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Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday the team isn't going to trade disgruntled cornerback Mike Jenkins. We didn't post on it here because we already knew this. Everybody already knew it. Even Jenkins, though he's let it be known he's unhappy with his contract and his new role as the team's No. 3 cornerback and would like to be traded, probably knew it too. He'd have to be blind not to.

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Jenkins isn't making so much money that the Cowboys would want to dump him like the Eagles did with Asante Samuel. He's too good for them to trade for a late-round draft pick and not quite good enough to convince a team to offer an early-round pick. The result is that the team, as it tends to in NFL contract situations, holds all of the cards and is required to make no move at all in response to Jenkins' decision to skip offseason workouts. If he wants to stay home, he stays home. If he wants to skip mandatory workouts next month or part of training camp, they can fine him. If he wanted to sit out a whole season, they'd just run Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne and Orlando Scandrick out there and take their chances. They're better with Jenkins in that mix and would like to have him, but they're not desperate enough to even consider granting him his wish.

Jenkins finds himself in NFL contract limbo, and if he's looking for a sympathetic shoulder on which to cry he doesn't even have to look outside his own division. The New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora is basically in the same situation -- he's unhappy with his contract, he isn't thrilled to be the No. 3 defensive end on his team, and he would rather play elsewhere. But he isn't getting traded either, because (stop me if this sounds familiar) he's affordable, he's too good to trade for peanuts, and he isn't going to bring back a first-round or second-round pick in a deal. The Giants are better off keeping an unhappy Umenyiora around than trading him for pennies on the dollar. It's the decision they made when he raised the same fuss a year ago, and they got 12.5 sacks out of him in 13 games (counting postseason) for their patience.

If either Jenkins or Umenyiora really wanted to push this, there are two somewhat extreme ways they could go. The first is that they could sit out the meaningful stuff, like training camp and regular-season games. If they prove that they're willing to do that, then circumstances could, theoretically, improve their leverage. Say Jenkins is sitting at home in late August and Claiborne gets hurt, or Umenyiora is sitting at home Week 2 and Justin Tuck gets hurt. In cases like those, the need for the player may become great enough to warrant a new deal. But that's a big risk to take because injuries are unpredictable, and in the meantime the player has allowed the team the chance to get used to life without him.

The second option in this case is to make a nuisance of yourself -- to show up, but put your contract situation into the spotlight in an annoying and disruptive way. The all-time visual symbol of this may well be Terrell Owens doing pushups in his driveway. Jenkins or Umenyiora could choose to simply continue being a pain, in the hope that the annoyance might prod the team into trading him for less than they think he's worth. But this carries risk, as well -- the basic one being the risk of giving the outside world (and potential future employers) reason to believe you're a jerk.

The Giants don't fear this from Umenyiora, because they trust their coaching staff and their veteran locker room to effectively ignore potential disruptions. And the Cowboys know Jenkins, and I think they're betting on the idea that he's not the pushups-in-the-driveway sort.

What these guys are doing now -- skipping voluntary workouts and letting it be known through third-party sources that they're upset -- is the simplest way to make their particular point. It costs them nothing right now to stand up for themselves, and they should.

If you're unhappy at work and you feel your bosses aren't treating you fairly, it's important to find a proper and effective way to let them know. That goes for you, me, NFL players and everyone else. But in the end, in the cases of Jenkins and Umenyiora, there's not going to be anything either one can do.

This is the nature of their profession, and the working conditions under which NFL players operate. It's not fair, because teams can end contracts on a whim and the risk of injury is incredibly high, but a history of players crossing picket lines and caving in on labor negotiations has constructed a system in which the teams hold all the cards and the player rarely finds himself in the position of strength. Unfortunately for NFL players, this isn't Major League Baseball.

Jenkins and Umenyiora are both eligible to be free agents next year, and I don't think either has to fear the franchise-player designation. The franchise numbers for cornerbacks and defensive ends are over $10 million, and it's unlikely that either the Cowboys or Giants would want to commit so much to their No. 3 player at those positions.

It's too far into the future to predict for certain, but the odds are they won't be in limbo again this time next year. Right now, all these guys can do is decide how much fine money (if any) they're willing to spend to make their point, and once they reach that number, show up, practice, hope they don't get hurt and play well enough to convince some other team to give them big contracts in 2013.

It may not be great. May not be fair. But for Jenkins, Umenyiora and so many others like them in the NFL, they unfortunately don't have much choice.

Let's have a little debate, shall we? With nearly four months still to go before the games start, a good, old-fashioned quarterback debate may be just the thing to wake everybody up and get the blood going.

Now, for the purposes of this particular debate, I don't much care which quarterback you think is "better" than the other. Fact is we can't trust you guys to have an unbiased argument about that anyway. Which is fine. You're fans. You're not supposed to be unbiased. I just feel like we can turn this debate a couple of degrees and ask a different kind of question, namely:

Which quarterback is under more pressure to perform in 2012? Michael Vick or Tony Romo?

Yeah, the poll has all four listed, because that only seemed fair. But Eli Manning's a two-time Super Bowl MVP and Robert Griffin III is a rookie in charge of a rebuilding project, so I don't think either of those guys faces the same kind of pressure as Vick faces in title-starved Philadelphia or Romo faces in perpetually unsatisfied Dallas. Go ahead and vote for one of those guys if you really think he's the right answer, but in the context of 2012 only, with Manning coming off a Super Bowl win and Griffin learning the league, I think the answer to this question is between Vick and Romo.

And if you've been reading regularly, you know my pick is Vick. I don't think any quarterback in the NFL this year will be under more pressure than Vick will be. The Eagles are in a must-win situation after their high 2011 hopes flopped, and they can't afford to flop again. Not that the Cowboys can afford to flop, mind you, but I just think Vick is in a higher-pressure situation.

Vick was far more responsible for his team's 2011 flop than Romo was for his team's. Vick has not demonstrated the same kind of year-in, year-out production that Romo has, so he has less of a track record on which to stand. And fair or not, Vick is always going to be judged against his own brilliant 2010 season. A lot of the Eagles' plans last year were based on the idea that Vick could do many things no other quarterback could do, and that that gave them an edge against the other good teams in the league. He may not have to be as incredible as he was in 2010, but he's going to have to show some of that ability in order to make teams fear him and the Eagles.

Vick is in a fascinating situation. He obviously has to mature as a quarterback and a decision-maker in order for the Eagles to succeed. But he has to do so without sacrificing too much of what sets him apart, athletically, from the others who play his position. It may well be an impossible balance to strike. But Vick is being asked to do it anyway, and I think that puts him under a different kind of pressure than Romo or anyone else faces in 2012.

What do you guys think? Play nice!

John Clayton has a preview of some of the hot issues teams face as organized team activities (or OTAs) begin this week. The only NFC East mentions in his piece are about the Philadelphia Eagles, and they are this one:

The Eagles signed Demetress Bell to replace left tackle Jason Peters, who is out for the season after tearing his Achilles twice. Bell was previously Peters' replacement in Buffalo but didn't stand out.

and this one:

Dream Team, take two: The Eagles were the winners of the 2011 offseason but losers when they underachieved last season and didn't make the playoffs. The key to OTAs is seeing whether they are going in the right direction on defense. Last year, they brought in man-to-man specialists Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and played them in zone. Andy Reid brought in secondary coach Todd Bowles to help defensive coordinator Juan Castillo sort out the plan in the secondary and see whether the Eagles can match up better with the talent on hand.

And yeah, as was the case when the 2011 season started, I think it's fair to say the Eagles will be the most compelling national story out of our division. Much is expected, and given the way they flopped last year, they'll be under even more scrutiny this year.

But we deal with all four teams equally here, so playing off of John's column, I figured it'd be a good idea to pick something to watch for each of our other three teams this week. Remember that these offseason workouts are voluntary, so not all of the players we're looking at will necessarily be on the field. The Redskins' OTAs begin today, the Eagles and Cowboys start theirs Tuesday and the Giants get on the field Wednesday.

Dallas Cowboys

Lining up the line: The injury that will keep free-agent guard Mackenzy Bernadeau out for the spring and summer deprives the Cowboys of a chance they were expecting to see Bernadeau at center. It also removes him temporarily from the offseason competition for one of the guard spots, and will give players such as David Arkin, Bill Nagy, Nate Livings and Kevin Kowalski a head-start on him as they get an early chance to show the coaches what they can do.

New York Giants

The replacements: The Giants have to figure some things out on the line as well, and they'll take a look this offseason at whether Will Beatty is making progress as the starting left tackle and whether veteran David Diehl is the solution at right tackle with Kareem McKenzie gone. But they also want to see whether first-round pick David Wilson can replace running back Brandon Jacobs, whether second-round pick Rueben Randle can emerge from the crowd hoping to replace wide receiver Mario Manningham, and whether Terrell Thomas and/or Prince Amukamara is healthy enough to replace cornerback Aaron Ross.

Washington Redskins

Here, catch! We know rookie Robert Griffin III is the guy who'll be throwing the ball for the Redskins -- now and, ideally, for the long-term future. But Washington still needs to sort out who's going to catch it. Free-agent signees Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan are obviously going to get the first shot at prominent roles in the receiving corps, and the coaching staff remains excited about 2011 rookie Leonard Hankerson. But veteran Santana Moss will also push for a role, and there are several holdovers at the wide receiver spot who will look to catch the coaches' attention this offseason so as not to get lost in the shuffle. And that doesn't even take into account tight end Fred Davis, who was the Redskins' best receiver last year.

The 2011 season was not the most, well, beastly season in NFC East history. It was the first time in a full, 16-game season that no team in the division won at least 10 games, and for much of the year the talk around the division was that it wasn't what it used to be.

Buncha baloney if you ask me. Even forgetting for a second that an NFC East team won the Super Bowl, this division still does one very important thing better than any other: rush the passer. The NFC East's 181 sacks led all NFL divisions in 2011, and by quite a bit. (The AFC North, which had three playoff teams, was second with 160). The Eagles tied for the league lead with 50. The Giants tied for third with 48. The Cowboys tied for seventh with 42, and the Redskins tied for 10th with 41.

Look deeper, into the film-based, number-crunching stats from Pro Football Focus -- stats that take into account more than just sacks when evaluating the extent to which teams rushed, hassled and affected opposing quarterbacks, and the division still rules. The Eagles rank No. 1 in PFF's 2011 team rankings, the Cowboys No. 3, the Giants No. 6 and the Redskins No. 9. No division prizes this critical aspect of the game more than the NFC East does, and it shows up in the numbers.

So, as we slug our way through a slow news month in the NFC East, I thought it'd be a good idea to check in on the pass rushes of our four teams and see how they're doing -- what they've done to get better or worse, what their 2012 prospects look like from this far out and yes, how they rank against each other. You guys asked for more polls, and I promised I'd listen, so there's one right here for you to vote on. After you finish reading, of course. I'm addressing them in order of how many sacks they got in 2011, in case you're wondering how I decided. Seemed fair.

Philadelphia Eagles

Key contributors: DE Trent Cole, DE Jason Babin, DT Cullen Jenkins. PFF ranked Cole the No. 1 overall 4-3 defensive end in the league last year. Babin ranked 10th overall and third in pass rush, finishing third in the league with 18 sacks. Jenkins ranked as the No. 4 pass-rushing defensive tackle, and Derek Landri was No. 10. Defensive line coach Jim Washburn and defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, each of whom is entering his second season in his current position with the Eagles, believe the front four is responsible for the pass rush. And while they got a lot of publicity for how wide they like to line up their defensive ends, they like to get pressure from the defensive tackles as well.

Newcomer: DT Fletcher Cox. The Eagles traded up in the first round to pick Cox because they believed he could be an impact pass-rusher from one of those interior spots right away. They need to toughen up against the run, and that will have to be part of Cox's game. But what appealed to them was his ability to get to the passer. Rookie linebacker Mychal Kendricks could conceivably factor in here too, but the Eagles don't ask their linebackers to rush very much in the new scheme.

Stock watch: UP. The addition of Cox, as well as the possible return to full health of Mike Patterson and 2010 first-round pick Brandon Graham, give the Eagles incredible depth at a position at which they were already very strong in 2011. It's possible they'll rush the passer even better in 2012.

New York Giants

Key contributors: DE Jason Pierre-Paul, DE Justin Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, DE/LB Mathias Kiwanuka. No one's roster goes as deep as the Giants' does in terms of star-caliber defensive ends. Pierre-Paul was fourth in the league with 16.5 sacks in just his second NFL season. Umenyiora had nine in just nine games. Tuck turned it on at the end and in the playoffs, and Kiwanuka is a defensive end playing linebacker. The Giants believe a strong pass rush is their heritage and their key to being an annual contender.

Newcomer: DT Marvin Austin. The Giants didn't really bring in anyone this offseason who looks like a 2012 pass-rush contributor, but their 2011 second-round pick missed all of last season due to injury, so we'll call him a newcomer. The Giants would like to get more help from inside. Linval Joseph was their best pass-rushing defensive tackle in 2011, according to PFF's rankings. A healthy Austin could be a difference-maker.

Stock watch: DOWN. Not by much, but a little, because of the loss of reliable, underrated reserve DE Dave Tollefson. If Tuck and Umenyiora have injury problems again, or if Umenyiora holds out, they could get kind of thin at defensive end pretty quickly without Tollefson there to fill in this time. Now, this is the Giants, and they'll probably figure it out. The addition of linebacker Keith Rivers could allow them to move Kiwanuka back to end in case of injury. But it's worth pointing out that they did lose a somewhat important piece of the pass rush and didn't replace him.

Dallas Cowboys

Key contributors: LB DeMarcus Ware, LB Anthony Spencer, DE Jason Hatcher, NT Jay Ratliff. There's no one like Ware, who rang up another 19.5 sacks in 2011. That's nearly half the team total, and the conventional wisdom says he needs more help. But PFF ranked Spencer its 11th-best 3-4 outside linebacker in the pass rush and Hatcher as its eighth-best 3-4 pass-rushing defensive end. Add in Ratliff, who can generate pressure up the middle, and the Cowboys look better in this area than we tend to think.

Newcomer: DE Tyrone Crawford. Dallas' third-round pick is looked at by many as a project, but as one that can eventually help with the pass rush whether he ends up as a 3-4 end or standing up as an outside linebacker. Whether he can help in 2012 remains a question, but the Cowboys didn't see a first-round or second-round pass-rusher they liked better than Spencer, so they focused on the secondary instead and picked up some down-the-road guys for the pass rush.

Stock watch: EVEN. They're bringing back basically the same group, and while there's a theory that the improvements at defensive back will help the pass rush by giving it extra time to get sacks, we have yet to see that in action. Spencer must play with more aggressiveness if this unit is to take a step forward into the upper tier with the Eagles and Giants.

Washington Redskins

Key contributors: LB Brian Orakpo, LB Ryan Kerrigan, DE Stephen Bowen. The Redskins' pass rush is all about those young outside linebackers, and they are fearsome. But with only 16.5 sacks between them in 2011, their numbers have a ways to go to get into the big-time stratosphere we're talking about in the NFC East. PFF did rank Orakpo fifth and Kerrigan ninth among pass-rushing 3-4 OLBs in 2011, so they do a lot of things well in that area. Bowen had six sacks and DE Adam Carriker came up with 5.5.

Newcomer: DE Jarvis Jenkins. Just as we did with the Giants, we'll go with a 2011 second-round pick who missed his rookie season due to injury. Jenkins may not be a pass-rusher, but adding him to the defensive line rotation could help free up more room for the linebackers and maybe help the other linemen get to the passer more often as well.

Stock watch: EVEN. This is really all about how much and how quickly Orakpo and especially Kerrigan continue to develop as elite pass-rushers. They've both shown flashes of incredible raw ability, and they have to continue to hone their craft so they can play at the level of the other pass-rushers in their division. Ware, Cole, Pierre-Paul and the rest of these guys are setting a high bar, and the Redskins know they have to have their own pass-rush monsters if they want to hang with them year in and year out.

Thanks for the feedback on the last post. I have been reading through the comments there, and I appreciate the suggestions. Most of them, anyway.

Meantime, Football Outsides has been doing a division-by-division look at the remaining needs for each team, and today they take on the NFC East. It's Insider content (which always makes me chuckle, that the Outsiders are Insider), so you need to pay to read it, but here's a little taste.

Dallas Cowboys: "Interior offensive line." Basically, the FO guys aren't excited about the Cowboys' talent level at guard and center, and seem unimpressed by Jason Garrett's plan to let Nate Livings, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Bill Nagy and Phil Costa compete for the three starting spots in the interior of the line. No mention of David Arkin, oddly, who would seem to be in the mix. And I do have a nitpick with their claim that Nagy was "banished to the bench" for ineffectiveness last season, when it was actually a broken ankle that ended his season. But in general, the idea that the Cowboys need more strength and power at the interior line positions than they probably have on the roster is probably accurate.

New York Giants: "Osi Umenyiora's replacement." This seems to posit that the Giants would trade Umenyiora or that he'd hold out and they wouldn't have any pass-rushers at defensive end behind their two excellent starters. I don't think they're going to trade him, and I don't think he's going to hold out of any regular-season games once push comes to shove. But this does point up the idea that the Giants need to be thinking about who replaces Umenyiora next season, assuming he leaves via free agency.

Philadelphia Eagles: "Secondary depth." The metrics all rate Asante Samuel very highly as a cornerback, so it's little surprise that FO treats his departure as one that creates a hole. I think they're right on this score, but the metrics don't take into account Samuel's salary, or the fact that his playing style doesn't fit what they want to do with the cornerbacks this year, so it's hard to get on them for that dump-trade they made with him. Assuming full health and a big steps forward for Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, the Eagles should have a good starting secondary. But I would agree that there is little behind the starters if someone gets hurt. Interested to see whether Brandon Boykin can make an impression early and challenge for that nickel corner spot, and I can't rule out the possibility that they add a veteran to the safety mix. There are still quite a few out there.

Washington Redskins: "Cornerbacks." Yeah, DeAngelo Hall and Josh Wilson project as the starters, but they're not exactly Deion Sanders and Night Train Lane back there, and as FO points out, the Redskins' efforts to upgrade their secondary don't rank among their greatest successes of this offseason. Washington's defense is emerging as a good one, but the weak spot is still in the back, and they would do well to keep on the lookout for ways to make it better. That's part of why they're bringing so many safeties to camp, but they'll need better performance from Hall and Wilson in 2012 if the defense is to take the next step.

So John Clayton has this piece on the 10 best position battles brewing this summer between rookies and veterans in the NFL. I scrolled through it, thinking it would provide me with some material for a late-Friday afternoon post, and to my shock and dismay there wasn't one NFC East mention in the whole thing. Come on, John! Help a guy out, will ya?

Anyway, it got me thinking: There must be some interesting position battles to keep an eye on throughout the offseason and training camps in our division, right? I mean, some situations where things aren't yet set in stone? There are, and here's one for each team.

Dallas Cowboys' inside linebackers: Sean Lee is set at one of these spots, but the other will be interesting to watch. The team drafted Bruce Carter in the second round in 2011, and they believe he's part of their future on defense. But he was coming off an injury when they drafted him and played in just 10 games as a rookie, and they can't be sure he'll be ready to hold down a starter's spot full-time in 2012. So they went out on the free-agent market and signed Dan Connor, formerly of the Carolina Panthers, to start next to Lee while Carter continues to acclimate himself to the pro game. The interesting aspect of this will be how good Carter looks in training camp and whether he can play well enough to demand to take reps and snaps away from Connor. The veteran, Connor, will start with the job, but Carter is the future there, and it's just a question of when he's ready.

New York Giants running backs: Ahmad Bradshaw is the unquestioned veteran starter, but he doesn't come without questions. Foot injuries have limited him over the past several seasons, and his good friend and veteran safety net, Brandon Jacobs, is off to San Francisco to play for the 49ers. Assuming Bradshaw won't be able to make it through the season fully healthy on a starter's workload, there are going to be plenty of snaps to go around. The question is how many of those snaps first-round pick David Wilson can steal from holdover youngsters like D.J. Ware, Da'Rel Scott and Andre Brown (who's suspended for the first four games for drugs).

Philadelphia Eagles safeties: The team wants Nate Allen and Jaiquawn Jarrett, its second-round picks from the 2010 and 2011 drafts, respectively, to be the starters. Of the two, they're more confident about Allen, who's had some injury issues but played well when healthy last season. They have him penciled in as a starter. Whether Jarrett can fight off Kurt Coleman for the other starting spot is one of the training-camp questions the Eagles will face. It's also possible they'll add a free-agent veteran to the mix, but they'd rather get the production they need from their young guys if they can.

Washington Redskins secondary: There are currently 15 defensive backs listed on the Redskins' roster, and it's safe to assume they can't all make the team. The question is which of them will play. Josh Wilson and DeAngelo Hall would appear to be set as the starting cornerbacks, but the team did sign free agent Cedric Griffin, and intriguing undrafted free-agent cornerback Chase Minnifield will be a name to watch in the summer. The more interesting questions are at safety, where the Redskins lost starters LaRon Landry and O.J. Atowge and things are wide open. The guy they like the best for the future is 2011 draft pick DeJon Gomes, but while they view him as a starter at some point, they don't know yet whether that point is this year. Their free-agent safety signing list is a fascinating one, including Brandon Meriweather, Madieu Williams and Tanard Jackson, any of whom c0uld emerge as a starter. Griffin also might have been brought in with an eye toward playing him at safety, and Reed Doughty was a valuable injury fill-in last season and could get a shot at more playing time in this crowded field. The Redskins appear to be installing an all-out competition for safety roles, and from here it's impossible to know who will play well enough to nail them down.

On Wednesday, the league put out a press release announcing the dates of offseason team activities and minicamps. The full list can be found here. The rules state that teams may hold a rookie minicamp on one of the first two weekends after the draft and may also hold a mandatory camp for veterans. New head coaches can hold one additional voluntary camp for returning players, but there are no new head coaches in the NFC East this year, just as I continually assured you there would not be when you kept asking me that question throughout the 2011 season.

Here are the offseason schedules for our teams:

Dallas Cowboys
OTA: May 22-24, May 29-31, June 4-7
Minicamp: May 4-6 (rookies), June 12-14

New York Giants
OTA: May 23-24, May 30-June 1, June 4-5, June 7-8
Minicamp: May 11-13 (rookies), June 12-14

Philadelphia Eagles
OTA: May 22-24, May 30-June 1, June 4-7
Minicamp: May 12-14 (rookies), June 12-14

Washington Redskins
OTA: May 21, May 23-24, May 29-31, June 4-7
Minicamp: May 4-6 (rookies), June 12-14

» NFC draft analysis: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South


The only NFC East team that didn't trade up in the first round is the one that just won the Super Bowl. That gives you a sense of how hungry the division's other three teams are to catch the New York Giants and take their shot at the Lombardi Trophy they were holding up in Indianapolis a few months ago.

The Washington Redskins made their trade-up a month early, dealing away three first-round picks and this year's second-rounder in order to secure the man they believe will be their franchise quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys made theirs Thursday night, when they decided it was worth spending their first- and second-round picks this year to secure the best defensive player in the draft. And the Eagles made theirs a short time later, when the defensive tackle they wanted, Fletcher Cox, fell further than they expected him to fall and the price to move up and get him became reasonable.

But after the top half of the first round, the NFC East teams' drafts went very different ways. The Cowboys, in need of 2012 help at various places on the roster, oddly began picking project players and unknown safeties. The Redskins made some head-scratchers in the middle rounds before getting workmanlike about their offensive line late. And the Eagles had one of those drafts where everything seemed to be falling their way. Time will tell, of course, and there's no way right now to know how any of these players will perform. But here are some thoughts on how it looks in the very early post-draft light.

BEST MOVE

Washington's trade to get quarterback Robert Griffin III and Dallas' trade to get Morris Claiborne were the headline-grabbers, and I believe that each team will be happy with its first-round pick. But the four high picks the Redskins gave up and the two high picks the Cowboys gave up keep me from labeling either of these the division's "best move" from this year's draft. Washington doesn't have another first-rounder until 2015. And Dallas, which needed help at multiple positions, spent its first two picks on a position they'd already addressed at great cost in free agency. Not enough value in either deal for it to be called a shrewd move.

So I'm giving this to the Eagles' deal to move up and get Cox. Philadelphia arrived at the draft Thursday convinced Cox was the player they wanted, and they believed they might have to move up to No. 6 or 7 to get him. To do that, they likely would have had to surrender at least one of their second-round picks, and they didn't want to pay either of those or their third. Once Cox fell to No. 12, the Eagles were able to move up by surrendering their first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder, securing the player they felt was their top target without giving up the picks they wanted to preserve. So while, yes, of course, I consider Griffin and Claiborne better players, I think the Eagles made the best first-round move of any NFC East team -- getting a player who can make a difference for them in the short-term as well as the long-term without handicapping themselves for the draft's second night.

On Friday, the Eagles converted their two second-round picks into a speedy outside linebacker (Mychal Kendricks) and a pass-rushing defensive end (Vinny Curry) and took the quarterback prospect they wanted (Nick Foles) in the third round. That Day 2 haul, compared with what the Cowboys and Redskins were able to get with their Day 2 picks, is what made the Eagles' trade-up the best overall move of the draft in the NFC East.

RISKIEST MOVE

This is a close contest between the two moves that lost out in the first category. It'd be easy to say Griffin, because he cost so much more. But I'm giving this to the Cowboys' trade-up to get Claiborne. It's a tough call, because I think Claiborne may be the best player any NFC East team got in this draft (barely, if at all, ahead of Griffin) and he cost less than Griffin did. But I'm basing this call on the circumstances specific to each team.

The Redskins are taking a big risk, sure, by picking a kid to be their franchise quarterback and telling him they don't have a first-round pick in either of the next two years with which to build around him. But the Redskins had no choice. Their need for Griffin was overwhelming, and they were right to let it overwhelm their priority list for this draft and the next two. Washington hasn't had a franchise quarterback in 20 years, and once they were convinced Griffin could be one, this was a risk worth taking for them.

I do not think, however, that Dallas' need for Claiborne was nearly as great as Washington's need for Griffin. Yes, the Cowboys' secondary was the obvious weak spot of their team last year -- the main reason they fell one game short of the Giants in the division race. But they'd already spent their big free-agent bucks on Brandon Carr and had Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback. Does Claiborne have a good chance to be better than any of them? Yes. Could that happen as early as this year? You betcha. But with needs at safety, linebacker, defensive line and offensive line, the Cowboys should have conserved their picks to address multiple needs. They weren't one great cornerback away from being a championship team in 2012, and by trading their top two picks for Claiborne, and then picking project players and reaches the rest of the way, they decided to operate as though that were the case. It's a big risk, and if lingering weaknesses at those other spots do them in this season, they could regret it.

MOST SURPRISING MOVE

Without a doubt, it was the Redskins' selection of Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins with the seventh pick of the fourth round Saturday. It was Washington's third pick of the draft and the second that had been used on a quarterback. Their reasoning is that quarterback is a vitally important position at which it's impossible to be too deep, and as long as they make it clear to the players involved and to their fan base that Griffin is the starter and Cousins is the backup, it can work. They can develop Cousins in the backup role, have a player they like in reserve in case Griffin gets hurt and perhaps eventually trade him for something of great value in a league in which quarterbacks are the most prized commodities.

FILE IT AWAY

Nobody in this division does the draft better than the Giants, and it'll be worth remembering that the wide receiver (LSU's Rueben Randle) they picked at the end of the second round was a player they considered taking at the end of the first. Randle is a dynamic talent who now gets a chance to develop behind brilliant and selfless starting wideouts Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and with the help of quarterback Eli Manning, who has an outstanding record of getting the best out of his receiving targets. Randle could not have been drafted into a better spot for his own development, and he could potentially be an immediate asset for the Giants in the passing game, because he can play the outside spot vacated by free-agent defector Mario Manningham and allow Cruz to stay in the slot position from which he exploded onto the scene in 2011. The Giants managed to combine need picks and value picks at almost every turn in this draft, and their second-rounder may turn out to be their biggest prize.

IRVING, Texas – It was a big day in the NFC East with the Cowboys making the boldest move by trading up to the sixth spot in the first round to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne.

As expected, Washington added quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick, but not expected was Philadelphia being able to land defensive end Fletcher Cox, which gives the Eagles another pass rusher to add to Jason Babin, Trent Cole and Cullen Jenkins.

Oh, the defending Super Bowl champs New York Giants added Virginia Tech running back David Wilson.

Griffin was the sure-fire second pick in the draft all along behind Andrew Luck and the Redskins are hoping he fills a piece of the puzzle that coach Mike Shanahan has not been able to land. Griffin is an electrifying playmaker and should be able to thrive with the way Shanahan likes to move the quarterback outside the pocket.

The Eagles coveted Cox and were glad to see him available with the No. 11 pick. He can hold the fort when Philadelphia spreads the field with its defensive ends and provide some interior pass rush. The Eagles appear to be doing what the Giants do with pass rushers: get a lot of them.

The Giants needed a running back to pair with Ahmad Bradshaw after losing Brandon Jacobs. Wilson had 1,709 yards at Virginia Tech and was the third running back taken in the first round behind Trent Richardson (Cleveland, No. 3) and Doug Martin (Tampa Bay, No. 30).

Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest mock draft goes three rounds deep, and for this particular exercise Mel is not predicting which teams will take which players. He's gone through and made the picks based on what he would do if he were running each particular team. He calls it his "Grade A" draft, which means the draft each team would have to have to earn a grade of "A." It's insider, so I'll give you the names but you'll have to pay to read the explanations. The comments here are mine.

Washington Redskins

Round 1: Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor

Round 3: Zebrie Sanders, OT, Florida State

As we have said here many times, if the Redskins start thinking offensive line once they've officially selected their franchise quarterback, they have the right idea.

Dallas Cowboys

Round 1: Mark Barron, S, Alabama

Round 2: Andre Branch, OLB, Clemson

Round 3: Justin Bethel, CB, Presbyterian

Defense, defense, defense. That's what the Cowboys need -- quality and depth at every possible defensive position. This would give them a safety, a pass-rusher and a cornerback. Cowboys fans would be overjoyed.

Philadelphia Eagles

Round 1: Fletcher Cox, DT, Mississippi State

Round 2 (46): Zach Brown, LB, North Carolina

Round 2 (51): Dwayne Allen, TE, Clemson

Round 3: Kirk Cousins, QB, Michigan State

Chatter lately is that they might have to move up for Cox, but Mel says he doesn't have him rated high enough that he believes they will. He'd be their perfect pick, and Cousins in the third would be a nifty developmental QB prospect behind Michael Vick. A linebacker and a tight end in between -- Grade A indeed.

New York Giants

Round 1: Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford

Round 2: David Wilson, RB, Virginia Tech

Round 3: Donald Stephenson, OT, Oklahoma

Remember, this isn't what Mel thinks will happen, but what he'd do if he were in charge of the Giants. These are all need picks, and the Giants don't generally draft for need. These could also coincidentally be the best value picks at these spots, and if they are the Giants' draft would look great. But we'll see. I find it hard to believe they don't take a defensive player at all in the first three rounds.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Jason Garrett constantly hammers home to his players about the process and having a great day today.

Jason Witten was asked about the Cowboys’ 2012 schedule, which was released Tuesday, and the tight end had only Sept. 5 at New York Giants on his mind.

“It’s hard to get past that first one, I know that,” Witten said. “You look at the way the [2011] season ended, it couldn’t be a better game to get back up there quickly. There’s no better what to start off than with the champs.”

The Cowboys missed out on winning the NFC East and clinching a playoff spot in January thanks to a 31-17 loss to the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

As you know by now, the NFL will officially release its 2012 schedule tonight at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN will cover this event with a three-hour prime-time special during which our NFL analysts will break down each team's schedule in astoundingly thorough detail. Here are a couple of things to look for from the NFC East perspective.

• The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants have the most difficult schedule in the league, based on the 2011 winning percentages of their 2012 opponents. As we have already discussed here, I consider this a poor measure of schedule strength, since the teams that were good in 2011 aren't guaranteed to be good again in 2012. However, it's worth noting that, according to ESPN Stats & Information, only one team in the past six years that's had the league's hardest schedule based on the prior year's winning percentages finished with a winning record. That team was the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers, who went 12-4 and won the Super Bowl.
• From a travel standpoint, the Giants' schedule could be fairly easy. They will leave the eastern time zone only twice -- once to go to Dallas, and once to go to San Francisco. Obviously, since they play Dallas at home in the Sept. 5 season opener, they can't expect to play them again in Week 2. But if the San Francisco trip is in Week 2, the Giants likely would welcome that. They have 11 days between their opener and their second game (12 if their second game is on a Monday night), and to take their only long trip of the season at the end of such a break and to have it out of the way that early would be a nice feeling.


• By the same token, the Cowboys, who have that same long break between their first two games, would welcome a Week 2 trip to Seattle, which is their longest road trip of the year. The Cowboys don't play a single road game in the central time zone, which is the one in which they play their home games, but their travel schedule is tame other than the Seattle trip, with games in Atlanta, Carolina, Baltimore and Cincinnati, in addition to the road division games.


• The Philadelphia Eagles leave their time zone three times, to go to Dallas, New Orleans and Arizona. After their disastrous Thursday Night experience last season in Seattle, Philadelphia's biggest hope is that they won't have to make any of those trips on a short week this time.


• Teams generally don't want to see early bye weeks. The Washington Redskins and the Cowboys were both off on Week 5 last season, and it's safe to say neither appeared very strong at the end of the season. Perhaps the league takes this into account and will give the teams that had early bye weeks in 2011 the later bye weeks in 2012. Ideally, players like to have that bye week as close to the middle of the season as possible. The Giants and Eagles had theirs in Week 7 last season.

The hot rumor is that the NFL schedules could be released Tuesday, or if not then at some point this week. When this happens, I promise we will make a large deal about it.

Of course, this announcement will only be about dates of games. We already know each team's 2012 opponents, as those are determined by a formula based on where each team finished in the 2011 standings. We've known since Jan. 2 which teams each team in the NFC East will play in the coming season.

It is on this that John Clayton has based his strength of schedule analysis, which suggests that the NFC East teams -- and especially the Super Bowl champion New York Giants -- could face a tougher road to the playoffs than some of the other teams in the league:

Winning the NFC East won't be easy. It wasn't easy last year when the New York Giants got hot at the end of the season and won an underachieving division with a 9-7 record. The Giants, Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles face schedules that range from .26 to .31 tougher than last year. The Giants, for example, face the toughest non-division schedule in football, going against teams with a 98-62 combined record, a burden that means they could play better and still have a tough time getting nine wins.

The NFC East plays the NFC South and the AFC North. The Eagles face a .516 schedule, .26 tougher than last year. The Dallas Cowboys play a .504 schedule, .31 tougher than last season.

This is noteworthy and fun to discuss, and if you'd like the full list of strength of schedule based on last year's records, you can find it here. You'll see that the Giants rank at the top, as the aggregate 2011 winning percentage of their 2012 opponents is .547. The Eagles and Cowboys also face a slate of opponents that combined for a better-than-.500 record in 2011. The Redskins have it a bit easier.

But while noteworthy and fun to discuss, this stuff doesn't move me too much. A team's 2011 winning percentage doesn't automatically correlate to its difficulty as a 2012 opponent. Just because the teams on the Giants' 2012 schedule won a bunch of games in 2011 doesn't mean they're going to be good teams in 2012. The plain fact is, from this far out, we can't possibly know who has the toughest schedule, because we can't know for sure which teams are going to be good and which are not.

This is why the schedule announcement, be it Tuesday or some other day this week, offers a little more clarity about toughness of schedule. Once the full schedules are announced, we can see who has the short weeks, who has the cross-country trip on the week following a "Monday Night Football" game, things like that. I think travel schedules have as much to do with the toughness of a team's schedule than do April projections about the quality of its opponents. There aren't too many easy games in this league, and sometimes those that look the easiest are the ones that jump up and bite you. Yes, the schedule matters, but I'd caution against reading too much into those 2011 opponents' winning percentages just yet.

Well, I seem to have misplaced Tim Gunn's cell number, so you're stuck with me and my untrained assessment of the new Nike NFL uniforms.

Before I get to it, though, I have one bit of commentary on the day itself. To borrow a line from David Spade in "Tommy Boy," the NFL could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves. This uniform unveiling has replaced the schedule announcement (you know, where everybody gets all breathlessly fired up even though they've known for months who their team's opponents would be) as the most overhyped offseason non-event. On the day between the NCAA basketball championship and Major League Baseball's Opening Day, the NFL has again found a way to dominate a news cycle. Got to give it credit.

All right. With that out of the way, you want to know about the new uniforms. There isn't much to tell, but here it is, team-by-team, with the help of Nike's website. Click on the links to check out the pictures.

Dallas Cowboys: The key thing to remember is that the big changes aren't necessarily in form, but in function. So the Cowboys' new look is basically the same as their old look, but the jersey works differently. As Nike says, "the new Nike Elite 51 jersey is designed and engineered from the inside out, focusing on creating a system where the baselayer, padding, jersey and pant work in concert. A few of the new innovations include increasing sleeve articulation for better range of motion and integrating new four-way stretch fabrication to provide a streamlined shrink-wrap fit." So in other words, if I plan to wear one, I'd better get going on my ab crunches.

New York Giants: As you would expect, the Giants are making no major changes in the appearance of their uniforms. The teams in our division are traditionalists, by and large, and none more so than the current Super Bowl champs. I do like the gloves, though, that produce the team logos when you interlock them.

Philadelphia Eagles: No changes at all for the Eagles, not even in the fabric. "The Philadelphia Eagles have chosen to stay with their traditional design aesthetic as well as their former uniform fabrication this year." Man, when they were talking about sticking with last year's plan and giving it another chance, they weren't kidding!

Washington Redskins: Like the Cowboys and Eagles, the Redskins are embracing the new Nike technology while maintaining their old look. So Robert Griffin III will wear the Redskins uniform with which he's already familiar, just with something called "Flywire technology," which is designed "to reduce weight and provide a lockdown fit over the pads." Which should help the young man when he gets hit harder than he's ever been hit in his life.

That's all I've got on new uniforms, folks. Enjoy it.

One of the most popular questions you get this time of year is about salary cap space -- as in, how much does each team have left? So it's worth it every now and then to check in and see where those situations stand. I'm using the figures from the NFL's web site, figuring they're as close to official as it gets. So here's their cap room figure for each NFC East team as of March 30:

Dallas Cowboys: $2,164,189

The Cowboys did their free-agency work early, and I wouldn't expect too much more. This figure would be $7,164,189 if not for the penalties the league imposed for the way the Cowboys spent in the uncapped 2010 season. But I still don't think they'd have plunked down big dollars to compete with Jacksonville to sign receiver Laurent Robinson. They'll bargain-hunt for their No. 3 wide receiver again, as they did last year when they turned up Robinson. And while there may be another signing or two -- bargain receiver, second tight end, veteran safety -- the Cowboys' attention right now is on the draft.

New York Giants: $3,431,050

This gives the Giants a little bit of room to address their needs at linebacker, offensive line and running back, though they don't seem in much of a hurry to do any of those things. Up tight against the cap for the second year in a row, the Giants continue to maintain their prudent, patient approach to the offseason. They'll probably bring back linebacker Jonathan Goff and add a veteran running back, but I think they address their tackle need at some point in the draft, if not in the first round.

Philadelphia Eagles: $16,255,888

Lots of money, and there's plenty the Eagles can do with it, starting with signing a free-agent tackle to replace the injured Jason Peters and working out a new deal for running back LeSean McCoy. The Eagles also are in the market for a veteran safety, a veteran running back and some more linebacker help. But they're not spending like sailors this offseason, mainly because they did last year and most of those same guys are still on the team.

Washington Redskins: $7,681,338

Yeah, and think about it. It'd be $25,681,338 if not for their salary-cap penalty. This figure still gives the Redskins plenty of room, if they want, to sign linebacker London Fletcher, running back Tim Hightower and a new right tackle. But especially in Fletcher's case, they need to get more creative than they expected they would have to be. Fletcher turns 37 this year and isn't going to get the kind of long-term deal that allows the team to spread out the cap hit over a period of years. The Redskins have been active in free agency and can continue to address their needs, but the penalty has forced them to adjust the way they're going about their spending.