It's no secret that this year's draft class is weak, especially at the quarterback position. That assessment is, obviously, based solely on college observations, but there seems to be a lack of confidence in this year's quarterback class to perform at a high level in the NFL.

Consider what Gil Brandt told Peter King of SI.com.

"I think if Ryan Tannehill were in this draft, he'd be the top pick," Brandt told King on Monday. "And he was [eighth] last year."

To be fair, I'm not sure Tannehill would have been rated above Geno Smith based on his college performance, but the early returns the Dolphins have seen in regard to Tannehill have been positive. Based on Tannehill's transition to the pro game, it's hard to argue against Brandt's assessment.

The value in this year's quarterback class is in the second and third rounds. If Geno Smith is picked early, he'll drive up the value of Matt Barkley, and that could trigger a run on quarterbacks in the second round, making it nearly impossible to get great value at the position. For many teams, it may be better to wait another year and fill their quarterback openings with stop-gap players.

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Since being released by the Pittsburgh Steelers, James Harrison has had very limited, if any, employment opportunities in the NFL. The Steelers and Harrison tried to negotiate a lower salary for the 35-year-old linebacker, but the two sides couldn't agree on terms, and Harrison effectively decided to take his chances in free agency.

Now, James Harrison is being courted by the Cincinnati Bengals, according to Mike Garafolo and Joe Reedy of USA Today.

According to Garafolo and Reedy, Harrison was scheduled to meet with the Bengals today, and should the Bengals decide to bring Harrison on board, it could give Cincinnati's coaches some inside information about their division rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Any deal that the Bengals, or any other team for that matter, make with Harrison will likely be a somewhat short-term contract, probably one or two years. While Harrison is 35-years-old, he's also still an effective player. His last two seasons have been hampered by injury, but if he's healthy, he can create havoc in the backfield.

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Yesterday, it was brought to my attention that the Bears had issued the number 50, the number worn by Mike Singletary, to James Anderson. The significance was that Singletary's former number has not been issued by the Bears in two decades. The Bears have 13 numbers retired, the most in the NFL, and it got me thinking. Should numbers in the NFL ever be retired?

Retiring numbers is a sketchy business. If the NFL survives long enough, and some would argue it won't survive too many more decades, players deserving of having their numbers retired won't ever see those numbers permanently hung up simply because teams will run out of numbers to actually wear. The other possibility is that numbers will have to be brought out of retirement.

Obviously, speaking of a time when numbers can't be retired out of necessity or when numbers are brought out of retirement is like speaking of the time when global warming floods much of the coastal areas of the world. It probably won't happen in our life times.

In my mind, numbers should never be fully retired, except in rare instances. For example, the number 18 in Indianapolis may never be worn again. The number 12 in New England carries the same type of legacy. Outside of those two instances, I can't think of another player in the NFL that deserves to have his number fully retired.

Instead, I suggest numbers be reserved, as was number 50 in Chicago. It was never officially retired, but it was not worn. This alternative is a way to honor great players while leaving their jersey open to use. In my mind, there's just other, and often better, ways of honoring great players than by simply putting their jersey away for good.

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For the second consecutive offseason, Peyton Manning is at Duke University training before the real stuff gets rolling. And this year, he's joined by some NFL peers including Broncos receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, who are along for the ride. 

Not a free ride, though. At least that's what Decker must have been thinking when he received this very real-looking $3,217.50 invoice from Duke, which he tweeted out late last night...

In case you can't see the fine details, "Duke" was attempting to "charge" Decker $100 for laundry services, $200 for taping and $300 in facility fees. 

Nicely done, Peyton. And Manning covered his tracks, too, but sending this warning to Thomas, as well as Victor Cruz, Louis Murphy and Vinny Rey, all of whom are with the Manning brothers in Raleigh, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen...

(NFL.com)

Nick Saban didn't exactly leave the NFL on good terms. After repeatedly saying he wouldn't be going to Alabama to become the school's new head coach, he left Miami and joined Alabama.

Still, Nick Saban is a great college coach, and he knows how to run a great college defense. In college, that also means stopping the read-option.

Saban told ESPN that NFL coaches were coming to him to brainstorm how they might stop read-option teams such as the 49ers. "Several NFL coaches have come to visit this year to say, ‘How do you stop these guys?’ Because they’re not accustomed to seeing that," Saban said.

It's no surprise that coaches are talking to college level coaches, trying to find a way to stop read-option offenses. While I don't see the read-option catching on in a full scale way, teams that play in the division of such teams, such as teams in the NFC West, have to be able to stop divisional opponents.

While the success Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson experienced last season is unquestionable, there aren't many quarterbacks that have the athletic skill set to run a read-option offense at the speed of the NFL. Geno Smith may be able to run such an offense, but there's no guarantee his future coaches will want him running the ball on a regular basis.

Coaches in the NFL also don't want their quarterbacks taking unnecessary hits, especially if their quarterback is an effective passer. With so much going against the read-option at the NFL level, it's implementation will likely remain on a very limited scale.

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The Buccaneers are entering their second season under head coach Greg Schiano, and their biggest question remains unanswered. What is the right move in regards to their starting quarterback Josh Freeman? Should they move on? Should they simply add a challenger to their roster?

Over the past couple seasons, Josh Freeman's progression has stopped, and now it's moving the wrong direction. Over that time period, Freeman has thrown 43 touchdowns and 39 interceptions. While that ratio does remain touchdown heavy, it's nearly a 1:1 rate. That won't get it done in the NFL.

In addition to turning the ball over, Josh Freeman's completion percentage plummeted in 2012, going from 62.8% in 2011 to just 54.8% last season. That's not far from the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

While the option to begin moving on from Freeman may be tempting for the Buccaneers, it wouldn't be a wise move at this junction. Josh Freeman had to deal with new coaches and a new system a season ago. That being said, adding another quarterback to the roster that could push Freeman for the starting job wouldn't be a bad decision by the Buccaneers.

At just 25 years old, the Buccaneers shouldn't give up on Josh Freeman just yet. He's shown some very real potential in his time in the NFL, and while last season was a step back, the stability of working with familiar coaches shouldn't begin paying off this season. If his production doesn't show noticeable improvement in 2013 however, we may be having this talk again next offseason.

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Tim Tebow hijacked much of the 2011 NFL season and the entire 2012 offseason, save for a few days that featured the bounty scandal and Peyton Manning's free-agent tour. But it's astonishing how little we've heard about Tebow in 2013. 

But now that the free-agent frenzy is out of the way and there's a very mini lull here before the draft becomes all the rage during the latter half of April, we're starting to hear chatter regarding the world's most famous backup quarterback. NFL.com's Ian Rapoport mentioned on Twitter Tuesday that he's hearing it's unlikely Tebow is a member of the New York Jets come training camp, which means Tebow could either join his third NFL team in four years or land in another league or profession. 

The Jets have reportedly been trying to trade Tebow, but I can't imagine there's a lot of value there considering that Oakland and Seattle were only able to land late-round draft picks in exchange for actual starting-caliber guys like Carson Palmer and Matt Flynn earlier this month. 

Despite the fact the Rams were reportedly interested in dealing for Tebow last year, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that they're out. Eventually, the Jets might simply have to release him.

The question, at that point, will be who -- if anybody -- will be willing to take a chance on Tebow. Can he contribute as a depth quarterback and maybe even as a specialty back or tight end? Sure, but there's a decent chance nobody will want to take on the Tebow Circus. If someone doesn't become desperate, Tebow could take a crack at the Canadian Football League, where the Montreal Alouettes own his rights and his skill set could actually be somewhat beneficial (although not likely in strictly a quarterback role).

The thing about Tebow, though, is that he's probably capable of making significantly more money as an unemployed quarterback/public speaker/paid celebrity in the United States than he is as a maybe-starter in Canada. He has said he wants to keep playing football regardless, and there's always time for the rest of that after his career, but those surrounding Tebow might not be fully on board with a trip north of the border.

Colts owner Jim Irsay and his team have been very active in free agency this year, but the team won't be active in paying for a suite upgrade at Lucas Oil Stadium. According to Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star, the city, not the team, will be paying the $2 million bill for upgrades to the stadium's suites.

It's strange that Indianapolis will be paying for the upgrades, and this will no doubt be a complaint of some residents their. The Colts have been treated very well in regards to their stadium situation since making the move from Baltimore in 1984. This new round of upgrades just drives that point home.

"My question is: Why is the city paying for something that the Colts are just going to make money off of?" City Council member Zach Adamson said, via the Indy Star.  "We’re going back to a situation where the Colts are coming back to the city with their hands out, asking for more of what is limited."

What councilman Adamson says is a fair point to make, but here's the problem. The Colts will continue to come to the city for money as long as the city continues to say yes to such requests. If the city of Indianapolis wants to see the Colts spend some money on their own stadium, the city needs to start refusing to hand over piles of cash. It's really that simple.

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Free agency has been strange this offseason. It started with some of the normal big-name contracts, but has sense cooled. The remaining big-name players that didn't sign quickly seem to be left out in the cold. Teams just aren't willing to sign aging veterans to huge contracts.

Eric Winston is one such veteran. Winston said on Sirius XM NFL Radio that his asking price is anything over $3 million. The problem is that he won't be getting that kind of money, at least not until someone's right tackle goes down with an injury.

James Harrison has experienced similar problems after being cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harrison and the Steelers couldn't agree on a lowered salary price, and Harrison essentially decided to take his chances on free agency. While we're not sure exactly what the Steelers were offering, it's undoubtedly higher than anything Harrison will garner in free agency.

These veterans, among others, are suffering because teams, for whatever reason, seem unwilling to build through free agency. Instead, teams are building through the draft, largely because it is seen as a more sustainable model for building a team.

Teams know that veterans' asking price will fall as training camp approaches, especially guys like Winston, who is 29 years old with plenty of good play left in him. A player with so much good football left will almost certainly accept $2 million to play a season than sit out and make no money at all. Free agency is being used as a way to plug holes, and players will have to adjust their asking price accordingly to land on a roster.

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Quarterbacks. They get far too much positive attention when their teams win and far too much negative attention when their teams lose. That's why Joe Flacco is now a legend with the biggest contract in NFL history while Tony Romo and Philip Rivers toil to gain the favor of local fans despite the fact their individual accomplishments tower over anything Flacco's done. 

Rivers, it was said last week by U-T San Diego columnist Kevin Acee, is running out of time to prove that he can take the Chargers to the promised land. It's a new regime in San Diego -- one with zero ties to Rivers -- and the Chargers have gone three straight years without making the playoffs, going 24-24 in that span. 

Rivers' numbers have dropped off the last two seasons and he's certainly had his interception troubles, but it occurs to me that Rivers hasn't exactly received a lot of support from his teammates of late. Are the Chargers failing to win because of Rivers or in spite of Rivers?

The offensive line surrendered 50 sacks in 2012, earning a Pro Football Focus ranking as the second-worst pass-protecting line in the league. The previous staff let key offensive cogs like Darren Sproles and Vincent Jackson walk and the defense has lost its teeth, putting extra pressure on Rivers. The rest of the AFC West has improved immensely, while the Chargers have stood still. 

Only nine percent of the offensive players on the field play quarterback. There are hundreds of factors that go into deciding which teams are good and which are bad. Quarterbacks play a role -- a big one -- but not the only one. Rivers needs to work on his decision making, but he also needs more support. And even if things don't turn around completely in 2013, the Chargers might not be any better off with whatever they can find in the draft or on the open market. 

My point is that the grass is always seemingly greener on the other side at times like these, but that's actually rarely the case. Rivers is still a much-better-than-average quarterback., but he's not in a good spot. 

One thing that's becoming obvious: The best thing Eli Manning ever did was refuse to play for the Chargers.