NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

It's barely been over a week, but you're probably already sick of all the talks surrounding Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. However, the talks could go as far as May 5th. PFT reports that the Eagles will owe McNabb a $6.2 million roster bonus if he is still around May 5th.

This date comes after the NFL Draft so you would believe that if the Eagles are going to move Donovan, it should come before this date. If May 5th comes and goes, it will more than likely mean that Donovan will be at the helm yet another season.

I don't think it's a real big secret that the Eagles are definitely going to at least shop McNabb around this offseason. It's going to be a matter of whether or not they can get an acceptable offer in return for McNabb. I've heard some analysts say the Eagles can easily get a 1st and 3rd round pick for McNabb while others say something along the lines of a 2nd and 4th/5th. I'm sure the Eagles have an idea of what they want and an idea of what they'll settle for.

There are plenty of teams out there who are looking for the services of a veteran quarterback, and the Eagles have old ties in such organizations as the Vikings and Browns who may be more willing than other organizations.

Only time will tell if and when Donovan McNabb will be traded, so until then let the speculation continue.

The end has finally arrived for long time Saints running back Deuce McAllister, who now says he's retiring from pro football. McAllister, who has not played since 08, rejoined the Saints last week to serve as an honorary captain for the club's playoff win over Arizona on Saturday.

McAllister confirmed his plans in a text message to The Associated Press. The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., first reported the former Ole Miss star's plans on Tuesday afternoon. The 31-year-old McAllister was drafted in the first round by New Orleans in 2001. He is the Saints' all-time leading rusher with 6,096 yards. His 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing TDs also are club records. However, he needed reconstructive surgery to repair serious knee injuries in 2005 and 2007.

In one of the bigger shockers of the offseason, the Bills today officially named Chan Gailey as the teams new head coach. The coach will come in and take over a team that has had little success since Marv Levy left the team in 1997.

Gailey was introduced by general manager Buddy Nix at a new conference Tuesday afternoon. The hiring, which broke last night, ended a two-month search to replace Dick Jauron, who was fired in November. Gailey takes over a team that finished 6-10 and becomes the Bills' fifth coach since Levy retired after the 1997 season.

Gailey has spent 15 of his 38 years of coaching in the NFL. In his two years coaching the Dallas Cowboys, he went 18-14 and led the team to consecutive playoff appearances—both losses. He was dismissed after the 1999 season, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has acknowledged his mistake in firing Gailey.

"If you sit there and say you lose confidence in yourself, no you don't. But then you see opportunities go by. And you hope that your body of work will speak for itself," Gailey said.

Nix said that he was anxious to find someone with previous head-coaching experience and an offensive background. "This guy met more of the criteria than I thought we could find," Nix said. "And this guy's won everywhere he's been. … He'll get us back to winning and get to where we want to go."

Gailey has been out of football since he was removed as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator in August, two weeks before the season opener. He was entering his second season with Kansas City after a six-year stretch as Georgia Tech's coach, during which he went 44-33 before being fired in 2007.

The Bills hit several bumps during their coaching search. They spoke with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher in an attempt to lure him out of broadcasting. The team also interviewed former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who instead chose to coach the Washington Redskins. Last week, Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer rejected the Bills' request for an interview.

The Seattle Seahawks are set to have a new General Manager, as a person familiar with the deal says the Hawks are going with Packers executive John Schneider as their new general manager. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team had yet to officially announce the hire. ESPN first reported the deal.

Schneider was one of four candidates the Seahawks interviewed last week. He will share personnel responsibilities with new coach Pete Carroll. Schneider replaces Tim Ruskell. The Seahawks forced Ruskell to resign last month after Seattle finished 5-11, losing its last four games.

The Broncos are tied for third (with the Patriots) for Super Bowl appearances with six. They are just one of seven clubs to win back to back Super Bowls. They have had just five sub .500 seasons in the last 30 years and that includes the strike shortened season of '82. Obviously they have been one of the most successful clubs in the NFL for a long time, but somehow a few truly exceptional players have been denied entry in to the esteemed Hall of Fame.

Even with all the success this organization has achieved there is only two players that have been accepted in the "Hall". John Elway, maybe the single most valuable player to one franchise ever, was the first Broncos player inducted in 2004. Then Gary Zimmerman, who actually played more seasons in Minnesota (7 with the Vikings, 5 with Denver) but chose to go in as a Bronco, became the second in 2008.

Two Broncos have made the last round of finalist for the HOF class of 2010. Shannon Sharpe, who seemed to be a shoe-in last year in his first year of eligibility, retired after the 2003 season as the leader among all tight ends in career catches, receiving yards and touchdowns. Floyd Little, after being overlooked for almost four decades, was voted as a finalist by the senior committee.

As Sharpe and Little are obviously HOF material who should already have their bronzed likeness in Canton, there are a few more Broncos that have been over looked which just baffle me.

1. Steve Atwater: Atwater Played 11 seasons (10 with Denver, 1 with the Jets) and was one of, if not the most, feared safeties during that span. The 6'3 217-pound Atwater entered the league in '89 with 4.5 speed and a ferocious disregard for his body hitting style that help propel the Broncos to the AFC crown in his rookie campaign. The next season he would record 173 tackles and make the first of his seven consecutive pro bowls. Even though he consistently used his body as a human missile, he missed only 5 games in the 10 seasons he spent in Denver. Atwater would make two signature plays during his career. The first was a bone jarring hit on 265-pound Chiefs running back Christian Okoye on Monday night football in 1990. Some say that was the most impressive hit they have ever seen. The second happened on the Packers final drive of Super Bowl XXXII. Atwater made sure neither Antonio Freeman nor teammate Randy Hilliard would catch a Brett Favre pass as he completely obliterated the play by knocking both players and himself out of the game with a bone-jarring hit. Atwater arguably had the best game ever played by a safety in a Super Bowl and was in many people's eye deserving of the MVP award. Atwater ended his career with over 1,100 tackles, 24 interceptions with 408 return yards and 1 TD. Atwater was one of the most productive safeties of all-time and deserves his place alongside the likes of Ronnie Lott, Willie Wood and Larry Wilson.

2. Terrell Davis: While Davis only played 7 seasons he achieved just about all there is to do. Davis' resume reads two-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP, League MVP, 2,000 yard club and scored 61 total touchdowns in his first four seasons. Davis is arguably the best playoff running back in NFL history. In eight career playoff games he accumulated 1,140 yards on 204 carries and 12 touchdowns. Davis also holds an all-time playoff record of seven straight 100-yard games. It seems Davis is being punished for a freak injury that ended his career short instead of being praised for all he accomplished in a short period of time. Terrell Davis is more than worthy of being a hall of famer hands down.

3. Randy Gradishar: Gradishar is one of the finest inside linebackers to ever play the game. In stats that were compiled in the same way of Butkus and Lambert, Gradishar compiled 2,049 tackles, 20 interceptions and seven Pro Bowls in 10 seasons. Good lord, the guy averaged 200 tackles and 2 picks a season. The numbers speak for themselves.

I believe if both Sharpe and Little make it in this year, Atwater, Davis and Gradishar will garner closer attention in the next couple of years. And then it should be just a matter of time until the Broncos have double-digit membership in the hall with the likes of Tom Nalen, Rod Smith and Champ Bailey shoe-ins to make the Hall of Fame right???????

The Vikings final touchdown against the Cowboys has unfortunately stolen much of the attention away from what the game really was about: America's Team getting their asses handed to them in one of those to-go containers you get from your local deli counter.

Keith Brooking, the emotional leader of the Cowboys defense, thought so little of the Vikings decision to throw the ball that he confronted the Vikings sideline immediately after the play happened. In the locker room, Brooking said, “I was just trying to say something to whoever wanted to listen on their sidelines, whoever was in charge of calling that play and making that decision. It was B.S.”

“Yeah, they get to see us [next year], so you better believe I will have that one circled on the calendar,” Brooking said. “I say we get paid to stop them. I don't care what's called, but there comes a time, I just think there wasn't much class involved in that decision in what he did.”

Brooking made a point of calling the choice a "classless" call by the Vikings.

The Vikings players, however, had little sympathy for Brooking.

“We don't care what Keith Brooking says," Pat Williams said. "He was about to get his ass whupped on our sideline over there. It don't matter. Nobody said anything when they blew out the Eagles [the past two weeks]. It's the playoffs. It ain't no regular-season game. If you lose, you go home. We take no pity on them. Do they expect us to? I don't care about no Brooking. He can say whatever he wants to say."

"I don't like to speak too much but they ran up the scoreboard the previous week before [against the Eagles] and they were calling timeouts and everything," Benny Sapp said. "So you want to keep playing and that's what it looked like to me. He got upset for no reason. It is football and I think he was probably the one that got scored on."

"I didn't see it because I was soaking in my touchdown, but I heard he said it was classless and unprofessional, etc.," Visanthe Shiancoe said. "So I sincerely apologize to Brookings for doing that to him. We apologize, Brookings. If you don't want us to score, stop us, right? It's the NFL. You never know what could happen. We scored 24 points in, what, a quarter against the Giants. Who knows? I don't want some fluke stuff to happen in a playoff game, a miracle."

So, from the sounds of things, perhaps Brad Childress was seeking revenge for the butt-whooping the 'Boys put on his former boss in the previous two weeks.

Or, perhaps more accurately, the Vikings were simply tired of watching Keith Brooking be "classless" when Brooking himself knew the game was over: