POSTED 11:25 p.m. EST; UPDATED 11:34 p.m. EST, February 25, 2006

 

CBA "IS GONNA GET DONE"

 

A league source tells us that an extension to the Collective Bargaining Agreement "is gonna get done" in the near future, and that the start of free agency will be delayed by "a week or so" so that this year's class of free agents will hit the market under the terms of the new labor deal.

 

As it currently stands, free agency is set to begin on Friday, March 3.  Because 2006 is the last capped year under the existing CBA, various provisions of the contract between the NFL and the player's union would make it much harder for teams to navigate the salary cap in signing new players.

 

There has been plenty of gloom-and-doom rhetoric of late from NFL executive director Gene Upshaw regarding the status of the talks, even though we've continued to hear that progress was being made.  An industry source (who apparently was right on the money) told us on Friday that, in his opinion, Upshaw and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue have been working together to put pressure on the owners to resolve their differences regarding the proposed expansion of local revenues that are not currently shared.

 

The NFLPA has insisted on the inclusion of such monies in the funding of the league-wide salary cap.  But if the local revenues aren't shared, the salary cap for the low-earning teams would be artificially inflated by the local income of the big-money teams.

 

Though no specifics as to the terms of the coming CBA and possibly expanded revenue sharing are available, it's looking stronger than ever than something will happen soon.

 

VINCE'S PICK-SIX IS CONFIRMED

 

We've confirmed that Texas quarterback Vince Young has indeed scored a measly six on the Wonderlic test, administered annually to the potential members of the draft class at the scouting combine.  

 

Said one league insider, "It's also the number of the round he'll be drafted in."

 

There's a significant buzz in Indy regarding the ridiculously low marks.  Though we're not quite sure that there's much of a correlation between book smarts and football ability, we've got a feeling that, of all positions, quarterback is the one that requires at least some basic cognitive ability.

 

Unless, of course, the offense consists of making one read and then pulling the ball down and running -- which is the very approach the team that drafts Young might have to employ.

 

Though the suggestion that Young will last until round six is an exaggeration, the thinking is that he lost millions of dollars via his poor performance on the test, and that it's now a virtual certainty that Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler will pass him in round one.

 

POSTED 3:47 p.m. EST, February 25, 2006

 

VINCE IS STOOPID?

 

A league source tells us that there's a rumor making the rounds at the combine that Texas quarterback Vince Young scored a miserably horrible six on the Wonderlic test.

 

A six!  That's bad.  It's beyond bad.  In fact, it's the lowest score that we can ever remember hearing anyone getting.

 

All incoming NFL players take a 50-question version of the Wonderlic, with a 12-minute window within which to finish it.

 

We found 15 sample Wonderlic questions on ESPN.com's page 2, including such brain-benders as selecting the ninth month of the year from among five possible choices.  We'd like to think that most people of average intelligence could get at least six of the 15 sample questions right. 

 

Getting a total of only six out of a total of 50 questions of that same kind is pa-freakin'-thetic.  For a guy who's going to be called upon to read defenses and call audibles and work through a progression of receivers against NFL-caliber opposition, it's downright scary.

 

The source tells us that he hasn't seen the result in writing yet, but that he's "99 percent" certain that Young's score was six.

 

Said the source, who knows a thing or two about evaluating college players:

 

"I predict he'll fall all the way out of the first round."

 

That's a bold statement, and we're not saying that we agree with it -- primarily because our guess is that there's someone almost dumb enough to get a six on the Wonderlic, who'll overlook Young's low score along with any other concerns that might come to light over the next two months. 

 

POSTED 2:22 p.m. EST, February 25, 2006

 

JAVON STILL WANTS HIS RAISE

 

Not yet six months removed from a torn ACL, Packers receiver Javon Walker still wants more money.

 

Walker has one year left on his rookie contract, and he's due to earn $650,000 in 2006. 

 

"Obviously, I think the salary is a disservice to him," agent Kennard McGuire said.

 

Last year, Walker's former agent, Drew Rosenhaus tried to parlay a breakout 2004 season by Walker into a big-money deal.  There was talk that he wanted Randy Moss money, and there were whispers of a holdout.

 

As it turned out, Walker didn't stay away from training camp, primarily because (as we understand it) he realized that a holdout would likely require him to pay back a chunk of his bonus money.

 

The team's concern in 2005 was that they wanted to see Walker duplicate his 2004 effort.  Instead, he suffered a season-ending injury in Week One.

 

So it's unlikely that the team will be interested in paying him huge money until Walker can perform at a high level.

 

And although Bob McGinn and Tom Silverstein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel suggest that "[i]f a new collective bargaining agreement can’t be reached, Walker might benefit from no-holds-barred free agency in the uncapped year of 2007." 

 

Wrong. 

 

One of the biggest misconceptions among players (and, apparently, the media) is that the same old rules will apply during free agency in the uncapped year.  But that's not the case.  Among other things, players will only be eligible for unrestricted free agency if they have completed SIX years of service, not the usual four.

 

Because 2006 will be only Walker's fifth year, he won't be an unrestricted free agent.  Instead, the restricted free agency rules will apply, and the Packers will be able to limit his movement in 2007 by slapping on him one of the three levels of RFA tenders.

 

We're putting together a full list of all of the differences that will apply in the uncapped year.  Suffice it to say for now that it won't be the bonanza that many presume it will be.   

 

POSTED 1:35 p.m. EST; UPDATED 1:49 p.m. EST, February 25, 2006

 

RUNNING BACKS HIT THE TURF

 

The scouting combine is starting to get interesting, as the running backs have taken to the RCA Dome FieldTurf to show how fast they can cover 40 yards.

 

It's a skill they'll rarely use in the NFL -- running backs almost never move in a straight line, and if they ever have to sprint for 40 yards, it means that either something really good has happened . . . or something really bad.

 

The biggest name to run so far is UCLA tailback Maurice Drew.  He turned in an unofficial 4.45 and 4.41 in the 40 while wearing tight white pants that showed off a pair of massive thighs (and other parts we'd rather not be able to kinda-sorta see).

 

LSU runninback Joseph Addai has posted the fastest time of the day, with a 4.37.

 

POSTED 11:30 a.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 1:28 p.m. EST, February 25, 2006

 

PATS DUMP STARKS

 

Nearly a year after sending a third-round pick to Arizona for cornerback Duane Starks, a league source tells us that the New England Patriots have cut Starks free.

 

The Pats also got a fifth-round pick from Arizona in the March 2005 transaction.

 

Starks played in seven games for the Pats last year, starting in six.  He was placed on injured reserve on November 10.

 

By making the move, the Pats will avoid paying Starks $3.6 million in 2006 salary.  It appears that his salary was reduced to the minimum of $540,000 in 2005, which implies that the team converted a significant portion of his 2005 pay to a signing bonus.  Our educated guess is that the number was $3.06 million, which would translate to $1.53 million in dead money on the books for the Pats in 2006.  But since 2006 was the final year of Starks' deal, there will be no extra cap hit, enabling the team to clear a full $3.6 million off of the books before free agency opens. 

 

GIANTS GANG UP ON GREEN

 

Mike Garafalo of The Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Giants soon will cut linebacker Barrett Green.  We're now hearing that the move has indeed occurred.

 

Green signed in 2004 a five-year, $13.25 million contract, which included a $2.75 million signing bonus.  He spent the first four years of his career with the Lions.

 

He'll count $1.65 million against the cap in 2006, but the Giants will avoid his salary of $2.475 million.  The net cap savings is $1.375 million.

 

Green's played in ten games with the Giants in 2004, and only one in 2005.  His tenure was plagued by a knee injury, and he also got on the wrong side of coach Tom Coughlin in his first season by arriving late to meetings.

 

CHILDRESS TRIES TO CHILL TRADE TALK

 

Vikings coach Brad Childress tried on Friday to take some of the steam out of rumors and reports that the Vikings have been trying to strike a trade for quarterback Daunte Culpepper. 

 

It's hard to say whether he was successful, especially since Childress contradicted a recent statement made by Culpepper himself regarding the absence of any trade talks.

CUTLER SHOWS OFF HIS PECS

We're keeping an eye on the combine coverage on the NFL Network, and we just heard that Vandy quarterback Jay Cutler cranked out 23 reps on the 225-pound bench press. 

Impressive, especially since quarterbacks typically don't lift in pre-draft drills, and since he managed more reps than some of the offensive linemen.

Meanwhile, Matt Leinart was interviewed by the NFL Network on Friday, and he talked about a recent illness that caused him to "throw up everywhere."

Hey, Saints -- we think you should get your round one draft card pre-printed and laminated with Cutler's name on it.

CLARY THE FASTEST O-LINEMAN, SO FAR

The running began on Saturday at the combine, with offensive linemen and running backs showing how fast they can cover 40 yards.

The fastest guy in the first group of offensive linemen was Jeromey Clary of Kansas State.  Clary, who's 6'7" and weighs 300 pounds, registered a 4.88 on the new FieldTurf in Indy.

So far, he's the only offensive lineman to crack five seconds.

VIKINGS FANS, WE'RE HERE FOR YOU

At a time when the new Triangle of Authority in Minnesota is making it harder and harder for the traditional media outlets to get access to information regarding the Vikings, we've got a ton of respect for The St. Paul Pioneer Press and its decision to point the paper's readership in the direction of other sources for Vikings-related information.

Especially because The Pioneer Press pointed the readers to, well, us.

"Editor Mike Florio and his staff are staying on top of the [Daunte] Culpepper story," writes Gary Derong, "with the help of links to the Pioneer Press and other sources, and drawing conclusions that aren't flattering to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf."

Actually, yours truly doesn't have a "staff" (at least not one of that kind).  But we nevertheless appreciate the willingness of a publication in an industry that generally resents and/or ignores Internet sites and blogs to fulfill its mission of fully informing its readers.

And that's not meant to be a slam against the primary competition to The Pioneer Press.  In fact, it was a mention of this here site by The Minneapolis Star Tribune in the February 16 regarding the initial Culpepper trade rumors that triggered one of our biggest days ever.

SATURDAY ONE-LINERS

The Packers won't rule out drafting a quarterback with the fifth overall spot in the draft.

Dolphins coach Nick Saban isn't happy with whoever leaked confidential information regarding the Ricky Williams failed drug test (Marvin Lewis is offering his P.I. services to help Saban catch the perp).

Cowboys LB Dat Nguyen has retired after seven NFL seasons.

Jeremy Bloom will run for scouts on April 1 in L.A., a day before the USC Pro Day (Bloom also will run on Sunday at the combine).

The 49ers won a coin toss with the Raiders for the sixth pick in the 2006 draft; the Raiders will pick seventh.

The Soup Nazi didn't react well to a suggestion by QB Eli Manning that he'll spend a week working out in the offseason in Miami with TE Jeremy Shockey and WR Plaxico Burress; "I think we'll get more done if those players come to our place," the coach said.  "Maybe we should turn it around and ask those guys to come up here for a week."

Raiders owner Al Davis has yet to make the trek to Indy this year.

The Bucs are expected to put the high tender on QB Chris Simms, a restricted free agent, which would result in a first-round and a third-round pick as compensation

POSTED 10:42 a.m. EST; UPDATED 11:15 a.m. EST, February 25, 2006

NFLPA STILL CHASING DUNN

 

Richard Berthelsen, general counsel of the NFL Players Association, tells us that the organization is still attempting to impose a two-year suspension on agent David Dunn.

 

Specifically, Berthelsen says that there's a hearing on Monday regarding the question of whether the NFLPA may proceed with the suspension notwithstanding Dunn's still-pending bankruptcy proceedings.

 

The issue first arose in the wake of the trial of a civil lawsuit brought by Leigh Steinberg against Dunn, who allegedly pilfered clients when he left Steinberg several years back.

 

Based on the testimony at the trial, the NFLPA decided to impose a two-year suspension on Dunn.  Before the suspension could be finalized, Dunn filed for bankruptcy due to on the $44.6 million verdict issued against him in the Steinberg trial.

 

Under the law, a bankruptcy filing automatically stays all litigation pending against the person who files.  The bankruptcy court found that the stay applied to the efforts to suspend Dunn.

 

Roughly three full years later, the NFLPA will argue on Monday that the labor laws preempt the bankruptcy laws, and that the suspension should be imposed despite the lingering bankruptcy.

 

If the union prevails, then the question of whether Dunn will be suspended will be subject to arbitration, pursuant to the NFLPA rules applicable to agents.  Dunn is expected to argue at the eventual arbitration that, because the verdict against him was eventually overturned on appeal, the basis for suspending him should evaporate. 

 

We're not so sure we agree with that, since it's our understanding that the NFLPA didn't take action based on the result of the trial in the Steinberg case.  Instead, the suspension resulted from testimony at the trial prompting the NFLPA to conclude that Dunn had violated one or more rules regarding agent conduct.

 

SABAN SUMS UP REASONS FOR SECRECY

 

This is the time of year when smart NFL types are most inclined to clam up.  With free agency on the immediate horizon and the draft not long behind it, anything that one team says or does can possibly yield clues as to what the team plans to do, or what it wants to do.

 

Often, teams deliberately put out misinformation in order to aid their overall objectives.

 

Technically, it's lying.  But so is a play-action pass or a zone blitz.  Football success is premised on deception, both on the field and off of it.

 

In his Friday remarks at the combine, Dolphins coach Nick Saban tried to explain why he won't be saying much at all regarding the team's plans as the offseason heats up.

 

"Maybe the example that I could give to you would be if we told the media that we were going to run a trick play that we had the ball in the fourth quarter," Saban said.  "That would be great information.  It would be great information for you and for the team we're playing.  If we tell you what free agents we're interested in or what the situation is on some of the players on our team before we made those decisions, we do nothing but create problems that aren't timely for us in terms of our ability to be competitive."

 

The problem is that the guys who cover football for a living need to get information, so if the team isn't talking openly, then the media types have to get the information somewhere else.  In Minnesota, for example, the print and broadcast journalists currently are facing a rough transition from the free-talking Meathead to the tight-lipped (Bermuda) Triangle of Authority.

 

And as the media gets hungrier for information, it becomes even easier to put out misinformation.  For folks of principle, the challenge in an industry where lying is a fact of life is to know when it's time to tell the truth.

 

That's why the best approach is to say as little as possible.  Sure, the media doesn't like it one bit.  But it's the best way to preserve competitive advantage without succumbing to the temptation to tell tall tales.