The Cardinals knew what they had to do in order to retain linebacker Karlos Dansby at the start of free agency. Whichever team came hardest with the most cash was the one that would acquire Dansby’s services for the next however many seasons.

Yet when it came time to pony up, the Cards couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) match the five-year, $43 million contract that the Dolphins were offering. Thus the reason Dansby will be playing in South Beach next year with the Dolphins.

With Dansby gone, Arizona had to fill the void that was created at linebacker. So they recently signed aging loudmouth Joey Porter to a three-year, $17.5 million contract, with a max value of $24.5 million. If he reaches the max value of the contract, Porter will make just over $8 million a year from the Cardinals. Considering they could have had Dansby (a younger, more versatile and more productive linebacker) for $8.6 million a year, it’s a little bothersome that Arizona didn’t make a harder pitch to the 28-year-old.

Of course, Dansby will get $22 million in guaranteed money and the only way Porter gets $24.5 million is through incentives. That’s a big difference between the two contracts. Arizona could cut Porter in a year and save money on the back end, while Miami is stuck paying $22 million regardless of whether or not Dansby turns out to be a bust.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cardinals fans are a little peeved that their team just overpaid for Porter and couldn’t convince Dansby to stay. I realize Dansby may have had his hopes set on leaving Arizona no matter what, but money appeared to be the root of his motivation to sign and even though the Cardinals knew that, they still couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) pony up.

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Jake Delhomme must have comprising photos of Mike Holmgren, because that’s the only logical explanation as to why the Browns are set to pay the former Panther QB $7 million in 2010.

I’m trying to give Holmgren the benefit of the doubt in his first season with the Browns, even though some of the decisions thus far have been a little head scratching. But this latest move is making it awfully hard for me to do that. There’s absolutely no reason to give a washed up Jake Delhomme $7 million, because chances are high that no other team would have. This kind of financial commitment signals that Holmgren wants Delhomme to be his starter in 2010, which is absolutely ludicrous.

Delhomme was so bad last year that he made guys like Kerry Collins, Shaun Hill and whatever puss the Bills trotted onto the field look good. While he did turn in good efforts against the Falcons (twice) and Redskins, the rest of Delhomme’s season was highly forgettable. His skills have obviously deteriorated and his 8:18 touchdown to interception ratio proves that his decision-making isn’t quite up to par these days either. He was absolutely brutal against the Eagles in the opener and in his last game as a starter against the Jets. In fact, he was so bad against New York that most people figured that he had taken his last snap as a regular starter in the NFL. Most people outside of Holmgren, that is.

I’m willing to bet that Seneca Wallace beats out Delhomme in preseason and becomes the Browns’ starting quarterback for 2010. And if that happens, then Holmgren’s decision to give Delhomme $7 mil will look even worse. I just don’t get it. I don’t get what Holmgren saw in Delhomme last year that made him believe that he could be his starting quarterback in 2010. The only thing I can think of is that Holmgren is trying to submarine Eric Mangini so that he can get rid of him after 2010. Because there’s no way Mangini will succeed if Delhomme winds up being the starter.

Oh, and Rick Smith has my vote for 2010 Agent of the Year. Delhomme will make $19.7 million this season, which is so unbelievable that I might pass out on my keyboard before I complete this sentenohowg1hglwerkgh.gr…#

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Quick question: At this point in their careers, what does LaDainian Tomlinson bring to the field that Thomas Jones doesn’t? “Not much” would be my answer, but apparently the Jets know something I don’t.

Over the weekend, the Jets inked Tomlinson to a two-year, $5.2 million offer. This comes on the heels of them declining to match Kansas City’s two-year, $5 million offer to Jones. If both backs were are being counted on to be a complement to Shonn Greene, why wouldn’t the Jets just hang onto Jones, who by the way, is coming off a more productive season than Tomlinson?

Granted, the Jets released Jones because he’ll turn 32 in August, which makes him 10 months older than Tomlinson. But the dreaded age for a running back is 30 and Tomlinson has already shown signs of wearing down so really, what’s a 10-month difference at this point? Until his tired legs failed him late in the year, Jones was a highly productive back in 2010. Tomlinson looked tired virtually all season.

The Jets may have successfully beat out the Vikings by signing Tomlinson, but they seemed to have made a lateral move.

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Far be it for me to question Mike Holmgren’s decision making because the man certainly knows what it takes to build a competitive football team. But what is he thinking in regards to the Browns’ quarterback position?

Holmgren wanted to upgrade Cleveland’s quarterback situation during the offseason because he wasn’t satisfied with Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Given Anderson’s play last season, I’m surprised he wasn’t cut the moment Holmgren put his John Hancock on his contract in Cleveland. As for Quinn, it’s debatable whether or not he should still have the opportunity to compete for the Browns’ starting job. I wouldn’t criticize Holmgren if he kept Quinn and I wouldn’t criticize him if he traded him for a box of shot glasses and a bottle of Jameson.

But is Holmgren really set to enter the 2010 season with Jake Delhomme (whom was recently signed to a two-year deal) and Seneca Wallace (whom was recently acquired in trade with Seattle) at quarterback? Delhomme wanted to be a starter and wouldn’t have signed with Cleveland if he weren’t promised that he’d get at least get the opportunity to compete in training camp. So the question is: What did Holmgren see in Delhomme last year to make him think that the former Panther could still be a starter in this league?

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The Redskins agreed to terms with free agent running back Larry Johnson on a three-year deal with a maximum of $12 million reports Jason La Confora.

Johnson will compete with Clinton Portis and Anthony Alridge for carries in Mike Shanahan’s zone blocking system, although Washington could also add another back before training camp. In fact, there’s a good chance that the Skins will add a back via the draft.

Johnson only managed 3.2 yards per carry last season and appears to have lost most of his burst and explosion. Seeing as how he’s already 30, it’s a little perplexing that the Redskins gave him a three-year deal, especially considering he was so ineffective last year. But hey, this is just par for the course for Daniel Snyder. He was bound to make at least one head-scratching decision this offseason.

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Following his release on Tuesday, former Browns quarterback Derek Anderson had some parting words for Cleveland fans.

From ESPN.com:

“The fans are ruthless and don’t deserve a winner,” Anderson said in the e-mail Tuesday. “I will never forget getting cheered when I was injured.

“I know at times I wasn’t great. I hope and pray I’m playing when my team comes to town and [we] roll them.”

On Wednesday, Anderson was already regretting his words:

“I said some things to [News-Herald reporter] Jeff Schudel earlier that I regret,” Anderson said. “Those of you who got to know me personally from covering the Browns over the past five years, know this was out of character for me. I wasn’t taken out of context, but I was speaking out of frustration after my career with the Browns came to a close.

“I had some great times playing in Cleveland, especially during the 2007 season, and I met some great people and made many lifelong friends along the way,” Anderson said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter in my life.”

The Cleveland fans that cheered him when he got hurt in 2008 were ruthless and D.A. deserved to take some parting shots at those particular idiots. But I’m sorry, any quarterback that only completes 44.5 percent of his passes and finishes with a QB Rating of 42.1 should just shut his mouth and pray that he finds employment elsewhere. He was absolutely filthy atrocious last year and no Brown fan will miss him.

On a related note, the Cardinals may look to sign Anderson to compete with Matt Leinart this season. He has a visit set up with the Seahawks on Thursday and will meet with the Cards on Friday.

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Adam Schefter reports that the Chiefs have signed running back Thomas Jones to a two-year, $5 million contract. Schefter also confirms that LaDainian Tomlinson is scheduled to visit with the Vikings on Thursday.

Jones is coming off a solid season in which he rushed for 1,402 yards on 331 carries in 16 games. He also scored 14 touchdowns and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. The only issue is that his 31-year-old legs wore down at the end of the year and he was eventually replaced by rookie Shonn Greene as the Jets’ primary back for the playoffs.

Kansas City will use Jones in a platoon with Jamaal Charles. Jones will likely get 12-15 touches per game and also provides the Chiefs with a short-yardage back. The club needed to upgrade their running back position and while Jones isn’t the long-term answer, he’ll be a nice complement to Charles.

As for Tomlinson, it’s apparent he has come to grips that he’s not a starting back anymore because obviously Adrian Peterson is the primary back in Minnesota. Tomlinson could be a good fit for the Vikings as a third-down specialist and should stay healthy throughout the year if Brad Childress keeps his legs fresh.

With Chester Taylor now in Chicago, the Vikings need a backup for Peterson, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a deal with Tomlinson gets done soon.

Jamaal Charles owners should be a little worried, as Thomas Jones is not your average backup running back. He has rushed for 2700 yards and 27 TD over the last two seasons and doesn’t have the mileage of a normal 31-year-old starting RB because he didn’t carry the ball more than 138 times in any of his first four seasons. He did average 297 carries over his last six seasons, and didn’t look very spry in the postseason (averaging < 3.0 ypc in three games). Charles was very effective after taking over as the starter, but this signing probably bumps him down from a late first round pick to somewhere in the middle of the second round.

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According to beat writer Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals had a positive meeting with free agent receiver Antonio Bryant today and even went as far as to push Terrell Owens’ visit back to Wednesday.

According to Reedy, Bryant is the team’s first choice at receiver, but is there room for both players in Cincinnati?

“Why wouldn’t there be? I think this is the year of no salary cap, if I’m correct. Hey, why wouldn’t there be?,” said Ochocinco, who was also talking about his upcoming appearance on Dancing With The Stars. “Let’s load it up, you know! We can get back to that firepower offense we were back in ‘05 and ‘06, when we were throwing it all over the place. Even though that’s not the makeup of our team right now, I think it can help. Period.”

However when asked if he had to choose which one, Ochocinco said: “I mean, it’s whatever. Both of them can help us.”

Neither player was very productive in 2009, although at least Bryant has an excuse because he battled injuries for most of the year. He’s also seven years younger, can still stretch a defense and is still efficient when healthy. It’s no wonder why the Bengals prefer him over T.O.

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On Monday night, the Browns acquired quarterback Seneca Wallace from the Seahawks in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.

What this trade means for the Browns is pretty simple: they get a veteran quarterback who is familiar with Mike Holmgren’s offense and who could pave the way for the release of Derek Anderson. Wallace has little upside at this point, but he’s a stable backup that can keep the team competitive if he’s forced into action.

For the Seahawks, this trade potentially means much more. There has been plenty of speculation that the Hawks will draft a quarterback at some point during April’s draft and this trade may open the door wider for that possibility. Given Matt Hasselbeck’s age (34), it would make sense that Seattle would draft their franchise quarterback this year and have him learn under Hasselbeck for a season or two until he’s ready to take over the reins.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Seahawks will target a QB at No. 6, although that’s certainly a possibility. If they wait, they could still target a signal caller like Colt McCoy (assuming he’s available of course) with their second round pick (No. 40 overall). One would think that if they were to draft a quarterback this April, it would be with one of their first two picks.

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It appears that the Eagles are fine with the possibility of keeping Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick on their roster for the 2010 season.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Eagles will pick up Vick’s $1.5 million roster bonus, which is due on Tuesday. That means unless a team makes Philly an offer they can’t refuse, it looks like Vick will have to wait another to become a starter.

That said, the Rams, Bills and Raiders still have plenty of time to make a move for Vick. It’s hard to believe that the Eagles would pass on a fourth round pick if one were offered to them, especially considering Vick will become a free agent next year and they won’t get anything for him if he signs elsewhere. It doesn’t make sense for the Eagles not to acquire compensation for a quarterback they’re not even using, but it’s wise that they’re playing their cards close to their chest right now.

As far as McNabb and Kolb are concerned, it appears that the Eagles will hang onto both players unless they’re offered a first round pick for either of them. And even then, they may ultimately decide that they want to see how the 2010 season plays out before deciding what they want to do in 2011.

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