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If you’re a regular reader of Pro Football Talk, you probably know the story of Stryker Sulak, who was drafted by the Raiders with the 199th pick of this year’s draft.

(yeah, the only reason I’m writing about this is because Sulak went to Missouri.)

But for those who don’t know about Sulak–and I can’t hold it against you if you don’t–the Raiders cut him.

And didn’t even tell him or his agent when they did.

Sulak wasn’t hurt, hadn’t gotten in trouble, or had done anything wrong. Sure, the signing of Greg Ellis would have made it harder for him to make the team considering that Sulak isn’t exactly a run-stopping defensive end, but how many NFL teams cut a sixth round pick for no other reason than to cut him? Wouldn’t the extra body in training camp be worth keeping him on the roster? (This is the third time in modern NFL draft history that a pick has been cut before he’s been signed, although the last time was Christian Peter in 1996, and we all know why he was cut)

Anyway, Sulak’s agent says that there are 10 teams interested, and Sulak had a workout with the Patriots. As a Tiger fan, I wish him well and hope that he can catch on with a team for training camp.

Full disclosure, I followed it mostly on ‘net and satellite radio (handling some personal business this weekend), so I missed a lot of the instant reactions from the on-air pundits. Although I am given to understand that the Raiders’ continued unusual approach drew some raised eyebrows. And then some. That out of the way, the chattering classes say, in the light of Monday:

—Tony Pauline at si.com on the drafts biggest steals and reaches (no surprise that Al Davis looked to be auditioning for the Fantastic Four)

—Don Banks with his Day Two Snap Judgments is drooly for the continued aggressiveness displayed by the Jets. And man does he have man love for Mark Sanchez.

—Andrew Perloff with observations as opposed to grades for the draft at si.com. Nice approach, and it includes this:

I don’t buy Pete Carroll’s reversal of opinion on Mark Sanchez’s future. At first Carroll said Sanchez wasn’t ready. The QB claims his coach only said that so he’d stay at USC. I tend to believe the image-conscious Carroll was telling the truth. He didn’t think Sanchez is ready. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sanchez had some rough bumps his rookie year.

Excellent. Now he has to fight Don Banks to the death.

—John Czarnecki at foxsports.com goes all traditional with the grade thing. Say! He loves the Bengals draft! Clearly he’s a genius!

—Alex Marvez at foxsports.com with 10 things that caught him off-guard as the draft unfolded.

—Pete Prisco at sportsline.com also goes with grades. And hates what Dallas and Oakland did.

—Clifton Brown at sportingnews.com also has grades. And likes him some Bears draft.

—Finally, we’ll close with Clark Judge at sportsline.com and his draft Judgements.

So much of espn.com is off-limits to insiders, they get no linky.

As for me, I can really only comment knowledgeably on what the Bengals got done, given my limited access to really looking at the overall draft. And, for a change, it wasn’t carnage. They let the draft come to them, and have guys who played really high level football sucessfully for programs loaded with talent. If Andre Smith is the guy he was on the field, and so is Maluluga, then those two alone make it a good draft. Add in Michael Johnson at DE and a legit center and tight end as well as the nation’s best punter and the Bengals did more than just pay lip service to the need to get more physical and able to play a more ball control and field position kind of game. About time. A.

I never really believed that the Chiefs were going to trade Tony Gonzalez. Maybe because Gonzalez had become the face of the franchise, and really the only face of the franchise that I ever knew. I was 11 when Carl Peterson made the unfathomable-at-the-time decision to trade up to get Gonzalez, and I still can remember the playoff loss in TG’s rookie year (when he split time with the immortal Ted Popson) like it was yesterday.

I felt that Clark Hunt had an infinitely bigger sense of attachment to Gonzalez, and whatever Todd Haley and Scott Pioli wanted to do with Gonzalez, Hunt would veto.

Instead, it happened today, and Tony was traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2010 second round pick. (hat tip, TimGod)

And I’m just fine with the move.

Gonzalez didn’t want to be a Kansas City Chief anymore, and who could blame him? He’s 33, nearing the end of his career, has never won a playoff game, and he, along with everyone else, knew that the Chiefs weren’t going to be in a position to win any playoff games anytime soon.

The deal is great for both sides. The Chiefs get a second round pick for a great tight end who wasn’t going to help them reach the playoffs in the near future for a potential impact player in next year’s draft. The Falcons, who had the fewest catches in the league last year from their tight ends, get another elite receiving option to go along with Roddy White, helping Matt Ryan’s development and also opening up more running lanes for Michael Turner. And most importantly, with the lineup that the Falcons have, Gonzalez may be the piece they need to take another step as a team and win a playoff game.

As a fan, it’s saddening to see TG go. He was the consummate pro, went to 10 Pro Bowls and thankfully (yes, I realize it’s trivial) set the all-time records for touchdowns, catches and receiving yards as a tight end with the Chiefs. But at the same time, a draft pick is worth more to the Chiefs right now than the services of Tony Gonzalez, and here’s to hoping the Falcons get him a playoff win or two, or maybe even a Super Bowl.

Stuff floating out there worth a perusal:

—Don Banks on the position that consistently is valued higher than the mocks do among other news and notes

—Andy Staples applies the common sense approach to the drafts prospects (what they did on the field vs. the combine stuff) in a good read and includes this on Andre Smith:

Yes, Smith flaked out at the combine. Dumb move. Yes, he missed the Sugar Bowl because of his dealings with an agent. Even dumber move. But guess what will happen when Smith gets on the field? He’s going to maul people, because that’s all he does. He won the starting left tackle job the moment he stepped on campus at Alabama. He’s held his own against defensive ends such as Derrick Harvey, Tyson Jackson and Greg Hardy. Some mock drafts had Smith in the 20s after his early exit at the combine. Fortunately, common sense has pushed Smith’s stock higher. But if he doesn’t go in the top three, it’s not high enough.

Good points. As one who got caught up in the aforementioned silliness with Smith, a nice reminder of what he is as a player.

—John Czarnecki at foxsports.com compiles a list of the five best and five worst decision makers in NFL front offices. The Bengals’ Mike Brown gets his appropriate due.

—Jeff Legwold at foxsports.com with his top overall 100 prospects. Let’s hope the Bengals get one of them. That’s touch and go.

—Rob Rang and Chad Reuter with their guesses at 10 things that will come to pass this weekend in New York.

It remains the perception that Cleveland is willing and happy to jettison its former #1. If Michael Crabtree is sitting there at #5 on Saturday aftenoon, then Edwards may be Eli Manning’s newest target in New York:

Tuck, a Pro Bowl defensive end, became the second prominent Giants player to openly endorse Edwards, following Eli Manning’s unusually-candid remarks last week. Without Burress and Amani Toomer, Tuck says he likes that there’s now more pressure on the defense to dominate. But he sure sounded excited about adding Edwards to the mix.

“I think he definitely can lock down one side of the field when he’s playing his best football,” Tuck said of the 6-3, 215-pound Edwards. “He has the same kind of effect that Plaxico had, a big, tall receiver who can get down field in a hurry and stretch a defense.” Tuck said he and Edwards are “pretty good friends” and that he is the type of player and person who would fit into the Giants locker room. “I know Braylon is not the type of guy, a look-at-me-type player,” Tuck said.

No. I guess not. Course he IS a holy-crap-why-does-he-drop-so-many-passes type player, which may not be especially welcome to Giant fans and media…

News, notes, and other stuff of interest as the NFL’s off-season Super Bowl approaches:

—This is weird from the National Football Post:

A general manger told me that he expects Cleveland to trade Brady Quinn this week but he’s not sure what team he will be heading to. The prevailing feeling in the NFL is that the Browns like Mark Sanchez and have spent considerable time getting to know everything they can about him.

I, ah, what? That would be a really strange lateral move, in my view. Let’s write that one off to “noise”.

—It’s a few days old now, but in case you missed it, Joe Posnanski’s musings on the evolution of the draft at si.com are worth your time.

—Don Banks finally, grudgingly, moves Matthew Stafford to the Lions in his latest mock draft. Welcome to reality, Don. But Banks has a twist, he drops Aaron Curry all the way to pick eight. I must say, if Curry is sitting there at six, he doesn’t get past the Bengals.

—Wah. An article about how draftniks are slighting an Ohio State defender? Why ever would that be? Hmmm…the mind reels. Pick James Lauernitis at your own risk, NFL teams. And don’t expect Pro Bowls to follow.

—Scout.com with their top 25 prospects, mock drafts aside.

—This mock draft from scout.com gives Michael Oher to the Bengals at #6 overall. That is not going to happen.

—The latest collected mocks at sportsline include one that, like Don Banks, drops Aaron Curry down to pick eight. Again, I just don’t see him getting past the Bengals at #6 were that to happen next Saturday.

—The other big change in draft thinking over the last four days have been the indications that Seattle is interestd in Mark Sanchez to begin the eventual replacement process for Matt Hasselback. If so, that will end a lot of the trade up intrigue for Sanchez.

—Percy Harvin’s draft stock falling? Rumors can be vicious, and this is a devil’s brew:

Still, Pro Football Weekly recently polled NFL executives about the riskiest picks in this coming draft and Harvin was selected as the unanimous winner because of “coachability, a posse of hangers-on, his lack of respect for authority and drug usage.”

—The Browns are apparently kicking the tires on Missouri wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, leading the Cleveland Plain Dealer to wonder that is to complement Braylon Edwards or replace him.

—Why are passing poor 49ers reported not to be interested in Matthew Stafford? His talk with their team psychologist. Si.com’s Austin Murphy looks deeper and comes to a reasonable conclusion: It is the 49ers who are insane.

—Don Banks with 10 players flying below the radar who have a chance to someday go all Wes Welker/Willie Parker on the league.

—Mock drafts? Yes: Here (Don Banks stubbornly keeps giving Jason Smith to the Lions), here (five mock drafts collected at sportsline.com, all giving Stafford to the Lions), and here (scout.com for foxsports.com giving Mark Sanchez to the Lions at #1).

13 days and we will know for sure.

S.I. with an interestingly worded half-retraction.

“We have investigated the claims of Mr. Raji’s agent and although we have several credible sources for the report we have decided to take it down while we continue reporting the story.”

Apparently, reporting comes after publishing now…

Today, anyway, because his TMQB has not his thoughts solely, but the thoughts of Mike Mayock from the NFL Network too. And, I agree with King, Mayock is fun because he is blunt. A few snippets:

“6. He likes Eugene Monroe over Jason Smith, if you’re picking a franchise tackle. “Smith’s got a better upside. Very aggressive. But Monroe’s got the best feet in the draft. He’s a really accomplished technician.”

7. He thinks Wake Forest linebacker Aaron Curry — who Detroit would play at middle linebacker if the Lions made him the first pick of the draft — would be optimally used at strongside linebacker in the 4-3 because he can cover, he can play physically over the tight end, and he’s got upside pass-rushing ability.

8. He’s scared of Brian Orakpo, the Texas defensive end who’s the apple of a few teams’ eyes in the top half of the first round. “Buyer beware,” Mayock said. “He’s boom or bust. I don’t know if he’s DeMarcus Ware or Vernon Gholston. I’ve seen him have some really good games, and I’ve seen what I considered to be Brandon Pettigrew tearing him apart. The point is, I don’t see it all the time from Orakpo, which concerns me.”

9. Of the elite quarterbacks, he likes USC’s Mark Sanchez the best. “He’s the most ready made for the pro game right now.”

Interesting. Bengals have pick #6, go ahead and try and make them an offer they can’t refuse to move up and get Sanchez. I dare any team. Mind you, they will go ahead and refuse it, but it’s nice to see Mike Brown forced to say “no” to perfectly reasonable trade requests. Even unreasonable trades that favor the Bengals. Mike Brown. Because he can.

At least, No-shon, to the Bengals at #6, please.

You have to understand, as a Bengals fan, the senseless terror that is most every waking moment. And it amplifies come April, when Mike Brown roams the land unleashing decisions that appear to be based on the consistencty of his morning glass of Metamucil. So, yeah, the list of guys whom the Bengals are said to be excited about tends to be scary for your average Bengals fan, as, unlike most teams, it isn’t a smoke-screen to try and tempt trade ups. The Bengals don’t ever trade down. So when they are said to be high on Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno, for the love of all that is holy, they probably are.

And the last thing that the Bengals need at #6 overall, is a running back. Even if Moreno were the running back truth -and it is less than clear that he is – the Bengals need offensive lineman. They themselves need to be creative and see if they can get to a player like Eugene Monroe, say, rather than settling for what falls to them.

Alas, judging from past history, the cloudiness of the April 24 Metamucil will yield a pick sure to have the ESPN draft chatterers howling with delight.