According to a report from Pro Football Talk, wide receiver Donte Stallworth will work out for the Lions on Wednesday. Stallworth, who was reinstated Sunday night and cut by the Browns on Monday, was suspended for the 2009 season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after he pleaded guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida. He spent 24 days in jail. Stallworth, who was with the Patriots in 2007, played one season for the Browns, catching 17 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown in 2008. Stallworth’s agent Drew Rosenhaus told Boston.com Tuesday that he expects Stallworth, 28, to sign with a team “in the next couple weeks at the latest” and that Stallworth is willing to play for all 32 NFL teams.

Julius Peppers is the Panthers' career sack leader, but his days in Carolina might be numbered. (AP)

Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers said Tuesday that he no longer wants a long-term deal with Carolina, saying he’s changed his stance on whether he wants to continue his career in Carolina.

“Last year, at the time, that was the option that I wanted most,” Peppers told Charlotte radio station WFNZ. “Now it’s not.”

While agent Carl Carey said last week he believes the Panthers aren’t interested in retaining the 6-foot-7, 283-pounder — who is Carolina’s career sacks leader — team officials haven’t announced their plans for Peppers, who is an impending free agent.

“How can you say you want to be somewhere when you’re not really sure if they want you there because they’re not even talking to you?” Peppers said, who added he’s become irritated with Carolina’s “silent treatment.”

Peppers, who turned 30 last month, has been one of the premier pass rushers since he entered the league in 2002, compiling 81 sacks, including 10 1/2 sacks or more in five of the last six seasons.

Injured Saints fullback Heath Evans, a former Patriot, was WEEI.com’s guest blogger for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. While helping the NFC champions in their preparations for the Colts, Evans shared his thoughts about taking part in his second Super Bowl, two years after helping the Patriots reach the NFL’s ultimate game.

Where do I begin?

I tweeted Saturday night that I thought we were in a great position. We were the decided underdog going into a game where we felt we had the better team. Let’s just say the Saints ain’t the Aints anymore! I don’t think the game could have been any better. There was great offense, defense and special teams. It was the perfect TEAM victory — I don’t think you could have scripted the game any better.

We start the game off with two lackluster drives and find ourselves in a 10-point hole against a team that I know (all too well) is hard to beat. The one thing that the Saints have been all year is a group of men who are willing to fight — fight with a 20-point lead or a 20-point deficit. Sunday night was no different.

I think we get the ability to fight in us from our city. A lot is made of the situation in New Orleans nationally — and rightfully so — but it is definitely a situation you can’t appreciate until you are smack dab in the middle of it! The great people of NOLA are fighters for sure, and we get strength from their will to overcome all the odds that have been stacked against them. Super Bowl XLIV came down to which team was willing to fight harder — fight harder for an onside kick, fight harder for a two-point conversion, etc.

And at the end of the day, the Saints were willing to fight! Fight for their themselves, their teammates, their coaches, their families and most importantly, their city! The 2009 Saints season is the perfect story of inspiration for anyone who is struggling through adversity.  Have the belief! Have the fight! Have the faith!

Thanks again, New England, for the great years with you guys and all the great support for myself and my family as well as the Heath Evans Foundation. You all are the greatest!

Donte' Stallworth

The Cleveland Browns released wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth on Monday afternoon.

Stallworth, a former Patriot, was suspended for the 2009 season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after he pleaded guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida. He spent 24 days in jail.

Stallworth, who was with the Patriots in 2007, played one season for the Browns, catching 17 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown in 2008.

Goodell said Friday that Stallworth would be reinstated after the Super Bowl.

A day after the misery for the Colts, former Patriots linebacker and Indiana native Rosevelt Colvin checked in from Indianapolis on Monday with the Dale & Holley show to talk about the Super Bowl.

Colvin, who played for the Patriots for six years and now owns businesses in Indianapolis, was a college teammate of Saints quarterback Drew Brees and reminisced on what Brees was like many years ago.

“Drew has been a competitor ever since I met him and I think that’s one of the great reasons why he has been as successful as he has,” he said.

Colvin also discussed his thoughts on the Super Bowl and who he believes should take some of the blame for the Colts being upended on the biggest stage.

The transcript follows. To listen, click here.

Is it pretty ugly in Indianapolis today?

We are recovering from a snowstorm, and people in the Midwest don’t know how to deal with snow. They put sand on the ground — not salt — and now they have another snowstorm coming in. On top of that, the Colts go down there and get beat by one of the greatest quarterbacks in history.

Drew Brees was a teammate of yours at Purdue.

Yeah, Drew was there for two years. Junior year he didn’t play and my senior year he did. I think I’d like to have something to do with what went down yesterday.

What are your memories of playing with Drew Brees?

That first year he was just servicing on the scout team, but my senior year he was out there and I had an opportunity to get real close to him because I was doing my good friend Matt Light in every day at practice and [Brees] would be frustrated because we would run in and tag him on the helmet or on the shoulder pads and let him know he wouldn’t have gotten that pass off. Drew has been a competitor ever since I met him and I think that’s one of the great reasons why he has been as successful as he has. With all the stereotypes of he is too small or he isn’t one of the upper-echelon quarterbacks in the league. I think that last year in San Diego, but even his whole career at Purdue, he always had something to prove. He went out and showed that yesterday that he deserves to be in those conversations and I’m very, very happy for him.

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Boomer Esiason

CBS analyst Boomer Esiason joined Dennis & Callahan on Monday morning to discuss the turning points that led to New Orleans’ Super Bowl victory. Esiason broke down some of the key moments in the game — including the Pierre Garçon drop on the Colts’ third drive, the Saints’ onside kick and Tracy Porter’s interception of Peyton Manning.

Esiason called the latter a play that reminded him of plays ”that Asante Samuel has made in the past, Ty Law is a player that would make plays like that.” Esiason also added that the play that essentially ended the Colts’ hopes for a comeback could pay big dividends for Tom Brady, calling him the biggest winner because “Peyton Manning is still not able to eclipse the three Super Bowl championships that Tom Brady under his belt,” something that should have ramifications in contract negotiations for both players.

Esiason also called Saints coach Sean Payton’s decision to go for the onside kick to open the second half a “Great, gutsy call and if it works, you’re a genius.” He was careful to point out that Colts receiver Hank Baskett had the chance to grab the ball and turn Payton into a scapegoat, but could not make the play. It was one of the decisions Esiason lauded Payton for along with his role in giving money out of his own pocket to bring in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, deeming that decision ”one of the best investments Sean Payton ever made.”

The discussion of Williams’ role in limiting the Colts yesterday also lead to a questioning of Bill Belichick’s decision to go without any coordinators leading his offense or defense next season. “I know Bill has a commanding presence there, but I don’t necessarily know that you can do it without the traditional way of doing it,” said Esiason about the decision.

A full transcript of the interview is below. To listen, click here.

Fourteen days of talk leading up to this, and nobody said, “Hey, what about the coaching matchup?” Sean Payton outcoached Jim Caldwell, wouldn’t you agree?

Well, yeah, there is no doubt about that. And listen, Sean Payton took some chances and those chances ended up working for them. They had a fourth and one at the end of the first half and didn’t make it at the end of the second quarter, but that didn’t hurt them. I thought they mismanaged the clock a little bit there towards the end. I though they could have called timeout before the second down play for the Colts. But the second half, with the onside kick, being a little bit aggressive. Hank Baskett doesn’t get it, they get the ball and go right down the field and score the touchdown. I think that was really an indication of where the mindset of the Saints was. I said at halftime yesterday that this was Drew Brees’ Super Bowl to lose. I think the New Orleans Saints took a deep breath, got rid of the jitters and then really it was game on. And that was the New Orleans Saints team that we had seen most of the year; that was the quarterback we had seen most of the year. And quite frankly, after that performance it really hammers home that maybe Drew Brees should have been the MVP this year, because he played really well yesterday.

When they were pulling bodies off the pile in that endless scrum after the onside kick, are you thinking that was a good idea?

You know, Gerry, it’s kind of weird. Bill Cowher and I were talking about this yesterday on the pregame show. Now Bill played in two Super Bowls as a coach, one Super Bowl XXX, the other Super Bowl XL against the Seattle Seahawks. Bill was saying before the game — and I finally keyed him up on it — that when you are clearly the inferior team and you have in your mind that you are the inferior team, you need to do something to try to get the extra possession. You need to be a little bit aggressive — go for it on fourth and one, going for two late in the game, things of that nature. And that is what he tried to do in Super Bowl XXX, because he didn’t think the Pittsburgh Steelers could really matchup with the Dallas Cowboys in that game. And then he Super Bowl XL, he was in Jim Caldwell’s shoes; he had the better team, he had to be a little bit more careful with the ball. So when you think back to all the things that Sean Payton did yesterday, he knew in his heart that he was playing against a great offensive team and really felt that he needed an extra possession. Great, gutsy call and if it works, you’re a genius.

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Peter King

Sports Illustrated columnist and NBC analyst Peter King joined the Dale & Holley show Monday afternoon to reflect on the Saints’ Super Bowl victory, as well as the Hall of Fame voting that took place over the weekend in Miami.

King said that he raised the idea that the Colts are like the NFL’s version of the Atlanta Braves in that, “They either win their division or make the playoffs every year, but how often do they win a championship?” He also touched on how Peyton Manning’s performance in the loss Sunday night hurt his legacy. While King was quick to point out that it is too early to evaluate since Manning still has a number of good years left, he did add that “winning as many playoff games as you are losing, you are not going to be seen as great as, say, Joe Montana was.”

King was also full of praise for Saints coach Sean Payton, lauding him for being unafraid to take risks such as the onside kick that opened up the second half and commenting on the fact that “he is very much in-touch and in-tune with the players on his team.”

King also discussed the NFL Hall of Fame class that he helped select over the weekend in Miami. While there was some debate over players not named Jerry Rice or Emmitt Smith, particularly in the case of Floyd Little, King said there were “a lot of guys in there that I am very bullish on, particularly with Russ Grimm and Rickey Jackson.”

A full transcript of the interview is below. To listen, click here.

You put the Hall of Fame and the Super Bowl together, there is no time for sleep, right?

First of all, we really didn’t do ourselves any favors with the Hall of Fame class. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with the Hall of Fame class because we got a lot of guys in there that I am very bullish on, particularly with Russ Grimm and Rickey Jackson. But that is a very exhausting situation in there, pretty emotional at times in there. So yesterday was really a fun football game, I thought. We had a really fun time at the game and a very, very interesting afterwards. A lot of the things I saw at the Saints hotel and being on a bus with a bunch of Saints family-type people and friends from James Carville to the 97-year-old Archbishop of New Orleans to Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush. So it was quite an evening.

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