3rd and Long

Part 2 of our look at the pre Draft needs of each NFL team moves on to the AFC North

Pittsburgh Steelers

2007 record10-6

1st in AFC North

Team needs

The Steelers have been very active in free agency addressing their biggest needs at WR and Offensive Line. There is a smaller need for help at CB.

2008 first round draft position - 23rd

Cleveland Browns

2007 record 10-6

2nd in AFC North

Team Needs

The Browns are in desperate need of at least one impact Defensive End for their 3-4 . The signing of Stallworth alleviates the need for a WR.Look for the Browns to focus on the Defense with this draft

2008 first round draft position- no first round pick

Cincinnati Bengals

2007 record 7-9

3rd in AFC North

Team Needs

The Bengals need to continue to address their run defense as this continues to be a concern.The continuing saga of will Chad Johnson report or will he be traded necessitates the need for some attention to the WR position in the draft. If the Bengals move to a 3-4 as rumors suggest,also look for them to sign a playmaking Nose Tackle.

2008 first round draft position - 9th pick

Baltimore Ravens

2007 record 5-11

4th in AFC North

Team Needs

The first thing that the Ravens need to be addressing is the QB position. Steve McNair is injury prone and Kyle Boller has proven to be a less than effective starter. CB is another immediate need that needs to be addressed as both starters will be over 30 when the season starts.The OT and DE positions will also need to be addressed this year.

2008 first round draft position- 8th pick 

Former number 1 overall draft pick David Carr signed a one year, one million dollar deal with the New York Giants. Carr was the first pick in the 2002 NFL Draft and was the first ever pick of the expansion Houston Texans. Carr played last year with the Carolina Panthers and was released after struggling when he took over for the injured Jake Delhomme.

Carr will compete with Anthony Wright and Jared Lorenzen to back up Manning, the No. 1 overall pick in 2004.

After 17 NFL seasons, Brett Favre has retired from professional football. In his press conference officially announcing his retirement  earlier today, Favre said he felt confident he could still play on Sundays but lacked the passion to practice and prepare the way he would need to week in and week out. His retirement came as a surprise to many after his outstanding play in the 2007 season leading the Packers to a 13-3 regualr season record and the NFC Championsionship game where they lost to eventual Super Bowl champions NY Giants.

Favre takes a number of records with him into retirement including 3 NFL MVP titles, 61,655 passing yards, 442 Touchdown passes, and 160 career victories.  His most dubious record is his 288 interceptions.

Ben Roethlisberger just signed an 8 year $102 million dollar contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The contract includes $36 million in guarantees, easily making the franchise QB the highest paid Steeler and one of the highest paid players in the game.

Roethlisberger now joins Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Carson Palmer, Donovan McNabb, the suspended Michael Vick and the retired Drew Bledsoe in the $100 million quarterback club.

Roethlisberger turned 26 on Sunday.Not a bad birthday present at all

Just finished updating the free agent tracker after a busy weekend. We’ll look at the trades that took place this weekend later today.

Free Agent Tracker

Earlier today, the Philadelphia Eagles released DE Jevon Kearse. Kearse had been with the Eagles for four seasons, but was considered a disappointment during his oft injured tenure. he recorded only 4.5 sacks in 14 games last season after missing most of the 2006 campaign with a knee injury.Kearse has been voted into the Pro Bowl twice in his career.

On Tuesday , the New England Patriots released LB Rosevelt Colvin, who was a member of two Super Bowl winning teams but also missed significant time with injuries. Colvin signed with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent in March 2003.

# — The Falcons won a coin flip with the Raiders at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Feb. 22, giving Atlanta the third pick, the Raiders the fourth pick and the Chiefs the fifth pick. Oakland picks ahead of Kansas City because the Chiefs finished ahead of the Raiders in the AFC West standings by virtue of the record-in-common-games tiebreaker. If the Raiders had won the coin flip, they would’ve gotten the No. 3 pick and the Falcons would’ve flipped with the Chiefs to decide the fourth and fifth picks.

* — Will forfeit first-round pick as punishment for illegal videotaping.

Notes: Super Bowl loser and winner are always slotted 31st and 32nd, respectively. Team in parentheses is the one on which the selection order is based, before trades came into play.

Recently released from the Miami Dolphins. LB Zach Thomas has reportedly agreed to a one year deal with the Dallas Cowboys.The deal calls for a signing bonus of $1 million,base salary of $1 million and incentives worth another $1 million.His agent , Drew Rosenhaus, has indicated the deal will be signed in the next couple of days.

Thomas as released by the Dolphins as part of their massive restructuring on Feb 14 after 12 seasons with the team.Thomas is a native of Texas and played his college ball for Texas Tech. Thomas is also Miami’s all time tackling leader and played 168 games for the Dolphins.

In what can only be considered a surprise, the New England patriots have decided not to use the franchise tag on WR Randy Moss prior to todays deadline for applying the tag. This means Moss will be an unrestricted free agent beginning next Friday when the free agent signing period opens.

There is sure to be tons of discussion and speculation over why the Pats didn’t tag him as wll as discussion as to where he will end up

In our second installment  focusing on this years crop of free agents, we turn our attention to the Running Backs

Marion Barber, Restricted, Dallas Cowboys

Marion Barber established himself as a number one back this season,, despite sharing snaps with Julius Jones. He led the league in yards gained after initial contact and runs through and over defenders with a mean streak unseen in today’s crop of running backs. Dallas isn’t going to let him go anywhere and Barber will likely be the Cowboys feature back in the not too distant feature.

Julius Jones, Unrestricted, Dallas Cowboys

The more successful Marion Barber has become, the more expendable Julius Jones has become to the Cowboys. While starting out his career with decent numbers, those numbers have declined as Barber has gotten more playing time, especially when it comes to Touchdowns as Barber emerged as the Cowboys short yardage back. While Dallas has not publicly stated a direction in regards to their running back situation, it would come as no surprise top see Jones go somewhere else where he could be a number one back again.

Jamal Lewis, Unrestricted, Cleveland Browns,

Lewis was a big part of the Browns success this season as he rushed for 1,300 yards and 9 touchdowns this year .In addition to his good numbers, Lewis really helped the Brown with clock management in a couple of key situations this year , leading to wins. While it is unlikely Lewis will ever repeat the effort of his 2,000 yard season of 2003, Lewis still contributes at a high level. Expect the Browns to keep Lewis for a couple of more years.

Update: I just got word that Jamal Lewis has signed a new contract with the Clevelenad Browns. As mentioned earlier, this was an expected move - Al Davis

Michael Turner, Unrestricted, San Diego Chargers

Michael Turner is likely to be at the top of a number of teams free agent list this off season , despite being used almost exclusively as a back up back. But when you are backing up the best RB in the league in Ladainian Tomlinson, and you still manage to have a 5 yds per carry average, there should be a number of NFL teams knocking on your door, asking you to be their starter.

Other notable Free agents Running/Full Backs

T J Duckett, Unrestricted, Detroit Lions
Cedric Cobbs, Restricted, Denver Broncos
Tyson Thompson, Restricted, Dallas Cowboys
Travis Minor, Unrestricted, St. Louis Rams

After a disappointing two year run, the Buffalo Bills released receiver Peerless Price on Thursday.

Price missed the final 12 games this past season after surgery to repair a disk in his neck. He finished with seven catches for 68 yards a year after making 49 receptions.

Price had his best season in 2002, playing in his fourth season and his first stint for the Bills. That season Price recorded career-highs in yards (1,252), receptions (94) and touchdowns (9). Price subsequently went on to play two years in Atlanta and one season in Dallas before returning to Buffalo in 2006.

The Bills also released linebacker Kevin Harrison and defensive back E.J. Underwood.

The Miami Dolphins have informed linebacker Zach Thomas that they will release him today.

The roster move, which comes as no surprise for a team that’s trying to get younger, ends the Miami career of a linebacker who made seven Pro Bowls in his 12 seasons. Thomas is one of the best players in Dolphins history, a fifth-round draft pick in 1996 who was thought by many to be too small and too slow to be an NFL linebacker but has frequently proved the doubters wrong.

But while Thomas won’t be back with the Dolphins, his NFL career is apparently not over. Jay Glazer from Fox Sports reports that Thomas said he is not ready to retire. If doctors can clear him after the serious concussion he suffered in 2007, there might be a team out there that’s willing to give him a look. But if there’s even the slightest chance that he could be doing himself permanent harm by risking another concussion, here’s hoping he hangs it up.

The New Orleans Saints re-signed kicker Martin Gramatica and added two new assistant coaches on Tuesday.Gramatica joined the Saints for the final three games in 2007 and made all five of his field goal attempts. He will compete in training camp with Olindo Mare, who struggled for much of the 2007 season before su ffering a season-ending hip injury in December.

The Saints also hired running backs coach Aaron Kromer and assistant defensive line coach Travis Jones.

Kromer has been an offensive line assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders for the past seven years. Jones was the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at LSU from 2003-04 before working for the last three years as a defensive assistant with the Miami Dolphins.