Posted by Andy Benoit

• In talking about franchise tagging Haloti Ngata, John Harbaugh casually referred to the lockout (the same way you might casually refer to next week….as in, it’s inevitable).
   
• Bet you $10,000 that you can’t guess which three Packers will be ringing the bell at the NYSE Wednesday . Here’s a clue: one of them is Charles Woodson…you still won’t guess the other two. (If you don’t feel like clicking the link, you’ll find the other two players listed at the bottom of these Hot Routes.)
   
• The Seattle Seahawks are the only team to use the franchise tag in each of the previous four seasons (and not all of them were on Walter Jones, either!).
   
• Jaguars DE Aaron Kampman (knee) and RT Eben Britton (shoulder) are on pace to return this summer . 
   
• Shaun Rogers is touring the NFL, looking for a landing spot before the CBA runs out. He visited the Chiefs on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet with the Saints Wednesday.  
• The Denver Broncos have resumed contract negotiations with cornerback Champ Bailey. How's it going? Bailey says he's putting his house on the market.

• Even though they’re a publicly owned franchise , the Packers cannot opt out of a lockout should the NFL go in that direction. Loving their team, unfortunately, is not enough to give shareholders any true power.
   
• Colt McCoy and his dad are writing a book . 
   
• Someone made a Detroit Lions version of Chrysler’s Eminem Super Bowl commercial . (And no, it’s not humorous, unfortunately.)
   
• Ahmad Bradshaw underwent ankle surgery (par for the course with this guy).
  
  
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Posted by Josh Katzowitz and Andy Benoit


It’s a good thing NT Shaun Rogers doesn’t work for the Browns anymore, because it sounds like Cleveland GM Tom Heckert is a little bit apprehensive about Rogers’ ability to help a team win. Naturally, Rogers’ agent disagrees.

 
On his excellent NFL Draft blog, CBSSports.com’s own Rob Rang discusses the importance of the player interviews at the upcoming Combine. If you haven’t bookmarked this blog or added it to your RSS reader, go ahead and do that now.

 
Sports Illustrated’s Peter King writes about the process for Hall of Fame voting and discusses the criticism he and his Gang of 44 have been receiving recently. My personal opinion: the 2011 HOF class is on point. 

 
The former Colts QB coach is now the Colts WR coach. And the former Colts WR coach is the new QB coach. Hopefully, they won’t have to switch offices and wives as well.

 
The first piece written by former CBSSports.com writer John Oehser, who has left Indianapolis to become the senior writer at Jaguars.com. 

 
Would the Jets get rid of RT Damien Woody so Vladimir Ducasse could move into that spot?

 
If you were wondering what Nick Lachey thought about the state of the Bengals, ESPN.com’s James Walker has the answer.

 
Bob Cook, a huge Packers fan who was featured on a Visa commercial as one of the men who had never missed a Super Bowl, has died at the age of 79.

 
Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says CB Ike Taylor, not OLB LaMarr Woodley, is the Steelers’ top free agent priority. This may sound crazy, but that would actually be history says that’s actually in line with the Steelers’ M.O.

 
Contrary to Saturday reports that he’d be released before the end of the weekend, Redskins return specialist Brandon Banks is still in the hospital due to superficial stab wounds. He’s expected to be released Tuesday.

 
Joe Namath wished everyone a happy Valentine’s Day. What would we do without Twitter?


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• Marty Hurney told Joseph Pearson of the Charlotte Observer on Monday that the Carolina Panthers top two needs are quarterback and defensive tackle. Hurney also mentioned that Jimmy Clausen has the tools to succeed. Oh, and he drafted him. So, provided Nick Fairley doesn't do anything ridiculous between now and April, there's a good chance he's the top pick.

• Dan Levy of Press Coverage breaks down exactly how far the Packers and Steelers have traveled (based on Google Maps). It's an outstanding tribute to how much time Dan has on his hands breakdown of their traveling and, as usual, further proof that the Steelers get preferential treatment.

• Jimmy Traina has a pretty good video at the bottom of Hot Clicks called "Grab My Belt" that's a tribute to Aaron Rodgers touchdown celebration (which is also a tribute -- to Triple H of the WWE).

• Jason Whitlock predicts at FOX Sports that the NFL players will "turn on union director" DeMaurice Smith. That would be a fairly interesting subplot. 

• Could the Jaguars dump Mike Sims-Walker because they think he's "selfish"? Well, they could. In fact, they could dump him for worse reasons. But it's not going to make their receiving corps any better.

• Want hard-hitting lineup analysis of the Puppy Bowl? Of course you do.

• Brian McIntyre breaks down Goodell's salary "reduction" a little further.

• Interestingly, Mike Smith and Bill Belichick will have Japanese assistants for the Pro Bowl.

• Barack Obama's really excited about his new Packers jersey. Except not at all.

• How offensive is the Cowboys offensive line? KD Drummond of Blogging the Boys examines.

• Steph Stradley of the Houston Chronicle examines who the Texans might be taking with the 11th pick in the NFL Draft.

Posted by Andy Benoit

My colleague Josh Katzowitz already wrote about Earnest Wilford’s arrest. But something I couldn’t resist from commenting on is the former Jaguars’ mug shot. Is it me, or has Wilford gotten FAT? In fact, scratch that rhetorical question. It’s obviously not me (and you, too) that Wilford has indeed gotten fat. Really, REALLY fat.

Not surprisingly, the veteran tight end was cut by the Jaguars back in September. Given his arrest and the fact that he now appears to be about one-and-a-half Earnest Wilfords, don’t be surprised if this is the last you ever hear of the guy. If that’s the case, Wilford will be remembered as one of those unique players who was dominant in the red zone but virtually irrelevant everywhere else on the field.

Oh, and he’ll also be remembered as the guy who was fat – again, really, REALLY fat (OK, really fat relatively speaking) – in his mug shot photo.

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