Harvey, the eighth overall selection in April, was the last first round pick to sign for the 2008 season. His deal includes a little more than $17 million guaranteed and could pay him as much as $33.4 million with incentives and escalator clauses.

Chargers. A day after visiting a fourth doctor, all-pro linebacker Shawne Merriman decided to play this season rather than have surgery on his left knee.

Merriman said late last week that he had tears in both the posterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in the knee, which he hurt in a game at Tennessee in December.

He spent several days seeking outside opinions. Merriman said all four doctors he had seen told him he needed surgery, but there "just wasn't a time frame on that. My knee still looks pretty good. The decision was left up to me to play. If you give a football player a decision to play, you know, I'm going to play."

Colts. Coach Tony Dungy increased quarterback Peyton Manning's workload just one day after the two-time league MVP returned to practice. Manning, who has not missed a start in his 10-season NFL career, showed no effects from the July 14 surgery that removed an infected bursa sac from his left knee.

Like most Indianapolis starters, he will not play tonight against Cincinnati.

Ravens. New Baltimore coach John Harbaugh still has not picked a starting quarterback. Kyle Boller, Troy Smith, and top draft pick Joe Flacco (out of Audubon High in Camden County and the University of Delaware) remain in the running to replace Steve McNair, who retired after two seasons with Baltimore.

Packers. Defensive lineman Johnny Jolly Jr. faces a Sept. 16 court date on a felony drug-possession charge, according to court records.

Jolly, 25, was arrested July 8 in Houston and charged with possession of at least 200 grams of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony, according to court documents. He posted $10,000 bond and was released.

Jolly has declined to discuss his situation publicly.

Cardinals. Kurt Warner will be Arizona's starting quarterback tomorrow night in its preseason finale against Denver, but coach Ken Whisenhunt said no decision had been made about who would start the opener at San Francisco. Warner has been battling Matt Leinart for the starting job.

Seahawks. Lofa Tatupu has a bone bruise in his right knee, but coach Mike Holmgren said the Pro Bowl linebacker would be fine for the season opener Sept. 7 at Buffalo.

Chiefs. Kicker Jay Feely was cut a day after signing a one-year deal with Kansas City.

Hall of Fame. Former Eagle Claude Humphrey and former Cowboy Bob Hayes were nominated by the seniors committee yesterday as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Humphrey played 11 seasons with Atlanta before finishing his career with Dick Vermeil's Eagles from 1979 to 1981. He helped the Birds reach the Super Bowl after the 1980 season, and was regarded as one of the league's top pass rushers in the days before the sack became an official statistic.

Hayes, an Olympic gold medalist as a sprinter in 1964, played for Dallas from 1965 to 1974 and for San Francisco in 1975. He averaged 20 yards a catch for his career, and led the NFL with a 20.8-yard average per punt return in 1968. He died in 2002 at 59.

Diversity. The NFL has maintained a steady number of black head coaches while slightly increasing the ranks of minority players.

In the 2007 season, 66 percent of NFL players were black, a 1-point decrease from the previous year, according to researchers at the University of Central Florida.

White players continued to make up 31 percent of the total, but the difference was made up by a small increase in Latino and Asian players.

The NFL has six black head coaches and five black general managers entering this season, the same as in 2007.