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A marginal signing within the AFC East usually isn’t worth a blog post. I particularly have a hard time getting inspired to write about a player who couldn’t find work the entire season before.



But Chad Jackson is a special case. He’s one of the division’s most notorious flameouts in the past decade.



The Buffalo Bills signed Jackson on Wednesday. Terms of his contract weren’t disclosed, but it’s safe to assume it’s a low-risk deal for Buffalo.



Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Josh McDaniels couldn’t find a use for him, but maybe new Bills coach Chan Gailey will figure out how to extract production from a receiver who once was considered the most promising of his draft class.



Jackson is the Patriots’ greatest draft failure on Belichick’s watch. They overvalued the University of Florida receiver and kicker returner enough to move up 16 spots and draft him 36th overall four years ago.



He was the second receiver drafted that year, 11 picks after the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Santonio Holmes, but the Patriots cut him after two seasons. Jackson has 14 career receptions for the Patriots and Denver Broncos.



“Talking to people in the organization, they misjudged how important football was to him,” said former NFL linebacker Steve DeOssie, who hosts a Patriots postgame show on Boston sports-radio station WEEI. “I don’t think he worked as hard as they anticipated him working.



“A receiver in that offense has to make some reads. He had to do a little more homework than with some other offenses, and he wasn’t ready to put in the work. It wasn’t a physical-skills scenario. He wasn’t putting in the effort the Patriots expect, especially out of their top picks.”



Jackson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.32 seconds. He was supposed to be the replacement for Super Bowl hero Deion Branch, who departed via free agency.



Hamstring and groin injuries limited Jackson’s rookie season to a dozen games and 13 receptions. Then he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the AFC Championship game. He didn’t return to the field until Week 10 of the 2007 season. He finished that season with zero catches and was released at the end of 2008 training camp.



Denver picked him up a month later. He played in four games, catching one pass. Denver cut him at the end of training camp last year, and he couldn’t find a new employer until Wednesday.



“Overcoming injuries is all a part of work ethic,” DeOssie said. “The guys who work hardest from rehab are the ones who come back best. If you choose not to work hard at rehab, especially a guy whose livelihood depended on speed, you don’t stick around.



“Injuries weren’t the reason. Hopefully, that’s a lesson he’s learned. I’ve seen it click before. Maybe he’s one of those guys. Sometimes, you think differently at 25 or 26 than you do at 21 or 22.”

Joey Porter‘s arrest will result in nothing more than embarrassment after prosecutors decided against filing charges.

Porter

That’s great news for Porter and good news for the Cardinals.



Porter should now escape any meaningful league sanction, although the NFL can take action without charges or a conviction.



“While criminal activity is clearly outside the scope of permissible conduct and persons who engage in criminal activity will be subject to discipline, the standard of conduct for persons employed in the NFL is considerably higher,” the NFL’s policy on personal conduct states. “It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead, as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher standard and expected to conduct yourself in a way that is responsible, promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful. Persons who fail to live up to this standard of conduct are guilty of conduct detrimental and subject to discipline, even where the conduct itself does not result in conviction of a crime.”



Porter doesn’t have a history of arrests, to my knowledge. That should work in his favor.

The Chiefs are spending time with potential top picks this week.

Okung

According to a source close to the situation, Oklahoma State left tackle Russell Okung is visiting Kansas City on Wednesday. The Washington Post reported that Tennessee safety Eric Berry was visiting Kansas City this week prior to heading to Washington on Wednesday.



It is not a surprise Kansas City is spending time with Okung and Berry. Both are expected to be seriously considered by the Chiefs if they are available at No. 5, where the Chiefs select.



Left tackle is one of the Chiefs’ greatest needs and Okung is considered the best left tackle prospect available. Visits don’t necessarily mean anything, but it does confirm interest.



The Chiefs will surely be impressed with the 307-pound Okung. He was a dominant player at Oklahoma State. I attended his press briefing at the combine and he was very impressive. I’m sure the Chiefs will like what they hear during their visit.

Hall of Fame Game: Cincinnati vs. Dallas at Canton, Ohio, 8 p.m. (NBC)

Sam Bradford showed up at the NFL combine a new man — bigger, stronger, healthier.



The Oklahoma quarterback looked like the type of player an NFL team drafts first overall. He carried himself that way, too. His surgically repaired throwing shoulder has more than held up during subsequent workouts, including his pro day Monday. The already accurate Bradford seems to be throwing with even more authority than he showed previously.



“It’s funny, what happens in a month,” Steve Muench of Scouts Inc. said Tuesday. “I am very fascinated by the whole Bradford thing. He might be a very good pick at No. 1. I still think Ndamukong Suh is the safer choice.”



Suh and fellow defensive tackle Gerald McCoy were the headliners in mid-February when Muench and NFL Draft Scout’s Rob Rang gathered here to discuss the Rams’ options with the first overall choice. As I wrote then, there wasn’t much doubt about it:

Neither Rang nor Muench — nor anyone else I’ve consulted — has strongly projected anything other than Suh or McCoy for the Rams at No. 1. Both give Suh the slightest edge.

But when Rang released his latest mock draft Monday, Bradford was the top choice and increasingly the favorite. Muench, who previously said he would have “a very difficult time” taking Bradford first overall based on questions about his shoulder and Oklahoma’s offensive scheme, now says he is “absolutely more comfortable” with Bradford at this stage.



The challenge now becomes separating perception from reality. How much has really changed?



“I have championed Suh for so long and it almost breaks my heart to go with someone other than him,” Rang said Monday. “What has changed is my understanding of just how willing teams are to risk going for a non-sure thing at quarterback over a sure thing at another position. The reality is, unless the Rams want to win 4-5 games next year and the year after that, then sooner or later you have to get a quarterback.”

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