the chargers have decided not to tender a contract to him.

Sproles has said he believes he can be an every-down back. The Chargers have used him as a backup running back, return man and as a receiver out of the backfield. Valuing him as a multiple threat, the Chargers, however, hesitate to offer a long-term deal to Sproles because he is expensive. He made about $6.6 million last season after being tagged as a franchise player and would make about $7.3 million if the Chargers re-sign him.

If the Chargers give up Sproles, other team would be glad to have one more featured choice in the market. Sproles was second to Tomlinson last year with 343 yards and three touchdowns on 93 carries, fourth with 45 catches for 497 yards and four TDs. He was also one of the best punt returner. Whatever, since the Chargers did not feel pity for releasing Tomlinson, they may feel even less for having Sproles take off Chargers jersey.

Saints actually want RB Bush to stay

Running back Reggie Bush was a key contributor for New Orleans Saints in the playoffs, so despite an $eight million salary in 2010, he remains in the Saints’ plans. Talks about new deal already began between the franchise and Bush’s agent Joel Segal.

Many league executives believed the Saints might ask Bush to restructure his deal or ultimately release him in an uncapped year, but the Saints do not seem likely to do that. Actually the club has tendered qualifying offers to 13 of 18 players slated to become restricted free agents next week. And with one week left before the start of free agency, the Saints may make more offers to retain more key players.

The Saints have had several conversations with Segal, who also represents Saints star safety Darren Sharper. It seems to take some time for the Saints to have some deals done, as these players have the right to see if they could receiver better offers from other teams before agreeing to continue wearing Saints jerseys.