The Oakland Raiders were in search of a pass rusher for the next season and they signed Kalimba Edwards, the defensive end. The contract is for two years and Raiders had spent $ 5 million for the deal. Edwards was playing for Detroit Lions in the last season. Edwards was picked out from South Carolina in 2002 at the second round and he has played six seasons in the NFL.

In these six years he made 26 sacks and 10 forced fumbles. His best NFL season was in 2005 with seven sacks, which is his career high. Last year he played only eight games as he had an injured knee. Raiders were in search of a pass rusher ever since Chris Clemens left the team. The team wanted a player who can support the left end Derrick Burgees. The Oakland Raiders had only 27 sacks in the NFL last season and are trying to upgrade the team this season.

Heath Benedict, an offensive lineman representing Newberry College in South Carolina, was found dead on a couch in his home on Wednesday evening. The police have said that they did not suspect any foul play in his death and have sent the body to a medical examiner in a bid to determine the cause of death of the player. Benedict had taken part in the recently concluded Senior Bowl and had a really good outing in the Bowl. He had left his school to train for the NFL Draft that is to take place next month.

Benedict was one of the best offensive tackle in his team and was invited into the NFL Combine last month. Newberry President Mick Zais said that Benedict was a big, tough man at 6 foot 5 and 326 pounds, but was very kind at heart. Benedict said in a recent interview that he was looking forward to stepping into the big NFL league and wanted to lock horns with the big guns at the NFL.

The audition for the cheer leaders of San Diego chargers is set for April 13th -17. The cheer girls are expected to perform high standard dancing and will have to involve with the community. The Chargers feel that their cheerleaders should possess high professionalism and should behave properly on and off the ground. The preliminary round of selection includes the dancing ability, capacity to present oneself in an appealing way, etc. The final round of audition consists of dance round and a personal interview.

The attraction of becoming a cheer leader is the thrill in performing in front of more than 70,000 people; chance to participate in the photo shoot for the annual swimsuit calendar, media exposure, chance to work as ambassadors for the San Diego Community, etc. The minimum age for applying as cheerleader is 18 and there is no upper age limit. They should be able to adjust to the schedule of the team and should make a one –year commitment.

The Washington Redskins have remained quiet for the three weeks of the free agency and intend to follow a wait and watch policy in this year’s free agency. They are focusing on the NFL Draft that will come up very shortly on the 26th and 27th of April. The head coach of the Redskins, Jim Zorn, says that he does not find anything in the hot list right now in the free agency and will surely look into the matter if anything hot turns up. Only wide receiver D. J. Hackett has made a visit to the Redskins since the start of free agency on Feb 29th and finally signed a 2 year deal with Carolina. The coach said that wide receiver is the need of the hour for the Redskins and he will be hunting for one in the draft.

Zorn is having his watchful eyes on Redskin players who have started their off-season workouts recently and said that Anthony Mix of Auburn is a great wide receiver and will get his opportunity when the time comes. Zorn has said that he is overall pretty comfortable with the Redskin roster as of now and will be looking forward to have a even better season than what they had last year.

Jerry Rice is very impressed with the performance of DeSean Jackson that he is taking personal interest in getting him an early entry in the NFL draft. Jerry Rice feels that Jackson has all the talent to reach the NFL. The former star of Golden Bears is giving him proper coaching on football as well as for facing life matters. Jerry Rice, well known for his receiving ability in the game in the history of NFL, is making sure that Jackson reaches his next level in the game. Jackson has high regards for Rice and says that he is his mentor and inspiration in the game.

Jackson and Rice were coupled together by the management firm, DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment. Jackson and Rice started being together in Pensacola before the NFL combine, and continued their meetings in the Bay Area, their hometown. Rice is trying to impart the professionalism and appropriate use of speed into Jackson. Jackson has the best NFL combine timing for a receiver in the 40 yard dash, but Rice feels that he should know how to control the speed according to the need. According to Rice, the speed and the will are the greatest advantage that Jackson possesses that will take him a far distance in the NFL.

The deadline for signing free agents is approaching and the Dallas Cowboys that had lost three of its unrestricted free agents has not made any major move to sign any players. But the Dallas Cowboys signed the linebacker Zach Thomas, made $43.8 deal lasting for 6years with Flozell Adams and made restricted tenders for Marion Barber and Chris Canty prior to the free-agent signing term. Cowboys have kept it low during the free agency and players like Keith Davis, Julius Jones and Jacques Reeves have left Dallas. Now only unrestricted free agent remains with Cowboys, Cornerback Nate Jones. This veteran is the backup corner and has been a major contributor of the special team from 2004.

Davis Keith who left the team for Dolphins was the Captain of the special team last year and if the Cowboys cannot keep Jones with them, it will be the second major loss to their special team. The Cowboys Vice President Stephen Jones seems to be not bothered about not signing any free agents. He says Cowboys has many own boys to sign as they have won 13 games and has 13 pro-bowlers in the team. The team management wants to re–sign most of its players, like Marion Barber and Chris Canty, who are in the final years of the contract.

The Philadelphia Eagles fans are not happy with the offense present in the team and are demanding the team to sign up new offense in the team. But things are pretty slow in free agency and hence, Eagles are yet to get an offense. The team management thinks that their offenses has improved this year and are counting on the performance of Donovan McNabb. The team is expecting this quarterback to play at his best this year. Success of Eagles mainly depends on McNabbs Pro-bowl level performance. Another strong player is the tight end L.J Smith and Eagles have retained him for the year 2008 using the franchise tag.

There is a gap to be filled in the starting job as Thomas Tapeh, the fullback signed with Minnesota team. The linemen are also better in health compared to the last season. But the nagging question is whether the Eagles are capable of producing victory in Super Bowl with the present players. The coaching staff is hopeful that the offensive line will regain their form and do well in the coming games. The free agency time is running out and the probability of finding a good enough offense is decreasing day by day. So, the Eagles have to act fast or else they will have to regret the loss.

Rock Cartwright spent one week in free agency before deciding to re-sign with the Washington Redskins to play for them in the seventh consecutive season. He is one of the most popular players for the Redskins and has cemented his position as a primary kick returner for the last couple of seasons. He had total yardage of 3,157 yards in the last season and got placed in the fourth position of all time franchisee’s kick off return. Rock Cartwright is hoping to spend more time at the running back position for the Redskins this season and his record at the running back position stands at 6 touchdowns and 647 yards in his 6 year stint so far at the NFL.

Cartwright first burst into the big stage with the Redskins in the year 2002 when they signed him from the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft and since then has been playing in the NFL for the Washington Redskins. He stands third in the running back depth chart behind teammates Portis and Betts. Cartwright had said earlier that he wished and hoped that his career ends playing for the Redskins and is all praise for the organization and the fans of this club.

The Tennessee Titans has made a two year contract with Jevon Kearse last Thursday. The coach of Tennessee Titans, Jeff Fisher has plans to make use of this 31 year old player as the defensive end of the team, which is almost vacant after the free agents like Travis La Boy and Antwan Odom left the team. Kearse started his career in NFL with the Tennessee Titans and his return to the team is a big relief in filling up the gap in the team. Earlier he served Titans as the defensive Rookie after being selected to the team in 1999 draft. In that season, the Titans were able to reach the Super Bowl.

He left Titans in 2004 as a free agent for the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, Kearse is happy to come back to the Tennessee as he is getting a chance to finish his career from where he had started. Kearse was more successful while he was with the Titans and is eager to be re-united with the Titans. In 2006, he suffered knee injury and was unable to play many matches. In late 2007, he was again out of the game and was released from Eagles as salary cap cut.

Broncos are having a pair of siblings in the team with the addition of Boss Bailey. His brother Champ Bailey is already in the team of Denver Broncos as corner back. With this addition the Denver is having a pair of brothers for the third time in the club roster. Boss Bailey was with the Lions earlier and the details regarding the deal of Boss with Broncos is not revealed yet. Champ Bailey is very much excited about playing with his brother. Champ Bailey is sure that his brother can create a great impact on team’s defense with the adaptability and speed he poses in the game.

For Boss, it was a tough path to gain accomplishment in National Football League as he has suffered problems with his knee ligaments at a very young age itself. He had to keep away from play throughout the year 2004 due to torn meniscus in the right knee. In 2005 he returned to the game to win Lions’ Ed Block Award for courage. The Bailey brothers are the third pair of siblings following Danenhauer brothers and Widell brothers to get into the Broncos. Boss Bailey is coming to Denver after a five year experience in the NFL season and he has missed only one game in the last two years.