INDIANAPOLIS – There's no Eli Manning. No Carson Palmer. There isn't even a David Carr.

The last time the NFL draft's No. 1 pick entered February as such a fluid commodity, the Cleveland Browns ended up taking defensive end Courtney Brown over linebacker LaVar Arrington. Such monumental draft flubs are made in April, but not until after months of sometimes fruitless dissection – which begin this week at the NFL's annual combine for college talent.

The No. 1 pick isn't the sole spot up for grabs this season, either. Indeed, there are multiple debates raging entering this week's orgy of stopwatches and medical charts. Scouts have yet to find a consensus on several likely top-10 picks, whether it's sorting out the best between muddled pairs of quarterbacks (Alex Smith vs. Aaron Rodgers), wide receivers (Braylon Edwards vs. Mike Williams) and cornerbacks (Adam Jones vs. Antrel Rolle), or pinning down the franchise player in a trio of running backs (Cedric Benson, Ronnie Brown or Carnell

It's Franchise Tag Tuesday, and the NFL's free-agent caviar and champagne is running low. Plenty of left over bean dip, though.

OK, maybe it's not quite that bad. But those premonitions of a dozen All-Pros being available aren't going to come to fruition. As many as seven players whom we thought might hit the market won't, thanks to franchise tags on the likes of Drew Brees, Orlando Pace, Corey Simon and others. By the end of Tuesday, there may be little left to pick over in the way of cornerstone players.

A handful of marquee players will find out their fate Tuesday when the tagging deadline arrives. That group includes quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks, the Oakland Raiders' duo of wide receiver Jerry Porter and cornerback Charles Woodson and Indianapolis Colts running back Edgerrin James.

League rumblings early Monday indicated that Hasselbeck and Woodson would head toward free agency and Alexander, James and Porter would draw

World Series and Super Bowl rings? Those high-end jewelers in the Boston area must be doing back-flips. They're going to have to float all those diamonds in on a barge.

Still, it can't compare to being a fan from the region, now that the Boston Red Sox have toppled a curse and the New England Patriots have raised a dynasty. Perhaps for the first time in three months, we got nary a complaining email from Patriots fans who felt disrespected. And rightfully so. Anyone in their right minds would have a hard time questioning New England now.

Then again, who said NFL fans were right, or had minds?

A few New York Jets fans finally popped up, longing for a coach like Bill Belichick, while fuming over the fact that they had him … for a day anyway. Even some Cleveland Browns faithful checked in to salute Belichick, whom they once scorned but are now counting their blessings after landing one of his protégés.

But while we're all anointing geniuses and dynasties, some fans took note of Dan

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When New England Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin walked into the locker room wearing a purple feather boa, Willie McGinest knew where the night was headed.

"Woo!" McGinest laughed. "See you at the party!"

"I'm going to be exhaling for the next two months," Colvin said.

Welcome to the offseason, where Patriots players – who held their breath and tongues for months – finally get to relax. If only it were that easy for everyone.

Despite good salary cap management and copious consideration for the future, there still will be plenty of decisions for both the Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. As Patriots defensive end Ty Warren said after New England's Super Bowl win, "It's going to be a different team next year, but I don't have to think about that right now."

Nope. That would be coach Bill Belichick's problem.

Both Belichick and Eagles coach Andy Reid have their work cut out for them if they are to fulfill the prophesizing for the outside world, which is

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – They are too close now to appreciate it, like an artist who tries to critique a masterpiece while standing an inch away.

And certainly, what these New England Patriots did will be illuminated – even worth marveling at. History's limelight has a way of doing that. But it's worth remembering that even this spotlight started small.

With a little 40-watt light bulb that Patriots coach Bill Belichick kept burning late into the night.

"I know what I'll remember," said New England defensive end Ty Warren while fiddling with the brim of a Super Bowl champions hat at his locker.

"Every game I have ever played here, every time we have ever gotten onto a plane, I would walk by the coaches sitting up at the front. Always, coach would be there – I mean, every single road game in two years – working on the game with his laptop. Win or lose, he never stopped going or working."

Warren says he would shuffle by Belichick in first class, slip into a seat near the rear of the plane,

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For two of these Hall of Famers, the arrow was so sharp, so sad and so painfully telling.

It came in the form of a poorly timed question, shot from the crowd about halfway through Saturday's media session. And for a second, you had this feeling Dan Marino wanted to fling his microphone into the row of reporters in front of him.

"How ironic," a reporter asked, "is it for you to be at this podium, in this city, when you lost to the Jaguars in that playoff game a few years ago?"

Freeze for a moment. There needs to be context added to understand how palpably embarrassing this question was for Marino.

He and Steve Young had just been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame – both were clearly elated – and in the middle of it all someone brings up Marino's last and arguably worst game ever. It was a day in which his Miami Dolphins lost to Jacksonville 62-7 in the 1999 playoffs and Marino passed for only 95 yards and threw two interceptions.

The second the question

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On Friday it sat in silence, perched on a table in front of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. But if you looked closely, the Lombardi Trophy's chrome finish had a thick, dulling, camouflage.

Fingerprints. Everywhere.

There was a thumb print here, an index or pinky there. From seam to seam, the marks were as plentiful as a leopard's spots. In a way, it was a proper look for the NFL's crown jewel.

Isn't this what the Super Bowl is all about? This event is polished to the hilt, but when Sunday has come and gone – when the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles have packed their seasons away – all that will be left are those fingerprints. Someone has to walk away with that trophy.

With that in mind, here are the five paramount people or things to watch when considering who will be next to lay their hands on the NFL's world championship hardware.

1. Jeremiah Trotter vs. Corey Dillon
In every conceivable scenario where Philadelphia wins Sunday, the Eagles' Trotter

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In any other season, a two-year cushion would seem plenty of time to worry about smoothing out collective bargaining issues in the NFL. But with the NHL on the verge of canceling its season, and some tricky issues on the pro football horizon, it might not be too early to push for progress.

With the NFL's current collective bargaining agreement, future labor problems really wouldn't roost until the 2007 season. But consternation has become significant enough that it was the first topic broached with commissioner Paul Tagliabue on Friday after delivering his annual "State of the League" address.

Revenue sharing continues to be the troubling divide between owners and players – specifically a boost in the salary cap from money produced by club seating and luxury skyboxes. NFPLA director Gene Upshaw hasn't been shy about making that money a target. While exact figures aren't known, it's believed that revenue could push as much as an extra $100 million a year into NFL