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The Arizona Cardinals said they would take care of Darnell Dockett.



They held up their end, extending Dockett’s deal through 2015 — a move the team announced during a news conference that is ongoing Wednesday afternoon.



This move, coupled with the 2009 deal for Pro Bowl strong safety Adrian Wilson, affirms that the Cardinals can be proactive in re-signing their best players. A few other potential cornerstone types have gotten away over the years. Keeping Wilson was critical. Keeping Dockett was critical.



“This is a great thing for us,” Whisenhunt said.



It’s been a tumultuous offseason for the Cardinals, never more so than this week. Quarterback Matt Leinart‘s future with the team remains in doubt. With trade rumors swirling, the Cardinals showed they’ll reward players who show they are deserving.



The team parted with Antrel Rolle, Kurt Warner, Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle this offseason. Re-signing Wilson last offseason and now Dockett adds stability and credibility to the Cardinals — qualities that have marked Whisenhunt’s tenure despite a few setbacks. Dockett has proven over the past two seasons that he’ll work hard, play at an elite level and set a standard for other players. The standard he has set — and the very public manner in which he set it — assures the Cardinals that Dockett isn’t suddenly going to become a slacker.



“The thing that has really made it so apparent that we wanted to get this done was his growth as a player and as a person,” Whisenhunt said.



General manager Rod Graves pointed directly to Wilson’s low-keyed approach to getting a new deal. Wilson stopped complaining about his contract, continued playing at an elite level and trusted the organization — Whisenhunt, specifically — that a deal would get done. Dockett has insisted he is his own man, but the Wilson precedent had to help.



Cardinals players now know they can trust Whisenhunt as long as they hold up their end. Dockett, though vocal and plenty accessible through Twitter, doesn’t call out Whisenhunt or takes private concerns public. There’s no need to show up the head coach or organization when both sides can trust one another. Leinart followed a different path when he publicly questioned Whisenhunt’s motives for demoting him. Every player’s situation is different and Leinart might have legitimate grievances, but showing up Whisenhunt in that fashion could very well buy him a ticket out of town.



As for Dockett?



“I think I have to take my game to a totally different level (now),” he said.



There’s a scary thought for the rest of the NFC West.

Earlier Wednesday we wrote about the unpredictability of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s suspensions with AFC North players.



But one thing that is predictable with Goodell is he rarely, if ever, backs down from a decision.



Goodell made a ruling in April that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will serve a conditional six-game suspension with a chance to be reduced to four with good behavior. The NFL took its time with the decision, waited for the facts, then carefully crafted a way for Roethlisberger to be punished while providing a chance to redeem himself.



But according to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, Roethlisberger’s reps will ask for less than four games during their meeting with Goodell on Friday. The request appears to be a shot in the dark.



Roethlisberger has done and said all the right things the past several months. But is it enough to make Goodell go against the guidelines he already set for Roethlisberger’s suspension? Probably not.



Roethlisberger passed the first stage by staying out of trouble. That likely will get his suspension cut to four games. But wanting, or expecting, even more leniency this week falls in the category of “leave well enough alone.”

The Oakland Raiders have plenty of roster moves they need to make before the start of the season.

The Oakland Raiders have plenty of roster moves they need to make before the start of the season.

Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures and business operations, told USA Today the NFL expects an attendance dip for the third consecutive year, predominantly because of the economy.



Count me among those optimistically expecting the economy to come back around eventually.



More interesting is the league’s recognition that the product’s so good on TV that some may not be inclined to buy a ticket even when their wallets are healthier.



More from Michael McCarthy’s piece:

“Another problem for the NFL, Grubman said, is that the live game experience is competing with the increasingly more high-tech home viewing experience.



“The rise of high-definition TV, instant replays from nearly every angle and the RedZone Channel (which whips viewers to scoring situations in different games), have made it easier and cheaper for fans to watch games from the couch without the expense and hassle of attending a live game.



“That’s made TV a huge bright spot for the NFL. For the 2009 season, the league drew its biggest audiences in 20 years. Regular season games were watched by an average 16.6 million viewers, up 2 million from the season before, and the highest number since the pre-Internet days of 1990.



“The product is really exceptional at home,” says Grubman. “That makes it a little bit easier, if you’re having a tough time making ends meet, to not go to the stadium.”

The first person I heard articulate disappointment in his home stadium’s operations was Clay Travis, who’s on the same station I am linked to in Nashville.



He thinks the folks running LP Field can do a better job keeping ticket-holders updated on what’s going on around the rest of the league. But the Titans are hardly alone on this.



If fans who need to endure traffic/weather/obnoxious drunks/etc. can avoid those hassles and tie into crucial replays, their fantasy team’s progress and their pick pool more easily from home, they’re less inclined to buy a ticket.



The Titans do run updated scores and who scored on their video boards at LP Field. But at EverBank Field, Lucas Oil Stadium, Reliant Stadium and every building in the league, it’s past time for stadium operation crews to update the schtick people are routinely forced to endure during stoppages of play.



Ticket-buying fans want replays of very recent league highlights — not this “in action earlier today” junk that qualifies as ancient history by the time it’s played.



They want the same angles on the play that’s being reviewed (once a red flag’s been tossed or an official has been buzzed) that their friend has at home. How silly is it that at a game’s crucial moment, we see fans on TV at the game calling pals at home to ask “Catch or no catch?” (If that remains a delicate issue with officials, tough. Make rules that allow for it. He’s going to get crushed over the blown call anyway. Why should non-ticket buyers get the jump on that?)



People at games deserve those things on the giant TV screens their tax dollars helped pay for. They deserve assurances of reliable cell signals so they can find what they want if you aren’t giving it to them.



And as a bonus, they deserve relief from having a DJ in the crowd screaming his or her way through a guess-the-temperature or name-that-year contest or yet another mascot skit where he beats up someone dressed in the visitor’s uniform.



No fans I know are eager for highlights from “Rudy” or applause meters. Most fans I know would prefer a timely highlight to a shopping cart race on the JumboTron.



Teams should be working harder than ever to make fans feel more a part of the entire NFL game day. Because the networks and RedZone sure do a nice job of that for those fans on Sunday’s when they stay on their couch.



Don’t get me wrong. I love a good shopping cart race.



I just know that while I watch the excitement unfold, I’ve also hot a high speed connection on the laptop in front of me in the press box — a luxury the people who make my line of work possible don’t enjoy from section 313, row F, seat 9.

Jake Long has been protecting Chad Henne a while now.



As left tackle at the University of Michigan and the Miami Dolphins, Long has been Henne’s director of security since 2006.



So when it comes to critics who think Henne might be Miami’s biggest question mark, Long will come to his quarterback’s defense.



“I don’t see why people dog him,” Long told me over the phone after Tuesday’s practice.



A few hours earlier, ESPN.com posted John Clayton’s quarterback rankings, with Henne listed 24th. Dolfans likely disagree with that particular assessment. Still, there’s a commonly held perception Henne might not be able to carry the offense.



“Rankings don’t mean anything to me,” Long said. “You’ve got to go out there and prove it. Chad’s going to go out there and prove to everybody that he’s going to be a great quarterback in this league. I have no doubt in that.”



Henne was thrust into the starting role last year when Chad Pennington suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 3. Henne kept the Dolphins postseason hopes afloat deep into December. He completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 2,878 yards and 12 touchdowns with 14 interceptions.



Skepticism emanates from a rough final few weeks. He threw three interceptions in a Week 12 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Dolphins dropped their last three games, with Henne throwing three touchdown passes and five interceptions.



In general, though, Henne showed why the Dolphins viewed him as their quarterback of the future when they drafted him in the second round in 2008. Plus, the Dolphins have added star receiver Brandon Marshall to open up the offense and let Henne show off his arm more than he could last year with a group of possession receivers.



Long is reminded of when Henne arrived on the Michigan campus and started as a true freshman.



“I’ve seen him prove people wrong,” Long said. “When he got thrown in last year, when Pennington got hurt, he really became the leader on our offense. He’s the rock of our offense, the leader of our offense. Everybody here has total faith in him.



“I’ve never seen him get flustered. If something happens and he gets sacked and makes a bad play or whatever, he gets right back up in there and never shies away.



“He’s not a question mark. He’s going to have a really good season.”