"The Sunday Five" is a loosely-titled piece where I talk about five NFL- or Browns-related topics related to this past week. In today's edition, we talk about a couple of key offseason dates, if there are NFL equivalents to Jeremy Lin, and more.

Starting February 20th, teams can apply the franchise tag to a player on their team. Last year, the Browns applied that tag to kicker Phil Dawson. If Dawson comes back next year, it won't be as a franchise player. I can't really see the Browns using this tag on anyone. It wouldn't make sense to use it on Peyton Hillis, because you'd really be overpaying him for one year. The only potential player might be D'Qwell Jackson, but with the way both Jackson and the front office have been talking, I imagine a long-term deal will get done as soon as possible between those two parties. The final day to declare a franchise player is March 5th.

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In an article that appeared in the Boston Herald on Sunday, Cleveland Browns tight end Benjamin Watson stated that he had no lingering effects from the concussion he suffered at the end of the season. He also stated that he was put on the injured reserve pretty quickly as a precaution, even though he could have returned.

"I’m great. Three or four days after the last incident, I felt normal. I past all my cognitive tests. I didn’t have any headaches. I didn’t have any nausea. I didn’t have any dizziness," he said. "With three games left, they just erred on the side of caution and decided to end the season for me. You hate for that to happen, but that’s why the doctors are in place. As far as lingering symptoms, I didn’t have anything. I know some guys have headaches for weeks. That wasn’t my scenario, thankfully. So hopefully, it was just a bad luck year."

In the article, Watson also comments on how tough it is to rebound from a Super Bowl loss as well as the dangers that modern-day tight ends face on any given snap compared to other players.

Early last week, SB Nation released the latest edition of their 2012 NFL Mock Draft, serving as their first mock draft of the year in which the exact order of the first round of the draft was known. Even though nothing really happened that should've changed the Browns' picks in a span of two weeks, that's exactly what did happen. In the previous mock draft, SB Nation has the Browns taking WR Justin Blackmon and QB Ryan Tannehill. This time, the picks were changed to CB Morris Claiborne and WR Michael Floyd. The explanations are after the jump.

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Please REC this so it stays at the top.

Every year we see a huge spike in FanPosts. Please feel free to keep firing up FanPosts about all sorts of things, but if you have a short one on the draft, (1 or 2 paragraphs) this is the spot.

Not to say that this isn't great, but a lot of them are somewhat the same topic. So, a few seasons back, we decided to make a Draft Post.

Everything to do with the draft can be dumped in here.

You have a "dream draft" that you would like to show everyone? Plop it here. Like a player and want to tell everyone about? Yep, right here.

These will fill up quick, but don't worry, one of the mods will create another one when needed.

ANY POSTS THAT SHOULD BE HERE, WILL BE COPIED AND PASTED IN HERE AND TAKEN DOWN. LET'S MAKE SURE WE KEEP EVERYTHING NICE AND NEAT.

Thanks for the help. Now, anyone want to talk about RG3?

We already knew that Hines Ward's career in Pittsburgh might be coming to an end. He has one year left on his current contract, but is set to make $4 million next season. With his role having been reduced to an injury-filler receiver this past season and guys like Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown being the team's new top threats at receivers, it didn't even feel like Ward was on the team this past season.

We thought that Ward might restructure his contract to stay with the team, something he has said he'd be open to doing. According to Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com, Ward probably won't be brought back in any capacity next year:

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We're in the midst of a period in the NFL where the free agent class starts to expand as teams begin releasing a couple of players to clear some cap space. Sure, every team isn't going to release a Stanford Routt just one year into a massive contract, but usually there are a few notable names to go around.

To this point in 2012, the Cleveland Browns have not released any players. One year ago, they did release several veteran players all in one felt swoop: DL Shaun Rogers, DL Kenyon Coleman, TE Robert Royal, LB David Bowens, LB Eric Barton, and OL John St. Clair. Just how important was that group of players? Well, let's just say that the last four players on that list weren't even in football this past season, as far as I can tell.

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In today's edition of Around the AFC North, we take a look at another member of the Bengals getting into trouble, the Steelers releasing a veteran cornerback, and why the Ravens need help at the receiver position.

Cincinnati Bengals: Rey Maualuga Charged With Misdemeanor Assault

It wouldn't be busy-as-usual for the Bengals if their players weren't getting into trouble every couple of weeks. In an attempt to keep up with the team's trend, Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga reportedly punched a guy in the face, leading to a misdemeanor assault charge.

Police cited the 25-year-old Maualuga with the misdemeanor count on Friday after investigating allegations by a bar employee that Maualuga punched him in the face early Sunday morning. Maualuga's arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 17. No attorney was listed for him.

Prior to Maualuga, wide receiver Jerome Simpson was another prominent player who got into trouble. Maualuga could be facing a suspension next season since this is not the first time he's been in trouble.

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