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NFL.com reports that the Kansas City Chiefs have interest in signing left tackle Branden Albert to a new deal now that trade talks with the Miami Dolphins have died.

I am sure Albert would be interested in a long-term contract, but the Chiefs need to figure out if they are comfortable with No. 1 overall pick Eric Fisher playing right tackle for the long term. He is expected to play there during Albert’s free-agent year, then return to left tackle, where he played in college. Albert has made it clear he does not want to play right tackle.

If the Chiefs eventually want Fisher to play left tackle, it could make it difficult to re-sign Albert. What does it all mean? Everything is still on the table. This news doesn’t change much.

In other AFC West notes:

The Raiders are no longer interested in free-agent quarterback Vince Young, NFL.com notes. That became obvious when Oakland drafted Arkansas’ Tyler Wilson in the fourth round. Young recently worked out the Raiders.

The Broncos are not renewing the contract of director of pro personnel Keith Kidd. He was a holdover of the Josh McDaniels era and didn’t have a ton of power.

San Diego general manager Tom Telesco held a conference call with several season-ticket holders Wednesday.

Adam Schefter breaks down Mark Sanchez's future with the Jets. The NFL32 crew discusses which NFC West team can challenge for first place.

Quinton Patton, the wide receiver San Francisco selected in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft, "has a passion for the game and it shows," draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki wrote in his annual preview guide.

The 49ers can attest to that passion after Patton showed up ready to get a jump on his career. There was one problem. Rules prevent rookies from reporting until rookie camps, which are more than a week away. Patton had to catch a flight home, but the initiative he showed resonated with coach Jim Harbaugh.

"[The] fact he buys a ticket, flies out here, speaks volumes about him," Harbaugh told KNBR radio in San Francisco, according to San Jose Mercury news reporter Cam Inman.

Patton hopefully collected some frequent-flier miles in the process.

New ESPN Stats & Information resources have allowed us to provide a new layer to discussions about offseason player movement, spawning the kind of questions I haven't always been equipped to answer. Let's address another while we have a moment.

This inquiry came during our SportsNation chat Tuesday as well as via the mailbag. Many of you want to know how Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will receive $40 million in cash this season, and a total of $62.5 million over the next three years, and still count only $12 million against the 2013 salary cap.

It's actually pretty simple. Here's how it works out:

Most of Rodgers' $40 million in 2013 compensation comes in the form of a $35 million signing bonus. Although he will receive the cash this year, NFL accounting rules allow the salary-cap hit to be pro-rated over five years. So that means $7 million of it will count against the 2013 cap.

Rodgers has a $4.5 million base salary and a $500,000 workout bonus, all of which counts against 2013 by NFL rules. When you add the pro-rated portion of the signing bonus to the base salary and workout bonus, you get $12 million.

Next up: How a bill becomes a law.

This year’s Irrelevant Week XXXVIII is tentatively set to kick off on June 18. It will honor the Indianapolis Colts’ Justice Cunningham, a tight end from South Carolina who was the 254th pick.

I’ve never really plugged into the fanfare of Mr. Irrelevant. It just seems goofy to me to spend a bunch of time celebrating the last pick in the draft, who’s typically a long shot to make his team.

Today, Doug Williams of ESPN Playbook changed my mind a bit by detailing the rationale for the whole deal: To treat the last as if he were first.

Mr. Irrelevant is treated like royalty, and basically gets what he wants.

Cunningham also is a new teammate with last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Colts quarterback Chandler Harnish.

Writes Williams:

Because Cunningham has been to California only once -- without ever going near the water -- [Irrelevant Week CEO Melanie Salata] Fitch says he’ll get as much surfing, swimming and boating as he can handle.

“His favorite food is hot wings,” Fitch says. “Hot, hot wings. So he will be provided with several servings of them throughout the week.”

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t do anything too flashy in the NFL draft. But they certainly addressed their one glaring need.

That was cornerback.

“They attacked that position,’’ ESPN draft guru Todd McShay said in the attached video.

The Falcons used their first two picks on cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford. McShay says he sees Trufant as an instant starter.

“He was worth trading up for because he has great experience,’’ McShay said. “With two brothers who played in the NFL, he’s a pro’s pro. He knows what it takes. Coming out of Washington, he had to cover some really good wide receivers in that Pac-12 and he’s got the 4.38 speed. I think he’s a plug-and-play starter.’’

McShay also had high praise for Alford.

“A very under-the-radar-type player,’’ McShay said. “He’s got the skill set to come in. At the worst, I think he becomes their nickel corner.’’

McShay also had some words that should excite Atlanta fans.

“You’ve got to believe they’re going to be right there in the hunt for the Super Bowl in 2013,’’ McShay said.

The Buffalo Bills are one of two AFC East teams that could see a three-way quarterback battle this summer. Rookie first-round pick EJ Manuel will compete in training camp with veterans Kevin Kolb and Tarvaris Jackson.

It will be a competitive battle matching quarterbacks with different skills. But who will be Buffalo’s Week 1 starter?

Will Manuel prevail? The Bills made Manuel the first quarterback off the board with the No. 16 overall pick Thursday. Some criticized Buffalo for taking Manuel that high. However, Manuel has the size, mobility and accuracy to compete for the job and become a starter.

What about Kolb? The former draft and free-agent bust appeared to be turning the corner with the Arizona Cardinals last season before getting injured. Kolb will have a better offensive line in Buffalo to keep him upright.

Finally, does Jackson have a shot? The journeyman quarterback was acquired in a trade with Seattle last year but never saw the field. Now that former starter Ryan Fitzpatrick is out, Buffalo’s quarterback position is open.

Using our SportsNation poll, cast your vote on Buffalo’s Week 1 starter. You can also share your thoughts in the comments section below.

For those Kansas City Chiefs fans who are still looking for a reason to bang on the Scott Pioli era, here is your chance.

Javier Arenas is a former Chief.

The new Kansas City regime -- Pioli was fired after four years in January -- sent Arenas to Arizona for fullback Anthony Sherman on Wednesday. Arenas will always be remembered in Kansas City for being the compensation the Chiefs received for tight end Tony Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is one of the most decorated players in Kansas City history. Arenas is a player who barely made an impact in three seasons in Kansas City. Pioli traded Gonzalez to Atlanta in 2009 for a second-round pick in 2010. Pioli took Arenas, a cornerback/returner out of Alabama, with the 50th overall pick in 2010.

Arenas had his moments but never became a huge part of the plan in Kansas City. The Chiefs have continued to upgrade at spots Arenas played and there was no chance he’d make the roster this year. If so, he wouldn’t have had a huge role. The Chiefs are set at cornerback with the free-agent additions of Dunta Robinson and Sean Smith. Along with Brandon Flowers, they are considered the NFL's best trio of cornerbacks.

With Arenas now expendable, the Chiefs used him as a piece to help their offense with the Sherman addition.

Last July, I thought it was the right move when the Cleveland Browns selected wide receiver Josh Gordon in the second round of the supplemental draft. A year later, the Browns look even smarter with the decision, even though chief executive officer Joe Banner refuses to admit it.

After a slow first quarter of the season, Gordon kept improving throughout the season, catching 43 passes and scoring five touchdowns in his final 12 games. He showed flashes of being the team's long-term answer at the No. 1 receiver spot.

The decision to take Gordon started with the Browns choosing running back Trent Richardson over wide receiver Justin Blackmon in the top five of last year's draft. Blackmon was suspended Tuesday for the first four games of the 2013 season for his second violation of the substance abuse policy in less than a year.

Gordon was also considered a risk after he failed multiple drug tests during his college career. Still, there's a difference between investing a first-round pick and a second-round one on a player with red flags.

I believe the Browns made the right move with Gordon because I'm not sure he lasts until the Browns' second-round pick this year. The Browns gave up the 39th pick overall in this year's draft by taking Gordon last year.

Steve Muench of Scouts Inc. told me that he would have projected Gordon to be a late first or early second-round pick.

"I don’t see him getting past 41 where Buffalo took Southern Cal wide receiver Robert Woods, so I think he would have been a top-five wide receiver in last year’s class," Muench said. "It’s just tough to find that kind of size, speed and athletic ability."

Gordon might have gone as early at No. 27 in the first round, according to Muench. That's where the Houston Texans selected Clemson wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, the second receiver to get drafted. "Hopkins is a good value and fit there, but the same can be said about Gordon. So the Texans would have had a tough choice," Muench said.

Muench thinks the Minnesota Vikings would've still gone with Cordarrelle Patterson over Gordon at No. 29 because of his ability to make plays in space, but Gordon might have been selected over Justin Hunter by the Tennessee Titans at No. 34.

Based on Muench's analysis, it looks like the Browns got the right value in using a second-round pick on Gordon, and got an additional year out of him because it was a supplemental pick. Still, the Browns' new regime isn't ready to applaud the move made by former president Mike Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert.

Asked if he can say now whether or not Gordon was worth the second-round pick, Banner said last weekend: "My answer is the same as it was. I think Josh has a lot of potential, and we are excited about what he can do. We’re all going to see how he develops and what he can turn into. In the end, that question will answer itself, I think. We’re certainly rooting for him to prove that was a great decision.”

Andy Reid likes using the fullback. Bruce Arians doesn’t use it.

The importance? The Kansas City Chiefs just got a potentially valuable player.

It has been widely reported that the Chiefs have acquired fullback Anthony Sherman from Arizona on Wednesday morning. The trade terms have yet to be reported and the Chiefs have not confirmed the deal.

Sherman will fit in with Reid’s version of the West Coast offense. He will use the fullback in several sets. Sherman, a fifth-round pick out of Connecticut in 2011, becomes the most accomplished fullback on Kansas City’s roster. He had 243 snaps with the Cardinals last season.

He is considered a good player. He is tough and a strong blocker. He also can help on special teams. Don’t expect Sherman to be a offensive weapon, though. He has one career carry and 13 catches. He is in Kansas City to block and to bring toughness.

This is an important addition for Reid. The fullback is a dying breed, but Reid still uses it and Sherman has a lot to offer.

Anthony Sherman should not go down in Arizona Cardinals history as a disappointing draft choice just because the team traded him after two seasons.

The 2011 fifth-round pick quickly became a solid starting fullback. But with new head coach Bruce Arians implementing a fullback-averse offense this offseason, Sherman became expendable through no fault of his own. That is why Arizona traded the 24-year-old blocking back to the Kansas City Chiefs in a deal Adam Caplan reported Wednesday.

"I have not been a fullback guy -- never have been," Arians told reporters during the NFL owners meeting in March.

The reasons for Arians' thinking are strategic. Fullbacks, for all their value in blocking, simply don't threaten defenses the way players at the other skill positions do. They tend to be one-dimensional players, so when they come into the game, defenses have a better idea what to expect. Some coaches have little use for fullbacks as a result.

"If you're a defensive coordinator and I send in a fullback and take out a tight end, I'm going to get your best call for that," Arians explained. "If I've got two tight ends, you don't know if one of them is going to play the fullback or one of them is going to be split out wide. You are going to be in that down-and-distance call. You don’t have a specific call."

Sherman started 11 of the 28 games he played in Arizona and logged 448 offensive snaps, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He carried the ball once and had 13 receptions for 111 yards.

The Cardinals drafted Sherman to develop him into a lead blocker while getting quality special-teams snaps from him. With former Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt becoming the San Diego Chargers' offensive coordinator recently, Sherman will twice a season in the AFC West play against one of the men responsible for drafting him.

"Two things, besides just being a good blocker, is that he’s an athletic player, he can catch the ball and do some things from that position athletically that can help us, and he’s a very good special-teamer," Whisenhunt said of Sherman during the 2011 draft. "When you have a role where you're expecting that player to get 15 or 20 snaps a game, he's got to have another significant contribution to your team. That’s how you build the strength of your team and we feel like he was probably, if not the best, at least in the top two or three of all the college players we looked at as special-teamers, and that’s important."

Sherman should be a better fit in Kansas City, where new Chiefs coach Andy Reid runs an offense featuring two backs a higher percentage of the time. Reid's Philadelphia teams did not rank among the NFL leaders in most plays featuring two backs, but they weren't far off the league average.

Note: I'll update this item once we know what the Cardinals received in return for Sherman.

Two days into what had been an impressive draft for the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN's Tedy Bruschi said, "If there was a year they can win the division, it's this year." Herm Edwards raised expectations even higher, predicting the Bengals would win the AFC North by two games.

Did the Bengals do enough this offseason to surpass the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens? The answer lies with quarterback Andy Dalton.

The Bengals can take the next step only if Dalton does. Over the course of three days in the NFL draft, Cincinnati did everything it could to help the offense and its third-year starting quarterback. In turn, it increased the pressure on Dalton to deliver in the red zone, on third downs and in the playoffs.

It started in the first round when the Bengals passed on drafting a strong safety, the team's most pressing need, in favor of taking Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert, the best tight end in the draft. Before the second round, the Bengals re-signed free-agent right tackle Andre Smith, which brought back all five starters from the NFL's second-best pass-blocking offensive line. Then, with its first pick in the second round, Cincinnati made North Carolina's speedy Giovani Bernard the first running back taken in this year's draft.

Two poor performances in the playoffs have raised questions whether Dalton is a franchise quarterback. The Bengals should be able to determine that this year after adding these playmakers.

Dalton now has another big target inside the 20-yard line with Eifert. He has an exciting checkdown option with Bernard, a luxury that Joe Flacco has enjoyed for years with Ray Rice. This is in addition to throwing to two Pro Bowl players, wide receiver A.J. Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham, and handing the ball off to grind-it-out back BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

There is no reason for this offense to rank 22nd in the NFL or flame out in the playoffs, as it did last year. I'm not the only one saying that, either.

"There shouldn’t be any excuses,” Dalton told reporters this week. “The players we already have and adding these guys is just going to make the offense better. So I expect us to take the next step. I expect us to improve from where we were last year. Time will tell, but we’ve got the right attitude going in and the way we’ve been working. I don’t expect any less.”

Right now, Dalton is a good quarterback, not a great one. He's right in the middle of the pack of NFL starters. Dalton has potential and a lot of qualities that you can't teach quarterbacks. He's smart. He has a feel for reading defenses. He has great anticipation to throw the ball even before his receiver breaks out of his route.

In his first two years, Dalton has done something that hadn't been accomplished in Cincinnati in more than three decades -- lead the Bengals to the playoffs in back-to-back years. He also has thrown 47 touchdowns in 32 career games. The only quarterbacks who have passed for more in their first two seasons in the NFL are Dan Marino (68) and Peyton Manning (52).

But in a division with Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco, two quarterbacks who have combined for 19 playoff wins and three Super Bowl titles, a quarterback is going to be judged by the postseason. Dalton is 0-2 in the playoffs and is a major reason for those defeats. He threw three interceptions in his first playoff game in the 2011 postseason (including a critical pick returned for a touchdown by J.J. Watt) and failed to complete half of his throws in his second postseason game in the 2012 playoffs.

Dalton knows he has to be better than no touchdowns and four interceptions in two playoff games. He knows he has to complete more than 47.5 percent of his passes on third down. He knows the Bengals must improve from being the NFL's 16th-best red zone offense. And he knows he can't commit 20 turnovers (16 interceptions, four fumbles) and have four of them returned for touchdowns as he did last season.

What impresses me the most about Dalton is how he handles criticism. When he was getting bashed for a lack of arm strength last season, he showed swagger that's not often seen in young quarterbacks. Dalton handled the addition of these young playmakers on offense the same way.

“I don’t feel more pressure,” Dalton said. “I expect to be better this year. Regardless if we didn’t get anybody, I would still expect to be better. The more weapons we have, the better I feel.”

I get the feeling that the Bengals want Dalton to feel pressure this year, which is a different approach. Last year, coach Marvin Lewis said he didn't want Dalton to listen to criticism because the team had no doubts in him. But in March, offensive coordinator Jay Gruden set a different tone, saying Dalton has "got a long way to go."

"He’s done some great things for a second-year quarterback, won a lot of games and thrown some good touchdown passes, but we feel like he has not come close to his potential," Gruden said.

It's time for Dalton to live up to that potential. The Bengals return a top-10 defense and added talented young weapons on offense. Everything is set up for the Bengals to go from a playoff team to a Super Bowl contender. All they need is a quarterback to take them there.

Interesting case here of a young man's mouth maybe getting the Philadelphia Eagles into some trouble. LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard, signed as an undrafted free agent by the Eagles after the draft, gave a radio interview in which he claimed that he and the Eagles had reached agreement on a contract while the sixth round of the draft was still ongoing. This would, of course, be a violation of the rule that prohibits such agreements from being reached until after the draft is completed, and according to Tim McManus, the NFL is looking into the matter. The Eagles say Shepard has his facts wrong:

The Eagles, through a statement, said Shepard’s account is off the mark.

“Russell Shepard has not signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. However, we did come to terms on a contract with he and his agent after the draft was completed. We anticipate he, like all of the rookie free agents we have agreed to terms with, will take a physical examination upon arriving in Philadelphia prior to next week’s rookie mini-camp and then sign a contract.”

Right. This is the way it's legally supposed to work. However, we're all kidding ourselves if we believe teams don't reach out to prospects while the draft is still ongoing and work out agreements to sign them after it's over. This is clearly one of those NFL rules that's broken all the time but not really enforced, like free-agent tampering, or offensive holding. The issue here is that Shepard went on the radio and blabbed about it, and now the Eagles could face some sort of discipline if they're found to have broken a rule.

But I doubt they will. This is a victimless crime, right? If a team really wanted Shepard, even after the Eagles called and told him they planned to sign him post-draft, that team could have just selected him in the seventh round and there would have been nothing the Eagles could have done about it. What are they going to say, "No! You can't draft him! We just signed him to an illegal contract!"

Much ado about very little, though I imagine that Shepard this morning isn't the Eagles' absolute favorite undrafted free agent they signed over the weekend.

Jump ahead to 2015 and put yourself in John Schneider's seat as the Seattle Seahawks' general manager.

By then, you will have re-signed or lost elite players such as safety Earl Thomas and cornerback Richard Sherman.

Your quarterback, Russell Wilson, will be entering the final year of his rookie contract. Wilson will be eligible to sign a new one for the first time under the NFL's labor rules.

The same goes for Bobby Wagner, your starting middle linebacker, and Bruce Irvin, your highly drafted pass-rusher. All will cost much more than they're costing right now.

Your Pro Bowl left tackle, Russell Okung, will also be entering a contract year.

One receiver, Percy Harvin, will have a contract counting $12.9 million against the salary cap. Another, Sidney Rice, will have a deal counting $10.2 million.

Oh, and one other thing about this 2015 adventure: You'll have to decide whether to pay a $2 million roster bonus and $5.5 million salary for a running back entering his ninth season.

Marshawn Lynch is that running back, and right now, in 2013, he's about as good as they come, this side of Adrian Peterson. But you'll need younger, more economical alternatives for some of your best players down the line. These aren't the sort of immediate needs that show up in draft previews, but they're always lurking.

Now, thanks to one of the more surprising moves in the 2013 draft, the Seahawks have bought insurance for their future at the position most vulnerable to age.

Christine Michael, the Texas A&M running back Seattle unexpectedly selected 62nd overall Friday, must by rule sign a four-year contract through 2016. His deal will run past the contracts that Lynch and backup running back Robert Turbin signed last offseason. It will count far less against the cap than the $9 million Lynch's deal is scheduled to count in 2015.

Seattle probably did not draft Michael with the distant future in the front of its mind. One explanation trumps all others when determining why the Seahawks used a second-round draft choice for a running back with two perfectly good ones on the roster already. The team thinks Michael can be special.

"He was the highest-rated player on our board and we lost Leon Washington, so we were looking for a little bit of depth there, and he is just our kind of runner," Schneider said. "He's a tough, intense, up-field, one-cut guy, and he's just a very good football player, competitor."

Adding Michael does not imperil Lynch for the 2013 season, of course. It does provoke natural tendencies to wonder whether there's more to this story.

"I could be far-fetched here," Kevin from McKinney, Texas, wrote to the NFC West mailbag, illustrating how far the mind can wander, "but is it possible John Schneider and [coach] Pete Carroll are concerned with Lynch's future effectiveness due to the new lowering of the crown rule? It seems to me that is a big part of his game and significantly contributes to his yards after contact."

There is no way the rulebook pressured Seattle into drafting a running back.

Carroll and other coaches fear officials will struggle enforcing the new rule preventing runners from lowering their heads and delivering an aggressive blow to the opponent with the top of the helmet. The rule could affect Lynch, but league officials said they discovered only a few would-be violations per week when studying tape from last season.

The Seahawks selected Michael because they thought he was the best back in the draft and well-suited to their offense. They wanted additional depth for their running game, which will remain the focus of their offense. They have to realize that Lynch's back spasms, while manageable to this point, could become more problematic with additional wear and tear. And they surely realize that Lynch's occasional off-field troubles dating to his time with the Buffalo Bills could recur, inviting sanctions.

Adding Michael doesn't mean the team thinks less of Lynch or Turbin, a 2012 fourth-round choice. There are no indications the team is anticipating a Lynch suspension in relation to his DUI arrest last offseason.

Still, I would bet against Lynch playing out the final year of his deal when Michael and Turbin figure to be available at a significant discount.

Seattle was fortunate in 2010 to have a running back of Lynch's caliber and young age (then 24) become available by trade at reasonable cost. The team was wise to re-sign Lynch one year ago to a four-year deal featuring $17 million in guaranteed money.

This marriage should be good for both parties for the next couple of seasons.

Lynch's deal pays him $7 million in salary with an $8.5 million salary-cap charge in 2013. It carries a $5 million salary and $7 million cap number in 2014. The team will have a decision to make at that point because Lynch's deal includes a $5.5 million salary and a $2 million roster bonus with a $9 million cap figure for 2015, the contract's final year.

Michael, a luxury buy at present, should be much more than that by then.

Another in a periodic series examining the roles of NFC North newcomers:

We have all debated the potential for Ziggy Ansah's immediate impact as a Detroit Lions defensive end in 2013. Ansah was a late arrival to football, a late bloomer on the NFL scouting scene and was drafted based on his athletic potential rather than his college body of work.

With that in mind, I thought it would be worth looking at how a few other NFL teams have approached the rookie years of pass-rushers drafted under similar circumstances. For various reasons, we can classify the New York Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul, the San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith and the Seattle Seahawks' Bruce Irvin in a similar category with Ansah.

Each player has his own story, but generally speaking, all three were drafted in the first half of the first round with limited résumés but extensive projections based on their physical attributes. The chart shows that none of them started a game and each played less than half of his team's defensive snaps. But even with that controlled playing time, they still combined to post 26.5 sacks between them as rookies.

The Lions have bid farewell to both of their 2012 starters at defensive end, Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch, so there is plenty of opportunity for a rookie to earn a starting job. Veterans Jason Jones and Willie Young are also in the mix, and the Lions drafted an imposing defensive end in 6-foot-7 Devin Taylor who could also compete for playing time.

If nothing else, we know a template exists for a developing pass-rusher to be used in a focused way while still having a highly productive rookie season. I wouldn't be too worried about whether Ansah will be on the field for the first play of games. More important to me is if he is out there for the most important ones -- and if he can influence them.

Earlier: The Minnesota Vikings know they need to have a plan for receiver Cordarrelle Patterson's rookie season.