Mark Curnutte

At the league meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., Holmgren was asked about Marvin Lewis' decision to start Carson Palmer ahead of Kitna.

"He sure appears to be a fine player. I thought he was excellent in college," he said of Palmer. "But now he's a rookie all over again. It's so different. Marvin knows what he has to do.

"Jon had a great year. I was really happy for Jon. He's a fine kid. But at some point, that's why they drafted (Palmer). It is a little bit like when I went to Green Bay and Don Majikowski was the quarterback. We traded for Brett Favre. Don is playing, but in our meetings you kind of go, 'We wouldn't have done this trade for a first-round pick if he's not going to be the player.' So when do you do it?

"Last year Cincinnati, anybody in their situation, Jon is going to play and then at some point they kind of say, 'Well, maybe it's business as usual,' and at some point it will be obvious to everybody that they should start the young guy. But that didn't happen. Jon played very well and the team was doing well.

"And I know Jon pretty well. It's still hard for him though. He's a competitive guy. He's got a lot of pride. That's not an easy thing. But you draft a guy No. 1, and he's your guy."

LOCAL HERO: Shaun Alexander won't be sulking through the final year of his contract with the Seattle Seahawks.

His salary jumped from $535,000 to $3.25 million for 2004 after Alexander reached various incentives.

"I hit all my incentives the last couple of years, so this year I won't be at the minimum salary, and that is exciting," the former Boone County High School star said. "But my whole thing is to get to the Super Bowl. I think money just takes care of itself."

PAYTONS' PLACE: The Bears invited Walter Payton's son, Jarrett, along with other Chicago-area prospects to a workout last Sunday.

"It will be a weird thing, working out in the Walter Payton facility," said Jarrett, referring to the team's indoor field named after his dad. "When anybody honors him like that, you think about the hard work he put in, and it makes me happy that people recognize it."

Payton is a draft sleeper.

"I just want to play. I know I can play. I work so hard I can't sleep at night. I feel like I should be working when others are sleeping," he said.

PRE-DRAFT VISITS: The Bengals carefully guard the identities of their 20 pre-draft visitors, but not other teams. The Steelers will entertain former Miami RedHawks quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Monday. Wide receiver Keary Colbert of Southern Cal kicked off the round of visits to Pittsburgh last week.

BROWNS: When the Browns started as an expansion team in 1999, the owner was Al Lerner. Carmen Policy, who resigned this past week, was CEO. The vice president-general manager was Dwight Clark. And Chris Palmer was coach. Now they're all gone. In 2004, the chart looks like this: Owner is Randy Lerner, the CEO is John Collins, the coach and vice president is Butch Davis. ... Davis likes to keep his draft plan secret. But Lerner is telling everyone who will listen. "I think we know a tight end, young quarterback, safety, a left tackle would be awfully nice," Lerner said.

RAVENS: Quarterback Kyle Boller is working out three times a week with wide receiver Travis Taylor. Boller recently bought a home in the Baltimore area and was inspired by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning and Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison both live in the Indianapolis area and work out together in the offseason.

STEELERS: Bill Cowher will enter his 13th season as coach of the Steelers, by far the longest tenure of any NFL coach with one club, and the third-longest incumbency with a major pro sports team. Jerry Sloan of basketball's Utah Jazz has been on the job for 16 consecutive seasons, and Bobby Cox of baseball's Atlanta Braves has 13-plus consecutive seasons under his belt.

Cowher said recently that he would like to continue to coach: "I love coaching. I don't feel like I'm burned out." He will turn 47 in May, still considered young in coaching circles. He makes more than $3 million a year and said he has no wishes to leave the profession or the Steelers. "I still feel I have a passion for the game, I love competing, and I would miss it. I would miss not coaching. Besides that, I'm not so sure what I would do with myself. I don't foresee taking a break anytime soon, to be honest with you."

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Written from notes submitted by NFL beat writers.

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