Free agency began-time for the new thread!

Big news and some not big news:
Vincent Jackson to Tampa for 5 years/$55mil
Randy Moss a 1 year deal w/ San Fran
Marques Colston stays w/ NO for 5 years/$40mil
Chicago signs Jason Campbell 1 year as backup QB
Bears also trade for Brandon Marshall from Miami for 2 3rd round picks
Eagles sign Trent Edwards as backup QB (why?)

Don't forget Pierre Garcon to the Redskins. Everyone says he's overrated, but he had a career year despite three shitty QBs throwing to him.

and don't forget Carl Nick and Eric Wright to the Bucs!

Reggie Wayne re-signed to the Colts! It's going to be him and a bunch of children.

Seaturkeys still aren't doing anything about getting a QB.

Jets have been quiet other than signing up Sanchez for a few more years (they had too after all the Peyton press).
The papers in NY were pretty disgusting with the way they insisted the Jets must sign Peyton or else. Then the Jets gave Sanchez a longer contract embarrassing them.

Wow.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Free-agent pass rusher Mario Williams signed a a six-year deal with the Buffalo Bills on Thursday that his agent, Ben Dogra, said is worth up to $100 million, with $50 million guaranteed.

The $50 million guarantee is the richest for a defensive player in NFL history.

Bills CEO Russ Brandon posted a note on his Twitter account, writing: "This is a great day for the Buffalo community, the Bills organization and our fans!"

Bills players also took to Twitter to welcome Williams to the team and celebrate the big addition.

Linebacker Nick Barnett wrote: "Welcome Mario!!! Bills d is not playing games homie!!!"

Receiver Stevie Johnson, who signed an extension earlier this offseason to stay in Buffalo, also hailed the move.

"I Love it! S/O to Them Buffalo Guys wearing The Suits for Making Things Happen this OffSeason! Let's Continue to Build! Welcome #SuperMario!," he wrote.

Williams was at the team's facility and has been in discussions with Buffalo since free agency began Tuesday. Selected first overall in the 2006 draft by Houston, Williams had a franchise-best 53 sacks in six seasons with the Texans.

Listed at 6-foot-6 and 285 pounds, Williams is a two-time Pro Bowl starter, and set a single-season team record with 14 sacks in 2007. Williams was limited to playing just five games last season as a result of a torn chest muscle. He also missed three games in 2010 after having surgery to repair a sports hernia.

After quarterback Peyton Manning, Williams has been regarded as one of the top free agents available this offseason.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Now begins the restoration of reputation for Peyton Hillis.

The running back, dogged in Cleveland last year by reports that he might want to retire and even try a new career, will get a fresh start in Kansas City. Perhaps best of all, he's back with Brian Daboll, who ran the offense in Cleveland when Hillis enjoyed the finest season of his four-year NFL career.

"If I have to come here and build up my reputation again in a lot of peoples' eyes, I can do that because I know what kind of a player I am and I'm very excited about the opportunity," the versatile 250-pounder said Thursday.

The Chiefs, determined to upgrade the second-lowest scoring offense in the NFL, formally announced they had signed Hillis to a one-year contract. He'll be counted on to provide a big-back partner for speedy Jamaal Charles, who went to the Pro Bowl in 2010 but missed almost all last season with a knee injury.

A league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that the contract is worth $3 million.

"I've never been healthier and never been more excited about playing football," Hillis said in a conference call.

Hillis has rushed for 2,161 yards and 20 touchdowns in four seasons, and has caught 101 passes for 805 yards and three scores. While Charles was rushing for 1,467 yards and leading the NFL with 6.38 yards per carry in 2010, Hillis, under the tutelage of Daboll, was rushing for 1,177 yards and 11 TDs.

Daboll left to become Miami's offensive coordinator in 2011 and Hillis' fortunes sank, along with much of his health and dignity. Slowed by injuries, he appeared in only 10 games while rushing for 587 yards. A bad year was made even worse by reports he had threatened to retire and was mulling over a career as a U.S. spy.

There hasn't been much talk about it, but I suspect Kevin Kolb is going to be on the market.

There is much speculation that if Manning goes to Tennessee, Hasselbeck will go to either Arizona or Cleveland.

I'm also assuming that the main competition for Flynn is between Seattle, Cleveland & Arizona, which again could free up Kolb.

In fact I'd say there's a 75% chance Kolb gets released before his 2012 bonus is due, which I BELIEVE is sometime tomorrow.

Of course that leaves the question: is Kolb a lot worse than we thought, or was his 2011 performance largely because Arizona sucked?

He was terrific competing for the starting job with Vick.

Manning needs to decide soon, instead of holding these teams hostage to his whims. It's already too late for some of them to pursue other options if he turns them down.

Maybe he should hold a prime time special on ESPN.

It seems that Denver has all of a sudden become the favorite after the sports paparazzi had pretty much declared Tennessee the winner yesterday.

Wouldn't think manning really needs the 15 minutes...........

He should make the announcement that he is going to Denver from his home in Miami.

Looking more and more like Tennessee.

Latest I read was Denver was the front runner. He's been around too long to do this dog and pony show crap. He needs to decide.

PHOENIX -- Out of the race to nab Peyton Manning, the Arizona Cardinals are moving on with quarterback Kevin Kolb.

Kolb remained on the Arizona roster at a 4 p.m. EDT deadline Friday, ensuring him a $7 million roster bonus that the team would not have paid if they had landed Manning.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt issued a statement acknowledging that "acquiring Peyton Manning is no longer an option for us."

Also on Friday, the Cardinals agreed to terms on a five-year contract for offensive tackle Levi Brown, who had been released by Arizona on Tuesday in a salary cap move.

The Cardinals were an early entry in the Manning sweepstakes. The four-time MVP, released by the Indianapolis Colts after missing last season following a series of neck surgeries, had dinner at Whisenhunt's house last Saturday night, then spent nearly 6½ hours at the Cardinals' facility on Sunday.

But as the week wore on, the Cardinals' hopes faded as the Tennessee Titans joined the Denver Broncos as contenders. In what had to be sour news for the Cardinals, NFC West rival San Francisco became a late entry in the Manning competition.

Manning worked out for the Broncos Friday, and threw passes and underwent a physical exam earlier this week for the 49ers, league sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen and ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

The Cardinals were informed they would be wise to proceed without Manning as a candidate to join the team and, as a result, opted to stick with Kolb.

Manning first visited the Broncos March 9, followed by a visit to the Cardinals, but there were other unreported developments last weekend, such as the Seahawks parking a jet at an airport in the Denver area in a failed attempt to visit with the quarterback, sources told Mortensen and Schefter.

Whisenhunt said that pursuing Manning was an opportunity the team had to attempt.

"Obviously something very unique and unexpected presented itself," he said. "We've said many times: If there is an opportunity to make our team better, we view the potential of adding a first-ballot Hall of Famer quarterback as one of those."

He said the Cardinals "quickly put together an aggressive plan to go after it."

"We're proud of that and feel very strongly about what we have to offer as a team and as an organization," Whisenhunt said. "In the end it didn't work out but from our perspective it was very positive and we certainly don't have any regrets about it."

With the team dealing with salary cap issues, the deadline for Kolb would have served as the final blow to Arizona's chances, which in reality had evaporated anyway as Manning turned his attention elsewhere.

"We sit here today in the same spot we were heading into the offseason," Whisenhunt said. "That's with two experienced quarterbacks who have both demonstrated positive things in the past and who we feel good about. Like we said at the end of the season when we won seven of the last nine games, carrying the momentum of that strong finish into 2012 is important and that remains unchanged."

The comments indicate that Kolb will not simply be handed the starting job but will have to compete with John Skelton when training camp opens late this summer. That is something Kolb acknowledged at the end of the season that he knew he would have to do.

The Cardinals have a significant investment in Kolb, who was acquired from Philadelphia before last season in exchange for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick.

Arizona signed Kolb to a five-year, $63 million contract, with $21 million guaranteed. But with no offseason because of the lockout, he had trouble picking up Whisenhunt's offense. With quarterback inconsistency and a host of other problems, Arizona got off to a 1-6 start, then Kolb was sidelined with a turf toe injury.

Thanks largely to a rapidly improving defense, the Cardinals finished 7-2. Skelton, in his second season out of Fordham, was 5-2 as a starter, 6-2 if you count the win over San Francisco, when Kolb was sidelined for the remainder of the season with a concussion. Kolb did, however, have a good game in Arizona's win over Dallas after he finally came back from the turf toe problem.

Brown, the fifth overall draft pick out of Penn State in 2007, was cut loose because he would count nearly $17 million on this year's salary cap.

He has been a starter since his rookie season, moving from right to left tackle in 2010. While he has struggled at times, he was praised by Whisenhunt for improvement.

Brown is the second offensive lineman to agree to terms with the Cardinals this week. Free agent guard-tackle Adam Snyder did so on Wednesday.

Information from ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press was used in this report.

I don't see how a great guy like Peyton Manning should be given any crap for deciding for the very first time where else he's going to play.
He has nothing to do with the media coverage and has not been pushing himself in front of cameras. He has every right to take as long as he wants-this is his future and he was first class and giving a press conference in Indy after being shown the door.
This is no easy decision for him.

Peyton at Denver would do away with the thorn that is the Tebow situation. Benching a fan favorite QB for a mid-tier replacement would've lent to an unnecessary distraction (at best). I don't think that even Tebow's mom would argue with bringing in a HOF QB (now that this gift has presented itself).

Kolb is a hell of a shitty consolation prize.

I'd like to see Peyton in Tennessee just so he can hang 2 more losses on Indy.

WE GOT FLYNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!