Drew Bledsoe, Bills will play into Harrington’s fate
The Detroit Lions have decided not to take quarterback Joey Harrington of Oregon with their No. 3 pick, bringing the early part of this weekend’s NFL Draft into a lot better focus.
“As much as Marty (coach Marty Mornhinweg) loves quarterbacks, they’re not going in that direction,” a source said.
Things aren’t going to defuzz further, however, until the Buffalo Bills, with an even more desperate quarterback need, decide what to do at No. 4, where their quandary involves not only Harrington but Drew Bledsoe, who has become quarterback non grata in New England.
When it all washes out Saturday afternoon, the best guess is that Harrington slips back to No. 10, where the Cincinnati Bengals will once again pick and pray, and the Patriots will settle for a second-round pick in order to dump Bledsoe.
Unfortunately, that’s about as much intrigue as you can expect in this draft. The first 10 picks now shape up like this, barring trades:
Quarterback David Carr to Houston, defensive end Julius Peppers to Carolina, cornerback Quentin Jammer to Detroit, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to Buffalo, tackle Bryant McKinnie of Miami to San Diego, tackle Mike Williams to Dallas, defensive tackle Ryan Sims to Minnesota, defensive tackle John Henderson to Kansas City, cornerback Phillip Buchanan of Miami to Jacksonville and Harrington to Cincinnati.
Bledsoe is the one wild card out there. Long before anyone thought of Tom Brady quarterbacking New England to the Super Bowl, Bledsoe signed a 10-year contract worth $103 million if completed.
That deal by next year will become a salary cap albatross and so the Patriots must deal away their veteran quarterback. Only the Bengals and Bills, however, have expressed serious interest, and Bledsoe has let it be known he won’t play in Cincinnati.

— Charles Bricker, (KRT) South Florida Sun-Sentinel