NFL postpones supplemental draft; no new date scheduled

NEW YORK -- The NFL supplemental draft originally scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed.

NFL spokesman Michael Signora confirmed Tuesday that the draft will not be held as planned and that teams have been told a new date hasn't yet been set.

At least five players, including former Georgia running back Caleb King, are known to be eligible for the supplemental draft.

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor gave up his final season following an NCAA investigation of the Buckeyes' football program. He wants to get into the draft, but as of Tuesday afternoon, he hadn't yet been declared eligible for it.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Attorney: NCAA cleared UNC's Coples for attending draft parties

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- An attorney for North Carolina's Quinton Coples said Tuesday the NCAA found no wrongdoing by the defensive lineman, who attended NFL draft parties with ex-teammates Robert Quinn and Marvin Austin. Quinn and Austin, both of whom were drafted this year, previously had been suspended for rules violations.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Orr said the NCAA notified him in a phone call Monday that its review was closed. The NCAA had spoken with Coples in May after photos surfaced of him with former Tar Heels Austin and Quinn at a party in Washington, D.C.

Austin was kicked off the team, and the NCAA ruled Quinn permanently ineligible during the probe into improper benefits and academic misconduct.

Quinn was selected 14th overall by the St. Louis Rams in April's NFL draft, while the New York Giants picked Austin in the second round (52nd overall).

Orr said the NCAA never alleged Coples broke any rules.

Coples was third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 10 sacks during the 2010 season.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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UFL's Omaha Nighthawks looking at ex-Rams draft pick Crouch

OMAHA, Neb. -- Eric Crouch is giving pro football another try.

The 2001 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Nebraska is among 70 players participating in a minicamp this week for his hometown Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.

Crouch was a 2002 third-round NFL draft choice of the St. Louis Rams, who projected him as a receiver, and he walked out of training camp and announced his retirement after he wasn't given a chance at quarterback.

He hasn't played since 2006, when he was a quarterback for three games with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. Since then, Crouch, 32, has run a playground equipment company and sold medical supplies in Omaha and done a little broadcasting.

"I don't think I'll ever get football 100 percent out of my system," Crouch said Wednesday. "I don't think that will ever happen. Maybe it will. I know I'm going to be a little bit rusty and I'll be a little bit behind. I feel I can go in and help the team win."

Crouch has been working out with former Nebraska players in Lincoln, Neb., in recent weeks, but he didn't decide until Tuesday to accept the Nighthawks' invitation.

"I think Eric recognizes he hasn't played in a while and he's rusty," coach Joe Moglia said. "He's done a great job of keeping in shape. He's not in game shape. But at the end of the day, there wouldn't be the remotest chance Eric would be doing this unless he was taking it seriously and wanting to truly give this his very, very best shot."

The UFL is entering its third year as a haven for players who were cut in NFL training camps and veterans who want to get back to the NFL.

The 2010 Nighthawks featured Pro Bowlers Jeff Garcia, Cato June and Ahman Green, plus former Ohio State star Maurice Clarett. Garcia and Green no longer are on the roster, and Moglia acknowledged that Crouch's addition would be good for public relations.

Crouch grew up and played high school football in Omaha before becoming Nebraska's third Heisman Trophy winner. After leaving St. Louis, Crouch tried out with the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs and played a season in NFL Europe before landing in Canada.

"Since leaving Nebraska," he said, "it's been a less-than-stellar professional career, hopping from team to team, league to league, having injuries and uncertainty."

The other quarterbacks in the Nighthawks' minicamp are last year's backup, D.J. Shockley, who played collegiately at Georgia, and rookie Jeremiah Masoli, who played at Oregon and Mississippi.

Crouch said the seven practices over four days will tell him how much he still wants to play -- and whether the Nighthawks want to invite him to training camp next month.

Unlike other UFL players, Crouch isn't looking to play in the NFL. Married with two young children, Crouch said he wants to play the sport he loves in the city where he lives.

"I'm a very competitive person, and I've never yet won a championship -- little league, high school, college or professionally," he said. "There's something about being on a championship football team. That still drives me. Maybe it sounds quirky, but that's the competitive drive in me."

Crouch expects to be mocked for trying to revive his football career again.

"I'm really not concerned too much with how people will perceive my decision," he said. "Life is short, and you have to enjoy what you're doing, and I've always enjoyed football. I really truly feel I still have the skill set to play it."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Polian: Colts could select Manning's successor in this draft

Peyton Manning has made 11 Pro Bowls, won the NFL's Most Valuable Player award a league-record four times and claimed one Super Bowl championship. He was the MVP in that game, too.

Manning also ranks third in NFL history in passing yards (54,828) and touchdowns (399). But he's 35 years old, meaning the Indianapolis Colts now must think about the previously unthinkable: life without their surefire Hall of Fame quarterback.

Colts vice chairman Bill Polian told The Indianapolis Star in a story in Saturday's editions that the team would consider taking a quarterback in this month's draft "in the right situation" because Manning is entering the twilight of his career.

Why are the Colts looking at young QBs? Steve Wyche explains why it's not premature to find and groom Peyton Manning's successor in Indianapolis. More...

"Quarterback's an issue, probably not a front-burner issue, but an issue nonetheless because while Peyton's not at the end of his career, it's approaching faster than it has in the past," Polian said.

Manning's future became a hot topic after Colts owner Jim Irsay last month expressed frustration over the quarterback not signing the team's league-high contract offer. The Colts also have worked out two quarterbacks, TCU's Andy Dalton and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick, while preparing for the draft.

The Colts own the 22nd overall pick, but Polian wouldn't fully commit to using it on a quarterback. That might be why the team looked at Dalton and Kaepernick, whom many consider to be second-round prospects at best.

"I don't know that you're going to find his eventual replacement drafting 22nd," said Polian, whose Colts have six total picks in the draft. "And whether or not you would use that choice on a quarterback in an unsettled labor situation, where you don't know what kind of contract that's going to be signed, is another issue. That said, I don't think you can dismiss it."

The Colts haven't used a first-round pick on a quarterback since taking Manning No. 1 overall in 1998. Their current backup, Curtis Painter, was a sixth-round selection in 2009, but if the Colts want to groom Manning's eventual successor, they might need to spend a higher draft pick to do it.

When to pull the trigger is the big question.

"You don't know," Polian said, "but you know it's sometime soon. You begin to think about it."

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Panthers secure worst record, top pick in April's draft

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It took a rare Sunday off for the Carolina Panthers to finally win something big this season -- the No. 1 overall draft pick.

The Panthers are on the clock for April's draft after wins by Cincinnati and Denver allowed Carolina to clinch the league's worst record.

The Broncos (4-11) rallied with 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Houston 24-23, while the Bengals (4-11) got four touchdown passes from Carson Palmer to beat San Diego 34-20 in the snow for their second straight win.

That meant with one week left in the season, nobody can match Carolina (2-13) for futility in the NFL this season.

The only other time the Panthers have had the No. 1 pick -- before their inaugural season in 1995 -- they traded it away for more picks.

Now the question is: Will they draft another quarterback?

The Panthers drafted Jimmy Clausen in the second round of this year's draft, but the former Notre Dame star has struggled to lead the NFL's worst offense. Clausen has a league-low 56.8 passer rating and has thrown just two touchdown passes and eight interceptions while getting little support from an inexperienced group of receivers after Steve Smith.

The Panthers managed 119 yards -- second-fewest in team history -- in a 27-3 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Sunday's results mean the Panthers' season finale next week at Atlanta won't have any draft impact as John Fox likely coaches his final game. Owner Jerry Richardson has denied Fox a contract extension.

Carolina's good draft positioning won't spill over into the second round.

New England, not Carolina, will pick 33rd overall. The Panthers traded their 2011 second-round pick to the Patriots last April for an extra third-round pick so they could take Armanti Edwards. The former Appalachian State quarterback was converted to receiver and has spent most of the season deactivated on game days.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Browns add DL Mitchell from Vikes in exchange for draft pick

The Cleveland Browns added depth to their defensive line Tuesday by acquiring Jayme Mitchell from the Minnesota Vikings, league sources told NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora.

The Browns sent a late-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft to the Vikings in return for the fifth-year pro out of Mississippi.

Mitchell, 26, played in 23 games over his first two seasons with Minnesota before a preseason knee injury wiped out his 2008 campaign.

Mitchell appeared in five games for the Vikings in 2009, including the NFC title game against the New Orleans Saints. He has one sack in two games this season.

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