Several teams have told me that they would be willing to part with a conditional fourth-round pick for Raiders receiver Randy Moss this weekend, but to make such a trade, Moss would definitely have to re-work his contract, which calls for almost $22 million in salaries over the next two seasons.

Oakland would ask for a second-round pick for Moss, but a fourth that could move up to a third-rounder in 2008 is out of the question at the moment. Raiders owner Al Davis doesn’t have much leverage with Moss, considering his lack of production last season and his apparent unwillingness to remain with the non-playoff contender.

It is the Moss situation, or lack of clarity on his predicament, that has draftniks thinking Davis will draft receiver Calvin Johnson over JaMarcus Russell with the first pick. Many believe Johnson is worth the big money that the first overall pick will collect while Moss isn’t.

Some also believe that Oakland could acquire a decent quarterback in the second round if they decided to pass on Russell.

“Drew Stanton has great feet, as good as Rich Gannon had when he was winning the MVP for the Raiders,” one personnel director said. “Now, Stanton (of Michigan State) needs to be coached on his delivery and such, but he’s a tough player and someone who will be drafted in the second round.”

Gone fishin’

Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas planned back in February to be fishing for Coho salmon with his father on draft day. Now, the NFL Network plans to have a crew near his boat on Lake Michigan, checking his reaction whenever he’s drafted.

Thomas has long been considered to be the draft’s best offensive tackle, but you have to wonder how good he is, considering he didn’t face that many great pass rushers in the Big Ten. Purdue’s Anthony Spencer and Michigan’s Lamaar Woodley are the conference's best defensive ends in this draft, and neither of them is expected to be selected higher than the third round.

Everyone said Robert Gallery of Iowa was a “can’t-miss” pro and we’ve all seen him struggle with the Raiders. Thomas is a safe pick because of his awesome strength, but there are no guarantees he’s the next Jonathan Ogden.

By the way, Thomas is not related to the professional bass fisherman of the same name.

The real odds

Jimmy Shapiro of Bodog.com sent me four pages of betting odds on the draft, which is becoming almost as popular as Super Bowl Sunday. There is no doubt that JaMarcus Russell is the favorite to be the first player selected. You have to bet $165 to win $100, which is pretty much a sure thing.

There’s been a lot of talk about the Lions trading out of the second overall position, but the oddsmakers say Detroit will keep the pick. Its even money that Randy Moss will be traded before the first week of the regular season, plus the bookies believe that Chicago will trade ($150 to win $100) linebacker Lance Briggs this weekend.

The odds say that Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith will be selected in the third or fourth round. If you think Smith will be taken in the first round, you can win $1,200 on a $100 bet. Bodog also listed Antonio Pittman of Ohio State as the running back favorite to be taken by the Buffalo Bills, and that the Dolphins probably will draft a quarterback in the second round.

Redskins changes

The rumor has been circulating for more than a month now that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder plans to hire a new personnel director to work with head coach Joe Gibbs after the draft. Bobby DePaul, Jerry Angelo’s right-hand man in Chicago, has been mentioned the most because he and Gibbs are friendly and could work together.

49ers’ defense

It appears that San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan will choose between Nebraska defensive end Adam Carriker, who is a better fit for a 3-4 defense, or Mississippi inside linebacker Patrick Willis. Both players figure to be still available when the 49ers are on the clock with the 11th overall pick.

Teams interested in Calvin

The teams most interested in selecting Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson appear to be Tampa Bay, Denver and Atlanta. It appears unlikely the Bucs will trade up from the fourth spot to acquire Johnson, but the Broncos and Falcons are considering making a move if Johnson isn’t taken by the Raiders. Johnson would be an unbelievable weapon with Denver quarterback Jay Cutler’s strong arm.

Ginn perfect for Packers

When Green Bay won its last Super Bowl, the MVP of the game was kick returner Desmond Howard. There is no question that Ohio State’s Ted Ginn, Jr. is the best returner in this draft, plus he could give Brett Favre a great deep threat. Ginn has a bad ankle right now, but he is expected to be 100 percent for training camp. Ginn is expected to be on the board when Green Bay picks 16th in the first round.

Lions and QBs

For past couple of months, Lions GM Matt Millen has sounded determined to trade out of the second overall spot, believing that his team needs multiple picks in this draft and next year to raise the level of talent in Detroit, and make the Lions competitive in the shaky NFC North.

However, the Lions seem to be one of the teams in need of a quality quarterback.

“I hope they do pass on Russell or Brady Quinn in this draft,” said one NFC general manager. “They are a lot easier to beat with Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky as their quarterbacks. It’s like Mike Martz has convinced Matt that they can win without a big-time quarterback.”

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was in the news last week by coming to the financial aid (First and Goal LLC production company) of actor Tom Cruise, who was bounced by Paramount Studios. But the rest of the NFL also turned heads when Forbes magazine listed Snyder’s Redskins tops again with a value of $1.423 billion.

When Snyder bought the Redskins, beating out John Cooke, the late owner’s son, in 1999 for $800 million, the sports world took notice. There also was a huge gasp because few believed an NFL team was worth that much. A lot of people, including myself, thought Snyder had paid way too much.

But then no franchise works harder at marketing and selling tickets than the Redskins. Remember, Snyder was able to secure more than $200 million from FedEx for the naming rights of Jack Kent Cooke Stadium.

Snyder, who has forever done everything in a big way, is having the last laugh. Snyder has set the market for franchises and the value of head coaches. He paid Steve Spurrier $5 million a season when no one believed the old ball coach would ever leave Florida. He reportedly is paying Joe Gibbs close to $6 million to coach this season.

He signed Deion Sanders and Bruce Smith at the end of their primes. His coaching staff also has the league’s two highest-paid assistants in Gregg Williams and Al Saunders, at $2.6 and $2 million, respectively. By comparison, the Bears pay head coach Lovie Smith $1.2 million a year and he was NFL Coach of the Year last season.

Now, if Snyder can find a buyer for his Redskins, he can almost double his investment.

Forbes listed New England, Dallas, Houston and Philadelphia as the other franchises worth more than $1 billion.

Interest in Branch

The New England Patriots could be in trouble because it’s always difficult to predict what an arbitrator will rule. But Deion Branch’s agent was able to secure a long-term contract worth between $36 and $39 million from the New York Jets and there’s a good chance that Seattle would match that offer if asked to surrender only a second-round pick.

The Patriots have been asking for a first-rounder and more. Still, the team gave its word to Branch that they would consider a trade if he could beat the Patriots’ last contract offer. He did that by securing about $23 million in the first three years. The Pats’ final offer was basically $19 million over four.

There have been three recent trades of wide receivers. Two players were moved for third-round picks while Javon Walker, whose best single season is better than anything Branch ever did, was traded to Denver by the Packers for a second-round pick. The Walker trade could serve as a precedent for any Branch decision. Then again, how can an arbitrator force the Patriots to trade Branch, who is under contract and has been a holdout all summer?

The Seahawks are interested because top receiver Darrell Jackson (left knee) hasn’t practiced much this summer and the club doesn’t know how productive he will be this season.

Dallas' roster woes

Marc Colombo, a failed first-round pick, had too many injuries to survive in Chicago. But he will be the starting right tackle for the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday in Jacksonville after the club waived last year’s starter Rob Petitti. Ex-Jet Jason Fabini will be Colombo’s backup.

Because of the numbers’ headache on special teams, the Cowboys were forced to cut fourth rounder Skyler Green, who was drafted as a kick returner, and Terrence Copper, one of the team’s best special teams players last season. Dallas kept three kicker/punters. Compare that to Atlanta, who has Michael Koenen doing both the punting and field-goal kicking this season.

Helping the Herrions

It didn’t receive much national attention, but hats off to the San Francisco 49ers, from coach Mike Nolan to owner John York, for collecting the funds and dipping into their own wallets to build a home in Fort Worth for Janice Herrion, whose son Thomas died of a heart attack after playing a preseason game in Denver.

Thomas Herrion, an offensive lineman, had always wanted to buy his mother a house. The 49ers completed the dream and several 49er players visited the home during their preseason game in Dallas last month. The 49ers also raised enough money to pay for the property taxes and annual maintenance on the home while Mrs. Herrion lives there.

Down to two

A sign of the times?

Nine of the 32 teams kept only two quarterbacks on their active rosters. Why’s that?

“Because if you have to play with your third-stringer you’re in deep trouble,” said one NFC personnel man.

It’s the most valuable position in the league, but like I wrote recently there simply aren’t enough quality quarterbacks. The Chargers, for example, were one of the teams that kept only two, Philip Rivers and rookie Charlie Whitehurst, and neither has ever started a NFL game.

Heading into the regular-season, most scouts rate Denver’ Jay Cutler over Matt Leinart and Vince Young of the first rounders.

The rumor of this being Bill Cowher’s last season in Pittsburgh won’t go away and apparently it has nothing to do with Mike Holmgren, the coach he beat in Super Bowl 40, making over $7 million a season.

According to a close coaching friend of Cowher’s, the Steelers head coach was planning prior to last season to leave and retire to Raleigh, N.C.

“When we first talked about it, he wasn’t even thinking about winning the Super Bowl,” the source said. “Things weren’t looking that good for his team when we spoke about it. I think he just wants to watch his girls play basketball and take some family time and unwind.”

Cowher, who has another year on his Pittsburgh contract, could sit out a year or two, depending how he feels. Plus, he’s young enough to come back.

Question of protection

The biggest question mark for the Dallas Cowboys apparently remains the biggest unknown. Can the offensive line function, with all the juggling, and protect immobile quarterback Drew Bledsoe? If they can’t protect, Terrell Owens can forget whatever gaudy numbers he has in his head.

Flozell Adams, who is coming off a knee injury, is the team’s best lineman but he currently is favoring the leg and mentally worried about it. This caused Bill Parcells to shift Rob Petitti to left tackle and put Marc Colombo, a former No. 1 bust of the Chicago Bears, into Petitti’s vacated right tackle spot. The other bad news in this musical chairs scenario is that Jason Fabini, a good player when Parcells coached the New York Jets, has lost whatever magic he had and has been beaten repeatedly in training camp in one-on-one drills.

The other move has been to shift Andre Gurode into the center position, an expected move with the inconsistent play of Al Johnson, a Parcells’ favorite when he was drafted three years ago.

The Dallas offense had a good day Saturday against the defense overall, but Bledsoe’s first unit, minus T.O. of the sore hamstring, didn’t fare as well as Drew Henson’s unit. And we all know that the Cowboys aren’t counting on Henson to deliver them to the playoffs this season.

Childress on T.O.

Minnesota coach Brad Childress, the former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator, doesn’t have fond memories of Terrell Owens. Childress had a few thoughts on T.O.’s recent three-day absence with a strained hamstring.

Childress pointed out that Owens remains bothered by a serious groin pull, first suffered with the 49ers, and that the way he pushes himself on the practice field that there will always be the chance on nagging injuries with someone like Owens.

Coaching carousel

A few updates: I ran into Jim Bates, the unemployed defensive coordinator, at Troy Aikman’s Hall of Fame party Saturday and he said he’s definitely going to return to coaching next season. Bates, who did a marvelous job with Green Bay’s young talent last season, was disappointed he couldn’t find a head-coach job. Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman said that new coordinator Bob Sanders has kept Bates’ system intact. “They have a lot of good young players and with A.J. Hawk the Packers should be better this season,” Bates said.

Ron Hill, who missed out on jobs with the St. Louis Rams and Houston Texans to be those teams’ top personnel man, has been hired by the Kansas City Chiefs as an area scout. Hill, who worked in Jacksonville and is responsible for drafting many of the current stars of the Atlanta Falcons, lost his job in Atlanta a year after Rich McKay became that team’s general manager. Hill said he will be an area scout, covering Texas and Oklahoma, and keep his home in Atlanta.

And hats off to Miami coach Nick Saban for allowing offensive assistant Jason Garrett to skip Saturday’s practice so he could attend Aikman’s induction.