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Suddenly, the AFC is the division of wide receiver duos. The Baltimore Ravens re-signed wideout Derrick Mason on Wednesday to a two-year, $8 million contract. Mason spent the past five seasons with the Ravens, never missing a game and representing the team’s most trustworthy targets. Mason had wanted to play again for Baltimore all along, but said that he would only return to the game if he got a two-year deal. That’s exactly what happened.
Mason, 36, is a fossil compared to other solid wide receivers, but he is coming off his eighth 1,000-yard season, including his third in a row. He will team with newly acquired Anquan Boldin to form quite a nice WR duo in the AFC North, one of three in the division. Earlier Wednesday, the Bengals signed Antonio Bryant to play alongside Chad Ochocinco. Of course, Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes still reside in Pittsburgh…

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The Cincinnati Bengals have a legit No. 2 wide receiver. Or maybe more like a second No. 1. The team signed former Tampa Bay wide receiver Antonio Bryant to a four-year, $28 million deal on Wednesday. With incentives, Bryant could earn as much as $29 million. Bryant had a breakout season in 2008 with more than 1,200 receiving yards, 83 catches and seven touchdowns. Lingering pain from offseason knee surgery and a rookie quarterback dragged down his 2009 numbers, but he was still seen as the top unrestricted free agent wideout this year. Miami and Washington were also rumored to be vying for Bryant. FANTASY ANALYSIS: That’s quite a lot of money who has only had two 1,000-yard seasons during an seven-year career. At least Terrell Owens isn’t coming to Cincy…

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When the Chicago Bears signed Chester Taylor last week, we knew it would mean a decrease in Matt Forte’s fantasy value. But from the words of offensive coordinator Mike Martz, the dreaded running back-by-committee situation could be upcoming in the Windy City. Martz intends to utilize both Taylor and Forte at running back and insists that it doesn’t matter which player is officially listed on the depth chart with the No. 1 offense. “We’have two starters,” Martz said according to the team’s official Web site. “That’s how we look at it. We’re fortunate to have two starters. As you look around the National Football League, the teams that are running the ball well, they all have two starters. They’ve got two backs. It’s not a 1-2 punch as much as either one of those guys can carry the load. That’s just how they approach it. They will share duties…

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When Kurt Warner retired in January, Matt Leinart was unofficially named the Arizona Cardinals’ starting quarterback. But credit head coach Ken Whisenhunt. He isn’t making anything official. He is going to have the still-young and still-unproven NFL quarterback show that he deserves to start. Whisenhunt said in a Tuesday radio interview that the Cardinals would sign a quarterback to compete with Leinart for the starting spot. Whisenhunt said he has a “great deal” of confidence in Leinart. But he said he won’t just hand the job over to Leinart until he “goes to three Pro Bowls” and the Super Bowl, as Kurt Warner did. There were rumors on Tuesday that the Cardinals will consider bringing in recently cut quarterback Derek Anderson to push Leinart…

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Running back Thomas Jones was a 1,400-yard rusher for the Jets last year, but the team didn’t want to pay nearly $6 million for him in 2010 and wanted to get younger in their backfield. So the Jets cut Jones. Now Jones will get a chance to backup one of the better young rushers in the league. Jones signed a two-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday, where he is expected to be a change-of-pace runner behind Jamaal Charles. Jones will get $3 million in 2010 and $2 million in 2011. Jones, who will be 32 years old in August, is also eligible to earn $500,000 in incentives. FANTASY ANALYSIS: Willie Parker was scheduled to visit Kansas City on Thursday, but there doesn’t seem to be much need for that now. Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said last month that he wanted to find a legitimate second back to help out Charles…

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Quarterback Jim Sorgi has become sort of a cult figure in the NFL for backing up a guy who has never missed an NFL game in his 12 seasons, Peyton Manning. Now Sorgi will do the same for his brother Eli, who has started 87 consecutive games. Sorgi signed a one-year deal to join the New York Giants on Monday. This occurs two days after the Giants lost their main 2009 backup, David Carr, to the San Francisco 49ers. Sorgi has played in 14 games in six seasons with the Colts. He has thrown six touchdowns and one interception in that time. The 29-year-old Sorgi went on injured reserve last December with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. His agent, Matt Brei, said Sorgi has been throwing since January and has had no further problems. He also said that Sorgi’s shoulder was examined by two noted orthopedic surgeons — Dr. James Andrews and Dr…

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Everyone knew it was going to happen; it just wasn’t official yet. Now it’s official: The Cleveland Browns have cut quarterback Derek Anderson. Anderson came to the Browns off the waiver wire in 2007 and turned in a tremendous season with more than 3,700 yards and 29 touchdowns. The team signed him to a three-year, $24 million deal soon after that season ended, but he was never able to reproduce those type of results. In the 2008 and 2009 seasons, he played in a combined 18 games and completed just 48 percent of his passes. He threw 12 touchdowns to 18 interceptions and was benched during each year. Anderson became expendable when the team acquired quarterback Seneca Wallace in a trade with Seattle on Monday. Anderson was due a $2 million roster bonus March 19 and was scheduled to earn a base salary of $7.45 million in 2010…

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Sortable tool with NFL player signings and movement

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It hasn’t been a very positive 10 days for former Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant. He pulled out of last week’s NFL combine with a strained hamstring. Then came reports that he showed up late for practices and actual games in college. Now he says that he won’t be able to run at OSU’s pro day on March 10. Bryant said at the combine that he would work out at the pro day, but apparently the ailment that kept him from running in Indianapolis is still bothering him. Bryant expects to be recovered soon and should work out on either March 25 or March 29 in his hometown of Lufkin, Texas.

To recap: Bryant was suspended for the final 10 games of his college career for lying to NCAA investigators. An injury prevented him from participating at the combine and it now seems to be lingering…

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Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant’s production has steadily increased each year. This past season, he sets career-highs in catches, yards and touchdowns. He is just a possession receiver without top-end speed but he’s found a home in Philly, a place where he’ll now be playing for quite a while. The team and Avant agreed to a five-year deal on Monday. Financial terms are not yet available. A fourth-round pick from the 2006 draft, Avant caught 41 balls for 587 yards and three TDs in 2009. In four NFL seasons, Avant has 103 career receptions for 1,299 yards and eight touchdowns. Avant entered this new NFL period as a restricted free agent with a second-round tender. But he won’t have to be concerned with that any longer. FANTASY ANALYSIS: Avant had a couple of big games last season. Most notably, he caught eight passes for 156 yards in week 10 against the Chargers…

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