On Tuesday, the contracts of Mike Wahle and Dan Morgan in Carolina, Kalimba Edwards in Detroit and Brandon Lloyd in Chicago came off the salary cap books. They were pre-June 2 designees, which gave the players time to find a new home in February and March but gave the three teams the freedom of taking the cap hits for their departures in 2009. As if the NFL needed it, a total of $13.855 million of cap room came free with those four players being removed from the salary caps. With Terrell Owens signed to a three-year extension that freed up cap room for the Cowboys, close to $400 million of cap room is now available leaguewide. Expect most of it to be pushed into next season.
Done deal: The Chargers moved quickly in locking up center
Jeremy Newberry to a one-year, $1 million contract. Though Newberry considered not playing this season because of the pain he's endured for years in the NFL, he was sold on the idea of reuniting with Chargers head coach
Norv Turner, who was an offensive coordinator for the 49ers. Newberry knew Turner would take it easy on his body in practices and in training camp. Newberry may start the season at center as
Nick Hardwick may not be ready because of foot surgery this offseason.
Making an appearance: Lane Kiffin and
Al Davis had to be pleased that defensive end
Derrick Burgess showed up for minicamp Tuesday. He has been wanting a new contract for the past couple of years and has missed a portion of the team's offseason program. The minicamp is mandatory, so Burgess showed up and was not fined. When a player is unhappy with a contract, there is always fear of a training camp holdout. Burgess' presence at minicamp offers some optimism he will be in Napa for the start of Raiders camp.
Philly tryouts: Andy Reid is having an open competition for the backup quarterback job to
Donovan McNabb.
Kevin Kolb has gotten a lot of reps with the second team to give him the chance to catch up with the offense. He was the team's second-round choice a year ago.
A.J. Feeley has been working with the third team, but he has experience with the offense. Reid says Kolb gets a few more reps by working with the second team, and obviously a second-year quarterback needs the reps.
John Clayton
