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The Arizona Cardinals releasing veteran running back Edgerrin James is expected to go down sometime this week, says an anonmyous NFL source. The Cardinals picked up two running backs in this years draft including first round pick Chris “Beanie” Wells from Ohio State. Already having Tim Hightower as a change of pace back, Wells is projected to take the starting roll and be the featured back in the desert.

James sought an exit from Arizona during last season, after seeing a decreased roll in the offense due to the prolific passing game and introduction of Hightower. James only put up 133 carries for 514 yards for the season, career lows for the 10-year veteran. James could be released as early as Tuesday says the source and would be able to go to another team but with all the younger talent he may find the same situtation in another franchise. He may find the role he’s looking for with a team that doesn’t yet have a defined running game, such as Cincinnati or perhaps Cleveland. Kansas City wouldn’t be a stretch but what is almost certain is James will find a home rather quickly if he is indeed let go from Arizona.

The mystery is over, the Lions will take Matthew Stafford with the number one overall pick.  Stafford agreed Friday night to a six-year $78 million contract with $41.7 million guaranteed money.  To put it into perspective, Matt Ryan signed a six-year, $72 million deal with $34.75 million guaranteed.  Experts debated who they though the Lions, the first 0-16 team in NFL history, would take with the first overal pick to help their team.

The Lions desperately needed a quarterback and taking Stafford was a very smart move.  The Lions will continue to rebuild with another first round pick, 20th overall, as well as a second round pick and two third round picks.  Stafford will formally be taken on Saturday when the Lions are on the clock. 

Stafford is ready to start in the NFL but the Lions will most likely sit him behind veteran quarterback Dante Culpepper as he has done well in team workouts this offseason.  Sitting behind a veteran in this league only helps rookie quarterbacks and will allow Stafford to come in and take over the team and become the face of the franchise in Detroit.

The focus of the Draft now turns to the St. Louis Rams, who have the second overall pick.  Sources have said the Rams have purchased a plane ticket for Mark Sanchez to arrive on Sunday, the day that the Rams will introduce their first round pick.  If this move isn’t a ploy, this could be a sign the Rams will be looking for quarterback help as well.  Many think the Rams desperately need a left tackle, but they have addressed that need with moving right tackle Alex Barron over to the left.  They will probably take an offensive tackle later in the draft but takeing Sanchez get’s them set up for years to come.

For the first time in Madden history, two players will be on the cover of the upcoming Madden 10.  Releasing on August 11th, Madden 10 features AFC defense against NFC offense on a cover that is unlike previous versions of the game.  Despite having one extra person, the cover art has effects never before seen from Madden games.   Other features included in Madden 10 haven’t been released except for the inclusion of new personalities and head/eye movement.  This feature will allow players heads to turn to track the ball in flight and will stop the issue with defenders jumping up and swating a ball away when they never even looked back to know it was there.

The players, Troy Polamlu and Larry Fitzgerald, both played in this year’s Super Bowl and make fine additions to the list of Madden cover models.

“Being on the cover of ‘Madden’ is a real honor,” Fitzgerald said on Friday, after Electronic Arts made the announcement. “And sharing it with a talent like Troy is really special.”

One thing they aren’t worried about is the so-called “Madden Curse”.  It seems that each year, the player featured on the cover of the hottest selling sports video game title has suffered an injury during the season following the release of the game.  Such has happend to Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander and Vince Young.  Last year featured Brett Favre and he never really suffered an injuries, unless you consider ‘arm fatigue’ to be an injury.  The curse may be broken or just hocus pocus but for two players that are cabable of MVP seasons this upcoming year, they better hope its not real.

The Carolina Panthers have locked up their starting quarterback, Jake Delhomme.  The Panthers signed the veteran signal caller to a five-year, $42.5 million extension which will provide valuable cap space.  Delhomme is now under contract until the 2014 season, when he will be 39.

The new deal come with $20 million guaranteed money and and comes after a horrible show in the NFC divisional playoffs against the surging Arizona Cardinals.  Delhomme threw five interceptions and lost a fumble in that game, but didn’t shake the confidence of head coach John Fox.  Fox and GM Marty Hurney strongly support Delhomme as the starter, a gig he has held since the 2003 season.

“Jake Delhomme is incredibly excited to be able to finish his career in Carolina,” his agent, Rick Smith, said. “He felt there was unfinished business at the end of last year.”

Delhomme through for 3,288 yards and 15 touchdowns with 12 interceptions last season.

The debating about Tony Gonzalez can finally be put to rest.  The Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl tight end has been dealt to the Atlanta Falcons.  After much speculation about Gonzalez’s future and his wishes to be traded, the deal was struck sending the future Hall of Famer to the Falcons for a second-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  The 10-time Pro Bowler becomes yet another weapon added to the arsenal of young quarterback Matt Ryan.

“On behalf of my family and the Chiefs, I want to thank Tony for his time in Kansas City,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement released by the team. “Over the last 12 seasons, Tony has been one of the finest players in Chiefs history, and he will always be remembered as a member of the Chiefs. His play on the field speaks for itself -– he holds almost every major NFL record for tight ends, and he is arguably the best to ever play his position. We wish him the best in Atlanta.”

Gonzalez is known for being one of the best tight ends the game has ever seen.  He currently owns NFL records for most receptions by a tight end with 916, most receiving yards by a tight end with 10,940, 76 receiving touchdowns and 26 100-yard receiving games.  He will make an outstanding addition to an up and comming Falcons team who made the playoffs with an 11-5 record after going 4-12 the year before.

The Detroit Lions are finalizing contract negotions with their number one overall pick in this years NFL Draft.  The Lions are dealing with Tom Condon and Ben Dogra,  who represent Matthew Stafford and Jason Smith, and have not said who that person would be.  Many sources are saying it would be Stafford.  Smith would be their choice is contract negotiations fell through with the Staffor camp.  Sources say negotiations could be finalized as soon as Wednesday night.

If the Lions take Matthew Stafford, he will most likely be second to veteran QB Dante Culpepper as he has shined quite a bit this offseason.  Stafford would probably be giving a chance to compete for the starting gig, a job that most experts agree he is ready for.

Once the pick is all wrapped up with their giagantic contract, the focus will turn to the holders of the second pick, the St. Louis Rams.  The Rams are expected to take an offensive tackle, Jason Smith or Eugene Monroe, with the pick.  The Rams have moved Alex Barron from right to left tackle and have liked what they’ve seen.  This move allows the Rams to look at possibly taking Aaron Curry, linebacker, or taking the second best available quarterback Mark Sanchez.  Unlike the Lions, the Rams will most likely not sign their pick pre-draft and will not make it available until the Commissioner walks across that stage to the podium.

The Jacksonville Jaguars took a major step in filling holes Monday with the signing of veteran wideout Torry Holt.  Holt and the team agreed to a three-year deal worth $20 million, $4 million guaranteed.  The Jaguars were in dire need of receivers after the releasing of Matt Jones and Jerry Porter.

Holt was released from the St. Louis Rams, where he’s played his whole career, in March to clear cap space for younger talent.  Releasing Holt cleared up $8 million in cap space for the Rams.  The question wasn’t would Holt find another home, it was with who and what was his price tag.  After a short stint of shopping it came down to Jacksonville and Tennessee.  There were rumors that Orlando Pace, also recently released by the Rams and picked up by the Bears, wanted Holt to join him in Chicago.  In the end, both the Jaguars and Holt felt it was the right fit.

Jacksonville holds the 8th overall pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft.  It’s been speculated that they would surely go wide receiver with that selection but with the aquisition of Holt it seems they have more options.  Drafting a young receiver would allow him to study under a veteran of high calibur to train for the number one spot.  Or they could go with quarterback to give them to option to release or not renew current signal caller David Garrard’s contract in the next year or two.  Anything can happen in the NFL Draft, tune in this weekend to see it live!

The Detroit Lions, holders of the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft coming this weekend and an NFL first 0-16 season, unveiled their new logo and uniform changes Monday.  The Lion is now more defined and has teeth, something management is hoping their team with have this upcoming season.  Subtle changes to the logo as well as an italicized slant to the name are changes the organization hope to improve the outlook of their struggling team.

“We will consistently present the Lions as a first-class organization with a clear sense of mission and direction,” Lions president Tom Lewand told the team website. “We have made several significant changes this offseason in accordance with that commitment. The introduction of this new brand identity is another element of that process. Today is an exciting and historic day for this franchise.

“The new identity retains many important aspects of our history in terms of our primary mark and our colors. However, the evolution allows us to present our Lions brand and visual identity in new, versatile and distinctive ways. We stand firmly committed to improving the team on the field. That success is always the most determinative factor of any NFL brand.”

Detriot will make the first overall pick Saturday, April 25th.  See who they pick this weekend here.

Jason Peters will finally get what he wanted.  The Buffalo Bills have agreed to deal the left tackle to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for their first-round pick, 28th overall of next week’s draft.  The deal was agreed upon in principle but details havent been released.  The person who spoke about the deal, remains anonamous as the transaction hasn’t been officially announced.

The two time Pro Bowler has been seeking a new contract and looked to make over $10 million a year.  When contract negotiations failed it was expected that he would be traded.  The Eagles were a prime candidate as they were in the market for a left tackle.  It was speculated that the Eagles would try to trade up in the draft for one of the top tackles in the draft.  Making this move, they have one less position to fill and may look to take one of talented wide receievers, if any are left, with one of their remaining picks.

This is just one of the huge trades expected to go down in the weeks leading up to the draft.  Others still remain to be seen including Anquan Boldin, Chad Johnson and Julius Peppers.  As the draft gets closer, many trades will happen if it is in the cards for them to happen.

John Madden decided the time was right, to retire from the world of NFL football.  Or at least calling the games that is.  For the last three years the famous coach and face of the NFL has commentated on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.  Travel was increasingly becoming more difficult and was reluctant to fly to each weeks game and instead traveled on a bus.

Madden left coaching in 1979, leaving the Oakland Raiders, and became a broadcaster.  He lent his talents to all four networks covering NFL games.  John Madden is also the inspiration for “Madden NFL Football”, the best selling video game of all time.

Madden will be missed in the booth but he hasn’t left entirely.  Madden will miss the gig but decided it was time to retire.  His last called game was Super Bowl XLIII featuring the Arizona Cardinas against the Pittsburgh Steelers.