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Charean Williams 
NFL INSIDER
Hard work pays off for Mansfield product
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Jeromey Clary is the first to admit he was not NFL-ready out of college. So he brought his lunch pail, punched his time card and went to work.
Two years later, the former Mansfield High School standout is richer for the experience.
He is the San Diego Chargers starting right tackle and recently was awarded $253,015 in "performance-based pay."
"He has a chance to be a heck of a right tackle for us," Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said last week. "He has the attitude, and he's more athletic than people give him credit for. Out of everybody last year, he made the biggest strides.
"I don't know if he surprised the coaching staff, but he kind of surprised me. When Shane Olivea went down, he came in and the play didn't drop off at all. In fact, he may have raised the bar a little bit."
Clary, who played at Kansas State, was a sixth-round pick of the Chargers in 2006, but he didn't make the 53-player roster and spent the season on the team's practice squad.
"In college, I never redshirted, so I was kind of thrown to the wolves," Clary said. "I think I was a little bit ahead of how old I really was. Once I got into the league, I think it finally caught up with me, and I needed that year to really hone my skills and focus in on the things that were wrong with my game....
"I learned 10 times more in that one year than I learned in four years in college."
When then-starter Olivea injured his lower back in the first quarter of a Week 2 game against New England, Clary got his first extensive playing time. He made his first start the next week against Green Bay.
By the end of the season, Clary owned the job. He started the last six games of the regular season and all three playoff games.
Olivea was released at the end of February. And, despite mock-draft predictions that the Chargers would select an offensive tackle in the first round, San Diego didn't use a choice on an offensive lineman until the seventh round, when they took Texas A&M's Corey Clark. The Chargers believe in Clary.
"He was a big part of our success," Chargers coach Norv Turner said at the NFL owners meetings in March. "He stepped in at right tackle and played well. He's got a bright future, because he's a hard-working guy who is a talented football player."
Clary, 24, wants his future to begin now.
"I just want to play to the best of my ability," Clary said. "I think last year I played like I was young, and I don't want to play like that anymore. I want to play like I'm a veteran."
Calling Jerry Jones
The Cowboys and Browns have made four draft-day trades in the past two years.
Last year, Cleveland gave up its 2008 first-rounder to take quarterback Brady Quinn with the 22nd pick and then traded a third- and some mid-round picks to move up for cornerback Eric Wright.
This year, the Browns twice traded with the Cowboys in the fourth round, moving up to get Missouri tight end Martin Rucker and UNLV linebacker Beau Bell.
"They know we're willing to make a trade, and they're a team that's always been active over the years," Browns general manager Phil Savage told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer. "There's not a lot of negotiation. It's like, 'We'll do this, if you do that.' You can cut to the chase more quickly with them than some other teams."
Chiefs like Charles
Larry Johnson has a huge contract, and he carried the ball a record 416 times in 2006. His backup, Kolby Smith, showed potential after Johnson was injured last year.
So the last thing it seems the Chiefs needed was another running back. Nonetheless, they used a third-rounder on Texas running back Jamaal Charles.
"He's a change-of-pace kind of guy," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards told The Kansas City Star. "He has tremendous speed. He makes big plays and has good hands, can catch the ball. He's kind of a well-rounded guy. Is he a 25-carry guy? Probably not. But we're not going to ask him to do that. We're going to have a role for him."
Packers moving on
The Brett Favre era is history in Green Bay. The Packers' selections of Louisville's Brian Brohm in the second round and LSU's Matt Flynn in the seventh round signals they are moving on.
It also ends the career of Craig Nall in Green Bay and the team's flirtation with veteran Daunte Culpepper.
"You never like to lose somebody," Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "But time marches on for coaches and players alike."
Aaron Rodgers has only 121 regular-season snaps, but Favre's old job is now Rodgers' job to lose.
MY FIVE CENTS
1 Eyebrows were raised when New England used a third-round selection on a quarterback -- San Diego State's Kevin O'Connell. Matt Cassel, Tom Brady's backup, is entering the last year of his contract, and the Patriots aren't sold on him anyway.
2 New Orleans' potential trade for New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey went down to the wire, with the clock ticking down on the 40th overall pick. The last offer from the Saints was believed to be that second-rounder and either a fifth in 2009 or a sixth this year. That apparently was not enough for the Giants, and the Saints used the second-round choice on Indiana cornerback Tracy Porter.
3 The New York Jets wanted Arkansas running back Darren McFadden but settled for Ohio State defensive end/outside linebacker Vernon Gholston with the sixth overall pick. The Jets, who ranked 25th in the NFL with only 29 sacks last season, signed free-agent defensive end Calvin Pace and traded for nose tackle Kris Jenkins. With the departures of Jonathan Vilma and Dewayne Robertson, the Jets clearly have endorsed Eric Mangini's system.
4 By not selecting a quarterback, Kansas City showed it has faith in Brodie Croyle. The third-round pick in 2006 is 0-6 as a starter. The Chiefs still have veteran Damon Huard as the backup, with two young quarterbacks on the roster -- Tyler Thigpen and former Georgia quarterback David Greene.
5 Pittsburgh is planning to explore ways to get rookie Rashard Mendenhall on the field at the same time as starter Willie Parker. Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Mendenhall is the "most-ready-to-play guy of the top running backs because he can pass-protect."
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
