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The San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh, known to walk past the first-class cabin to his seat in coach, should be relieved to have missed Forbes' list of 10 highest-paid coaches.

Harbaugh's three NFC West contemporaries made the list, with the St. Louis Rams' Jeff Fisher and the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll earning a reported $7 million annually.

Coaches presumably do not make available their contracts or tax returns, so these listings qualify as unofficial. They are generally consistent with media reports, at least.

The Arizona Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt checks in at tied for eighth ($5.8 million).

Note that the listings include sports beyond football, but not including hockey. Five of the 10 highest-paid coaches have won championships: Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan, Doc Rivers, Gregg Popovich and Mike Tomlin.

Harbaugh, who promoted a blue-collar culture complete with work shirts last season, reportedly earns $5 million per season. That would rank Harbaugh among the higher-paid coaches in the NFL, but with 14 regular-season and postseason victories last season, the price tag has been a bargain to this point.

Carroll and Fisher would have to produce 19.6 victories in a season to match the $357,142-per-victory average for Harbaugh. Whisenhunt would have to produce 16.2 victories.

News that the Pro Bowl is likely going away comes a couple months after commissioner Roger Goodell threatened to discontinue the game.

Television ratings for the annual all-star game have remained relatively strong, but the product does nothing to enhance the NFL's brand, in my view. The drama and strategy that make real games compelling cannot exist in a Pro Bowl context.

The NFL Players Association has promoted continuing the game, calling it an important tradition. I get it, but elite players worried about risking injuries unnecessarily should welcome the news.

"Guys play a full season, they play physical through a full season, and you get rewarded," the New England Patriots' Vince Wilfork said during Super Bowl week. "The last thing you want to do is go out in a game like that and hurt yourself. That is not good for the individual or for the organization."

Wilfork's coach, Bill Belichick, responded humorously when asked about Aaron Rodgers' complaints that the 2012 Pro Bowl had become even more farcical than its predecessors. It was clear Belichick thought poorly of what the game had become.

"I felt like some of the guys on the NFC side embarrassed themselves," Rodgers told ESPN 540 in Milwaukee. "I was just surprised that some of the guys either didn't want to play or when they were in there didn't put any effort into it."

There should be no faking tackle football. It's a game best played with emotion and with something at stake beyond the potential for injury.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A voice from above spoke to new St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead at the NFL scouting combine Friday.

The football gods? Not quite.

Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, Snead's boss until recently, was calling down his approval from a third-level balcony overlooking a Lucas Oil Stadium meeting room after Snead's first national news conference with the Rams.

Snead points to Dimitroff's roots with the New England Patriots as critical in shaping the approach he hopes to share with the Rams.

"I think the Patriots are a difference-making organization," Snead said, noting that the Patriots own more regular-season victories than any team over the past four seasons. "What you will find with them is they are going to believe that teams win championships, individuals don't. Everything they do, whether it's the type of plate that is in the cafeteria to the type of scouting grading scale you have, they want to have a competitive edge in that area. That is what you learn. There is a lot of innovative thought that goes into the logistics and processes of putting it all together."

Snead did not say if the Rams were considering Corelle dinnerware at their facility.

The Patriots would have approved his vagueness when asked to provide additional examples.

"I'd like to think that is content we would keep in the building and make us competitive," Snead said. "Over time, we'll figure it out and see if I was correct."

The Patriots' approach is indivisible from their coach, Bill Belichick.

Jeff Fisher will set the tone for St. Louis and serve as the face of the organization. I would expect Snead to borrow from Dimitroff and the Patriots' approach mostly when it comes to processes for evaluation.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Quarterback Aaron Rodgers kicked off Super Bowl week by complaining about the Pro Bowl.

Midway through the week, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick implied he felt similarly about the NFL's annual all-star game.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell capped the week by threatening to discontinue the annual all-star game if uncompetitive play continues.

Additionally competitive play should result now that the NFL's Most Valuable Player (Rodgers), its most decorated coach (Belichick) and highest-ranking executive (Goodell) have voiced their displeasure. Anyone planning to blatantly loaf through the game has been put on notice. Goodell's comments resembled what a coach might say through the media to get his team's attention. Time to step it up, guys.

George Atallah of the NFL Players Association responded Sunday by saying the game should continue.

I doubt the league would discontinue the game right away. TV ratings dipped some to a 7.9, but the Pro Bowl was still the highest-rated sporting event of the weekend. Players will not go full speed, nor should they. But they'll likely pick up the pace next year to avoid drawing more fire.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Five hours before kickoff seemed like a good time to arrive at Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI.

The city skyline is clearly visible through the giant windows above the end zone with "New York Giants" emblazoned on it. Here's a shot of the field view from my seat on the Terrace Level. I'm in a corner and high enough to see the action, but not too high. My view will be looking over Bill Belichick's right shoulder as he faces midfield from the New England Patriots' sideline.

The natural light entering the stadium adds vibrancy to the yellow "Super Bowl" and "National Football League" signage separating the various stadium levels.

Brian O'Connell from the Seattle Seahawks is working the press area where I'm seating. He's crediting/mocking me for being the first one here, but hey, where else would a guy rather be on Super Sunday? There were no lines when John Clayton and I walked over from the nearby media center at the J.W. Marriott hotel.

The downtown setup has been perfect for a Super Bowl, particularly with the weather cooperating. The league has hard-wired Internet connections available, so our Super Bowl chat beginning two hours before kickoff should be easier to access.

Hope your Super Bowl Sunday is treating you well.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Josh McDaniels spent the last year trying to reinvent himself.

After making few friends as the Denver Broncos' head coach, McDaniels showed himself to be congenial and accommodating as the St. Louis Rams' offensive coordinator, even as the team struggled to a 2-14 record.

It's tough to say who benefits from McDaniels, now the AFC champion New England Patriots' offensive coordinator in waiting, going into stealth mode during Super Bowl week. The Patriots have used McDaniels' vague title — he'll remain merely an "offensive assistant" until he replaces the outgoing Bill O'Brien next season — to shield their highest-profile assistant from the Super Bowl spotlight.

"It's great to have him back," quarterback Tom Brady said.

Everyone from Brady and fellow Patriots legend Bill Belichick to the team's assistant strength coach, Moses Cabrera, has embraced the Super Bowl experience this week. The Patriots made available 53 active players, all eight members of the practice squad and 13 coaches Wednesday. No McDaniels, though.

O'Brien, recently named the next coach at Penn State, sounded perfectly comfortable with McDaniels' presence on the staff. This should be a positive story for all parties.

"Josh is a very close friend of mine," O'Brien said. "He is one of the brightest coaches I've ever been around and he has come in here and done a great job of observing our offense, watching the teams that we're playing (against the New York Giants') defense, helping me out with little bullet points."

The access ban spares McDaniels from answering questions about his failed tenure in Denver and his unusual status as a coach for two teams in the same season.

"He is mostly working with the coaches in the staff meetings," Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins said. "I'm not sure how much input he has right now. You would have to ask one of the coaches."

Done deal.

"He has been a great help on game days up in the press box," O'Brien said, "just by being your eyes in the sky with (personnel director) Nick Caserio and (tight ends coach) Brian Ferentz, just an added set of eyes up there."

Tight end Aaron Hernandez speaks with McDaniels "a lot" and says his future coordinator is "definitely involved" and fitting in.

Backup quarterback Brian Hoyer said he values McDaniels as "an extra guy to go to" for questions about the game plan or the offense in general, particularly if O'Brien is busy.

Brady gave Hoyer and the other quarterbacks a glowing review on McDaniels, who coached the position and coordinated the offense, among other duties, while with New England from 2001-08. In the short term, McDaniels is serving as a resource for players.

"Josh's presence has been good, just having his presence around our locker room and on the field," running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis said. "He's been here before. It's just positive chemistry."

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bill Belichick seemed to weigh his options carefully when asked about Aaron Rodgers' complaints about the Pro Bowl lacking a certain competitive zeal.

"Um, what I'm going to say wouldn't be probably what I should say," the New England Patriots' coach said Wednesday during his Super Bowl news conference.

Belichick paused.

"I'm going to let that one go," he said.

Another pause.

"What it was and what it is now is a lot different," he added.

What the Pro Bowl was long ago -- a marginally competitive all-star game featuring final scores such as 10-6, 23-21 and 23-10 -- has turned into a game where the losing team routinely has 30-plus points. Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers' Pro Bowl quarterback, lamented the NFC squad's lack of competitiveness during a 59-41 defeat Sunday. He said some players from the NFC squad embarrassed themselves with their lack of effort.

Rodgers did not name guilty parties, of course. NFC West teams had 17 Pro Bowlers this season, including some who withdrew from the game.

Once Belichick's news conference finished, I went across the hall to poll New England players on the subject during their daily media session.

"I tried to go hard in the game," said linebacker Jerod Mayo, a Pro Bowl selection in 2010. "The harder you go, the less likely you are to get injured. You try to tempo it a little bit, you're probably going to get hurt."

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork, a four-time Pro Bowl choice, advocates caution.

"Guys play a full season, they play physical through a full season, and you get rewarded," Wilfork said. "The last thing you want to do is go out in a game like that and hurt yourself. That is not good for the individual or for the organization."

Guard Logan Mankins, also a four-time Pro Bowl selection, said he doubts there's a realistic way to ramp up competitiveness.

"I don't know how you fix it," Mankins said. "You're going to give a little effort, but you're not going to get out of control. Some guys are free agents over there. You get hurt in a Pro Bowl and it's going to affect that contract with another team. Who would want to get hurt in a Pro Bowl and not be able to play the next season?"

INDIANAPOLIS -- Those pushing for the San Francisco 49ers to upgrade at wide receiver can point to the NFC Championship Game for supporting evidence.

Michael Crabtree's 3-yard reception stood as the lone catch for a 49ers wideout during a 20-17 overtime defeat to the New York Giants. The team's wide receivers caught eight passes for 51 yards on 29 targets in two playoff games.

Sure, the quarterback play could have been better at times. But with second-year receiver Kyle Williams muffing one punt against the Giants and fumbling while returning another, there's room for improvement at the position.

Should the 49ers stick it out with Crabtree, a player with obvious talent, or should they consider moving on?

Elsewhere in the NFC West, should the St. Louis Rams re-sign Brandon Lloyd even as they install an offense that might not fit him as well? Will Andre Roberts justify his role as a starter for Arizona? What does it say when Seattle gets more from an undrafted free agent (Doug Baldwin) than from an $8 million-a-year acquisition (Sidney Rice)?

The Giants' and New England Patriots' Super Bowl media sessions Monday provided an opportunity to seek answers for questions about what makes a receiver and quarterback click. Eli Manning, Bill Belichick and Deion Branch racked up yards after the questions.

Manning's take

Alex Smith has started 35 games with Crabtree as one of his receivers. Crabtree has hardly participated in offseason practices or training camps for reasons ranging from his rookie contract dispute to injuries to the 2011 lockout.

Manning wasn't going to discuss specifics relating to the 49ers' situation, but the insight he offered on quarterback-receiver relationships in general suggests Smith and Crabtree need more time together. Timing itself isn't a big problem, Manning said, because a quarterback and receiver can work that out in practice. He pointed instead to game situations as the most valuable factor in developing chemistry.

"What happens in a game when things that you prepared for, all of a sudden you get a different technique or something that maybe that hasn't happened before occurs?" Manning said. "Can you tell by their body language, by the stem of their route, exactly what they are going to do? You have to scramble or move in the pocket and the timing is a little off, how are they going to react to those situations?"

Smith has built up that kind of rapport with tight end Vernon Davis. The two have played together since 2006. Smith has thrown 26 of his 68 regular-season touchdown passes to Davis, the NFL's highest percentage to one player for any quarterback with as many or more total touchdown passes.

Smith tossed more scoring passes to Davis during the playoffs (four) than he threw to Crabtree all season (three). The 41-yard strike he threw to Crabtree at Seattle in Week 16 was memorable, but when plays broke down in that game, Smith scrambled and found Davis along the sideline to extend drives, notably on a critical fourth-and-2.

"That is only something can really happen in games," Manning said of improvisational plays in general. "Talking to receivers on the sideline during games, after games. Talk about those plays where the timing was off or you got a different coverage. You have to talk about those things so you can learn from those experiences and make sure the next time you're ready for it."

Belichick and Branch

Acquiring a veteran receiver from another team -- another system, more specifically -- carries risks.

"There are so many different systems in the league and teams draft for their schemes to a certain degree," Belichick said. "If you are going to ask a player to do something, you want a player in there that can do it and not somebody that is a good player but cannot really fit what you want him to do. That's the trick."

Branch's experience in going from Super Bowl MVP in New England to highly paid disappointment in Seattle comes to mind. Branch has bounced back upon returning to the Patriots.

Injuries slowed Branch in Seattle. Front-office infighting brought into question whether or not the coaching staff was as committed as the front office to maximizing Branch's value. Fluctuations in quarterback play also affected things.

"Everything is based on opportunity, situations" Branch said.

Crabtree emerged from the NFC title game lamenting what he considered a lack of opportunities. He had a point. Some passes Smith threw to him appeared to be throwaways or simply off target.

Another time, Smith failed to throw the ball when Crabtree appeared to be running open. A week earlier, Crabtree failed to make plays on contested passes.

Keeping it simple

Assuming the 49ers re-sign Smith, which seems likely, how the team proceeds at wide receiver will stand as one of the more closely followed offseason storylines.

"One thing I've always felt about that position is let's not get too overanalytical," Belichick said. "He might be big, he might be fast, he might run great routes, he might have great hands, he might have great experience. But whatever his skill set is, whatever combination of attributes he has, if he can get open and catch the ball, that is good for the passing game. If he can't do those two things, then what value does he have?"

Turns out the San Francisco 49ers were hard at work when the division-rival Seattle Seahawks took the afternoon off for go-kart racing during training camp.

Looks like 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh noticed his former Pac-10 rival and current Seahawks counterpart, Pete Carroll, placing more emphasis on team bonding than on-field work that day. Harbaugh even told his team about it, emphasizing that only hard work would take the 49ers where they wanted to go.

"We got 212 snaps in that day," 49ers safety Donte Whitner told reporters this week.

All work and no play has not made the 49ers a dull team. They're one victory away from reaching the Super Bowl during their first season under Harbaugh. They went 13-3 during the regular season, sweeping the Seahawks.

Whitner made his comments when asked about confident talk from the New York Giants heading into the NFC Championship Game.

"We understand that all the work takes place on the football field, and he's been preaching that since Day 1," Whitner said of Harbaugh. "When we first came in to training camp, he told us the story of one other team. I think Seattle or one of these teams was out at some park go-kart riding and stuff and we got 212 snaps in that day."

Training camps opened well before the Seahawks went racing on Aug. 24, making it tough to verify Whitner's exact timeline. But the general point stands.

Harbaugh would have the best feel for what his team needed during camp. The 49ers have responded favorably to his approach. Coming off nearly a decade of losing, they probably needed those 212 snaps Whitner referenced.

Lots of successful coaches have used team field trips to break up the monotony of training camp with an eye toward team bonding.

New England's Bill Belichick broke from camp to take the Patriots to see "The Fighter" on Aug. 24, the same day Carroll took his team racing. Belichick even arranged for boxer Micky Ward to appear at the private screening. The Patriots managed to go 13-3 this season.

A break from camp could suit the 49ers at some point in the future. I wouldn't expect Carroll to offer them any tips for the go-kart track, however.

The Arizona Cardinals' efforts to develop young players and integrate new ones on defense continues to stagnate.

The reasons are simple to understand.
First-year coordinator Ray Horton is installing a complex new system that would be tough for young players to absorb even with a full offseason. And the team's highest-priced defensive addition in free agency, inside linebacker Stewart Bradley, came from a vastly different system, so he was going to face a transition period as well.

Finally, the Cardinals haven't done a great job drafting young personnel to fit their new system.

I found useful comments New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick made recently in explaining why his team has leaned less heavily on a pure 3-4 defense:

"We've played a mixture of odd fronts and even fronts, but I just felt like from a starting point -- given the lack of spring opportunities to practice and meet, and the shortened training camp in terms of actual number of practices -- that from a teaching standpoint, we felt like there would be more carryover teaching our base defense and nickel defense really as one front.

"We wanted a lot of carryover between our run responsibilities and run fits, and some of our pressure defenses and things like that. We'll transition and build into some of our odds fronts, but we felt like in trying to evaluate young players, asking them to learn one system in a 3-4 and then learn another system in nickel [was too much].

"As you know, we were in nickel defense just as much as we were 3-4 defense because of teams using multiple receivers on early downs and two-minute and all those kind of things. So, we felt like it would be a better opportunity to evaluate our players and not try to over-install and put in a ton of defense.

"There are so many intricacies to a 3-4 defense that I just didn't know if we'd be ready to handle them this year."

The Cardinals have scaled back. And, unlike the Patriots, they have not had Belichick teaching and overseeing their defense since 2000. Horton is finding his way as a coordinator and still getting a feel for the personnel he inherited. He also doesn't benefit from a Tom Brady-led offense putting points on the board and pulling out victories even when the defense falters.

What the Cardinals do have in their favor, at least this week, is great familiarity with the upcoming opponent, Pittsburgh. Horton coached the Steelers' secondary, so he should know how to scheme for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Arizona coaches Ken Whisehunt and Russ Grimm, among others, also have roots with the Steelers. And Arizona is coming off a bye week, which gave coaches needed time to reassess.

The first chart shows snap counts and percentages for the Cardinals' defensive players, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Younger players such as O'Brien Schofield and Sam Acho will presumably get more playing time as the season progresses. Bradley's snap counts are also much lower than I would have anticipated coming into the season.

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Nine of 12 dentists recommend brushing with -- wait, wrong survey. Let's try this again.

Nine of 12 ESPN.com football reporters are picking the St. Louis Rams to win the NFC West this season. Three others are taking the Arizona Cardinals. And that is only a small sampling of results from our NFL predictions for the 2011 season.

NFL divisional bloggers joined John Clayton, Adam Schefter, Matt Williamson, Ashley Fox and Jeff Chadiha in voting for eight division winners, two wild-card teams per conference, AFC champion, NFC champ, Super Bowl champ, coach of the year, MVP, top offensive rookie and top defensive rookie.

A quick look at voting results:

• Super Bowl champ: Six of 12 votes, including mine, went for the New England Patriots. Chadiha and Seifert took Green Bay. Four other teams drew votes: New Orleans (Paul Kuharsky), San Diego (Dan Graziano), Pittsburgh (Fox) and the New York Jets (Bill Williamson).
• AFC champ: Nine votes for New England. One apiece for the Chargers, Steelers and Jets.
• NFC champ: Green Bay drew four votes, including mine. New Orleans and Philadelphia drew three votes apiece. Atlanta (Bill Williamson) and Dallas (Schefter) drew one apiece.
• NFC West: I was among nine picking the St. Louis Rams. Chadiha, Kevin Seifert joined Graziano in picking the Arizona Cardinals.
• NFC North: It was unanimous. Twelve votes for the Packers.
• NFC South: Six for New Orleans, six for Atlanta. I took the Falcons.
• NFC East: Eleven votes for the Eagles. Schefter took the Cowboys.
• NFC wild cards: The Saints and Cowboys were my picks, in part because Dallas plays the NFC West this season. There were six votes for Atlanta, five for New Orleans, four for Dallas, three for Detroit, three for Tampa Bay, one for Minnesota (Chadiha), one for Philadelphia (Schefter) and one for the New York Giants (Yasinskas).
• AFC West: Eleven votes for San Diego. Kuharsky took Kansas City.
• AFC North: Eight votes for Pittsburgh, including mine. Four for Baltimore.
• AFC South: Seven votes for Houston. Five votes for Indianapolis, including mine.
• AFC East: I was among 10 voting for the Patriots. Graziano and Bill Williamson picked the Jets.
• AFC wild cards: Baltimore and the Jets were my picks. There were eight votes for the Jets, five for the Ravens, four for the Steelers, three for the Colts, two for the Patriots, one for the Texans (Kuharsky) and one for the Chiefs (Bill Williamson).
• Coach of the year: Bill Belichick was my choice. There were three votes for Jim Schwartz, two for Jason Garrett, two for Belichick and one apiece for Steve Spagnuolo (Kuharsky), Sean Payton (James Walker), Mike McCarthy (Clayton), Andy Reid (Chadiha) and Gary Kubiak (Pat Yasinskas).
• MVP: I was among four voting for Aaron Rodgers. Philip Rivers drew three votes. Tom Brady and Michael Vick drew two apiece. Kuharsky cast the lone vote for Brees.
• Offensive rookie: I was among nine voting for Julio Jones. There were two votes for Mark Ingram (Clayton, Schefter) and one for Cam Newton (Bill Williamson).
• Defensive rookie: I was among nine voting for Von Miller. Adrian Clayborn (Kuharsky), Ryan Kerrigan (Graziano) and Jimmy Smith (Walker) drew one vote apiece.

Take these to the bank, but please do not try depositing them. I'm sure our perceptions will change -- "evolve" sounds better -- as these teams reveal more about themselves.

For me, the biggest challenge is following four teams so closely every day of the year, then trying to make sense of faraway teams that cross the radar screen far less frequently. I'm interested in your picks, too. Fire away.

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Watching the St. Louis Rams practice Friday wasn't as good as watching Marshall Faulk and Orlando Pace watch the Rams practice Friday.

The retired Rams legends are teaming up on the organization's preseason TV broadcasts. Current Rams Steven Jackson, Donnie Avery, Jacob Bell and others stopped to pay their respects upon leaving the team's indoor practice facility.

I stood behind and to the right of Pace during practice to loosely simulate the sense of security quarterbacks must have felt lining up with him as their left tackle. He allowed no sacks on this day, either.

Faulk, recently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, stood with Pace while the Rams conducted their walk-through session in preparation for a Saturday night preseason game against Tennessee.

When the team made Faulk available to reporters, I had one question in mind: What should we expect from Bradford's pairing with new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels? Faulk, known for his football smarts, came through with a detailed answer:

"I'm a fan of Josh McDaniels. I watched how he learned with Bill [Belichick], how he worked with Tom Brady, what he did with Matt Cassel. I am impressed with his abilities to work with quarterbacks.

"Another thing that impressed me was when he was in Denver and they had an opportunity to play New England. Bill Belichick is a great mind in this game. What [McDaniels] was able to do to their defense. Understand that Bill knew that Josh knew him. Bill knew Josh and I'm sure they went against each other many times in practice. How he took apart their defense, I sat there in awe. From that game on, people started attacking the New England Patriots in a different way. That kind of caused a youth movement in New England from the older players to, 'OK, we need to get some fresh new guys, we're rebuilding on defense the last couple years.'

"I'm eager to not only watch, but I'm going to get a chance to talk to Josh today. For me, I know the quarterbacks in this league that are successful, they play in one system, they play a long time in that system. The terminology, it doesn't change because you want that quarterback to grow. I want to see how much Josh has learned from the system that they had and how much of the new stuff did he put in, and did he tweak the terminology? And then from Sam, from last year to this year, where he is, is the kinds of things I want to find out."

I'd love to sit in on that Faulk-McDaniels conversation. Those with the right online/TV connections will have to settle for Faulk's thoughts on the Rams-Titans broadcast Saturday night. The game sold enough tickets to avoid a local blackout.

This was supposed to be the first day of the rest of our NFL lives, offering a clean break from the 2011 lockout and our first weekend free from the various projects and top 10 lists that have occupied our time since March.

Instead, here we are, suspended in the same sorry locked out state.

We've analyzed helmets, ranked the best players in the game today and even projected which ones would dominate three years from now.

If the longest NFL offseason continues much longer, I fear we'll resort to ranking the 10 best ESPN.com top 10 lists. Come to think of it, let's get it out of the way now, as a pre-emptive strike against someone actually assigning it to me. That would never happen, would it? Hey, we ranked helmets. Anything is possible.

Speaking of those helmet rankings, you apparently liked them. A lot. Users recommended them to Facebook friends more than they recommended any of the other 15 -- that's right, 15 -- offseason power rankings. And so it's with your input that I've assembled the 10 most socially networked ESPN.com NFL offseason power rankings (number of Facebook recommendations in parenthesis):

1. Ten best helmets (4,000+). I'll admit to participating in a May 4 email discussion with a colleague in which he lamented and I agreed that we were bottoming out with the decision to rank helmets, of all things. We were flat-out wrong. Bill Williamson had fun with the project, even consulting fashion experts, and the resulting May 17 item has been recommended more than 4,000 times on Facebook.
2. Ten best running backs (2,000+). Steven Jackson ranked seventh and Frank Gore was tied for 10th, with Chris Johnson edging Adrian Peterson for the top spot. I thought standing up for Gore was important and explained why for the piece: "He's produced across systems for a team that has had a different offensive coordinator every season of his career. He's never had a quarterback to take pressure off him. Defenses have known what was coming, and Gore has kept coming anyway."
3. Ten best linebackers (1,000+). Patrick Willis topped this list, showing that a great player at a less glamorous position can still command appropriate respect levels. "Nobody in the NFL plays their position better than Patrick Willis, and that is saying a lot," Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. said. "He has no weaknesses."
4. Ten best safeties (995). Our panelists felt guilty after this one. The position was difficult to grade and without a clearly established order outside the top couple of selections. Adrian Wilson was fourth.
5. Ten toughest venues (960). The venue formerly known as Qwest Field ranked third. Lambeau and Heinz were the only other NFL stadiums appearing on every voter's ballot. Candlestick Park, with its tricky winds and slippery grass, could rank among the toughest if the 49ers had remained a playoff team over the last decade.
6. Ten best head coaches (764). Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt just missed the cut. No other NFC West head coach received a vote. Bill Belichick was the overall winner in a runaway.
7. Ten best quarterbacks (693). The NFC West was shut out here. Where will Sam Bradford rank one year from now?
8. Ten best defensive players (614). Willis was fourth overall and second on my ballot. Teammate Justin Smith missed the top 10. He was tied for 13th with votes from me and Kevin Seifert.
9. Ten best owners (558). Seattle's Paul Allen missed the cut despite getting votes on four ballots.
10. Ten best receivers (549). Larry Fitzgerald was second only to Andre Johnson. A little help at quarterback would have helped Fitzgerald make a stronger case for the top spot. He drew two first-place votes.

Here's hoping your Saturday ranks among your very best. Bring on free agency and training camps. Please.

One million dollars per regular-season victory seems like a reasonable price for NFL teams already paying much more in player salaries.

That was the rate a couple NFC West teams paid their head coaches last season, according to a Forbes magazine report.

The report ranks Seattle's Pete Carroll third among NFL coaches, behind Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan, at $7 million per season.

Lovie Smith is next at $6 million, followed by the Arizona Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt at $5.75 million. Tom Coughlin ($5.25 million) and Mike Tomlin ($5 million) were next.

The chart breaks down the averages by 2010 victory totals, sorted by average per year. The figures cited for the San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh and the St. Louis Rams' Steve Spagnuolo reflect previous reports.

The Seahawks and Cardinals have both enjoyed playoff success under their coaches. Carroll commanded a premium coming off a successful run at USC. Whisenhunt posted a 4-1 postseason record, complete with a Super Bowl appearance, before receiving a raise last offseason.

Carroll is entering the second year of a five-year contract. Whisenhunt's deal, which the team extended last offseason following back-to-back playoff appearances, runs through 2013. Harbaugh is entering the first year of a five-year contract. The four-year deal Spagnuolo signed in 2009 runs through 2012.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Highlights from San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke's predraft media session following my quick trip down the West Coast to team headquarters Wednesday morning:

• GMs can be compulsive about evaluating talent and other things. Before beginning his interview session with roughly 20 reporters, Baalke arranged into a neat row the 10 audio recorders left before him. "They've never seen my desk," Baalke said to laughter. "They can't put these things all discombobulated."
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Jed Jacobsohn/Getty ImagesThe door for Alex Smith to return to the 49ers appears to still be open, as GM Trent Baalke said he's "very comfortable" with Smith.
• Baalke dodged early questions about quarterbacks. He opened up more as the session progressed, eventually offering scouting reports on Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker and Ryan Mallett. He sees Newton as a highly talented "work in progress" needing time to develop. Gabbert has "rare passing talent" but must adapt from a spread system. Locker comes from a pro-style system but has flourished outside the pocket, an indication he faces an adjustment period. Mallett might have the "best arm talent" in the draft and comes from a pro-style system, but will not fit for every team because of his limited mobility.
• If the 49ers do draft a quarterback early, they would prefer to have him get some seasoning before having to start. Baalke pointed to his own experiences working under Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Marty Schottenheimer before becoming a GM. "The quarterback position is no different," Baalke said.
• Why would the 49ers consider re-signing Alex Smith? Baalke: "There are a lot of reasons. He understands this building. He understands the system that coach is interested in running. [Coach Jim Harbaugh and Smith] obviously hit it off in their discussions. There is a lot of comfort in having somebody, especially when we are in the situation we are in, where there are so many unknowns. Coach is very comfortable with him. I am very comfortable with him. Will Alex choose to come back here? You will have to get him on the phone and ask him that question. But he is certainly a guy that we would like to throw into the mix." Baalke discounted the suggestion that the 49ers could easily acquire a quarterback familiar with the system Harbaugh intends to run.
• The 49ers will continue to favor big, physical players. Baalke: "The littler the player, the more special they have to be. They have to have a special trait to overcome their lack of size."

I'll be heading onto the practice field shortly to watch the 49ers' new coaching staff interact with the 50 players invited to a pro day featuring college prospects with ties to the Bay Area. More in a bit.