Cincinnati Bengals 02/18/2008 1:55 PMThe Cincinnati Bengals today designated OL Stacy Andrews as the team’s franchise player, under terms of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. The franchise tag gives Andrews the option to play for Cincinnati in 2008 for a salary equal to the average of the top five offensive linemen in the NFL for the previous season (2007 in this case). Andrews will be a fifth-year NFL player in 2008. He is presently unsigned for ’08, and he will become an unrestricted free agent on Feb. 29 if he does not reach a contract agreement with the Bengals prior to that date. The franchise-player designation means that the Bengals could retain Andrews by matching any offer sheet he would sign from another team, and that if the Bengals declined to match a signed offer, the team signing Andrews would be required to give the Bengals its first-round choices in the 2008 and 2009 NFL Drafts.Read more
Dallas Cowboys 02/18/2008 8:40 AMThe Star-Telegram reports RB Julius Jones is gone, which leaves RB Marion Barber as the lone-back. The Cowboys don’t want that. Now, do they trade up for RB Darren McFadden, or stay put and select another back with a high pick? They could also pursue Chargers free-agent RB Michael Turner, whom coach Wade Phillips really likes.Read more
Baltimore Ravens 02/18/2008 8:10 AMThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports there is no Calvin Johnson in this year's group of pro prospects from Georgia Tech and Georgia. Neither of the programs' players can expect an early call in the first round of the NFL draft like Johnson, the Georgia Tech wide receiver who went No. 2 to Detroit last season. There are several who can enhance their shots at pro careers with good workouts at the scouting combine, which starts Wednesday in Indianapolis. One intriguing pro candidate is Georgia RB Kregg Lumpkin, a Stephenson High product. He was on the brink of SEC superstardom a couple of times over his career, only to be snatched back by injuries. After finishing as the Bulldogs' second-leading rusher as a freshman, he suffered a knee injury on the first day of preseason practice as a sophomore.Read more
Miami Dolphins 02/18/2008 7:49 AMThe Palm Beach Post reports a day after the only NFL team he'd ever played for cut him, veteran LB Zach Thomas was neither bitter nor sad. Thomas wanted to finish his decorated career with the Dolphins, but he had prepared himself for the team's decision Thursday to release him. "It was simple," Thomas said Friday morning. "When you play five games and you get paid a lot of money to produce on the field, I saw it coming. "I know it's part of the business. I'm not bitter at all." Instead, Thomas, 34, was optimistic, looking forward to a fresh start with a new team in contention for the Super Bowl. Thomas, who missed 11 games last season with head and neck injuries, might discover his options are limited.Read more
