Cleveland Browns:
- "Heckert guarantees Browns won't trade up to No. 3, will consider trading down" (Plain Dealer) - "Browns General Manager Tom Heckert ruled out a trade up to No. 3 in the draft, but will consider trading back as far as No. 8, he told the Plain Dealer Monday."
- "Garfield graduate Whitney Mercilus to visit Browns" (Ohio.com) - "Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus will make a stop in Berea during his tour of pre-draft visits with NFL teams. Mercilus, an Akron native and Garfield High School graduate, is scheduled to visit the Browns on Sunday, he told the Beacon Journal this afternoon in a phone interview. Mercilus is also planning to meet with several other organizations next month."
- "Browns are better off without Pierre Garcon’s contract" (WFNY) - "Pierre Garcon is in Washington because they overpaid to get him there. Pierre Garcon is overpaid because his stats don’t justify the money he was paid."
- "Browns shouldn't trade down from No. 4" (AFC North Blog) - "The Browns shouldn't trade down from the fourth overall pick. In fact, they shouldn't even be thinking it. But unfortunately, the Browns are talking about it."
NFL:
- "Sean Payton, Bill Parcells talk role" (ESPN) - "While seeking the counsel of his former boss and mentor, Bill Parcells, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton has broached the idea of Parcells becoming the interim head coach during Payton's suspension for the 2012 season, according to several league sources."
- "Concussions on kickoffs down 40 percent in 2011" (AP via SI.com) - "Moving kickoffs up 5 yards last season did exactly what the NFL sought, reducing concussions.'The kickoff rule had an effect on the game,' said Rich McKay, chairman of the league's competition committee. 'There was a 40 percent reduction in concussions on that play.'"
- "Goodell says Shockey isn’t the whistleblower" (PFT) - "Five days after the NFL put analyst Warren Sapp on NFL Network to declare that former Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey blew the whistle on the team’s three-year bounty system, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on NFL Network that Shockey isn’t the whistleblower."
- "Tebow uncomfortable with getting forced front and center by Jets bosses" (Yahoo! Sports) - "Wearing a gray suit and a Jet-green tie, Tim Tebow stared into a long row of television cameras that broadcast his every word across the country and, perhaps more importantly, into the homes of his New York Jets teammates."