The St. Louis Rams are close to a deal with former Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins(notes). For those who think this somehow alters the team's possible draft plans, consider that they're probably not putting Robbins, a 32-year old swing tackle who lost his starting job to Chris Canty(notes) last season, in the same category as Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy. If they shy away from DT in the draft, it will be because they can't resist Sam Bradford, and we won't know that until Bradford throws at his Pro Day on March 25.

Speaking of tackles, Miami's Jason Ferguson(notes) was handed an eight-game suspension by the NFL for what is believed to be a violation of the league's substance-abuse policy. Ferguson is a favorite of Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano, but the Fins had to see the writing on the wall here -- Ferguson missed seven games in 2009 with a quadriceps injury, he's 35 years old, and the team has made some major investments in its defense with Mike Nolan and Karlos Dansby

The Jacksonville Jaguars have invested a great deal in their pass rush over the last few years, with minimal returns. In the 2008 draft, they selected Derrick Harvey(notes) and Quentin Groves(notes) with their first two picks. In four combined seasons, the two players have amassed eight sacks. In 2009, no NFL team had fewer total sacks than Jacksonville's 14; the Kansas City Chiefs were second-to-last with 22, and two players (Elvis Dumervil(notes) and Jared Allen(notes)) had more sacks on their own than the Jags did as a team.

After years of unwise moves to address the situation, Jacksonville may have raised their profile in the value-add sweepstakes by signing free agent end Aaron Kampman(notes), the former Green Bay defender. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but they could be very similar to those in the four-year, $26 million contract with $10 million in guaranteed money the Lions just gave Kyle Vanden Bosch(notes). If that's the case, the Jags may have a steal here.

Here are a few things to watch as free agency heads on into Saturday...

The Seahawks are hosting Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall, who has a first-round tender. Unless Seattle can re-negotiate the terms, they'd have to give up their sixth overall pick for Marshall and sign the receiver to a lucrative contract. Pretty rich, no matter how good Marshall is.

The evolving story of Donovan McNabb and the Eagles. Are the rumored Browns overtures true? Could Michael Vick(notes) go elsewhere instead? We're going to find out a couple things from this story -- who has the personnel pull in that franchise, and how much faith they have in Kevin Kolb(notes).

Former Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman(notes) is currently in Jacksonville, with interest from the Bucs, Eagles and Seahawks in his back pocket. As much as Julius Peppers(notes) got the big bucks, Kampman has been the more consistent quarterback disruptor over the last few seasons when you factor in hits and hurries.

It's official: The

It was the first free agency day without a salary cap since 1993, and the fear was that with labor unrest on the horizon and the possible threat of collusion among owners looking to set a new market, player transactions would be on the decline. But day one of this new kind of free agency brought big money to several players, and depleted more than one team. Here's a quick look at the teams that hurt themselves the most.

Arizona Cardinals: In a word, ouch. In one day, the Cards lost their starting free safety (Antrel Rolle(notes)), their best inside linebacker (Karlos Dansby(notes)), and their toughest inside receiver (Anquan Boldin(notes)). This, on top of the retirement of Kurt Warner(notes), puts the Cards under the wheels. No wonder Darnell Dockett is displeased...

Carolina Panthers: You knew the Day of Reckoning would come with that awful Jake Delhomme(notes) contract, but Delhomme's release was tough on everybody. Delhomme, head coach John Fox, and general manager Marty Hurney all

It was the first free agency day without a salary cap since 1993, and the fear was that with labor unrest on the horizon and the possible threat of collusion among owners looking to set a new market, player transactions would be on the decline. But day one of this new kind of free agency brought big money to several players, and depleted more than one team. Here's a quick look at the teams that helped themselves the most.

Chicago Bears: For the second straight offseason, the Bears made the biggest single splash in the non-draft market. In 2009, it was the trade for quarterback Jay Cutler(notes), and this time, it was the signing of end Julius Peppers(notes) to a six-year, $92 million contract with an astonishing $42 million in guaranteed money (he'll make $20 million in 2010 alone). In addition, the Bears signed former Vikings running back Chester Taylor(notes) to a four-year, $12.5 million deal so that he can compete for playing time with Matt Forte(notes). The deal makes a big

Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett(notes), one of the best players at his position, has never been shy about expressing his feelings. This was never more true than during Friday's free agency bonanza, when Dockett had to say good-bye to several teammates who helped him come very close to a Super Bowl win not too long ago. Dockett already knew that his team would be without the services of the retired Kurt Warner(notes), and safety Antrel Rolle's(notes) contract was going to get him booted out of town, but losing receiver Anquan Boldin(notes) in a trade to the Baltimore Ravens and linebacker Karlos Dansby to the Dolphins ... well, not only will you need a scorecard to know the players in Arizona next year, but it certainly appears as if the Cards are conceding to the rebuilding notion and are starting over without a great deal of their recent talent.

As was displayed on his Twitter account through most of the day, Dockett was NOT happy about it. The first inklings of

Since their season ended with three straight losses and a 7-9 record, the Miami Dolphins have been smart and proactive in redefining their defense. First, they gratefully accepted manna from Heaven when Denver head coach Josh McDaniels went all nutty again and let defensive coordinator Mike Nolan go. The architect of one of the NFL's greatest single-season defensive turnarounds came to Miami just as the Fins knew they would have to improve their defense at several positions. Key among those was at inside linebacker in their 3-4, as general manager Jeff Ireland said at the scouting combine.

We've got some decent (ILBs) on our team. I like our linebacker corps. I would say it's a need of the team, sure. It's one of the needs. You've got some age at the position right now. I've got to get younger there, and I've got to get a better performance on the field. Inside and outside are key positions in free agency and the draft.

Miami has taken care of the inside position in a big way,

Yeah, yeah ... we know. When it comes to football writers and the Oakland Raiders, we're guilty of picking the low-hanging fruit far too often. While the Raiders' methods are, um, "unconventional," and far from successful over the last few years, I sometimes wonder if we bash this franchise as a reflex action. After all, the Raiders are far from the only dysfunctional NFL team, and there are great seasons not too long ago. Sometimes, it even seems like they might even start to turn things around.

And then, days like Wednesday happen, and I realize that Al Davis is an evil genius, writing our jokes for us. In case you didn't catch it, the Raiders put a third-(original)round restricted free agent tender on linebacker Kirk Morrison(notes), despite the fact that Morrison has been one of the NFL's more consistent defenders over the last few years, and has missed only one game since 2005. They then placed a second-round tender on quarterback Bruce Gradkowski(notes), despite the fact that