A source close to the Dallas Cowboys said that the team will allow DE Marcus Spears and S Gerald Sensabaugh to test the waters as free agents before offering them contracts, if they do offer them deals at all. Spears said during the season that he would like to return and is looking for a long-term deal. He has eight sacks and sixteen tackles for loss in his career. Sensabaugh tied for the team lead in interceptions with five last season. Despite that production, the Cowboys are looking to retool their entire secondary.

Peter King reports that "it's very likely" that whenever the NFL and the NFL Player's Association agree to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it will include a return back to the rule that fourth and fifth year players who are not tagged with either the franchise or transition tag will become unrestricted free agents. This would change the free agent landscape in numerous ways, with one of the major impacts being seen in players like Minnesota WR Sidney Rice who received neither tag from their current squad.

According to his agent Drew Rosenhaus, Vikings WR Sidney Rice will not sign with the team until after he tests the waters of free agency. This news follows quickly after reporting that the Vikings offered Rice a long-term extension and shortly before the potential expiration of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement on March 3, which would stop any negotiation between Rice and the Vikings for the duration of any lockout.

Former Titans coach Jeff Fisher has accepted an invitation from the league to serve as a consultant to the NFL's Competition Committee, according to the Tennessean. Fisher, who had been co-chairman of the committee with Falcons president Rich McKay, was dismissed as Titans coach earlier this month. "I wanted to have an opportunity to stay involved," Fisher said. "I am very close with all the members on the committee and the support staff. You can imagine the time we've spent together over the years, it's almost been like a second job. To be able to continue to participate, it is exciting to me."

Some have labeled Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley a "dirty player" and he addressed the label on Sunday. "I haven't really met with a team yet, but I have talked to the media, and how I've addressed it is everybody's entitled to their opinion," Fairley said. "A lot of folks out there say I play the game the way it should be played. I hit a light switch when I hit the field and don't turn it off 'til I leave. "I don't think I took plays off," Fairley added. "I think I play the game as it should be played. I play with a high motor. I've been playing football since I was 8 years old, and every time I hit the field, my motor was always running."

Cam Newton came away "frustrated" with his workout at the combine in Indianapolis on Sunday. Newton disappointed, overthrowing a number of receivers. "I underestimated the timing aspect of playing quarterback," Newton said. "You had receivers from the SEC, the SWAC, the MAC. ... I was somewhat frustrated, but at the same time, I was having fun out there." Newton wants to show more consistency during Auburn's pro day March 8.

Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard believes NFL owners and players are making progress on a new collective bargaining agreement and that next year's Super Bowl will still be played at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I like the fact they got the mediator in there, and they're meeting seriously," Ballard said. "I'm sure they're closer than they have been in the past. They're kind of keeping it to themselves right now because they don't want to have any extra pressure on them right now." NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith and league officials have not provided updates on negotiations before federal mediator George Cohen. The current collective bargaining agreement will expire on Thursday.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin says he wants to see Brandon Jacobs carry the football more. New York has told Ahmad Bradshaw that they want to re-sign him, but he may have to agree to a lesser role. Coughlin told reporters that Jacobs should have received more work in 2010 when he carried the ball only 147 times, his smallest workload since 2006. ?You look at the end of the year numbers, you'd want him to have a few more carries," Coughlin said. "Brandon was fresher than he's ever been, healthier than he's ever been and probably needs to carry the ball a little bit more." He averaged 5.6 yards per carry.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo likes his team, but he doesn't feel they are "one player away" from a Super Bowl. "We're not one player away," Angelo said. "We need to get better at positions, we need to upgrade, create more competition and then we've got to come together as a team." Chicago lost to Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game and has already signed coach Lovie Smith to a contract extension.

The relationship between the Redskins and running back Clinton Portis appears to be over. According to a league source, Washington could release Portis as early as Monday. "I know I got good football left in me," Portis told reporters on Wednesday. "I think being fresh, having been really in the last two years not having a lot of contact, I think the two injuries -- going out with a concussion, and then the torn groin -- was really fluke injuries. I don't think that's a wear and tear, like, 'Oh his body broke down.' I think that was just fluke injuries."