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COMING SOON The 10th edtion of the Great Blue North College Football Draft Preview is now in the works with profiles of over 400 prospects for the 2009 draft. Order your copy today! NFL DRAFT FORUM Discuss the draft with 10,000+ fans at FootballsFuture.com. Join for free and post your NFL mock draftt NFL MINICAMP SCHEDULE ARIZONA                      May 2-4   ATLANTA                     May 10-12; June 23-25 (voluntary)   BALTIMORE                 May 1-3 (voluntary); May 9-11   BUFFALO                     May 2-4 (rookies); June 11-13   CAROLINA                   May 2-4   CHICAGO                     May 2-4 (rookies); May 30-June 1   CINCINNATI                  May 2-4 (rookies); June 12-14   CLEVELAND                 May 2-4 (rookies); June 10-12   DALLAS                       May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19   DENVER                       June 11-13   DETROIT                      May 2-4 (rookies); May 20-22   GREEN BAY                  May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19   HOUSTON                    May 9-11   INDIANAPOLIS             May 2-4 (rookies); May 16-18   JACKSONVILLE           June 6-7   KANSAS CITY              May 2-3 (rookies); June 6-8   MIAMI                          May 2-4 (rookies); May 23-25 (voluntary); June 6-8     MINNESOTA                 May 2-4 (rookies); June 6-8   NEW ENGLAND            May 2-4 (rookies); June 6-8   NEW ORLEANS            May 9-11 (rookies); May 30-June 1   NEW YORK GIANTS     May 9-11 (rookies); June 11-13   NEW YORK JETS          May 2-4 (rookies); June 5-7   OAKLAND                    May 9-11 (rookies); June 3-5   PHILADELPHIA            May 3-5   PITTSBURGH               May 2-4   ST. LOUIS                    May 9-11   SAN DIEGO                  May 2-4   SAN FRANCISCO         May 2-4   SEATTLE                      May 2-4   TAMPA BAY                 May 2-4 (rookies); June 17-19   TENNESSEE                 May 2-3 (rookies)   WASHINGTON             May 2-4 May 2 (12:01 AM): NFL teams shake up front offices… Just hours after the draft, San Diego was forced to revamp its personnel department after assistant G. M. and director of player personnel Buddy Nix either resigned or was forced out of the job. Nix had been with Chargers since 2001 and has been in the NFL for 15 years after a 32-year career as a college coach. The Chargers reportedly will not replace Nix, but will restructure from within, although former New Orleans and Miami G.M. Randy Mueller was hired as a senior executive who will also scout nationally. At the same time, Ed McGuire, the Chargers' executive vice president, added Nix’ title of assistant GM., while ? director of college scouting Jimmy Raye was promoted to director of player personnel. John Spanos, the assistant college scouting director under Raye, becomes director of that department while the Chargers also promoted Mike Biehl to assistant director of college scouting and Tom McConnaughey to national scout, and they made Chris Hobbs executive assistant for player personnel. Meanwhile, Atlanta has hired David Caldwell to be the director of college scouting. Caldwell, who was a regional scout with Indianapolis for the past 10 years, replaces Phil Emery, who was re-assigned to be the Eastern region scout for the Falcons. Emery had been Atlanta's director of college scouting since 2004. May 1 (12:01 AM): Cats stay close to home in CFL draft... Hamilton chose Saskatchewan DB Ryan Barker with the first pick overall in Wednesday's annual CFL draft. Calgary had the next wto picks and selected OTs Dimitri Tsuopas of Weber State and Jesse Newman of Louisiana-Lafayette, while Saskatchewan nabbed Central Florida DT Keith Shologan with the 4th pick. Sholgan had signed earlier this week as an undrafted free agent with San Diego. Meanwhile, Sherbrooke WR Samuel Giguere, who signed earlier this week as an undrafted free agent with Indianapolis, was chosen 8th overall by Hamilton, while Montreal took Boise State senior OG Andrew Woodruff with the 12th pick overall. Here is the full list of 48 players selected in this week's CFL draft. April 30 (12:01 AM): Draft lite on sked… For those that didn’t get their fill of drafting over the weekend, the Canadian league holds its annual CFL draft later today. The CFL draft gets underway at Noon ET with Hamilton holding the top pick. The CFL draft actually only involves Canadian players, although there are a number of players available today who should be familiar to NFL followers. Indeed, both Sherbrooke WR Samuel Gigure and Central Florida DT Keith Shologan signed on as undrafted free agents with Indianapolis and San Diego respectively in the past couple of days, while RBs Rolly Lumbala of Idaho and Jerome Messam of Graceland remain unsigned. Meanwhile, other top players expected to be selected at today’s CFL draft still with U.S. college eligibility include junior offensive linemen Andrew Woodruff of Boise State, Jesse Newman of Louisiana-Lafayette and Jonathan St. Pierre of Illinois State. NFL round 8 continues… NFL teams continue to announce their undrafted free agent signing classes and many of the top undrafted players are coming off the board at the various positions. It is important to note though that all players that showing up on some lists of undrafted free agents may have actually only signed on for mini-camp tryouts. April 29 (12:01 AM): Round 8 well underway... There was no down time for NFL pro personnel folks after the completion of this past weekend's draft. Indeed, even before the final picks were made, teams were on the phones trying to sign the top undrafted players. In fact, most teams will have signed many, if not all, the undrafted players they are going to bring in, however, official announcements of who has been signed often don't come until later in the week or even after the team's rookie mini-camp. For now, here is our annual list of the top (at least on our board) undrafted prospects by position as well as a partial list of announced undrafted signings by team . Of course, we'll be updating each file as new signings hit the wire. April 28 (12:01 AM): That's a wrap... The 2008 draft is in the books and while there is still much chewing over of what transpired this weekend, here are some preliminary thoughts in our Draft Blog including some early observations of the winners and losers in the 2008 draft. Only 364 days until the 2009 draft... Hang in there guys! To help wile away a few of those moments here is our very first, very preliminary 2009 projection. And first-projection rules will be rigourously enforced; that is anyon e-mailing comments to the effect that 'the Buckeroos will never take a ...' will receive an automatic 6-minute suspension from the site! April 27 (6:45 PM) That's a wrap... With the selection of Idaho LB David Vobora by St. Louis with the 252nd and last pick, the 2008 draft is in the books. There won't be any rest for weary NFL pro personnel staffs, however, as teams are already working the phones trying to sign the top undrafted players. In fact, there is a small army of pretty good prospects still out there; for reference, here's the updated GBN Big Board with the top 90 or so undrafted players on our chart. We'll be back a little later this evening with our final wrap of this weekend's draft. (10:00 AM): Day two underway... With day two of the 2008 draft underway we are ensconsed back in the GBN War Room where we'll be right through the 252nd pick sometime around 6 PM ET later this evening. We'll have round-by-round wraps through the rest of the day, plus we'll be keeping the GBN Big Board updated as players come off the board. (9:00 AM): Day two morning shocker… Hard to believe, but all 31 NFL teams that made at least one pick yesterday were reporting this morning that they couldn’t believe that the guy they got “was still on the board” when they got on the clock. To be fair, some teams actually have a case starting with Kansas City which never figured that LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, arguably the best player in this year’s draft, would still be on the board when the Chiefs made the 5th pick. Indeed, said Bill Kuharich, the Chiefs’ vice president for player personnel: ““I never thought in my wildest dreams that we would have the opportunity to get both of these guys” after the Chiefs were also able to acquire Virginia OT Branden Albert later in the opening round. One can’t blame New Orleans, though, for not trying to move up to get Dorsey, the local favorite who would also have filled a huge need on the Saints’ roster. The Saints reportedly offered their first pick next year, along with the 10th overall pick this year and a later round pick this year to the Chiefs to move up to the #5 slot to get Dorsey themselves, however, Kansas City turned them down. The Saints though got some consolation when they were able to tarde up with New England two picks later and get USC DT Sedrick Ellis, who is almost as good a prospect as Dorsey. Meanwhile, there was no small irony when Baltimore selected Delaware QB Joe Flacco with the 18th pick overall. In the overall process, Flacco became the first non-D1A QB selected in the first round since Tennessee took Steve McNair of Alcorn State in 1995. Of course, the Ravens took Flacco in large part because they suddenly had a pressing need at QB when the same Steve McNair abruptly retired just days before the draft. Back at it on day two… After catching maybe a couple of hours of sleep we are back at it on day two of the 2008 draft which gets underway in about an hour at 10 AM ET with Detroit on the clock with a pick from Miami. Baltimore, which had a busy first making two big first round moves, though, looks to be in position to make the biggest impact with today’s selections. After taking what they hope is their QB of the future in Joe Flacco of Delaware in yesterday’s opening round, the Ravens have 9 more picks today including three in each of the 3rd anf 4th rounds. In addition to Baltimore, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Chicago also each have 9 picks today barring further trades with the Chiefs having three in the third round, while the Eagles have three in the 4th. Atlanta will also have a busy second day with 8 picks overall including three in the 3rd. Meanwhile, Cleveland will finally make an appearance at the 2008 draft when the Browns pick in the 4th round. The Browns had traded away their top three picks this year prior to the draft. And there are still plenty of quality prospects left on the board including Penn State LB Dan Connor, WRs Early Doucet of LSU and Michigan’s Mario Manningham, RBs Jamaal Charles of Texas, record-setting Kevin Smith of Central Florida and West Virginia scatback Steve Slaton, and QBs John David Booty, who figures to be the 8th former USC Trojan picked this weekend, along with Kentucky’s Andre’ Woodson and Erik Ainge of Tennessee. Here’s the list of players still on the board on the GBN Big Board. In fact, as much as possible we’ll be updating that list through the day today along with round-by-round wraps of all today’s action. Shock, Shep still at home… The expected run of trades of veteran players never materialized yesterday. As a result, TE Jeremy Shockey is still a Giant and CB Lito Sheppard is still with the Eagles. The act that Sheppard wasn’t dealt is perhaps the biggest surprise. The Eagles reportedly had had a number of teams interested in Sheppard, a 27-year-old one-time Pro Bowler and most analysts figured he would be elsewhere by this time today, however, the Eagles obviously did not feel they were getting full value for Sheppard in any of the offers they received. The Eagles, though, have not ruled out trading Sheppard at sometime today. There was one deal involving a veteran yesterday when the Eagles acquired RB Lorenzo Booker from Miami in exchange for a 4th round pick. April 26 (1:30 PM): Rams leaning DE... According to several sources, St. Louis has decided on which player it will be taking with the #2 pick at this afternoon's and it appears that Virginia DE Chris Long will be the guy. There is still plenty of intrigue, though as the Rams are continuing to field trade offers with Baltimore believed to be making a late push to move up to the second spot to get Boston College QB Matt Ryan. The Ravens currently have the 8th pick and according to the established NFL trade value chart, the Ravens would probably need to mortgage their top pick in 2009 to get the deal done. (10:30 AM): Deal or no deal... Our first blog of the day looks at the possibility of a big trade day today as well as the likelihood that the Eagles move CB Lito Sheppard. (9:30 AM): Big Board tweaked... Even with the draft just hours away, there appears to still be a lot of movement on value boards around the league. As such, we have tweaked the final GBN 'Big Board' ranking of the Top 300 prospects for the 2008 draft. Players making late moves include Oklahoma MLB Curtis Lofton, Arkansas State S Tyrell Johnson, East Carolina RB Chris Johnson and Purdue TE Dustin Keller. (9:00 AM): The draft starts here... Sifting through the tea leaves in a report in this morning's St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests there is still considerable internal debate as to whether the Rams will take LSU DE Glenn Dorsey or Virginia DE Chris Long with the second pick at this afternoon's draft. As with most teams around the league, Dorsey is at the top of the Rams' draft board and appaers to be the consensus choice of most of the Rams' staff, however, it appears someone in authority would prefer to take Long who fills a bigger need. Perhaps the most interesting item in the report is that the Rams reportedly had Dorsey rated #1 on their board followed by Arkansas RB Darren McFadden, OT Jake Long third, Chris Long fourth and Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston a somewhat distant fifth. Of course, all this internal intrigue will be moot if the Rams trade the pick and this is a possibilty. New Orleans, which would dearly love to move up to the second spot to get home-town hero Dorsey, who also just happens to fill a huge need with the Saints, has reportedly offered OT Jammal Brown in a possible trade that also would have involved swapping first-round picks. Meanwhile, the Jets, who want McFadden, have also entered the mix with a potential swap of the first and sixth picks. That might be more to Rams liking as they would to have to drop down quite so far and should still get one of this year's top prospects. To QB or not to QB... One of the things to look for in today's draft is a possible run on QBs late in the first round by teams with early second round picks like Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore and the Jets with big needs at QB but who didn't get Boston Collgege's Matt Ryan in the first round moving up into the late first round round to try and address that need. Our Jon Cozart says buyer beware though as this rundown of QBs chosen in the first round in today's Scouts Notebook shows there have been as many hits as misses at the position in the opening round in the past decade. (8:30 AM): Cowboys get pick from Dolphins for vets... Miami has acquired veteran LB Akin Ayodele and TE Anthony Fasano from Dallas for a fourth-round draft pick, the 100th selection in today's draft. By picking up the first pick in the 4th round, the Cowboys in essensce recoup the fourth rounder they sent to Tennessee in the Pacman Jones' trade and give Dallas and Jerry Jones a little more ammunition if they are looking to trade up in the opening round. (8:00 AM): ITS DRAFT DAY!!! April 25 (5:00 PM): Giants go safety first to wrap mock; The votes are still coming in, but with exit polls we have been able to project that with the 31st and final pick in the GBN fan mock draft, the New York Giants selected Miami FS Kenny Phillips. Thanks to everyone for playing along. We'll compare the results of the fan projection with the actual draft next week. (10:00 AM): News updates… Add a couple of more entries to the list of teams that attended Clemson DE Phillip Merling’s special on-campus workout yesterday. In addition to Washington, which sent a full contingent including owner Dan Snyder and head coach Jim Zorn, Baltimore, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Miami, Green Bay, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay as well as both the Giants and Jets, Seattle and San Francisco also had reps in attendance. A couple of teams noticeably absent were Tennessee and Jacksonville, which have the 24th and 26th picks respectively this year, as well as a major need at the position. For the record, Merling, who usually played at around 275 pounds, weighed in at 288 pounds, although as noted earlier he has only been working out for a week or so after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia. Meanwhile, it has been pretty much confirmed that the Jets received a conditional 2009 pick from Denver in exchange for DT Dewayne Robertson. The condition reportedly is playing time with at least one report suggesting that the Jets could ultimately get as high as a 3rd rounder next year for Robertson. On the other hand, if Robertson doesn‘t play in 2008, then there will be no compensation. Rams leaning toward big DT… Rumblings out of St. Louis suggest that the Rams are leaning heavily toward taking LSU DT with the 2nd pick at tomorrow’s draft. Virginia DE Chris Long still has some supporters in the organization, but the consensus seems to be that Dorsey is simply the better prospect at this time. Of course, the Rams could still trade the pick, with Atlanta and New Orleans still believed to be very interested in acquiring Dorsey for themselves, however, it doesn’t appear at this if either is willing to give up what it will take to get to the #2 spot. Raiders may have for sale sign on pick… Speaking of the Raiders, most of the buzz about what Oakland will do with the 4th pick has focused on whether owner Al Davis was enamored enough with RB Darren McFadden to in a sense force a pick of the former Arkansas star on just about the rest of the organization which would appear to prefer a defensive player. Head coach Lane Kiffin, though, implied at a pre-draft presser earlier this week that the Raiders, who do not pick again until the 4th round and have only 5 picks in total, are entertaining offers for the selection. According to Kiffin, the Raiders have “talked to a number of teams and a few of those have been very serious conversations." Kiffin didn’t go into specifics but it is believed that one of those calls may have come from the Jets, who are known to covet McFadden for themselves. Meanwhile, the Patriots may also have an interest in moving up to acquire Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston, who would be a fine pass rush OLB in the Patriots scheme. And as mentioned above whether to deal the pick or not would be further complicated if Virginia DE Chris Long, the son of long-time Oakland star DE Howie Long, were to also be available when the Raiders get on the clock. (12:01 AM): Full mock draft done... As promised, we have added the final four rounds to our annual full 7-round draft projection. And as always, we guarantee in writing with your money back if not satisfied that we will get at least 2-3 picks spot on over the course of the seven rounds. April 24 (6:00 PM): Clemson DE workout update... There was a pretty good reason there were no usual results from Clemson E Phillip Merling's on-campus workout earlier today as Merling did not run a 40-yard dash, or do any weightlifting. Instead, he did exercises that tested his midsection and groin area. Merling had been projected as a potential top 10 prospect earlier this year, hasn’t been able to workout since suffering a sports hernia and the goal of today's workout was to show pro teams that he was healthy. About a dozen teams were in attendance at Merling’s workout including a large contingent from Washington including owner Daniel Snyder, head coach Jim Zorn, and player personnel director Vinny Cerrato; indeed, even Redskins‘ QB Jason Campbell was reportedly there. The Redskins have the 21st pick this year and are in need of a good young DE. Other teams with representatives in attendance included Baltimore, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Miami, Green Bay, Carolina, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay as well as both the Giants and Jets. (5:30 PM): OU WR workout correction... Updating an earlier report from today that Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly was conducting a final on-campus workout today, however, according to John Murphy of Yahoo Sports Kelly actually had a private workout with Washington, which was attended by owner Daniel Snyder, head coach Jim Zorn, player personnel director Vinny Cerrato, receivers coach Stan Hixon and starting quarterback Jason Campbell, who all flew in after attending Clemson DE Phil Merling's workout this morning. Campbell threw to Kelly during a 30-minute workout on-campus at the school. The Redskins, who own the #21 overall pick in the first round, scheduled the private workout with Kelly after his first Pro Day. Broncs get big DT from Jets... The New York Jets have agreed to ship DT Dewayne Robertson to Denver for what is believed to be a conditional pick in 2009. The Broncos had been offering a seventh-round pick for Robertson, but the Jets were hoping better based on the defensive tackle's playing time. (12:30 PM): Late college workouts on schedule… Clemson DE Phillip Merling worked out in front of a realtively large contingent of pro personnel folks earlier this morning at a special on-campus workout. Meanwhile Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly is also scheduled to have a third on-campus workout later today. Kelly who had once been seen as the top receiver in this year’s draft, didn’t run at well at a special pro day early in the month and then didn’t do much better a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, we’ll have results from both workouts later in the day. (9:00 AM): One more late update on Pacman deal... the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the compensation Dallas will get from Tennessee if Pacman Jones doesn't pan out with the Cowboys is a little more complicated than first reported. Dallas will get a 4th round pick back from the Titans in 2009 if Jones isn't re-instated by the NFL later this summer. If Jones is re-instated, but then re-offends during the season, the Cowboys will get a 5th round pick from Tennessee. Tthe cowboys acquired the rights to Jones earlier this week for a 4th round pick at the 2008 draft. After running afoul of the law numerous times since coming into the league in 2005, though, Jones is under suspension from the NFL for violating the league's conduct policy. The NFL is expected to review Jones status sometime later this summer. Pacman trade details updated… Jay Glazer of Fox Sports is reporting that the 2009 pick Tennessee will get from Dallas is CB Pacman Jones is first re-instated and then stays out of trouble next year will be a 6th rounder. On the other hand, if Jones isn’t re-instated or gets into further off-field trouble that precludes him from playing this coming season, Dallas will get a 4th round pick from Tennessee. In effect, the Cowboys would be getting the 2008 4th round pick they shipped to the Titans yesterday to complete the deal for Jones back if he screws up again. No draft chat for Rams… The NFL has reportedly determined that St. Louis cannot open negotiations with the prospects for the #2 pck at this year’s draft even though Miami has already signed Michigan OT Jake Long with the first pick. All the NFL will say that league policy is that only the team with the first pick can negotiate with and sign a player prior to the draft, although it is something the league will re-evaluate in the future. Draft buzz… So many veterans up for trade its making your average draft analyst’s head spin. Miami is reportedly shopping DE Jason Taylor who has said he’d rather retire than play again for a rebuilding team. The Dolphins are reportedly asking for a 1st round pick in exchange for Taylor, but given the fact he’s already 34 may have to settle for less. Meanwhile, rumors persist that the Jets are truly interested in drafting Boston College QB Matt Ryan if neither Arkansas RB Daren McFadden nor Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston are on the board when they make the 6th pick; and if the Jets do indeed select Ryan they will look to trade veteran QB Chad Pennington. One possible destination is Baltimore, which of course has to be interested in Ryan themselves. Baltimore, though, has the 8th ick and may have to move up if they want to nab Ryan. Across town in New York - well more accurately across the stadium in New Jersey, the Giants reportedly continue to field calls about star TE Jeremy Shockey; Seattle and Atlanta have both reportedly joined New Orleans in asking about Shockey’s availability. Not much word, though, on what the Giants would want to move Shockey or what is being offered. Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said today the team might spend the days before Saturday's NFL draft examining the possibility of trading for even more draft picks. And even after acquiring three more picks in this year’s draft with the trade of DE Jared Allen to Minnesota Kansas City may not be done adding more picks. The Chiefs currently have 13 picks, the most in the league, but head coach Herm Edwards was quoted in the Kansas City Star saying "It’s not over, We might end up with more than that. Who knows we might have 20 by Saturday. It‘s not clear how the Chiefs are going to get the additional picks, although trading down from the 5th pick may be an option with a number of teams possibly inclined to trade up for Boston College QB Matt Ryan and others interested in USC DT Sedrick Ells. And here’s something of a new one. Pro Football Weekly is reporting that Vanderbilt OT Chris Williams may slide a bit in this year’s opening round, in part, because his arms aren’t the same length! Go figure. With just a couple of days to go to the draft, players who appear to be making major moves up in the draft include East Carolina RB Chris Johnson, Virginia Tech CB Brandon Flowers, Arkansas State Tyrell Johnson, Purdue TE Dustin Keller, Kansas State WR Jordy Nelson, Virginia Tech OT Duane Brown, Wake Forest DE Jeremy Thompson, Iowa State DT Ahtyba Rubin, Oregon OT Geoff Schwartz and USC LB Thomas Williams. In fact, players like Flowers, ECU‘s Johnson, ASU‘s Johnson, and Keller have started to show up with late first-round grades on ore than one team’s draft board. . Thumb bedevils Devils QB… Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter, a leading prospect for the 2009 draft, will have minor surgery on the thumb of his throwing hand. Carpenter actually originally hurt his thumb while handing off in a game last October, but played with the injury the rest of the season. Carpenter is not expected to miss more than a couple of weeks of workouts. April 23 (6:30 PM): Pacman now a Cowboy… Dallas has finally acquired embattled Tennessee CB Pacman Jones for what is being reported as a 4th round pick at the 2008 draft. Tennessee will also get a conditional pick in 2009 if Jones meets a playing time threshold this coming season. On the other hand, if Jones isn’t reinstated by the NFL later this summer, the Titans will send an undisclosed 2009 draft pick back to the Cowboys. (2:30 PM): Vikes-Chiefs trade update... One quick update on yesterday's big trade in which Minnesota acquired DE Jared Allen from Kansas City for a package of draft picks. There still has been no formal announcement of the compensation but late reports indicate that the 6th round picks the two teams swapped are actually the 182nd going to the Chiefs and the 187th - a pick KC got from Tampa Bay - going to Minnesota. Earlier reports had indicated the Vikings would actually move up to the 170th with KC dropping down to #182. The Vikings are also believed to have sent their first round pick, the 17th overall, as well as both their third round picks to the Chiefs to complete the deal. Assuming the latest information has it right we have updated both the full-draft order and picks by team files. (10:00 AM): Big Board posted... A little later than we planned, but the final GBN 'Big Board' ranking of the Top 300 prospects for the 2008 draft is now up. (8:30 AM): Vikes pay piper for Chiefs’ DE… The trade won’t officially be announced until a news conference this afternoon and the specifics still have not been released, however, it appears that Minnesota paid a huge price in order to acquire franchised Kansas City DE Jared Allen in a deal that completed late last evening. For starters, the Vikings agreed on a long-term deal with Allen, who led the NFL with 15.5 sacks last season, and at just 26 years of age still has is prime football years ahead of him, that makes him one of the highest paid defensive players in the league. Allen signed a reported 6-year deal worth just under $74 million with more than $31 million of the total guaranteed. The Vikings also parted with something of a king’s ransom in draft picks in order to get Allen. Again the details haven’t been confirmed, however, the Chiefs are believed to have received Minnesota’s first-round pick, the 17th overall, as well as both of the Vikings’ third-round picks, the 73rd and 82nd picks. The teams have also reportedly swapped 6th round picks with the Vikings moving up to #170 and the Chiefs dropping down to the 182nd pick. With that package of picks, the Chiefs now have 13 picks overall, the most of any team in the league; as well, six of those picks are in the first three rounds, giving Kansas City plenty of ammunition to make other moves. Top pick signing has ripple effect… Even though they were able to get former Michigan OT Jake Long signed before the draft, there won’t be any rest for Miami personnel officials this week. Indeed, the hard for the rebuilding Dolphins may just be starting, although getting Long, who becomes the #1 pick overall at this week’s draft, signed to a reported 5-year, $57M deal that includes over $30M in guaranteed money is a solid start. The major issue now facing the Dolphins is whether they use their net selection, the first pick in the second round to address issues on defense or go after a QB. There are reports, for example, that the Dolphins have explored moving up into the late first round to acquire emerging Delaware QB JoeFlacco, whom they are believed to really like but are afraid another team behind them will jump the queue and beat them to the punch. Part of the problem for the Dolphins is answering the question whether they can really afford to trade away any picks when they have so many other core needs. The Dolphins, though, are also believed to be high on Michigan QB Chad Henne, OT Long's former college teammate, who ould be there at #32 if Flacco were off the board by then. The Dolphins, though, also have big needs on the other side of the ball starting with someone - anyone - who can rush the passer from the either the DE or OLB spots, as well as a CB who can cover. The Dolphins, though, do have another second rounder - the 57th overall - which gives them another option. Meanwhile, while St. Louis is now technically on the clock, it isn’t totally clear whether the Rams actually are able according to NFL rules to sign a player themselves prior to the draft. The NFL is expected to issue some kind of rule whether the Rams can begin negotiating with the #2 pick later today. Even if the Rams did get permission to negotiate, the team is unlikely to have anyone signed by Saturday as St. Louis has some trade options it likely wants to keep open. The Rams have reportedly gotten calls from both Atlanta, which has the 3rd pick overall and New Orleans with the tenth pick, since Miami made Jake Long the #1 pick. Both the Falcons and Saints reportedly want a shot at LSU DT Glenn Dorsey. If they d keep the second pick, he Rams are reportedly torn between Dorsey and Virginia DE Chris Long. Pro Football Weekly, for example, has a report that suggests that the coaching staff wants Dorsey, while the personnel people favor Long. Meanwhile, there is a bit of a buzz out of New York that if neither Arkansas RB Darren McFadden nor Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston are on the board when the Jets make the 6th pick, the Jets could very well select Boston College QB Matt Ryan as the team still isn't sold on 3rd-year pro Kellen Clemens, who struggled mightily at times last season, while veteran Chad Pennington appears to be on his last football legs. Stay tuned. Daily draft buzz… With St. Louis now effectively on the clock after Miami signed Michigan OT Jake Long, there are some rumblings that New Orleans might make a push to move from the tenth pick in the draft up to #2 to get LSU DT Glenn Dorsey, a local favorite who would also fill the Saints’ biggest need. Unfortunately, though, it could cost the Saints their #1 pick in 2009 along with the tenth selection this year to swap spots with the Rams this weekend, at least according to the NFL trade value chart, however, it is possible the Rams, who want to move down and likely will have no other offers, may take substantially less. On the other hand, if Dorsey isn’t selected second overall, then Atlanta is set to pounce on the former Tigers’ star. In that case, there have been some rumors that if the Falcons can land Dorsey with the #3 pick, then they might consider sending all three of their second-round picks - the 34th, 37th and 38th picks - to New England for the 7th pick if Boston College QB Matt Ryan was still on the board. There had also been some speculation that whether Ryan is on the board or not when Kansas City picks 5th that the Chiefs are leaning toward taking an offensive lineman, either Boise State OT Ryan Clady or more likely Virginia G/T Branden Albert, although both might be considered reaches at that point. As a result of the trade that sent franchised DE Jared Allen to Minnesota for a package that includes the 17th pick this year, though, the Chiefs may look at a DE like Vernon Gholston of Ohio State, or even Virginia’s Chris Long if the latter somehow dropped that far, with the 5th pick and then use the Vikings’ pick to address the offensive line. Redskins after embattled Bengals WR… Despite being rebuffed in their latest attempt to acquire Cincinnati WR Chad Johnson, Washington has reportedly not given up on tarding for the embattled Bengals star receiver. Washington has reportedly offered Cincinnati their first-round pick this year, the 21st selection, as well as aconditional future pick that some reports say could escalate to a second first rounder. Cincinnati, though turned down that offer with an angry head coach Marvin Lewis telling Johnson in so many words that if he doesn‘t want to play for the Bengals he can sit out the season. The problem for the Bengals is that they would take an $8 million salary cap hit if he is traded before June. Meanwhile, the Redskins also indicated that if they aren’t able to trade for Johnson, or another veteran WR by the time the draft rolls around, they might try to trade down in the first round if the top players they have targeted are off the board when they pick and have acknowledged speaking with a number of teams about trading down. April 22 (1:30 PM): So much for smoke; Dolphins sign OT... Miami has reportedly signed Michigan OT Jake Long who becomes in effective the first player selected at the 2008 draft. St. Louis is now on the clock. (10:00 AM): Tuesday morning draft buzz… Atlanta Thomas Dimitroff indicated at the team’s pre-draft presser yesterday that says he has heard from teams about possible trade scenarios. That led to some speculation that the Falcons, who already have 11 picks in this year’s draft, might be interested in moving down from the #3 pick, however, it wasn’t totally clear from Dimitroff’s words that teams were actually calling about the third pick. Indeed, the Falcons have three picks in the first half of the second round which could also be of some interest. Whatever, Dimitroff did caution that a this time “nothing is concrete”. And speaking of moving down, there could also be some movement late in the first round as both Seattle and San Diego, with the 25th and 27th picks respectively, have gone on record indicating they would like to move down. Meanwhile, while Tampa Bay waits to see if franchised Kansas City DE Jared Allen will be coming to town for a visit, the Buccaneers have also reportedly talked to Philadelphia about a possible deal for CB Lito Sheppard. The Eagles are reportedly asking for a second-round pick, plus a later selection, most likely a fifth-rounder, in exchange for Sheppard. (12:01 AM): Defensive rankings posted... As promised the final GBN defensive positional rankings are up. We’ll be posting our final Top 300 Big Board on Wednesday. Then just for fun, we’ll have a full 7-round mock on Thursday and Friday. And, of course, we will have gavel to gavel coverage of this weekend’s draft. April 21 KC DE hits road without deal… Despite the fact that the draft is just a week away, there wasn’t a whole of buzz around the league this weekend. Franchised Kansas City DE Jared Allen was in Minnesota this weekend talking with Vikings officials about a long-term contract, but reportedly left town without anything being finalized. The Chiefs have been shopping Allen, who led the NFL in sacks with 15.5 last fall, when it became apparent that they would not be able to sign him to a long-term deal. The Vikings, though, remain the clear front runner to acquire Allen, although Tampa Bay has also shown interest in Allen. Indeed, Allen has been invited to Tampa although its no clear at this time whether he will actually go. The Vikings and Chiefs are reportedly fairly close to an agreement on compensation with the Chiefs asking for first and second round picks this year with the Vikings countering by offering first and third rounders. The real hangup to any Chiefs-Vikings deal is Allen agreeing with a new contract with Minnesota. Allen is reportedly looking for a mega deal in the 6Y, $72M range. In fact, one of the real sideshows to this year’s draft is the potential for several other big-name veterans to be traded. Players believed to be on the block in one form or another include Giants’ TE Jeremy Shockey, Philadelphia CB Lito Sheppard, Minnesota C Matt Birk, Jets DT Dewayne Robertson, and Buffalo QB J.P. Losman, while Cincinnati has to be feeling some hea to deal disgruntled WR Chad Johnson who has burned a lot of bridges in recent days with the Bengals. Buyer beware… GBN chief scout Kevin Hornung has some thoughts this day on several players that have big bust potential on the boom-bust gradient. Huskies’ C dinged… Washington C Juan Garcia, a decent second-tier prospect for the 2009 draft, had to be carted off the practice field Friday after suffering a left leg injury during a scrimmage. The nature and severity of the injury won’t likely be known until later this week. Garcia was a second-team All-Pac-10 selection last season and was just named to the watch list for this year‘s Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the best interior lineman in the country. Garcia got an extra season of eligibility after he missed 2004 and 2005 with injuries and actually considered entering the NFL draft before he decided to come back. April 19 NFC Cats may be looking at top QB… Boston College QB Matt Ryan, the top-rated passer in the 2008 draft class, hasn’t necessarily gotten much love from teams at the very top of the draft order, however, Carolina has reportedly become enamored with his pro potential. So much so, in fact, that the Panthers are reportedly exploring options to move up in the draft in order to select Ryan as the heir apparent to incumbent starter Jake DelHomme who is coming back off a serious elbow injury which limited him to just three games in 2007. The Panthers, who have the 13th pick overall, have reportedly had talks with both the New York Jets and New England, with the 6th and 7th picks respectively, about the possibility of moving up. Of course, there are no guarantees that Ryan will still be available at #6 with Atlanta at #3 and Kansas City at #5 possible landing sites. It wouldn't be cheap for the Panthers to climb from #13 to the 6-7 range as it could cost them as much as their second round pick, the 43rd overall. April 18 (9:30 AM): Friday morning update... In fact, it appears to be somewhat of a quiet morning although there are a couple of updates regarding Kansas City's attempts to trade franchised DE Jared Allen reported yesterday. According to NFL.com, Minnesota, which appears to have the inside track on landing Allen who led the NFL in sacks in 2007, is offering its first round pick - the 17th overall - as well as one of its two third rounders - likely the 73rd overall - as compensation. Earlier reports jad indicated the Vikings were offering their first this year and a second rounder in 2009. The other team in play in the deal is Tampa Bay, however, with only 5 picks total this year, the Buccaneers don't have the same ammo to deal as the Vikings. Its also been reported that Jacksonville has also shown some interest in acquiring Allen but are believed to have backed off for now. (12:01 AM): GBN joins blogsphere… If we weren’t part of the blogsphere already we are now with the addition of the GBN Draft Blog to our lineup. Actually, we were finding the news page was filling up with a lot of longer pieces so to keep it a little neater we’ll be posting some of our longer thoughts on the draft on the blog starting with some reaction - and its draft impact - of reports Dallas has offered RB Marion Barber a contract extension, as well as what’s up with a couple of volatile veteran receivers. Red-letter day of sorts up in NFL… Friday is the last day teams can sign transition players and restricted free agents. Friday is also the final day that teams can have out-of-town draft prospects in for visits. If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail: The editor. The GBN can also be reached by phone at (613) 727-3388; by fax at (613) 951-0387; or regular mail at PO Box 5282, Merivale Depot, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; K2C 3H5. Great Blue North Draft Report Privacy Policy. The GREAT BLUE NORTH DRAFT REPORT is a division of SQUITERLAND ENTERPRISES, Ottawa, Ontario,Canada