NFL COMBINE: DAY ONE RUMORS

Am I alone in thinking the first day of this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indy was uncharacteristically short on the unsubstantiated rumors we all crave?  To be honest, I am kind of disappointed.

Still, I found some items for you guys (and gals) to chew on this morning:

  • Click here to read Paul Allen’s humorous encounters with Matt Kalil and Darrell Bevell at the Combine.  Further down, you get to the real interesting stuff, where Allen claims everyone in Indy is talking and acting like the Rams trading out of the number two spot is already a done deal.  Both St. Louis and Minnesota have publically admitted they are open to trading backwards for the right deal.  Spielman wants to be “very active” in trading to “accumulate picks” on Draft Day (which scares the Tarvaris Jackson out of me).
  • At 6’ 4” and 240 pounds, UCLA’s Cory Harkey was the biggest blocking tight end to weigh in on Thursday.  For those of you that would love to see the Vikings find a suitable replacement for Jim Kleinsasser via a late round pick, keep an on this guy.
  • When the NFC North Champions re-signed tight end Jermichael Finley to a two year deal this week, it opened up the possibility of them franchising (and then trading) backup quarterback Matt Flynn to the highest bidder.  The Cleveland Browns, who are thought to be a prime Draft Day trade partner with the Vikings or Rams, are now rumored to have interest in making a play for Flynn instead of trading up to draft Robert Griffin III.
  • I don’t have a link to provide here, but it seems possible that the free agent wide receiver market could dry up pretty quick if the current abundance of “smoke” is any indications.  The Eagles like Desean Jackson.  The Chargers like Vincent Jackson.  The Steelers want Mike Wallace to be spend his whole career with them.  The Chiefs want “somewhere over Dwayne Bowe” back.  The Cowboys can’t re-sign Laurent Robinson until after free agency starts because of a technicality, but they want him to remain on the roster.  The Colts are really talking up Reggie Wayne.  Don’t believe everything you hear, folks, but I’m willing to bet a number of these guys don’t make it to free agency.  But, hey, there’s always Stevie Johnson.  Yay?

That’s about it for now.  Hopefully there will be some more items of interest produced on Friday.  Leslie Frazier will speak to the press on Friday, and Matt Kalil will be officially interviewed by the Vikings on Friday, so I’m sure we’ll have some interesting things to pass along.

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