NFL Rumors: Rounding Up the Latest Buzz Around the League

The Peyton Manning tour continues. The star quarterback and former MVP hasn’t given any indications of whether or not he will sign before the end of the week, although I'm certain he'd like to get this done sooner than later so his team has time to surround him if needed.

Meanwhile, the other big fish on the market, Mario Williams, signed with the Buffalo Bills, who now get to combat Tom Brady with one of the league’s best rushers.

In Manning-related news, the latest buzz indicates that center Jeff Saturday might be part of a package deal for Manning. The two have worked together for most of their careers, so it makes sense that Saturday would want to continue that relationship and that Manning would be more comfortable having “his center” in the same way that a lot of pitchers have a preferred catcher.

Unfortunately, that might pose problems for some teams in pursuit that have established centers.

Michael Bush, one of the better and more interesting running backs on the market, is reportedly going to meet with the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals. His visits could have a profound effect considering that Matt Forte and Cedric Benson, also trolling for deals, will be affected by his signing with either team.

A pair of defenders, John Abraham and Curtis Lofton, are drawing interest from the Broncos and Saints, respectively. Both present interesting cases. The Broncos have a nice front line, but Abraham is one of the league’s better linemen.

Lofton is a good linebacker, and he could make the Saints very dangerous. Now that the Saints have addressed the void on their line by signing Ben Grubbs, they can focus on improving a problematic defense. New coordinator Steve Spagnuolo would be a great pairing with Lofton.

Finally, Stephen Tulloch of the Lions is reportedly seeking a deal exceeding that signed by D’Qwell Jackson last season. That’s not likely. The market for linebackers right now isn’t as great as last year, when Tulloch could have cashed in as well. He should still get a good deal, but the teams in need of an inside linebacker (like Pittsburgh) are likely going to look at the draft as they work to fill those needs.

Besides the Williams signing and the persistent Manning to Tennessee and Denver rumors, there wasn’t a ton of major activity in Day 3, but there’s a lot of buzz for the rest of the way.