NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

LSU blue-chip cornerback Patrick Peterson is scheduled to visit the Broncos, Panthers, Cardinals, Bengals and the Bills according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Some say that Peterson is the best player available in the draft, meaning that if it’s true, he could wind up with the Panthers with the #1 overall pick.

Peterson worked out Monday at the LSU Pro Day, standing on his NFL scouting combine numbers and performing positional drills. “The drills went very well,” Peterson told National Football Post tonight. “It was fun to get back out there on my home turf and be around the old guys again. I had the fans on my side like always. It was great to be in that atmosphere again.”

Peterson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.32 seconds at the combine. He lost a pound since the combine, weighing in today at 218 pounds. “I’ve been eating right and working hard,” Peterson said. “I’m doing all my workouts and exercising all the time.”

Peterson met Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Saints coach Sean Payton and had dinner Sunday night with Panthers coach Ron Rivera. “It was nice talking to all of them,” Peterson said. “Coach Rivera is a great guy.”

If he doesn’t go with the first overall pick, Peterson will go in the top few selections. “It’s very exciting,” Peterson said. “It’s an honor that they think of me that way. If I go even second, it would be a history-making day. It’s a blessing.”

Last year at about this time the National Football Post had an article about how high the Vikings were on Virginia cornerback Chris Cook.  In fact, last March they stated that the Vikings "loved" Chris Cook.

This turned out to not be much of a smokescreen as Cook was selected with the 34^th pick after the Vikings traded back a few spots.

Recently, NFP gave us some food for thought when they had this to say about the Vikings being "very interested" in Auburn quarterback Cam Newton:

As for the Vikings, they found Newton charismatic in their talks with him at the combine. The plan is for general manager Rick Spielman, head coach Leslie Frazier, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson to travel to Alabama and spend a day with Newton, picking his brain on all things football. The Vikings followed used a similar strategy with Percy Harvin two years ago and Tim Tebow last year. It's likely they will interview other quarterback draft prospects in the same manner over the next month.

Like with Tebow, the Vikings seem unlikely to have a shot at Newton if they stay where they are, but if their attitude of Newton was upgraded from "very interested" to "love" then perhaps they would be willing to move around to ensure they snag the quarterback.

The Jaguars are drafting in a precarious position. They're drafting too late to take the top two prospects, Gabbert or Newton, but they also might be drafting too late in the second round to take guys like Dalton or Ponder. The Jaguars have made it known that they want to take a QB, and to get their guy, the Jaguars may have to work with other teams.

Ideally, the Jaguars would have Blaine Gabbert fall into their lap, but I really don't see that happening. It is possible that the Jaguars could trade up to get Gabbert. This is highly unlikely, especially since I haven't hear anything about the Jaguars pursuing him.

Cam Newton is another trade up option. I still have some questions about his character, and GM Gene Smith has been big on acquiring character guys. His accuracy is another issue that concerns me.

The more likely option is that the Jaguars would take Colin Kaepernick, Christian Ponder, or Andy Dalton. The Jaguars may have to trade up in the second round to get the guy that they like the most, but it would be a small price to pay to get a franchise quarterback.

The whole matter is complicated by the fact that teams can't trade any players unless a new CBA is reached before the draft. Otherwise, teams can only trade picks for picks. It's likely that finding trading partners will be difficult, and those teams that are willing to trade down stand to gain a lot of value in the draft.

Browns President Mike Holmgren addressed the Cleveland media on Monday, and says that while he knows it’s a tough situation for everyone to deal with in regards to the lockout, he feels that football will be played in 2011 and that the Browns are still excited about the next season.

"It’s an interesting time, to say the least. What I wanted to let you know and everyone know if possible, is that it is our feeling and hope that we will play football games. We’ve worked very, very hard to begin to establish a program that will win and we are proceeding along those lines. It’s going to be business as usual in the building for the Cleveland Browns organization. As you know, the draft is coming up at the end of April and even with the work stoppage, the draft preparation and everything prior to that time is the same as always. We will be working hard to prepare for the draft and then have the draft.

“My hope was, as was Randy Lerner’s and we were excited about the potential of it getting ironed out through mediation. That was the way it was going and then most recently, as you all know and are well aware, it is now gone into the court system. We will play football again, the tough part is knowing exactly when. Our hope is that it gets worked out. I believe everyone wants it to work out. I just want to encourage our fans to hang in there. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll continue saying it, until the point where they can feel real good about where our football team is. But they’ve been so good so far in the year plus that I’ve been here. They are a sense of encouragement to me, and I appreciate that. This will have a good ending as well and we’ll get back to playing football like we all want.”

Football fans, are you interested in writing for one of the biggest and best football sites and networks on the web?!

Now is your chance as NFL Gridiron Gab and The Sports Gab Network is accepting content from writers now! If you are a writer, or have ever wanted to write and think you have the talent to do it, then simply contact us. We do not have any strict requirements for writing, other than we would like 1-3 articles, posts, opinions or commentaries a week from our writers. The content you write about can be on anything going on in the league today – from top stories, rumors, opinions – whatever you have interest in.

NFL Gridiron Gab and The Sports Gab Network is one of the fastest growing sites out there, and we have been picked up on the web by some of the biggest names out there, including:

USA Today
NBC Sports
Palm Beach Post
KNBC Los Angeles
Florida's Local 10

So drop us an email, and let us know if you want to be a part of all the action this season and beyond! We look forward to hearing from you and adding you to our ever growing staff!

The Texans' President Jamey Rootes sent an email yesterday to Texans fans regarding the lockout.

"We are working hard to prepare for the 2011 NFL season. At the same time, the league and NFL Players Association are working to establish a new collective bargaining agreement.

"Unfortunately, those discussions broke down Friday. You are probably quite aware of this situation due to the intense media coverage of the issue. However, I wanted to reach out to you directly to provide you with access to a few key documents which review the current state of affairs.

"1. Note to NFL fans from Commissioner Roger Goodell. Please click here to access the document.

"2. NFL statement regarding the status of the CBA negotiations. Please click here to access the document.

"Also NFLLaber.com is a great source of up-to-date information regarding the CBA development process. I encourage you to visit this site if you have any questions.

"Despite the challenges, the CBA development process for the 2011 season and beyond continues. Likewise, our preparations for the 2011 season are in high gear and we are looking forward to providing you an exceptional experience at Reliant Stadium this fall."

Best regards,

Jamey Rootes
President

From Giants Gab Columnist Dan Lentz

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the owners have enough money to survive the 2011 NFL season without football. The paper is also reporting that the oft talked about TV money was for the 2012 season, in the event a lockout would last until then. So it appears the owners are in this for the long haul.

Also in another development, ESPN is reporting that the NFLPA—which is technically no longer a union—is instructing top college prospects not to attend this years NFL draft. Imagine Roger Goodell on a stage by himself and no players coming to accept the jerseys or give interviews?

Remember until these things happen nothing is for certain, especially reports on the NFL's money situation given all the conflicting news in the past few weeks regarding football. But what this does mean is that the two sides are beginning to play hardball in the media and this thing does not seem to be slowing down.

Kym Johnson, who will be dancing with Hines Ward on Dancing with the Stars, is blogging for OK! magazine, and she wrote the following as the two are working hard up to the shows premiere which is next week.

This season, I'm dancing with Hines Ward (check us out at the Lakers game!). I didn't really know how good he was! He's incredible, I really like having an athlete for a partner. He's an incredible athlete. He's really intelligent, quick at picking up all the steps and choreography. Footwork is amazing, I'm sure that comes from football, he never has danced before but he gets up early for practicing, and is just perfect partner to have.

Even though Hines is not a small guy, he's so graceful, and a natural rhythm — and he has this amazing smile! As long as he smiles while he's out there, he'll be fine. He's got the happy football player thing going on. He's easy to teach, and he looks natural, when he's out there he can enjoy it. Since the show starts next week, it's a lot of practice. We have one day off a week. Five hours a day. He didn't expect it to be so hard — he said it didn't look as difficult from what he saw on TV! He's already got a good grasp on faster dances like Foxtrot and the quickstep, and a natural rhythm for the jive and ChaCha.

Click HERE to read the rest

While speculation regarding Cincinnati's intentions for a quarterback in April's draft has primarily revolved around Auburn's Cam Newton, the team is quietly exploring other options.  Other quarterbacks such as FSU's Christian Ponder, Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, and Arkansas' Ryan Mallet have gotten endorsements by many team observers, with Washington's Jake Locker and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick also drawing some praise.

But the guy the team might most have its eye on isn't on that list: TCU's Andy Dalton.

It was reported last week that new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden was in attendance at TCU's pro day, in which Dalton turned in a superlative performance.

NFL Guru Gil Brandt, who watched the workout, indicated that Dalton threw about 50 passes without any being uncatchable.  Brandt wrote that the 6-2 ¼, 210 pounder, "is athletic and throws with great velocity." Sounds good after watching Palmer's errant floaters, doesn't it?

Presumably as a result of his fine work in Fort Worth, it was reported afterwards that Dalton would be coming to PBS as one of the team's 30 sanctioned pre-draft visits. The Bengals typically keep these visits under the radar as visiting the team tends to indicate a serious interest.

Click HERE to read the rest

National Football Post reports that the Panthers are going to try out another soon-to-be-rookie soon, as they will work out Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett.

The Carolina Panthers are scheduled to conduct a private workout with Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett on Tuesday in Fayetteville, according to an NFL source with knowledge of the situation.

Mallett is a big, strong-armed passer who excelled at the NFL scouting combine throwing the football as well as at his campus Pro Day workout. The Panthers own the top overall pick of the draft.

The 6-foot-6, 238-pounder ran the 40-yard dash between 5.37 and 5.39 seconds at his Pro Day, slower than every quarterback at the NFL scouting combine.

“I had a bad start,” Mallett told Arkansas reporters. “I don’t really care. Everyone knows I’m not Mike Vick.” Besides the lack of mobility, Mallett did well in the workout as he displayed his big arm.

“I liked them all,” Mallett said. “I thought it was a good workout. I was spinning it, the ball was really spinning. It was like being back in practice here.”