April 26, 2008

Updated at 8 a.m. EDT Monday, April 28

Mike Rucker

 We hear there is no sense of urgency from the Saints to rework WR Marques Colston’s contract, which will pay him $445,000 in 2008. Colston, who was second in the NFC in receptions and tied for third in receiving yards last season, is not threatening to hold out. He will become a restricted free agent after the upcoming season.

 Observers of the Falcons envision second-year WR Laurent Robinson becoming the team’s No. 2 target, behind Roddy White, in the passing game this season. It may not sit well with veteran WR Joe Horn, who would face a diminished role.

 We hear it could be a couple of weeks before the Cardinals know just how long starting NT Gabe Watson will remain out of the loop after fracturing his kneecap in a freakish treadmill accident at a local health club. Watson is expected to remain immobilized into the first week of May. “He should be ready by the start of the season, but it’s definitely a setback, because he had been playing so well,” a team insider told PFW.

 Team sources tell us the Cardinals believe they recently picked up a few more valuable veteran backups in LB Matt Stewart, who has toiled for the Browns and Falcons during his six-year NFL career, and DL Bryan Robinson, who spent the last three seasons in Cincinnati. Like ex-Patriot Monty Beisel, Stewart is considered a savvy, versatile defender who can play both ILB spots. And the fact he will be coached by Bill Davis — he had his best season when Davis coached him in Atlanta in 2003, when he registered a career-high 77 tackles — could bode well for Stewart’s future in the desert. Robinson is viewed as a D-line version of Stewart who adds serviceable depth at a position weakened by NT Gabe Watson’s offseason kneecap injury.

 The cries in St. Louis for the Rams to go after Eagles CB Lito Sheppard subsided significantly after it was learned that Rams CB Fakhir Brown had dodged a bullet and would not, as had been widely rumored, be forced to serve another suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. That said, while the Rams are glad to be assured of Brown’s services for the foreseeable future, we hear there is still plenty behind-the-scenes concern over the ninth-year cornerback, who is only midway through a five-year deal with the team.

 We hear the three finalists for the Rams’ 2008 training-camp site are, in no particular order, Concordia Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Western Illinois.

 Contrary to widely circulated rumors before the draft, although Giants TE Jeremy Shockey seemed like he actually could have been be a pretty good fit in Seattle, we hear the Seahawks never even considered making a pitch for his services.

 Don’t be stunned if Seahawks veteran backup S Mike Green, who has been serviceable at best during his career in Seattle, ends up on the proverbial roster bubble. Green is in competition for two backup DB roster spots along with S-CB Omare Lowe, who is back for a second go-around in Seattle after having played under secondary coach Jim Mora in Atlanta, CB Kevin Hobbs and S C.J. Wallace, who made the team as a rookie free agent last year before an injury ended his season in December.

 We hear the Niners might still consider going after free-agent LB Takeo Spikes after the draft.

 Bears Pro Bowl OLB Lance Briggs said unhappiness over his recently consummated new contract had nothing to do with his decision to skip the team’s voluntary workouts — which resulted in him losing out on a $250,000 bonus for the missed workouts — and that he fully intends to be present for the team’s organized team activities starting on May 19. It turns out Briggs will also be present in a Chicago court June 19 after having completed only two of the 120 hours of community service he was ordered to fulfill after smashing up his luxury car late last August and fleeing the scene of the accident. It would appear Briggs, who also reportedly left the state without the judge’s permission, could have some heavy explaining to do.

 Even though Packers RB Ryan Grant has yet to sign his $370,000 exclusive-rights free-agent qualifying offer and the team has yet to make much of an effort to give him a new contract, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently that he fully expects something to get done before training camp and isn’t planning on any kind of a holdout.

 The Marion Barber talks hit the back burner with the approach of the NFL draft. Nevertheless, the Cowboys feel they can get the contract numbers for the potential ’09 unrestricted free-agent running back into a more reasonable neighborhood — he reportedly wants around $40 million for five years — and perhaps have a deal in place sometime this summer.

 The Giants obviously will wait to hear from Michael Strahan, who could retire, before they decide where to put DE-OLB Mathias Kiwanuka. But we hear the team plans on him playing defensive end quite a bit next season even if Strahan returns, and clearly it’s his long-term position.

 The Eagles still could bring back either DT Ian Scott or DT Kimo von Oelhoffen, despite neither having had a great season in 2007. The team loves having depth inside and could use one more tackle.

 Redskins OLT Chris Samuels has credited jumping rope — something ORG Randy Thomas turned him onto — as having produced the biggest benefit from his offseason workouts so far, saying it has actually helping him gain both strength and stamina.

 Dwight Freeney Indianapolis Star that there is “no question” he will be on the field in Week One. A midseason Lisfranc (foot) injury sidelined the three-time Pro Bowler for the season in ’07. Nevertheless, a source close to the club wonders if Freeney will be able to return to the dominating force he’s been throughout his career, seeing as how his biggest weapon — his speed — stands to take the biggest hit from the injury.

 Public comments by Titans DE Kyle Vanden Bosch Ahmard Hall after the club agreed to trade suspended CB Pacman Jones to Dallas underscored the distraction the Jones saga had become to the team, the way we hear it. The Titans’ coaching staff and front office long ago had given up on the prospect of Jones being a member of the club, but a serious trade market for Jones did not develop until the spring, when Dallas showed the significant interest needed to consummate a deal.