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MINNEAPOLIS -- As the start of the NFL draft approaches, here are a few links to help fulfill your every wish and desire as the picks roll off the board.

ESPN.com's DraftTracker, the Cadillac of all draft trackers, will be live, large and in charge.

Want to talk about your team's draft possibilities or crash another team's discussions? Here's ESPN.com's Team Talk page.

Working tonight? Here's the link to ESPN Radio's live draft coverage -- to use only during your dinner break.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd grew up in Minnesota and there are plenty of Chicago Bears fans who would like to see their team maneuver to draft him in the first round of Thursday's NFL draft. So that makes this Sport Science video especially notable for at least half of our blog community. In this video, Floyd demonstrates both his range and his ability to catch the ball in traffic -- made up of a college cheerleading squad.

We continue our review of Jon Gruden's QB Camp with Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, who spent five years playing minor league baseball and thus enters the draft at age 28. In this clip of his session with Gruden, Weeden sold himself as someone who finds a way to get the job done. Last season, his team won in matchups against Stanford's Andrew Luck, Baylor's Robert Griffin III and Texas A&M's Ryan Tannehill.

"I'm a winner, man," Weeden said. "I can win some football games. That's one thing you can't take away from me. I can be 28 and all that other jazz, but I tell you what: I win football games. There's no doubt about it."

Again, we're posting these video clips under the assumption that one if not more of our NFC North teams will seek a developmental quarterback in the draft. Carry on.

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has gotten an awful lot of discussion on the NFC North blog for a player who presumably has no chance to join one of our teams next week. His status as arguably the third-best quarterback in the draft has made the Minnesota Vikings' No. 3 overall pick a possible trade target for any team that wants to secure him.

ESPN analyst Bill Polian has suggested the Miami Dolphins swap picks with the Vikings to ensure they can draft Tannehill, whose college head coach (Mike Sherman) is now the Dolphins' offensive coordinator.

In the clip, Gruden praises Tannehill's understanding of NFL concepts and we get a glimpse of him in his former role as a receiver.

I'm continuing to pass along every clip of Jon Gruden's QB Camp, for those of you who are hoping your team drafts a developmental quarterback, and also knowing some of you will take a special interest in the individuals involved. Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins probably falls into both categories.

In the clip, Cousins and Gruden discuss fade passes in the red zone -- both on film and on the practice field -- and discuss Cousins' title as a "natural leader." Sometimes that description is a euphemism for "can't play," but in this case I think it's genuine. Here's what Cousins said about leadership at the professional level:

"A quarterback is a quarterback. You've got to be a leader. You can't step down. If you're a natural leader and you have an idea of the dynamic in that relationship and how to handle it right, I think you'll be able to handle it OK."

The full version of Cousins' visit will debut on ESPNU at 5 p.m. ET.

Last week, it was serious. Now, I guess it's really, really serious.

Third-round voting to determine the cover of "Madden NFL 13" has concluded, and two NFC North players are among the final four players remaining. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson will square off in the semifinal round, meaning one will be eliminated but the other will be one step away from ultimate victory (or defeat, depending on whether you're a curse-spiracist).

(So much for Rob Gronkowski's video campaign, huh?)

The other bracket will pit Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton against San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis. Voting will continue through April 18, and voting on the finals will conclude April 25.

For those of you concerned about the "Madden Curse," and based on your Twitter response there are a few of you, I point you in the direction of this quite thorough alternative discussion on the topic from SideLion Report. @ZacSnyder considers the curse "fabricated" and suggests it "has been blamed for things with logical explanations."

We'll hold off on a full-scale panic until we learn the exact final matchup next week.

We can chat draft. We can discuss free agency. We can hit the looming start to NFC North offseason workout programs or get to the bottom, once and for all, if sugar is truly toxic. As long as no one ever, ever, claims that Sugar was toxic. Don't you dare do Bob Mould like that. That would not be A Good Idea and I would be Helpless to defend you. Today at 2 p.m. over at SportsNation.

The NFL owners meetings conspired to limit our chat opportunities last week, so we're back Tuesday with a vengeance. We have plenty of topics to discuss and a full hour to discuss them. I'll meet you over at SportsNation at 2 p.m. ET and we'll see where it takes us.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- So long, South Florida.

I'm starting the trek back to NFC North blog headquarters, where I plan to dump sand on the floor and plant a palm tree in the corner to emulate my working conditions here over the past few days.

We motored through a few dozen posts and about 10,000 words since arriving Sunday at the NFL owners meetings. There are many more posts and words left in my virtual notebook for future discussions, and I'll be getting to them when we reassemble Monday. (Yes, working by the beach takes a lot out of a blogger, and this one is taking a long weekend.)

Have a pleasant evening.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- As you might have guessed, we'll need to reschedule our weekly SportsNation chat. The moving parts here at the NFL owners meetings will make me awfully tough to pin down Tuesday. Plus, if I get an hour away from the meetings, you better believe I'm headed to the beach rather than parking myself in front of the laptop with you. I'll let you know when we reschedule.

It's been an unusually warm winter here in the Upper Midwest, but I'll still take a late-March trip to south Florida. So for your planning and jealousy purposes, I can confirm that I'm heading to Palm Beach, Fla., the site of the NFL's 2012 owners meetings.

There will be some activity Sunday afternoon, and the meetings officially get underway Monday morning. I'm hoping to catch up with at least one representative of each NFC North team over the next few days, checking in on news and gathering information for future blog posts.

We'll also monitor any further developments in the New Orleans Saints' bounty punishment, especially in light of multiple calls from Minnesota Vikings players for lifetime bans of offending players. We could also get word on the distribution of compensatory draft picks and confirmation on whether the Green Bay Packers will be a part of the NFL's Sept. 5 opening game. See you in the Sunshine State!

We're making a quick turnaround in the SportsNation chat department. After going for 30 hard and intense minutes on Friday afternoon, we're going to extend ourselves for the full hour here on Tuesday. Meet me at 2 p.m. ET and we'll keep working to get ourselves into the best shape of our chat lives.

As much as we love talking to each other, I'm thinking that a SportsNation chat two hours before NFL free agency begins would prove pointless and irrelevant in a matter of minutes. So we've postponed the chat to a time to be determined, but certainly by the end of the week, when we'll have more concrete information to discuss. For now, my answer to the standard pre-free-agency question -- "Will [Team X] sign/release/trade for [Player Y]?" -- is that we'll know in a matter of hours or days. Thanks for your understanding.

ESPN.com's blog editors have put together a comprehensive chart of the 21 franchise players for 2012. That's a high number, but it still leaves dozens of high-quality players to hit the free agent market next week.

I'm sure we'll discuss a number of them over the ensuing days, but for now I think we should recognize that San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson is highly regarded by multiple NFC North teams. The Chargers did not franchise Jackson, making him one of the top prizes of the free agent market.

It got overshadowed by subsequent events, but the Minnesota Vikings pushed hard to acquire Jackson via trade in 2010. Rebuffed near the trade deadline, the Vikings turned instead to talks with the New England Patriots and Randy Moss. I'm sure you remember what happened next.

Jackson is two years older and the Vikings are in a different place now, but they are just as bereft of receivers now as they were in 2010. General manager Rick Spielman has spoken often this offseason of getting quarterback Christian Ponder more help from playmaking positions.

Jackson isn't believed to be eager to leave San Diego, where he has excelled in Norv Turner's offense and has a good relationship with quarterback Philip Rivers. He might not be ready to start over with a young quarterback, but he wouldn't have to if another NFC North team pursues him.

The Chicago Bears have a significant need at receiver, and Jackson could team with quarterback Jay Cutler to make an instant impact. The Bears' plans under new general manager Phil Emery remain unclear from a public perspective, but given the state of the position, it's easy to envision the Bears making a serious run at Jackson next week. Stay tuned.

Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic preview the Packers' offseason in "Two-A-Days." How can Green Bay improve on defense?