Michael Vick said Tuesday that the Philadelphia Eagles have exercised their 2010 option on him, meaning the quarterback will receive a $1.5 million roster bonus sometime this week.

NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported Sunday that the Eagles were expected to pick up the option.

That doesn’t necessarily guarantee Vick will return to the Eagles for another season, but a team source has maintained to La Canfora that Philadelphia expects Vick, starter Donovan McNabb and backup Kevin Kolb all to be in training camp this summer. Sources from two teams who would be in the market for a quarterback said last month that they don’t expect Vick to be dealt until the preseason, but NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi reported that the Eagles plan on keeping the quarterback and even might increase his role in the offense.

“The Eagles picking up the roster bonus, it’s a blessing for me, a blessing for my family,” Vick said Tuesday. “As far as I know, I’m a Philadelphia Eagle, and I will carry out the role I’ve been playing. We’ll see what happens. The entire organization knows I want to be a starter.”

Vick spoke in Baltimore, where he was honored as one of 32 NFL players to receive the Ed Block Courage Award. Outside the banquet hall where the ceremony was held, dozens of protesters expressed dismay over Vick’s nomination.

The award is presented to players who exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Each NFL team selects its own recipient, and Vick was picked as the Eagles’ winner by a unanimous vote of his teammates.

Once a star quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, Vick was convicted in 2007 for his role in a dogfighting ring and served 18 months in federal prison.

“I’m very humbled to be here,” Vick said before the award ceremony. “I’m blessed to be voted by my peers, to be here, and this is an opportunity that I will take advantage of and cherish forever.”

It was the first award that Vick received since being reinstated by the NFL in September 2009.

“It shows I’m making strides,” he said. “I’m trying to do the right thing.”

Police cars sat at every driveway of the parking lot, and security inside the building was heavier than usual at the 32nd annual event. Many of the protesters outside carried signs, one of which said, “No Award For Dog Killers.”

Erin Marcus, of Open The Cages Alliance, said, “I don’t think there has been enough time for him to show the proper remorse for what he’s done to animals.”

Many of the other Ed Block Award winners rebounded from serious injuries to excel, such as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae and Baltimore Ravens safety Dawan Landry. Vick, of course, had to bounce back from something entirely different.

“I think I do exemplify what this award stands for,” Vick insisted. “I think everybody has the right to their own opinion. But I feel like I’ve done everything that I said I would do, coming out and moving forward. My peers felt like I was doing the right thing, and that I display courage and sportsmanship and leadership. I value their opinion.”

Vick did more than just show up to collect a piece of hardware. He spent hours Monday and Tuesday speaking to kids at a community center and at the Baltimore Ravens Courage House, which houses abused children.

“It’s easy to see, when you spend a couple of days with Michael Vick, why his Philadelphia Eagles teammates picked him as the Courage Award winner,” Ed Block spokesman Paul Mittermeier said. “It’s been that impressive.”

Mittermeier said the Eagles will dedicate a Courage House in Philadelphia on Vick’s behalf next year.

Vick also has worked with The Humane Society of the United States, speaking at churches, schools and community groups about the poor judgment that he showed in being involved with dogfighting.

“Michael Vick approached us and said he wanted to be part of the solution instead of the problem,” Michael Markarian, executive vice president and CEO of the Humane Society, said before the event. “We asked him if he (could) do volunteer work, go to communities all over the country and talk to at-risk youth and try to steer them away from dogfighting.”

Markarian said Vick has told his story in “about a dozen” cities.

“The Humane Society of the United States was the toughest critic of Michael Vick when these allegations first came to light,” Markarian said. “But we want to find creative solutions to try to reach kids, particularly young men, who get pitbulls for the wrong reason. They are really moved after they hear Michael Vick’s story, and it turns them away from dogfighting.”

Which, to some, explains why Vick received the Ed Block Courage Award.

The award, named after longtime Baltimore Colts trainer Ed Block, was first presented in 1978.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After fathering seven children by six women in five states, you’d think Antonio Cromartie would have trouble finding a new partner.

The New York Jets not only have a crush on Cromartie, they’ll pay to help his bygones be bygones. You don’t have to be Dr. Laura to shriek the obvious question:

What are you thinking?

“We’re working with Antonio to give him the best chance to be successful,” Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said.

What they’re doing is having unprotected football sex. Unable to sign Tiger Woods, the Jets traded a third-round pick to San Diego for Cromartie. They not only got a cornerback, they got all the baggage that comes with being one tryst short of an Octo-dad.

That includes paternity-payment bills so large that Cromartie needed a $500,000 advance. All those mothers apparently couldn’t wait until his first paycheck in September to buy baby formula.

That gets to the real worry for Jets fans. If a guy is that irresponsible with his flesh-and-blood, what’s he going to be like with you?

Sure, general managers regularly invite players into their locker rooms whom they wouldn’t let within 100 yards of their daughters. But no team has consummated the kind of relationship New York has with Cromartie.

He couldn’t take care of his families on $1.7 million a year. What makes anyone think he’s suddenly going to grow up?

“I made some wrong decisions in my first two years in the league,” Cromartie said, “and I have to take on that responsibility.”

In other words, he’s a changed man. Where have a billion women heard that before?

“It took me awhile to man up and say, ‘I gotta do what I’m supposed to do and accept responsibilities.’ “
– Antonio Cromartie I’d like to give Cromartie, now entering his fifth season, the benefit of the doubt, but sheesh — seven “wrong decisions?”

After No. 2 or 3, I might invest in a box of condoms. After No. 4 or 5, I might investigate a vasectomy. You know they’re reversible, Antonio.

After No. 6, I might ask my agent to send me to Tiger’s sex-rehab clinic. After No. 7, one word:

Eunuch.

The most impressive thing is Cromartie planted all these seeds before he hit 25. If this keeps up, Shawn Kemp is going to have to come out of retirement to defend his procreation crown.

As prodigious as Kemp was, Seattle and Cleveland never had to front him paternity money. The Jets say they just want to help young Antonio get his life in order — and in the meantime help themselves to an ex-Pro Bowl talent.

This transaction has followed the traditional choreography: Player has character issues. Old team gets fed up and dumps him. Player says he’s turned over a new condom.

“It took me awhile to man up and say, ‘I gotta do what I’m supposed to do and accept responsibilities,’ ” Cromartie said. “I can’t point the finger at anybody else.”

Nice words. The problem is Cromartie said them before last season. He proceeded to have another disappointing year and point fingers at coaches, San Diego’s defensive scheme and even the training camp food.

Then there was the Chargers’ playoff game, when he barely pointed, much less lifted a finger to stop the Jets Shonn Greene on a 53-yard touchdown run. Cromartie is much better hitting on women than running backs.

He’s a football heartthrob who’ll break your heart. If you want to collapse in the playoffs, Cromartie is just the kind of character-challenged player you build your team around.

And now he’s going to New York? If he couldn’t behave himself in San Diego, what’s he going to do in the place that gave America its first official city condom?

That was in 2007, when the New York Health Department starting giving out free condoms at bars, restaurants, gyms, community centers and coffeehouses. No word if Cromartie demanded a machine in his locker.

By coincidence, the new condom cover was chosen this week. More than 15,000 online voters selected packaging with a computer power button. Look at your computer and you’ll see why.

If only they’d waited another week, voters might have been swayed and we’d have a cover featuring Broadway Antonio trying to intercept Ivanka Trump.

It’s not that Jets owner Woody Johnson wants another 32 mouths to feed at the company picnic. The team believes Rex Ryan will be a good influence on Cromartie.

The Jets are risking more than a third-round pick, however. They’re risking team chemistry, not to mention 70,000 irate fans throwing condoms at Cromartie the first time he ducks a tackle.

If New York really wanted to help Cromartie, it would treat him like the problem child he is. He’s never taken responsibility because he’s never had to. Let him file for fiscal, as well as moral, bankruptcy. Now, instead of making him see there are consequences to actions, the Jets have only encouraged more action.

Paternity-suit problems? No problem.

Maybe Cromartie really will be responsible this time. That’s what at least six women believed, only to eventually discover the truth.

When you hop into bed with Cromartie, your problems have just begun.

The Denver Broncos beefed up their defensive line Tuesday by signing end Jarvis Green and, as reported by NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi, tackle Jamal Williams.

Terms of the deals with the unrestricted free agents weren’t disclosed. The Broncos announced Green’s signing but didn’t say anything about Williams.

Green, who spent his first eight NFL seasons in New England, packs 285 pounds on his 6-foot-3 frame and is well versed in the 3-4 alignment that coach Josh McDaniels implemented in Denver last season after leaving Bill Belichick’s Patriots staff.

Last season, Green had 47 tackles in 13 games, including 12 starts. He has tallied 232 tackles and 28 sacks in 121 games since the Patriots drafted him in the fourth round out of LSU in 2002. He also has 36 tackles and five sacks in 15 playoff games.

Williams, who was released by the San Diego Chargers last week after 12 seasons, also had been scheduled to meet with the New Orleans Saints on Tuesday, a league source told NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora. Williams made three Pro Bowls during his time in San Diego.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Kansas City Chiefs have signed free-agent running back Thomas Jones, who led the New York Jets to the AFC Championship Game last season and was the NFL’s third-leading rusher.

Jones’ deal is for two years, NFL Network’s Steve Wyche learned Tuesday from a source with knowledge of the situation.

Jones, 31, had career highs of 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2009, but the Jets released him last week before he was due a $3.3 million bonus. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 2008 with 1,312 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Jones is expected to supplement third-year running back Jamaal Charles, who was led the Chiefs with 1,120 rushing yards and seven touchdowns last season.

Jones was drafted seventh overall in 2000 by the Arizona Cardinals. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003, went to the Chicago Bears in 2004 as a free agent and was traded to the Jets in 2007.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Late last week, the Minnesota Vikings lost their complementary back to superstar Adrian Peterson when Chester Taylor signed with division rival Chicago. Tuesday morning, reports began to surface that the Vikings were in talks with Taylor’s potential replacement: none other than former NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson. The interest was first reported in the Star Tribune and later ESPN’s Adam Shefter tweeted that the team and veteran running back were in talks — but that nothing is imminent.

Once released from the Chargers, many believed Tomlinson would seek out a starting job to prove he’s still capable of excelling as a featured back. If he does end up signing with the Vikings, questions about his ego should be brushed aside. There’s no way he’d be delusional enough to think he’d overtake Peterson on the depth chart — plus, he’d also be sharing the spotlight with iconic quarterback Brett Favre.

If things do progress and Tomlinson inks a deal with the Vikings, this would be a nice signing for both. Tomlinson will get to be utilized on a team who figures to win plenty of games and have another crack at reaching (and possibly winning) the Super Bowl. The Vikings will get their situational replacement to Peterson and, most importantly, that person would be someone who holds onto the football. Since the beginning of 2005, Tomlinson has carried the ball more 1,500 times and fumbled just eight times. Peterson has fumbled 20 times in 915 career carries.

Stay tuned, though, because Tomlinson is said to be in talks with other teams as well. He may indeed elect to be The Man instead of a role player with a chance at at title when all is said and done.

Thomas Jones, arguably the NFL’s most under-appreciated running back over the past few years, has yet another new home, now with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jones, who was released by the Jets on Friday, inked a two-year, $5 million deal that will pay him $3 million in 2010 and $2 million in 2011, with another $500,000 available for incentives, according to Adam Schefter on Twitter.

The logical thought that this is an insanely cheap contract is reasonable: however, bear in mind that Jones didn’t have a lot of leverage given the market (his main competition for the job was “Fast” Willie Parker, LaDainian Tomlinson and, um, Shaun Alexander?).

Additionally, the Chiefs won’t provide Jones the luxury of running behind as stout an offensive line as the Jets did, and it’s not like Jones is on the right side of the normal productivity line for running backs in the NFL: he’ll be 32 when the season begins and regardless of his career-high 1,402 yards in 2009, it became very apparent that Shonn Greene was the better back in New York by the end of the season.

Having said all that, Jones will provide Kansas City a very nice veteran backfield compliment to the emerging Jamaal Charles, without the Chiefs having to break the bank. Add in that he was easily the highest quality remaining free agent back, and this is a good move by KC.

Julius Peppers rules.

Yes, the Chicago Bears correctly spent $91.5 million with $20 million guaranteed on a dominating player who is age 30 and entering his ninth pro season.

But four other big-name unrestricted free agents who have grabbed top, guaranteed dollars with new teams fit this profile:

– An age of 27 or 28.

– Entering his sixth through eighth NFL season.

Teams are thinking big upswing with this kind of player.

Textured just enough. Green just enough. Seed planted by other franchises. His new club collects the bloom.

Cornerback Dunta Robinson (from Houston to Atlanta, $22.5 million guaranteed), linebacker Karlos Dansby (from Arizona to Miami, $22 million guaranteed), safety Antrel Rolle (from Arizona to the Giants, $15 million guaranteed) and receiver Nate Burleson (from Seattle to Detroit, $11 million guaranteed) fit this model. Robinson and Rolle are 27. Dansby and Burleson are 28. Rolle enters his sixth season. Robinson and Dansby enter their seventh and Burleson his eighth.

Teams would have spent more on younger prospects if the new, uncapped system for 2010 had not pushed free agency/player service requirements from four years of play to six. Those requirements reduced and aged the unrestricted free agent pool. Of this top-dollar quartet moving to new clubs, Rolle gives the Giants the freshest player in terms of fewest seasons.

Safety Darren Sharper thought he had a real shot with the Giants.

He just won Super Bowl XLIV with the New Orleans Saints. He just earned his fifth all-pro season with nine interceptions last season. He is tied for sixth with Ronnie Lott in career interceptions (63). No player has ever returned interceptions for more yards than Sharper did last season.

But here was his challenge with the Giants: Sharper is age 34 entering his 14th season compared with Rolle being seven years younger and eight seasons fewer of wear.

Sharper right now is a better safety than Rolle. But over the next few seasons, Rolle will clearly overtake him.

When does a player find that experience is no longer as much of an asset as being, simply, too old, too much of a risk?

The older player wants every ounce of long-term security. The team wants every protection from an older player instantly deteriorating. Teams say the clock for that day begins to tick faster at age 30, Peppers an apparent gigantic exception. And teams are always leery of older, talented players simply angling for that final, huge career payday.

Every NFL team mulls these kinds of questions when considering age 30-or-older free agents. Several players in that group — accomplished and talented players like Sharper — deal with the fallout.

“We were hoping some talks we were having with the Giants would work out, but they chose the younger guy,” Sharper said. “Now it’s just a matter of finding a place where the dollars make sense. An all-pro safety nowadays makes $6 million a year. I think I can play three more years. So, there you go.”

The Saints paid Sharper $1.7 million last season.

Had they placed a franchise tag on him, Sharper would have earned $6.455 million this season.

Age and price.

For Sharper and other free agent players in the 30-plus-age club, those two words might as well be one as they seek new homes or find their way back to their old ones.

If Sharper returns to the Saints this season, it will be for dollars somewhere closer to his salary from a year ago rather than those safety franchise numbers. The possibility of larger dollars and a longer-term deal in a new place remains his hope.

On last Wednesday, he had surgery on his left knee.

“I had a little cleanup to be done,” Sharper said. “I was dealing with that knee a lot at the end of the season. I expect to be moving around pretty good by the weekend and getting out to visit some teams. The ones that are interested, they knew about the surgery. It has delayed things some, but there is no rush.”

Is the knee a distinctive issue?

Is it now age, price and knee that are flags for Sharper?

Sharper says no. Doctors for any teams interested will have the final say. It is not as if Sharper needs extra deal breakers.

Being 34 and a 13-season veteran is plenty enough in some circles, despite his ability.

“It’s kind of a myth around the league that guys in their 30s can’t play this game at a high level,” Sharper said. “I’m kind of surprised how the myth has lingered. Brian Dawkins, John Lynch, Rod Woodson, those are guys in their 30s who have played NFL safety at a high level. Ed Reed right now is 31. I’m kind of confused and baffled by why teams would be leery of that with me. I think we saw with the Saints that you need a mixture of youth and experience to win a championship in this league.”

Two teams that fit for Sharper:

New York Jets: They moved Kerry Rhodes to Arizona and in Sharper could add a safety who fits their attacking, physical system well. “I’d love to play for Rex Ryan,” Sharper said. “I know I fit the scheme.”

Chicago Bears: Now that Peppers is added up front, Sharper on the back line would be a good thing. He knows the NFC Central, having spent eight seasons with Green Bay and four with Minnesota. “And they are right on the cusp,” Sharper said of the Bears. “They have the ability to get to the next level.”

Of course, the Saints still fit. They know what Sharper brings, but they let him test the market. He is doing that testing. He is finding that age in the NFL often creates its own limits.

“Wherever I land, they’re going to get a proven leader,” Sharper said. “I’m a guy that has proven he can help take a defense and a team to the next level. A playmaker, still, who makes game-changing plays. I think there’s a fit for that somewhere.”

If Arizona Cardinals fans hadn’t known better, they might have spent last weekend thinking they’d gone back in time. To when, doesn’t really matter. Anything before, say, 2008, would be about the same: bad.

Rewind 10 seasons, for example. The club was coming off a 3-13 campaign in 2000 and about to either purge or lose the core stars of a roster that two years earlier helped deliver the franchise its first playoff berth since 1982, and its first postseason victory since 1947. Bye-bye Jake Plummer, Simeon Rice, Aeneas Williams and Adrian Murrell, among others. Turned out, no one really missed them.

The Cards just went on being the Cards.

Fast forward to present day. Last month, Kurt Warner retired after one of the greatest quarterback careers in NFL history. And less than 24 hours after the free-agency bell sounded Friday, linebacker Karlos Dansby and free safety Antrel Rolle signed lucrative contracts with Miami and the New York Giants, respectively, while wide receiver Anquan Boldin was traded to Baltimore for a package of draft picks.

Just like that, a quartet of players that proved pivotal in the team’s turnaround and surprising run to the Super Bowl two seasons ago were out.

Next-day headline in The Arizona Republic: Cards off-season begins in reverse

Maybe so, but don’t be too sure the franchise is headed backward to its dreadful, dried-up days in the desert. The Cardinals may have taken some hits this offseason, but it’s important not to forget about two contract extensions that did get done last week; the ones that locked up Coach Ken Whisenhunt, along with General Manager Rod Graves, for four more years. Whisenhunt’s extension reportedly will pay him around $6 million per season, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL.

“What the team has accomplished in his three seasons as head coach is a testament to the talent and hard work of Ken and his assistant coaches,” team president MIchael Bidwill said in announcing the extensions. “We couldn’t be more excited that both Rod and Ken will continue to lead the team for the foreseeable future and build upon the foundation they helped establish.”

Give the Bidwill family credit for not messing around with Whisenhunt and Graves, a duo that pointed these once wingless (and foul) fowls in the right direction. They have a plan. It may not be perfect — some events have taken place (such as Warner’s retirement) to challenge it — but the organization now has a solid infrastructure and in Whisenhunt, the first Cards coach to get a second contract since the club moved from St. Louis in 1988, an admired and achieving leader out front. He will stay the course.

That Arizona reached the first Super Bowl in franchise history in Whisenhunt’s second season was a remarkable feat, but by defending the NFC West title in ‘09, returning to the playoffs and winning that epic overtime against the league’s hottest team, the Green Bay Packers, Whisenhunt cemented his credibility. The man is now 4-2 in the playoffs after inheriting a franchise with a 61-year postseason victory drought.

Worth noting: the Cardinals are one of just two teams, along with Baltimore, to win playoff games the last two seasons, and one of just three — throw in San Diego — to reach the divisional round in ‘both 08 and ‘09.

Now comes a tough offseason. Whisenhunt came to Arizona from Pittsburgh, one of the most pragmatic, fiscally responsible and — oh yes, successful — franchises in the league. The Steelers do not overpay. Whisenhunt, no doubt, bought into that approach. Not that the Bidwills, notoriously cheap in the past, would object.

But in fairness to Arizona ownership and the reputation for frugality, the Bidwill family has their crown-jewel stadium now and has reaped some on-field rewards of running their business the right way.

OK, now back to the bad news.

The team did not plan for Warner to suffer a concussion (and that wicked blindside hit in the playoff loss at New Orleans) that led the future Hall of Famer to walk away from the second year of a two-year, $25 million contract. Tough break. Those happen.

But then came the defections in free agency. The Cardinals could have shelled out a bunch of fat contracts, but so far only Chicago has done that. Graves had some decisions to make.

Dansby led the team in tackles its two playoff seasons, but he’s never been as much as a Pro Bowl alternate and the Dolphins are paying him like Patrick Willis. The Cards offered Rolle similar money as the Giants, but he wanted to come east and play in a bigger market. The bolting of Boldin, the franchise’s all-time receptions leader, was a foregone conclusion. He’s never been happy with his contract situation or playing rhythm guitar to Larry Fitzgerald’s lead.

Listening to Graves address the team’s impending free agent issues at the combine, you got the sense all of this was going to happen.

“We have a lot of areas to address, and it has to be a situation that fits for us,” Graves said in Indianapolis, less than a week before free agency began. “We can’t keep them all and I have a lot of confidence in our coaching staff that whomever we end up with, we will get those guys ready to play.”

Added Whisenhunt: “We’ll be in position to compete.”

Maybe not for a championship — at least not in ‘10 — but Whisenhunt, 31-23 record in three seasons, isn’t going to panic. The team needs to hit on some mid-round draft picks (ala Steve Breaston and Tim Hightower) and have the sort of contingency plans like the one that brought Kerry Rhodes, a solid free safety, to Arizona in a trade with the New York Jets just one day after losing Rolle to the Giants. And, of course, much rests on the shoulder of quarterback heir Matt Leinart (or whoever else the club might chase at the position).

Whisenhunt, 48, knows what this must look like to outsiders.

“We still have five months ahead of us before we take the training camp field in Flagstaff. There are a lot of things that can happen between now and then,” Whisenhunt said this week. “I think it’s tough to make judgments this early on in the preseason.”

Yes, they’re the Cardinals, but these aren’t your mom and dad’s Cardinals anymore.

Because Whisenhunt has earned our respect, the team he’s leading has earned the benefit of the doubt.

After spending the past three seasons with three different teams, cornerback Leigh Bodden appears ready to stay put. The 29-year-old veteran has signed a five-year contract worth $28.5 million, according to Jason LaCanfora of NFL.com. The deal includes $10 million in guaranteed money, which makes Bodden quite the expensive corner.

Bodden fit nicely into the Patriots’ defense in 2009, intercepting five passes and recovering two fumbles. He actually ended up making a much bigger impact than the bigger named Shawn Springs, who was also acquired to help at corner for the Patriots prior to last season.

The seven-year veteran spent his first five seasons in Cleveland with the Browns before a stop over in Detroit where he experienced the first 0-16 season in NFL history. In fact, he had never been part of a playoff team before becoming part of the Patriots’ AFC East winning team in 2009.

Considering all factors, this should be a mutually satisfying deal for the Patriots and Bodden.

Derek Anderson finally got his wish to leave Cleveland.

The Browns cut him Tuesday, the day after they had acquired Seneca Wallace from Seattle.

It remains to be seen, though, if Anderson’s departure gives Brady Quinn the starting spot for a team that remains decidedly uncertain at its most important position.

Quinn suffered through a miserable season in 2009, like just about every other Cleveland player. He has 14 career starts and had a 67.2 rating in ‘09, which ended when he was sidelined with a Lisfranc injury in his left foot.

There are rumblings in the league that Quinn is unhappy with the way things have gone in Cleveland and would welcome a change as well, but he has not stated anything publicly to that effect.

Quinn was hailed in Cleveland when he was drafted, but questions remain about his accuracy (career completion percentage: 52.1 percent) and now his durability. He finished the last two seasons on injured reserve with a broken finger and foot injury, respectively.

The Browns have been rumored to be actively trying to acquire a veteran quarterback, but the only one they’ve brought in is Wallace, a career backup.

Most league observers do not believe president Mike Holmgren and GM Tom Heckert will go into the season with Quinn and Wallace at quarterback. The pervading feeling is that Holmgren will bring in someone who can at least compete to start. Buttressing the belief are strong statements from Holmgren that he does not believe in quarterback competitions — that a team needs to decide on a quarterback and nurture him.

Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb has been rumored to be a Browns target, but the Eagles have yet to show an inclination they will trade him. One NFL insider Tuesday said few in the league expect McNabb to leave the Eagles.

Anderson’s contract had a lot to do with the Browns letting him go. With Wallace on the team, Anderson and the $2 million roster bonus he was due to earn on March 19 were expendable. Anderson also was due to earn $7.45 million this season — way too much for a backup, even in an uncapped year.

In making the Wallace-Anderson moves, the Browns cut a guy who wanted out of, and saved some money in the process. But they did not clear up the team’s direction at the position.

Anderson has wanted out of the city and away from the Browns since the city turned on him in a dismal 2008 season. He had come off a Pro Bowl (alternate) appearance in 2007, but when the Browns started slow, the fans turned on him and cried for Quinn.

When his season ended due to a knee injury, he quipped that he probably would not be back because the people in Cleveland did not like him. Anderson was a victim of the team’s struggles as well as his own.

Even with the tumult, the Browns paid Anderson a $5 million roster bonus last March to keep him. He was involved in a quarterback competition with Quinn that did neither player any good.

Anderson’s contract history in Cleveland is an intriguing look-back. He parlayed one good season (Anderson threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdowns in ‘07) into a three-year deal signed shortly after he became a restricted free agent in March of 2008 — a deal that included a $7 million signing bonus.

Then-GM Phil Savage gave Anderson that deal despite having Quinn on the roster. At the time, Savage feared that Dallas was going to sign Anderson, give the Browns their late first-round and third-round picks as compensation and then trade Anderson to Miami for the first-overall pick in the draft.

Savage balked at the thought of another team using his quarterback in a trade and pushed to re-sign Anderson, rather than let him go as a restricted free agent.

Look for Anderson to garner interest around the league because of his physical abilities. He is 6-foot-6 and has the strong arm coaches love.

A team like Arizona, Minnesota or even Seattle might be interested, though his ‘09 struggles will seriously hamper his ability to cash in as a free agent. He leaves Cleveland having completed 44 percent of his passes in his final season, with the nearly inexplicable rating of 42.1.

But there are those in the league who believe that Anderson can be a starter if he regains his confidence.