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The Dolphins announced Wednesday that leading running back Ronnie Brown had been placed on injured reserve with a right foot injury, ending his 2009 season. Brown had accumulated 648 yards rushing and eight touchdowns, plus a passing touchdown, and stepped in at the "quarterback" spot in Miami's Wildcat offense.

Miami may be as equipped as any team in the NFL to lose its No. 1 back and still run a consistent offense. Ricky Williams will take over as the team's starter, with guys like Ted Ginn, Jr., and rookie quarterback Pat White capable of picking up extra Wildcat duties. Still, Miami's offense puts a lot of pressure on the running back position -- behind Williams now is second-year guy Lex Hilliard, who has zero NFL carries.

But there are lots of recognizable free agents available, should Miami go that route. A look at some of the possibilities:

Larry Johnson cleared waivers last week, and as a result, was a full-on free agent (no one was picking up his salary, so this wasn't a surprise). Now it's being reported that LJ will sign with the Cincinnati Bengals.

That's the rumor, anyway, coming from Adam Schefter's Twitter account, where he's crediting Michael Smith with the news that Johnson is headed to Cincy for a visit and likely signing.

In the days since his release, speculation has been rampant as to where former Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson would eventually end up. Almost immediately, the Washington Redskins were a hot rumor. The shoe fit because Dan Snyder likes signing big names -- even if they are washed up has-beens -- and starting running back Clinton Portis recently went down with a concussion.

Wednesday, though, head coach Jim Zorn ruled out the possibility of the 'Skins bringing in the maligned veteran from Penn State.

In a move that came a bit out of the blue, the Broncos waived 24-year-old cornerback Jack Williams and signed 14-year vet Ty Law.

Denver rookie head coach Josh McDaniels didn't mess around after Baltimore shredded Denver 30-7 last week -- the Broncos' first loss of the year. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco went 20 of 25 through the air in that game, and as Jeff Legwold of the Denver Post points out, 12 of 15 against Denver's nickel defense.

McDaniels said Saturday that he hopes Law can play Monday night when Denver hosts Pittsburgh.

There's a pretty strong belief that the Steelers avoid the free agent market. Because of their belief in the draft and the Rooney's lack of a Daniel Snyder-size bankroll, they ignore free agents and focus instead on developing their own stars.

It's only halfway true. It's fair to say that Pittsburgh won't be in the market for the top free agents on the market next year, just like they haven't gone shopping for a big-money free agent in any of the past 17 years. But Pittsburgh does go shopping in the bargain bin. And more often than not, they find deals -- like linebacker Keyaron Fox, the star of Sunday's win against the Vikings.

Super Bowl XLII hero David Tyree is about to get another crack in the NFL. Tyree, whom was cut by the Giants in September, has agreed to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced Wednesday.

Tyree was reportedly scheduled to tryout for Tampa Bay later this week, but after a Monday workout in Baltimore, was able to come to terms with the Ravens.

Tyree played for six seasons in New York, the only prior stop in his NFL career. He has 54 career regular-season catches for 650 yards and four touchdowns.

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With Terrell Owens starring again as The World's Biggest Drama King, here's a quick thought: More than a few bosses in sports have heard of Albert Einstein, but they likely don't know that he opined, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Actually, they just don't care. Otherwise, Eric Mangini wouldn't keep getting jobs, especially as somebody's head coach.

What were those who run the Cleveland Browns thinking?

Unlike most teams, the Steelers have a somewhat hard and fast rule that they don't negotiate contract extensions during the season. So when Pittsburgh wrapped up a new extension with Brett Keisel last week, there was a general feeling that Pittsburgh was done with new deals until after the season.

But apparently Steelers' negotiator Omar Kahn was keeping busy. Jim Wexell reported that they gave kicker Jeff Reed an offer that was rejected. But that just meant that the Steelers moved on to center Justin Hartwig, who signed a four-year, $10 million extension today, just two days before the season kicks off.

Even though Saturday was NFL cut-down day, it didn't stop the Seahawks and Broncos from picking a couple big names off the free-agent market. Seattle signed 13-year veteran safety Lawyer Milloy, while Denver came to terms with defensive end Vonnie Holliday.

Terms of Milloy's deal were not immediately released, but Seattle released starting free safety Brian Russell -- a major disappointment after getting a big five-year deal in 2007 -- to make room on their roster. Milloy, 35, will need some time to get assimilated in Seattle, but he'll jump into the starting lineup once he does.

In Super Bowl XLII, David Tyree provided one of those incredible moments that will forever live in sports lore. Tyree's career with the Giants did not last nearly as long. New York cut the wide receiver on Saturday, about 17 months after Tyree's postseason heroics.

"Like anyone else, it was a tough thing for David to hear. He's actually saying his goodbyes to his teammates right now," Tyree's agent told the Star-Ledger.

Saturday's move serves to highlight, even further, just how remarkable Tyree's Super Bowl catch was -- Tyree's an incredibly average player who made arguably the best catch in playoff history.

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