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Authored by Jeff Risdon - 21st February, 2008 - 7:47 pm

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It’s freaking cold in Indianapolis, but at least there are not 2 feet of snow on the ground like there is back home, 3 hours north on US 31. The Indy Convention center reeks of bleach, thanks to some truly zealous mopping and trying to keep the floors clean.

The actual player workouts are still a couple days away so the focus of my attention today is press conferences and trying to glean free agent tidbits. The player medical screenings are basically done, and the formal team interviews are just getting underway.

The Browns and Jamal Lewis agreed to a deal. I heard 4 yrs with $19M guaranteed, but that is not confirmed. Most of the rest of their cap space is going to Derek Anderson, who will be the starting QB in 2008. The only way Anderson leaves is if they get a top 10 pick and at least two other picks in the top 100, so he’s not leaving. That is straight from a Browns' front office apparatchik.

The Panthers and Deshaun Foster are in the process of a nasty divorce which should be finalized by the time you read this.

Dallas franchised Ken Hamlin and the Bengals' franchised Stacy Andrews; two moves that have raised many eyebrows and not in a good way. The Bengals are paying nearly 20% (19.4% if my buddy’s math is right) of their 08 salary cap on 3 offensive tackles, yet they have perhaps the worst G-C-G in the AFC. No wonder Chad Johnson is unhappy!

Look for Keyshawn Johnson to wind up in MIA if he can swallow his ego and take the vet minimum to play for Parcells. There is not nearly as much interest in his services as he would have you believe. The word is that Key wants 2 yrs. and $10M with most of that guaranteed. He’s dreaming, according to the (few) people I’ve talked to.

More Dolphins:

I talked for about 20 minutes today with a direct reportee to Parcells. He told me that at this point they do not have anything concrete on their draft board, and the #1 pick could be one of 5 different players: Dorsey, either Long, Matt Ryan, or (insert guffaw here) Sedrick Ellis. Signability will definitely play a role which means choice of agents is a factor. I’m still sorting through which prospects signed with which agents so I’ll make more conclusions and read between the lines once I let that soak in a little.

He also told me that it would not be a surprise if every single player Saban drafted is gone by the beginning of the 2009 season. They cannot erase that stain fast enough.

I haven’t been privy to much agent talk yet; hope to get more of that tonight. The access is a little different this year, and they have more privacy.

The Bears did not franchise Bernard Berrian and are releasing Ruben Brown. The Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo press conferences were quite revealing. It sure sounds like they plan on having Rex Grossman as their starting QB and going with the Mark Bradley/Devin Hester duo as the starting WR tandem. Lovie did intimate that he wants competition for Ced Benson at RB but also that he still believes Benson has what it takes to be a feature back. Angelo brought up Benson’s injuries which leads me to read between the lines that they are very much interested in more immediate impact help at RB. They appear to have genuinely no idea they have the worst QB/WR talent in the NFL by a pretty wide margin. I walked in late on Lovie’s talk, but every time I hear him talk and watch him in action, the more I’m convinced he’s an absolute fraud.

As far the prospects, my very preliminary encounters:

Kellen Davis TE Michigan State: he’s a physically gifted young man with a very good head on his shoulders. I’m 6’5” and 210, and he made me feel small.

Jake Long T Michigan: looks like he converted about 20 pounds of bulk into more lithe muscle. He makes the aforementioned Davis look small. His arms used to appear a little untoned, but he is all rocked up now.

Ryan Clady T Bose State: nice guy, giant hands and feet.

Fred Davis TE USC: even shorter than I expected (he’s shorter in shoes than my 6’2” wife is barefoot), but he’s also has a much better physique than I expected. Has the legs of a runner.

Martin Rucker TE Missouri: is a physical clone of el busto WR Mike Williams from what I recall of Williams as a Detroit rookie. He’d better time really well because he’s primarily played a Dallas Clark-type split out TE role in college.

Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com

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