Pro Football Talk

A league source tells us that the protracted delay in the selection of a new G.M. in Seattle traces to one factor -- the desire of team president Bob Whitsitt to ensure that he'll retain some relevance in owner Paul Allen's sports kingdom.

According to the source, Whitsitt soon will be getting the boot as the President/G.M. of Allen's NBA franchise, the Portland Trail Blazers. Whitsitt is catching the brunt of the blame as the Blazers disintegrate, and as former Blazers employees Rick Adelman and Geoff Petrie continue to shape the Sacramento Kings into an elite team.

Allen and Whitsitt, but not many others, are aware of Whitsitt's impending exile from Portland. The source tells us that Whitsitt is hoping to focus his efforts on the Seahawks after the shoe falls in Portland, and he knows that a high-profile G.M. in Seattle will make it harder for Whitsitt to have any juice.

So Whitsitt is supporting candidates like Ted Thompson and Bill Kuharich, and shying away from guys like Randy Mueller and Tom Modrak.

The problem is that Allen wants Mueller, according to the source, and Whitsitt is trying his best to persuade his boss to go with someone else.

Squarely in Whitsitt's corner on this one is coach Mike Holmgren, who likewise benefits from a weak and/or familiar G.M. who won't try to trump Holmgren -- or to edge him out so the G.M. can hire his own coach.

Largent apparently is motivated by the fact that the Buccaneers, who joined the league in the same year as the Seahawks, are the new NFL champs. "They have now won a Super Bowl and the Seahawks have yet to play in one," Largent said. "I just think what we have to do is raise the expectation bar of this team and of the organization and of the community."

Largent's promising political career unexpectedly slammed into a 370-pound lineman when he lost in the Oklahoma gubernatorial race last November. Once considered a potential presidential candidate, it looks like Largent now will try to retreat to his roots.

A league source tells us that the NFL intends to rap the knuckles (at a minimum) of the Detroit Lions in the wake of the team's apparent effort to circumvent the new minority hiring guidelines by settling on a new head coach before firing the old one.

We agree that the Lions need to be disciplined for this, though we're skeptical as to whether the punishment will be meaningful. Regardless, the league needs to send a message to all NFL teams that the new guidelines must be applied in good faith, and that the guidelines can't be circumvented by secret pre-firing deliberations.

And a separate league source tells us that, indeed, the Lions decided to hire Mariucci before firing Mornhinweg. In fact, the word is that a deal was in place between the Lions and Mariucci before the firing, and that everything since then has been for appearances only.

We've also learned that there was a method to Matt Millen's apparent madness. Though the Lions knew that they were going to fire Mornhinweg, Millen wanted his coaching staff to be able to handle the Senior Bowl, according to the source. If Millen had pulled the trigger on Mornhinweg at the conclusion of the regular season, the Lions wouldn't have had the opportunity to spend a week working directly with a squad full of potential draft picks.

The Senior Bowl teams traditionally are coached by the NFL teams with the worst records from each conference. This year, the Bengals forfeited the ability to send their staff to Mobile by firing Dick LeBeau.

So since the Lions owe Marty one more year of salary whether he's coaching the team or not, Millen saw no problem with keeping Mornhinweg around for a few more weeks.

Also, Millen believes that keeping Mornhinweg would have given Millen only one more year to turn it around. With Mooch, Millen assumes he'll get at least two more years.

Last Friday, we reported that Ravens director of college scouting Phil Savage will be promoted to the position of director of football operations. A league source tells us that the move is all but a done deal, with the franchise merely waiting at this point for Savage to give them the official acceptance.

As we reported, George Kokinis will become the pro personnel director, and Erik DeCosta will be the new director of college scouting. According to the source, West Coast scout Vince Newsome (no relation to Ozzie) will take Kokinis's place as assistant pro personnel director.

Keep your eyes on new Redskins defensive coordinator George Edwards. Edwards, who served as linebackers coach before replacing Marvin Lewis, is revered by his players in D.C., and he's regarded as very bright and articulate.

Edwards is merely 36 years of age, and the buzz in league circles is that he'll be getting serious consideration for a head-coaching job within two years.

On Wednesday, we posted a possible solution to the league's current overtime conundrum. As one of our readers suggested, the coin toss at the start of overtime could be replaced with a rule requiring the team who forced the tie to kick off at the start of the sudden death period.

We asked for your input, and the response was overwhelming. Several readers called the idea "brilliant," but others saw the potential hole in this approach. (We hadn't.)

Specifically, if the last score in regulation comes in, say, the first half, the rule would be far less compelling. Or if the game ends in a scoreless tie, then what would happen?

The problem here is that the solution the NFL adopts has to make sense in all circumstances, it needs to ensure fairness to both teams, and (in our view) it needs to encourage teams to attempt to win the game in regulation.

We also think that the overtime issue presents the NFL with one of those rare, once-in-a-generation opportunities to subtly revolutionize the game.

Obviously, the solution must ensure that both teams will get the ball at least once. Several readers back an approach that would give the team who kicks off at least one possession:

If the receiving team scores, the kicking team must match or beat it. If the receiving teams punts or turns the ball over, the first score wins.

We still have reservations about an approach that makes it, in theory, more favorable to kick off at the beginning of overtime. For the kicking team, there's no real down side. If they give up a score, they get a chance to match it. And if the receiving team goes three-and-out or coughs up the ball, the kicking team has a short field.

4. If there's a tie, the game moves to the "Two-Pointer" phase. (See below.)

The "Two-Pointer" phase is the football equivalent of penalty kicks. It's a simple process -- the teams take alternating turns from the extra-point line, until one team punches it in and the other doesn't.

In order to keep the total scoring reasonable, only two points would be earned for each "touchdown" occurring during the two-pointer phase.

Apart from the solution on which the NFL ultimately settles, we suggest that overtime wins be added to the postseason tie-breaking procedure, just after head-to-head results. Under this approach, the team with less overtime wins gets the edge.

This would encourage teams to try to win games during regulation, especially late in the season, when the tiebreakers before extremely relevant . In our view, a premium should be placed on winning a game within the 60 minutes of regulation play.

But, hey, our idea is merely a work in progress. Keep your comments coming. One way or another, we'll all come up with a plan that the NFL just might consider. . . . and then ignore.

A league source tells us that the Buffalo Bills are interested in adding Dick LeBeau to the coaching staff due in large part to the fact that they view him as a potential replacement for current defensive coordinator Jerry Gray.

Gray has served as the defensive coordinator for two years under head coach Gregg Williams, and there was widespread speculation that Gray would be fired after a season of games in which the Bills weren't beaten in most weeks -- they were merely outscored.

But Gray survived, and having LeBeau around will make the transition more smooth, if Gray doesn't survive the 2003 season.

For LeBeau, it'd be the second time that he takes a job with the possibility of an in-house promotion. LeBeau became the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati in the late 1990s, and he took the reins once Bruce Coslet walked away during the 2000 season.

We've always believed that good defense starts with a strong defensive line. If we're right, then the Kansas City Chiefs have a long. long way to go before anyone confuses their red shirts with those worn by the Tampa Bay Bucs.

According to several league personnel execs, the Chiefs' defensive line is a "mess." The entire group is, in essence, a mix-and-match set of mediocre players.

It's no shock, then, that the Chiefs were last in the league in total defense in 2002. According to one source, Dick Vermeil could get away with a so-so defense in St. Louis because playing on turf enabled them to compensate for a lack of size and strength with speed. In K.C., the team plays on grass, which makes fleet feet far less useful.

The Chiefs also are getting knocked in league circles for a poor cap situation, fueled by bad personnel decisions. The Chiefs have been criticized for letting linebacker Donnie Edwards go after the 2001 season, and the decision to give receiver Eddie "I Quit" Kennison a long-term extension raised eyebrows throughout the league.

Sure, Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt isn't a real football player. Regardless, he's been around the game long enough to know that NFL championships aren't won by guys who say "please" and "thank you" more often than they say "eat sh-t" and "die."

We figure plenty of purists will scoff at Vanderjagt for telling it like he sees it. Regardless, we think Vanderjagt is right on the money with his criticism of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and coach Tony Dungy.

Amen. We reported throughout the latter half of the 2001 season that Dungy is simply too nice to take a team to the promised land. Concepts like loyalty and patience work well in normal business. But in the NFL, a heartless prick with single-minded ambition will get a helluvalot farther than Alan Alda.

Really, the primary difference between the 2001 paper champions and the real ones from 2002 is that the fiery Jon Gruden took over for Dungy. Does anyone really think the Bucs would have gotten it done this year if Dungy hadn't gotten down the road?

As to Manning, Vanderjagt leveled pointed criticism at his lack of enthusiasm for the game. "We need somebody who is going to get in people's face and yell and scream," Vanderjagt said.

The fact that a measly kicker would have the nerve to call him out shows that Peyton isn't destined to go down in history as one of the great field generals of all time. What would Unitas or Layne or Favre or McMahon do if their kickers took cheap shots at them?

What's the point of minority hiring guidelines when everyone knows that a head-coaching vacancy has been earmarked specifically for one man?

In Detroit, the Lions fired Marty Mornhinweg because Steve Mariucci is now available. The minority candidates for the job, led by former Vikings coach Dennis Green, seem to know this.

Green has pulled out of consideration in lieu of being the perfunctory black candidate, according to published reports.

Ironically, Green and Mooch are represented by the same agent, which likely has made it easier for Green to discern that Mariucci is the Lions' first choice.

Though the new guidelines will be relevant in cases where teams embark upon a bona fide search for a new coach, they make no sense where, as in Dallas and Detroit this year, the powers-that-be lock on to one candidate before the prior coach is even fired.

The problem is that, if the league continues to let teams get away with this approach, more teams in the future will settle on a new coach before firing the current one.

The bottom line is that there's a big hole in the application of these new guidelines, and the NFL needs to address the problem right now.

With that said, we don't expect the NFL to block the Lions desire to hire Mooch. After all, the Ford family owns the Lions, and the Ford family runs one of the nation's top automakers, which happens to buy significant ad time from the networks that give millions and millions to the NFL.

Really, if the Fords have enough juice to drag the Fox studio show and its top announcing team to the opening game at Ford Field, despite the fact that the team sucks, the Fords possess the clout to keep Tags off their back as to their preordained decision to hire Mariucci.

So what's the real problem in Detroit? Several league insiders believe that the "suck" stops on the desk of Lions President/CEO Matt Millen.

This really isn't a new idea. Millen has been criticized publicly and privately for his lack of the skills necessary to succeed in his current capacity. As we reported last year, Millen got the job in Motown because he had a habit of telling teams what their problems were during his days as a broadcaster.

Most teams told him to mind his own damn business. The Lions, mired in a vat of crap for most of the past 40 years, liked what they heard.

The problem, according to a league source, is that Millen is addressing the ongoing problems in Detroit by firing everyone -- except himself. He "must be thinking he's a TV exec," said one source. "He's firing everybody who is involved with the show. But like the TV network head who doesn't have a clue, he should be firing himself for hiring all those turds."

Millen now has a chance to redeem his rocky tenure in Detroit, albeit a slim one. If the new coach doesn't get it done quickly, Millen's show will be canceled.

The New York Times reports that former Heisman Trophy winner Roy Dayne wants to be traded from the New York Giants.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I'm really starting to lose my love for the game," said Dayne, who was the eleventh player selected in the 2000 draft. "If I can't play, I don't want to be here."

Earlier this month, Dayne's new agent, Terry Lavenstein, asked the Giants politely to trade the Wisconsin product. Dayne initially disclaimed knowledge of the letter, suggesting that he had not authorized the move. Now, Dayne apparently has seen the light.

In response to the question regarding the form that the NFL's new overtime system might take, one of our readers offered an intriguing suggestion -- get rid of the coin toss and make the team who tied the game kick off to start the sudden death period.

"This would force coaches to attempt to break ties rather than playing for overtime, or try to score touchdowns and two point conversions instead of field goals and extra points.

"In the rare cases of games still going to overtime, the team whose defense has been on the field for the most recent scoring drive would be able to rest, the momentum from the final scoring play wouldn't carry over to a win-the-coin-toss victory, thus the winner would be determined on the field rather than on the coin."

A league source tells us that the Miami Dolphins have no interest in pursuing Brian Griese as their starting quarterback, if/when Griese is cut loose by the Denver Broncos.

Griese's father, Bob, led the Dolphins to two Super Bowl titles in the early 1970s, including their perfect 17-0 season of 1972. Regardless, the team does not envision the younger Griese as a potential replacement for current starter Jay Fiedler.

According to the source, the Dolphins would consider Griese only as a backup, and at this point they don't know whether they'd choose him over current their Number 2, Ray Lucas.

Griese signed a six-year, $39 million contract prior to the 2001 season, and he restructured it last summer to give the Broncos cap room for their rookies. A second straight subpar season, coupled with several dubious off-field incidents, might prompt coach Mike Shanahan to turn the team over to someone else.

Based on Griese's 2001 signing bonus of $12 million, the cap hit for a post-June 1 release would be $2 million this year, and $6 million in 2004. It's not clear whether the 2002 restructuring resulted in any guaranteed money in the out years, which would increase the cap charge.

Some folks around the league are troubled by the decision of Falcons quarterback Michael "Call Me 'Mike' Because It Sounds Tougher" Vick to miss the Pro Bowl due to (drum roll, please) a bunion on his foot.

The kid wants to make himself the center of attention and then he bows out of the showcase of the Pro Bowl for a bunion operation?"

No one doubts Vick's raw ability, but questions arose throughout the year regarding his willingness to play with pain of any sort. Sure, he made great strides this season in the development of his overall game. Regardless, he's got a long way to go before he's considered one of the game's great performers -- and to get there he'll need to shrug off the assorted ailments that plague most players throughout the season, including bunions, hangnails, pimples on his ass, and chapped lips.

Though most folks believe that the sudden firing of coach Marty Mornhinweg is directly related to the recent availability of Steve Mariucci, the Lions must comply with the league's new guidelines aimed at ensuring that minority candidates have a fair shot at any vacancies.

In Dallas, Jerry Jones dealt with this minor distraction to his quest for Bill Parcells with a phone call to Dennis Green. Since then, Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has said that the guidelines contemplate something more.

And with Green the leading African-American candidate for any NFL vacancy, it's hard to justify picking Mooch over him. Green achieved greater success than Mariucci during their respective coaching NFL head-coaching stints, taking the Vikings to the NFC Championship game twice in his final four seasons. Mooch never got farther than the divisional round.

Also, Green knows the NFC North well. He enjoyed great success against the Bears, Lions, and Packers during his decade in Minnesota, and he likely has Grudenesque knowledge of his former team.

We fully expect that the job will go to Mariucci. But explaining the hiring of the Tuna over Green is one thing. When compared to the quirky-to-the-point-of-goofy Coach Mooch, Green simply seems to be the better candidate.

Look for the Lions to cite Green's history of in-house power plays in support of their ultimate decision to hire Mariucci instead. In so doing, however, Matt Millen and company conveniently will forget the misguided leverage move that Mooch tried to pull last year, flirting with the Bucs in the hopes of scoring more juice in San Fran.

The Detroit Lions have called a press conference for 3:30 p.m. EST, according to the team's official Web site. The Associated Press reports that the Lions at that time will announce the termination of head coach Marty Mornhinweg.

Coincidentally, we reported this morning that the Mooch-to-Motown move will happen, if at all, this week. (Scroll down for more.)

Stay tuned for more details. Or you can wait for Len Pastabelly's story. It'll be posted tomorrow -- and it'll be dated January 26.

We reported on the day that Steve Mariucci was fired by the 49ers that he could be heading to Detroit, to replace Lions coach Marty Moronweg. The buzz died quickly, as word circulated that Mooch plans to take the year off before re-entering the coaching fray.

But the rumors are still out there -- and it appears that, if anything ever is going to happen, it'll be this week.

Mornhinweg is entering the third and final guaranteed year of his contract, and all indications have been that he'll return for one more go. Still, the addition of Mooch makes too much sense to write off. Sure, Mooch will still be around next year after the Ford family fires Marty -- but why not just pull the trigger now?

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that Steelers head coach Bill Cowher's tendency to lose assistant coaches can be traced in large part to the fact that the assistant coaches don't particularly like the man with traces of spittle on his jutting jaw.

According to a league source, former linebackers coach Mike Archer took an offer to return to the University of Kentucky primarily because he had grown weary of Cowher.

Really, why else would the guy set his career clock back by seven full years? Archer was the defensive coordinator at Kentucky when he was hired to replace Marvin Lewis in 1996. Now, Archer is heading back to Lexington (a true hotbed of college football) for another go.

Meanwhile, former Steelers defensive coordinator and recently-fired Bengals coach Dick LeBeau turned down recently the chance to replace Archer. Though it would've been a major step backward for LeBeau, he's currently unemployed -- and no one is exactly beating his door down with offers.

The fact that LeBeau left the Steelers several years back for a lateral position in Cincy suggests strongly that he had his own issues with Cowher -- and that he has no desire to link back up with his old boss.

The benefit of having a young coach who used to play quarterback and who has intimate knowledge of the opponent's starter is that the young coach can get under center in practice and show the starting defense how the opponent's starter will do things.

Bucs coach Jon Gruden did just that last week, and it helped his team understand how Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon would try to attack the league's best defense.

What did the players think? "He stunk up the place," said defensive end Simeon Rice.

Safety John Lynch disagreed. "He wanted to simulate the tempo and show how Rich would go to great lengths to get out of bad plays. There was value in it."

In our view, Gruden's knowledge of Oakland's personnel clearly was the difference on Sunday. Each coaching staff had a good idea as to how the other would attempt to do things, since most of the Oakland crew worked under Gruden. But Gruden also knew very well the tendencies and the weaknesses of the Oakland offense (specifically, Gannon) -- and it was a powerful (and unprecedented) benefit for a Super Bowl coach.

Last week, Tampa receiver Keyshawn Johnson said that he would not talk to the media for the remainder of his career. And just like Cosmo Kramer's failed vow of silence, Meshawn couldn't resist running his mouth.

"Now all I have to do is get me another one. When you get it once, you want it twice. And when you get it twice, you want it three times. I'm already thinking about what we're going to do next season, who we're going to bring in to help us try to get back.''

So why did Meshawn change his mind about not talking to the press? "I'm entitled to change my mind just like you guys are entitled to change yours,'' he said.

It's more proof that when you put a Super Bowl ring on a jerk's finger, all you really have is a jerk, with a Super Bowl ring on his finger.

Though other news outlets are reporting the fact that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held their final Super Bowl walk-through Saturday in a hotel ballroom, good luck finding info as to the real reason for Jon Gruden's decision to take the last practice indoors.

A source close to the Bucs tells us that Gruden became obsessed with the possibility that one or more of the folks at Qualcomm Stadium were there specifically to spy on the Bucs. So he pulled the plug on the walk-through shortly after they got started.

Al Davis and the Raiders long have been reputed for planting spies in all sorts of exotic ways. The fact that former Oakland coach Gruden fears such tactics is the closest thing we'll likely ever get to express confirmation that such goings-on indeed go on.

Raiders tight end Roland Williams used his status as a mediocre component of a Super Bowl team to espouse his views regarding the disintegration of his former team, the St. Louis Rams.

But Williams' words were taken at face value, without consideration of the potential mouthful of sour grapes on which he has been gagging since the Rams traded him to Oakland.

According to a former teammates of Williams' in St. Louis, Roland was traded in large part because he was disliked by the coaches and the players. "No one on the team liked this big mouth," said the source. "Even the coaches that he tried to suck up too hated him. That's why they traded his ass."

A league source tells us that the Miami Dolphins have lingering concerns regarding the well-being of linebacker Derrick Rodgers, and that it could result in a decision to cut him loose from the team.

Rodgers' performance dipped this year, after an arrest for cold-cocking his wife's boyfriend. Rodgers recently got probation for the incident, but the Fins worry that it might not be the end, according to the source.

Also, the Fins believe that Rodgers will resist either a paycut or a nudge out of the starting lineup. Thus, their only option might be to let him go.

The momentum is building for a change to the current overtime system. Paul Tagliabue's State of the League address confirmed this fact.

So what will they do? Amazingly, no one has offered any concrete suggestions for improving the current system -- beyond making the now-ubiquitous observation that both teams should get the ball at least once.

The best system, in our view, is the one that the NCAA has been using for several years now. Each team gets the ball at the 25, and if the game is still tied after each team has had a crack at scoring, they do it again.

But we sense that the NFL isn't keen on copying the NCAA's approach to overtime. We believe that, in part, the NFL doesn't want to acknowledge that the NCAA figured out the best system years before the light bulb flashed above the NFL's collective noggin. Likewise, NFL purists out there likely are concerned that a college-style system could wreak havoc on the record books, with (in theory) obscenely high scores and Sayersesque touchdown totals.

Still, the notion of the other team getting the ball if the first team scores on the opening drive has a major flaw. If the team that gets the ball first punts or coughs it up, the opponent likely will have a shorter field, which will prompt teams to routinely pull a Mornhinwheg if they win the toss in OT.

Best-case scenario -- the team that kicks gets a short field with a chance to win. Worst-case scenario -- they get the ball via a kickoff after the other team scores.

In the end, we predict that the league will settle on a modified version of the college system. For example, teams will get the ball at the 50 or the 40. It'll make for an exciting O.T., and it'll help keep the scoreboard under 100 points.

With James Harris heading to Jacksonville to assume the job that Phil Savage nearly had, Savage will fill the vacuum created by Harris's departure, according to a league source.

Actually, the source tells us that Savage will assume a new position -- director of football operations. In this gig, Savage will oversee both the college and pro personnel departments. He previously served as the director of college scouting.

George Kokinis will become the pro personnel director, and Erik DeCosta will be the new director of college scouting. Kokinis had been the assistant PPD, and DeCosta was responsible for midwest scouting.

This development has prompted some folks around the league to suggest that G.M. Ozzie Newsome should get a second bust in the Hall of Fame, for his front office skills. Though we don't know what role Newsome played in the bait-and-switch that resulted in Harris ending up in Jacksonville in lieu of Savage, the bottom line is that Savage, 37, is viewed as an up-and-comer, and Harris, 55, is seen by some as "so-so" in his talent evaluation skills.

Basically, the Ravens managed to keep the Jags' first choice, and the Ravens ultimately received an opportunity to give Savage the kind of promotion that could keep him in Baltimore for the foreseeable future.

Good news for Bills fans -- consultant Tom Modrak is sticking around for at least another year.

A league source tells us that Modrak doesn't believe the time is right to make a move elsewhere, which means that he won't be the new G.M. in Seattle.

Modrak was unceremoniously dumped by the Eagles nearly two years ago. He was the leading candidate for the Chicago G.M. position in May 2001, but he removed his name from consideration (along with Phil Savage) when the selection process dragged on.

Last year, we reported on the fact that NFL players make a tidy profit on Super Bowl tickets, which they buy at face value and sell for much more than that.

Recently, HBO's Real Sports showed video of two unidentified Jaguars players trying to peddle (i.e., scalp) their tickets to Super Bowl XXXVI.

A league source tells us that, this time around, members of the Super Bowl teams can buy up to 15 tickets at $400 each -- and they're getting anywhere from $1000 to $1800 per ticket.

Even at the low end of that range, it's at least a $6000 cash gain, which never will appear on anyone's 1040.

On Thursday morning, we learned that James Harris had been hired as the Jaguars new quasi-G.M., and we posted the story at 11:25 a.m.

At the time, the story appeared nowhere else in print or on the Web (we checked and double-checked).

Later on Thursday, Len Pasquarelli's story purporting to break this scoop appeared on ESPN.com's NFL page. As usual, there was no mention of the fact that the leading independent NFL news and info site had beaten his puffy butt to the punch.

To make matters worse, Pastabelly's story is dated Wednesday, January 22 -- apparently in order to create the impression that he reported the news first. But Len knows (and we know) that the story was nowhere to be seen as of Thursday morning.

We wonder if P. Belly can reconcile his suggestion that the deal was done on January 22 when Friday's published reports make it clear that the deal wasn't reached until January 23.

Ironically, Pasquarelli recently suggested that Bill Parcells should have been dumped immediately by ESPN for his apparent lack of honesty in connection with his discussions with the Cowboys. We wonder whether Lenny will be held to his own standard by ESPN management.

James Harris, formerly the Pro Personnel director for the Baltimore Ravens, was hired this morning by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a similar capacity. The hiring of Harris, who played quarterback in the NFL, reunites him with new Jaguar head coach/former Raven defensive coach Jack Del Rio. Speculation is that the assistant Pro Personnel director for the Ravens, George Kokinis (who has been the subject of interest by several NFL clubs incident to his contract expiring this spring), is the front runner to ascend to Harris's previous Pro Personnel director position with the Ravens.

We here at Profootballtalk can't wait until the Big Boys put their spin on breaking this story and fail once again to note that Profootballtalk has beat them to the punch (is that 3 Pop Tarts or 4, Len?).

A league source tells us that the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't in a hurry to force running back Jerome Bettis into restructuring his contract, despite speculation that recent hints by coach Bill Cowher regarding the Bus's future could be a precursor to efforts to squeeze him into taking a pay cut even bigger than his Campbell-soup fed butt.

According to the source, the Steelers are happy with their cap situation, so they won't need to make any decisions regarding Bettis until they have a chance to evaluate his progress this off-season.

Specifically, they'll be keeping close watch on his health and conditioning at the team's post-draft minicamps, and in training camp. If at some point the powers-that-be decide that he's more likely to be a fat slob than a featured back, he'll then be given the "restructure or release" ultimatum.

Still, they're not giving up (for now) on the possibility that he'll be able to return as the top spot on the depth chart. Amos Zereoue is their alternative for now, and there are concerns that Amos isn't sturdy enough to take the pounding that goes with 20-plus carries a game.

Then again, based on the past two years, the Steelers already should know that Bettis isn't, either.

Tampa reserve quarterback Shaun King is using sports' biggest stage as an opportunity to troll for future employment. And his teammates don't like it one bit.

For those of you who primarily are focusing attention on the men who'll actually play in the Super Bowl, you might have missed King's comments on media day.

At least one of King's teammates agreed. "Yeah, he was a starter . . . and a sorry ass one at that." Added another: "He needs to shut the f--k up." (This seems to be a popular off-the-record turn of phrase for NFL players who aren't enamored with something a colleague has said.)

"Don't get me wrong," King added, "I'm thrilled for this franchise, for everything it has been through. This is a great moment. But I'd be lying if I was to stand here and pretend I didn't want to be a bigger part of all this."

And we'd be lying, Shaun, if we didn't remind you that you've had your chance -- and that you suckified your way right out of it.

Nevermind the fact that legitimately King lost his starting job to Brad Johnson. When King had a chance to showcase his talents late in the 2002 season, he virtually put to rest any shot of getting a starting job elsewhere by getting yanked for Rob "Keanu" Johnson.

Speaking of washed up former starters, the Pittsburgh Steelers are finding that no one is interested in trading for Kordell Stewart, according to a league source.

This is hardly a shock. Despite solid performances by Stewart following a November injury to Tommy Maddox, the 31 other teams realize that the Steelers have little leverage in this equation. They surely won't keep Stewart, given his obscenely high cap number for 2003. So why make it easy on them?

Plus, teams will be skittish about giving up picks, unless they're fairly certain that Stewart can be signed to a manageable long-term deal. In our view, Stewart needs to languish on the shelf for a while in the hopes that his unreasonably high opinion of his own talents will slide into a range that teams will find more palatable.

Our guess is that the Steelers won't hear much, if anything, until the free agency period opens. Even then, there's a chance that the rest of the league will wait for Kordell and his fat contract to be cut loose, and then the interested teams will start talking to him.

We don't think NFL head coaches should hire family members. If they do, however, we think NFL head coaches should be forthcoming in the fact that they have done so.

Case in point -- a league source tells us that newly-hired (and arguably unqualified) Bengals defensive line coach Jay Hayes is the cousin of newly-hired Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis.

Hayes never has served as a D-line coach in the NFL, though he has worked with pass rushers in college, and was an all-conference defensive end at the University of Idaho before playing two seasons in the USFL.

There's a rumor making the rounds that Steelers tight end Mark Bruener is considering retirement, given a recent history of injury struggles.

A league source tells us that talk of retirement is premature. According to the source, Bruener is looking forward to rehabilitating the knee injury that knocked him out of the 2002 season in December. Though it's still not a certainty that the rehab will be a complete success, Bruener has every intention of returning for another NFL season.

Bruener was taken in the first round of the 1995 draft. He's been a solid, dependable force for the Steelers, but injuries have marred his last two NFL seasons.

A league source tells us that Ravens director of college scouting Phil Savage is "crushed" by the fact that he missed out on the chance to land the personnel gig in Jacksonville.

Though it's still not clear whether Savage had an agent, league insiders believe that Savage should've asked for salary and power parameters early in the process, before developing a serious interest in the deal. Instead, Savage got a rude awakening at the bargaining table, where he learned for the first time that the coin and the juice were less than he had assumed.

Savage is so upset by the development that he might remove his name from consideration for the still-vacant Seahawks G.M. job.

Meanwhile, Ravens exec James Harris will get a second interview for the Jaguars job, according to a league source. As the process inches forward, the remaining front office employees (Director of Pro Scouting Fran Foley and Assistant Director of Pro Scouting Matt Littlefield) are hanging on by a thread, making preparations for free agency without knowing whether they'll be retained by the new regime.

A league source with years of experience navigating the ins and outs of NFL hirings and firings tells us that Dennis Green will not be the next coach of the San Francisco 49ers, based on the simple fact that, if he were going to get the job, he would have gotten it by now.

ESPN.com reports that Green has not yet been contacted by the 49ers. (Green works for ESPN and, unlike Bill Parcells, Green is willing to share details on his coaching career with Mort, Gazoo, and/or P. Belly -- without requiring them to actually track down the info.)

If the 49ers have decided not to hire Green, they nevertheless should interview him -- or some other African-American candidate. Under the league's new minority hiring guidelines, teams with a head-coaching vacancy must give bona fide consideration to one or more black coaches.

Another person whose name isn't on the list is 49ers consultant Bill Walsh, who coached the team from 1980 through 1988. Walsh last coached at Stanford University, and he has worked in the San Fran front office for several years.

In our view, the fact that Walsh would even consider taking back the reins 15 years after giving them up is proof positive that, as Jeff Garcia said, there are "too many chiefs" in the organization.

It also appears that at least one of the chiefs is borderline delusional, if he thinks that he could jump back into the game after a full decade of free agency, which took hold five years after he quit coaching.

The best evidence of the fact that he doesn't get it is this: Walsh recently said he couldn't handle the eight month grind. The last time we checked, being a head coach in the NFL is now a 12-month gig.

A league source tells us that, shortly before Sunday's NFC title game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers learned that the Philadelphia Eagles already had shipped a bunch of equipment to San Diego, in preparation for the Super Bowl.

Though the Bucs didn't need any extra motivation to exorcise the Brotherly Love demons that have haunted them over the past few years, it seems to us that most championship game upsets have lingering in the background some effort by the favorite/loser to look ahead to the next game.

Last year, for example, word got out that the Steelers were talking about Super Bowl travel logistics.

One of these days, teams will learn that nothing good comes out of making any Super Bowl plans in advance of earning the berth in the big game. If news of the preparations gets out, it could provide that extra little burst to the opponent, which might put the other team over the top.

Though the Chicago Bears are in great need of a quarterback who (1) can play effectively and (2) can stay in one piece for more than two consecutive games, don't look for them to burn their unexpectedly high first round pick on a signal-caller.

A league source tells us that G.M. Jerry Angelo is leery of drafting a quarterback in the first round, and that he'll instead look to the free agent market.

Specifically, their target is Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer, who has managed to play adequately for the worst team west of Cincinnati.

Sure, Plummer is the best of the free agent bunch, but the team also might look at Steelers third-stringer Charlie Batch. The source thinks that Batch fits better than Plummer with the Bears approach; however, the concern is that Batch isn't effective without a strong running game. Anthony Thomas struggled in his sophomore season, and unless the Bears can find a solid every-down back, Batch might not be able to get the job done.

We previously have reported that the Cowboys also are looking seriously at Plummer, and that Batch could be content to stay in Pittsburgh, if he can be the primary backup to Tommy Maddox.

In the wake of Phil Savage's decision to pull out of the running for the Jacksonville G.M. job, we've learned that the Ravens director of college scouting was influenced heavily by the fact that the written contract that owner Wayne Weaver presented to him provided for powers far more restricted than Savage had envisioned.

So Savage balked at the deal -- and walked away from the opportunity, which turned out to be less attractive than he had thought.

Meanwhile, Jags coach Jack Del Rio has filled three key positions on his staff. Bill Musgrave will be the new offensive coordinator, Mike Smith will serve as defensive coordinator, and Bill Bates will handle the special teams.

Folks around the league generally are questioning the wisdom of Ravens director of college scouting Phil Savage, who passed on the Jaguars G.M. gig based on an apparent disagreement over pay and contract length.

Said one league source: "Here's a guy who basically has been a college [talent] evaluator all his career and now he can be a G.M. of a team and he knows the coach [former Ravens assistant Jack Del Rio] and he turns it down . . . What the f--k is he thinking?"

We agree, to an extent. If Wayne Weaver tried to pay Savage peanuts in comparison to Del Rio, Savage had every right to hold out for more. Weaver wants to split the power evenly among two guys, so there shouldn't be a huge disparity in the pay that they're earning. Otherwise, the one who's getting more coin will assume he has more juice.

Before anyone hands the reins to an NFL franchise to former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green, they'd be wise to consider the fact that Green previously gave up on not one, but both of the players who'll start at quarterback in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Raiders signal-caller Rich Gannon got the starting job when Green arrived in 1992, promptly after Green scuttled long-time malcontent Wade Wilson. But Gannon never developed in Green's system, and Gannon eventually was dumped in favor of (gulp) Jim McMahon.

Bucs starter Brad Johnson was drafted by Green in 1992, and Johnson sat on the bench for four long seasons before unseating Warren Moon. By late 1996, Johnson had his first contract that paid him like a starter.

A broken leg early in the 1998 season enabled Randall Cunningham to steal the job, and Johnson was traded to the Redskins for the first-round pick that enabled the Vikes to draft Daunte Culpepper.

In all, 12 different guys started at quarterback for the Vikings during Green's ten years in Minnesota, so the odds were that at least one of them would make it big somewhere else. The fact, however, that both of them were on Green's initial 1992 squad makes us wonder whether he's the genius that everyone simply assumes he is.

Though by all reports Bengals president Mike Brown has refused to hire a General Manager or to make any significant changes to a front office fueled by equal parts nepotism and incompetence, the Cincinnati Enquirer suggests that new coach Marvin Lewis has been given much more authority and control than Bengals coaches of the recent past.

"Any decisions being made are because of my direction. I don't know that anybody else sat here before and told you that. . . . I have the ability to shape everything we do."

Paul Daugherty of the Enquirer was seemingly impressed by the fact that these comments didn't prompt Mike Brown to have a Raymond Babbitt slap-and-scream fit. But, really, what could Brown do if Lewis decided to take that turd of a team by the tail and flex his newfound muscle?

Perhaps Lewis knows that, in the current climate, nothing short of kicking Brown squarely in the pee-pee will get him fired. Perhaps Lewis has decided that he's going to attempt to exceed whatever mandate he's been given by Brown right now, not gradually.

Or perhaps Lewis is merely displaying some of the same errors of judgment that prevented him from landing a head-coaching job for the past two seasons. Marvin's mouth rarely has been his friend. Could it be that the rush of finally getting that long-coveted head-coaching gig has gone straight to his noggin, and that his lips haven't been able to contain the various thoughts and aspirations that are racing through his mind?

We seriously doubt that Lewis's bold, G.M.-type comments were made with the express or implied permission of Brown. But, regardless of whether the move by Lewis was the result of careful premeditation or spontaneous delusion, there's not a thing that Brown can or will do about it.

Still, the developments of the past week have been positive. The Enquirer reports that long-time strength coach Kim Wood has "retired." Over the past year, we've posted multiple reports regarding the medicine-ball ways of Wood, who staunchly resisted implementing any innovations to his outdated routines. If the move was anything other than a purely voluntary decision by Wood, it's a sign that Brown might, at some level, be recognizing that his franchise is woefully behind the rest of the league, in many respects.

In a step that could affect his status as the 49ers starting quarterback under the new regime, Jeff Garcia has spoken out in favor of former coach Steve Mariucci, questioning whether Mooch was done in by an organization that has "too many chiefs."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Garcia addressed the situation Friday morning on KNBR radio.

"Coach (Steve) Mariucci has done a great job for this team," Garcia said. "He helped bring this team back to respectability in the league. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach and as a person.

"We are heading in a right direction," Garcia said. "Why would you want to mess that up? . . . Because of my friendship with Steve Mariucci, it's going to be hard to play for someone else."

Garcia's bottom-line assessment: "There were too many chiefs and not enough Indians. It makes it very difficult to coach."

The "chiefs" to whom he is referring include owner John York, G.M. Terry Donahue, and consultant Bill Walsh. Walsh's involvement included addressing the team before big games -- after Mariucci.

And although Mariucci has been chastised by some for his alleged desire to gain more authority in the organization, shouldn't a successful coach have some say in what it takes to keep the team moving in the right direction? Although the owners are moving away from the dual-role coach/G.M. scenario, the head coach of any team deserves some authority over personnel, especially when the coach has shown that he can win.

The bill came one week after the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a ruling that enables former Redskins lineman Jeff Uhlenake to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 1997 ankle injury.

After the state workers' compensation commission set a disability rate for Uhlenhake in 2001, both sides took the issue to Court. The team argued that Uhlenhake's ankle injury was not covered by workers' compensation laws because players are almost certain to be injured in their work.

The Virginia courts, however, ruled that the protections of the workers' compensation laws should not be waived for persons in high-risk jobs.

So now the battle will be waged before the lawmakers. Coincidentally, the bill was filed barely two weeks after the Redskins made $10,000 and $8,500 contributions to the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the General Assembly. In turn, the NFLPA vows to fight the 'Skins attempt to cut workers' compensation premiums.

The real problem, in our view, is that the NFL operates in many different states, which subject the franchises to varying sets of rules and regulations. We haven't done the legal research in this regard, but we think that the NFL and the NFLPA should create their own system of compensation for injured players, which potentially would fall within the scope of the federal "ERISA" employee benefits law. If the system could be set up under the guise of ERISA, the ever-shifting requirements of the law in more than 20 different states would become moot.

Finally, we wonder whether the 'Skins are considering the potential affect of their efforts to cut workers' compensation premiums on their ability to attract free agents. Sure, there are other more important factors that players consider when choosing a city, but some might look to the question of whether a team will take proper care of its injured players as evidence of whether the team really gives a steaming crap about them as human beings.

Fresh from being named the second head coach in the history of the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise, Jack Del Rio plans to have a full staff in place by Thursday.

"I spoke to a bunch of people prior to actually finalizing the deal [to become coach], and I'm cultivating that list now," Del Rio said, according to the Florida Times-Union. "But there's still some procedures we have to go through."

One of the "procedures" is the requirement that Del Rio get permission to hire current assistant who work for other teams, even if the move is a promotion.

The candidates to become Del Rio's defensive coordinator include Baltimore linebackers coach Mike Smith, Baltimore defensive line coach Rex Ryan, Baltimore secondary coach Donnie Henderson, and Carolina linebackers coach Sam Mills.

Candidates for the offensive coordinator job are Philly offensive coordinator Brad Childress, Miami quarterbacks coach Mike Shula, San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, and Baltimore tight ends coach Wade Harman.

"I'm going to be explosive on offense, with multiple formations and multiple formation groupings," Del Rio said. "We're going to dictate to the defense and make them respond to what we're doing."

Del Rio did not deny reports that he is considering former Cowboys teammate Bill Bates as his special teams coach. Bates was on the Cowboys staff last season, but he was not retained by Bill Parcells.

Meanwhile, owner Wayne Weaver's discussions with Baltimore director of college scouting Phil Savage have hit a snag, according to the Times-Union.

The issue could derail Savage's ride to Jacksonville. "Could it be somebody besides Phil Savage? Absolutely," Weaver said.

If (and it's a big if) the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can get past the Eagles on Sunday, their coach will have an extra level of motivation for next Sunday, if the Bucs' opponent is the Raiders.

Raiders players are now taking public shots at Gruden, who pulled the Oakland franchise out of a funk that lasted for the better part of the 1990s before heading to Tampa for four draft picks and cash.

"Gruden was one of those guys that liked to be in front of the camera and liked the camera attention and he had these faces that the camera could fixate on," Raiders tackle Lincoln Kennedy said, according to the New York Post. "[Bill] Callahan is the exact opposite. He's very quiet and very to himself. But he's not afraid to pull you aside and talk to you one-on-one.

"A lot of the antics that happened when Gruden was here, and how they had to have a camera fixated on him during a game, to me was funny," Kennedy said. "He was like a little man who wanted to be a big man and wanted to rule the world. He had kind of a Napoleonic complex."

Guard Frank Middleton criticized the distractions that Gruden's job status created last season. "It was kind of hard to concentrate on football," Middleton said. "Every week, somebody had a different story about Gruden: �He's going here. He's going there.' He was trying to downplay it a little bit, but it kind of made it hard. This year we've had no distractions. We have a coach that's going to be here and wants to be here."

One day after refusing to allow secondary coach Emmitt Thomas to take a promotion with the Bengals in order to ensure continuity in the coaching staff, head coach Dan Reeves fired quarterbacks coach Jack Burns, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Reeves apparently is concerned that Burns, who has been with the team since Reeves arrival in 1997, hasn't made enough progress in helping Mike Vick correct technical flaws.

Reeves also said for the first time that he assumed play-calling duties from Burns this season, after the Falcons started at 1-3.

Less than a week after former Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman suggested that he'd listen to new coach Bill Parcells, if Parcells were interested in luring him out of retirement, Parcells suggested that he might be interested in having such discussions with Aikman.

�One of the things you do when you go somewhere new is to try and increase the number of options that you have available to you,� said Parcells on Sporting News Radio on Thursday. �Certainly, [talking to Aikman] would be something I would consider.

�We really haven't gotten into the personnel aspect of it yet because we have been too busy trying to get a coaching staff on board. When that time comes, we will try to increase our options, and if that were to include discussion about Troy, certainly, it might be a possibility.�

Though, on the surface, the feelings seem to be mutual, we think that Aikman would need something far more concrete from Parcells before he would consider coming out of retirement. As Aikman said, "[i]f Bill Parcells were to come to my home and tell me how much he wanted me to play and how much I could help him and the team win . . . I think it would be worth considering."

Basically, Aikman expects Parcells to come to him, and Parcells' words hint that he expects Aikman to make the first move.

In our view, Parcells isn't genuinely interested in Troy. It's a new era in Big D and, if the team wins, Parcells won't want to hear that it's because of Aikman's return. However, Parcells can't be perceived as slapping Aikman in the face. Instead, Parcells deftly has expressed equivocal interest in Aikman, which will keep the local fans from revolting and which, at the same time, will keep Troy in the broadcast booth.

Speaking of Parcells, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution chides the Tuna for not allowing his then-employer, ESPN, to break news of his December covert meeting with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The story ultimately was reported by CBS, and news of an impending deal likewise came not from ESPN, but from the Dallas Morning News.

The AJC reports that, during this dissing of ESPN by Parcells, ESPN.com senior NFL writer Len Pasquarelli publicly called out Parcells for being evasive with the boys in Bristol.

Preceding his rant with the phrase, "I might get fired for this . . . ", Pasquarelli (a/k/a Pastabelly a/k/a P. Belly) suggested on a local Atlanta radio show that Parcells should be dropped immediately from the ESPN studio show for failing to funnel straight scoop to P. Belly's good buddy Chris Mortensen, who was instrumental in bringing Pasquarelli from CBS Sportsline to ESPN in 2001 as an on-line complement to Mort and the Great Gazoo.

In our view, Parcells did nothing wrong here -- unless his contract with ESPN specifically required him to give the network dibs on any developments in the Tuna's on-again, off-again coaching career. Without such an express duty, any carping from P. Belly is nothing more than sour grapes over the fact that ESPN's version of Moe, Larry, and Curly was scooped by other organizations that actually went out and gathered news instead of waiting for Parcells to cough it up on his own.

Despite a surprisingly strong run by the New York Jets in 2002, a league source tells us that the recent comments of G.M. Terry Bradway regarding quarterback Vinny Testaverde is a strong indication that coach Herm Edwards is losing power within the organization.

Early in the week, Edwards suggested that Vinny T. would be permitted to look elsewhere for opportunities in 2003. Bradway vetoed that notion, however, explaining that Testaverde won't be given a free pass out of town.

During the team's early-season woes, we reported that G.M. Terry Bradway would use the franchise's on-field struggles as a vehicle for re-flexing his muscle as Edwards' boss.

Beginning in 2001 and continuing into 2002, Edwards gradually was grabbing increased authority over personnel. Initially, he made it happen by simply failing to use the guys whom Bradway brought into the organization.

But when things tanked early this season, Bradway saw it as an opportunity to take back control.

Though Bradway's statement could be nothing more than a ploy to generate trade value, the fact that he was willing publicly to disagree with Edwards means that Bradway is back in the driver's seat as the 2003 off-season commences.

With Panthers defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio getting his first head-coaching gig in Jacksonville, we've gotten word from multiple circles that the leading candidate to replace him is Giants linebackers coach Tom Olivadotti.

Olivadotti spent two seasons in New York with current Panthers coach John Fox. Word around the league is that Olivadotti is a strong coach who doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he's not a shameless self-promoter.

The Charlotte Observer mentions only in-house candidates for the gig, including defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, linebackers coach Sam Mills and defensive backs coach Rod Perry. Though each had a role in improving the team from "horrendous" to "almost mediocre," Olivadotti has far greater credentials for the gig, with 35 years of coaching experience and nine years as the defensive coordinator in Miami.

As to Del Rio, we're impressed by his meteoric rise, given that he spent only one year as a defensive coordinator. Though this could prompt the Johnnie Cochran crowd to draw comparisons to black defensive coordinators who were and have been overlooked (e.g., Marvin Lewis and Ted Cottrell), don't forget that Herm Edwards became a head coach without ever having been a coordinator, and that the man whom he leapfrogged (Monte Kiffin) has presided over one of the best defenses in the league for seven seasons, yet he's never, ever gotten a serious sniff for a head-coaching job.

Kiffin (who is white) got little credit for the Bucs defense when Tony Dungy was the head coach, since most folks assumed that Dungy was pulling the strings. Under offensive-minded Jon Gruden, however, Kiffin has kept the Bucs at the top of the league -- but still he gets no attention. If Kiffin were black, Cochran would be coughin' up all sorts of rhetoric.

Though defensive tackle Daryl Gardener wants to return to the Washington Redskins next season, the impending free agent is trying to generate some leverage for the coming contract discussions with the 'Skins.

"I do have some options, some choices," Gardener told the Washington Post. "I'm going to keep in mind the Marvin Lewis situation but give the Redskins every chance to sign me. And if it doesn't happen, there will be no hesitation, none at all, to be in Cincinnati."

Gardener was dumped by the Dolphins last summer, and he was unable to generate much interest in trips to Houston and Detroit. The Redskins didn't flinch at concerns regarding Gardener's intangible qualities, and Gardener responded by playing well in D.C.

Then again, with a one-year deal, Daryl had every incentive to keep his nose to the grindstone.

The real test will come in 2003, when Gardener will be in the first year of a multi-year deal, either with the 'Skins or the Bengals.

One of Marvin Lewis's first items of business as the head coach of the Bengals is to hire a defensive coordinator. He set his sights on Emmitt Thomas, the defensive backs coach in Atlanta.

Under a fairly new NFL rule, however, teams can refuse permission to interview an assistant coach for any promotion less than the head-coaching job. And, in the case, the Falcons decided to decline Lewis's request.

Ironically, Lewis's former agent, Ray Anderson, is the CEO in Atlanta, and Anderson previously talked tough in an effort to create a head-coaching gig for his client. Less than a year later, Anderson has, in essence, prevented Lewis from getting the help he needs to succeed in his first head-coaching job, and Anderson is preventing Thomas (who also is black) from bettering himself.

Regardless of race, why would a team stand in the way of enabling a guy to get a promotion? Will he be a happier and more productive employee after the team has refused to allow him to improve his situation? We think it's selfish, short-sighted, and stupid to prevent any coach from securing a promotion in another city.

Also, the move should put to rest any speculation that coach Dan Reeves will be nudged out in favor of Dennis Green, another former client of Anderson's. If the reason for keeping Thomas is to ensure continuity heading into 2003, Reeves logically is part of that equation.

Despite rumors of a move by Seattle coach Mike Holmgren to San Francisco, Holmgren's agent said that his client isn't going anywhere.

"Anytime anything happens in San Francisco, Mike Holmgren's name comes up," said Bob LaMonte. "But to my knowledge, there is nothing to corroborate that. Mike has made a commitment to bringing a championship to Seattle."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the 49ers realize that they can't pry Holmgren away from the 'Hawks, and that they're looking to other candidates. G.M. Terry Donahue reportedly wants to give the job to quarterbacks coach Ted Tollner, and consultant Bill Walsh wants to hire Dennis Green.

Though Green, a former 49ers assistant, is an obvious candidate, his track record of grabbing power (and getting others in the front office fired -- see Diamon, Jeff) surely isn't attractive to Donahue or owner John York, who ran Mooch out of town in part due to his alleged thirst for more juice.

Following up on the story posted last night by our boss man Mike Florio concerning the ongoing act in the Theater of the Absurd otherwise known as Steve Mariucci and the the San Francisco 49ers, we spoke to a few NFL personnel big wigs whose message was generally the same: shed no tears for Coach Steve. "I'm just surprised and saddened," a sob . . . sniff, sniff . . . honk Mariucci said on Wednesday afternoon. "I didn't see it coming. I have a lot of admiration for this place and I've invested a lot here." With quotes like this and stories from some of the big boy media sites acting like the firing of Mariucci and the day that Baby Huey lost his teething ring as being the saddest stories ever reported by mankind, our sources tell us that The Hair Gel One got exactly what he deserved. Per one of our insiders: "This is Coach Phony at his best . . . he conveniently forgets he tried to power play both the Bucs and the 49ers last yr and lost . . . yea, he's a real loyal guy . . . to his wallet."

With the recent hiring of Marvin Lewis as Head Coach of the Bungles much is being made of the fact that the Bungles are now on the right track. We agree -- they are basically right on track to suck again next year. Instead of hiring new scouts the team decided to retain some of the coaches that were coaches/scouts last year just as scouts this year -- so instead of suggesting really bad talent and then also coaching them badly these guys will only get a chance to screw up once this upcoming season. The recent hiring of special teams coach Jay Hayes as the defensive line coach -- even thought he never has coached the defensive line -- is another example of Mike Brown and his band of yes-men/woman just not getting it. Lewis is also retaining some of the ex-regime's coaches, thereby allowing the skin-flint Brown family to save some coin and not eat some salaries.

Per new Coach Lewis: "You want a mix of young and old. I want good teachers, the best that I can find out there." That's great Marv -- maybe you'll get that in your next gig -- after you get tired of The Bald One and his She-Man #2 daughter and Ikky Shuffle your ass out of there.

The Senior Bowl is always a hotbed for NFL rumors, and one of our moles in Mobile has shared with a doozy that's making the rounds in the wake of the decision by the 49ers to fire head coach Steve Mariucci.

We're hearing that Mooch will end up as the next coach of the Lions, displacing Marty Mornhinweg, whom Mooch recommended for the gig two years ago.

Last year, there was a rumor making the rounds that Marty was merely keeping the seat warm for Mooch, and now that Mariucci is free and clear, Mooch could be headed to Motown.

The sudden vacancy in San Fran could lead to other complications. Word is that Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren could end up in the Bay Area, where he served as offensive coordinator before getting his first head coaching job in 1992, with the Packers.

The rumor is that the 'Hawks have been delaying their hiring of a G.M. pending the outcome in San Fran, since the first order of business for the new G.M. could be hiring a new coach.

Of course, Dennis Green (a former 49er staffer who was succeeded by Bill Walsh as the head coach at Stanford) surely will emerge as the leading candidate for the job, and the current climate will compel San Fran to give him a serious look-see (i.e., something more than a Jerry Jones "howdy" on the cell phone).

One of our former NFLtalk colleagues, Lloyd Greene, tells us that former NFL linebacker Greg Lloyd recently has gotten tossed in the hoose-gow.

Lloyd G. has shared with us a story on G. Lloyd from the Fayette (Georgia) Citizen News from January 8, 2003, which reports that the one-time Steeler All-Pro was arrested for pointing a gun at his wife at the family's home.

Lloyd allegedly choked his wife and put a gun to her head during a December 30 argument.

"He told me that one of us was going to end up in the hospital and the other in jail," his wife wrote in her petition for a temporary restraining order.

Folks around the league are becoming more and more convinced that Weaver's approach to filling his G.M. job and head coaching position independently is a sound way to ensure that there will be a true separation of power within the organization.

Weaver, who is committed to keeping the power from residing in in one person, is leading a simultaneous search for a G.M. and for a coach. Typically, the General Manager hires the coach -- and the G.M. often looks (consciously or not) for a guy who doesn't have a hidden agenda to grab some of the G.M.'s authority. In many cases, the coach is beholden to the G.M. for the opportunity he receives, which prompts the coach to defer to the G.M. in the decision-making process.

Under Weaver's approach, the coach will owe nothing to the G.M. And if Weaver makes it clear from the start that neither the coach nor the G.M. will gain any more power or influence than that which is given to them by Weaver, there's no reason for either guy to try to finagle more juice.

But there's a potential downside, in our view. As a practical matter, Weaver will eventually develop a greater affinity for one of the two guys who are running the show, and Weaver naturally will become more inclined to listen to that guy as to matters on which the coach and G.M. disagree. Thus, in time, one of them will end up with more power, unless Weaver is able to rise above those aspects of human nature that apply in virtually every organization where multiple persons are involved in calling the shots.

A league source tells us that the players in San Fran generally want Steve Mariucci to return as coach. This news conflicts with past reports that Mooch wasn't popular with his players.

Apparently, the possibility of loosing Mooch has prompted the players to realize that they'd miss him. The word is that he's easy on the team in practice, and that the team believes things are moving in the right direction.

Mariucci's status remains uncertain at the present time. He hasn't been fired, but he has only one year left on his contract. Something, then, must happen before the 2003 season.

Ron Del Duca's current article advocating a new NFL Minor League could end up being prophetic (as opposed to its usual status as pathetic). According to a league source, the NFL Europe season likely will be canceled if war breaks out between the United States and Iraq.

The concern, obviously, is that the players on the NFL Europe teams would become targets for terrorism on foreign soil. Though this concern didn't scuttle the 2002 season, which was conducted months after military operations began in Afghanistan, a war with Iraq would be a much bigger deal, and there's sure to be strong anti-American feelings in the land of stinky armpits, since they typically will approve of the U.S. going to war only in circumstances where they want us to save their ass.

As an alternative, a truncated schedule could be played in Florida, since the teams convene there for training camp. This would be a big step toward the scheme proposed by Del Duca, and it could spell the end of the NFL's protracted (and generally unsuccessful) European experiment.

NFL Europe launched its first season in May 1991, under the title of the "World League of American Football." Ironically, the ball was kicked only a couple of months after we last kicked Iraq's hairy, dirty butt.

His offensive coordinator wants to become the head coach of the worst franchise in the league. His linebackers coach could become a defensive coordinator -- for a crappy football program at a basketball school.

According to a league source, Cowher loves to take credit when things go well, and he never takes blame when things fall apart. Coupled with his "know it all" attitude, the source says that Cowher's assistants often look for other opportunities.

One of Cowher's former assistants confirmed (in a roundabout way) this report, telling us that "lots of [Cowher's] ex-coaches take delight when Coach Ego loses a game."

Still, don't look for any changes at the top, despite an underachieving year for the Steelers. "I think Bill did an excellent job, maybe one of his best jobs," said team president Dan Rooney, in reference to the team's disappointing season.

Though the problems that the Pittsburgh Steelers experienced in the defensive secondary this season have sparked reports that the team will try to upgrade this weakness in its roster next season, a league source tells us that the team also is concerned about its pass rush.

In our view, Deion Sanders, Ronnie Lott, Lester Hayes, and Darrell Green couldn't hold an offense down without some pressure on the quarterback -- and the Steelers have the luxury of no one with talent even close to any member of that foursome.

According to the source, then, the Steelers might look to the draft to upgrade the "3" portion of their "3-4" scheme. Defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen could get von ousted in the shake-up, and nose tackle Casey Hampton could lose some playing time.

Elsewhere on the roster, Kordell Stewart has said his goodbyes to the team, hinting strongly that it's not just until July. "I want to be a starter," Stewart told the media on Monday. "That's the key. Obviously, if that's not here, there's your answer.

"To accept having to compete against Tommy [Maddox], when I've already been the starter, I'll be sitting around here looking crazy, talking crazy. I'm not going to lie to you about that. That's not going to happen."

Other roster casualties could include safety Lee Flowers, tackle Wayne Gandy, cornerback Dewayne Washington, and (possibly) running back Jerome Bettis. Stay tuned.

As one personnel exec told us, anyone who signs Grbac had better be pretty secure in his own position, since there's a chance that it will be a significant waste of coin and cap room.

According to the source, Grbac is a guy who blames others for his mistakes, his teammates hate him, and "the Tin Man has more heart than that piece of sh-t."

Steelers president Dan Rooney, an influential elder statesman in league circles, thinks that bye weeks in the playoffs should be eliminated.

There are only two ways to eliminate the postseason bye: (1) reduce the playoff field to four per conference; or (2) expand it to eight.

Increasing the field to 8 teams would, as a practical matter, result in four extra playoff games in the first round, which equates to roughly 14 extra hours of network programming, which would enable the NFL to curry even more favor with the folks who currently are unhappy with the fruits of the billion-dollar deal that has added much black ink to the league's books, but even more red ink to the networks' bottom line.

With eight games on the opening weekend, there could be a Friday night opener, a triple-header on Saturday, a triple-header on Sunday, and a Monday night finale.

And with the top two teams in each conference forced to play on the opening weekend, the chances of the second round games being yawn-fests will diminish.

Rooney's thoughts in this regard should carry some juice, especially since Rooney was instrumental in establishing the current "bye" system.

The Dallas Morning News reports that former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman might be interested in coming out of retirement to play for new coach Bill Parcells.

"[I]f Bill Parcells were to come to my home and tell me how much he wanted me to play and how much I could help him and the team win ... I think it would be worth considering," Aikman said. "Don't know then that I would do it, but how could you not at least hear him out?"

We doubt that Parcells would be interested in an aging signal-caller with a history or injuries. Then again, there's been talk of Vinny T. coming to Big D. We'd take Troy over Interceptaverde any day.

A league source tells us that the next offensive coordinator of the New York Giants (whoever it might be) must be prepared to, at a minimum, surrender the final say over the plays that are called.

According to the source, head coach Jim Fassel plans to follow the same pattern established by Eagles head coach Andy Reid. Reid has an offensive coordinator, yet Reid has significant input when it comes to play calling.

It's hard to fault Fassel for the move. After he seized control of the play-calling function from former coordinator Sean Payton, the dust-and-ducks Giant offense suddenly looked like the Greatest Show on Really Bad Grass.

Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey will get a second interview with Bengals president Mike Brown on Monday at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, despite rampant reports that the job will go to Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

According to ESPN.com's P-belly, Mularkey will have to "knock the socks off" of Brown in order to grab the job from Lewis.

Frankly, we think that Mularkey would only have a chance for the Bengals' gig if he knocks the life out of Lewis. We suspect that, behind the scenes, the league has promised Brown that it won't press him to hire a General Manager and/or dump his family members out of the front office, in exchange for Brown's commitment to throw the Johnnie Cochran crowd a bone via the hiring of Marvin Lewis.

The Steelers are more likely to lose a separate member of their staff. Linebackers coach Mike Archer has been linked to the defensive coordinator position at the University of Kentucky, where Rich Brooks recently was hired as the head coach. Ironically, Archer replaced Marvin Lewis as the Steelers linebacker coach in 1996.

As the Steve Mariucci saga plays out this week in San Francisco, remember this name: Dennis Green.

49ers consultant Bill Walsh expressed dismay on Sunday regarding the fact that Green wasn't hired as the next coach of the Jaguars, which in our view is an indication that, if Mooch's run in the Bay Area ends, Green could be the next head coach of the 49ers.

Green removed him name from consideration, primarily because he was concerned about the new power structure that owner Wayne Weaver wants to put in place. Over his ten years with the Vikings, Green gradually grabbed more and more power, eventually becoming the de facto G.M.

Walsh also indicated, however, that Mariucci's position is secure. Still, the Jaguars maintain an apparently strong interest in Mooch, and it's possible that the 49ers will feign a desire to keep Mariucci, primarily to jack up the compensation that the 49ers would receive from the Jags.

After all, the Raiders were able in 2002 to unload an unhappy head coach who had one year left on his contract, and another Florida team paid a big price to get him. As a practical matter, then, the Niners can't afford to let Mooch walk for nothing -- even if ownership already has decided that they want to make a change.

Though we really don't have time to sift through the hundreds of e-mails that we get, every once in a while we get one that makes us pee in our pants.

In response to our critique of the Dick Stockton-Moose Johnston coverage of the Eagles-Falcons playoff game for Fox, several readers advised us that former NFL quarterback Warren Moon was even more miserable while covering the game on Westwood One Radio.

As the reader explained: "Instead of color commentary Moon would just repeat whatever play-by-play man Joel ['Wink Martindale'] Meyers said without going through the trouble of using different words. It was like there was a parrot in the booth. That's quite a talent roster Westwood One has assembled with Marv 'The Ass Biter' Albert and Warren 'The Wife Choker' Moon. Apparently they couldn't come to terms with O.J. Simpson."

Great message, buddy. You forgot to mention Boomer "I've Never Said Anything Relevant in My Entire Life" Esiason, but we'll still give you an A+ for that one.

Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes has walked away from his job, apparently before getting run out the door.

Of course, our loyal readers saw this coming in November, when we reported that Rhodes would be gone if the Broncos failed to make the playoffs.

Also, the story on ESPN.com from Gazoo and P-belly treats the internal criticism leveled on Rhodes for his failure to make adjustments in the Broncos' November 11 game against the Raiders as old news. It is old news -- but only for the folks who were coming to this here site that same week.

ESPN.com also reports that Rhodes could land in Seattle as Mike Holmgren's defensive coordinator. Ironically, Rhodes succeeded Holmgren as the Packers' head coach, when Holmgren fled for the Pacific Northwest after the 1998 season.

Don't be surprised to see Willie Shaw get a sniff from the Broncos. Though he too was recently pushed out of a job, Shaw knows the AFC West well, having spent time with each of the other three teams (Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders) as an assistant coach.

We rarely admit our own biases, but we'll acknowledge that we were rooting for the Steelers last night to complete their 14-point comeback against the Titans. Among other things, we had visions of a Steelers-Raiders tango in the AFC title game, which would have brought back great memories from their battles in the 1970s.

With that said, we're convinced that coach Bill Cowher was out of line in his complaints about the running-into-the-kicker penalty flag thrown on Dewayne Washington on the field goal attempt missed by Titans kicker Joe Nedney.

�I saw a kicker who had kicked the ball and [was] taking a couple of steps and Dewayne sliding on the ground and fell into him,� Cowher added.

The rule is simple, and everyone knows it. If a team attempts to block either a placekick or a punt, there must be no contact with the kicker, unless there first is contact with the ball.

We've seen that flag thrown time and time again when a zealous defender throws himself into the direction of the ball, misses the ball, and hits the kicker.

It's a risk-reward analysis that every coach needs to understand. If you send a guy and he makes the block, it's a good thing. If you send him and he only nails the kicker, it's a bad thing.

Bilbo decided to go for the block, and it didn't work out. The rules are the rules, and Cowher can only blame himself if he has a problem with the outcome of Saturday's game.

Was is just us, or did Dick Stockton and Moose Johnston provide one of the worst postseason announcing performances in NFL history?

It's not enough for these guys to be able to talk in complete sentences, to have deep, mellifluous voices, or to be able to claim that they once played in the NFL. They need to know the rules, and they need to be able to remind the audience of key aspects of those rules in the proper circumstances.

Last week's head-in-the-arse free-for-all by Collinsworth, Buck, and Aikman at the end of the Giants-49ers game arguably was bigger, but a gaffe by Stockton and Buck last night was more egregious.

In the second half, the Eagles punted to the Falcons, and the Eagles touched the ball first in an effort to keep it out of the end zone. An Atlanta player (who apparently was aware of the rule that the Falcons could touch the ball with no risk) tried to pick it up and run. He touched it, the Eagles ultimately recovered it, and Stockton and Moose were absolutely clueless -- until someone whispered five minutes later into Stockton's ear piece that the Falcons couldn't have lost possession.

These guys are getting paid good money to cover the NFL on a high-profile basis, and they need to take their position a bit more seriously. Read the rules, watch tapes of other games, remember what you see and hear, and otherwise aspire at all times to understand the rules of the game so you can do your job effectively.

We also got a chuckle when Stockton mistakenly called the Eagles the 76ers, and when he was babbling about something irrelevant as the Falcons tried an onside kick late in the first half.

We know it's not as easy as it looks -- but it ain't rocket science either, and a little bit of preparation would enable these guys to do their jobs more effectively, especially in the postseason when the audiences grow.

Kudos to Bob Ley and ESPN for it's hard-hitting "Outside the Lines" segment on matters of race in the hiring of NFL head coaches.

Hall-of-Fame tight end Kellen Winslow held his own between management shill Bill Polian (who actually came off as somewhat objective) and a wonk from the National Review, which is notoriously averse to affirmative action.

Winslow correctly noted early in the debate that the issue at this point isn't a matter of affirmative action. Instead, it's a question of whether the minority hiring guidelines that the owners adopted will be applied in good faith.

In this regard, we got a real kick out of the duplicity that was demonstrated by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in a pre-recorded sit-down with Ley.

In one breath, Tags characterized the decision of Dallas owner Jerry Jones to interview Dennis Green by phone only as compliance with a new rule requiring minority candidates to receive bona fide consideration for each job that is open. In the next breath, Tags said that, moving forward, telephone interviews won't be allowed.

Wait a second, Commish. If it's okay for Double-J to do it, why isn't it okay for anyone else to do it? And if it isn't kosher in the future, why did Jones get a pass? (We were shocked by Ley's failure not to ask these obvious follow-up questions.)

In our view, the new guidelines are mere window dressing, intended to make an inherently subjective process seem more fair. In the end, the league office never, ever will question the decision of one of the owners to hire a white head coach.

After all, if the Commissioner starts dictating policy too aggressively to the persons whom he serves, the Commissioner won't be the Commissioner much longer. (See Vincent, Fay.)

A league source tells us that Ravens director of college scouting Phil Savage could be hired as the new, untitled "personnel" man in Jacksonville, as early as Saturday.

Savage drew interest for various front-office jobs throughout the league after the Ravens won the Super Bowl two years ago. He was deep in the running for the G.M. job in Chicago in May 2001, but he withdrew his name for consideration before the protracted dog-and-pony show reached its conclusion.

The word around the league is that Savage is a bright guy. In some circles, however, there's a question as to whether Savage has sufficient experience beyond college scouting, especially in an era where more players are acquired not from the NCAA, but from other NFL teams.

Another leading candidate for the gig is Bills consultant Tom Modrak. Our moles say that Modrak might prefer the Seattle G.M. job, since Modrak could ultimately fall victim (again) in Jacksonville to an ambitious, power-hungry head coach.

In contrast, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren currently is downsizing his power base, making him less of a threat to the new G.M. Likewise, if Holmgren gets the shoe within the next year or two, Modrak will be entrenched at the time a new head coach is hired, making it easier for him to hire a guy who won't soon try to take Modrak's job.

Keep a close eye on this one -- if Ted Thompson emerges as the new G.M. in Seattle, it could mean that, despite Mike Holmgren's decision to focus on coaching only, nothing has really changed.

Why? Because Thompson is a long-time Holmgren servant, who likely would defer to the Walrus when push comes to shove.

Thompson currently is the vice president of football operations in Seattle, and he previously served as pro personnel director when Holmgren was in Green Bay.

We're catching wind of rumors that the $2.5 million insurance policy Miami Hurricanes running back Willis McGahee supposedly purchased before his knee was exploded in the Fiesta Bowl might not be valid.

There's a question as to whether McGahee's insurance broker is telling the whole story here. The potential glitches (as we hear it) are that the policy might not have been formally issued, and that McGahee might not have been official approved, from a medical standpoint, for the coverage.

In our experience with insurance companies, they love to take money in, but they hate to pay money out. If, in situations like this, they can find a plausible loophole, they'll merely refund the premium and move on.

Likewise, even if they can come up with a straight-faced argument that the proceeds shouldn't be paid, many insurance companies will try to use that as leverage, in an effort to get the policyholder to take a lower payout.

From McGahee's perspective, the insurance money only becomes relevant if he can't play in the NFL. Sure, it's $2.5 million, but he stands to earn a lot more if he can get back to his pre-injury form.

The recent hire of former Bengals D-line coach Tim Krumrie for the same position in Buffalo could be the first move in a three-step process that could bring a trio of former Bungles to Buffalo.

The Bills also are pursuing former Cincy head coach Dick LeBeau for an unspecified position on the team. With persistent rumors that defensive coordinator Jerry Gray could get the boot, there's a good chance that LeBeau would be the next coordinator.

Coincidentally, LeBeau served as defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh when Bills G.M. Tom Donahoe worked in the 'Burgh. LeBeau left to take the same position with the Bengals, back at a time when Bill Cowher was losing assistant coaches almost as quickly as he was losing players to free agency.

We hear that the Bills also are eyeballing Bengals O-line coach Paul Alexander. However, Alexander is under contract through 2003, and the Bengals apparently are not inclined to give the Bills permission to talk to him.

Though the decision to sniff around so many former Bungles could raise eyebrows in Buffalo, we think it's further proof of the widely-held belief that the problems in the Queen City have little to do with the coaching staff, and a lot to do with the bald-headed goofball who has run the franchise deep into the contaminated soil beneath the team's old practice facility.

Wethinks the Bengals are and will continue to be an embarrassment to the league, and the only folks who are happy about that are the other three teams in the AFC North.

If anyone out there doesn't think that the current acrimony between Rams coach Mike Martz and quarterback Kurt Warner traces to the ill-fated decision of Brenda "Yoko" Warner to call in to a St. Louis radio station and call Martz a liar (in so many words), here's the latest.

The Rams recently requested that Warner undergo an MRI on his shoulder, in order to confirm that he doesn't have any rotator cuff damage.

Why the MRI? In most cases, it's because the player is complaining about an injury, or that his performance suggests that something in the area might be wrong. Not this time, folks.

Possible translation -- "We wish that Yoko would clap her yap, but if she continues to run her mouth, we will take action in response to her words that will create a string of inconveniences for her husband, who obviously can't or won't advise her to stifle."

A league source tells us that Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is considering the possibility of hiring recently-former Browns D-line coach Ray "Sugar Bear" Hamilton. (For a great piece chronicling NFL nicknames of yesteryear, click here.)

Hamilton, who was poop-canned by the Brownies earlier this week, served as the defensive line coach with the Jets in 2000, when Parcells was only the G.M., and Al Groh was head coach.

Hamilton starred for the Patriots as a defensive lineman, despite entering the league as a 14th-round draft choice in 1973. He has been coaching since 1985.

His complete bio is available (for now) on the Browns' official web site. Check it soon -- we figure it will be going "buh-bye" soon.

Tampa quarterback Brad Johnson is grateful for his teammates' assistance this year.

How grateful? Our moles down south tell us that B.J. bought a flat-screen TV for every member of the offense (starters and scrubs), and a 1000-mile airline travel voucher for every starter.

Despite a late-season injury that arguably prevented the Bucs from bogarting home-field throughout the playoffs, Johnson had one of his best seasons ever, giving the Tampa offense the spark for which it has been searching since becoming a legit competitor in 1997.

A league source tells us that the Green Bay Packers hope to re-sign free defensive linemen Cletidus Hunt and Vonnie Holliday. However, they don't think they can afford both.

Holliday held out of camp briefly in protest of the team's failure to pay him like Joe Johnson, despite the fact that Vonnie hasn't done much since being a pleasant surprise as a rookie in 1998. Injuries and ineffectiveness potentially have forced Holliday to be more realistic in his assessment of his value.

One defender on whom the Pack likely will pass is nose tackle Gilbert Brown. Brown has been an on-again, off-again fixture in the Packers' lineup since helping the team win a Super Bowl title six years ago. The super-sized run-stuffer's days in the land of cheese and brats most likely has now ended, permanently.

It's old news as of Wednesday night, but we had to mention the decision of Vikings coach Mike Tice to fire defensive coordinator Willie Shaw, giving the job to Tice's high school coach, George O'Leary.

Though we've taken somewhat of a kinder, gentler approach to the fact that no one ever gives us any credit for nailing an occasional scoop, our loyal readers might recall that we sounded the alarm on this potential move in stories posted on October 21 and 24, 2002.

Shaw drew heavy criticism for his decision to dump veteran defensive backs like Kenny Wright and Robert Tate, relying instead on unproven youngsters who were torched for much of the season.

There also had been whispers that Shaw and Tice were a bit too ambitious in their efforts to position themselves for continued employment as Dennis Green's days in Minnesota became numbered. If so, perhaps Tice regarded Shaw as a potential threat.

A league source tells us that Raiders exec Mike Lombardi currently is a strong behind-the-scenes candidate for the vacant G.M. job in Seattle.

In title, Lombardi currently splits the player personnel function in Oakland with Chet Franklin. In practice, however, Lombardi and Bruce Allen, senior assistant to Al Davis, call the shots, according to our Bay Area moles.

The 'Hawks are searching for a new G.M., given the decision (as if he had a choice) of coach Mike Holmgren to abandon the personnel acquisition function, at which he has generally stunk in four years with the team.

A league source tells us that Falcons personnel guru Ron Hill is showing interest in the new, vacant personnel gig in Jacksonville. According to the source, however, Hill is hoping to catch the eye of Jags owner Wayne Weaver in order to gain some leverage for the Falcons G.M. role that Hill long has coveted.

In fairness to Hill, his work with Dan Reeves has built a quality roster. As a result, CEO Ray Anderson (the former agent hired by owner Arthur Blank) likely won't get a chance to hire one of his former clients (e.g., Denny Green) to take over the football operation. Instead, Reeves and Hill most likely will stay.

So Hill apparently is hoping to parlay his team's good fortune into the G.M. position that has been vacant ever since Dan Reeves gave up the de facto powers over personnel.

The word coming from those close to the candidates for the vacant coaching gig in Cincinnati tell us that team president Mike Brown is making no bones about his intention to keep Duke Tobin and Jim Lippincott as the primary personnel men.

Some league insiders lovingly refer to Tobin and Lippincott as the "Knucklehead Twins."

Folks around the league are scratching their heads on Brown's decision to keep these guys.

League insiders believe that the decision of Lions CEO Matt Millen to jettison personnel exec Bill Tobin prior to the final game of the season was a mean-spirited act, intended only to show spite and disrespect for Tobin.

Millen easily could've waited to pull the trigger on Tobin until after the final game, and some folks within the league think Millen gained nothing by moving prematurely on Tobin.

Regardless of timing, the thinking is that Millen moved on Tobin in order to save his own butt. After all, it creates the appearance that Millen is doing something, besides eating donuts and talking way too much.

Then again, perhaps Millen wanted to dump Tobin before the Ford's connected the dots as to the future of the franchise. After all, it was Tobin who lobbied the team to draft Joey Harrington in the three hole last year. Millen wanted to take Quentin Jammer.

Really, would Millen have survived if Harrington hadn't become one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2003 season?

League insiders privately are wondering whether Cowboys coach Bill Parcells has "lost his f--king mind" in hiring Maurice Carthon as Parcells' new offensive coordinator.

One league source remarked (with heavy sarcasm) that Carthon "did one hell of a job" running the Lions' offense this year.

Folks in the know realize that the Cowboys have even less offensive talent than the 'Boys, which will make it even harder for Carthon to succeed in Big D.

Really, if Carthon was regarded highly by the Lions, why would they have allowed him to be interviewed by Parcells -- for a lateral move?

The last time this happened, Saints owner Tom Benson allowed G.M. Randy Mueller to interview for the still-vacant G.M. gig in Atlanta. At the time, the Great Gazoo called the move a testament to the strong relationship between Benson and Mueller.

We suspect that Carthon would've suffered the same fate, eventually, in Detroit.

A league source tells us that the Pittsburgh Steelers are happy to be playing the Titans this week in the AFC divisional playoffs because, quite simply, the Steelers don't think they can beat the Oakland Raiders.

After getting torched by Browns backup "Not Jim" Kelly Holcombe on Sunday, and with memories of a Week Two butt-kicking at the hands of Rich Gannon and company, the Steelers don't believe that their Black-and-Gold toaster pastries in the secondary could slow down an Oakland aerial assault that catapulted Gannon to an improbable MVP award 16 years after entering the league -- and with one full year of not playing at all, in 1994.

The Steelers strongly prefer the match up they'll face in Tennessee, and they'll likewise hope the Jets can knock off the Raiders.

Of course, the Steelers then would be required to face Chad Pennington and a souped-up Jets offense. Ironically, many Western Pennsylvanians still think that the Steelers should have selected Chad Pennington over Plaxico Burress in the first round of the 2000 draft.

Speaking of the draft, look for the Steelers to take a corner and a safety early this year. One league source very familiar with the team tells us that cornerback Hank Poteat "just plain sucks," and we suspect that he's the first one to go when the Steelers beef up this suddenly pathetic area of their roster.

Though the Steelers won't have to face Oakland this weekend, they're still hobbled in the defensive backfield. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that safety Mike Logan is done for the season, after being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. Erik Totten was signed off of the practice squad to take his place.

Despite the NFL's admissions that the Giants should've had another chance to blow the 40-yard field goal attempt that, if made, would've rocketed the team to Tampa for the divisional playoffs, the whole episode should have been avoided.

Why? Because punter/holder Matt Allen should have taken a knee and an immediate time out after the kick was aborted due to an horrendous snap.

"What he is supposed to do on a bad snap on first, second or third down with a timeout is to grab the ball, take a knee and call time out," coach Jim Fassel said on Monday, according to the New York Times. "That has been coached all year long. I have said it to him a dozen times. Bruce has, and it is a part of the checks and reminders and things you go through."

A day later, Allen still didn't remember his instructions. He said the first option was to get the ball down for the kick, and the second option "was to run and hopefully I could find an open receiver."

Allen also said that, before he went onto the field for Sunday's last-second field-goal attempt, no contingency plans were discussed on the sideline.

Allen bristled at the notion that his brain fart kept the team from winning. "If you guys want to pin that on me, I don't think that's fair," he said, responding to reporters. "I think it's fair to say we should have got the snap down, and maybe we should have held them a little bit better in the second half."

According to the Florida Times-Union, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver has narrowed his search to 3-4 names for the new "personnel" job and 3-4 names for the vacant head-coaching position.

Tom Coughlin previously held both roles, and Dennis Green's desire to wield the same power has removed him from consideration. "I'm not going to give anybody total control," Weaver said. "If he said that's what he wants and wouldn't accept anything less, that would rule him out."

Weaver also indicated that former Saints G.M. Randy Mueller is not likely to be hired. Surprisingly, Weaver said that Mueller has not been interviewed, despite published reports to the contrary.

Though Weaver would've name his short list of candidates, the Times-Union reports that Weaver is calling folks around the league regarding Bills consultant Tom Modrak, who interviewed for the personnel job recently.

Weaver also said that it's not a foregone conclusion he'll fill the personnel job before hiring a coach, since Weaver (not the personnel dude) will choose the coach.

Did anyone really believe that Packers quarterback Brett Favre was going to walk away from the NFL after presiding over the first home loss in Green Bay playoff history?

Sure, ESPN's Chris Mortenson tried to grab some attention with another one of his patented non-stories ("Favre will retire unless he doesn't"), but was the image of Favre shrugging his shoulders and slinking away from the stage after getting humbled by the Atlanta Falcons consistent with the image that Favre has created over the last decade?

In our opinion, Favre will keep coming back until his body betrays him, or until he wins another Super Bowl. At only 33, Brett's still got a few good years left in him.

Sehorn signed a six-year, $36 million contract after the 2000 season, which included a $10 million bonus. He is due to receive salary and bonus payments this year in the amount of $5.3 million.

Sehorn has fallen out of the starting lineup at the corner position, and he apparently won't be moved to safety -- absent a grossly reduced salary.

The Cold War between 49ers receiver Terrell Owens and head coach Steve Mariucci apparently is over.

"We've had our differences," Owens said on Monday, "and you can tell by the performance on the field that we've put it behind us. He's done a great job. We've let the coaches coach and the players play. We don't try to interfere with what they're doing. We're in the playoffs, and what more can you ask from a guy? That's all he asked of us -- having a winning season and getting in the postseason. And once you get in the postseason, anything can happen."

It's amazing what the second greatest comeback in playoff history can do for the most strained player-coach relationship since Jeff George and June Jones.

Owens words could be just what Mooch needed, not only to keep the postseason train rolling, but also to get his contract extended. Mariucci is entering his lame-duck season in 2003, and there are rumblings that, absent a strong showing in the playoffs, he won't be back.

Other media outlets are reporting that there are "indications" that Mike Martz already has fired at least two assistant coaches.

Mainord, 58, joined the Rams in 2002 after two seasons in that same role with the Panthers. He spent 1993 through 1998 with the Bears, and 1999 with the Saints. Prior to coming to the NFL, he served as a college coach for 25 years.

We don't know who the other fired assistant is, but we have a hunch that it's special teams coach Bobby April, despite Martz's prior proclamations that April is safe. During the season, no head coach worth his headset is going to do or say anything to disrupt the ability to win games. After the last game, everything changes.

A league source tells us that some players in Pittsburgh are worried about facing former teammate Earl Holmes in the playoffs, who left the Steelers for the Browns after the 2001 season.

According to the source, players think that Holmes remains upset about the team's decision to make him the only defensive starter from last year's 13-3 team not to return. Also, there are lingering whispers in the 'Burgh that Holmes' replacement, James Farrior, is a major step backward -- and the players hopes that Holmes won't use Sunday's playoff contest in Pittsburgh as an opportunity to prove that point.

Despite a reputation in some circles that Steelers offensive coordinator is a low-key players' coach, a league source tells us that players in Pittsburgh have dubbed him "Little Bill," a reference to the temper tantrums in which head coach Bill Cowher often engages.

According to the source, the general consensus in Pittsburgh is that Mularkey will be a good head coach.

As we reported on Friday, Mularkey wants the job. He'll be interviewed on Saturday in Pittsburgh, pursuant to a new rule that gives still-active assistant coaches one chance during the postseason to talk about a head-coaching gig.

But with reports of an eight-hour interview between Bengals brass and Tom Coughlin and mounting pressure to give minority candidates like Marvin Lewis serious consideration, Mularkey could be third on the list. With only one other opening remaining, it's likely that Mularkey (if passed over by the Bungles) won't get his shot in 2003.

In what he describes as an effort to improve the relationship between Rams head coach and former MVP quarterback, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shines the harsh glare of attention upon the fractures in the once-symbiotic pairing or up-and-coming player and up-and-coming coach.

Miklasz says that coach Mike Martz was hurt when Kurt Warner failed to apologize for his wife Yoko's on-air radio rant, in which she essentially accused Martz of being a big, fat liar. The coach and the QB still have different versions of the event surrounding the delayed decision to order X-rays of Warner's busted hand.

Also, Martz admitted (despite prior staunch denials) that Warner hasn't been the same when throwing the deep ball since suffering a jammed thumb in the 2001 season opener at Philadelphia.

Warner, in turn, says that he believes he has lost Martz's support, and that he'd prefer to start elsewhere than to be the backup in St. Louis. With Martz planning to throw the job up for grabs next year, Warner's power-play might no be appreciated by the head coach.

Miklasz openly pleads for the pair to sit down and work things out, but we think he's being a tad naive. The media often only catches bits and pieces of what's really happening behind the scenes, and we're convinced (especially after seeing Monday night's interview of Warner on ABC) that Warner believes too strongly that he has an entitlement to the starting job in St. Louis. We also believe that this relationship can't be fixed -- and that it's time for Warner to move on.

MULARKEY HORNY FOR THE BUNGLES

A league source tells us that, if offered the head coaching job in Cincinnati, Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey will take it.

Beyond Mularkey, it's not clear whether any of the other candidates genuinely are interested. According to a separate league source, the Bengals plan to interview many for the job, since they believe that many of them will not accept an offer to coach there, if the structure of the front office is not changed.

Redskins defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis interviewed earlier this week. Former Jacksonville head coach and de facto G.M. Tom Coughlin is set to interview on Friday.

PITTSBURGH HOPES TO STEAL 3RD-ROUNDER

If/when the Steelers decide to attempt to trade former starting quarterback Kordell Stewart, they'll be looking to receive at least a third round draft pick in exchange for the veteran signal-caller.

Since Stewart is entering the final year of his contract, there will be no extra cap hit for trading or releasing him, beyond the portion of the initial signing bonus that will be charged this year, even if he stays. Of course, by releasing or trading him, they save cap room by not having to pay him what is scheduled to be a high salary for 2003.

They'd like to get more for Stewart, but they realize that his erratic play reduces his value. Indeed, they recognize that, in the end, they might have to settle for something as low as a fourth-round pick.

MUELLER LOOKS TO FLORIDA

A league source tells us that Randy Mueller will accept an offer to become the first true G.M. in the Jacksonville franchise, if such a job is offered to him.

According to the source, Mueller believes that he'll have much greater authority in Jacksonville than in Seattle, where Mike Holmgren recently relinquished full power over the football operations.

With the Jaguars, Mueller will be a key player in the search for a new coach, and the new coach necessarily will be indebted to Mueller for giving him the job, making it less likely that the coach will try in the short term to usurp greater authority.

Profootballtalk.com has learned that the new hire of the Dallas Cowboys, Bill "Don't Tell Me I Have A Body Like Babe Ruth" Parcells, might actually have the ability to hire present Carolina offensive coordinator Dan Henning (a long time Parcells confidant and coach) as the 'Boys offensive guy, since Carolina Coach John Fox wants to hire soon-to-be-let go Giants offensive (depending on the way you interpret that word) coordinator Sean Payton, who worked with Fox while both were with the Giants. Stay tuned as we get more info on this story and more hires for Tuna Man's staff.

Thanks to our good buddy Chad at Packerdraft.com, we now have the ability to provide you the loyal reader the initial list of the Indy Scouting Combine invites for this upcoming February. Like our man Chad, we chuckle at the thought that the Big Boys and some of the supposed "best read" Draft sites don't have this list -- not until they copy it off Packerdraft.com, that is. Click here for the link to the initial list of the 2003 Combine Invitees.

If/when Bill Parcells becomes the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys, a league source tells us that he will aggressively pursue Jake Plummer as the team's next starting quarterback.

Plummer arguably is the crown jewel of a weak free-agent crop of quarterbacks, if Kurt Warner doesn't become available (and if Kurt is healthy).

Plummer earned a big contract from the Cardinals in only his second year, and the future looked bright for the franchise in 1998, when the Cards made the playoffs -- and won a postseason game (against the Cowboys) for the first time in decades.

The team all fell apart over the following two seasons, however, with injuries and free agency decimating a potentially suffocating defense, and with the front office unable to put enough weapons around Plummer on offense.

Plummer's contract expired at the end of the 2002, and the Cards have shown no interest in bringing him back.

Reports are mounting that an announcement of Parcells' hiring by the Cowboys is imminent. The Dallas Morning News reports this morning that Parcells' close friend, journalist Will McDonough, has confirmed that the marriage will occur.

"He loves the idea of coaching the Dallas Cowboys" McDonough said. "He thinks that if you're in sports and you get the opportunity to manage the Yankees or coach the Cowboys or coach the Celtics or manage the Dodgers, then you have to take it."

Still, we're hearing that the formal announcement won't be made until sometime next week, which will give both sides enough time to nail down the remaining details of the deal, and which will give the Cowboys time to deal with the Buccaneers' claim that it holds the Tuna's rights, which claim will be heard on Thursday.

While the boys at ESPN.com continue to minimize this potential fly in the proverbial ointment, we doubt that the Bucs would be spending time and effort on the issue if they didn't think they have a valid claim. Sure, Parcells apparently won't be required to attend Thursday's hearing. Regardless, if Parcells signed a four-year contract to coach the Bucs, he doesn't need to be there. The only question is whether the league will agree that Parcells was under contract when he walked away, and whether the Bucs failure to file the contract with the league office rendered it null and void. The New York Times breaks the issue down thoroughly in its New Year's Day edition.

The other wrinkle that ESPN claims is irrelevant is the failure of owner Jerry Jones to engage in good-faith compliance with the NFL's new minority hiring guidelines, which requires each team with an opening to engage in a bona fide effort to interview minority candidates. Jones merely interviewed former Vikings coach Dennis Green by phone prior to firing Dave Campo, which might not mesh with the spirit or the intent of the rules.

As lawyer Cyrus Mehri said in Tuesday's USA Today, "Simply talking to a minority candidate in a phone interview is not comparable to a several-hour, face-to-face meeting between candidate and owners."

If the league pulls a "wink-nod" routine on this one in order to allow Jerry Jones an opportunity to resurrect his moribund franchise (and, in turn, to pump up the overall TV ratings, which could lay the foundation for big coin in the next round of negotiations with the networks), we hope that Johnnie Cochran and company will continue to pursue the sham that apparently was perpetrated -- and that Dennis Green will offer full and complete details regarding the circumstances and content of his "interview" with Jones.

Frankly, we believe that the new minority hiring guidelines are merely window dressing, and that the NFL has no real intention to tie the hands of its owners -- especially the owners of its most successful and important franchises. We thinks that a quote from Steelers president Dan Rooney in Wednesday's Florida Times-Union confirms this notion -- and it suggests that the cadre of grumpy old (white) men who run the league will eventually take a page from Trent Lott, Al Campanis, or Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, if forced to talk long enough about matters of race:

Okay, Dan. Given that there are only two black head coaches despite dozens of vacancies over the last few years, are you saying that the blue bloods who have managed to acquire sufficient wealth to buy an NFL team still don't think that African-American coaches can win?

Implicit in Rooney's quote is the admission that a "minority" of owners are not "more than willing" to hire minority candidates, even if these owners think that the minority candidates will win. If this is true, then the NFL has a very real problem.

Also implicit in Rooney's comments is a recognition that the league will continue to defer to an inherently subjective decision-making process, which permits subtle biases to enable white owners (and the white general managers who serve them) to develop a "gut feeling" about the ability of certain candidates to be successful, without realizing that this gut feeling is fueled in part by the fact that the candidate looks like the guys who are making the decision as to whether he should be the coach.

In our opinion, the problem will be solved only if the league comes up with objective standards for screening coaches -- and if the league is willing to force its owners to comply with these standards. Alas, we think that neither will ever happen.

Although the Bengals currently are focusing only on Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and Washington defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis as the initial candidates for the vacant head-coaching position, one name lurking in the wings is Tom Coughlin.

According to a league source, however, the hiring of Coughlin by the Bengals would trigger a revolt among the players who will return in 2003.

Coughlin is widely known as a disciplinarian, which is a stark contrast from the style of recently-fired coach Dick LeBeau.

Still, we like the idea of a coach going into the Queen City and shaking things up, even if it means a resort to some of Coughlin's ultra-strict (i.e., goofy) rules, like no crossed legs during meetings.

The growing sentiment that the Bengals need to improve their player acquisition function (via the hiring of a G.M. and wholesale changes in the front office) is a roundabout way of saying that the guys who are there are turds, and that they either need to go -- or they need someone to make them into something other than turds.