The Kansas City Chiefs received a huge boost to their offense Tuesday, as free agent running back Thomas Jones has signed an undisclosed deal with the team.

Jones has rushed for 1,100 or more yards in each of his last 5 seasons, which includes a career-high 1,402 rushing yards (3rd in NFL) & 14 touchdowns in 2009.

He’s expected to backup Jamaal Charles, who exploded near the end of last season with 658 rushing yards in his final 4 games, which was 59% of his total for 2009.

As for Jones’ former New York Jets team, they are expected to start 2nd year back Shonn Greene next season.

Just one day after trading for Seneca Wallace, the Cleveland Browns have decided to release Derek Anderson, which ends his 4 year run with the team.

He stunned most of the NFL with a breakout 2007 season in which he had career highs in completion percentage (56.5%), passing yards per game (236.7), passing touchdowns (29) & passing yards (3,787).

But after that, Anderson’s career went into a tailspin as he played in just 18 games over the last 2 seasons while combining to throw for 12 touchdowns & 18 interceptions.

Derek even had a game last season where he won despite only completing 2 of 17 passes for 23 yards (15.1 rating) during Cleveland’s 6-3 win over Buffalo on October 11th, 2008.

Brady Quinn will be the Browns’ starting quarterback for the 2010-11 season, while Seneca Wallace will serve as Quinn’s backup.

Aroldis Chapman did not disappoint in his spring training debut Monday, as the 22-year old Cuban defectee threw two scorless innings during the Cincinnati Reds’ 14-6 win over Kansas City.

Chapman wowed scouts in attendace in Goodyear, AZ as he hit 100 mph on the radar gun three different times during his first major league appearence.

Afterwards he was impressed with his debut, even though he was unaware of how hard he was throwing the ball.

“I wasn’t trying to throw that hard. It was good to face someone other than my own teammates. I felt better than I did in the last game. I start slow and as the game goes on, I throw harder.”

His performance impressed Reds manager Dusty Baker, who will give Chapman a chance to win a spot in Cincinnati’s starting rotation.

“It’s just a matter of him finding the plate. He was close to the plate today even when he was missing. Most of the time when he missed, it was down. That’s a very good sign that he’s getting more and more into the rhythm of things.”

The San Antonio Spurs will have to finish the regular season without their starting point guard, as Tony Parker will miss 6 weeks after breaking his right hand against Memphis on Saturday.

Parker has appeared in a career-low 50 games this season, while his 16.7 points per game average is the lowest since 2004-05.

George Hill will start in Parker’s place for the remainder of the regular season, as the 2nd year guard is averaging a career-high 11.7 points & is averaging 16.0 points in 25 games as a starter.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have added major boost to their struggling pass rush, as they signed defensive end Aaron Kampman to a $26 million, 4 year deal over the weekend.

Kampman will try to rebound from a disappointing 2009 season in which he appeared in a career-low 9 games & only recorded 3.5 sacks, as he switched from defensive end to linebacker in Dom Capers’ new 3-4 defense for the Green Bay Packers.

He’ll go back to playing defensive end though in Jacksonville, where he’s had 37 sacks in the previous 3 seasons, including a career-high 15.5 in 2006-07.

In a rather emotional press conference Friday, the Carolina Panthers parted ways with their 35-year old quarterback Jake Delhomme, who had spent the last 7 years as a starter.

Delhomme’s best pro season came in 2004, when he totaled career highs in pass completions (310), pass attempts (533), passing yardage (3,886) & passing touchdowns (29).

That came just one year after he helped lead Carolina to an appearence in Super Bowl XXXVIII & completed the longest pass play in SB history with an 85-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad.

Jake certainly did his best in a losing effort, as he completed 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards, 3 touchdowns & a 113.6 quarterback rating.

The Panthers will go with 3rd year quarterback Matt Moore as their starter last season, who played well late last season as he made 4 straight starts without committing a turnover. (Carolina went 3-1 in that timeframe)

101

95

Star Player of the Game: Wizards forward Andray Blatche, who scored 25 points & grabbed 11 rebounds in 41 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Washington outscored Chicago 55-39 in the 2nd half. (Bulls led 56-45 at halftime)

Wednesday, February 24th

120

110

Star Player of the Game: Bulls forward Luol Deng, who scored 31 points, grabbed 9 rebounds & blocked 4 shots in 43 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Chicago shot 50.6% for the game.

Friday, February 26th

115

111 (F/OT)

Star Player of the Game: Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who scored 33 points in 46 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Chicago outrebounded Portland 43-29 & shot 57.5% for the game.

Saturday, February 27th

100

90

Star Player of the Game: Pacers forward Danny Granger, who scored 30 points, grabbed 8 rebounds & recorded 4 steals in 35 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Chicago shot just 41.9% for the game & connected on only 3-of-13 (23.1%) of their three-point attempts.

Monday, March 1st

116

92

Star Player of the Game: Hawks forward Josh Smith, who scored 17 points & grabbed 18 rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Atlanta outrebounded Chicago 63-37, including a 22-8 edge offensively.

Thursday, March 4th

105

96

Star Player of the Game: Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph, who scored 31 points & grabbed 18 rebounds in 39 minutes of action.

Key Stat: Memphis shot 52.6% for the game & outrebounded Chicago 46-31.

Record at week’s end: 31-30 (7th in Eastern Conference)

Upcoming Schedule:

3/6 vs:

3/9 vs:

3/11 @:

3/12 @:

The Boston Celtics have added some veteran leadership for the remainder of the season, as they agreed to a $1.1 million deal with swingman Michael Finley.

Finley has played in just 25 games this season for the San Antonio Spurs, as his release request was granted by head coach Greg Popovich.

Prior to this season, he had finished with a clip of at least 36.4% or higher on three-point attempts in each of his last 7 seasons, which might make up the recent loss of combo guard Eddie House, who was traded to the New York Knicks on February 18th.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said that Finley will make his Boston debut on Sunday at home against Washington.

The Baltimore Ravens finally have the big-play receiver that their offense has been lacking in years.

They were able to complete a deal on Friday to acquire 3-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals, who agreed to a $25 million, 3 year deal with his new team.

Despite some injury issues, Boldin has had a pretty succesful NFL career to this point with 5 seasons of at least 80 receptions & over 1,000 yards receiving in his 7 years as a pro.

Arizona will receive 3rd & 4th round picks for next month’s NFL Draft in return.

Your winner from day 1 of the NFL’s free-agency period? None other than your Chicago Bears!

This comes after a blockbuster deal in which they were able to land top free-agent defensive end Julius Peppers to a 6 year deal that’s worth up to $72 million.

The 5-time Pro Bowler has finished with 10.5 sacks or more in 6 of his 8 NFL seasons, which were spent with the Carolina Panthers.

Peppers has had seven different games with at least 3 sacks & became the Panthers’ all-time sack leader on October 15th, 2006.

The Bears also signed veteran running back Chester Taylor & tight end Brandon Manamaleuna, who both should play key roles in Mike Martz’s new offense for next season.