As Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes, Brandon Weeden may have been the biggest beneficiary of Kyle Orton‘s absence from the Cowboys’ spring workouts, but it’s worked out for Caleb Hanie as well. The quarterback, who drew interest from Dallas in 2008 before he signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent, is competing for a roster spot and isn’t going to let Orton’s presence – or lack thereof – at training camp affect his approach.
“If he’s here, I’ll notice,” Hanie said. “If he’s not, I don’t worry about that. I just worry about what I can do and control and see how it goes from here.”
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two East divisions:
- In a separate piece for ESPN.com, Archer fields readers’ questions from Twitter, providing his take on the Cowboys‘ acquisition of Rolando McClain, whether or not the team is in rebuild mode, and the long-term prospects of Zack Martin vs. Travis Frederick.
- Archer also contributes to ESPN.com’s look at burning questions for NFC East teams, exploring whether the Cowboys‘ defense can be passable following the departures of Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware, as well as Sean Lee‘s season-ending injury. Within the same piece, Phil Sheridan discusses the impact free agent signee Malcolm Jenkins will have on the Eagles‘ secondary.
- While Calvin Pace is set to turn 34 this fall, the Jets were willing to re-sign him to a two-year contract in March, and we shouldn’t assume he’ll ease into a reduced role, says Brian Costello of the New York Post.