A trade that was completed early this afternoon might go a long way toward sorting out who takes who with the first five picks in next month's draft. Detroit sent promising DT Cory Redding & a 5th round pick to Seattle for OLB Julian Peterson. Detroit now has an OLB combo of Ernie Sims & Peterson, who is a Pro Bowl caliber player. Among Seattle's biggest needs were DT, WR, OT & RB. They signed T.J. Houshmandzadeh & traded for Redding. They did give up Peterson, but the remaining LB's, Leroy Hill & Lofa Tatupu are quality linebackers just coming into their prime. I believe these moves allow the Seahawks to take the 2nd best tackle in the first round, most likely Virginia's Eugene Monroe & then come back in round two to find a running back or a corner. As I see it right now, Detroit will take either a QB or an OT with the first pick. Trading down is a slight possibility, but with what it would take to get the number one overall pick, I think it's very unlikely. St. Louis has made little secret of their desire to tab an offensive tackle & if Detroit takes a tackle, the Rams are looking at taking the 2nd best player at the position with the 2nd overall pick. Certainly not the best situation. Of course they could spin it like "oh, Monroe was the one we wanted all along, we had him rated ahead of Jason Smith for months".  Sure you did. Kansas City would now get the player everyone thinks they want, Wake Forest linebacker, Aaron Curry. But the Chiefs, truth be told, would love to trade down, gaining more picks. Could they work another deal with the Pats who have 4 of the first 58 picks? Stay tuned.

Speaking of the Patriots, today they signed veteran wide receiver, Joey Galloway. He was injured for most of the '08 season & has had extended down time in his career with injuries, but the guy still has elite speed, gets open & can catch the ball. He has 10,000+ yards & 77 touchdowns in his 14 seasons. I doubt that he's an every down player anymore, but could still be an impact player 12-15 snaps a game.

All three University of Kansas linebackers, none of them were invited to the combine, had their own pro day on campus yesterday. Mike Rivera made quite an impression with the few scouts that were there. Rivera, 6' 2" & 245, ran 4.63 & 4.66 in the forty yard dash. His dash, vertical jump (38 1/2"), short shuttle (4.08) & 3-cone drill (6.67) were all top 5 for the position.  His 9' 10" broad jump was middle of the pack but his 14 reps on the bench press were disappointing, near the bottom for the position, but this something that can be corrected in the weight room. With his athletic showing, it's likely he went from being undrafted to possibly a 6th round pick.

Texas Tech also had their pro day yesterday. Of course Michael Crabtree wasn't able to workout, recovering from foot surgery, but the rest of the Red Raiders were there. OG Louis Vasquez kept his times & measurements from the combine but did the positional drills again & he did them well I'm told. QB Graham Harrell didn't fare well again. Didn't look comfortable dropping back from center, his footwork was inconsistent & his throwing was  "below acceptable" according to one scout. A sad note involving OT Rylan Reed, who wasn't invited to the combine. Reed, 6' 7" & 310, was drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox as a pitcher who consistently could bring it near 100 mph. He took the $500,000 signing bonus & put football on the back burner. When he was 20 & looking for his promotion to the bigs, he contracted stomach cancer. While undergoing chemo he lost nearly 40 pounds, most of it muscle mass. He also lost his father during this 3-year struggle. Finally, he whipped this horrible disease & decided to play college football. He played LOT for the Red Raiders in '08, made the All-Big 12 team as well as some All-American teams. Friday he participated in the pro day at Lubbock & he did 41 bench press reps, the best of all prospects at all positions for the 2009 draft. As he was crossing the finish line in the 40-yard dash, he tripped, landed on his left knee injuring it seriously. He writhed in pain for over half an hour until an ambulance arrived. The trainer's diagnosis was a dislocated patella, but nothing has been released by his family or the school as to the nature or extent of the injury. Very sad for a young man who's been through so much.

Another sad note today. Cleveland Brown wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, who just yesterday celebrated a $4 million roster bonus, was involved in an accident in Miami. Around 7 AM he struck a pedestrian with his car, killing a 49-year old man. Stallworth was said to be distraught but was cooperating completely with police. No charges have been brought so far.