Just a quick reality check. The draft is less than two weeks away! Woo-hoo!

Jerry Jones has made it clear that the Dallas Cowboys covet a veteran wide receiver to pair up with T.O. this year. They have two first-rounders so they have the ammunition to get something done. The three most talked about candidates are Chad Johnson, Anquan Boldin and Roy Williams.

Out in Detroit, Rod Marinelli has voiced in no uncertain terms that they aren’t trading Roy Williams. I’ve heard that before. I’m not positive that they’re employing some obfuscation to drive up the price for Roy, but they have to be at least considering the option of trading him.

Here’s an opinion on the subject from the Austin American-Statesman. Roy is going to get paid next year and so far it doesn’t look like the Lions are up for it.

"They drafted (wide receiver) Calvin Johnson and gave him 30 million (dollars) guaranteed," [Roy] Williams said. "What are they going to do with me?"

Roy is just the kind of guy the Cowboys are looking for. He’s young, he’s talented, and he could be a #1 WR when T.O. is done. He’s already let it be known that playing for Dallas would be super-duper with him.

Previously, I thought about what it would mean for our offense if Roy Williams was lining up with a star on his helmet. But this paragraph in the article really made me stand up and take notice.

So what about it, Roy? You grew up in Odessa loving the Cowboys. Could you picture a dream team with Tony Romo at quarterback, Marion Barber at running back, you and T.O. at wideout, and Jason Witten at tight end? Could this be the answer to all of your problems?

Wow, that would be some offense as long as no one was arguing about how many touches they were getting. If you could harness all that talent into one harmonious unit – the scoring potential would be scary.

I’ve made the case before that Roy Williams is the only one of those three that is likely to happen. Chad Johnson and the Bengals are in an intransigent mess. Chad has gone too far with his public comments to turn back now but the Bengals seem equally determined to win this verbal battle by keeping him. But the real reason they won’t be trading has to do with the cap hit they would take from accelerated bonuses. Chad just signed a big contract a few years ago. I expect to see Ocho Cinco to be in Cincinnati this year.

With Anqaun Boldin, why would the Cardinals trade him? Sure, Boldin’s agent Drew Rosenhaus can be a nuisance and can try to agitate for a new contract. Sure, Boldin is a little miffed that Larry Fitzgerald just got paid to the tune of $10 million a year while he has been as productive. But the real deal is the Cardinals have two very good wideouts under contract, one recently signed and the other signed at a reasonable rate. They are trying to resurrect a franchise and having those two guys on the field makes sense. And while Boldin will have to get paid eventually, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that is going to wreck a team with his actions.

That leaves Roy Williams. He’s going to be a free agent after this year. Detroit is either going have to pay him or franchise him next year, and doing that will also count a lot against the cap. You would think that if they really wanted Williams and saw him as a cornerstone player for the franchise they would have already started negotiations to keep him off the free agent market. So far they’ve been silent on that front. Getting a guy signed during the season is possible but why haven’t they already at least started talking? If they can get a first-round pick for a player that looks to be on his way out anyway, they have to think long and hard about that.

A Tennessee paper with more on the Pacman negotiations.

Peter King on one aspect of the Pacman Chronicles.

I think Dallas is smart to be amending its offer to Tennessee for Pacman Jones, and that deal looks like it'll get done this week. I still say the best idea for Roger Goodell is to let the trade go through and allow Jones to use the Dallas training facilities for the next three months. If Pacman keeps on the straight and narrow, he should be reinstated just prior to training camp. If not, it wouldn't be a black eye for the league because the league wouldn't have officially allowed him back yet.

Rick Gosselin talks running backs in the draft.

Over at the DMN blog, they have some recent quotes from Akin Ayodele and Zack Thomas.