Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Robert Griffin III is having his parents interview agents with the strong likelihood he will declare himself eligible for the NFL draft, two sources said this week.

Griffin, a junior, has not indicated whether he will come out for the draft. The work by his parents is a way of protecting his interests in case he decides to return to Baylor. There has been some assumption that Griffin would turn pro after his spectacular 2011 season.

Griffin completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 3,998 yards, 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions as Baylor went 9-3. He also had nine rushing touchdowns and twice rushed for more than 100 yards as he helped the Bears qualify for the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.

[ Related: Pat Forde rates, picks all 35 bowl games ]

Numerous scouts and executives believe the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Griffin will be a high first-round draft pick. It's anticipated that if Heisman runner-up Andrew Luck of Stanford goes No. 1 overall, Griffin will

With three weeks remaining in the NFL's regular season, here's a list of 10 players who figure to have a huge impact on the playoff picture. For obvious reasons, quarterbacks were excluded from this list:

[ Related: Current AFC/NFC playoff seeds ]

1. Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Wallace: With the Steelers, Ravens, Patriots and Texans tied atop the AFC at 10-3, the jockeying for position is obvious. Sure, home-field advantage isn't always crucial to making the Super Bowl, but it doesn't hurt. And going on the road – where line communication is more difficult – could be problematic for a Steelers team with a banged-up O-line. If Pittsburgh is going to win in San Francisco on Monday night, Wallace is going to have to play exceptionally well because the Steelers have become a pass-first team with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. If the Steelers win, they're eyeing a 13-3 record as they finish with St. Louis and Cleveland. Any slip by Baltimore could give the Steelers the AFC North crown and

It appears that the Bermuda Triangle has managed to relocate a few hundred miles west over Florida, swallowing up the careers of NFL coaches this year.

With Jack Del Rio already gone in Jacksonville and Tony Sparano dismissed in Miami, the focus turns on whether Raheem Morris will survive his third season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ultimately, will he get a chance to learn from his mistakes with the Buccaneers or will he have to wait for another chance elsewhere?

[ Related: Todd Haley's firing reflects poorly on Chiefs GM ]

Morris downplayed concerns about his future after an embarrassing 41-14 loss at Jacksonville on Sunday. But that loss, which featured seven turnovers and 12 more penalties to keep the Bucs No. 3 in the NFL in flags, seems to be the culmination of rapid erosion after Tampa Bay went 10-6 and nearly made the playoffs in 2010.

At 4-9, the young Bucs have regressed to playpen behavior after looking so advanced the previous year. Starting with cornerback Aqib Talib's

The look from Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli told you everything you needed to know.

Last February at the annual NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, Pioli was strolling along a second-floor walkway above a large room at Lucas Oil Stadium where the media had been designated to work. Pioli looked down, as he is want to do, and observed then-Chiefs coach Todd Haley talking to a group of four reporters.

You could almost feel the contempt drip down and splatter Haley and the scribes.

[ Related: Dolphins' Tony Sparano fired too ]

On Monday, Pioli took the first opportunity he could seize and fired Haley, ending a marriage that was only slightly less intimate than Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Pioli and Haley quickly grew to dislike each other, warring over everything from draft picks to assistant coaches. Both men deserve blame for the dissolution. They were as poorly suited for one another as Kim Kardashian and, well, anybody. For each, their blood runs very hot. The only

Two of the biggest stories in the NFL playoff picture featured a guy unfamiliar to most fans and a penalty no official saw.

While Tim Tebow produced his latest miracle in Denver and put the Broncos alone in first place in the AFC West with three games to play, there is an even better Johnny Come Lately story playing out in Texas. Houston Texans quarterback T.J. Yates won his second straight start by throwing a touchdown pass with two seconds remaining for a 20-19 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the process, Yates helped end nearly a decade of frustration in Houston.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions finally seem postseason-bound in spite of their undisciplined style of play. The penalty-crazed Lions had another 10 flags on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings, turning what should have been a blowout into a moment of desperation. The penalties were combined with both an atrocious run defense (269 yards allowed and Adrian Peterson didn't even play) and a just as lame run offense (72

ORLANDO, Fla. – Perhaps Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay should call Archie Manning and politely ask his quarterback's father to kindly be quiet, because all Manning did on Tuesday and Wednesday was hurt his son, not to mention the Colts.

When the elder Manning told Fox Sports Radio this week that he didn't "think it'd necessarily be great for either" Peyton or Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to play together, he launched a giant stink bomb into any leverage the Colts might have to deal the No. 1 overall pick, which they currently have the inside track on at 0-12.

What made it worse is that Archie made his remark after saying he talked to Oliver Luck, Andrew's father. (On Wednesday, Oliver Luck didn't return a text message about the issue.)

As for Andrew Luck, who just finished his redshirt junior season and said twice this week he plans to come out for the NFL draft, he stayed as far away as possible from the issue.

"I think it would be a disservice to my team to start talking

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson(notes) has almost gotten to the point that he is radioactive. That's not good for a pending unrestricted free agent looking to cash in big time during the offseason.

While no one with Jackson's immense talent is ever completely untouchable, five NFL team personnel executives interviewed by Yahoo! Sports said they would have no interest in pursuing him. Two of the executives' opinions were strengthened following Jackson's alarming display Thursday night in which he essentially quit on the Eagles.

"If that was my kid out there, I would have gotten out of the stands, gone on the field and pulled him off myself and said, 'You obviously don't want to be here, so stop hurting your team,' " said an NFL team executive who attended the Eagles' 31-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. "I'm serious, it was embarrassing. I know that [Philadelphia coach] Andy [Reid] is protecting him and saying all that stuff [the] NFL Network showed was wrong, but I

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – If you're looking for an indication of how the Green Bay Packers are going to pursue perfection, there was a clear sign given as incomparable quarterback Aaron Rodgers walked onto the field with the scored tied 35-35 against the New York Giants.

With the ball at their own 20-yard line with 58 seconds left, Rodgers "half-expected" coach Mike McCarthy to play it safe with a draw or a screen. If that worked, maybe get more aggressive. You get the tepid picture.

"But [Coach McCarthy] looked at me, called a play, I was like, 'All right, let's go,' and we went into the huddle with a lot of confidence and we executed the way we wanted to,” Rodgers said.

[Yahoo! Sports Radio: Packers kicker Mason Crosby on winning kick]

From there, Rodgers went about being the human Ginsu he has been all season. After a frustrating game that featured at least five dropped passes, Rodgers completed four straight passes, putting the Packers at the Giants' 12-yard line with time to spare.