Pete_Prisco

The Jacksoville Jaguars have given defensive tackle Marcus Stroud permission to seek a trade. That's something Stroud wants.
He was not happy in Jacksonville last season, especially the way the team treated him after his four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

Stroud is 28 and still has some good years left. He is coming off two injury-plagued years and will be trying to get his injured ankle right in the off-season.

One possible landing spot for Stroud is Atlanta. Former Jaguars defensive coordiantor Mike Smith, who got along well with Stroud, is the new coach there and they need help in the middle of the line. There is also word that the Buffalo Bills are taking a look at him and would consider a possible deal.

Stroud would come with a contract that will pay him $5 million, $5.5 million next season and $6 million the year after that,

When the Green Bay Packers website featured a story that Brett Favre was retiring Thursday morning, it set off a bit of a frenzy around the league.

After all, it was the official website.

It turns out the page that featured the story was erroneously put up and the Packers pulled it a short while late. Packers public relations director Jeff Blumb said there was nothing to it.

Maybe the site has it ready just in case Favre does retire, much like newspapers do with obituaries.

In any case, it's interesting that the story appeared as Favre still ponders his decision whether to play again in 2008. A Packers source told me Favre is weighing pros and cons of the decision and family will play a huge part.

The guess here is that he plays again.

The website can put that page way for another year.

What the heck of the Carolina Panthers doing re-signing receiver Muhsin Muhammad?
They let him walk in 2005 in large part because he couldn't run that well anymore -- not that he was ever that fast anyway. They said it was a cap move, but it was a performance move, too.

So now three years after he left to sign as a free agent with the Chicago Bears, the receiver-needy Panthers are bringing him home? Last time I checked the Bears aren't exactly flush with receivers, so isn't that a sign?

Muhammad isn't going to take away the coverage from Steve Smith. He doesn't run well enough. I respect Panthers general manager Marty Hurney a ton, but this move is perplexing.

The Panthers decision to release quarterback David Carr is not. Carr lost his confidence and the trust of his teammates last year when he took over for Jake Delhomme as the starter after Delhomme was injured.

Now that he's failed in two tries with two different teams, what's left for Carr? Is he now a certifiable bust?

If he is, I was wrong in a big way about him. I really thought he'd be a star.

What you can't gauge, though, is a guy's desire. Carr never really seemed to have it and didn’t always dedicate himself to doing the work that needed to be done. Teammates hated that he left the facility after practice to go home and watch tape, instead of staying inside the four walls of the facility.

Somebody will give Carr another chance. That big arm that can make all the throws is to enticing. But his chances to become a star passer are fading away.

I love the Jaguars decision to trade a sixth-round pick for Minnesota Vikings receiver Troy Williamson. That sixth-round pick probably wasn't going to make the Jacksonville roster anyway. The trade will be finalized Friday.

Williamson, a former top-10 pick, brings some deep speed to a team in need of it. He hasn't exaclty lit it up in Minnesota in his three seasons, his best season coming two years ago when he caught 37 passes. But that speed is hard to deny. And didn't the NFL scouting brethren think highly enough of him when he came out of South Carolina to put a high first-round grade next to his name?

Pedigree means something. Williamson is from South Carolina and wanted to play for the Jaguars because it's close to home. For a team looking for a home-run threat, it makes sense to acquire him.

Does Williamson drop passes? Yes. But he also gets open. Jaguars receivers coach Todd Monken is a fiery, in-your-face coach who should help cure the drops. Williamson is also happy to be moving away from Vikings coach Brad Childress. They never meshed.

In Jacksonville, he will be re-united with former Vikings coach Mike Tice, the man who drafted him in 2005. Tice is the Jaguars assistant head coach. At  25, Williamson is still young enough to turn his career around and live up to the draft hype.

Williamson might not be the lone reciever to come abaord this off-season in Jacksonville. Word is the Jaguars are interested in Arizona Cardinals receiver Bryant Johnson. He is an unrestricted free agent.

After way overpaying to keep fullback Greg Jones -- he's just a fullback after all -- the Jaguars have rebounded with a nice move to get Williamson. If it doesn't work out, all it will cost is the draft pick. They don't pay him any money, but take on his deal, which has a cap figure of $910,000.