NFL Player News

ProFootballTalk.com reports the Browns might be making a move up the draft board to pick West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith. The news is significant as current Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski flouirshed with Cam Newton in his first two years in Carolina and could easily do the same with Smith.

Numerous reports suggest teams targeting USC quarterback Matt Barkley will trade into late Round 1 to get him. Barkley is seemingly healed from a shoulder injury suffered last season and is preparing for a chance to start with his new team.

Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib could be the target of both the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, causing an AFC East stir, ESPN reports. Nassib was the quarterback for the Orange under head coach Doug Marrone and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett, both of whom now work for the Bills. Speculation has been that the Bills would take Nassib with their second-round pick but the Jets' interest in Nassib could push Buffalo to spend its eighth overall choice on him. The Jets have two picks in Round 1: Ninth and 13th overall and according to the report, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is a fan of Nassib's.

Jaguars quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne kicked off the team's April minicamp by rotating reps with the first-team offense. Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch said he liked what he saw from both QBs so far and warned not to read too much into who gets reps first. "At some point in time, when we're playing games, the starter will get the reps first," Fisch said to the official team website. "At this point in time, we're just rotating through because it wouldn't be fair to evaluate somebody if they were always taking reps with a second-team group. Right now, we're rotating through."

The Dolphins have given second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill new weapons in Mike Wallace, Brandon Gibson and Dustin Keller and brought back Brian Hartline. In an interview with CBSSports.com, Hartline said Tannehill is poised to improve this season. "In this day and age, teams are typically defined by your quarterback," Hartline said. "His ceiling is as high as it can be. He’s taken the right steps this offseason through leadership and working with guys and getting better. As long as he continues that and continues what he’s doing I don’t have any hesitation with how good he’s going to be. Again the proof is in the pudding, but he’s a great guy and he wants to be great. That’s all you can ask for."

Andy Dalton told the Bengals official team website that he has no problems with offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's criticisms about his play from last year. Gruden said Dalton had "a long way to go," and Dalton agrees. "I saw where he said everything," Dalton said. "If you play in this league, you're not going to be like 'I'm really good at that so I'm not going to improve.' You want to improve on everything that you do. I think that's what he was getting at. I agree, I can get better on all phases of the game whether it is throwing the ball or making certain checks at the line or getting out of certain things; I think there is so much you can keep improving and getting better at."

After cutting him last week, the Bucs have re-signed Dan Orlovsky. He'll likely battle to back up Josh Freeman in camp this summer.

In a video Q&A on the Seahawks official website, head coach Pete Carroll tabbed quarterback Russell Wilson as the player most likely to break out on 2013. "I think he's going to really do well this year," Carroll said of Wilson. "He's going to bust out and will benefit tremendously from his first year. It may be hard to imagine him getting better but I think he's going to get a lot better."

The Buccaneers released quarterback Dan Orlovsky. He backed up Josh Freeman last season.

CBSSports.com NFL Insider Jason La Canfora says there "isn't any doubt" West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith will go within the first five picks in April's draft. La Canfora sees the Jaguars as the top suitor for him with the Raiders and Eagles possibly interested.