NFL Rumors: Tomlinson, Mallett, Clausen, Bush, Talib

Here’s a collection of NFL rumors for Sunday.

LaDainian Tomlinson

Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News reports that Jets plan on keeping RB LaDainion Tomlinson despite drafting RB Bilal Powell in the fourth-round.

GM Mike Tannenbaum believes that, “you can’t have enough good backs,” so keeping Tomlinson should at the very least provide them some depth at the position. Powell is seen as “downhill” back and more similar to Shonn Greene.

Ryan Mallett

The New England Patriots may have gotten the steal of the draft when they selected Ryan Mallett in the third-round on Friday. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports that the Miami Dolphins tried to move up in the third-round for Mallett but the Patriots got him first.

“We were willing to take him, we just couldn’t get our hands on him,” a source told Salguero.  ”We tried, but we couldn’t do it. He’s going to be a good quarterback.”

Jimmy Clausen

The Carolina Panthers selection of Cam Newton with the first-overall pick is a pretty good indication that Jimmy Clausen is not going to be the teams quarterback of the future.

Clausen seem positive about the situation, per Joseph Person of the Raleigh News & Observer.

“I talked to some coaches and Marty and they said they want me on this team and they’re going to give me the opportunity to compete,” said Clausen.  “That’s all I can ask for is a chance to compete.  It’s going to be fun working with Cam and just competing each and every day.”

The competition will be good for Clausen but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll beat out Newton for the job.

Reggie Bush

Saints head coach Sean Payton told the NFL Network yesterday that he would be surprised if Bush is not on the teams roster for the upcoming season.

Bush tweeted what appears to be a good bye to the city of New Orleans following the first night of the NFL draft which saw the Saints take RB Mark Ingram withe No. 28 pick.

Bush is set to make $11.2 million for the 2011 season and the team will have Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram on their roster so keeping Bush would be really surprising. It’s a possibility but highly doubtful even in spite of Paytons comments.

Aqib Talib

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have yet to meet and discuss what to do with troubled CB Aqib Talib.

Early reports from last week suggested that the Buc’s were prepared to cut him but those reports appear to be premature as of now.

Getting rid of Talib would leave them with a serious hole in the defensive secondary and from their draft strategy, they don’t appear to be concerned about the position. Tampa drafted a CB Anthony Gaitor in the seventh-round but that doesn’t mean that they’re ready to plug him into the starting cornerback position.