• The Giants are a little concerned about WLB Michael Boley’s hip surgery and rehab, which will leave him out of action for all of training camp and a good chunk of the preseason, considering that it typically takes new players a fair number of live reps to learn a different defensive scheme. But the good news is that the Giants have three players — Gerris Wilkinson, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn — who have starting experience at that position.

• New Bears QB Jay Cutler has gone out of his way to sing the praises of former teammate Brandon Marshall, who wants out of Denver. But team sources believe that, even if the Bears seriously considered a deal for the Pro Bowl receiver, it would appear that they just don’t have enough ammo at present to realistically pull it off.

• We keep hearing that Bears fifth-round draft pick Johnny Knox, who has displayed great hands to go with his world-class speed so far this offseason, could end up making more of an immediate impact than third-round pick Juaquin Iglesias, who hasn’t been too shabby himself.

• NT B.J. Raji, one of the Packers’ two first-round draft picks, has all but guaranteed that he will report to training camp in a timely fashion. “There will be no problem, as far as holding out on my end,” Raji told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the first day of the team’s final minicamp. “I’m a rookie, but from what I’ve been told, holdouts are not necessarily a good thing. As a rookie coming in, you can’t afford to miss a week or two of training camp, especially when you’re trying to find a way to get on the field.”

• The Lions think Marquand Manuel will help them at safety, enough so that they felt comfortable in trading away Gerald Alexander. Now, the Lions don’t feel the need to transition Anthony Henry to safety from cornerback right away. Manuel will enter camp with an excellent chance to win a backup job and could even compete for a starting job, which would give the team fairly good depth in the secondary.

• Word is the Panthers are in talks with DE Julius Peppers about a long-term contract, but the team only has until July 15 to iron out a new deal. If no contract is agreed upon by that date, Carolina would have to wait until after the 2009 campaign to get something done, per the rules attached to negotiating with players who have received the franchise tag. Peppers, who had said in January that he didn’t want to play for the Panthers anymore, signed his franchise tender, which is worth $16.7 million, on June 24.

• Cardinals OLT Mike Gandy has a hefty cap figure of $5.8 million entering the final year of his contract, which could be lowered if the team chose to extend his current deal. But our sources in the desert believe the team is leaning toward allowing the ninth-year veteran to test the free-agent market next offseason, with former first-round pick Levi Brown moving from the right side to the left, and promising second-year pro Brandon Keith getting a shot at becoming the starting right tackle.

• We hear Rams players are responding with genuine enthusiasm to new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson after not having been overly thrilled with his predecessor, Dana LeDuc. “I think the core work that we do, the core stability stuff that he’s added, has been the difference from my first years being with him (with the Saints),” said new Rams FB Mike Karney of Gullickson, who most recently worked in Green Bay. “I think guys are really enjoying what he’s bringing to the table.”

• Don’t forget about frisky little second-year RB Justin Forsett in the Seahawks’ revamped offense. “They like him a lot,” said one team insider. “When he’s out there, he can show some real explosiveness. I think they are trying to figure out ways to use him. He’s a different-type weapon than the other two backs (Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett). You could call them ‘The Steppingstone Backs.’ Forsett makes Jones look like Duckett.”