With the deadline for NFL teams to use the franchise tag coming on Monday, decisions are finally rolling out. For the Cincinnati Bengals, the decision was easy—they used the tag on defensive end Michael Johnson:

It was a necessary move, considering that if Johnson would have hit the free-agent market, he'd be scooped up quickly by a team in need of a pass-rusher of his caliber. Of course, with the Bengals having over $50 million in salary cap space, they could have easily handed him a long-term contract rather than a one-year deal worth $11.2 million in 2013. But this is Mike Browns' Bengals we are talking about, which means if there's money they don't have to spend, they won't.

According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson was the NFL's 13th-ranked 4-3 defensive end in 2012. With 11.5 sacks (according to official NFL statistics), he ranked second on the Bengals defense to Geno Atkins, the NFL's best defensive tackle in 2012. It was also the second-highest single-season sack total for any Bengals defender other than Atkins since 1983.

In total, Johnson had, according to PFF, 55 quarterback pressures in 2012—13 sacks, eight quarterback hits and 34 hurries—along with 52 combined tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception, helping to build the Bengals' defensive line into one of the league's most dangerous units.

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The Baltimore Ravens have a number of tough decisions to make as the start of free agency and the league year looms, especially now that quarterback Joe Flacco may soon become the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Though attention has primarily been given to the pair of soon-to-be free agent linebackers, Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe, as well as to the futures of offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie and wide receiver Anquan Boldin, there's another key player on Baltimore's offense who may be released: fullback Vonta Leach.

Matt Vensel of the Baltimore Sun said on Friday that Leach's release could be possible, especially considering the nature of his position relative to his 2013 cap hit. Leach is set to make $3 million in base salary this season and has a total cap hit, including bonuses, of $4.3 million. With the Ravens in a tough salary-cap situation, it's understandable why they wouldn't want to pay Leach that much.

Without question, Leach is the best fullback in the league. But his position is a dying breed. Not every team employs one, and among those that do, only two played 500 or more regular-season offensive snaps in 2012: Oakland's Marcel Reece and Houston's James Casey.

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Not surprisingly, the Pittsburgh Steelers were careening into the start of the 2013 league year significantly over the NFL's salary cap—to the tune of about $13.9 million, assuming the cap stayed at around $122 million for the season.

And, as usual, the team would need to restructure contracts as part of its attempt to get under the cap before the March 12 deadline.

This process has already begun, with linebacker Lawrence Timmons and then wide receiver Antonio Brown agreeing to restructures. On Thursday, the third restructure became finalized with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reworking his current deal (per The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette) to free up $6 million in cash for the season.

The moves have given the Steelers a total of $14.4 million in cap breathing room (per SteelersDepot.com's Dave Bryan) in just a few days' time, and more are ahead—linebacker LaMarr Woodley will likely be reworking his deal (per Bryan) in the coming days as well. 

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Former LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu put forth an impressive scouting combine performance, with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and smooth drills. It was almost good enough to make one forget all the reasons why Mathieu, prior to the combine, was considered draft-day poison. 

To refresh the memory, Mathieu was twice disciplined for violating LSU's banned substance policy. His first offense in 2011 netted him a one-game suspension, and his second in 2012 led to his dismissal from the team. Despite heading into a treatment program after his dismissal, he was later arrested for possession of marijuana. Now he's the prospect with the most red flags heading into this April's draft.

Though the Cincinnati Bengals have many needs to meet in the draft—with cornerback not high among them—watching Mathieu's work at the scouting combine led me to an immediate conclusion: He'd be perfect for the Bengals, and the Bengals would be perfect for him.

Based on Mathieu's history, there are certainly teams out there who don't care what he may have done to raise his draft stock at the combine; to those general managers and coaches, he's untouchable, at any round, at any price.

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It all started—as it often does—with an anonymous comment to the media.

In a February 17 piece about Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley, Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette included an anonymous quote from a Steelers player who accused Woodley's sub-optimal 2012 performance as well as his repeated injuries to a lack of work ethic:

For a locker room that rarely airs its issues publicly, this was quite the shot heard around the world. The reaction was swift and sweeping, with safety Ryan Clark decrying the fact that the criticism had to be made publicly and that it was anonymous. Former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said it was an indicator that the locker room was in "total disarray" in 2012.

Current receiver Antonio Brown went on a media tour of his own to discuss the state of the Steelers' union, saying that it seemed like many players were out for themselves last season rather than focusing on the team goal of winning games. He also spoke with ESPN Radio in New York about soon-to-be Steelers free-agent wide receiver Mike Wallace, saying that his contract situation led to some "awkwardness" in the locker room.

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In their first attempt to reduce their salary cap load, the Pittsburgh Steelers have reworked the contract of linebacker Lawrence Timmons, reports Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Timmons' restructure appears to save the Steelers at least $3 million for 2013.

Bouchette also reports that Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will also get a contract restructure this week, saving the Steelers an additional $6 million. Other candidates for a rework include linebackers LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison, though the latter may instead be subject to a pay cut.

Baltimore Ravens

Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun takes a look at whether Tom Brady's new contract will affect the money set to be paid to Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco as well as compares what Flacco may get to the contracts of Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.

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The Baltimore Ravens need additional linebackers this year, to replace the retiring Ray Lewis and potentially to take over for Dannell Ellerbe and Paul Kruger, both of whom are unrestricted free agents.

With the salary cap a concern, the best way for the Ravens to bolster their linebacker depth and find potential starters is through April's draft. The one player the team seems to be linked to most often is Notre Dame's Manti Te'o.

However, if the Ravens want to find someone who can make an immediate impact, garner the respect of his teammates and play all three downs, every drive, every week, they need to look away from Te'o and to the many other options likely to be available with their No. 32-overall pick.

Te'o's perceived risks are about the football field as much as they are about what's gone on off of it. While the fake-girlfriend scandal that turned Te'o into a very different sort of a household name didn't directly involve him—he didn't construct the lie, after all, though he did spend a little time going along with it when he found out it wasn't true (likely because he didn't know how else to react)—it does affect how interested teams will view his character.

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The Cleveland Browns have the sixth overall pick in this year's NFL draft as well as a number of clear needs to meet. That gives them a lot of options in the first round, which is on one hand, a good thing—the Browns are almost certain to get an impact player with the pick—but it's also a burden, because with increased options comes the potential to make the wrong decision.

At first glance, it looks like the Browns would be best off using the pick to bolster their defensive ranks. Though the Browns do have players who can easily transition from the 4-3 defense to the 3-4 system of new coordinator Ray Horton, getting young 3-4 specialists will still be a priority this year. 

With the scouting combine nearly wrapped up, we now have a better picture of who's worthy of a top-10 pick and who has dropped down the board.

For example, pass-rusher Damontre Moore was considered one of the best players at his position at the combine, but his poor showing—just 12 bench press reps and a 40-yard dash time of 4.95 seconds thanks to a tweaked hamstring—raises enough red flags that he's no longer in play for the Browns at No. 6 unless he turns things around at his pro day in March.

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