With the Browns' fifth victory and having qualified for the required playing time for the escalation clauses in his contract, Thomas earned a $5.75 million one-time bonus and guaranteed $9.61 million in salaries for 2010 and 2011. That's nearly a $15.4 million payday. Thomas is playing at a Pro Bowl level for a Browns team that has a chance to earn a wild-card bid.

Long odds for Pacman: Pacman Jones really didn't have much of a chance of shortening his yearlong suspension. He hadn't met requirements needed to have commissioner Roger Goodell shorten his suspension to 10 games.

Jones can start to work at the Titans' facility at the end of the year as long as he doesn't have any convictions or any other legal problems. Still, you have to wonder if the Titans really want him back. They are 6-2 without him and have good team chemistry.

Stroud had no choice: It's pretty evident why Jaguars defensive tackle Marcus Stroud didn't challenge his four-game suspension for violation of the league's steroid policy. By serving the time now, he can come back in December and help the Jaguars make the playoffs. The problem for the Jaguars is that the next four games could knock them out of contention. They have road games against the Titans and Colts and home games against the Chargers and Bills. If the Jaguars go 1-3 over that stretch, they would only be competing for the final wild-card spot with a 6-6 record.

Jets make point: The first casualty of Jets mental mistakes was defensive back Rashad Washington, the team's best special teams player, who was waived Tuesday. He had two penalties in Sunday's loss in the Redskins. Considering that the Jets have blown four games in the fourth quarter, coach Eric Mangini needed to get more accountability from the team. Washington became the first sacrificial player in an effort to clean up the mistakes.

PUP updates: Six players on the physically unable to perform list started clocks to see if they could come back by returning to practice. The list includes Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown, Bengals halfback Chris Perry, Lions wide receiver Devale Ellis, Jaguars defensive end Brian Smith, Dolphins tackle Joe Toledo and 49ers defensive end Melvin Oliver. Each player now has 21 days to work his way back on the active roster.

Panthers say goodbye: There were a lot of sad faces in Carolina on Tuesday when the Panthers placed linebacker Dan Morgan on injured reserve. Morgan is a popular player and one of the franchise's best defensive players. But he's played only 57 of a possible 112 games during his career because of injuries. He played only four games over the past two seasons. It's likely the team may release him after the season.

QBs coming in: Two of the three teams with the biggest quarterback questions signed QBs Tuesday. Not knowing if Vinny Testaverde or David Carr can practice Wednesday, the Panthers signed Drew Olson to the practice squad. Matt Moore could handle some of the early practices if Testaverde and Carr can't go in practice.

Koy Detmer was signed by the Vikings, and it's not out of the question for him to be the backup to Brooks Bollinger. Kelly Holcomb is expected to miss another game because of a neck injury. Starter Tarvaris Jackson is coming off a concussion.

The other team with questions at quarterback is Denver. They hope Jay Cutler will be able to play despite a leg injury.

Broncos bucking: Broncos coach Mike Shanahan shook up his roster Tuesday, signing four players and releasing three. The interesting release was defensive tackle Amon Gordon. After changing six of the 10 positions along the defensive line, Shanahan ended up with Gordon and Sam Adams as his starters at defensive tackle. Two of the departed defensive tackles -- Gerard Warren and Michael Myers -- have started games for other teams. Many figured Shanahan made too many changes for a defense that was statistically among the best last year. Now, he's shaking things up again.