POSTED 7:38 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2006

LENDALE HEADING DOWNHILL

The biggest story coming out of the USC pro day workout is that running back LenDale White basically did nothing.

White only performed the bench press, and nothing more.  (He managed 15 reps at 225, four less than Jeremy Bloom, whom White outweighs by 60 pounds.)  No 40-yard dash.  No long jump.  No broad jump.  No three-cone.  No short shuttle.  No position drills.  Nothing.

Why, we wonder, did the guy even show up?  More than a few scouts have the same question.

We're told that White promised scouts he would run in three weeks, but that White privately said that he has no intention of doing it.  It's a bad sign for a guy who has hopes of standing out in a draft pool that has plenty of first-round talent at running back.

LEINART DOESN'T RUN

Another disappointment at the USC pro day workout was that quarterback Matt Leinart likewise did not attempt to run the 40-yard dash.

We'd previously heard that Leinart wasn't going to run.  But then there was chatter regarding a late effort to get Leinart ready to put up a respectable time.  The fact that Leinart didn't go through with it suggests that his handlers knew that he'd be hard pressed to break five seconds.

Leinart also might be damaged by the manner in which he blew off the running issue.  We're told that he initially said to the scouts in attendance that he would run after he threw, and then after he threw he simply didn't do it.

REGGIE RUNS A 4.4

Despite a report from Gil Brandt of NFL.com that Heisman winner Reggie Bush put up a 4.33 in the 40 on Sunday's pro day workout in L.A., a league source tells us that Bush was hand timed at 4.4 -- on a fast track.

That projects to anywhere from a 4.45 to a 4.5 on a grass surface, and it means that Bush doesn't have Michael Bennett-type sprinters' speed.

All things considered, the Bush and Leinart workouts muddy the top of the draft, opening the door for the possibility that, in the end, Texas quarterback Vince Young could be the first overall pick, with or without a trade out of the top spot by the Houston Texans.

POSTED 12:03 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2006

CASSERLY THINKS CORNRICH GROUP STEERED NEAL TO NEW ENGLAND

Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, who seemingly takes perverse pleasure in knocking the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick, reports that an agency with strong ties to Belichick might have steered clients Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Neal toward returning to the team.

Neil Cornrich, per Borges, has "long been closely associated with [Belichick], once boasting on his website that he was Belichick's agent and acknowledging that he did work as his attorney."  With Cornrich serving a one-year suspension for using proprietary NFLPA research data in conjunction with his work as an expert witness for General Motors in the wrongful death action filed by the estate of Derrick Thomas, Vinatieri and Neal had been working with Jonathan Hurst, of Cornrich's firm.

As to Vinatieri, Borges reports that the guy whose foot provided the difference in each of the team's three Super Bowl victories had "doubts that Hurst was considering all the options available to him" in getting offers for Vinatieri.  "It seemed to Vinatieri that Hurst was pushing him back to New England," Borges writes.  "Whether Hurst was or not, Vinatieri told people in Green Bay he feared that was the case."

So Vinatieri hired Gary Uberstine, and Uberstine quickly placed Vinatieri in Indy. 

As to Neal, Texans G.M. Charley Casserly was suspicious as to whether the veteran Patriots guard really was a "free" agent.  After Hurst "refused" to bring Neal to Houston for a visit, Hurst told Casserly:  "It's just not going to work out." 

So Casserly tried to contact Neal directly.

''I left a message on his cellphone," Casserly told Borges.  ''I don't know if he got it or not.  I never got to talk to Steve.  But our offer was a signing bonus between $5 million and $6 million.  It probably would have ended up at $5.5 million.  The average of the [four-year] deal would have been $3 million a season, including the signing bonus.  Go look what they signed him for."

Neal's signing bonus was only $3.2 million, according to Borges.

''You figure out what happened," Casserly said.  ''He was never really a free agent.  It was all just for show."

Although Casserly amazingly (and unwisely, in our view) went on the record with his comments, the article raises new questions regarding Borges' objectivity when it comes to the Patriots.  For example, Borges doesn't mention that his own paper ran an AP item indicating that Neal had visited the Vikings and the Bills.  Another article from Nick Cafardo of the Globe said that Neal also had visited the Dolphins.  The fact that Hurst took Neal on three visits undermines Borges' implicit suggestion that Hurst wouldn't let Neal talk to other teams.

Borges also fails to mention that, if Casserly's version of the events is true, it means that Casserly has admitted to an attempt to negotiate directly with a player who is represented by an NFLPA-certified agent, which arguably violates Article VI, Section 1 of the CBA.

Casserly's decision to characterize the re-signing of Neal by the Pats as an inside job also has curious timing, given that Casserly reportedly is under consideration for a job in the league office.  With the Krafts quickly gaining more and more influence in the NFL, why risk making enemies through a gratuitous attack on the team they own?

It'd be interesting to see what Neal has to say about all of this.  The fact that there's no indication in Borges' item that he tried to reach the player himself makes us wonder whether there might be even more to this one that Borges conveniently has overlooked.

SUNDAY ONE-LINERS

The Saints are happy to be back and training in the facility that at one point their owner claimed had been ruined by FEMA  officials.

Lord Favre continues to mess with Ted Thompson.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak is trying to sound like he's undecided regarding whether the team will take Reggie Bush or Vince Young.

New Seahawks WR Nate Burleson says that he didn't want out of Minnesota because of the departures of Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper.

In presuming that the Saints' acquisition of QB Drew Brees means that the team has a long-term answer at quarterback, Mike Tripplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune apparently hasn't heard about the $12 million option bonus due to Brees next March.

A Green Bay television anchor responds to the NFL ban on local camera folks as follows:  "The thing that made me chuckle the most was their argument that owners want to cut down on the congestion on the sidelines.  To me, congestion comes from sponsors that are down there and friends of the owners that are down here.  I don't think the congestion comes from the people that are actually working."

Vikings WR Troy Williamson is switching his number from 19 to 82.

Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald doesn't like the poor perception of his NFL team:  "I'm tired of it, sick of it," he said.

The Soup Nazi bristled after getting several questions this week regarding his return to Jacksonville in 2006:  "I didn't know it was that important to you.  When I left, you didn't give a damn that I was here.  Now you're happy about me coming back.''

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says that, if G.M. Charley Casserly leaves for the league office after the draft, "he will be leaving the team in good condition — the same way he did the Redskins."  (Apparently, the fumes coming from Casserly's butt have left McClain confused regarding the performance of the Redskins after Charley got the chop from Dan Snyder.)

The Tuna skipped the ownership meetings last week even though he was only 90 minutes away.

Jets owner Woody Johnson is engaging in a little post-hoc justification of his decision to hand the G.M. job to a guy who arguably wasn't ready for it.

Sexual assault charges pending against Penn State DT Scott Paxson could soon be dismissed.

Ohio State WR Santonio Holmes worked out for the Dolphins on Friday.

There has been talk in Miami regarding the possible arrival of QB Doug Flutie as a backup to Daunte Culpepper.

POSTED 3:00 a.m. EDT, April 2, 2006

VIKES CATCH LEAGUE'S IRE

A league source tells us that the recent ownership meetings in Florida featured a storm of resentment directed at the delegation representing the Minnesota Vikings.

The reason for the discontent was the poison pilled offer sheet that the Vikings presented to former Seahawks guard Steve Hutchinson three weeks ago.  The NFL ultimately attempted to challenge the offer on behalf of the Seahawks.

"Everyone was talking about the group of people with more balls and ego than brains," said one source, in reference to the four men who run the organization:  owner Zygi Wilf, V.P. of player personnel Fran Foley, V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski, and head coach Brad Childress.

"This group is on everyone's sh-t list," added the source.  "League office, other teams, owners, personnel people."

The league office also isn't pleased, we're told, with the involvement of former management council employee Dave Blando in the crafting of the offer sheet that prevented the Seahawks from matching.  Blando now works as a cap guy for the Vikings, and the thinking is that Blando had a key role in coming up with the term that would have made all of Hutchinson's seven-year, $49 million contract fully guaranteed if the Seahawks had matched.

Wilf bought the Vikings less than a year ago.  Childress was hired days after the conclusion of the 2005 season to replace Mike Tice, who was fired minutes after a season-ending win over the Bears.  Foley joined the organization not long thereafter from San Diego, where he had served as the director of pro personnel.  Brzezinski has been with the team for seven years.

ARRINGTON, WOODSON, LAW GETTING RESTLESS

A league source tells us that the three biggest remaining names in free agency -- linebacker LaVar Arrington, cornerback Charles Woodson, and cornerback Ty Law -- are all getting restless regarding their protracted stays on the shopping market shelf.

And each player is represented by Carl and Kevin Poston.

The thinking in league circles, as we've previously explained, is that the Postons aimed too high with their contract demands in the weeks prior to the launch of free agency, when teams compile their list of early targets by, in part, figuring out which players' expectations are reasonable.

Regardless of how each of these three players got to where they are, the reality is that none of them have signed -- and the really big money has long since dried up.

The most disappointed of the three has to be Arrington, who gave up $4.4 million in deferred bonus money in become a free agent in March.  He otherwise would have hit the market in July, prior to the trigger date for a $6.5 million roster bonus.  But because Arrington didn't sign in the early days of free agency, he's not going to get much more now than he would have gotten if he'd become available in July. 

And he surely won't get an extra $4.4 million now.

So why in the hell didn't the Postons know before letting Arrington give up the money whether and to what extent he'd replace the money? Absent clear evidence that Arrington would have made a lot more not long after letting $4.4 million get away, the Postons never should have allowed him to make that swap -- especially at a time when Carl Poston already is in hot water with the NFLPA for not reading the final draft of Arrington's December 2003 contract extension.

The reality here is that each of these guys would have gotten a lot more money than they now will, if only they'd been ready to get the best offer on the table in the first few days of free agency, and to pounce on it.  Instead, they'll now have to choose between taking less money than they wanted, or to sign a phony long-term deal that looks good in the newspaper but that is, in essence, a one-year contract.

SINGLETARY LEAVES IMG FOR UM

A league source tells us that IMG's director of player resources, Chris Singletary, is leaving the firm and returning to his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

At Michigan, Singeltary will serve as the recruiting coordinator of the Wolverines football team.  Singletary was a member of Michigan's 1997 national championship team.

Singletary is regarded as a highly effective recruiter for IMG, and his departure leaves a competitive void.

But perhaps the agency will still derive a benefit from the move.  As one league source told us:  "Looks to me like a lot of future Wolverines will be signing with IMG."

BEARS PLAYERS NOT HAPPY WITH TREATMENT OF LOVIE

We reported several days ago that the Bears locker room isn't feeling warm and fuzzy about the failure of the front office to extend the contract of coach Lovie Smith, who has two years remaining on the deal he signed in 2004.

We've now heard the same thing from a separate source.

Smith took the Bears to the NFC North title and a first-round bye in his second year with the team.  But a loss at home to the Panthers might have some in management concerned that the team's performance in 2005 was an aberration, and that the team might regret in the end giving more money and more years to Smith based on one bad season, and one good season.

The only problem is that the guys who play for Smith think he deserves better treatment.  And, of course, if they allow that feeling to affect their performance in 2006, it will only make it harder for Smith to get the treatment they think he deserves.

Click here for our April 1 edition (and all of the stories on it are true, unlike the stuff we usually make up).