*Joe Flacco very well may become the highest paid quarterback in the NFL in the very near future, but many personnel men still do not consider him an elite quarterback. Why will he be paid like one? Timing. Flacco obviously got hot at the most opportune of times when he led the Ravens to the Super Bowl. He also did it in a year when there is no can’t miss quarterback in the draft or on the free agent market. He also has no backup on the Ravens who is capable of taking his job. It’s a perform storm for Flacco because the Ravens have no viable option to replace him.

*Is trading Brandon Weeden a possibility for the Browns? Some around the league think so. The belief is that the new management team of Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi don’t think much of Weeden, and they could try to deal him when they can get something for him.

*If Rashard Mendenhall isn’t back in Pittsburgh next season, it won’t be because of the late season blow up which resulted in Mendenhall no showing for a game in which he was inactive. After the incident, we hear Mendenhall and head coach Mike Tomlin patched everything up, and Tomlin told Mendenhall the door was open for his return in 2013. That does not mean the Steelers will decide Mendenhall is their best option at halfback, however.

*Word out of Atlanta is the Falcons believe they need to add to the secondary and find an able replacement for Michael Turner if they want to get over the hurdle next year. Turner’s inconsistency made the Falcons offense one dimensional at times.

*When candidates for the Chargers’ general manager vacancy assessed the San Diego roster prior to their interviews, several came away with the same impression: “it’s not a very talented team, especially on the back end of the roster.” And one reason why is the Chargers let too many good players walk out the door. As one former Chargers coach put it, “It seems like every team we lost to had an impact player who was on our team at some point.”

*Those who have been around Gregg Williams since his return to the NFL have been impressed with where Williams is mentally. They say he used the time away from the game to reconnect with friends and reevaluate his place in football, and has come back with more perspective. He also has lost nearly 50 pounds.