1. The linebacker market was attacked quickly. Dallas barely had Dexter Coakley released and he was signed by St. Louis; Ian Gold was brought back to Denver for big bucks; Chris Claiborne left the Vikings and is now a Ram; Antonio Pierce knew a good deal when he saw one and jumped on the Giants' offer; Morlon Greenwood is now a Texan, even though indications were that the Dolphins wanted him back but not at the price Houston paid.

The first reaction I have to the large amount of linebackers signed right away is that the draft may not be very strong for linebackers this year. The next reaction is with Ed Hartwell, Kendrell Bell, Tommy Polley, Rob Morris and Jeremiah Trotter, among others, that are still available for the plucking. The market may start to soften by late next week, which means not all of these fine players are going to make what they thought they would after testing the waters in the open market.