Winter Vacation

I'm not talking about getting away to Australia for 3 weeks like my stupid brother. I wish...

No, I'm talking about the short break that we've had in the NFL season since the New Orleans Saints hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in Miami just over two weeks ago. From there, we fast forward to the present, and the path to the NFL Draft.

But before we get to the draft, there's a whole bunch of things going on that you can pay attention to if you need your NFL fix (like me).

Starting February 24, the NFL Scouting Combine gets underway, which pretty much works as the NFL's job fair for prospective players. Players are put through a series of tests, drills, and interviews with over 600 NFL personnel. NFL.com's Pat Kirwan writes about 10 players to watch at the combine here.

The end of February and early March also is the time when teams begin to place the franchise tag on players, and conversely begin releasing players into the free agent market. The Carolina Panthers said recently that they will not be placing the franchise tag on defensive tackle Julius Peppers, and he willl be one of the most attractive free agents on this year's market.

Recently, the San Diego Chargers released future hall-of-fame running back Ladanian Tomlinson, and today we learned that the Philadelphia Eagles will release Pro-Bowl running back Brian Westbrook. It seems that there is a growing crop of free agent runinng backs who are past 30 years old, and this figures to be one of the prominent themes for the upcoming offseason. It will be interesting to see which teams will be interested in signing the likes of Tomlinson, Westbrook, and others like Larry Johnson, Chester Taylor, and even Thomas Jones if the New York Jets decide to part ways with their aging running back.

There's a lot to get excited about for this upcoming offseason which should be full of headlines and stories as per usual, and it all starts tomorrow with the first day of the NFL Scouting Combine. For other blogs, analysis, and information on this year's NFL Scouting Combine, visit www.nfl.com/combine.

Lunch time is over.

- Deacon Touchback