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[warthog]

No calm before the storm: 8 morning nuggets
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal : Saturday, April 25, 2009 11:15 AM

With the draft starting later than ever this year (4PM), expect the pregame speculation to be cranked up this year. Tom Curran and I will be at Radio City telling you everything we hear. It's a beautiful morning in New York City, but there are few better ones to be parked in front of your computer. And television.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the Saturday morning news.

1. Michael Crabtree is atop the Packers' draft board, so he apparently won't slip any further than the ninth pick, no matter how great their receiver group is. They also like B.J. Raji better than the suddenly hot Tyson Jackson.

2. The Giants are planning to make one final phone call regarding Braylon Edwards when they are on the click. Despite reports to the contrary, this deal is not dead. A lot of times it takes the deadline of a clock to get something done. New York is willing to give up a second- and fifth-round pick, which is pretty fair if the Browns are so desperate to trade him.

3. The Panthers have received no trade offers for Julius Peppers. Considering an interested team will likely need to come up with a new contract, it's really unlikely we will see a deal involving Peppers.

4. The Rams may want to trade Marc Bulger. I'd be shocked if anyone wanted him. Watch some of his games from the last two years and you'll realize it was no all the offensive line's fault. They desperately need a quarterback, and that's why the Sanchez rumors make some sense.

5. Daunte Culpepper is expected to be Detroit's starter in Week 1, even after Matthew Stafford received the highest guaranteed money for any player in NFL history. Look for Stafford to take over around Detroit's Week 7 bye.

6. After the Eagles lost out on Tony Gonzalez, they may try to trade for Denver's Tony Scheffler.

7. The NFL has caught Twitter fever. Commissioner Roger Goodell is on board, and Rich Eisen is updating like a madman from the NFL Network set. The Patriots are going to announce their picks Via Twitter, possibly before we hear it in New York. I'm even cautiously dipping my toe in the water. I'll keep it to football, not how my morning run was.

8. ESPN and NFL Network kicked off 13 hours of coverage (13!) at 11AM. Deion Sanders just said 30% of the NFL smokes weed - bet the suits loved that. That's what you get with a five-hour "pregame." The rumors and smokescreens figure to heat up with them on the air.

http://blogs.nbcsports.com/home/archives/2...torm-8-mor.html