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INDIANAPOLIS — Teams usually don’t disseminate news releases to announce they won’t re-sign a free agent, yet the Buffalo Bills want you to know they won’t offer contracts to receivers Terrell Owens and Josh Reed and defensive end Ryan Denney.



“We wanted to inform all three players ahead of the start of the free agency period so they could begin making their plans,” Bills general manager Buddy Nix said in a statement. “We just felt that was the right thing to do. All three have represented our organization with class and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.”



There was no mention of Buffalo’s other unrestricted free agents: guards Seth McKinney and Kendall Simmons, linebacker Chris Draft and safety Bryan Scott.



Owens played one season with the Bills. He had a team-high 55 receptions for 829 yards and five touchdowns.



Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh suggested he would be interested in bringing Owens aboard.



“I’ve always said I’ve got a lot of respect for T.O., and I know Ozzie [Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome] does, too,” Harbaugh said at the NFL scouting combine. “He had a good year last year, we watched him on tape and he was very effective.”



When pressed on his interest in Owens, Harbaugh added “You cornered me. You got me. We’re interested in T.O. We’re interested in all the guys that can make our team better.”



Reed spent eight seasons with the Bills. The slot receiver caught 27 passes for 291 yards and one touchdown last year. He had his best season in 2008, when he made 56 catches for a career-high 597 yards and a touchdown despite missing three games.



Denney also played eight years in Buffalo, collecting 23.5 sacks mostly as a backup. Of his 31 career starts, 24 of them came in two seasons — 2003 and 2008.

INDIANAPOLIS – Toby Gerhart simply says he’s “colorblind.”

Gerhart

The Stanford product is one of the more intriguing running back prospects at the NFL combine. The Heisman Trophy runner-up is a rugged, tough runner, who is a yardage eater. It wouldn’t be a shock if both San Diego and Kansas City considered adding the big back to their roster in the early rounds.



Saturday at the combine, Gerhart was asked about being a rarity – a white running back.



“I’m colorblind – I’m a running back,” Gerhart said.



Good answer.



Gerhart said that he found it amusing that he is often compared to “quote white guys.” He said he often hears that he reminds people of former NFL running backs John Riggins and Mike Alstott. However, Gerhart said he has modeled his game after former NFL running backs Eddie George and Corey Dillon.



“I’m a physical runner, but I can give a little wiggle, too,” Gerhart said. “I just want the opportunity to play in the NFL.”



There’s no doubt that is about to happen.

INDIANAPOLIS – Toby Gerhart simply says he’s “colorblind.”

Gerhart

The Stanford product is one of the more intriguing running back prospects at the NFL combine. The Heisman Trophy runner-up is a rugged, tough runner, who is a yardage eater. It wouldn’t be a shock if both San Diego and Kansas City considered adding the big back to their roster in the early rounds.



Saturday at the combine, Gerhart was asked about being a rarity – a white running back.



“I’m colorblind – I’m a running back,” Gerhart said.



Good answer.



Gerhart said that he found it amusing that he is often compared to “quote white guys.” He said he often hears that he reminds people of former NFL running backs John Riggins and Mike Alstott. However, Gerhart said he has modeled his game after former NFL running backs Eddie George and Corey Dillon.



“I’m a physical runner, but I can give a little wiggle, too,” Gerhart said. “I just want the opportunity to play in the NFL.”



There’s no doubt that is about to happen.

INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona’s Ken Whisenhunt is now one of the NFL’s highest-paid head coaches.



“There’s no question he is in the upper portion of the league,” team president Michael Bidwill said Saturday from the NFL combine.



Whisenhunt’s extension through 2013 marked the first time the Cardinals extended a head coach’s contract since the team moved to Arizona in 1988. It’s a significant step because Whisenhunt, an ascending coach with a 4-2 postseason record, wouldn’t have agreed to a new deal without knowing the organization would arm him with sufficient resources.



“The ability of an organization to have a plan, stick to that plan and have success certainly makes (the job) attractive,” Whisenhunt said. “There were a lot of questions about Arizona that have been answered about certainly with a new stadium, could they win if they had a plan? And I think we’ve shown that to a degree.”



Although labor uncertainty will affect plans across the league in the short term, I would expect the Cardinals to eventually grow their 16-man coaching staff (the other NFC West teams have at least 20). Whisenhunt will have more control over hiring his coaches and more control over the roster, another perk successful coaches tend to enjoy. Building an indoor practice facility should be another expectation.



These are the long-term investments a team can make to weather a down season or two. The Cardinals have gone 8-8, 9-7 and 10-6 under Whisenhunt, a trajectory they’ll have a hard time maintaining in 2010.



With quarterback Kurt Warner and pass-rusher Bertrand Berry retiring, free safety Antrel Rolle likely hitting the market and linebacker Karlos Dansby all but gone, the Cardinals will rely heavily on their college scouting department to find players and Whisenhunt’s staff to coach them up.



“We are a football team that I think is positioned correctly to withstand transition, whether we are losing Karlos Dansby or whether we lose Kurt Warner,” general manager Rod Graves said. “I just feel like Ken has done a tremendous job of instilling the right qualities and setting the proper standards for our football team. If we lose players from time to time, I feel like we can keep going.”



The Cardinals have gone into quite a few offseasons with relatively few players under contact, and that is the case as free agency approaches on March 5. Some of that reflects questionable planning (see Rolle’s rookie deal) and some reflects the team’s confidence — so far rewarded — in the personnel department’s ability to find replacement parts. Whisenhunt’s unsolicited reference to college scouting director Steve Keim during his media session Saturday was appropriate.



Much like Whisenhunt’s former organization, the Steelers, Arizona has succeeded in using the draft to replace key veterans lost in free agency. Cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, running back Beanie Wells, defensive end Calais Campbell, running back Tim Hightower and running back LaRod Stephens-Howling made significant contributions beginning as rookies.



Outside linebacker Will Davis, outside linebacker Cody Brown, cornerback Greg Toler and offensive lineman Herman Johnson could emerge this season.



Most of them will be needed.



“What we’ve been trying to do is build the depth on our team and we feel like we have done that to a great degree,” Whisenhunt said.



Matt Leinart is the only quarterback signed for 2010, but his price tag beyond this season becomes untenable unless Leinart enjoys a breakout season. I would expect the Cardinals to pursue Chad Pennington or another veteran to compete with Leinart and probably back him up.



Warner made that depth look a lot better.



Whisenhunt has already pulled off the near-impossible by turning the Cardinals into a playoff contender with front-office stability and a long-term plan.



They’ll need his best coaching job yet in 2010.

INDIANAPOLIS — At the NFL combine, where character issues and past transgressions can influence a player’s draft stock, University of Cincinnati receiver Mardy Gilyard prefers to be an open book.



“There’s no shame in my game,” Gilyard said.



Gilyard is very honest about once losing his scholarship because of academics. He admits at the time he was “a real knuckle-head kid. Arrogant. Cocky. Immature.”



The result was about a six-month period when Gilyard was homeless. He lived out of his car — a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am — while working for jobs and trying to get back in school and on his feet.



Gilyard is not ashamed to share his story.



“I speak it truthfully and as gracefully as I can,” Gilyard said. “I try not to sugarcoat anything. When you get caught up in sugarcoating you might slip in a lie here and there and that’s what not what I’m about.”



Gilyard’s perseverance makes him one of the more intriguing prospects in the NFL draft. No one will question his mental toughness, as he’s worked his way from the bottom to become one of the top receivers available.



Scouts Inc. has Gilyard rated as the eighth-rated receiver entering the NFL combine. That likely will land him somewhere in the second or third round, although his draft stock could change after interviews and workouts.



But Gilyard’s ability to get deep should be attractive to a lot of teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.



“I think my strengths as a wide receiver are I bring speed and good hands to the game,” Gilyard said. “And with that in mind — I’ve got speed and I’ve got hands — when I do get the ball in my hands, that’s what makes me extremely dangerous. I’m good at making those yards after catch.”

INDIANAPOLIS — New York Jets coach Rex Ryan certainly didn’t short us on material to write about Saturday.



My series of Ryan posts from the NFL scouting combine resumes with his thoughts about being forced to comply with the “final eight” plan.



The Jets — and the other seven teams that reached the division playoff round — are handcuffed by their success because of unusual rules for the uncapped year.



Essentially, they aren’t allowed to sign an unrestricted free agent unless they lose one of their own. When that happens, the Jets are limited in paying their new player no more than the player they lost.



“I think it is a penalty for sure,” Ryan said. “Maybe you need a tight end or whatever it is and you don’t have that ability to go out and get some of the top guys that might be available.”



Remember the story of how Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine pulled a creepy crawly on Bart Scott last year, the moment free agency began at midnight?



Now they have to sit back and wait until Tony Richardson or Jay Feely or Marques Douglas find new jobs.



“Usually, free agency is part of maybe some of your decisions and all that kind of stuff,” Ryan said, “but we don’t have that opportunity right now until we lose an undrafted free agent. So we don’t have that. We have to find a way.”



The Jets do have some options. They’re allowed to sign players who have been cut before their contracts have expired and free agents who didn’t play in 2009.



The Jets also can make all the trades they want. General manager Mike Tannenbaum has no aversion to that.



“I challenged our players and our coaches to find a way to get better, each guy get a little bit better and maybe that will be the difference,” Ryan said. “We have to build from within, that’s what this thing sets up.



“There won’t be that much roster turnover for our football team. We’ve got to find a way to get better, and I think we can. I think we will improve as much or more than any other football team in this league. And that is what I am excited about. I know we can. I know we can get better physically, and I know we will get much better mentally and understanding our defense and our offense.”