NFL Player News

The biggest surprise of the first round of the NFL Draft had to be the Bills selecting former Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel instead of the other first-round possibilities of Ryan Nassib and Geno Smith. Matt Barkley, however, was projected as more of a late first-round or second-round guy, though he was also rated by NFLDraftScout.com as the second-best quarterback in the NFL Draft. Except he went much later than that, as the Eagles drafted him with the first pick of the fourth round (98th overall) on Saturday. Barkley could have come out of school after his junior season. As it turns out, he might have been better off doing that -- even though he would have been going against Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Ryan Tannehill. Perhaps, if Barkley had a great 2012 season and led USC to a national title, this year's draft would have been a different story for him. But he didn't play that well, and the Trojans went 7-5. Now, Barkley is a fourth-round draft pick -- which, based off last year, is a big disappointment. That disappointment includes a massive financial hit in light of where pundits thought he'd get selected. Here's the good news, though. The Eagles wanted him badly enough to trade this year's seventh-round pick to the Jaguars in order to move up three spots and grab him.

After seeing his name drop on several draft boards in the weeks leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft, former West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith was selected by the Jets with the seventh pick of the second round Friday. Now, it's officially Mark Sanchez who is on the clock. Smith, long considered the top quarterback in the draft (though he was, in fact, the second quarterback taken), possesses a wide-range of abilities that make him an ideal NFL quarterback. With his combination of size, strength, speed and accuracy, Smith has the potential to fit in any offense. There are some red flags, however. Smith began the 2012 season on fire, lighting up opposing defenses before sputtering against the likes of Texas Tech and Kansas State. He finished the season strong, but his confidence was certainly shaken. As NFLDraftScout.com's Rob Rang pointed out, Smith ran a relatively simple offense at WVU, and failed in even the most routine quarterbacking duties -- such as blitz recognition. Still, the Jets clearly felt that his talents outweighed his flaws.

The Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers have agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in Green & Gold for the next seven years that makes him the highest paid player in NFL history. Since becoming the full-time starter in 2008 Rodgers has thrown 170 touchdowns, rushed for seven more and led the Packers to four-straight 10-plus win seasons including a Super Bowl XLV win.

The Bengals say they drafted Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert with Andy Dalton in mind. The quarterback was short on targets last season as injuries and inexperience hindered his receiving corps. Eifert gives the Bengals a huge, Rob Gronkowski-like target in the short- and mid-area. "I'm sure Andy Dalton is happy right now," offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said after drafting Eifert. "We try to make Andy happy, and the more weapons you have, obviously, the better. We need to take pressure off A.J. Green, and this is one step in doing that."

The Rams made a bold move in the NFL Draft Thursday night by trading up in the first round to select West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin at No. 8 overall. That should make quarterback Sam Bradford happy. Austin will help the Rams replace the departed Danny Amendola, except Austin is a much more explosive player.

ProFootballTalk.com reports the Browns might be making a move up the draft board to pick West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. The news is significant as current Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski flouirshed with Cam Newton in his first two years in Carolina and could easily do the same with Smith.

Numerous reports suggest teams targeting USC quarterback Matt Barkley will trade into late Round 1 to get him. Barkley is seemingly healed from a shoulder injury suffered last season and is preparing for a chance to start with his new team.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib could be the target of both the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, causing an AFC East stir, ESPN reports. Nassib was the quarterback for the Orange under head coach Doug Marrone and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett, both of whom now work for the Bills. Speculation has been that the Bills would take Nassib with their second-round pick but the Jets' interest in Nassib could push Buffalo to spend its eighth overall choice on him. The Jets have two picks in Round 1: Ninth and 13th overall and according to the report, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is a fan of Nassib's.

Jaguars quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne kicked off the team's April minicamp by rotating reps with the first-team offense. Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch said he liked what he saw from both QBs so far and warned not to read too much into who gets reps first. "At some point in time, when we're playing games, the starter will get the reps first," Fisch said to the official team website. "At this point in time, we're just rotating through because it wouldn't be fair to evaluate somebody if they were always taking reps with a second-team group. Right now, we're rotating through."

The Dolphins have given second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill new weapons in Mike Wallace, Brandon Gibson and Dustin Keller and brought back Brian Hartline. In an interview with CBSSports.com, Hartline said Tannehill is poised to improve this season. "In this day and age, teams are typically defined by your quarterback," Hartline said. "His ceiling is as high as it can be. He’s taken the right steps this offseason through leadership and working with guys and getting better. As long as he continues that and continues what he’s doing I don’t have any hesitation with how good he’s going to be. Again the proof is in the pudding, but he’s a great guy and he wants to be great. That’s all you can ask for."