NFL Player News

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the Packers are working on a contract extension for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and ESPN reports that it will likely be around $100 for four years. Team president Mark Murphy said the Packers are pursuing a long-term deal with Rodgers that would likely be done before the start of this season and make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. "It's a priority," Murphy said. "I think as an organization, I think we all want to see that get done." Murphy said the Packers would not have a problem coming up with the cash to fund what is expected to be as much as $50 million in guaranteed money. Rodgers is in year six of a seven-year, $65 million contract he signed in November of 2008, his first year as a starter. He is scheduled to make $9.75 million of salary this year, which is far behind the yearly average of the top quarterbacks in the game.

CBSSports.com NFL Insider Mike Freeman reports from the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix that Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called quarterback Andy Dalton the "little guy" when talking about other passers in the AFC North in comparison to Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco. "Andy just needs to keep being Andy," said Lewis. He added: "He just needs to keep playing and doing his thing. It's not his fault." When asked what Dalton needs to do Lewis, only half joking, said that Dalton "has to quit listening to you guys." Meaning the media. "He is his own worst enemy," said Lewis of Dalton. "He listens too much to what people say. For being such a big, tough guy he's too concerned about people liking him."

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan told ESPN Monday he will not play quarterback Robert Griffin III until he is "100 percent." Griffin is recovering from reconstruction surgery of the ACL, LCL and meniscus in his right knee suffered in the team's playoff loss to the Seahawks in January. Shanahan also said the team is making plans in case Griffin can't start the season on-time. Kirk Cousins will take all the offseason first-team reps.

The Steelers have signed quarterback Bruce Gradkowski to a three-year deal. The Pittsburgh native, who once led the Raiders to an improbable win at Heinz Field, will back up Big Ben.

The Cardinals placed a second-round tender on quarterback Brian Hoyer, likely keeping him with the team in 2013. Hoyer is allowed to negotiate with other teams until April 19, but the Cardinals have the right to match any offer or receive a second-round pick as compensation.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Mike Freeman reported Tuesday that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers does not plan on holding out this offseason if a new deal is not reached. However, according to ProFootballTalk.com, a league source close to the team has indicated that the Packers will extend Rodgers' contract "soon" and that it will set a new benchmark that will stand for several years to come.

In an interview on WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said quarterback Andy Dalton needs to make a big jump in 2013 by improving his deep-ball accuracy and touch passes. "He’s got a long way to go," Gruden said. "He's done some great things for a second-year quarterback, won a lot of games and thrown some good touchdown passes, but we feel like he has not come close to his potential. That’s our job to get it out of him. And he knows he’s gotta play better, and we all do."

New Jaguars coach Gus Bradley likes what he saw from quarterback Blaine Gabbert in watching film from his Week 1 performance against Minnesota in 2012. He hopes that Gabbert can show up all season in 2013. “He started off real well, he was on fire, and you said, 'Wow,’” Bradley said. “After that the inconsistency started showing up. So I think there are enough bright spots. We’re so competitive, we’re saying all we have to do is start out like he did in Minnesota and have that be more consistent in his game. That’s how we operate, that’s how we’re going into it, saying we just need to help him become more consistent, give him more confidence and let’s see if we can do that. That’s why I think we’re so excited about him. Let’s see where it takes us. We don’t know. We’ve got to get him on the field and see how he handles it.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports when specifically asked about trading Brandon Weeden or backup Colt McCoy, Browns coach Rob Chudzinski didn't shoot the idea down. "We're looking to improve our team in any areas, by any means of doing that," he said.

According to mlive.com, Lions president Tom Lewand said it is important to rework quarterback Matthew Stafford's current contract. Stafford has two more years remaining on his contract, and will earn a base salary of $12 million in 2013, but his salary cap hit is $20.3 million. He will earn $11 million in 2014 ($19.3 million salary cap number) and $15 million in 2015 ($17.7 million salary cap number). Despite the obvious need to free up cap space, Lewand said reworking Stafford's deal is essential because he wants the quarterback to remain in Detroit long-term. "Matthew Stafford is our quarterback, and we hope is our quarterback for a long time," Lewand said. "The reason to explore a contract extension with Matthew is to fulfill that goal of having him be our quarterback for a long time. It's not a short-term look at the salary cap. That's the wrong way to look at that. When you look at extending somebody like Matthew, he's not going to take less money to extend. That's a very short-term focus to look at. The reason to have an extension with Matthew, just like the reason to have the extension with Calvin last year, was to secure their services for a long period of time. In Calvin's case last year, the timing was a little bit different because we knew that there was an opportunity to get something done. But in Matthew's case, Matthew's got two years left on his deal. Calvin didn't. It's a different set of circumstances."