Birk grew up in St. Paul and dreamed of playing for the Vikings. He had little choice but to leave when the Vikings decided not to resign him.It's puzzling that an organization recognized for outdrafting its peers over the past 10 years could whiff so badly when it comes to picking up quarterbacks. Still, there are few people more uniquely qualified to address the Cards' QB problem than Arians. Not only was he instrumental in the early development of Peyton Manning (and, later, Andrew Luck) in Indianapolis and Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, but Arians has also wrung serviceable performances out of Steelers old dogs Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch.

But then again, it not just the AFC East. Eleven of the 32 NFL teams have 33 records, including Green Bay, which is No. 7 in the AP Pro32 NFL Power Rankings and Buffalo, ranked 24th.Like the owners, the economic split is important for the players. If the league takes an additional $1 billion off the current $9 billion, even t