POSTED 2:16 p.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

DEVIL WILL BE IN DETAILS OF LAVAR'S DEAL

With linebacker LaVar Arrington landing in New York only seven days before one or more of the teams interested in acquiring his services began to select 'backers in the draft, we're choosing to remain skeptical regarding Arrigton's seven-year, $49 million deal until we eyeball the full paperwork.

For now, the details are sketchy.  ESPN.com's John Clayton says that Arrington "came close" to the money that he wanted.  But that information likely came straight from Arrington's agents.  The AP story likewise is light on numbers.

Newsday cites "one report" that Arrington will receive an $11 million signing bonus.

Any signing bonus that Arrington receives should fairly be reduced by the $4.4 million he gave up in earned bonus money in order to hit the open market in March instead of July.  So, as a practical matter, an $11 million signing bonus actually would $6.6 million in new money.

Arrington reportedly had hoped to snag the same kind of deal that linebacker Julian Peterson, who is represented by the same agents, signed with the Seahawks.  Our current mission is to get all of the details on both deals, and break them down one term at a time.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON ONE-LINERS

Move the Chargers to the top of the list of the teams most likely to move to Los Angeles.  (Others in the running:  the Saints, Vikings, Bills, Jaguars.)

QB Matt Leinart confirms in the latest entry of his pre-draft diary-a that he has been Punk'd by MTV.  (He also was Punk'd a year ago, when someone persuaded him not to leave USC at a time when he would have been the No. 1 pick in the draft.) 

Another guy named Foley with ties to San Diego is in hot water.

Are Bears coach Lovie Smith and G.M. Jerry Angelo at odds as to whether RB Thomas Jones should be traded?

Damn, Mike Tannenbaum has gotten old.

Jets QB Chad Pennington might not be ready to throw at the team's first veteran minicamp.

The Packers released WR Terrence Murphy, the team's second-round pick in 2005.

The Texans are exchanging proposals with USC RB Reggie Bush, who apparently wants more than the $24 million in guaranteed money that QB Alex Smith got from the 49ers a year ago.  (With a 20 percent increase in the salary cap from 2005 to 2006, we'd be looking for $28.8 million in guaranteed money at the one hole.)

Butch Davis doesn't buy the hype surrounding DE Mario Williams:  "I think he's a good player who should go in the top 10, but to say he's a once-in-a-decade talent is over-reaching.  He's one of those big, massive, powerful, big-legged, big-butted kids, but not one of those jet-rocket guys coming off the edge."

QB Vince Young is signing a three-year deal with a pre-paid debit card company.  (The card emits a special "Wonderlic alert" when the remaining balance is six bucks.)

Titans LB Keith Bulluck has returned to Nashville for offseason workouts.

The lawyers for Vikings LT Bryant McKinnie and CB Fred Smoot have moved to dismiss the Love Boat charges pending against them.

The Titans can't decide which quarterback to draft.

Reason No. 134 why Titans G.M. Floyd Reese should be fired:  CB Pacman Jones has guaranteed base salaries in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Bill G.M. Marv Levy is trying to avoid being overloquacious when it comes to talking about possible draft picks.

The Redskins have signed WR Brandon Lloyd to a long-term deal; the 'Skins acquired Lloyd via a trade in March.

POSTED 12:39 p.m. EDT; UPDATED 2:59 p.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

SCIFRES' AGENT RESPONDS TO REPORT OF POSITIVE TEST RESULT

Agent Kevin Omell contacted us on Saturday afternoon to confirm that his client, kicker Jon Scifres, indeed tested positive for a banned substance at the February combine.

"Jon's failed test was a result of him taking a multi-vitamin purchased from GNC which, unbeknownst to him, contained a high level of an amphetamine-metabolite," Omell said.  "It wasn't a result of his smoking pot or any other narcotic." 

Omell explained that Scifres, who played for Missouri State and who according to Omell "doesn't even drink alcohol," has advised all 32 teams of the reason for the positive result.

"He began taking the multi-vitamin during his participation in the East-West Game and ceased upon being notified right after the Combine that he failed the test," Omell added.  Scifres took the multi-vitamin for a total of one month.

Whether the disclosure is sufficient to reverse any negative consequences from the postive result remains to be seen.  One front-office exec told us on Saturday afternoon that his team's draft board does not contain Scifres' name.  The source also suggested that he doesn't believe the explanation that Omell has offered. 

Scifres has been projected as a late-round pick.  He's more likely to join a team as a free agent.

The other player who tested positive at the combine is LSU defensive tackle Claude Wroten.  We've yet to hear anything from his agent, Joel Segal, regarding the reason for the result.

POSTED 12:03 p.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

ALL PRO DAD IS FIRST-CLASS JERK, ALLEGEDLY

As it turns out, former NFL offensive lineman Rich Tylski, featured on the "All Pro Dad" web site, makes Homer Simpson look like the father of the century.

According to the Associated Press, Tylski and his wife were arrested earlier this week for striking their adopted daughter with a belt, slamming her head on a table, and other abuse that left the girl with broken bones in her hands and leg.

Disgusting. 

Tylski played for the Jaguars, Steelers, and Panthers in nine NFL season.  He retired after the 2004 season.

Although Tylski's entry has been removed from the All Pro Dad site, our tech guy Sean managed to snag an image of it before the thing disappeared.  Curiously, the entry makes reference to Tylski's three sons, but says nothing about an adopted daughter.

"With so many American households being led by single mothers," it reads, "Rich is dedicated to stressing the importance of 'accountability' to all fathers."

If the allegations against Tylski and his wife are accurate, we hope that they both will provide great examples of "accountability" for parents everywhere -- while they are running tin cups along the bars of their cells.

Other NFL spokesmen for the All Pro Dad program include Colts coach Tony Dungy, Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, NFLPA president Troy Vincent, Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell, Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer, Lions quarterback Jon Kitna, and former greats Mike Singletary, Tony Boselli, Steve Largent, and Anthony Munoz.

POSTED 11:44 a.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

BEARS AREN'T BREAKING THE BANK ON MANNING

Despite reports that the offer sheet signed by Panthers cornerback Ricky Manning with the Chicago Bears, we're hearing that the five-year, $21 million deal actually will average $3 million, if he isn't a starter.

The offer sheet, we're told, contains de-escalators that will knock down the total compensation based on the extent to which Manning becomes a regular contributor to the defense of whichever team with which he lands.

The Panthers have until Friday, April 28 to match the offer.  If the Panthers opt to let Manning walk, they'll receive Chicago's third-round pick in the 2006 draft.

We're also hearing that, while the offer sheet was drafted to chew up sufficient 2006 cap space to make the terms of the deal harder for the Panthers to swallow, the Bears intentionally refrained from using any "poison pill" provisions similar to terms utilized by the Vikings and Seahawks during a "tit-for-tat" cat fight last month.  Regardless of whether the NFL has put out the word that such devices are now disfavored, the fact that the Bears and several other teams have stayed away from a tool that currently is available under the rules on the books is being viewed by some league insiders a rare example of teams putting principle above the pilfering of players.

POSTED 11:16 a.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

FRAN 'FESSES UP TO MORE FUDGING

Kevin Seifert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Vikings director of player personnel Fran Foley finally has come clean regarding additional errors in his resume.

Foley acknowledged on Friday that the original version of his official biography contained not one (or two or three) but four errors regarding his early work in coaching. 

Now, Foley has admitted that his first three coaching jobs weren't full-time position coach gigs.  Instead, he served merely as a graduate assistant at Colgate in 1984, the Citadel in 1985, and Rutgers in 1986.

A league source explained to us in the wake of an earlier story regarding Foley's truncated collegiate playing career that it was highly unlikely that Foley had parlayed two years of football at Framingham State into the job of defensive line coach at Colgate, defensive ends coach at the Citadel, and tight ends/specialists coach at Rutgers in three consecutive years after graduation.

But it gets better (or, as the case may be, worse).  Foley also admits that he was not "the director of football operations" at Rutgers from 1987 through 1990.  Instead, he was only an "administrative assistant."

The Vikings have posted a new bio for Foley.  

TIME FOR FOLEY TO GO

We initially were inclined to put to rest the Fran Foley fiasco right now, even though we are extremely troubled by such rampant and flagrant fabrication in a profession that is driven heavily by credentials. 

But the guy has finally come clean, so it's time to move on, right?

Maybe not.  Consider Foley's comments from Friday regarding his four-pack of additional resume goofs.

"I take full responsibility for any embarrassment I've caused."  (Okay, that's a good start.)

"I acknowledge that there were inaccuracies in my bio, and we have corrected them."  (Good stopping point.)

"I'm still proud of what I've done and of my accomplishments for the teams I've been a part of."  (Easy, big fella.)

"I did nothing to misrepresent what I've done.  I listed the positions and the responsibilities that I had."  (What the f--k?)

Just what is Foley saying here?  That all of the errors in his resume were clerical in nature?  That someone misread his handwriting?  That he never, ever noticed the discrepancies?

After further review, we believe that Foley's chance to come fully clean came earlier this week, when he admitted that he didn't play four years of college football for Framingham State.  He tried to claim at the time that he hadn't read the bio.

So did he likewise not read the bio after the Framingham fiasco?  Did he not see that his G.A. jobs were pumped up?  Or that his role as an "administrative assistant" somehow had morphed into three years as "director of football operations" at a D-I school?  (Yeah, it's Rutgers, but it's still D-I.)

Says Foley regarding his position at Rutgers:  "To be honest," he said, "that probably was my title.  But that job was an all-inclusive job.  I handled all of the recruiting, and I was an administrative assistant to the football program."

As one league source remarked after reading the above quote, "What does THAT mean?"  Indeed, if he "handled all of the recruiting," then his title would have been recruiting coordinator.

"He screwed up," said the source.  "And continues to do so." 

As a result, we must now climb onto our soap box and throw stones from the porch of our gleaming glass house.

It's time for Fran to go.

The things that we humans say and do are windows into our hearts, minds, and souls.  Regardless of whether Foley is dumb, corrupt, or amoral, this entire experience proves to us that he doesn't "get it" -- and that he therefore is unfit to be in control of the personnel department of an NFL team.

Of course, it will be difficult for owner Zygi Wilf or anyone else in the organization to run Foley off, given that the franchise has been through enough other crap over the past year.  Also, making a change now would speak poorly of the team's procedures for checking the backgrounds of candidates for key jobs.

It was perhaps the team's rush to hire Foley without proper vetting that caused the problem.  Consider this quote from Wilf:  "I learned in the real estate business when you're going after something you want, you go after it quickly, decisively and you make sure you get it.  You make sure you get the person you want before the next person does."

But you also have to make sure that you're not buying land that sits atop an abandoned coal mine.  Or that termites haven't turned the foundation into a mass of rotted balsa wood.  Due diligence is critical -- especially when the guy who signs the checks has an apparent penchant for acting on instinct and impulse.

Let's consider some of Wilf's other words.  In the wake of the Love Boat affair, Wilf promised to lay down the law:  "The commissioner emphasized to me that I inherited an organization that was inadequately structured and staffed, and that we must correct that to ensure the highest standards of team operations, including discipline, accountability, strong oversight and internal communications."

At the same time, Wilf said that he was planning to hire a "senior executive with deep NFL and outside experience."

That guy ultimately was Foley.  To the extent that Foley's "outside experience" (as, for example, the director of football operations at Rutgers only four years after finishing college) has now been exposed as false, and if Wilf insists on "discipline" and "accountability," the answer is simple.

After the draft, Wilf should ask Foley to step aside.

And if Foley truly "gets it," he shouldn't have to be asked to leave. 

POSTED 9:51 a.m. EDT, April 22, 2006

MORE ON "DECISION MAKERS"

We've heard even more scuttlebutt regarding the ESPN/Scouts, Inc. "Decision Makers" item that we first discussed on April 21. 

The primary problem with the piece is that the author(s) of the opinion-laden article aren't identified, and that two of the Scouts, Inc. scribes (Keith Kidd and Jeremy Green) are former NFL front-office employees with possible biases and prejudices regarding some of the personnel mentioned.

We've heard from a couple of sources that the item caused, as one source put it, a "big uproar" in Cleveland. 

"The feeling is that someone in scouting leaked those comments about Bill Rees in a power struggle to get him out," the source said.  "Phil [Savage] was really upset by the whole thing because it makes [Rees] look bad. . . .  It's one thing to gripe about a guy.  It's another thing to see those gripes in print in a very pointed and transparent way.  It's not good from the office politics standpoint, especially one week before the draft.  You got guys sitting across from each other who can't stand to look at each other."

If Kidd and/or Green wrote that specific portion of the article, it's possible that their own hard feelings about the organization for which they both previously worked influenced their comments.

"The New England stuff is a joke," the source added.  "Definitely came from Kidd."

And the thinking is that Kidd has "sour grapes" toward both the Patriots and the Browns.  Kidd broke into the business when former Cardinals coach Buddy Ryan hired him (as the story goes) as a favor to Kidd's father, Roy, who was a legendary coach at the college level, leading Eastern Kentucky to 315 wins.  But Keith Kidd has bounced through three organizations, and to the extent that his fingerprints are on the "Decision Makers" item, he very well might have made it even harder to get new work.

Unless it's in San Francisco.  Another source said that, in the comments regarding new 49ers exec Lal Heneghan, Kidd and Green "are both sucking up to him because he is their former boss in Cleveland and they may believe that he can help land them jobs. . . .  Kidd and Heneghan are very close personal friends, that is well known."

This assumes, of course, that either Kidd or Green (or both) wrote the blurb about the 49ers.  And that gets us back to our initial problem with the entire article.  Who knows who wrote and/or compiled the thing?

"Can't believe no one signed the piece," said a league source.  "How do you explain that?  It's like Big Brother is watching.  How about some accountability?"

Said another league insider:  "Whether you're right, wrong, or indifferent, have the balls to put a name on the story."