Larry Johnson seems the closest to returning to work among the league's three major holdouts. Michael Strahan is still considering retirement from the Giants, although some suspect he may report once the team leaves its Albany training camp. And, basically, there is absolutely nothing new with No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell and the Raiders. With this long of a holdout, Russell may be looking at a red-shirt season at this point.

Johnson and the Chiefs have been making progress on a long-term contract that could include guarantees ranging between $15 and $19 million. Even if Johnson actually gets the higher number, he will still fall short of what LaDainian Tomlinson received ($21 million guaranteed and $60 million over eight years) received from the Chargers prior to the 2004 season.

But, then, LJ isn't as good as LT and many clubs don't view the running back position to be as valuable as quarterback, defensive end and cornerback. For example. the Colts will pay Dwight Freeney $30 million in guaranteed money between now and the 2008 season.

Kansas City holds the leverage edge against Johnson because he still has one season remaining on his contract and the club likes what it has seen from Michael Bennett and Louisville rookie Kolby Smith. And if Priest Holmes's dream of returning to the field becomes a reality, KC wouldn't be in terrible predicament without Johnson. I mean, the Chiefs have greater concerns regarding a winning and losing than simply who is at running back.

Umpire in backfield

This past weekend was the first time that league officials experimented with shifting the umpire from the defensive side, usually at the depth of a linebacker, to the offensive backfield. For any long-time football fan, seeing no official in the middle of the defensive action probably looked pretty weird.

The league will also try this experiment during the third weekend of preseason games with the umpire on one side and the referee on the other in the offensive backfield. The idea is to see if the umpire can still call holding penalties while also removing him from the center of the play where occasionally he had players knocking him over.

"I'm not sure I like it," Rams Coach Scott Linehan told me after Friday night's game in Minneapolis against the Vikings. "It looks like (the umpire) could get in the way of the quarterback when he's scrambling in the pocket."

Having the umpire in the offensive backfield may have also cost the Rams a third-quarter touchdown when rookie receiver Derek Stanley caught a deflected pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass hit a downed Minnesota defender on the arm and then the ball bounced up to Stanley. The pass was rule incomplete on the field and the play whistled dead. However, referee Ed Hochuli properly reversed the call and gave Stanley a 19-yard reception. But had umpire Chad Brown been in his proper place he may seen the catch and never blown the play dead, leading to a 54-yard touchdown.

No love lost

Linebacker Donnie Edwards, who couldn't work out a contract with the Chargers, is back with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he became one of the game's best tacklers and playmakers.

Edwards is still fuming, though, about San Diego General Manager A.J. Smith.

"Football is a great team game, but this guy thought it was all about him," Edwards said. "I mean, doesn't he think Marty (Schottenheimer) was trying to win? I always thought that we were all in this together, trying to win a championship. The players, the coaches, the personnel people, everybody on a team. But not in San Diego. It's all about how (Smith) sees it. No one else seems to matter.

Edwards used a couple other words when referring to Smith, but we really can't use those references.

Green homesick

Even before he was booed by the hometown fans on Saturday, new Miami quarterback Trent Green was telling a few Kansas City teammates that he was missing his former surroundings. Imagine that! Does anybody really think that KC is a better place (it is a much better football town) than Miami and South Beach, one of the hippest locations on earth? Of course, the Chiefs probably are a much better football organization than Miami these days.

Trent Green makes the most sense for the Miami Dolphins, albeit the Chiefs’ 37-year-old quarterback will be a short-term fix at the position because of his age and injury history.

New head coach Cam Cameron basically has given up on Daunte Culpepper (could he be released?) for this season and he needs a veteran to run the offense for a season or two. The team’s inside joke is that Green may know Cameron’s offense better than the head coach does. That is why Green is so valuable to Miami. A fifth or sixth-round draft choice seems to be a fair price for Green.

One reason the Chiefs can’t ask for much more is because Miami knows that Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards wants to give Brodie Croyle every opportunity to win the starting job this season. If not, the Chiefs have dependable backup Damon Huard signed up for three more seasons.

Bolts asking too much?

The big dilemma for teams such as Tennessee and Buffalo, who have considered Chargers’ backup running back Michael Turner, is that they can’t get beyond the fact that Turner was a fifth-round draft choice in 2004. Consequently, how can Turner be worth a first- or second-round draft choice now?

Anybody who has seen Turner play in a limited role behind LaDainian Tomlinson knows that the 235-pounder has a tremendous burst besides physical inside power. As a full-time player, Turner may have more upside than Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, whose upright style has been criticized because it might lead to injuries on the NFL level.

The NFL is full of general managers who are afraid to pull the trigger on deals like this one for Turner because there isn’t a consensus on his worth. The NFL is a league of followers. There are a not enough GMs like former Packer boss Ron Wolf, who somehow knew that Brett Favre and Ahman Green, two players who did nothing for their original NFL teams, might possess the ability and guts to flourish given the chance to be starters in Green Bay.

No boost for Burgess

There is no question that Derrick Burgess, who has 27 sacks in his last two seasons with the Raiders, has been a very special player. There have been rumblings that Burgess wants a new contract. However, he should consider that despite an impressive playoff run with the Philadelphia Eagles at the end of the 2004 season, no team other than the Raiders made a big effort to sign him to a free-agent contract.

The Eagles thought Burgess was injury-prone and that’s why he started only 15 games in four seasons for them. The Raiders believe that they may have overpaid Burgess by as much as $3 million when they signed him in 2005. Is he a better player than Patrick Kerney, who got rich again in Seattle?

Yes. But the Raiders, who have Burgess under contract for two more seasons, don’t seem willing to tear up his contract and give him another big boost.

At Tuesday morning’s AFC coaches’ breakfast at the lush Arizona Biltmore, it was standing room only around 31-year-old Lane Kiffin’s table. The Raiders’ fifth different head coach since 2001 handled the nationwide reporters pretty well. He never got flustered, and even admitted that he snuck into the Raiders’ Alameda facility for his final interview with owner Al Davis “through a back door, so no one would see me. Kind of like the CIA.”

Kiffin said some interesting things. He believes that disgruntled Randy Moss will be a Raider this season and that he is building a good relationship with Jerry Porter, who spent last season in Art Shell’s doghouse. Kiffin said he was even coaching Porter on the practice field last week.

On Moss, Kiffin said that after watching film of how Moss played, or lack of it, last season, he saw “a very talented player who was not playing at the standard I would expect of a player of that stature. He looked to me like he was just a very frustrated player,” Kiffin said.

Sometimes, the youngest NFL head coach said, those are symptoms of a player who is simply highly competitive and totally frustrated by having two passes thrown his way in the course o####ame. Moss was frustrated because he knew he couldn’t help the Raiders win under those circumstances.

It was impossible to get an accurate read on whether Kiffin prefers LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell over Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson in the upcoming draft. He compared Russell to a quarterback in a video game. “He can make every throw, just like in the game,” Kiffin said. “But some of those throws, the ones 70 yards across the field, you may make two of them in the course of a season.”

Kiffin admitted that Russell is a quiet leader, very similar to Titans quarterback Vince Young. You can tell, he said, that Russell’s teammates simply gravitate to him and want to be around him. “I saw the same things prior to when we played Texas in the Rose Bowl,” said Kiffin, who used to be USC’s offensive coordinator. “You could sense how much the Texas players wanted to perform and play for Young.”

The intriguing aspect to Oakland owning the first choice in April’s college draft is that Johnson may be the best player in the draft.

“He seems perfect for the most part,” Kiffin said. “When a player is considered for the top spot in the draft, you want to find negatives about the guy. You know all the scouts like him and are saying great things about him. But with Johnson, you can’t find a bad thing about him. His character, his make-up, his commitment to working out, all his off-season work, and well, there are no holes in his game.”

Kiffin compared Johnson a little to former Heisman winner Reggie Bush. They are the kind of players, that if a teammate runs a better 40-yard time, they are ready to race that guy, challenge him.

Who knows if Kiffin can win in Oakland? Nobody has since Bill Callahan took the Raiders to the Super Bowl, where they were torched by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden and Tampa Bay in the big game. He said his father, veteran Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, told him what guarantees to seek from Davis, and that he was satisfied. He also admitted that some coaches advised him against taking the Raiders’ job.

“But my process happened so quickly, there wasn’t much time to really talk to a lot of people about what they thought I should do,” he said.

Who’s No. 1?

Kiffin said it was too early in the draft process to be saying who should be the first pick, but many league observers believe it will hard for Al Davis to pass on Calvin Johnson. “He’s the kind of can’t-miss player that Al has always coveted,” said a rival club president who knows Davis and also is drafting in the top five. “It’s going to be difficult for Al to take a quarterback when there are no flaws in Johnson. At 6-foot-5, Johnson is not only going to be bigger than all the cornerbacks he goes against, but faster than almost every one of them. He could be impossible to cover.”

“His vertical jump was 43 inches,” said Kiffin, who knows that Johnson will attack the football and use his 235 pounds to muscle the ball away from defenders.

Green and Miami

It may take some time, but the Chiefs believe that Miami will eventually make a trade to acquire veteran Kansas City quarterback Trent Green. Granted, Green may have only a year or two left on his body, but he’s a quarterback who knows Cam Cameron’s offensive inside out and the word out of Florida is that the new head coach doesn’t believe Daunte Culpepper will ever be of any use to the Dolphins.

“We keep hearing that Cam doesn’t like Culpepper,” said a rival GM. “You have to think that Cam will make a move because he has a solid defense and he has a chance to win now with Green.”

Such a trade could put Culpepper on the street. You can bet that the Raiders would have an interest in Culpepper. Oakland definitely has an interest in former Houston quarterback David Carr. “I think he can still play,” Kiffin said. “I was at Fresno State when (Carr) put me into early retirement as a quarterback there. I can remember Coach Tedford telling me I should start thinking about becoming an assistant coach.”

Drew goes on the offense

Drew Rosenhaus took a beating on his handling of Terrell Owens in Philadelphia. We all remember the press conference outside of T.O.’s house. “Next question” was the common reply from Rosenhaus that day.

Well, Rosenhaus was back in bravado action Monday at the NFL League Meeting, ushering Bears linebacker Lance Briggs among the media and the coaches and GMs in the hotel hallways here. He and Briggs are doing their best to free themselves from Chicago and are being very aggressive about it. You can surmise that Rosenhaus caught the Bears’ front office off-guard with a potential trade to the Washington Redskins for the sixth overall draft choice for his client.

Earlier in the day, Bears GM Jerry Angelo was prepared to offer Briggs a guarantee that the club wouldn’t place the franchise tag on him next year if he would simply agree to play for $7.2 million this season, the franchise number, and start attending the off-season workouts and mini-camps. But Rosenhaus didn’t want anything to do with such an offer.

In the past, teams like Seattle placed the franchise tag on offensive tackler Walter Jones for three straight years before working out a long-term contract. Last season, Buffalo guaranteed cornerback Nate Clements that they wouldn’t place the franchise tag on him this year and he received $20 million in guaranteed money earlier this month from the San Francisco 49ers.

The Redskins are obviously gearing up to win this season. The trade would be a good one for Chicago, considering Briggs was a third-round pick and he definitely doesn’t sound a bit interested in sticking around. The only downside to grabbing the sixth overall choice in the draft is that Chicago doesn’t like being that high in the round because they would have to pay out a $10 million signing bonus to a rookie. If the Bears do make the trade with Washington, they most likely would trade down from the sixth spot.

You have to wonder what Chris Simms is thinking. You can bet that his father, Phil Simms, isn’t too happy with head coach Jon Gruden after the Bucs gave Jeff Garcia the same contract ($7 million for two seasons) that Simms is playing for while also securing the rights to former Denver starter Jake Plummer.

Tampa Bay should have a healthy quarterback competition this summer.

Yes, Plummer has announced he plans to retire rather than play in Tampa Bay. But the Bucs and Broncos wrote a pretty interesting contract before the NFLPA got wind of what was happening. If Plummer reports this month to the Bucs, Denver receives a fourth-round pick. But if Plummer doesn’t report in March, the compensation is a seventh-rounder.

This is a very interesting trade language, and one designed to prevent Plummer from simply asking to be released from Denver and then signing with the Houston Texans, where his former offensive coordinator, Gary Kubiak, is the head coach. That is what Plummer wanted to do and exactly what the Broncos wanted to prevent.

Basically, the Bucs will own Plummer’s rights and if he doesn’t report, they will place him on the reserve list. If Plummer ever wants to play in the NFL again, he will have to deal with the Bucs, who could either activate him or trade him.

Believe it or not, the Bucs have enough salary-cap room to keep all three quarterbacks. They currently plan to do exactly that and see what happens before considering a trade later in the year.

For Simms, he now knows for sure that the Bucs like Garcia based on what he was paid and that maybe he shouldn’t have signed that extension late last season. I mean, Simms is hardly guaranteed anything now except for a lot of competition for the starting quarterback spot.

 

Quality of life influences Dielman

 

The Chargers kept guard Kris Dielman, who settled for a $6.5 million average after rejected a $7 million average from the Seattle Seahawks. Basically, Dielman decided he’d rather live and play in San Diego than in Seattle, and who can argue with that reasoning when the money was so close.

Still, what’s fascinating is that Seattle was going to pay Dielman more money than it was willing to pay All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson last season. Seattle completely misjudged how much room they would have this season and where the salary numbers for offensive linemen would be in 2007. It was horrible planning and cap management by the Seahawks and magnified by the club’s pursuit of Dielman.

Small market?

 

There are a few NFL teams wondering how can Bills owner Ralph Wilson continue to complain about his small-market stature and his desperate need for revenue sharing after his team pays two offensive linemen, Langston Walker and Derrick Dockery, a total of $70 million. Walker, who would have been paid the minimum by many NFL teams, received a $10 million signing bonus from the Bills.

Dockery is a very good run blocker, but Walker, a right tackle, was a full-time starter on an offensive line that allowed 72 quarterback sacks last season.

The Cleveland Browns gave former Bengals guard Eric Steinbach a better contract than what Hutchinson received last season, including $17 million guaranteed. It’s difficult to believe all these guards are as good or better than Hutch.

 

Serious upgrade

The Patriots have definitely improved their defense with the multi-talented ex-Baltimore linebacker Adalius Thomas. Thomas chose New England over San Francisco, believing the Pats have a better chance of reaching the Super Bowl than the 49ers. That makes sense.

 

The Patriots also signed Jacksonville tight end Kyle Brady, who they believe remains a top five blocker at his position. If they can pry Wes Welker away from the Dolphins, it will be a great acquisition. Welker is an excellent special teams player, but also has a chance to be a full-time receiver. There aren’t many tougher all-around players in the NFL than Welker.

The Chicago Bears’ fan convention is a month away, and head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo will arrive with new contracts.

Smith was given a four-year deal on Wednesday and Angelo received an extension through the 2013 season.

The Bears are an interesting team, in that both Smith and Angelo have publicly supported quarterback Rex Grossman while most fans are wishing they had a better choice at the position.

Behind the scenes, the Bears apparently are prepared to trade some of their best players, ones that were instrumental in winning the NFC championship. They are willing to unload linebacker Lance Briggs, who they believe they will be unable to sign to a long-term contract, running back Thomas Jones and defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who had only 6 ½ sacks last season, ranking third on the team.

Raiders update

The rumors persist that Michael Lombardi, the Raiders’ top personnel executive, won’t be back this season with the team. Sean Jones, the former player and scout, tried to supplant Lombardi with the Raiders during last season, suggesting several reforms with owner Al Davis, and his moves ended with him no longer being employed with the Raiders.

Outside of Davis, Lombardi is the only experienced personnel man in Oakland and the only one with extensive knowledge of the league and agent contacts. Although the rumors persist, what would Davis do if he did not renew Lombardi’s contract. I mean, if he wouldn’t promote Jones, who wanted the job, whom could he hire?

In reading responses to my blog on Sunday, the Raiders do know that Randy Moss can still play at a high level. They don’t want to trade him, but the feeling is that Moss would sleep-walk through another season in Oakland because he knows they won’t be able to win if they draft JaMarcus Russell and start a rebuilding process. What do you do with a player you’re paying $9 million to and he doesn’t want to run his routes?

Word is that the Packers might be willing to part with a fourth-round pick as long as Moss is also willing to restructure his contract. He is owed $11 million in 2008.

Miami worried

Did the Dolphins make a mistake in choosing Cam Cameron over Chan Gailey?

There is word that some in the organization are worried that they may have made the wrong decision. But owner Wayne Huizenga didn’t want to wait for Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner, who had a solid interview in Miami, or for the Chargers to fire Marty Schottenheimer.

Believe me, Schottenheimer would have been the perfect coach for the Dolphins right now. Instead, they have San Diego’s offensive coordinator.

Lions unloading

Detroit will trade cornerback Dre’ Bly and pass rusher James Hall, who had five sacks last season before ending up on injured-reserve. The Lions owe Hall a $500,000 bonus next month and they aren’t going to pay him. Bly wants out because he’s not a classic cover-two cornerback; he’s not interested in run-support tackling.

This is why the Titans will have difficulty trading troubled cornerback Pacman Jones. Pacman is a great kick returner, but he also hates to tackle. And with so many teams playing the Tampa Two scheme, you can scratch those teams off any potential trading list. Jones, though, if the league stiffens its off-field policy, could be facing a major suspension if the Las Vegas allegations are proven to be accurate.

Forget Charlie Weis

Many New York fans want Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis to succeed Tom Coughlin with the New York Giants. It’s a great wish, but it won’t happen unless the Giants want to pay Notre Dame almost $18 million to free Weis from his long-term Irish contract. The buyout is reportedly $2 million per year for each of the remaining years on Weis' contract.

We’re not saying Weis may not be a good NFL coach, but that’s a huge ante for any ownership group before starting contract talks with a new head coach. You can bet Weis would want to start at $5 million a season.

Where do Dolphins Turn?

The state of football in Miami is at its lowest ebb. The U. of Miami just fired its head coach and basically settled on Randy Shannon, who may turn out to be very good, because there wasn’t enough money to lure a bigger name.

Now, the Dolphins are reeling and probably are not interested in promoting offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey or defensive coordinator Dom Capers into Saban’s spot.

Remember, next to Joe Gibbs’ coaching staff in Washington, Saban had the richest staff of assistant coaches at $6.5 million annually. Counting Saban, Huizenga had a coaching payroll of $11 million. The NFC champion Chicago Bears are paying half that.

What’s bizarre about Saban leaving is that Huizenga is considered one of the NFL’s best owners to work for. He pays for everything and doesn’t interfere in the football operation. Miami, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Green Bay and Seattle are probably the best franchises in the league when it comes to hands-off ownership. Denver, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and now Washington (because it’s Gibbs) are probably in the next group because those owners are either businessmen or football men who like their head coach.

Miami isn’t a great job right now because the quarterback situation is in such a flux. That’s one big reason why Saban left. He signed Culpepper instead of Drew Brees and had to live with a horrible decision. And there’s no quarterback on the horizon to fix it, either. There is no doubt that Houston’s Mike Sherman is a solid NFL head coach. Sherman only sel####estructed in Green Bay because he wore too many hats and refused to delegate.

With a quality support staff in Miami, Sherman (59-43 in Green Bay) might succeed. Of course, there had been rumblings that Saban wanted to dump GM Randy Mueller. One thing is certain.

Most Dolphins employees are happy to see Saban gone. He basically treated the rank-and-file employee very badly and rarely had words of encouragement for his 21 assistant coaches. It wasn’t a fun place to go to work.

Big Money Peppers

The Indianapolis Colts have decided to pay Dwight Freeney, who could be an unrestricted free-agent after the season, but apparently Freeney wants to see what kind of deal Julius Peppers receives from the Carolina Panthers.

Because his $3 million Pro Bowl bonus was pushed in 2007, the Panthers are basically forced to re-negotiate Peppers’ contract and get his salary-cap number below double digits. The cap next year will be a record $109 million. Freeney had a career-low 5 ½ sacks this year, after collecting 51 in his first four seasons.

There is very little doubt that signing bonuses for both Freeney and Peppers could range between $15 and $20 million because they are so valuable to their respective teams. The Colts can’t afford to lose him and probably need to spend even more money on defensive players in the future.

Darrent Williams Remembered

The entire Denver Broncos team plans to fly to Fort Worth for cornerback Darrent Williams’ funeral scheduled for Saturday. Owner Pat Bowlen is taking care of the plane. Without question, Williams’ senseless death on New Year’s morning has deeply impacted the Broncos because he was considered such a good person in the locker room. I haven’t heard one bad thing said about Williams, who was always upbeat and had a promising NFL future after two seasons. He was named to the Pro Football Writers’ all-rookie team last year. Internally, the Broncos are worried about receiver

Javon Walker, who literally watched Williams die in his arms inside the stretch Hummer limo. It is also a miracle that more passengers weren’t injured, considering the limo sustained 14 bullet holes.

My first thought on Nick Saban was that Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga should have fired him on Monday when it was obvious Saban had misled him about his level of interest in the Alabama job.

My second reaction is that Huizenga and the Dolphins will be criticized by other NFL owners for allowing Saban to abuse the league and this franchise like he did. Even people within the Dolphins were surprised that Saban wasn't fired weeks ago when it was obvious to many that he was thinking of a way out and was really interested in Alabama.

The consequences of Saban's departure will be that NFL owners will become very reluctant to deal with any high-powered college coach in the future. How can you trust them?

We have written this before: Fans should remember that a very good college job tends to be a better overall job than most NFL positions.

Why?

Because even though the salary doesn't quite compare to that offered by NFL teams, most big-time college programs still pay very well; just look at what Alabama reportedly will pay Saban.

College coaches also get to enjoy an off-season with no draft and no free-agency and salary-cap worries. The NCAA places so many limits on recruiting, scholarships and practice hours that it has leveled the playing field in those areas. Overall, there is more security in college than the NFL, too.

I mean, if Saban had stayed in Miami and the Dolphins had missed the playoffs in 2007, you can bet he would have been fired. At least at Alabama, Saban can pick his quarterback and is not stuck with a choice between Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington.

Now, we wait to hear Steelers head coach Bill Cowher’s decision.

We know Raiders owner Al Davis will take his time deciding Art Shell’s fate.

Until he asks for a salary increase, we’ll take Nick Saban at his word that he’s staying with the Dolphins.

The obvious happened this morning, with both Arizona and Atlanta firing their respective head coaches.

The Cardinals were an under-achieving football team, one that never recovered from a second-half meltdown against the Chicago Bears in Week 6. Jim Mora is a good coach, but Michael Vick -- his quarterback -- turned his back on him and owner Arthur Blank simply didn’t understand his flippant radio remarks about wanting to the coach the U. of Washington. Mora would be a great choice at the U. of Alabama.

Both franchises will check out the same candidates, although Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops supposedly is high on Atlanta’s wish list. Former head coaches Steve Mariucci and Mike Martz, who transformed Jon Kitna into a 4,200-yard passer, should be considered simply for their past successes and Martz for his offensive brilliance. Of course, Martz can’t afford to ask for total control and definitely needs a talented defensive coordinator in order to be successful.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and USC’s Pete Carroll are on every owner’s wish lists. Ferentz seems reluctant to leave Iowa for any job other than Penn State’s. Carroll has denied that he has spoken with Arizona officials. Carroll would want too much money and power for either franchise at the moment. Plus, his USC team next year is believed to be a solid candidate to win the national championship.

The hot minority candidates will be Minnesota defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, San Francisco linebackers coach Mike Singletary and Chicago defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. You can bet that Rivera is definitely on Arizona’s radar screen if Rod Graves remains employed there. San Diego offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt, who played for the Falcons and Georgia Tech, should be a candidate in Atlanta if he doesn’t replace Cowher.

When I first saw Miami coach Nick Saban attempt to toss the red challenge flag after TV replays appeared to show Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller was out-of-bounds prior to scoring the game-winning touchdown, I thought he was concerned with style points. He looked tentative and unsure before tossing the flag on the field, nowhere near any official. Hence, no one saw the red flag.

"It looked to me like he wasn't or his coaches upstairs weren't totally sure that they should be challenging the call," Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio said Friday. "One time I must have thrown that thing 50 yards, right into the other team's huddle. That's what you have to do. Even when we had the buzzer system, I never used that. I always threw the flag and made sure the referee saw it. They allow you to leave the (sideline) box and run onto the field just to make sure."

That was basically what Mike Pereira, the league's head of officiating, said after Thursday night's botched instant replay challenge by Saban. The buzzer system went bye-bye two years ago.

Had the roles been reversed on Thursday night, everyone knows that Bill Cowher would have run onto the field and hit the referee with it.

It's impossible to say that the failed challenge cost Miami the game, but Saban's weak attempt helped every head coach in the league prepare for their next challenge. No one will make the same mistake this weekend when the remainder of the regular-season opens. The refs better duck.

Plenty of room

With the salary cap raised to $102 million this season, it was no surprise to see that most NFL teams have a lot of cap room heading into the season. In fact, 10 teams, lead by Jacksonville, have at least $8 million or more in salary-cap space. The Jaguars are $12.7 million under the cap.

New Orleans has $11 million, Arizona $10.5 million and Minnesota, Houston and New England each have $10.3 million. I guess that means that the Patriots could pay Deion Branch if they wanted to and still have plenty of room. It has to be worrisome to the NFL Players Association that teams like New England and Houston, two of the clubs worth more than $1 billion and both generating revenues among the top 10 in the league, would be keeping the cap money and not spending it.

The teams with the least amount of space are Miami ($550,452), Atlanta ($897,916) and Oakland ($1.127 million).

Turn, turn, turn

 

There has been a lot of turnover in the league the last couple of years. Green Bay is obviously rebuilding and retooling its roster. But the Philadelphia Eagles are considered a playoff contender, and they've had major turnover. Two years ago, the Eagles were in the Super Bowl. Well, since that game, the Eagles have only 22 of the 53 players who were in Jacksonville. They have only 13 of the 22 starters who played New England in that championship game.

Big savings

David Givens, who signed a big free-agent contract with the Tennessee Titans in the off-season, saved himself $20,000 this summer. How's that?

Well, Givens first offered Titans receiver Tyrone Calico $10,000 for his jersey No. 87. Calico said no, and Givens was forced to wear No. 89.

Later, Givens, who wore No. 87 in New England, offered Calico $20,000 for the number. Again, Calico said no.

But Givens will be wearing his customary No. 87 this Sunday against the New York Jets.

How's that? Givens got the number for free when Calico was cut by the Titans last weekend.

Good seats still available

 

We all know that the Minnesota Vikings have traded away their star power and it's starting to show at the ticket window. From the day they drafted Randy Moss, the Vikings have had 86 consecutive Metrodome sellouts. Well, the record is in danger this season.

The Vikings claim to have 1,000 tickets available for next Sunday's home opener against the Carolina Panthers. In fact, they have tickets available for all eight of their home games. To help sell those Carolina tickets, the Vikings have announced that Packer fans who want to purchase tickets to the Green Bay game in Minneapolis must also purchase Carolina tickets. How's that for ticket blackmail?

Minnesota's average ticket price is $71, the sixth-highest average in the league.

Here are the highlights of Sunday’s claim day:

Eagles safety Matt Ware had the most claims: by Atlanta, Cincinnati and his assigned team, Arizona.

The Jets put a claim in for failed first-round pick Michael Haynes, a defensive end cut by the Bears, who was assigned to the Saints.

The Saints were assigned five players off claims, including two Cowboys, offensive tackle Rob Petitti and special teams/receiver Terrance Copper. They also got Giants cornerback Curtis Deloatch and Rams defensive back Dejuan Groce.

The Miami Dolphins were the only team to claim Browns running back Lee Suggs and no team put a claim for ex-Packer running Najeh Davenport.

The Steelers claimed Detroit running back Artose Pinner, but lost out on him to Minnesota, the priority team based on last season’s record.

The Packers put safety Michael Hawkins on their injured reserve list after waiving him.

The Saints placed quarterback Adrian McPherson on their injured reserve list after waiving him. McPherson, remember, was injured by the Titans mascot T-Rac, who ran into him on the sidelines with his golf cart.

There is great news within the Dolphins camp.

New quarterback Daunte Culpepper appears to be ahead on his rehabilitation and could be ready for the start of training camp. Maybe he won't be ready to get hit, but Culpepper should be ready to participate in most drills. He looks super. That's the word.

Where's Air?

There is a very good chance that the Titans will lose the hearing regarding quarterback Steve McNair's status, thus forcing them to make a decision. A decision on the hearing is due by June 1. Either they will allow him to return to their practice facility (and cross their fingers regarding him getting hurt, thus being liable for his huge contract) or cut him loose. If McNair wins, the Titans most likely will trade him to Baltimore. He already has a deal done with the Ravens.

Rushton to glory

Ruston Webster, Tampa Bay's director of player personnel, apparently is headed to Seattle to join former Bucs' buddy Tim Ruskell, who is the general manager. Webster was the leading candidate to replace Charlie Armey with the Rams, but the Rams apparently weren't willing to give Webster control of personnel. If he's going to be No. 2, he'd rather work with Ruskell. Besides, the money is always better with billionaire Paul Allen.

Not so fast

We have written about Arizona rookie quarterback Matt Leinart and his Hollywood friends, from Paris Hilton to Nick Lachey. We can't help that some NFL teams interpreted Leinart's association with the stars as "going Hollywood." However, some national writers have incorrectly mentioned that Leinart should have opted out of USC after his junior season, the year he won the Heisman Trophy. The opinion is that he would have been the first overall choice, ahead of Utah's Alex Smith. What everyone is forgetting is that Leinart needed surgery on his throwing elbow and he never would have been ready for any NFL mini-camps last season. With all that doubt, Leinart likely wouldn't have been the first choice and he made the correct decision in returning to USC. It is this elbow injury that caused some teams to claim that Leinart didn't have the strongest arm anymore.

Run with me

Eagles coach Andy Reid is telling everyone that he plans to run the football more this season. Of course, there are plenty of skeptics when Reid says such things. He has always loved throwing the football despite the fact that Philadelphia plays so many games in cold weather. Two years ago, Reid called 61 percent pass plays and that pass-run percentage increased to 64.4 percent last season. Reid will never have a balanced offense because he doesn't have the big back necessary to run such an offense.

The worse thing about the one-year suspension for Ricky Williams is that he won’t be permitted to be around his Miami teammates for support nor will he be able to use the team’s facilities to prepare himself physically for the grind of being a 30-year-old running back in 2007. Miami coach Nick Saban was pleasantly surprised with how Williams fit in with his teammates last season and by November, Ricky was showing signs of returning to top form without the help of a quality offensive line.

The Dolphins still have a huge financial claim against him, plus Williams will soon have a fourth child to support. He needs a high-paying job. Football appears to be his only option, but the odds are truly against him because he’s going to have to train and push himself.

What about Woodson?

When the Packers, a 4-12 team a year ago, were awarded three prime-time games when the schedule was announced earlier in the month, it was apparent to everyone that the club had told the NFL office that Brett Favre would be playing in his 15th season. Favre officially told the team on Tuesday that he will be attending next week’s mini-camp, regardless of who they draft this weekend. Favre must need the $10 million he will earn because the Packers don’t figure to improve that much this season with or without ex-Raider Charles Woodson.

The Raiders thought Woodson would sign with Tampa Bay, but you have to wonder if Woodson, who is being asked to move from cornerback to safety by both clubs, has the fortitude to deal with Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Unlike his stay with the Raiders, Kiffin will push him and make him practice and point out his mistakes.

Bush's off-field issues

It may eventually be proven that USC’s Reggie Bush knew more about his mother’s living arrangements, courtesy of Michael Michaels and a minor San Diego sports agency trying to land the Heisman winner, but the bottom line is that the Houston Texans aren’t concerned and it won’t impact his draft status. If the Texans opt not to pay Bush, the New Orleans Saints will step in and draft him second overall. The NFL doesn’t care if Bush’s mother, brother and stepfather lived in a house rent-free for an entire year.

The Bush story is a bigger one for USC and college football.

And like someone told me yesterday, if the NCAA knew about everything illegal with big-time football programs, many of the Top Ten schools would have to forfeit every game and finish 0-11 every season.

Raiders’ QB situation

Why would Al Davis want to draft either Matt Leinart or Vince Young? OK, the answer may be that he knows they can never win with Aaron Brooks, Andrew Walter and Marques Tuiasosopo. However, don’t the Raiders need to start winning now? They were 4-12 last season and how can they improve on that record with a rookie quarterback? Finally, what does that say about spending a third-round pick on Walter last year and a second-round pick on Tui in 2001? Would you call those wasted picks?

L.A. story

After years of wishing for Pasadena or some other locale to step up, the NFL is leaning toward endorsing the Los Angeles Coliseum next week in Dallas as the future NFL site whenever L.A. gets a team or lands an expansion team. Anaheim makes sense, too. The league has been so frustrated with the Los Angeles situation and it’s inability to sway any politicians to their side for anything but the Coliseum.

The No Fun League reared its unfortunate head at these meetings with the expected passage of a rule outlawing celebrations like Carolina receiver Steve Smith falling in the end zone and doing a snow angel to please one of his daughters. No more sliding down the goal post, either, like a firemen.

No more putt-putt golf for Chad Johnson.

 Fans in Cincinnati can forget looking forward to what clever celebration routine receiver Chad Johnson plans for that weekend's touchdown dance, even though Johnson's "Riverdance" high-stepping Irish #### was a season highlight.

Now, the Lambeau Leap is still allowed, a celebration that could actually lead to an injury if done incorrectly or if the front-row fans don't grab the player securely before he falls backwards.

But Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the Competition Committee, says that the NFL Players Association wants these celebrations barred and the league is in favor, believing some celebrations are a form of taunting.

Then, again, if defensive backs were so upset with Smith and Johnson's touchdown celebrations maybe they should simply do a better job of playing defense.

No love for Lovie 

The Bears have decided not to reward Coach of the Year Lovie Smith with a new contract because he has two years remaining on his original deal. It means that Smith, now that Jacksonville has reworked Jack Del Rio's contract, is the lowest paid head coach in the NFL at $1.3 million this season.

To show how out-of-whack the Bears are on this, all of the first-year head coaches hired for this season are earning more than Smith. Also, three assistant coaches, from Monte Kiffin in Tampa Bay to Greg Williams in Washington, will be paid more this season than Smith. Williams actually earns $2.66 million.

Culpepper doing well . . . but not that well

Miami coach Nick Saban never said that new quarterback Daunte Culpepper will be ready for the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he hinted that the former Minnesota quarterback is doing well in his rehab from three torn knee ligaments. Saban said Tuesday that Culpepper is now running in a straight line and that he has full range of motion, plus simulated a drop-back routine recently. Saban also said that Culpepper probably won't need as many training-camp repetitions in the Miami offense because much of what the Dolphins do is similar to what Culpepper ran in Minnesota.

Missing the Bills

Cowboys coach Bill Parcells never showed for these meetings and then New England coach Bill Belichick left early, thus missing Tuesday morning's breakfast with television and newspaper reporters.