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.

The wild-card team in all this Deion Branch trade talk could be the Washington Redskins because they always seem to pay more than anyone else. But the speculation is that Branch will discover very quickly that the Patriots’ final offer to him was very fair and that most teams view him as a No. 2 receiver, not a No. 1.

Yes, Branch was the MVP of the Patriots’ last Super Bowl championship but that’s because voters are always looking to give the prize to someone other than a quarterback. Branch runs great routes and Tom Brady loves him, but his talent is undoubtedly of more value to the Patriots than it is with most teams.

 The Patriots deserve a first-round pick as compensation for Branch, whose biggest problem is that he is under contract for slightly over $1 million for this season. No team is going to simply wipe that contract off the books. It would be stupid to do otherwise.

Branch may be better than the best receivers in Philadelphia, Green Bay, Kansas City, Buffalo, Minnesota and the New York Jets. But he’s not in the league with Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison.

He’s a very good player and he’s worth the $6 million average the Patriots have been offering him on an extension. What Branch can’t do is moan and whine about his original contract. Yes, he out-performed the terms, but that happens a lot in the NFL. He signed it and he must move on.

How is that?

You would be amazed how many NFL general managers know Matt Millen’s won-loss record in Detroit since he became the team’s general manager.

“How in the hell does someone with a 21-59 record get named to the Competition Committee?” one GM asked me. “How does he keep his job and also get a new contract?”

Said a former member of the committee: “Matt is the wrong kind of person to be on that committee. I just can’t figure out what they are doing, but I’m glad I’m not dealing with it anymore.”

Millen replaced former Houston GM Charley Casserly, who is now working for CBS Sports. By the way, Casserly wasn’t happy with his settlement pay from Texans owner Bob McNair after being fired.

QB controversy in Chicago

A scout who watched the Bears-Cardinals game on Friday night left with these two impressions: Arizona rookie quarterback Matt Leinart looked very comfortable and poised in the pocket and the Bears did a dumb thing by allowing backup Brian Griese to throw a pass on second-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

“A play like that is always going to work in a preseason game,” the scout said. “All that does is fuel the fire for the quarterback controversy. Rex Grossman looked OK. He threw a couple really good balls and even his interception wasn’t a bad throw. Antrel Rolle simply made a fine play.”

After three preseason games, Griese has 148 quarterback rating to Grossman’s measly 48. Griese has led the Bears to scores on five of his seven possessions. Meanwhile, Grossman has been a 50 percent passer with two interceptions and zero touchdowns. The fans who cheered his return during a win over Atlanta late last season are now booing Grossman.

What if?

Back in 1992, Rams president John Shaw interviewed Mike Holmgren to be the next coach of the Rams. Had Shaw been able to convince owner Georgia Frontiere to hire Holmgren, the Rams might still be in Los Angeles.

“I remember my interview going really well with John and Jay (Zygmunt),” Holmgren said recently. “But John told me that I was going to be a tough sell because Georgia wanted to hire Chuck Knox. I don’t know if I could have prevented the Rams from moving, though.”

Knox, who was looking for one last paycheck, had a 15-33 record in three seasons with the Rams. The crowds in Anaheim Stadium dipped into the low 40,000s and with the Knox experiment a disaster, the Rams fled to St. Louis and its big bonus relocation money.

In that same 1995 season, Holmgren led the Packers to the NFC Championship game where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys. Holmgren, now head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, has coached in three Super Bowls.

Toughen up, Lions

New Detroit head coach Rod Marinelli has never liked the whining of his players and to toughen them up, he opted to fly over five hours on Friday morning to play in Oakland Friday night. The Lions, who were known for being soft under Steve Mariucci, were whipped by the unbeaten Raiders.

The good news for Oakland was quarterback Aaron Brooks, who had his best game of the preseason, throwing two touchdown passes to Randy Moss. In his first two games of the summer, Brooks completed only two passes total.

Before leaving the Falcons’ $11 million condo facility at the team’s top-flight Flowery Branch facility Wednesday night, I bumped into former NBA star Magic Johnson. He was checking into the guest suite next door to owner Arthur Blank’s room.

Johnson loves football despite the fact that his pro hometown, Los Angeles, is without the NFL. The former Laker has become a big USC fan.

“Every year I’ve been bringing in motivational guys to speak and meet with the players,” Falcons GM Rich McKay said. “I think it’s great for someone like Mike Vick to spend some time with Magic, who has experienced so much as a celebrity, as a star, and try to relate it to his own life.”

At the end of the evening practice, Falcons coach Jim Mora invited Michael Wallin, 35, to run into the team huddle. Wallin has been a regular at most practices at training camp.

“He screams out every players’ stats and seems to know something about everybody. He’s been a hoot,” said Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney. “I’m sure there a 100 guys like him at the Cowboys’ practices. He’s been yelling for two weeks now.”

There is a debate in the NFC right now on which division is the strongest overall and my vote goes to the NFC South despite the defensive shortcomings of the New Orleans Saints. Reggie Bush, Drew Brees and the return of Deuce McAllister should at least make the Saints very exciting on offense.

“I know our division is tough, but I understand the hype over the (NFC East),” said Carolina head coach John Fox, whose previous job was as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. “It’s hard to compare. They have the big markets and Dallas has T.O. But we’re going to find out this season who is the best because we all play the East during the regular season.”

The Panthers have critical home games against the Cowboys and the Giants, a team they whipped in the playoffs last season. The Giants, remember, are the defending East champions.

“I think it’s difficult for anybody to say right now who is really the best,” Falcons head coach Jim Mora.

Just consider this: the top three teams in the South all have elite pass-rushers with the addition of ex-New York Jet John Abraham with the Falcons. The Panthers have the game’s resident athletic freak, Julius Peppers, and the Bucs have Simeon Rice.

The way the schedule breaks this season, the South also plays the AFC North, meaning the Steelers and Bengals, plus the improving Ravens, are on every team’s schedule.

“Whoever wins our division will be battle-tested and ready for the playoffs,” Fox said. “Our division and the East, because we all play each other, might have a tough time having two 11-win teams like we did last season.”

And if the East and South beat each other up, Fox realizes that if the Seahawks and Bears are as good as they were last season, they both will have a better shot at gaining home-field advantage for the NFC championship game.

No team seems interested in the Raiders’ Jerry Porter while the Bears still seem to be fishing around Denver receiver Ashley Lelie.

The Broncos want a high pick, first or second-rounder for Lelie, while the Bears have offered a fourth-round pick. The inclusion of defensive end Michael Haynes, the Bears’ No. 1 pick in 2003, shouldn’t be that tempting to the Broncos because of his bad back and his lack of production in Chicago.

The Falcons aren’t interested in either player despite the loss of receiver Brian Finneran for the season.

Mora said on Wednesday that he’s considering using cornerback DeAngelo Hall as a receiver.

“Depending on the flow o####ame, say there are a bunch of three-and-outs for our defense, we might be able to get him eight to nine offensive plays a game,” Mora said. “It’s not that DeAngelo is asking for this. I simply believe he can do so many special things when he has the football. And using him as a receiver, you can control more of what he’s going to do as opposed as to using him as a punt returner. A lot of bad things can happen on punts.”

However, if Hall is needed a lot on defense, he many never see the field on offense.

One of the first things I told Jim Mora today was that I know one general manager who would select Michael Vick over Peyton Manning if he had to choose between those two quarterbacks.

Mora laughed when told the GM’s name.

 “No question Michael is very special, and he’s having a very good camp so far, but he will only be a footnote as a quarterback if he doesn’t win a Super Bowl,” Mora said.

In my book, the same could be said of Manning if he never wins a title. Then again, many clubs believe the Colts have the league’s best overall talent and are geared to win this year’s Super Bowl.

My apologies to Green Bay GM Ted Thompson who insists that the Rams never called inquiring about trading backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and that the Packers would never be interested in the Harvard passer.

Another thought on Green Bay ... the tension that pervaded the building when Mike Sherman was the head coach is gone. The little people, the secretaries, those in the Pro Shop, enjoy the new working atmosphere under Thompson and new head coach Mike McCarthy. This is a bigger deal in Green Bay because it is such a small city.

“It was never a good working relationship between Ted and Coach Sherman because no matter how much Ted tried to open a dialogue with him, it never happened,” said a Packers’ source. “There simply wasn’t enough give-and-take between the two. And all Ted wanted to do was to help him and improve the team.”

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.

This is Torry Holt’s first Rams training camp without Marhsall Faulk in eight seasons with the team. “We miss him now,” Holt said Sunday. “But we really won’t know how much until we go through camp and get into the season. Marshall was so intelligent. He passed on so much knowledge to the other backs, on how to set up a defender, how to run a certain play. As a player, he played hurt. He was a such great back.”

Faulk, the league’s MVP in 2000, is now dealing with the possibility of retirement. “I can’t imagine how tough that is,” Holt said.

The Rams have placed Faulk on the PUP (physically unable to play) list and believe he will start the season on the reserve PUP. They recently also reduced his base salary from $2 million to $1 million for this season, meaning they don’t believe Faulk will be playing this year.

Giant expectations

LaVar Arrington made some tabloid headlines his first day in training camp, defending his play with the Washington Redskins, but the best news out of Giants training camp was Tiki Barber talking Super Bowl or bust. Barber believes the Giants have all the pieces in place to make a serious run. He said he also settled things with coach Tom Coughlin quickly after he had criticized his play-calling in the 23-0 playoff loss to Carolina.

“Tom and I settled it the next day,” Barber said. “I criticized everyone, not just him. Afterwards, I asked him, ‘Tom, do you think I don’t have the same ideals, the same beliefs, the same direction that you have?’ He said we did. I said, ‘Well, we don’t have a problem. There’s no argument. We’re seeing exactly the same thing.

“I know he’s getting old as a coach and I’m getting old as a player (31). He doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring and I don’t have one either. That’s why I want to win it now.”