So it looks as if Jake Plummer will retire instead of reporting to Tampa Bay. The Bucs had acquired Plummer's services for a middle-round pick, believed to be a fourth-rounder, but the trade will be rescinded following Plummer's expected retirement.

I like Plummer and think he has gotten a bad rap for the most part, but in one respect I am glad he's done: Late in my fantasy draft, when I am sifting through the trash to look for a backup QB, I don't even have to consider him or hear Trent Modglin, our AFC West guy, extol his virtues. Thanks, Jake.

The first "big" deal appears to be Tony Pashos -- or as good friend John Clayton likes to call him, Tony Pathos -- signing with the Jags. And John, let me tell you, I have no compassionate sympathy for Pashos, who will get a pretty nice deal (terms haven't been released, but he's sure to get solid money) from Jacksonville. Now, that's a pretty good line with OLT Khalif Barnes and Mo Williams as a pretty decent swing tackle.

I'll check back in as more deals happen ...

For weeks, sources have said that the Redskins -- cap-crunched as they are -- are, by far, the leading candidates to land MLB London Fletcher-Baker, which would be a major upgrade over Lemar Marshall, a "Mike" in "Will's" clothing. Better yet, Marshall should be their nickel guy. Anyway, Fletcher is in Washington now and reportedly has taken a physical already, which is a pretty good precursor to a deal.

This is likely to happen quickly. Another potential Redskins target, CB Nate Clements, Fletcher's former teammate in Buffalo, reportedly will not sign in the next 24 hours, preferring to take his time, sort out the numerous offers that will come in and decide where he'll play once the initial market splurge as cooled. That's a smart move for the man seen as the most-coveted free agent in what is a bad crop of available players.

Up the shore from Washington, there appears to be a bi-coastal war for free-agent LB Adalius Thomas between the Patriots and 49ers -- both of whom have money to spend. Thomas would be a great fit in either defense, and 49ers head coach Mike Nolan knows all too well how Thomas' versatility can change a defense, but ever since Bill Belichick coached Thomas at the Pro Bowl (where the coach allowed Thomas to address the team before and after practice), I have gotten the feeling that this is a match. Sure, the 49ers might offer a few dollars more, but Thomas knows his window for competing might be closing a bit, and there's now better place to pursue a title than New England as long as Belichick and Tom Brady are around.

Like Rosie Colvin in 2003, Thomas might accept a couple fewer bucks to play for the Patriots for a better situation. That move would allow Mike Vrabel to shift inside on a moer permanent basis, making his role more like that of former Patriots run plugger Ted Johnson and less liek a pass rusher, as he has been used most.

At first, I thought the Ravens did quite nicely for themselves, getting a big-time back essentially for two third-round picks, though NFL front offices value a draft pick the following season at one round less than its value, so a third-rounder in 2008 is equal to a fourth in '07. Using that value system, is Willis McGahee worth a third and a fourth? Probably. It looks to the casual observer that they are going for broke and that if things don't work after this season, they might have to blow the thing up.

Some would argue that it already has started deteriorating a bit with the losses of Jamal Lewis and Adalius Thomas, but I would argue that McGahee is more diverse and talented than Lewis, though Thomas is hard to replace. I mean, I like Dan Cody and all, but come on ...

Still, it looks like a wise move, even if it diminishes the team's draft allotment. The Ravens, along with the Patriots, should be getting at least three and maybe four compensatory picks, which should be announced at the end of the month. I loved the quote by the Patriots' Scott Pioli on WEEI the other day, talking about how confusing the compensator-pick system is; they are counting on four picks but have no idea what David Givens will net them, considering he missed most of the season with an injury.

Dominic Rhodes' path has been an interesting one to follow this offseason. He visited with several teams, including the Giants, who gave him a physical but failed to offer him a contract. It appeared he'd be perfect in New York, but he opted instead for Oakland, where LaMont Jordan might be seeping out of the picture, despite deciding to stay in town and redoing his deal to do so. Rhodes, as we have seen, is a great complementary part, but not a true starter (though he started all 19 games for the Colts this season). We define starter as someone who finishes games, too. Rhodes must be in a rotation, but as teams who watched the Super Bowl saw, he can be a very nice part when you have someone else in the stable. The two-back thing is pretty en vogue now, as you know.

Count me among the ones who were less than Impressed with the Patriots' signing of Donté Stallworth. I have heard the rationale from the 493 Pats fans who just logged into the ESPN.com chat I finished a few minutes ago; they say that the Stallworth deal is set up similarly to that of Javon Walker's contract of last year, and I understand that. But Stallworth is not in Walker's neighborhood as a receiver, healthy or not. Walker had been hurt but hadn't shown a propensity for getting hurt. Stallworth has.

I like their other moves. Wes Welker probably will lead the team in catches and should be a fine kickoff guy or punt guy, or both. I had no problem with them giving up a second-rounder. Adalius Thomas might be slightly overhyped (funny for a guy who routinely landed on writers' all-underrated teams a few years back), but he's a good fit with a team where he doesn't have to be the guy. And Kyle Brady and Sammy Morris are key role players. Even Kelley Washington could be a nice fit, though who was the last "big" receiver to thrive up there? Vincent Brisby? He was rail-thin from what I remember. (Readers: Help me on this.)

The media got to chat with Donté Stallworth today on a conference call, and I knew others would ask him about the substance-abuse program, his contract and playing with Kelley Washington. So I asked him about the Eagles' situation and why he didn't return. His responses, as seen below, were kind of interesting:

Q: Can you talk about the level of interest from Philadelphia?  When you spoke to them this offseason, what were your feelings about your chances of coming back there?
 
DS: I thought my chances were pretty good. I had a productive year there and I felt like I could help the team. Before we finished with the season, I was told by pretty much everyone in the organization that they wanted me back and they wanted to get things worked out.
 
Q: Do you feel like you weren’t wanted back?
 
DS: No, I don't feel like I was wanted. All in all, I know that I was able to produce on the field and at the end of the day this is a business. They have to make the best business decision that they think is best for them and the same thing with myself.

If you're like me, and you struggled to explain fully the Bears' struggles against the run down the stretch and in the Super Bowl, you have to think now that the team will pay serious attention to the DT draft market in five weeks' time.

You have Tank Johnson going to jail for 120 days (though he might serve 60) and likely faces a four-game suspension. Ian Scott and Alphonso Boone are gone. Tommie Harris, the team's best lineman, and Dusty Dvorcek are coming off significant injuries. Dvorcek has never played a snap of significance as a pro. And Lance Briggs is whinig about his deal and could, though likely won't, hold out.

Yikes. That makes D-tackle a priority this spring. There are none left in free agency. You can't project Israel Idonije or Antonio Garay as being big help there. A look at past history shows that GM Jerry Angelo tends to draft mostly defense one year, mostly offense the next. But he might have to break rank in '07 (last year was primarily a "D" year) and get a tackle with one of those early picks, either 31 or 37. A Briggs trade -- again, unlikely -- could net another early pick.

Who could they take? Justin Harrell could be there for their first pick, though he might not get by the Colts at 32. Ray McDonald should be there for either pick, though he won't get out of teh second round. In fact, he looks like a great fit for a team that has taken on its share of Gators players of the years. If not those two, the talent pool drops off a good bit. Guys such as Turk mcBride, Tank Tyler and Ryan McBean are third-rounders on many teams' boards, though someone is likely to fall in love with McBride (especially if they watch the Boston College tape) and overdraft the guy.

Boy, the Bears' Super Bowl hangover has been a whopper, eh? 

The more I read and hear about Mike Tomlin, the more I think the guy is going to be a hit in Pittsburgh right away. If there's a team that knows how to pick coaches, it's Pittsburgh; who cares if they have only chosen two in the past 38 years? That's the point, isn't it? To get a good one and keep him?

Tomlin has laid down the law in that town -- and it's only March. The veterans seem to know who's in charge, and that's a very good thing for a new coach, especially a young one. That said, I think we make too much  noise about younger head coaches doing well in the league. How did Eric Mangini fare in Year One? Tomlin is this year's Mangini: tough, smart, dedicated ... and the same age as Bill Cowher when he took over so long ago. Now, Cowher's semi-retired (we all know what that means) and is right at 50. the age matters not. The drive, intellect and motivational skills are what's most important.

I think Tomlin has those, and I'll be keeping close tabs on him. I like the Steelers to bounce back next season and Tomlin to win Coach of the Year. 

After reading Ben Roethlisberger's comments about how injuries were not to blame for his performance in 2006, I gained even more respect for the guy. A few weeks ago, his former offensive coordinator, Ken Whisenhunt, gave Ben a pass for '06, saying that his offseason woes and freak injuries -- a motorcycle accident, an emergency apendectomy and a concussion -- were the reasons for the QB's slumping season. Here were Whisenhunt's comments, edited down a bit:

"I just saw physically in the pocket there were some things you could just sense he wasn't as confident [about] as he was the year before. A lot of that I think was because of recovering from the injuries and having some doubts of whether he was 100 percent healthy or not. When we started the season, even in training camp, it didn't seem like it would have an effect. But, at the end, and when you look at it again, I am convinced it did. Not because of his health, he is a tough kid and he did a good job coming back and being prepared. But from the standpoint of being in the pocket and facing the rush, certainly there was some trauma with him that maybe we all underestimated, and I think it took him longer to get over that than we all thought."

Ben, though, makes no excuses. He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he didn't "think anything was rushed. I think I just didn't play well. I had a bad year. I'm sure [Whisenhunt] had a bad year once in his career."

I went on ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh with buddies Eddie Crow and Guy Junker and said, mere days after the season ended, that I thought this season was an aberration. I thought then that Ben would bounce back strong in '07 and I think that even more so now.

Roethlisberger also had to deal with a fwe other things: the losses of Jerome Bettis and Antwaan Randle El, playing up to Super Bowl expectations and the lingering rumors of head coach Bill Cowher's exodus. Those are tall orders. Remember Tom Brady's '02 season? Statistically, it was better than Ben's '06, but it was a tough year on young Tom. Now Brady has shown as much ability to deal with tribulation as any QB in the leaugue. I think Big Ben will show his resiliency this season.

Ultimately, a deal for a QB is either good or bad -- no grey area. If the guy can play, almost any deal under the sun will be seen as worth it. For instance, we might have thought at the time that a first-round pick for Brett Favre was an obscene price for a second-rounder who got in the coach's doghouse in Atlanta his first year and threw a grand total of five passes, two of which were picked. But now, of course, the deal is viewed as one of the greatest "steals" of all time.

See how this works? We never choose sides on a QB trade; it's obvious to anyone, after the fact, if it's good for one side or the other.

So when I look at what Houston gave up to get Matt Schaub, I say to myself: He had better be good. They paid a hefty price. Think of it this way: In addition to moving down two spots in the draft from No. 8 to 10 (nothing to sneeze at), they also gave up second-rounders this year and next. If we are to consult the almighty draft value chart, we see the difference between 8 (1,400 points assigned to this pick) and 10 (1,300) is 100; then, this year's second-rounder, No. 39, is worth 510 points; assuming Houston is no better than 8-8 next season and that their second-rounder will be somewhere in the middle of the round (NFL teams drop the value of a pick by one round when it is traded a year in advance, so a 2008 second-rounder is worth an '07 third-rounder), we can assign a value of about 190, though it might end up being higher because of the Texans' perpetual suckiness.

That's a total of 800 points, or the same as the 21st pick in the draft. Of course, as a talent evaluator reminded me, we value QBs differently. For instance, take a look at some of the QBs that have gone in that mid-to-late first-round range -- Aaron Rodgers, Jason Campbell, J.P. Losman, Kyle Boller, Rex Grossman and Patrick Ramsey in the past five years -- and you can see what a mixed bag it is. Likewise, look at the bounty of non-QB talent that has been picked in the 17-27 range: for starters, Laurence Maroney, Marcus Spears, Luis Castillo, Will Smith, Vince Wilfork, Steven Jackson, Willis McGahee, Dallas Clark, Larry Johnson, and it goes on and on ...

The Falcons now have six of the first 117 picks in the draft, including that No. 8, which they can use on a defensive end such as Gaines Adams, a safety such as LaRon Landry or ... drum roll, please ... if they are really wanting to make a splash, trade those two second-rounders and No. 8 to Detroit for the No. 2 pick to get Calvin Johnson. Now, wouldn't you pay to see Michael Vick throwing to Johnson on turf? With Bobby Petrino calling plays? Uh-huh.

This all becomes null and void if Schaub does well. But they paid a fairly steep price to get him. Maybe they can get a third-rounder back for David Carr.