It’s preseason with a tinge of the playoffs. That will be one of the highlights of a 13-game national television preseason schedule that was announced today by the NFL, along with the complete list of 2008 preseason matchups. All 12 of the 2007 NFL playoff teams will be featured in the national TV games.

It all starts in Canton, OH — site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Sunday night, August 3 on NBC (8:00 PM ET), the Indianapolis Colts will take on the Washington Redskins in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. It will be an eventful weekend for the Redskins as two of the greatest players in their history — cornerback Darrell Green and wide receiver Art Monk — will join the class of 2008 at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Saturday. The game also will mark the NFL head-coaching debut of Washington’s Jim Zorn. That game is just the start of the preseason national TV excitement:

WEEK 1: Two of the top-10 receivers of last season in both catches and yards square off as New Orleans (Marques Colston) visits Arizona (Larry Fitzgerald) on Thursday, August 7, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET ….. NFL fans will see the debut as a starter of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who this year takes over for the retired Brett Favre, when Cincinnati travels to Green Bay (Monday, August 11, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 2: Panthers QB Jake Delhomme will continue his comeback from elbow surgery as he is tested by new Eagles (and former Patriots) CB Asante Samuel when Philadelphia hosts Carolina (Thursday, August 14, FOX, 8:00 PM ET) ….. Two recent first-round quarterbacks meet for the first time as Oakland (JaMarcus Russell) visits Tennessee (Vince Young) on Saturday, August 16, FOX, 8:00 PM ET ….. Two division winners go at it as New England (preparing to duplicate its undefeated ’07 season) travels to Tampa Bay (Sunday, August 17, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET) ….. And the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants debut at home against Cleveland (Monday, August 18, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 3: Two quarterbacks seeking to re-establish themselves as starters go at it as San Francisco (Alex Smith) travels to Chicago (Rex Grossman) on Thursday, August 21, FOX, 8:00 PM ET ….. The Battle for Texas takes place when Houston visits Dallas (the preseason series is tied 2-2) on Friday, August 22, CBS, 8:00 PM ET ….. Pittsburgh’s No. 3 NFL rush defense of ’07 can judge where it stands for ’08 when it faces Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson, the NFL ’07 Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl MVP (Saturday, August 23, CBS, 8:00 PM ET) ….. Buffalo helps Indianapolis open its new 63,000-seat Lucas Oil Stadium (Sunday, August 24, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET) ….. And two more division winners meet when Seattle travels to San Diego. The Seahawks will be priming new RB Julius Jones (Monday, August 25, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 4: The national TV schedule concludes with another matchup of playoff teams as Washington prepares to kick off the season and new Jacksonville WR Jerry Porter gets his final tune-up (Thursday, August 28, NBC, 7:00 PM ET).

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NFL’s Preseason National Television Schedule Features Every ‘07 Playoff Team

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Seattle Seahawks CB Marcus Trufant will probably spend the rest of his career in the great northwest after signing a six-year, $50.2 million contract today. There are $20 million in guarantees and a $3 million roster bonus due in 2010 means Marcus is due $28 million over the first three years of the contract, making him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL. Marcus has been free to negotiate with other teams since free agency began back on March 1, but his agent, Doug Hendrickson, said that never happened because teams did not want to give Seattle two first-round draft choices should the Seahawks decline to match other offers, per the league’s franchise-tag rules. At any rate, Marcus should now be able to afford a nice honeymoon as he is getting married Saturday.

The ‘Hawks are obviously determined to keep their star players. Less than a week ago they secured LB Lofa Tatupu for eight years. Seattle now gets a lower salary cap number for Marcus in 2008, lessening the pressure the team had been feeling after signing free-agent running backs Julius Jones and T.J. Duckett, plus former Pro Bowl guard Mike Wahle.

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Seahawks’ Marcus Trufant: $50 Million Man

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The Seattle Seahawks signed former Dallas Cowboys RB Julius Jones to a four-year, $16 million contract today. Julius was one of the most talked about free agent RBs in this year’s market, if only a “second-tier” option for most teams. I think it’s an excellent pickup for Seattle. Julius was kind of phased out of the Dallas offense (164 carries, 3.6 ypc) with the emergence of All-Pro Marion Barber, so this should provide him with a great opportunity to get his career back on track.

J2 is the second free agent running back signing by the Hawks this week. The Seahawks obviously needed some help for the aging and oft-injured Shaun Alexander, but they’re not going to keep this many running backs on the team. They also added T.J. Duckett from Detroit and they’ve got Maurice Morris as well. So someone’s going to be the odd man out. And my guess is it might be Shaun. Seattle’s running game has significantly fallen off since he was the league MVP in 2005. That was when he rushed for 1,880 yards and 27 touchdowns in a Super Bowl season. He’s been injured and ineffective since, and Seattle averaged just 4.0 yards per carry in 2006 and 3.8 last season.

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Seattle Sehawks Add Julius Jones to RBs

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With free agency just hours away, I still can’t believe the New England Patriots don’t have a deal in place for wide receiver Randy Moss. His record-setting 2007 more than earned him the right to have been signed to a long-term deal by the Pats. He kept his nose clean and was a leader and good teammate. He’s Tom Brady’s favorite target. What more needs to be said? I feel like as soon as I publish this, news will break of his signing … with the Patriots. Still, New England has a lot to consider. They have a slew of free agents and have the difficult task of deciding who they can keep. Remember, this was an 18-1 team last season. A roster overhaul isn’t really an ideal game plan. Who am I to question the mighty Patriots, though. They seem to find a way to make it work.

It’s always easy to assume the teams with the most money to spend will do the most spending in free agency. But what each team must do is look at their needs and decide what holes can be filled best in free agency or the upcoming Draft. And for those teams without a lot of cash to spend, it doesn’t mean they won’t be active. Obviously they have fewer options, but if there’s a player out there they want, they’ll do what they have to to get after him.

Here are my Top 10 free agents heading into tomorrow’s free-for-all:

1. Randy Moss, WR, Patriots
2. Michael Turner, RB, Chargers
3. Alan Faneca, G, Steelers
4. Lance Briggs, LB, Bears
5. Asante Samuel, CB, Patriots
6. Marion Barber, RB, Cowboys
7. Justin Smith, DE, Bengals
8. Bernard Berrian, WR, Bears
9. Tony Richardson, FB, Vikings
10. Derek Anderson, QB, Browns

Other players I really like (in no particular order) are Daunte Culpepper (QB, Raiders); Chris Brown (RB, Titans); Jerry Porter (WR, Raiders); Ernest Wilford (WR, Jags); Donte Stallworth (WR, Patriots); Jesse Chatman (RB, Dolphins); Julius Jones (RB, Cowboys); Atari Bigby (DB, Packers); and Lorenzo Neal (FB, who was released by the Chargers) and DeShaun Foster (RB, who was released by the Panthers). There are a lot of good players that will be available soon.

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Randy Moss Leads Top 10 NFL Free Agents