In what surely must be a boost for Kurt Warner and old quarterbacks everywhere, Kerry Collins signed a two-year, $15 million deal to stay with the Titans.

Collins stepped in nicely for Vince Young last season, but I don’t think this is the best move for Tennessee. Forget about if you think Collins is being overpaid and focus upon this: The Titans need to develop Young. Unless Young is more fragile than we’ve been led to believe, he is their quarterback of the future. Collins is a good backup option, but not for $15 million. And why couldn’t the Titans take about $5 million of Collins deal and offer it to the Washington-bound Albert Haynesworth?

I’m beginning to wonder if Tennessee’s fantastic season in 2008 was a sever aberration. I think 10-6 is looming in 2009.

You knew once he opted out of his contract with the Titans, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth would become a very rich man.

Haynes isn’t returning to Tennessee, instead signing with Washington a seven-year, $100 million deal. The $41 million in guaranteed money is the most in NFL history.

With the Redskins re-signing DeAngelo Hall, it’s obvious they are serious about winning the NFC East. And why shouldn’t they be — they contended through most of 2008. Now if their offense would just be more consistent …

With the economy reeling, highly paid sports figures are suddenly coming under scrutiny for their big paychecks. UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun was ambushed with a question about his salary and went off on a tirade that has politicians in Connecticut upset. Slugger Manny Ramirez doesn’t think $25 million is enough, and Kurt Warner’s agent thinks the QB should be making $14 million despite the fact he’s going to be 38.

Amid all this, you have to admire what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did this week. The NFL front office trimmed its staff, but Goodell also voluntarily took a 20 percent pay cut. He’s still making a ton of money, but that cut probably saved some jobs in the front office. Though this will generate positive PR for the NFL, I believe Goodell’s concern was genuine. He could make a couple million dollars less, still be paid a lot, and still have a strong league. Think Bud Selig will be reducing his salary anytime soon?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released a bunch of veterans Wednesday, including Derrick Brooks and Warrick Dunn, leading to the headline of the day off ESPN.com’s NFL home page:

“Buccaneers release Brooks, Dunn, three others”

After reading this headline, I wondered if the Bucs were going to try signing Rascal Flatts instead.

Joking aside, it looks like the Bucs are going into rebuilding mode by releasing Brooks, as well as Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard. Dropping Brooks is akin to the Ravens dropping Ray Lewis if Lewis was a couple years older. Brooks has been such a mainstay of the Tampa Bay defense for so long that there must have been a better way to ease him out.

Time will tell if these moves paid off. Just a hunch, but in the tough NFC South, the Bucs might finish last in 2009.

Kurt Warner’s agent thinks the quarterback’s salary range should be amid the top five QBs in the league. I have two words for Mark Bartelstein, and the Cardinals if they decide to pay Warner that much: Brett Favre.

Favre came off a tremendous season with the Packers at an advanced age (for NFL QBs, at least), went to the Jets, gave them confidence, then self-destructed and got a coach fired. No doubt, Warner is coming off a great season and showed veteran leadership. But he is 37 and had the luxury of some great receivers as targets.

Should Warner get a raise to stay another season in Arizona? Yes. Should he be paid $14 million at age 38? No. It’s too big a risk. If that means Warner leaves or retires, so be it, and hope Matt Leinart learned something this last season on the bench.

The Houston Texans are reportedly close to trading quarterback Sage Rosenfels to Minnesota for a fourth-round draft pick. Smart move, for both teams.

The Texans don’t need a quarterback controversy. Both Rosenfels and Matt Schaub or starting-caliber QBs, and the team needs to pick one. Houston traded for Schaub (who already has a favorite target in Andre Johnson) and probably is a slightly better team with him.

The Vikings need this trade more. Obviously, they have given up on Tavaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte is old, and their impressive running game can’t do it all. Rosenfels is young, experienced, and can come in and take over as the team’s leader, establishing a new rapport with the Minnesota receivers that will be his own. This could be the move that establishes the Vikes as the clear leader in the NFC North.

The NFL draft combine is in progress this weekend, but I’m not paying too much attention. I’m not the draft junkie some other NFL fans are, so the combine doesn’t hold much appeal. Over the years, the combine has become more of an event, particularly since NFL Network began covering it. That’s fine — NFL Network’s mission is to cover the NFL to the max — but I’m not really watching.

That said, the big news I’ve taken from the combine so far is receiver Michael Crabtree’s foot injury. The stress fracture might drop his draft position out of the top five. Then there’s Alabama tackle Andre Smith, another anticipated high pick who suddenly left the combine. Perhaps surefire top-10 picks should know better than to attend the combine.

It took a few weeks, but on Thursday, the NFL fined Santonio Holmes for his end zone celebration after scoring the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII. Puh-lease. It just might have been the greatest game-winning TD in Super Bowl history, and because Holmes got creative in celebration — a celebration the officials and most of the other team didn’t see — he deserved a fine. It’s discipline like this that sometimes earns the NFL the “No Fun League” moniker.

The Raiders re-signed Nnamdi Asomugha to the richest contract ever given to a defensive back — $45.3 million over three years. Oakland needed to keep Asomugha, but did the team commit too much money to him? I can’t help but think this is classic Raiders — overpaying one player and not being able to build a team around him. This move came a few days after they made Shane Lechler the richest punter in NFL history. Why do I have this feeling the Raiders are going to be a sub-.500 team well into the next decade?

The Chargers placed their franchise tag on running back Darren Sproles, who provided a speedy alternative when LaDainian Tomlinson was injured or struggling last season. What this means for LT is uncertain, but what seems certain is that the team doesn’t want to lose another talented backup like it lost Michael Turner last year. And all Turner did was become a star with the Falcons.

The Chargers must look ahead to when Tomlinson is gone. That may be sooner than later, but either way, Sproles likely will be a part of that future.