For the third time this offseason, a quarterback-needy team drafting in the top 10 is on the verge of trading for at least a semi-prominent passer.

Thus, in the aftermath of Alex Smith going to the Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Flynn going to the Oakland Raiders and Carson Palmer likely getting traded to the Arizona Cardinals, according to Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver, there is a legitimate question about what those moves mean for prospect Geno Smith.

"My read is that it's not good," said a personnel man with one of teams drafting in the top 10. "It's like with us, we like him, but we only like him so much."

So even though Smith spent Monday visiting with Kansas City, which has the No. 1 overall pick, it appears that there's a good chance he could slide past the top 10 even though the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 2, Cleveland Browns (No. 6), Buffalo Bills (No. 8) and New York Jets (No. 9) all appear to need quarterbacks. If Smith falls out of the top 10, he could slide for a long

Sesame Street is not normally a place you would go for high-level football analysis, but occasionally even The Count can help decipher good cap management from bad.

With that in mind, here's a list of NFL quarterbacks who have received contract extensions that included at least $48 million paid over the first three years (as noted by NFL.com's Albert Breer shortly after Romo's six-year, $108 million deal was announced). The three-year total is important because most contracts are relatively easy for a team to get out of after that time:

• Tom Brady: $48.5 million in 2010
• Eli Manning: $49 million in 2009
• Peyton Manning: $58 million in 2012
• Drew Brees: $61 million in 2012
• Joe Flacco: $62 million in 2013
• Tony Romo: $57 million in 2013

To borrow a line from the folks at the children's TV show, one of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.

Yeah, that's Romo, who unlike the other five guys on that list has yet to win a Super Bowl

As quarterback quandaries play out around the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs hope that one leads to enough desperation for a team to trade up for their No. 1 overall pick.

Could one such bidder be the Oakland Raiders, owners of the No. 3 pick, where quarterback Carson Palmer appears willing to force himself out of the franchise?

"I certainly hope so," one Chiefs source said Thursday when asked about Palmer and whether his uncertain future could force the Raiders to deal.

Geno Smith drops back to pass during West Virginia's pro day on March 14. (AP)The problem for the Chiefs, who are under the stewardship of new coach Andy Reid and first-year general manager John Dorsey, is that they likely require the perceived need for a quarterback to cause enough panic that some team will feel obliged to trade up for West Virginia's Geno Smith. Smith is considered the top quarterback in a draft that pales in comparison to the crop from a year ago.

That said, the overwhelming trend in the NFL right now is for a quarterback to go No. 1 overall. That has

As a legion of NFL teams dutifully looked on, former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o did his best to convince them he's worthy of a first-round pick.

At least five teams remained unmoved.

"Nice player, but not worth a first-round pick. Not in my view," said an AFC personnel man who was on hand. "It's the old saying about, 'It only takes one team to fall in love with a guy.' "

Former Notre Dame player Manti Te'o participates in drills at pro day. (USA TODAY Sports) The personnel man then caught himself for a second, chuckled and said, "That's probably not the best phrase to use with Te'o, is it?"

While much of the dust has settled around Te'o regarding the odd tale of the girlfriend who never existed, the issue now is a much simpler one:

How good of a football player is Te'o? On Tuesday, he helped himself a tad by running between 4.71 and 4.75 in the 40-yard dash, much better times than he ran at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in February. He also benched 225 pounds a respectable 21 times.

Still, the question remains: Was Te'o, the

Stanford tight end Zach Ertz threw down the gauntlet last week. Vying to be the top tight end chosen in next month's NFL draft, Ertz posted times and test scores at Stanford's pro day that were superior to Notre Dame counterpart Tyler Eifert.

And then, Ertz elevated the competition just a little by suggesting that Eifert needs to run this week at Notre Dame's pro day.

Zach Ertz runs in a timing event during Stanford's pro day Thursday. (AP)"If I was him, I'd want to compete and I'd run again," Ertz said, matter-of-factly. "If you're a competitive person, you want to test yourself all the time."

Regardless of who is chosen first, both of them stand to have an immediate impact on the league. Eifert and Ertz are entering the NFL in what is essentially the golden age of pass-catching tight ends. From Rob Gronkowski to Jimmy Graham to even an aging Tony Gonzalez, tight end play has never been more important.

Or, in another sense, more easy to take advantage of.

As the NFL becomes more safety conscious and wary of ugly hits in the middle of

PHOENIX – Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff considered the question with a weary look of his eyes. Nearly 25 years ago, when he started his professional football career in the Canadian Football League, he never expected to one day be talking to a human resources director about what you can and can't ask.

"No, I never really expected that," Dimitroff said. "I know where you're going and there are things that we have to know as an organization about the people we bring in, the players we're thinking about drafting.

"But there are rules about what you can ask."

NFL coaches and team executives got a primer in that this week at the annual league meeting in the aftermath of concerns about the questions being asked at the annual NFL scouting combine in February. While the NFL determined that an assistant coach asking a player in an interview about whether he liked girls was more in jest than seriousness, that joking query skirted a little too close to the sun for

The way things are going, you have to wonder if the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens' season opener is going to be a celebration or a wake.

Ed Reed intercepts a pass intended for Texans WR Andre Johnson during the 2011 playoffs. (AP)The offseason decimation of the Ravens kept going Wednesday when free-agent safety Ed Reed, a guy who has Hall of Fame practically written on his résumé, agreed to join the Texans. Like Ray Lewis, who has retired, Reed wasn't just some extra playing a part. He was a core player for a team that has gone to the playoffs five straight seasons.

But as Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti, top executives Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh strolled the grounds of the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix this week, dire concern didn't seem to be an issue.

Yeah, Lewis and Reed are gone. So too are center Matt Birk (retired), wide receiver Anquan Boldin (traded), defenders Paul Kruger, Danell Ellerbe and Cary Williams (all departing via free agency) and safety Bernard Pollard (released). Next out the door could be free-agent

PHOENIX – St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher spent a couple of minutes describing the different areas of the helmet in the aftermath of the NFL's latest move to curb head violence. He pointed out the four regions of the helmet that commonly are subject to hitting, from the facemask to the hairline to the side to the crown.

Sadly, the real problem these days is that Fisher and his fellow coaches are hamstrung when it comes to teaching the proper way for players to hit each other.

On Wednesday, the league voted 31-1 to ban ball-carriers and defensive players from initiating contact by using the crown of his helmet once he gets outside the tackle box (the area between the offensive tackles) and more than 3 yards downfield. This means anytime a runner breaks into the open field and braces himself to take on a tackler, the runner can no longer lead with his head. Violent runners like Adrian Peterson might have to change their approaches moving forward. (AP)

The league also altered some other regulations, such as eliminating the "Tuck Rule", a call made (in)famous by