The NFL off-season remains about as active as we could expect for a league just 10 days from losing its Collective Bargaining Agreement, although both sides are still working on securing a new deal before the deadline. Will that happen? We have no idea. But the combine is starting up, and there’s other news to report on.

A big day in labor negotiations forthcoming… The sixth day of mediated labor talks were highlighted by an unconventional break at around 3:30 PM, which can lead to all kinds of speculation. The fact of the matter is we have no idea what’s going on as neither side has broken its vow of silence, and we won’t know until someone says something. But today (Thursday) should be a huge day in the talks. The NFL and NFLPA will meet in mediation for the seventh consecutive day (the final scheduled day of talks), and the “lockout insurance” case, surrounding the owners’ ability to collect money from TV contracts even without showing games, will be heard in court in front of Judge David Doty. We are admittedly underschooled on this issue, so listen to people who know what they’re talking about discuss the issue if [...]

Despite the labor situation, we have some off-season action right now as teams start to use their franchise tags. Three 2010-11 playoff teams have announced moves, including one of the most important QBs in the league.

Vick, Mankins, and Harris get franchise treatment … All three moves had been reported as pending before, but they’re now

As of now, Eagle QB Michael Vick will make about $20 million in 2011 thanks to the franchise tag, but things remain uncertain thanks to the labor dispute.

official: the Patriots have placed a franchise tag on G Logan Mankins, the Eagles did the same with QB Michael Vick, and the Jets did the same with LB David Harris. By being franchised, each player will make the average of the top 5 players at their respective position in 2011. That means about $10 million for Mankins, who made the Pro Bowl despite holding out the first seven games of the 2010 season. Vick will make about $20 million – a significant raise from $5.25 in 2010 – after taking the starting job from Kevin Kolb and emerging as the top fantasy player in the league by far (29.7 FPG). Harris will make about $10 million, and [...]

We start another week of the off-season with some trade speculation, more labor news, and unfortunately some legal issues for more than one player.

After spending the majority of the 2010 season backing up Michael Vick, Kevin Kolb has made it clear he wants to start somewhere in 2011.

Kevin Kolb would be open to a trade to the Cardinals … after he heard the flattering comments made by WR Larry Fitzgerald. Kolb threw some compliments back at Fitzgerald calling him “one of the best receivers” and a “superstar.” Kolb has said on multiple occasions that he wants to start somewhere in 2011 and hoped the Cardinals came up in trade discussions. With rumors swirling that Michael Vick will be franchised by the Eagles, Kolb could be stuck backing him up yet again, or the Eagles could look to move him for draft picks, although the current CBA situation makes that more difficult.

The NFL and NFLPA are expected to meet … sometime this week according to multiple sources. Negotiations broke down last Wednesday, but the two sides have continued to communicate and are expected to go through with a scheduled meeting during the week. Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke with owners [...]

Greetings everyone. The Fantasy Guru Daily is back for the week. And although we are now entering Super Bowl week, the other 30 teams in the NFL have been active as well. Here is a roundup from some of the top news of the past weekend.

Eagles plan to franchise Vick… This should come as no surprise, but it is nice to have some confirmation on it anyway. With Michael Vick approaching free agency, Philadelphia plans to put the franchise tag on its star QB so it can then listen to trade

The Eagles plan to extend their window on a contract for QB Michael Vick by placing the franchise tag on him.

offers for Kevin Kolb (who can’t be moved until a new CBA is in place), in whom many teams could have interest. But even if the Eagles don’t plan to trade Kolb, it makes sense to place the franchise tag on Vick; he had a fantastic season, but he’s injury prone and started to revert back to some of his troubling old tendencies from his Atlanta days. The Eagles likely want to see more development from him before committing a long-term extension.

Flacco angry about Zorn firing… We’ve heard a [...]

Another weekend, and another couple of interviews for Matt Camp and me on Sirius XM Fantasy Football (11 AM – 2 PM Saturday and Sunday on XM 147/Sirius 211). We broke down the Colts, and fought through some technical difficulties to grab the scoop on the Eagles. Here are some interesting tidbits we got:

Mike Chappell has covered the Colts for the Indianapolis Star since they arrived from Baltimore in 1984:

The big news from the generally quiet Colts this off-season was Peyton Manning’s neck surgery. Peyton has been dealing with neck pain for years, and the surgery seems to have relieved that. Chappell has seen Manning as sharp as ever in workouts and camps, and he raised an interesting point: If the neck pain was affecting Manning’s play, imagine how good he could be after the surgery. Scary.

Manning is also in a contract year, and Chappell confirms what we all know: Peyton is going nowhere. He’s talked to both Manning’s agent and GM Bill Polian, and it appears as if Manning’s new contract is a matter of when, not if. But the Colts very rarely do contracts BEFORE the season. They’ve done deals during the year (a la S Bob Sanders), [...]

Without elaborating on my background, let’s just say that I’ve been to a good share of Andy Reid press conferences in my day. And as a trained journalist, I soon found out that one Andy Reid press conference is more than enough to whet my appetite for clichés, catch phrases and non-answers.

That’s why it was so striking, to me, that Big Red admitted this week at the NFL Owners Meetings in Orlando that the Eagles have listened to offers for their three QBs.

It was a careful choice of words, of course. Reid’s exact quote said other teams “are entertaining [the Eagles] with offers,” and that the Eagles “are evaluating all of them.” But he reiterated that all “three quarterbacks are Philadelphia Eagles” at the present time. Reid did not mention Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick by name, and did not suggest there was any likelihood a deal would get done. But Reid is such a cork on the information within the Eagles’ bottle, it’s worth discussing that he said anything at all, as opposed to his signature “I’m not going to get into all that.”

Will Donovan McNabb be wearing different colors in 2010?

Higher-ups in the Eagle organization, [...]