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Back home in New Jersey after four lovely days in Palm Beach at the NFL owners meetings. Man, they had some good links there at the Breakers. But for today, these will have to do.

Dallas Cowboys

Even with free-agent Dan Connor in the fold, the Cowboys might not be done adding to their inside linebacker corps. But Jason Garrett did not make it sound as though free agents Bradie James or Keith Brooking are likely to re-sign.

Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will have a lap-band procedure to help him lose weight. Ryan's twin brother, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, had the same procedure done in 2010.

New York Giants

Ohm ponders what the Giants will do to replace Brandon Jacobs now that the longtime Giants running back has signed with the 49ers. I agree with Ohm that someone on the level of Carolina's Jonathan Stewart is not a realistic option and that they'll probably sign a cheap veteran running back to throw into the mix with Ahmad Bradshaw and the young guys they have.

Tom Coughlin says he doesn't care if Tim Tebow and the Jets are dominating the New York tabloid headlines, because he and the Giants won the Super Bowl, and he figures the folks reading those papers still remember that.

Philadelphia Eagles

Andy Reid was asked whether old pal Donovan McNabb would be an option for the Eagles at backup quarterback. He did not make it sound as though he would. Some people have asked me about McNabb, but I have no reason to believe he'll play again. For the Eagles or anyone else.

There's a report out there that the Tennessee Titans, who lost Cortland Finnegan to the Rams in free agency, might be one of the teams interested in trading for Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel. And there's a report out there that they're not. So we'll see. Won't be the last team connected to Samuel in this kind of report.

Washington Redskins

Mike Shanahan isn't worried that the league might still penalize the Redskins over bounty programs that may or may not have been in place when Gregg Williams was their defensive coordinator. He's counting on Philip Daniels' recollection to carry the day.

Shanahan also said that left tackle Trent Williams and tight end Fred Davis would have to prove themselves to their teammates, in light of the drug suspensions that ended those players' seasons early.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- We are all up bright and early this morning for the first of two "coaches breakfasts" at the NFL owners meetings. Pretty cool deal, actually. Today, all of the AFC coaches sit at tables for an hour and you can sit with them and ask them anything you want. The NFC coaches do it tomorrow. So, in my capacity as NFC East blogger, I will of course be working those tables tomorrow for information and insight from Jason Garrett, Tom Coughlin, Andy Reid and Mike Shanahan. But I'm going to today's session, too, to do some work on another project and because you never know what you might learn.

I don't know if they'll have links there. I do know you have them here.

Dallas Cowboys

After saying he'd talk with reporters Monday about the salary cap penalty issue, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declined to do so and in fact stayed very much out of sight all day. (I mean, I was looking for the guy from 8 am until 10 pm, and I saw him once, and he was in a room I wasn't allowed to enter.) It sounds as though the Cowboys and the Redskins will both keep quiet on this, though you should stay tuned because you never know with Jerry, right?

Wanna hear what Tony Romo thinks about Peyton Manning and Tim Tebow? Here you go. What? Hey, at least it's not about Romo playing golf. I know you guys just love it when I give you the Romo golf updates...

New York Giants

Giants general manager Jerry Reese spoke with Sirius XM Radio about several issues, including the team's ongoing hunt for a middle linebacker and the idea of "slow-playing" free agency. I'm amazed that I still get questions from Giants fans about why they haven't done much in free agency. They don't have much cap room, first of all. And second of all, this is how they usually handle free agency, and it seems to be working well for them, no?

Former Giants wide receiver Steve Smith signed with the Rams, which could be an Eagles link because he "played" for them last year and could be a Cowboys link because some Cowboys fans were wondering if their team might sign him to replace Laurent Robinson but is ultimately a Giants link because Smith was much more a Giant than he ever was an Eagle or certainly a Cowboy.

Philadelphia Eagles

Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly is doing a periodic draft diary for Philly.com, and Sheil Kapadia has the latest installment. We don't know if the Eagles will end up picking Kuechly in the first round, but he's a guy who would fit nicely there, and he's someone who's been on the minds of Eagles fans, so there you go -- a little look into the pre-draft process through his eyes.

Jeff McLane explains why he thinks the Eagles could use one of their first three draft picks on a quarterback.

Washington Redskins

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that commissioner Roger Goodell has the "full support" of the league's other owners on the matter of the salary cap penalties against the Redskins and Cowboys. Of course, Kraft also said Goodell was "in the best position to speak to that," and a few hours later Goodell refused to do so. So, you know. Whatever.

My old friend LaVar Arrington thinks this is a case of two NFL owners bucking the "old-school" approach the others are so determined to preserve. And in truth, this does feel more and more like a vindictive personal issue among the owners involved. That's probably why the league doesn't want anyone talking about it anymore. If the arbitrator assigned to the case thinks there's some kind of personal motivation behind the penalties, that might make him more likely to overturn them.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- As the sun rises over the Atlantic Ocean, the NFL's owners, coaches, GMs and almost anyone else with any connection to the league rise to begin their annual meetings at The Breakers. Most everyone checked in Sunday, and much of the lobby chatter was about the salary-cap penalties against the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. There will be more of that talk today, along with a great deal of other NFL business, and we'll keep you posted on all of it the best we can. Time to get you started, though, with some links.

Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he'd speak with reporters here Monday about the salary-cap penalties against his team and the Redskins. In light of what Giants owner John Mara said Sunday about the situation, I think we're all eager to hear Jerry's thoughts on this.

I enjoyed Calvin Watkins' short appreciation of former Cowboys running back Marion Barber in the wake of Barber's retirement announcement late last week.

New York Giants

Mara was in a bitter mood over several things as he took questions upon his arrival at the meetings Sunday. After he got through excoriating the Cowboys and the Redskins for breaking something that doesn't appear to have been a rule, he was asked what he thought about Tim Tebow signing with the Jets. "I don't know," he said, "but the David Carr press conference is tomorrow, too." The Giants sometimes get a little too fixated on the Jets, you see.

Giants 101 did a mock draft for the Giants and has them taking a pass-rusher, of all things, with the final pick of the first round. It's certainly not a need pick, but it wouldn't be a surprise. The Giants believe in what they believe in, and one of those things is that the draft is for building a deep roster, not for plugging short-term holes.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles tend to come to these meetings with a purpose, and as Jeff McLane wrote Sunday, this year's may be to see what kind of deal they can get for cornerback Asante Samuel. Now, you can argue the merits of trading Samuel versus trading Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie or even Nnamdi Asomugha. But for contract reasons and other reasons, it seems Samuel is the guy for whom they'd like to get something, and they should have some idea over the next couple of days what they might be able to get in return. If they can do better than a fourth-round pick, I imagine they'll jump on it.

In the wake of last week's Los Angeles Times report about front-office infighting in Philadelphia, Phil Sheridan ponders where the fault lines might lie.

Washington Redskins

Len Pasquarelli says the Albert Haynesworth deal was largely to blame for the penalties incurred by the Redskins in the salary-cap mess. What I've been given to understand is that this wasn't about just one or two deals, but rather about the Redskins repeatedly restructuring many of their existing deals in such a way as to dump money into the uncapped year. It's apparently something many teams did, but that the Redskins did to an extent that the other owners found odious.

The idea of a Redskins training facility in Washington, D.C., is a complicated one, and this here doesn't make it sound as though it's very far along or close to fruition.

So we have this thing where you can go on and vote for who you think should be on the cover of "Madden NFL 13," and perhaps because it's March it's been set up as a bracket. There are 32 players in the bracket. The idea was that there'd be one for each NFL team, but as you can see the Patriots and Jets each now have two. All the Jets had to do to get their second was spend Wednesday completely embarrassing themselves.

But I digress.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is the 2-seed on the left side of the bracket, matched up in the first round against 15th-seeded Washington Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo. We all like Orakpo, and he's sure to get a bit of a boost from the small measure of fame he's earned giving the caveman a hard time on the Geico commercials. But Cruz is the popular breakout star of the surprise Super Bowl champs, and he's sure to roll through the first round. In fact, as I break down the bracket, Doug Gottlieb-style, I don't see too many potential tough matchups for Cruz until the final. Fourth-seeded Larry Fitzgerald could give him a run, but I think the winner of that stellar second-round matchup between Fitz and the Philadelphia Eagles' LeSean McCoy is going to be spent. And I like Cruz's chances even against top seed Cam Newton in the semis. I'm picking Cruz to salsa right into the final.

McCoy is the fifth seed on the same side of the bracket, and he's got a tough draw. A first-round matchup against an underseeded Reggie Bush, who has a Kardashian history and may pull in some tabloid votes, is brutal. Then he's likely to see Fitzgerald in the second round and Newton in the third. If McCoy makes it to the semis, he'll have earned his way there, no doubt about it.

On the other side of the bracket, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is the No. 10 seed and matched up in the first round against No. 7 seed Jared Allen of the Vikings. I like Ware to pull the upset here, and while there's trouble looming in the second round from No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski, I think Ware's won enough "Madden" games over the years that he can upset Gronk as well. I have Ware in my Elite Eight, but that's where his dream ends. He's going to get either Tim Tebow, Arian Foster or Calvin Johnson there, and those guys are heavyweights.

My bracket has Cruz meeting Aaron Rodgers in the final and Rodgers getting his discount double-check revenge for the Giants' victory over the Packers in the NFC playoffs. But what do I know? I picked the Packers to win that game, and I never do well in the bracket pools.

Anyway, go vote. It'll give you something to do while you wait for London Fletcher to sign or the Giants to do something or whatever it is you're doing these days as a fan of a team in the super-quiet NFC East.

Good morning in the East, where spring has sprung early and the roster tinkering is in full swing. What will Wednesday bring? More signings? Another surprise trade? All we know for sure is it starts with links.

Dallas Cowboys

New Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr said one of the things that convinced him to sign with Dallas was an in-person sales pitch from DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten, Sean Lee and Miles Austin, all of whom attended the dinner at which the team's brass treated Carr at Cowboys Stadium on his free-agent recruiting visit. The $26.5 million guaranteed surely didn't hurt, either.

Troy Aikman says he thinks Tony Romo is already a better quarterback than he ever was, which surely comes as a surprise to those who wanted the Cowboys to sign Peyton Manning or wish they would trade Romo for Tim Tebow.

New York Giants

Ahmad Bradshaw says his fractured foot has healed completely and that he believes he can handle a workload similar to the one he had in 2010. That would be especially nice if his friend Brandon Jacobs finds work elsewhere, as it appears he will. But I'd still expect the Giants to bring in some veteran running back to help spell Bradshaw just in case.

I'm sick of banging my head against my desk every morning looking for a second Giants link. Nobody who covers or blogs about the Giants is writing anything right now unless the Giants sign someone or one of their guys signs somewhere else. Since that didn't happen Tuesday, there's nothing out there. Go ahead, check for yourselves. I'm open to suggestions. You guys tell me what the second Giants link should be. I can't find it.

Philadelphia Eagles

Jonathan Tamari likes the deal for linebacker DeMeco Ryans. And while Jonathan does bring up a couple of the reasons to wonder how they got him so cheap, the fact is it's an impossible deal to dislike. Ryans was a great player for Houston before his Achilles injury and will be nearly two full years removed from it (and still just 28 years old) when the 2012 season starts. Houston wasn't using him enough to justify what they were paying him, because they were taking him off the field in nickel situations in the sub packages in their new 3-4 defensive scheme. The Eagles saw a guy who was being undervalued by his team but would fill the biggest need on theirs, and they snagged him. Good for them. If it doesn't work out, they lost a fourth-round draft pick. But there's no doubt Ryan is better than anything they had at linebacker in 2011.

Players on the Eagles are excited about the move and players on the Texans are bummed out about it, as Les Bowen writes. That tells you a great deal.

Washington Redskins

Free-agent quarterback Josh Johnson, late of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will visit the Redskins on Wednesday. When this news broke Tuesday night, people were asking why, and I don't see what the great mystery is. You need to be at least three-deep at quarterback, and Johnson as the No. 3 (or the No. 2, if he can pass Rex Grossman on the depth chart) seems like a heck of a lot better option than paying John Beck $1 million. Why not take a look? Quarterback is a position at which it's important to be as good and as deep as you can possibly be. And remember, as excited as everyone is about Robert Griffin III, he is going to be a rookie. He'll need good backups.

The Redskins also re-signed Kory Lichtensteiger, who was playing very well for them at left guard last year before blowing out his knee in that completely disastrous Week 6 loss to the Eagles in which everyone got hurt and Grossman got benched for Beck. They still need to upgrade at right tackle, and if Lichtensteiger isn't fully healthy they still need to be looking for help on the interior. But they were happy with what Lichtensteiger was giving them before his injury, so he's back.

Busy Tuesday upcoming here on the blog. You know things are cookin' when there's a post up before the links. We'll have a chat at noon ET, as we do each week, and plenty more goodies coming your way as the first full week of free agency wraps up with work still to be done for all four of our teams. Keep it right here for all your NFC East needs. Including, of course, your morning links.

Dallas Cowboys

ESPNDallas.com's draft preview series focuses on Wisconsin's Peter Konz, who's the No. 1 center in the draft and actually what the Cowboys really need on the offensive line but might be a reach, value-wise, at No. 14 in the first round. Lots of people calling for the Cowboys to take Stanford guard David DeCastro with that pick, but center was a real weak spot last year and they have quite a number of guards on the roster all of a sudden. I wonder if it makes sense to deal back and try to get a center.

Mac Engel thinks the Cowboys should trade for Tim Tebow. I think Mac's argument is unsound. It is based, as are so many unsound Cowboys-related argument, on the tired premise that "Yeah, Tony Romo is really good, but they haven't won with him," as though Romo were supposed to magically appear on the field and tackle the Giants fullbacks who were all jumping over Terence Newman on New Year's Day. The Cowboys have a plan, and it appears to be a good one, and I can't see a legitimate way in which Tebow fits into it. Especially if he's going to cost draft picks.

New York Giants

Victor Cruz has a new agent, but Mike Garafolo cautions us not to worry that this means he'll make an ugly scene about his contract anytime soon. Cruz would like to make more money and cash in on the monster year he just had, and he's said as much publicly. But the Giants have told him he must wait in line behind more pressing priorities, and he seems content to do that.

After having training camp in East Rutherford, N.J., last year due to the lockout, the Giants will return to their regular training camp home in Albany, N.Y., this year, and Albany is psyched.

Philadelphia Eagles

So, while we're on the topic, Rich Hofmann thinks the Eagles would be wise to at least consider Tebow. He's not the first to bring this up, and while I maintain that the Eagles don't need to throw the Tebow circus on top of everything else they already have going on this year, you can't entirely rule out the possibility that they do it anyway, against my sage advice. You know Andy Reid is always at least intrigued when a new quarterback hits the market, and the people who run the Eagles are thorough enough that they've surely at least discussed how it might work. I dispute the notion that Tebow could plug right into the Eagles' offense because he's left-handed and likes to run and is therefore a similar player to Michael Vick. I do not think they are, in fact, similar players, and I believe the Eagles would have to totally overhaul their offense if Vick were to suffer an injury and Tebow had to play. But look at it this way: Nobody imagined the Eagles signing Vick three years ago when he got out of jail, and once they did, no one could figure out how they planned to use him. So, stranger things have happened -- and worked out all right -- with the Eagles.

The re-signing of guard Evan Mathis is a popular move among Eagles fans, and not just because of how well Mathis played in 2011. The fans also like Mathis' personality.

Washington Redskins

Mark Maske reports that the Redskins are considering challenging the NFL's decision to strip them of $36 million in salary-cap room due to the way they structured contracts in the uncapped 2010 season. The challenge would be through arbitration, not through an antitrust lawsuit, and Mark reports that the Cowboys (who lost $10 million in cap space for the same ridiculous reason) could join them in seeking arbitration. I still don't know if they'll do this, or how likely it would be to work given the way the CBA is worded. But it's clear the Redskins are upset, as they should be, and haven't yet let this go, as they shouldn't.

John Keim thinks back to the early days of LaRon Landry's time in Washington, when he and the late Sean Taylor looked as though they'd make for one of the most fearsome safety tandems in the league, and wonders what might have been.

I have to give you guys credit. After the news broke that Eli Manning's brother had found a new job, along with the news that the Broncos would now try to trade Tim Tebow, I didn't hear from very many of you. Normally, when a player arrives on the market, I get Twitter queries within five minutes from fans of all four of our teams, asking whether their team should or will pursue said player. But today, not much. The one Redskins one I got was later explained as sarcastic by the person who asked it (silly me for not figuring that out immediately), and I've had a couple of people ask whether it'd be worth it for the Eagles to bring him in as a long-term project behind Michael Vick. But that's it.

Anyway, the answer is no. Whichever team is your favorite in the NFC East should not be trying to trade for Tebow. To wit:

Tim Tebow
#15 QB
Denver Broncos
2011 STATS
• Att271
• Comp126
• Yds1729
• TD12
• Int6
• Rat72.9
• The Redskins don't need the headache of crazed Tebow fans screaming and putting up billboards saying he should start the first time Robert Griffin III has a bad game.
• The Eagles need as little controversy as possible, and no matter how hard they may work to portray Tebow as a long-term project, you know the same thing would happen there if Michael Vick started to struggle.
• The Cowboys just signed a three-year deal with Kyle Orton to be their backup, and it wouldn't surprise me if it included language guaranteeing that Orton never had to hear Tebow's name again as long as he lives.
• The Giants? No.

Remember this about Tebow: His success as a Bronco came after the team decided to completely structure its offense around him, accentuating his strengths and minimizing his weaknesses (i.e., actually throwing the ball). The Broncos had no established receivers that were going to kick about such a decision, a veteran running back who was totally on board and a flexible, open-minded coach who was willing to consider an outside-the-box option as possibly better than the offense he preferred to run.

There isn't a team in the NFC East that remotely fits that description.

And finally, Tebow's not a free agent. This isn't a situation in which you could sign him to a low-risk, incentive-based deal and benefit if he blossomed but not suffer in the short-term if he didn't. You'd have to trade something of value for Tebow, who'd come with a contract he got as a result of being a first-round pick. Who in this division (heck, who in any division) can say it's worth spending real resources on a quarterback who might never be an NFL-caliber thrower.

Tebow is, obviously, a fine young man and would be a great guy to have on a team. I think the Broncos should keep him, use him as a backup quarterback and design some interesting offensive sub packages around him. But the Broncos already have him, and whatever they've invested in getting him is a sunk cost. For a team to trade something to get Tebow would appear to be a mistake at this point, and it certainly wouldn't make sense for anyone in the NFC East.

This is why, regardless of how astronomical the price may have been, you can't say the Washington Redskins overpaid in the trade that scored them the No. 2 pick in this year's draft.

You following this quarterback stuff, Redskins fans? Are you watching what's going on in Miami, in San Francisco, in Denver, in Tennessee? In poor, miserable Cleveland? This is quarterback musical chairs, folks, and there aren't enough chairs for everyone. At least one of those teams is still going to be looking for a quarterback once Peyton Manning decides and Alex Smith figures out what he wants to do, and if you're a Redskins fan watching all of this, you should be thinking, "Whew. I'm really glad my team's not mixed up in that mess."

The Redskins know who their quarterback is going to be next year. Or at least they're sure it's going to be one they like. They assume the Colts will take Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick and they'll take Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second, but if something weird happens and the Colts take Griffin, they at least know they get Luck. There are, by most teams' evaluations, two franchise-caliber quarterbacks in this year's draft, and by dealing three first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Rams, the Redskins ensured that they'd get one of them.

By doing it a week and a half ago, they also ensured that they would not find themselves in Dolphins' current situation — spurned by Manning and Matt Flynn, trying to steal Smith away from the 49ers and reportedly talking to David Garrard in case Smith stays put. They ensured that they would not be the Broncos, who wait to find out whether they get Manning or whether they'll need to ask Tim Tebow to turn water into wine on a weekly basis for another year. They ensured that they would not be the Browns — the team they had to beat out to get the Rams' pick, a team that's now looking at another year with Colt McCoy and hoping it gets Matt Barkley in next year's draft.

This could have been your team, Redskins fans. Instead, Washington has a draft pick that ensures it will get a quarterback who projects as a long-term star. It has a backup it likes — one that ran the offense last year and is willing to help teach it to a rookie taking his place. The Redskins' quarterback situation doesn't make them an automatic 2012 contender — Griffin will be a rookie, after all, and the overhauled receiving corps has more potential than track record. But it's one about which the team and its fans can feel good. Such is not the case in places like Miami and Cleveland and whichever of those other teams fails to get Manning.

So yeah, they paid a fortune to get the pick, and it puts a lot of pressure on Griffin to become a star. But knowing that this was the alternative — to be sitting around on March 19 hoping you could maybe get Alex Smith or get by for another year with Rex Grossman and get a chance at Barkley — has to help you understand why they did it. And why they surely don't have any regrets.

You send e-mails. I read through them, deleting the profane insults and picking out a few insightful questions to be answered here on the blog. It's a graceful, elaborate dance, and we call it the mailbag.

Gene from DC wants to know about Ryan Tannehill -- specifically, whether he's the kind of quarterback prospect who can work his way up the draft board in the coming months to the point where the Washington Redskins might take him at No. 6. Gene cites recent examples such as Christian Ponder, Tim Tebow, Josh Freeman and Joe Flacco as quarterbacks who ended up being picked much higher than it originally seemed they would.

Dan Graziano: Excellent point, Gene, and you didn't even mention Mark Sanchez, who was a late-first/early-second guy this time three years ago and ended up going No. 5. Quarterback is a vital position with a scarcity of elite talent, which is why those guys tend to get picked higher than their scouting grades indicate they should. And Tannehill is a prime candidate to be such a guy this year. If he impresses in workouts and interviews and the whole pre-draft process, I agree completely that he could be a mid-first-round pick or even a viable option for the Redskins at No. 6, even if right now it doesn't appear as though people think he should go that high. Quarterbacks go higher than they should, in general.

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The Eagles Spoke to Griffin? from Middletown, PA heard the reports that the Philadelphia Eagles interviewed Robert Griffin III at the scouting combine and wants to know whether this is a case of "everyone talking to everyone" or if there's potentially something more to it.

DG: It'd be a huge surprise if the Eagles actually traded up and drafted Griffin. That said, it's not a case of "everyone talking to everyone," because teams only get a limited number of player interviews at the combine. The Eagles obviously wanted a chance to get to know Griffin and find out what he's all about. That could have been the result of pure curiosity. It could be due diligence, in case something happens and the guy drops to 15 and they want to know whether he's worth taking at that spot for the future or depth at the most important position. Griffin's an intriguing guy, and I'm sure there are a lot of teams that want a chance to meet him -- not just those who appear to be in position to draft him this year.

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Anthony from Ft Worth, Texas asks how many free agents the Cowboys will sign this year and if DeMarcus Ware's sack numbers would go up if the Cowboys were to draft a pass rusher such as North Carolina's Quinton Coples.

DG: Sneaky two-part question, Anthony. The Cowboys could have around $20 million worth of cap room when it's all said and done, which should be enough for them to sign a cornerback, pass rusher (i.e., keep Anthony Spencer or replace him) and and interior offensive lineman in free agency. As for the draft -- Coples is a 4-3 lineman and likely to be gone by the time the Cowboys pick anyway. But if they do pick up an elite pass rusher (think Courtney Upshaw or Melvin Ingram) who outperforms Spencer in terms of getting to the passer, yes, that could be beneficial to Ware as the new guy would require teams' attention more than Spencer often does. Hard to imagine how much higher Ware's sack totals could go, but your logic is sound.

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Seth from Vermont asks when was the last time the Giants used the franchise player designation and whether they have any candidates for it this year.

DG: The Giants franchised Brandon Jacobs three years ago because they felt like they were close to completing negotiations on a long-term deal with him, which they were and they did. As for this year's group, there are no obvious franchise candidates. They won't want to franchise Mario Manningham or Kareem McKenzie, because each of those guys would happily play for $9.4 million guaranteed in 2012 and that's much more than they'd want to pay them. Same with Aaron Ross and Terrell Thomas, whose franchise numbers would be $10.6 million, and Jonathan Goff, who'd get $8.8 million. Even if they wanted to bring back one, two or all of those guys, they'd want to do it at much lower numbers. Somebody asked last week about punter Steve Weatherford, whose franchise number would be $2.6 million. The Giants are at work on a long-term deal with Weatherford and I guess could conceivably do what they did with Jacobs three years ago if they can't get the deal done by the end of next week.

New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora made a big stink about his contract last summer, but he says he's going to try a different tactic this time around. With one year left on a contract he's made it clear he doesn't like, Umenyiora says last year taught him to "be quiet, say nothing."

Umenyiora started chuckling when my old "First Take" friend Dana Jacobson asked him about his contract situation on "SportsCenter" on Monday morning, but he stayed on message during his response.

"There's no need to talk about it, because at the end of the day, the players, we don't have any control over it," Umenyiora said. "The team's going to make the decision no matter what. So coming out and being public and vocal doesn't really get you where you need to go. So if anything, work more behind the scenes, and that's exactly what I plan on doing this year."

Umenyiora obviously lost his contract squabble with the team last year. They gave him permission to seek a trade, but he couldn't find another team willing to give up the first-round pick the Giants were seeking for him. After a big postseason performance, Umenyiora's value is very high, and with only one year left on the deal it's possible the Giants would seek less in return this time. Umenyiora said he hoped to be back with the Giants but, "as everybody knows, this is a business, and the team is going to make the best decision for them, and hopefully I'll be able to make the best decision for myself also."

Osi also took a little shot at an NFL celebrity, saying that when he was injured this year he "said my prayers to Tim Tebow, and he came through for me. He came through for us and the New York Giants."

Quite the character is Osi. Somehow I doubt he'll stick to this new "quiet" plan.

One of the greatest Super Bowls in history is coming out for an encore, as the New York Giants and the New England Patriots hook up Feb. 5 in Indianapolis in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII just four years ago. There are 15 Giants and seven Patriots still left from that game, which the Giants won to spoil New England's perfect season. But this year's matchup has plenty of its own storylines without dredging up the old ones. AFC East blogger James Walker and NFC East blogger Dan Graziano will both be on hand in Indy, but in the meantime, they've joined forces to break down Super Bowl XLVI way in advance.

Graziano: Well, James, just as everyone predicted, the Super Bowl features the team that finished 27th in total defense in the regular season against the team that finished 31st. Having watched the Giants' last 10 games, I've seen their defense transform from one of the league's most vulnerable into a tight, cohesive, disciplined bunch that bears almost no resemblance to what they were running out there in the middle of the season. When I've watched the Patriots' defense, it's looked to me like one of the worst I've ever seen. What have they been able to do lately in terms of adjustments to limit their opponents and get this far?

Walker: Hey, Mr. Pineapple ... I mean ... Dan. I don’t know if you’re more shocked the Giants are going to Indy, based on your earlier “I’m a pineapple” statement, or that the Patriots will join them. You were pretty adamant about the Baltimore Ravens exposing New England’s defense last week -- and I can’t blame you. I have been one of their harshest critics. But it’s time to give this group some credit. New England has allowed just 30 points the past two games, and the biggest reason is the front seven. Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork and linebackers Brandon Spikes, Jerod Mayo and Rob Ninkovich have simultaneously taken their games to another level. That is what you want this time of year. They are dominating the line of scrimmage and getting pressure on the quarterback. New England has eight sacks in the playoffs. I don’t know where this version of the Patriots’ defense has been all season, but in talking with players the past two weeks, I don’t think they care. The defense is happy to finally make plays to help the Patriots win.

Graziano: So it looks as though both teams have overhauled or tightened up some things since the Giants went up there in Week 9 and beat the Pats in Foxborough. I'm curious to see what role that result will play in this game and the preparation for it. Justin Tuck told me Tuesday that he expects Tom Brady to do completely different stuff this time around, because he's got such great ability to adjust to what the defense is trying to do to him. And unlike the Giants' past two games, which avenged regular-season losses to Green Bay and San Francisco, this is a rematch of a regular-season game the Giants actually won. I can't help but think the success they had against Brady in Week 9 -- not to mention in the Super Bowl four years ago -- has to help the Giants' mental state as they prepare. If you can strip away some of that unbeatable veneer from Brady, that's a big psychological assist.

Walker: I agree, Dan. I don’t see either team lacking confidence. The Giants have it from beating New England in Super Bowl XLII and the regular season. The Patriots have it from reeling off 10 straight victories. The Patriots feel they are a much better team than what the Giants faced in Week 9. I think New England took a lot from those back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and New York in the regular season. The Patriots knew they were good, but it was questionable whether they were mentally and physically tough. That has been the case since those two losses. The Patriots have overcome a couple of big deficits in the regular season, then lambasted Denver and showed grit against Baltimore in the playoffs. But enough about defense, Dan. We can’t do a Double Coverage without talking in-depth about the quarterbacks. How do you size up Brady, who is elite, versus Eli Manning, whom many feel just catapulted into elite status with his second Super Bowl run?

Graziano: You can make the argument that Brady is the best quarterback in the history of the sport. And because of that, any other quarterback is going to have a tough time in this comparison. But I'll say these things about Eli: He's gotten better every year. Last year, the knock on him was interceptions, and he got those down. He's been smart with his decision-making and responsible with the ball. He was winning games by himself this year when the Giants couldn't stop anyone on defense and couldn't run the ball at all. His teammates trust and believe in him totally. His demeanor never changes, regardless of the intensity of the situation, and that's why he's able to excel in spots that cause other players to shrink. Every single one of those things can be said about Brady, and the fact you can also say them about Eli at this point in his career gives the Giants a huge assist in a matchup like this. Because to beat Brady, you need to have a quarterback on your side who's at least capable of outplaying Brady on any given day. Eli has shown he has that capability, and that's another reason the Giants have been able to close the psychological gap the Patriots have held over so many other teams in recent years.

Walker: Manning and the Giants certainly present a challenge that Tim Tebow and Joe Flacco did not. But if I’m choosing which of these two quarterbacks I want leading my team in the Super Bowl, I’m taking Brady every time. He just tied Joe Montana for the most playoff wins in NFL history with 16. Brady can surpass Montana for postseason wins and tie Montana and Terry Bradshaw’s four Super Bowls victories by beating the Giants. Some might point to Brady's struggles against Baltimore’s elite defense in the AFC title game. But I think that makes the ultra-competitive Brady even more focused and more dangerous in the Super Bowl. When was the last time Brady played two duds in a row? New England had some issues passing for a ton of yards against Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed and Baltimore’s big, athletic corners. But New York’s secondary doesn’t have nearly the same talent. I expect Brady to bounce back and do some damage passing against the Giants’ defense, especially in a dome and on the fast track at Lucas Oil Stadium. I think the biggest issue is the Patriots’ ability to pass protect against New York’s monster front four.

Graziano: The Giants will come after Brady. They believe that's the best way to rattle him, because they believe that's the best way to rattle any quarterback. And the Giants know that their defense really only works if it gets pressure on the quarterback with the front four. Their coverage in the secondary has improved in recent weeks, but as Vernon Davis proved, it can get exposed when the pressure is insufficient. I'm fascinated to see how they handle the Patriots' tight ends after they were able to neutralize Jermichael Finley two weeks ago and got burned by Davis last week. Do they have to worry about Rob Gronkowski, or is the ankle injury going to give them a break?

Walker: Gronkowski won’t be 100 percent, but who is this time of year? There are two reasons I’m sure he will play. First, he returned to the AFC title game in the fourth quarter. Second, he said he won’t miss the Super Bowl. Of course, there could be setbacks, but Gronkowski seemed confident it won't keep him off the field. Whether we see Gronkowski at 70 percent or 90 percent is up to how well his rehabilitation goes. But he has to be accounted for as long as he’s on the field. This could mean more chances for fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez. He’s slightly more athletic and stretches the field more than Gronkowski, which may work better against the Giants’ defense. Should we make our predictions now, Dan, or wait until next week? What say you?

Graziano: As I tell my followers every time they ask, I make my predictions on Fridays. So I’m going to wait until Friday, Feb. 3, to make my pick for this game. That gives me another week-plus to mull over whether the Giants have an answer for the Gronk, and I look forward to talking it over with you in Indy, James. See you there in a few days.

Big news of the afternoon is Adam Schefter's report that the Denver Broncos have waived Kyle Orton, who was their starting quarterback at the beginning of this season but lost his job to the unstoppable, inexplicable force that is Tim Tebow. There will be reaction to this news in all corners, but in ours the reaction centers among Washington Redskins fans who want to know if their team will claim him or sign him if he clears waivers.

Couple of things.

First, according to Adam's report, the Broncos decided to waive Orton in the hopes that one of these teams -- the Bears, Texans or Chiefs -- that recently lost its starting quarterback for the season to injury -- will pick him up and, along with him, the $2.5 million salary still left on his contract for this year. That's a pretty good chunk of salary for six games. If you're the Bears or Texans and your hopes of a playoff or Super Bowl run are riding on Caleb Hanie or Matt Leinart, maybe you spend it. If you're the out-of-contention Redskins and Rex Grossman is running your offense as well as can be expected given the team's injury-imposed deficiencies at running back, tight end, wide receiver and offensive line, maybe you keep that $2.5 million in your wallet.

However, I know for a fact that Redskins coach Mike Shanahan thinks highly of Orton. And while one of those other teams may have more of a pressing and immediate need for a veteran quarterback, the Redskins are ahead of them on the waiver list and could get him if they wanted to get him. If they decide it's worth it to spend the money, or if he gets through waivers, I could certainly see the Redskins making a move for Orton.

They are a future-focused organization right now, and I do expect them to address the quarterback position in next year's draft. But it's important to be deep at the quarterback position. Some teams (Bears, Colts, Chiefs) aren't, and it's hurting them right now. Some teams (Eagles) are, and they can handle the loss of their starter a bit more easily. Even if the Redskins do draft their quarterback of the future in April, nothing's promised. What if the kid's not ready right away? What if he gets hurt? What if they can't get the guy they wanted because everybody needs a quarterback and the draft led them instead to wide receivers and offensive linemen? Orton's a guy they like, available now, why not get him in so he can learn the offense?

Don't rule it out, is all I'm saying. I wouldn't make the Redskins the favorites for Orton, and I'd be mildly surprised if he's not a Bear by the time you're carving your turkey on Thursday. But I'm sure they'll at least look into it, and they'd be silly not to.

So it's apparently become a big deal in Philadelphia this week that a couple of Eagles offensive linemen, Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce, went across the street from the team's training facility Monday and asked a couple of fans to take down a sign calling for coach Andy Reid to be fired. The fans apparently complied, but the players have taken some heat for even making the request, and they are defending themselves, per Jonathan Tamari:

Kelce said he did not regret doing it.

"I don’t regret it at all. There was nothing ever physical mentioned, there was no harm mentioned – we asked them to take the sign down," he said.

Mathis told a similar version of events.

"We’re trying to come together as a team and stay together as a team and create a positive environment around here and it’s different if you’re going to write about it or call into a radio show or blog about it or talk amongst your friends about it. To go in our front yard and put something so negative right here -- I stand by telling them to take that down," he said.

"I didn't want anything negative out there that would start, that could have any kind of potential to create a divide in this team, so we asked them, take it down."

Mathis, who has played for the Dolphins, Bengals and Panthers in previous career stops, said, "You don't know how good you have it around here having Andy as a coach. Andy is a good coach."

Couple of things:

1. Mathis' final point is always worth mentioning when it comes to Reid. Fans may have grown tired of his weak postgame news conference act, the drab quotes that offer no insight or information about the team and of course the persistent, troublesome lack of a Super Bowl title so far in Reid's otherwise excellent 13-year tenure. But it's worth remembering that no team in the NFL has had more consistent, year-in, year-out success than have Reid's Eagles and that fans who call for his head should think a little bit about how sure they are that someone else could come in and win 10-11 games a year and always make the playoffs.

2. That said, Reid's job performance this year has been awful, as has that of the team as a whole. And as Jon points out later in his story, Mathis and Kelce are new to Philadelphia this year and don't understand that Eagles fans have a different perspective on Reid than do players who play for other, less successful organizations. (As Mathis has. Kelce, of course, is a rookie.) Longer tenured Eagles likely saw the same sign and thought of other, similar signs and instances from the past decade, shook their heads and went on with their respective days.

3. While I believe Mathis and Kelce -- who have both struck me, in my personal dealings with them, as pleasant, well-spoken, mild-mannered gentlemen -- when they say they didn't intimidate the folks holding the sign, the mere presence of a couple of dudes who go about 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds is intimidating in and of itself. To think that the fans would have reacted the same if my kid brother and I had asked them to take the sign down is kind of silly. Intended or not, intimidation was at least a small part of Mathis and Kelce's ability to get the result they wanted here.

4. In the end, though, I have no issue with them doing what they did. First of all, it's two teammates acting in the interest of fostering team harmony. And when the team is 1-4, there's nothing wrong with that, provided no one gets hurt, which no one did. A lot of players talk about standing behind their coach -- these guys actually went out and did it. And I know we talk a lot on this blog about how I'm not a fan of a team and therefore don't understand certain fan behaviors, I have never understood why fans of a team would show non-support. I don't understand why fans boo their own teams, or why they feel the need (as in this case) to try and foster discord -- especially when there's enough of that going on without their help. Deep down, don't fans want their teams and their players and their coaches to do well? Wouldn't it be better for Eagles fans if the Eagles won their last 11 games and went on a Super Bowl run? If Reid turned things around?

I fear that fans have begun to think they have (or should have) too much influence. I think what happened in Denver, where vicious non-support of Kyle Orton in favor of Tim Tebow created a situation in which the team had to change starting quarterbacks because Orton's position in town had basically become untenable, sets a bad precedent. Fans are fans, and the people who coach these teams are chosen by owners of multimillion-dollar businesses to make decisions in thoughtful, dispassionate ways. Just because you're angry over a few losses doesn't mean it would be right to fire a coach who's won your team so many games.

It made no sense for people who actually want the Eagles to do well to make and hold up that sign, and Mathis and Kelce were well within their rights to ask them to take it down. Incidentally, the fans would have been well within their rights to tell Mathis and Kelce to go pound sand. But they didn't. Maybe they realized that what they were doing was a bad idea in the first place.

I'm not sure if there are fans out there who care whether or not their teams actually win preseason games. But if you're a Dallas Cowboys fan and you do, then the ending of Thursday night's preseason opener was fun. Stephen McGee's touchdown pass to Dwayne Harris in the final minute, and the two-point conversion play that followed to give the Cowboys a 24-23 exhibition victory over the Denver Broncos, provided decent (if meaningless) theater for fans happy to have football back after so long.

Of course, if you're enough of a fan to care about the final score, you almost certainly care even more about the stuff that was going on hours earlier, when the first-teamers were in the game. Here's what I saw from the Cowboys in their first preseason game:

1. The defense is a work in progress, and appears to know it. They've had just two weeks, since the lockout ended, to learn and adjust to Rob Ryan's new scheme. They are still learning. Especially in the secondary, there were lots of times early on where guys were looking around or at each other after the play as if they were trying to figure out what should have happened. The safeties got caught looking into the backfield at critical times. They did a fine job on the goal line in the first quarter, holding the Broncos to a field goal after Kyle Orton had marched down the field somewhat easily, and they got some nice pressure from defensive ends Marcus Spears and Jason Hatcher. But overall, this looked like a defense that's still learning. And that's fine. No one would have expected them to know Ryan's scheme already. He's keeping things simple, withholding the kinds of complicated blitzes and fake-out looks we'll surely see from him as his players get more comfortable with their assignments. These preseason games will be part of the learning process for a defense that will surely look better one, two and three months hence than it does now, and the Cowboys should not be judged on their inability to stop Orton or Tim Tebow on this particular night.

2. Tyron Smith is talented. The Cowboys' first-round draft pick failed to pick up a safety blitz, and that led to a sack. But overall, he held his own against the Broncos' line. What I liked best may have been the fact that, after almost every play, you could see Smith talking to Kyle Kosier as they walked back to the huddle. Moving the veteran Kosier to the right side to play next to the rookie Smith was a sharp idea, and as Smith also uses these games as learning opportunities, he'll benefit from proximity to the Cowboys' brainy guard.

3. More Victor Butler, please. If they don't think they can snap Anthony Spencer back into his late-2009 form, why not use Butler as a pass-rusher on the side opposite DeMarcus Ware? All reports indicate that he's looked good in practice and has a grasp of the scheme and the playbook. He was everywhere Thursday night when he was in the game. With a new coordinator in town, it makes sense to think guys will have chances to play their way into more playing time and larger roles, and Butler could be such a guy.

4. Felix Jones looks speedy. I mean, real nice bust through the line in his first-quarter action. We didn't see Tashard Choice or DeMarco Murray tonight, and Lonyae Miller failed to impress in what was thought to be his big chance. But Jones looked like a guy who wants to be a full-time starting running back in the league and has the tools to make it happen. Time will tell if this is the year, whether he'll have the opportunity to do so and how much he'll rotate with Choice and Murray. But Jones was fun to watch Thursday.

5. How about Dwayne Harris? There doesn't appear to be an immediate threat on the roster to Kevin Ogletree's hold on the No. 3 receiver spot. But if Ogletree struggles, there are some playmakers further down the depth chart. Harris caught two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and looked tough as he created space and outfought a defender or two for the ball in a couple of spots.

6. Of course David Buehler's field goal was good. Hey, look. As I watched it, I was sure it had missed, too. But the official is standing right there under the upright, and there's pretty much no way to miss that call. It was ugly, but it was good, and it was the only field goal either he or Dan Bailey, his competitor for the kicker job, attempted all night. Buehler made his one extra point attempt and Bailey didn't get a chance at his because of a bungled snap. Bailey handled all the kickoffs, presumably because the Cowboys have no concerns about Buehler's ability to kick the ball through the back of the end zone now that it appears almost everyone can. No blood drawn, it would seem, in the kicker competition Thursday.

7. Stephen McGee. No idea what to make of it, since he was playing with and against backups, but the young man played some very nice football in this game and deserves to be recognized for that. At the very least, he provides potential fodder for the nuts who think Tony Romo should be replaced if the Cowboys don't win the Super Bowl. And that's good. Got to keep the nuts happy.

I'm trying to flip back and forth between Eagles-Titans and Redskins-Bears, but fortunately I was watching when Philadelphia rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper made a remarkable play to bail out his quarterback.

The Eagles ran what amounts to a double-reverse wide receiver pass that was thrown by Kevin Kolb. Once you watch a replay, my last sentence will make a little more sense.

Kolb underthrew the ball that was about to be picked off by Titans safety Chris Hope, but Cooper raced across the field and made a play on the ball at the last second for a 37-yard gain. Kolb rewarded his teammate with a short touchdown pass three plays later.

Cooper's in the Eagles' three-man rotation at wide receiver because of the absence of DeSean Jackson, who is out with a concussion.

So the second and third catches of Cooper's career go for 37 yards and then a touchdown. On the TD, he absorbed a blow from linebacker from Stephen Tulloch near the line of scrimmage and then broke free near the goal line. Then one of the Fox broadcasters pointed out that Cooper roomed with Tim Tebow in college.