POSTED 9:12 p.m. EST, March 21, 2006

 

MENAGE A TRADE MOVES ABE TO ATLANTA

 

In an unusual three-way trade, Jets defensive end John Abraham will land in Atlanta by way of Denver, according to Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com.

 

Per Glazer, the deal has been approved by the league, and it will become official once the Jets sign the paperwork.

 

To get the deal done, the Falcons sent the 15th overall pick in the draft to Denver, and Denver sent one of its first-round picks, the No. 29 selection, to Atlanta, along with a third-rounder this year and a fourth-rounder in 2007.

 

So the Falcons, who had resisted trading their first-round pick to the Jets straight up for Abraham, will send the No. 29 pick to the Jets and keep the three and the four.

 

The irony here is that the Broncos initially were linked to Abraham.

 

And left holding the bag, for the second time in two days, are the Seahawks.  Seattle struck a deal with the Jets for a trade, but could not come to terms with Abraham on money.

 

Mechanically, Abraham will sign his franchise tender and then sign the long-term deal with the Jets.  The contract won't have a signing bonus, but will instead carry an option bonus or a roster bonus (or both) due within a few days after the agreement is signed.  So the Jets will suffer no cap hit and incur no cost, and will instead free up the $8.3 million in salary space that had applied to Abraham.

 

POSTED 8:52 p.m. EST, March 21, 2006

 

VINATIERI VAMOOSES

 

If you can't beat 'em . . . sign their kicker?

 

In a stunning move, the Colts have reached an agreement with Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri.  Vinatieri previously had been talking to the Packers, where his former agent Andrew Brandt is a front-office exec. 

 

"I think [the chances of signing him] are good," Packers coach Mike McCarthy recently said.

 

Instead, Vinatieri will play for Indy, at a price believed to be slightly more than the $10 million deal recently signed by Ryan Longwell with the Vikings.

 

Though the Colts needed a kicker, they came out of nowhere to nab Vinatieri.  And that might have been a prudent move by Indy president Bill Polian, since the Pats potentially would have dug a little deeper into Bob Kraft's pockets to keep Vinatieri out of the clutches of Peyton Manning and company.

 

Vinatieri is one of the most accomplished kickers in league history.  Legendary in New England for his performance in the clutch, Vinatieri's three-pointers were the difference in each of the Pats' Super Bowl wins, with two of the kicks coming with the game on the line.

 

But perhaps his biggest kicks came during the Patriots' coming-out party, a 2001 playoff game in a once-in-a-lifetime setting with snow falling continuously throughout an AFC divisional playoff game against the Raiders.  Vinatieri forced overtime with a field goal, and then won the game with another three-pointer in overtime.

 

POSTED 8:18 p.m. EST, March 21, 2006

 

BUYER'S REMORSE IN BIG D?

 

Based on some of the rumblings we're hearing out of Texas, it sounds like members of the Cowboys front office already are beginning to question the wisdom of signing receiver Terrell Owens.

 

Between the book deal, which we hear wasn't disclosed to the team before he signed, and the self-aggrandizing (is there any other kind?) rap song on his web site, and the rampant talk in league circles that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was merely bidding against himself for T.O.'s services even though he apparently was led to believe otherwise, there is a concern that maybe, just maybe, Owens is the same guy now than he was a year ago.

 

Some league insiders are convinced that Owens is no different.  "This guy has not changed and will not change," opined one league source.

 

"He's a star among stars," added the source.  "That says it all.  This will not work.

 

"This will cause the demise of Jerry  and Bill [Parcells], too."

 

We'll keep our ears open for more.

 

And we'll keep eating our popcorn.

 

CHILDRESS NEEDS TO PUT A SOCK IN IT

 

After two months of virtual silence, new Vikings coach Brad Childress has begun to talk.

 

A lot.

 

And it's getting the attention of several league insiders, one of whom believes that Childress "talks way too f--king much" and that he should "shut the f--k up."  (Poetry.  Sheer poetry.)

 

Childress has become loquacious in the week since the Vikings shipped quarterback Daunte Culpepper to Miami.  The coach has dissed Daunte on at least two occasions, comparing him most recently to Terrell Owens.  And Childress also boasts that if he hadn't taken the job in Minnesota, he could have had the gig in Green Bay.

 

POSTED 3:15 p.m. EST, March 21, 2006

 

PETERSON SETS FLOOR FOR ARRINGTON?

 

The Seahawks have spent the money that would have gone to guard Steve Hutchinson, after all -- but on a different player.

 

The 'Hawks have signed linebacker Julian Peterson to a seven-year, $54 million contract.  Peterson will receive $10 million the first year.

 

Hutchinson's deal included $16 million in guarantees.

 

It's too early to tell whether Peterson's contract is really a one-year, $10 million contract with an option on the future years (see T.O. and Drew Brees).  Peterson's agents, the Postons, have no reason to disclose such details, especially at a time when the perception of many league insiders is that their failure to properly gauge the market for their various free-agent clients kept any of them from getting paid when the money was flowing more freely a week ago.

 

Regardless of the actual value of Peterson's deal, the Postons surely will point to his contract as the starting point for their other linebacking free agent, LaVar Arrington.

 

Other Postons clients holding "will ball for food" signs include Ty Law and Charles Woodson.

 

POSTED 8:47 a.m. EST; LAST UPDATED 10:38 a.m. EST, March 21, 2006

 

LIONS FEAR A REVOLT

 

We're told that management of the Detroit Lions is bracing themselves for a backlash once new coach Rod Marinelli begins to apply his military mindset to a locker room containing more than a few guys who might not be inclined to respond to such tactics.

 

Although the hiring of Marinelli won praise in some circles since he's the kind of take-the-bull-by-the-bouncy-things leader that the team needs, there's only so much of the roster that can be turned over in a single offseason.  So when guys like receiver Mike Williams (who showed up, we hear, for offseason workouts overweight) or receiver Charles Rogers (who continues to be a lazy turd, we're told) start to piss and moan about Marinelli's manner, other guys might be influenced by their complaints.

 

The other problem is that, if Marinelli and the Lions take liberties with any of the offseason workout rules, one of the guys who haven't bought in to Marinelli's approach could blow the whistle to the NFLPA, which is exactly what happened during Tom Coughlin's first season with the Giants and Denny Green's first year with the Cardinals.

 

So maybe, in the end, the decision to boot quarterback Joey Harrington sooner rather than later was an effort to win over the players, many of whom had decided that Harrington should go.  Indeed, the move could win over just enough guys to keep the ones who might be inclined to rebel in check.

 

T.O. BOOK TIMING CURIOUS

 

So Terrell Owens is going to write a book regarding his tumultuous two seasons with the Eagles.  Should anyone be surprised by this development?

 

The more intriguing issues to us are the timing of the announcement and the timing of the release date of the book.

 

It is a coincidence that not a word of this project was breathed publicly until after Owens signed his contract with the Cowboys?  We wonder whether the Owens camp even disclosed to owner Jerry Jones, or to any of Owens' other suitors, the fact that T.O. planned to peddle a written account of his time with the Eagles -- and to launch it just in time to contribute to the three-ring circus that will unfold once training camp starts.

 

The move was announced by Simon & Schuster on Monday, March 20, two days after Owens joined the Cowboys.  Surely, this project was in the works for months.  Even we got a copy of the press release via e-mail from the publisher.  A list of e-mail addresses that goes deep enough into the media to include us isn't a list that gets slapped together on a Sunday afternoon.

 

The far more likely explanation is that Owens and agent Drew Rosenhaus struck the book deal not long after the T.O. firestorm reached its peak in November 2005, and that Rosenhaus specifically requested (as he should have) that the publisher keep the thing under wraps until he could find a new football home for Owens.

 

It was a smart business move, to be sure.  But what does it say about whether T.O.'s press conference contrition, or his express desire to put the past in his behind (yeah, it's a Lion King reference), were genuine?

 

The whole thing further proves that Owens and Rosenhaus duped Jerry Jones -- and we think it will only make coach Bill Parcells more determined to break Owens' recklessly renegade spirit ASAFP.

 

The book undoubtedly will contain plenty of inflammatory prose and disputable contentions of fact, which will serve only to increase the buzz surrounding the Tuna and his team come training camp.  That's the last thing Parcells is going to want to deal with.

 

And then there's the rap song from Owens' web site, in which he taunts the Eagles and flaunts his new contract:

 

"When it comes to this game, I'm the best in the field, some said I was gonna sign just a one-year deal, but I got what I wanted up front, 10 mil, changed the rules of the game, so now how you feel?"

 

(We wonder whether T.O. realizes he didn't get $10 million "up front," and that the team can cut him before the start of the 2006 season and suffer a total cap charge of only $1.67 million this year?)

 

When T.O. told the football world during Saturday's press conference to get the popcorn ready, he was referring to the coming football season.  But we've already got our fists deep into an extra-large bucket, because we're convinced that this one will present plenty of drama long before the games ever start.

 

Heck, it already is.

 

McKINNEY BROTHERS COULD BE LINING UP TOGETHER

 

When we recently interviewed Texans left guard Steve McKinney, we asked him about the possibility of his younger brother, Dolphins center Seth McKinney, joining the team as a free agent.

 

"That would be awesome," McKinney said.  "We played on the same team at [Texas] A&M for one year, but he was a redshirt freshman and I was a senior so we never actually got the chance to play next to each other.  We at least had the chance to be on the same field during a game in the NFL when we played Miami a couple of years ago, but he didn't start that game.  Having him here in Houston playing next to me would be a dream come true."

 

The dream could be close to becoming a reality when Seth McKinney visits the Texans on Tuesday.

 

More than 300 sets of brothers have played pro football, and several have been parked on the same offensive line.  Most recently, Jay and Joel Hilgenberg and Doug and Dave Widell played for the Saints and Broncos, respectively, in the 1990s.

 

In 1921, Frank, Fred, John, Phil, and Ted Nesser played offensive line (among other positions) for the Columbus Panhandles.  Ted was also the coach. 

 

At a time when a certain turd with the initials "T" and "O" is poised to make a mockery of a Texas team that plays down the road from the Texans, we like the possibility of two Houston natives getting to fulfill their dream of playing together for the same NFL team.

 

TUESDAY MORNING ONE-LINERS

 

G Steve Hutchinson is now a Viking.

 

Former Cowboys WR Drew Pearson rips the team for signing T.O. (good luck with that whole Ring of Honor thing, Drew).

 

There's no co-author identified, yet, for T.O.'s book (we've actually heard that it's going to be Drew Rosenhaus's brother, Jason).

 

New Vikings coach Brad Childress, who was the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2005, saw more than a little T.O. in QB Daunte Culpepper:  "It just became a deal where I didn't feel like it was the team, I felt like it was 'me.'  I went through a big 'me' situation last year with a guy who was all about 'me.'"

 

The Dolphins have signed TE Justin Peelle and WR Kelly Campbell.

 

DT Ron Edwards visited the Fins on Monday.

 

Through noon on Monday, the Cowboys already had sold 1,500 T.O. jerseys.

 

Falcons G.M. Rich McKay apparently thinks that self-deprecation is the key to getting the Commissioner's job:  "I struggle enough to keep my present day job to worry about another job," he recently said.

 

Free-agent RT Jon Runyan is meeting with the Jets on Tuesday.

 

On Monday, the Jets hosted WR Tim Dwight and CB Kenny Wright.

 

RT Kenyatta Walker met with the Falcons on Monday.

 

The Browns have given C Jeff Faine permission to seek a trade.

 

Another potential candidate for the Commish's chair is NFL Network chief Steve Bornstein.

 

Ravens president Dick Cass doesn't seem interested in the Commissioner position:  "I don't know how or why my name is being mentioned.  No one has approached me, and I have the job I really want.  This is where I will be staying."

 

The Ravens will use more four-man fronts in 2006 than they did in 2005.

 

New Packers DT Ryan Pickett received a $2 million signing bonus and a $3 million 2006 roster bonus.

 

Mike Mulligan of the Chicago Sun-Times offers some balance to the praise of the outgoing Commish:  "He bored a hole in the head of anyone unlucky enough to sit through one of his news conferences."

 

The Bears, Bucs, Fins, and Bengals are all angling for QB Brian Griese.

 

Bears OT Fred Miller could lose a total of $150,000 due to the firing-range fracas that resulted in him getting a broken jaw from teammate Olin Kreutz.

 

When asked to comment on the effect that Paul Tagliabue has had on the NFL, Bengals president Mike Brown declined (Brown apparently gets charged by the minute for incoming calls on his cell phone).

 

Only nine of Butch Davis's draft picks are still with the Browns.

 

WR Keyshawn Johnson met with the Giants on Monday.

 

The Cowboys have signed LB Rocky Boiman to a three-year deal, with a $1 million signing bonus.

 

The Texans have signed TE Jeb Putzier.

 

The Lions have signed G Rex Tucker.

 

Lions DT Dan Wilkinson isn't present for the offseason program, but he hasn't said that he's going to retire.

 

The Vikings have made a contract offer to FB Tony Richardson.

 

Vikings coach Brad Childress says that he was close to accepting the same job in Green Bay.

 

The Packers still hold out hope of signing K Adam Vinatieri.

 

Former OT Tony Boselli signed a one-day contract to retire with the Jaguars.

 

The Vikings have yet to contact QB Mike McMahon, who played for new Minnesota coach Brad Childress in 2005.

 

The Bucs apparently won't be signing OT Tom Ashworth.

 

The Steelers have signed WR Lee Mays, and are interested in WR Tim Dwight.

 

Saints RB Deuce McAllister says that the rehab on his surgically repaired knee is ahead of schedule (but have any of these guys with major injuries ever claimed to be behind schedule?).

 

The Raiders have signed CB Tyrone Poole.

 

The 'Skins have contacted LB Sam Cowart and CB Jamar Fletcher.

 

Though they have acquired his rights via trade, the Redskins have not yet worked out a new deal for WR Brandon Lloyd, who becomes a free agent in 2007.

 

Click here for more of the latest NFL news and information (or you can scrape the "H" off of your "Harrington" jersey in the hopes that the Lions sign LaVar Arrington).