NFL NEWS AND NOTES

49ers RB Frank Gore will get a second chance to learn under offensive coordinator Norv Turner in 2007, who was a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys coaching job but was not picked for it. The former Washington and Oakland coach was beaten out by Wade Phillips -- and Gore will welcome him back to Santa Clara for another year. "I'm happy, real happy, especially with the young team we have," Gore said. "All that progress we made toward the end of the year, that's just going to continue. We can just keep playing off of it. We can keep growing, working hard in the offseason, and next year is going to be crazy, just crazy.....

The Steelers signed QB Bryan Randall to a contract on Friday. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Randall has spent time with the Falcons and the Buccaneers......


During his introductory press conference new Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips specifically mentioned Terrell Owens by name -- something Bill Parcells didn't do often -- and seemed excited to work with him. "He is part of the Cowboys' family. He is part of my family," Phillips said. "What family means is trust, loyalty and a common purpose. Now I am in the Cowboys' family. It is the same way. We are going to trust each other. We are going to be loyal to each other and have a common purpose. ... My philosophy is to get the best players the football and get them in position to make plays. I think the most important thing is they know you are trying to get them the football.....

Oakland, which has the #1 pick at the 2007 draft, reportedly met with former LSU QB JaMarcus Russell, late last week. While there have been reports that Oakland owner Al Davis is not inclined to pay the price of signing a QB drafted first overall, the Raiders, who had the NFL’s worst offense this past season as they won just twice, are believed to have included Russell and Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn among targets for the top pick. The Raiders, though, are also thought to be interested in acquiring a veteran QB, either through a trade of free agency, to compete with returning pivots Andrew Walter and Aaron Brooks and then using the #1 pick on a position player like Georgia Tech WR Calvin Johnson or Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas.....

There will be more than one NFL closely monitoring which direction Oakland takes with the #1 QB at this year’s draft, in particular whether the Raiders take either of QBs JaMarcus Russell or Brady Quinn. Cleveland QB coach Rip Scherer, who was also recently named assistant head coach, for example, admitted that it's still too early to determine if the Browns will draft a quarterback with the 3rd or 4th pick at the 2007 draft, however, he sounded like someone who very much anticipated returning veterans Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson to have to battle for the starting job this coming season. The Browns will flip a coin with Tampa Bay later this month to see which of the two will pick 3rd and which 4th. Meanwhile, Minnesota head coach Brad Childress, whose Vikings have the 7th pick overall this year, said during a local radio interview late last week that he wanted to "retract" an earlier statement that suggested the team had ruled out taking a QB in the first round of this April’s draft. The consensus, though, still seems to be that the Vikings will enter training camp with Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger competing for the starting job given that both of Russell and Quinn are expected to be gone before the Vikings make their opening round pick. For the record, Childress also reportedly downplayed the possibility of pursuing veteran Philadelphia QB Jeff Garcia when free agency opens next month. They are also reportedly thinking QB in Baltimore where veteran Steve McNair probably only has two or three years left in the tank. In a perfect scenario for the Ravens, they would reportedly like to bring in a young quarterback sooner rather than later to learn from McNair and also push back-up Kyle Boller. The Ravens, though, only pick 29th this year so would be looking at second-tier QBs like Troy Smith of Ohio State and Michigan State’s Drew Stanton in the opening round of this year’s draft.