Posted by Ryan Wilson

If you need more proof that the NFL is a business, consider Mike Heimerdinger. The former Titans offensive coordinator was diagnosed with cancer last November, and in February he was fired by new Tennessee head coach Mike Munchak.

To Heimerdinger's credit, he didn't bemoan his professional fate, saying at the time, "It's never easy to be fired. [Munchak] has to do what's good for the Titans, and [he] will do what's best for the Titans. I appreciate my time here, but it's never easy to be fired."

But everything's relative, and for Heimerdinger, losing a job isn't in the same conversation as beating cancer. He's currently undergoing his second round of chemotherapy and weighs 170 pounds, down 60 pounds from November.

“The hard part is I am not a real patient person, and this is not a patient disease,” Heimerdinger said on Monday from the NFL Alumni Charity Golf Classic held in his honor this year. “It is a marathon, and I want it done now. I want the chemo to work and doctors to say, ‘It is all gone.’ But that is not going to happen. So you have to come to terms with that. That is the hard part for me.

“I was hoping it went away. I was hoping that the first treatments, it would go into remission and disappear. Obviously it didn’t, so I’ve had to do more treatments. The main thing is to keep it under control and not spread it. And it hasn’t spread, and it is under control. Hopefully, we can keep it under control.”

According to the Associated Press, in addition to the charity golf event, fundraising efforts also included a silent auction featuring "… 2012 Masters tickets, signed pictures by Chris Johnson and Jay Cutler, autographed helmets from Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton and the 2010 Heisman winner Mark Ingram and autographed jerseys from John Elway and Peyton Manning."

Al Smith, the former Houston linebacker and current president of the Tennessee chapter of the NFL Alumni, said it was an easy decision to donate money raised through the charity to the American Cancer Society after Heimerdinger was diagnosed with the disease.

"The fact [Heimerdinger] battled through still coaching through it all and showing the perseverance and determination and overcoming the disease, we thought it would be good to benefit something that resonated with him," Smith told the AP.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

• Remember: consider the source. According to the New York Post, Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith had "a very jovial dinner" Wednesday, lasting nearly two hours. 

• Just so we're clear. Football Outsiders has had enough of the NFL propaganda machine. Upon hearing that Goodell recently told Bucs ticket-holders that one of the goals of the lockout is to lower ticket prices for fans, FO staged an impromptu lesson on the basics of supply and demand. 

• Don't call me Pac-Man. Bengals cornerback Adam Jones, appearing on Denver's 102.3 The Ticket, talked about his journey from high-profile college player to high-round NFL pick, and all the pressures -- and off-field entanglements -- that come with the transition. And because we can't go 15 minutes without bringing it up, Jones relates his experiences to Terrelle Pryor, who could enter the NFL's supplemental draft (should there be one). 

• Don't call me Peg Leg. If informal workouts are any indication, Julio Jones' offseason foot surgery won't be an issue. He made a fancy touchdown grab during a recent practice. 

• Channeling Norman Einstein. Joe Thiesmann thinks players treated Jay Cutler "very, very wrongly" after the Bears QB left the NFC Championship game with a knee injury. Evidently, he didn't appear hurt enough. 

• Selling tickets to the gun show. Tim Tebow, who appears to work out from time to time, takes a few cuts on the driving range. 

• It's a start. It's been nearly two hours and Kenny Britt hasn't been arrested. 

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

It happens every time a team hires a new coach: he populates the roster with players from his previous team, ostensibly because he knows them better than the players he just inherited. Rex Ryan brought Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard with him to New York from Baltimore, Josh McDaniels had Jabar Gaffney from New England, and the Cardinals are now known as Steelers West because Ken Whisenhunt has yet to meet a former Pittsburgh player he wouldn't sign in Arizona.

Which brings us to John Fox, the new guy in Denver, who likely spends his days trying to figure out who will be the Broncos starting quarterback once the season starts. Kyle Orton seems the obvious choice after passing for almost 7,500 yards and 41 touchdowns the last two seasons. But Denver also drafted Tim Tebow in the first round of the 2010 draft, and it wasn't to convert him to tight end. Like it or not, Tebow will be in the mix for the job once training camps start, and there has been interest from quarterback-needy teams in Orton's services should he become available.

In Sunday's Denver Post, Mike Klis writes about the ambiguity surrounding the Broncos quarterback situation and the issues that come with naming Orton or Tebow the starter.

"Orton would be a controversial starter to the enormous contingent of Tim Tebow followers, and to those who believe the Broncos can't move on until they find out whether the memoirist can cut it as a winning NFL quarterback," Klis notes before adding, "Tebow would be a controversial choice to those who don't believe he's ready, and because his enormous fame and squeaky-clean image seems to polarize the masses.

"The Broncos could begin the season with Orton as the starter and Tebow the backup, so long as Fox understands that the tension of starting the clock on Tebow Time would be wound tight. If Tebow is the starter, Orton would be too disgruntled, and rightly so."

That last bit sounds familiar.

Klis then puts forth an idea that only Fox could get behind: "For Tebow to properly develop, he needs a backup who knows his place. ...Jake Delhomme would make sense in helping Tebow and the Broncos transition into the Fox era."

The only problem is that if Tebow got injured during the season, Delhomme would, you know, have to actually play. Fox has firsthand experience with what Bad Jake can do to an offense, although the man did cry when the Panthers released Delhomme a year ago. But no one -- not even Fox, presumably -- thought the Browns were shrewd in paying Delhomme $7 million in 2010 when it was clear he had nothing left.

That said, Delhomme dutifully assumed his role as backup and mentor to rookie Colt McCoy last season. There's no reason to think he wouldn't be willing to do the same for Tebow, especially if it reunited him with Fox. It just has to be with the understanding that Tebow is a long way from being a consistent NFL starting quarterback. If fans have the patience to let Tebow learn by doing (and let's be honest, "fanaticism" and "tolerance" aren't often mentioned in the same breath), it could accelerate his progress.

On the other hand, the Broncos traded franchise quarterback Jay Cutler to the Bears after the 2008 season. We're not convinced moving Orton just so Tebow can play is in the long-term best interests of the organization. It probably goes without saying, but Broncos fans have McDaniels to thank for all this.

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Posted by Will Brinson and Andy Benoit



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post writes in his mailbag today that, should DeAngelo Williams become a free agent, the Broncos would be quite interested in pursuing him. John Fox is a fan of Williams, in case you didn't know.

• Eli Manning says he'd be cool with Plaxico Burress coming back to the Giants. But, honestly, his quotes kind of sound like lip service.

• Bill Belichick was named "fan of the game" at the recent Boston Bruins game. So he's got that going for him.

• Mike Tanier of Football Outsiders put together 10 terrible trades. Here are the two consolation prizes (click through to Insider for the first 10).

• Julio Jones has made his way to the not-actually-team-sanctioned Falcons workouts, but he's taking it slow on account of his foot.

• This is only NFL related in that the NBA and NBAPA are getting ready to put their legal fisticuffs on. Just like football!

• Nearly 40 Redskins players (including 10 rookies) showed up for player-organized workouts Tuesday. Shockingly, none of them were named Albert Haynesworth.

• Not to be outdone (or wait, actually, they were slightly outdone) were the Raiders, who had 34 players show up for their workouts in Georgia.

• A locked out Brandon Jackson says he's bored.

• Brian Urlacher still has words for those who criticized Jay Cutler about the NFC Championship.

Posted by Andy Benoit

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, thanks to his aggressively conservative budget proposal and ensuing media tour last month during the federal budget battle, has become something of a star. Now,the chairman of the House Budget Committee is making his debut in the Eye on Football blog thanks to some playful potshots he took at Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.

Ryan recently gave a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago and, according to Fox News, chose to break the ice by saying, "I want to thank you all for inviting me to speak. It was especially gracious of you to host me, even though I'm a Packers fan and I assume most of you are Bears fans. But that doesn't mean we can't work together. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, I stand ready to do whatever it takes to help you re-sign Jay Cutler.”

Then, he added, "I'm here to talk about the economy today -- about the need to get four quarters of strong, consistent performance. That wasn't another Jay Cutler joke, I swear. It could be, but it's not."

Zing.

In breaking down Ryan’s joke, it’s difficult to ascertain whether or not he is an educated fan. The last dig at Cutler was a clever reference to the NFC Championship knee injury controversy, but any common fan is still aware of that story. Ryan’s first dig is more enigmatic. He mentions re-signing Cutler, which isn’t a relevant issue given that Cutler is signed through 2013. But to say you’re a Packers fan and you’re willing to do all you can to help the Bears re-sign Cutler could be a veiled way of saying “Cutler stinks”. This makes Ryan’s quote just like all his other quotes: debatable and a matter of interpretation.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Last week, some members of the Chicago Bears said the players were not going to get together for offseason workouts until they were sure that it wouldn’t be a waste of time. Apparently, they’re sure now.

Jay Cutler told Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun Times that the workouts are on and “everything is locked and loaded”. (He may have meant locked-out and loaded, but you get the idea…)

Only the Bears offensive players are gathering, though. Cutler explained why:

“I mean, those defenders have been in the system for eight years, nine years, What are they gonna do?” he said. “What am I going to tell Lach [Brian Urlacher]? ‘Your drop is a little short. Sorry, buddy.’ Offensively, we have a lot of room to improve.”

Cutler wouldn’t say exactly when the workouts will start.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Just how crazy a day is it in the NFL? Well, Jay Cutler got engaged to girlfriend Kristin Cavallari according to a report. That's how crazy.

PEOPLE magazine reports the news amidst one of the more insane 24-hour periods in NFL history, and it's kind of a light and enjoyable note to process in the middle of such a nightmarish situation like the labor scenario that's unfolding.

Cavallari is known for her reality television work on The Hills and Laguna Beach . And, apparently, Cutler proposed while the couple were away on a weekend getaway to Cabo San Lucas.

"He surprised her with a quick trip to Cabo to ask her to marry him," PEOPLE's source says.

Ah yes. That's my old standby too -- the quick jaunt to a tropical resort in Mexico, followed by bombshelling a lucky lady with gigantic diamond. Every guy should have that in their repertoire, really.

Anyway, congrats to Cutler and Cavallari on their big news and I think I speak for the NFL-following world when I say "thank you for averting our attention away from labor negotiations."

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Thank you, DeAngelo Hall, for telling a story (and, through the magic of copy and paste) writing a story for me. The main character in Hall’s story is Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, whom Hall picked off four times in a game last year.

Hall begins the story – which he told to 106.7 The Fan – with little inhibition. Here it is:

“Jay is definitely a clown. I played against the kid one other time, and it was when I first went to Oakland, first game of the season we played on a Monday night. And Shanahan was actually coaching. He’s played against Al Davis so long, he knows what we’re going to be in — man under, it ain’t no help, just go out and play football no matter what they come out in. You can tell Shanahan was scheming us up — max protection, double/triple move. And Eddie Royal had caught a couple balls against me that game.

And I tell you what, I don’t know if Jay (in last season’s Bears-Redskins game) was like ‘I’m going to keep going at him, I don’t care what’s going on.’ And the first half, I didn’t have an interception, a pass breakup or nothing, and then to come out in the second half against those guys and get four interceptions. Man, I’ve never had more than two in a game, so to go out and get four in a half, I was like ‘man, this is unreal! I’m on the sideline like ‘wow, this is pretty amazing!’”

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