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POSTED 9:39 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

MANAGEMENT TYPES SAYING UNION "KICKED OUR ASS"

We've heard from several front-office types around the league who believe that the NFL Players Association "kicked our ass" in conjunction with the new CBA.

"The union ate the league's lunch -- big time," said one league source.

"The owners were so focused on their pockets and infighting, they never talked about the CBA," added the source. The thinking is that Commissioner Paul Tagliabue just wanted to get the CBA done, so that he could ride into the sunset as a hero.

And some see trouble in 2008, if/when either the league or the union invoke in November of that year their right to terminate the new CBA two years early. By then, there will be a new Commissioner and possibly a new NFLPA executive director. The new duo won't have the working relationship that Tagliabue and Upshaw enjoyed, and the new Commish (whoever it might be) will feel compelled to score a slam dunk once the NFL owners realize how skewed the new deal is in the union's favor.

From a dollars-and-cents standpoint, the new CBA pumps more than $600 million into the players' pockets in 2006 and 2007 than the old deal would have paid. Indeed, some owners were wondering last week whether the league shouldn't just ride it out under the prior CBA, pocket the extra $600 million, and take their chances with the union in 2008.

Beyond the money, most of the revisions seem to favor the union. As one source said, "The NFLPA folks are laughing their asses off as the new rules are revealed."

So the new CBA is, in reality, nothing more than a short-term Band Aid that solved the revenue sharing conundrum -- but that set up what could be an ugly fight in a few years between labor and management.

It's a "recipe for disaster," we've been told, since it won't be Tagliabue and Upshaw won't be the ones working out the terms the next time around.

SUNDAY NIGHT ONE-LINERS

QB Drew Brees left New Orleans without a contract, and is visiting the Dolphins.

Titans C Justin Hartwig signed a five-year, $17 million deal with the Panthers.

The Redskins added TE Christian Fauria.

The Bills are bragging that they got their first three free agent visitors signed (maybe they were told that Marv Levy wouldn't quit talking until they accepted).

The Texans inked Bengals WR Kevin Walter, a restricted free agent, to an offer sheet that averages $1.5 million a year, with $2.5 million to sign.

The Cowboys signed G Kyle Kosier to a five-year, $15 million deal with a $5 million signing bonus.

The Saints are interested in TE Dan Campbell.

The Fins have signed LB Sedrick Hodge and CB Andre' Goodman.

PewterReport.com reports that Jags OT Mike Pearson is visiting with the Bucs on Monday.

PewterReport.com also reports that the Bucs could be making an offer to Pats OT Tom Ashworth.

Saints DE Darren Howard is in Philly, and he currently has no other visits scheduled.

Packers G.M. Ted Thompson nicely tells WR Javon Walker tough titty.

POSTED 6:20 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

MANY TOP FREE AGENTS OVERPRICED THEMSELVES

One of the biggest stories of the early stages of free agency isn't any of the guys who signed, but those who didn't.

Looking at ESPN.com's free agency rankings, several key players aren't even getting a sniff yet.

Linebacker Julian Peterson, tied with Edgerrin James as the highest rated free agent, hasn't had his name mentioned this weekend.

Ditto for running back Jamal Lewis, cornerback Ty Law, kicker Mike Vanderjagt, tackle Jon Runyan, and cornerback Charles Woodson.

So what's the problem? The thinking is that the agents for these players floated numbers that were simply too high during the "tampering" phase of free agency, when teams were calling around to find out who could be signed in the first days of the process.

Coincidentally, three of these guys -- Peterson, Law, and Woodson -- are represented by the Postons, who are well known for making moon shots on the open market.

As a result, guys who wanted too much money before the market opened will miss out on the big money that always flows in the first several days. They'll eventually sign, but not for nearly as much as they could have gotten if they'd been ready to eat at the trough at a time when teams routinely put too much food in it.

POSTED 4:24 p.m. EST; UPDATED 4:28 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

HUTCHINSON '06 CAP NUMBER EXCEEDS $13 MILLION

In an effort to land guard Steve Hutchinson, the Vikings have gotten his agreement on an offer sheet with a 2006 cap number in excess of $13 million.

That's more than one third of the team's available cap space in the 2006 offseason, and more than twelve percent of the team's total cap room for the current year.

The offer is aimed at getting the Seahawks not to exercise their right to match. They now have seven days to make a decision.

RANDLE EL A REDSKIN

Michael Smith of ESPN.com reports that the Washington Redskins have landed receiver Antwaan Randle El.

Though the terms aren't known, Randle El rejected a six-year, $18 million offer from the Bears, which included an $8 million signing bonus.

Randle El's decision to ink with the 'Skins is a little confusing, since one of his primary factors was the chance to be a "starting" receiver in his new home. With Santana Moss, Brandon Lloyd, and David Patten on the team, Randle El hardly can presume that he'll be No. 2 or higher on the depth chart.

Our guess, then, is that the 'Skins have told Randle El that they plan to use extensive three-receiver sets in the coming years, and that he'll have plenty of time on the field even if he can't get past Lloyd and/or Patten.

POSTED 4:10 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

HUTCHINSON OFFER WORTH $49 MILLION

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com confirms our report that the Vikings have signed Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson to an offer sheet.

Per Glazer, the deal is worth $49 million over seven years, including $16 million in guaranteed money.

We've independently confirmed those numbers via a league source.

As we predicted, the cap number for 2006 is "very high," intended to dissuade the Seahawks from exercising their rights under the transition tag to match.

POSTED 3:20 p.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 3:39 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

HUTCHINSON SIGNS "MONSTER" OFFER SHEET IN MINNY

A league source tells us that the Minnesota Vikings have signed Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson to a "monster" offer sheet.

The Seahawks placed the transition tag on Hutchinson, giving them the right to match any offers made by another team. They'll have seven days to decide. If they choose not to match, they receive no compensation.

Our guess is that the Vikings crafted an offer aimed at dissuading the Seahawks from matching, perhaps with a huge 2006 roster bonus due a day or two after the deal is signed.

If Hutchinson lands in Minnesota, he'll land between perennial Pro Bowler Matt Birk and budding Pro Bowler Bryant McKinnie.

JAMES OFFSEASON ADDRESS TO BE DETERMINED

Word out of 'Zona is that no firm decisions or commitments have been made regarding whether and to what extent new Cardinals running back Edgerrin James will participate in voluntary offseason workouts. His four-year contract, the terms of which appear below, does not include workout bonuses.

James likes to spend the offseasons working out in Miami, and he rarely has spent time in Indianapolis for non-mandatory workouts during his years in Indianapolis.

Cardinals coach Dennis Green, in our estimation, is a little more adamant that Colts coach Tony Dungy about guys being in the building when it's not technically required. But if James ultimately decides to stay in South Florida for most of the offseason, Green can't claim that it's a surprise.

POSTED 3:12 p.m. EST; UPDATED 3:15 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

JAMES GETS $14.75 MILLION IN '06 COMPENSATION

A league source tells us that running back Edgerrin James will receive $30 million over four years as part of the contract he has signed with the Arizona Cardinals.

In 2006, James gets $7 million to sign and a $4.5 million roster bonus due on the sixth day of the league year. Also, he'll have a base salary of $3.25 million. That's a total year one haul of $14.75 million.

In 2007, the base salary is $5.25 million. In 2008 and 2009, the base salary is $5 million per year.

James will actually earn more over four years than Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, who'll pocket $28.562 million. In fact, the James deal trails the marquee tailback contract of LaDainain Tomlinson by only $250,000 over the first four years.

POSTED 2:46 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

CARDS HAVE A NEW EDGE

Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that the Arizona Cardinals have reached an agreement with running back Edgerrin James.

James, who spent his first seven seasons with the Colts, hit the free-agent market on Saturday -- and made a bee line for the desert. He spent Saturday and Sunday in Arizona, and now a deal has been done.

Financial terms are not yet available. Per the team's official site, it is a four-year deal.

He'll join an offense that is full of talent at the skill positions, with guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and two-time MVP Kurt Warner, who said a month or so ago that he planned to lobby the team to pursue James.

One of the interesting subplots is whether James will break from his habit of spending most of the offseason working out in Miami. Our guess is that the contract contains workout bonuses aimed at getting him to spend as much time as possible in Arizona with his teammates from April through July.

POSTED 2:35 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

BROWNS KEEP DROPPING THE GREEN

It's the second day of free agency, and the Cleveland Browns continue to throw money at new players.

The latest additions are nose tackle Ted Washington and punter Dave Zastudil.

Per ESPN's Len Pasquarelli, Washington has agreed to a two-year, $7 million contract. Washington recently was released by the Raiders. Zastudil was drafted by the Ravens when current Browns G.M. Phil Savage was a key member of the front office.

Washington and Zastudil join LeCharles Bentley, Kevin Shaffer, and Joe Jurevicius as the newest members of a franchise that has only one playoff appearance since its return to the NFL in 1999.

POSTED 12:33 p.m. EST; UPDATED 12:58 p.m. EST, March 12, 2006

BREES DOESN'T WANT TO JOIN SAINTS

The scuttlebutt in league circles is that quarterback Drew Brees doesn't want to join the Saints, but that he's talking to them in the hopes of driving up the offer made by his preferred destination, the Miami Dolphins.

Word is that the Saints envision Brees as a short-term starter who would handle the job while Matt Leinart or Vince Young or Jay Cutler get ready to play. As a result, the Saints are offering the kind of deal that Kurt Warner signed two seasons ago in New York as Eli Manning got ready to play -- a two-year contract that is essentially a one-year deal.

The problem is that the Fins don't want to pay the same kind of money in 2006 that the Saints are willing to invest. Instead, Miami is giving Brees the opportunity to earn big money over the long term.

So the Saints are banking on Brees' shoulder being fully healed in time for the 2006 season, and the Dolphins are being more cautious.

In the end, Brees' best play might be to take less money in the short term with an organization that is far better equipped to succeed over the long haul.

SUNDAY EARLY AFTERNOON ONE-LINERS

The Bengals are doing the safety dance, visiting with Lawyer Milloy on Saturday and Will Demps and Dexter Jackson on Sunday (but where's the midget in the jester suit?).

By signing DE Anthony Weaver, the Texans are unlikely to trade down in order to draft DE Mario Williams.

DT Monsanto Pope will visit with the Jets on Tuesday.

S Will Demps will visit with the Giants on Monday.

Bengals TE Matt Schobel signed a five-year deal with the Eagles, getting $1.8 million to sign.

The Browns will pay a $1.25 million roster bonus to WR Dennis Northcutt as he enters the last year of his contract.

Former Browns and Redskins assistant Foge Fazio thinks that LB LaVar Arrington would be a good fit for the Browns.

The Texans wanted a recently released Broncos tight end to come to Houston for a visit, but his wife was busy popping out a little Putzier.

The Texans signed FB Jameel Cook.

The Eagles are visiting with DE Darren Howard.

Cowboys coach Bill Parcells has some good advice for K Adam Vinatieri: "If he's smart, he will [stay in New England]. He could be Bobby Orr and Carl Yastrzemski and John Havlicek. That guy's done a lot."

With WR Antwaan Randle El turning down their initial offer, the Bears are looking to other options at kick returner, including Eddie Drummond, Tim Dwight, Antonio Chatham, and Torrie Cox.

The Pack might sign DT Ryan Pickett to replace Grady Jackson.

Packers C Mike Flanagan visited with the Texans on Saturday.

The Bears might be interested in QB Brian Griese.

The Giants aren't pleased that DT Kendrick Clancy took more money to sign with the Cardinals.

With Clancy gone, the Giants will look to DT Ryan Pickett and DT Rocky Bernard.

Steelers DE Kim von Oelhoefen is visiting the Jets.

The Bucs re-signed K Matt Bryant.

The Jets hosted on Saturday OT Tom Ashworth and LB Matt Chatman.

The Vikings might bring in QB Josh McCown for a visit.

RB Ron Dayne is the early favorite to become the starter in Denver.

The Titans might get re-interested in QB Daunte Culpepper if the price tag for his services falls.

QB Jon Kitna visited the Lions on Saturday, who also is believed to be setting up a visit with the Jets.

POSTED 10:30 a.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 11:32 a.m. EST, March 12, 2006

VIKES LOST THEIR LEVERAGE ON DAUNTE

It's now been more than 48 hours since reports surfaced that the Vikings were 24 hours from trading quarterback Daunte Culpepper.

In Kiefer Sutherland's world, the Vikes would be well into season three.

And as one league insider explained to us on Sunday morning, the Vikings have been unable to reach a deal to their liking because they have no leverage.

"Any time a team says it is going to trade someone they lose leverage," the source said. "The buyers know that if the team doesn't trade the player they will probably cut him. Then you can try to sign him and not give up anything. The Vikes showed how stupid they were when they put out a trade is near rumor."

(The views of our source regarding the intelligence of the team do not necessarily reflect the views of Profootballtalk.com. Indeed, we believe that the team got significantly smarter when the Meathead was sent packing.)

Although in some cases a team will throw a second-day draft choice in order to secure dibs on a player who might otherwise be in high demand if/when he hits the market, the Vikings simply want too much to make it happen. As a result, the few teams who really are interested in Culpepper have opted to sit back and take their chances.

The fact that Culpepper is due a $6 million roster bonus later this month is yet another impediment to getting a deal done. Really, why should anyone give up a first-day draft pick and $6 million when they can negotiate with Culpepper on the open market? A bidding war is unlikely to break out. Even if it does, the total payout will likely be far less in value than what will be required to get him in a trade right now.

So unless the Vikings drop their demands to a fourth-round pick or lower, and unless Culpepper is willing to forego or reduce that $6 million payment, there will be no trade -- and the Vikes will then have to decide whether to pay $6 million to keep a guy who doesn't want to be there, or to let him go with no compensation.

LITTLE HOPE FOR CHRIS

Although ESPN's Len Pasquarelli has ranked Steelers safety Chris Hope as the No. 19 free agent available this offseason, Hope has yet to line up a single visit, even as other guys are criss-crossing the country in search of the big money that flows in the early days of the signing period.

So what's the problem? As one league source explained, "Hope has no one interested in him because all the teams get the films of all the games. He is slow, can't tackle, and he is dumb, all of the qualities that go into a big contract."

Ouch.

The fact that Hope has yet to even schedule a visit is significant in light of the fact that virtually every team was talking prior to Saturday at 12:01 a.m. to the guys in whom they had heavy interest. So the reality is that the 31 teams other than the Steelers haven't seen fit to include him in the game of musical chairs that, in early March, typically pays out more money than at any other time of the year.

EDGE MIGHT HAVE LIMITED OPTIONS

As the Cardinals continue to try to throw a contract around free-agent running back Edgerrin James, some league insiders are concluding that no one else must be seriously interested in the guy.

The Colts never made a strong pitch to keep James, even after an extra $7.5 million in 2006 cap space fell into their laps. The Panthers opted to re-sign DeShaun Foster. The Vikings jumped on Ravens running back Chester Taylor.

The only other teams that arguably could use an upgrade at the starting tailback position are the Jets, Titans, Jaguars, Broncos, and Packers. With an injured-but-signed Ahman Green in the fold, the Packers are highly unlikely to spend the money it would take to get James, and the other teams (with the exception of the Broncos) might prefer to go a lot younger at the position, if they're going to make a change.

The Ravens reportedly will turn to James if Jamal Lewis signs elsewhere. But even as his backup got a starting gig in Minnesota, Jamal's phone hasn't been ringing (then again, maybe he doesn't answer his phone anymore, given his past entanglements).

Back to James, a reader tells us that the team's official web site pulled a Zac Jackson on Saturday night, allowing onto the live site an article touting the acquisition of James. Our guess is that the Cards eventually will be dropping that text back into its electronic shell, since the money that Arizona will eventually offer likely will be far better than anything else that anyone else coughs up.

MORE MISTAKES REGARDING DAVID GIVENS

Is it possible that a pass-catcher whose name might not register with most casual NFL fans could become far better known for the journalistic errors regarding his first foray into free agency?

On Friday night, the Browns created a big stir by allowing onto their web site a story announcing the acquisition of Patriots receiver David Givens. In the end, it appears that there was no skullduggery at play in Cleveland, but only brain farts by the writer who prepared several such stories in advance of possible signings, and who made the mistake of saving them somewhere other than on his hard drive.

Since then, John McClain of The Houston Chronicle reported that Givens had abandoned plans to visit his hometown Texans, and instead had re-signed with the Patriots.

But now Mike Reiss of The Boston Globe reports that the report was wrong, and that Givens is still on his way to Houston.

It was Givens' agent, Brad Blank, who told Reiss that Givens hasn't signed with the Pats, so we think that Reiss might be onto something. As to Givens' ultimate destination, Blank told Reiss that "anything is possible."

Based on the past two days, Blank doesn't realize just how accurate that statement is.

SUNDAY MORNING ONE-LINERS

QB Drew Brees was impressed by his meeting with Dolphins brass, and will make an official visit if he doesn't sign with the Saints.

The Steelers are trying to keep DE Brett Keisel.

WR Andre' Davis has signed with the Bills.

WR Antwaan Randle El rejected an offer from the Bears before heading to Washington for a visit.

The Redskins are wooing WR Antwaan Randle El, S Adam Archuleta, and QB Todd Collins.

One guy to whom the 'Skins won't have to suck up is WR Brandon Lloyd, who was acquired from the 49ers for a third-round pick in 2006 and a fourth-round pick in 2007.

The more we think about it, the less we understand how CB Brian Williams got a $10 million signing bonus from the Jags (maybe the thinking is that the can lure to AllTel some fans who think they'll be watching the NBC News anchor play bump-and-run).

Jags LB Akin Ayodele is visiting the Cowboys (word is he could be close to a deal).

Cowboys LB Scott Fujita (ghesundheit) is visiting the Jaguars.

K Adam Vinatieri soon could be signing with a team other than the Pats.

Colts DT Larry Tripplett has signed with the Bills.

Colts LB David Thornton is visiting the Titans.

Panthers LB Will Witherspoon is visiting the Rams.

Lions CB Andre' Goodman and Saints LB Sedrick Hodge are close to signing with the Dolphins.

QB Sage Rosenfels signed with the Texans for four years, $7 million, including a $2 million signing bonus.

Ravens DE Anthony Weaver has signed with the Texans, pocketing $13 million in guaranteed money.

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