Two of the biggest NFL off-season moves involved kickers, and there's a chance both of them could be on the shelf when the season opens next week. If not totally out, it's no secret that Mike Vanderjagt and Adam Vinatieri aren't healthy and definitely not ready to make any long-range field goals.

The Colts insist Vinatieri has a severely sprained left ankle, while his mother Judy says he has a small broken bone in his plant foot. The Colts believe there's a chance he could kick in the opener, but they really don't need him until crunch time. Still, the injury could be awful news for the Colts, who are counting on the clutch kicker (he made two game-winning field goals in Super Bowl games for the Patriots) to give them an edge for kicking Vanderjagt out the door.

Vanderjagt, who missed a 46-yard attempt in the waning seconds of the Colts' playoff loss to the Steelers last season, simply is the league's most accurate kicker in history with a 87.5 percent rate. The trouble is he hasn't kicked off since the 2003 season, and he's complained all summer of a groin and quadriceps muscle strain. He doesn't want to kick in tonight's final preseason game for the Cowboys. And you thought Terrell Owens was driving Bill Parcells nuts.

Even if Vanderjagt decides he can kick field goals, Parcells must keep a kick-off man on his game day roster. And what compounds that matter is that Cowboys punter Matt McBriar doesn't kick off. Based on return men, the Cowboys may have to keep five players active who are strictly special team players.

 Pure wastes?

The Lions have invested two first-round picks in receivers Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, and both players have been running third team on the depth chart all preseason. The two will get a final look on Friday while starters Roy Williams and Corey Bradford sit the bench.

New head coach Rod Marinelli has been unhappy with the work ethic of both players, and he wants to make a statement to his team about what it takes to be a professional. The Lions have been soft in the past, but Marinelli was hired to change that image.

However, what happens if the Lions keep both Rogers and Williams? I mean, they could cut Glenn Martinez or Mike Furrey and no one would blink an eye. But if management forces Marinelli to keep these two high-priced wideouts, the decision could do a lot of damage and undermine the head coach's credibility in the locker room.

Branching out?

A lot has been written in the Boston newspapers about how badly the Patriots are treating their top receiver Deion Branch - making it seem as if Scott Pioli, the club's vice-president of player personnel, is being cheap with Branch with a three-year extension of $18 million.

However, Branch signed a fair deal when he was drafted in the second round in 2002. There were reasonable incentives in his contract that would have boosted his '06 salary. The trouble was that Branch reached only the first escalator in his contract, which paid him $500,000 extra if he had 900 receiving yards in a single season. He did it last season, and that bonus was added to his base pay of $545,000 this season.

The maximum Branch could have received this season was $3.545 million if he had reached 1,100 receiving yards in each of his first four seasons. He would have gotten a $1 million bonus for simply doing it once. Last season, 15 receivers had 1,100 yards or more. Branch had 998 and five touchdowns. In two other seasons, Branch failed to reach 500 receiving yards.

Several teams have told me that Branch might be the third receiver on their roster. Branch was MVP of Super Bowl XXXVIIII, and he's a valuable player to the Patriots; but the club is being reasonable based on his overall career production. 

The San Diego Chargers, who don't have a quarterback on their roster with a regular-season start, seem to be the club most interested in acquiring Tennessee's Billy Volek, who is willing to waive his no-trade clause. Volek didn't plan to travel with the Titans to Green Bay for the final preseason game.

The Chargers are also willing to unload linebacker Donnie Edwards but want a third-round pick. Volek isn't worth that. But it is pretty strange that the Titans would rather start Kerry Collins, who has been relaxing on his Carolina farm all summer, in the season opener. Collins does throw a pretty deep pass, but he's more immobile than Volek in the pocket. On the bright side, Collins did throw 20 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions last season with the Raiders and ranked 20th among NFL starters on their quarterback rating chart.