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The Bucs have a need in the middle after placing two linebackers -- Antoine Cash and Sam Olajubutu (gesundheit) -- on IR this week. But Trotter has no experience in the Tampa Two defense, and we're not sure that the 30-year-old has the mobility to cover the big hole in the heart of the field that opens up when the safeties cover the deep end of the field.

An added bonus is that, if the Bucs sign Trotter, it'll keep him away from another NFC team that might end up competing with the Bucs for a wild-card playoff berth. And with Bucs coach Jon Gruden likely needing to make it to the playoffs in order to save his job, every little bit helps.

Last night, after posting team No. 17 on our list on our bottom-to-top list of the 32 NFL franchises, we mentioned that we were nearing the halfway point. But, as a couple of readers pointed out to us, No. 17 actually was the halfway point, since it was the 16th team we did.

We took a little break from the All-Seinfeld thing, but the entries kept on coming.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the starting quarterback job in Kansas City is Brodie Croyle's to lose.

Croyle has been battling Damon Huard. Huard, who performed well after Trent Green got Humpty-Dumptied last September, has been nursing a leg injury.

The return of workhorse Larry Johnson makes it easier to justify taking a chance at the position with a second-year player having only limited experience in the regular season.

But it's not a done deal yet. If Croyle crumbles against the Saints on Thursday night, the door might be opened for Huard to get the job back.

Not long after Sprint and Nextel became the official telecommunications sponsors of ProFootballTalk, yours truly picked up a Samsung A900. It's been a great phone, for all of the various reasons we've previously mentioned in this space, and more.

But it's time to give in to the temptation. Ever since the wife's law firm converted its entire cell service to Sprint and she got her hands on a Blackberry 8830 (that she still won't let me touch), I've been eyeballing the various PDAs available only from Sprint.

And, this afternoon, I decided to take it up a notch, with the MOTO Q from Motorola.

So I'm getting it on Thursday. And when the wife asks to see it, I'll resort to something completely juvenile, such as holding it out and saying, "See it?" Or I'll yank it away as she's reaching for it and say, "Psych." After which she'll likely knee me in the groin. But it will be worth it.

Anyway, to get one of your own, click the Sprint ads on this page and follow your nose. And if you plan on messing with your wife once it arrives, make sure you wear a cup.

On Wednesday, a Brady baby boy popped out of actress Bridget Moynihan in Los Angeles.

Though many (including us) has assumed that Mike Vick might have to head to Canada in order to continue his football career after being released from federal custody, a CFL source tells us that the NFL's northern cousin won't be the avenue for Vick's second chance.

Currently, no CFL teams holds the negotiating rights to Mike Vick, which is a prerequisite to signing him.

And, as several readers have told us, the felony charges to which Vick will plead guilty will prevent him from entering Canada. Technically, however, a felon can enter Canada, but must first get permission.

Still, the CFL has gotten sensitive to the appearance that it is a haven for wayward NFL players, and we have a strong feeling that Vick won't find a home there. He's more likely to find refuge in the UFL, which could use Vick to attract NFL fans who believe that the league is being unfair by imposing a stiff suspension on him and/or blackballing him.

Taking that a step farther, it could be that the league asks the Falcons to squat on Vick's rights during his incarceration and suspension, since the Falcons would then be permitted to go Pacman on Mike if he were to try to play in another football league while on suspension from the NFL. Then after Mike is cleared to return to the NFL, the Falcons could cut him.

Hold the phone, fantasy owners. The end of the holdout of Chiefs running back Larry Johnson doesn't mean that L.J. should return to the top of the fantasy draft board.

Per the AP, Johnson isn't sure that he'll be ready to play by September 9, the date of the team's first regular-season game.

"It all depends on how I'm feeling. Of course, the adrenaline takes over," Johnson said. "You're excited about playing. So we'll see. It all depends on what type of game we'll get ourselves into."

In other words, if the Chiefs can roll the Texans without L.J. on the field, L.J. might stay on the sidelines.

ESPN.com should double-check its security measures. Because it appears that someone has hacked into the system and posted a phony column under the name of Howard Bryant.

Bryant, whoever he is, claims that the NFL Players Association and executive director Gene Upshaw should be loudly defending Mike Vick and Pacman Jones in connection with their scrutiny from Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Says Bryant, in part: "Must the union, to preserve balance with an ambitious commissioner, defend even the indefensible? Today, in the case of Vick and during Goodell's short term, the union's answer appears to be no. In the coming years, that will prove to be a colossal mistake."

It's very easy to spot the journalists who have little or no common sense, because their writings typically scream it. In this case Howard Bryant, whoever he is, shows his lack of common sense by suggesting that Upshaw should undermine the credibility of truly worthy causes by whining about all of them, including the weakest ones.

Even little kids understand the lessons of story like "Chicken Little" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

But yet Bryant, whoever he is, would have the NFLPA banging the table about every cause, regardless of merit. That would be the colossal mistake.

Crowing about lost causes does not strengthen a union. It renders its message dilute and hollow in cases where the league is truly overreaching.

So conceding certain issues is a good thing. It shows that the unions "gets it."

In Vick's case, what should the union have done differently? More importantly, how would Vick's situation be any different based on anything the union could have done?

While we've been plenty critical of the union in the past, we think that Upshaw and his staff got it right with Vick and with Jones. And that Bryant, whoever he is, should have thought his argument through a bit more before popping off.

As the catfight between former Giants running back Tiki Barber and current Giants quarterback Eli Manning continues, one league insider shared with us some strong opinions regarding Barber's decision to take aim at Manning.

One of the questions making the rounds in league circles regarding the Mike Vick situation is this: If the feds had such a great case against Vick, why did they offer him a plea deal?

This question has spawned the theory/hypothesis/speculation that the NFL privately plowed political connections to get Vick a reasonable offer, in order to avoid the damage that a public trial of Vick would have done to the league.

We're not sure that we buy this, but it's definitely being discussed in league circles. Though the NFL has vast influence, we can't imagine the league being able to influence a federal prosecutor who is ready and willing to go after Vick as hard as possible, especially in the wake of the debacle that occurred earlier this year in the wake of the firing of various federal prosecutors who supposedly weren't playing ball with the politicos.

The head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP thinks Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the Falcons after serving his prison sentence.

"As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," said R.L. White, president of the NAACP's Atlanta chapter, according to the Associated Press. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons, and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."

White said Vick has made a mistake and should be allowed to prove that he has learned from that mistake.

White is wrong on a number of levels. First of all, saying that society should rehabilitate criminals is a very different thing from saying that criminals are entitled to get their jobs back as if nothing had happened as soon as they get out of prison. If an NAACP employee committed a crime that caused harm to the NAACP's reputation, and then had to miss a year or more of work to serve a prison sentence, is White really saying the NAACP wouldn't take any action against that employee?

Secondly, Vick didn't make "a mistake." He broke many laws, many times, and still has not shown any remorse at all. No one seriously believes he's pleading guilty because he feels guilt; everyone knows he's pleading guilty because he knows the government has overwhelming evidence to use against him at trial.

The NAACP has a long history of speaking up for innocent people who don't have the means to speak up for themselves. What does White think he's accomplishing by speaking up for a guilty person who does have the means to speak up for himself?

Former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis reveals in a new book that he faked an injury to avoid getting cut in training camp in 2000 and that he thinks former coach Bill Cowher conspired with Steelers management to run quarterback Kordell Stewart out of town.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Bettis says in his new autobiography, The Bus. My Life in and out of a Helmet, that in 2000, he reported to training camp with an injured left knee and didn't say anything about it because he thought the Steelers would release him on the spot. Instead, he waited until he was tackled during a short-yardage drill, then yelled and grabbed the knee so the Steelers would think it was a new injury and that they'd be on the hook for his 2000 salary if they released him.

"Man, did I do a nice job of acting,'' Bettis writes. "The thing is, I wasn't faking that I had an injury. I was just faking that the injury happened on that short-yardage play. I had to fool the coaches and the team's medical department into thinking the injury had occurred on that play. Otherwise, the Steelers would have had their reason to cut me and my salary."

Bettis might think the "I wasn't faking ... I was just faking" excuse is an acceptable justification, but still: He lied to the team. At the same time, given the way NFL teams often treat injured players, it's not a big surprise that players aren't always completely honest about their injuries.

Bouchette reports that Bettis also suggests that Cowher wanted Stewart to fail because if Stewart had become a star quarterback, he would have commanded more money than the team wanted to pay. Stewart played in Pittsburgh from 1995 to 2002, and Bettis believes that Cowher was looking for an excuse to replace him with Tommy Maddox as the team's starter in 2002.

"Nothing against Tommy, but I always had my doubts that he won the job fair and square," Bettis writes, adding, "I can't prove it, but in my heart I really believe that Kordell was set up for failure that season."

Bettis's other revelations include that he thinks former Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski is "a coward" and that he had a secret appendectomy before the 1999 season, which the team told him not to tell the media about. To avoid having his name show up on hospital records, he registered under the name Tex Goldstein.

A report this weekend from Rich Cimini of the New York Daily News is raising eyebrows and raising questions in league circles about whether Jets coach Eric Mangini is going too far in his demands for secrecy about injuries.

Cimini reported that Mangini was livid when Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for running back Thomas Jones, revealed that Jones had a strained calf and would be back by the start of the regular season. According to Cimini, Mangini threatened the team, and told players he'd fine them if their agents released information on injuries.

When it comes to keeping injury information close to the vest, Mangini had a good teacher, Bill Belichick. But some league sources say Mangini is going too far, trying to bully his players. Teams have neither the right to restrict what players can say to their agents nor the right to prevent the agents from talking to others about injuries.

It's particularly odd that Mangini would make an issue of this at a time when the NFL claims it wants more openness when it comes to injuries. The league says it has a newfound commitment to encouraging players with concussions to resist pressure to play before they're ready. So how does the league square that with a coach telling players they can't talk to their agents about injuries? If a player tells his agent he's concerned about having suffered a concussion, and the agent then tells someone else, does the player's coach have the authority to fine the player?

The NFL also says it wants injury information to be publicly available because if it isn't, bookies and gamblers could try to make inroads with NFL training staffs to try to get inside information. So shouldn't the league tell head coaches to stop acting like the severity of a calf strain is a state secret?

Dave Forster of The Virginian-Pilot reports today that the federal prison sentence Michael Vick is likely to serve will feature a lifestyle of jobs like mopping floors for 12 cents an hour and living in a dorm with 100 other inmates.

Forster quotes Mike Truman, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who says that many factors go into determining where to place an inmate, but someone with a relatively short sentence and no previous criminal convictions would likely be sent to a minimum security camp within 500 miles of his home address.

But a minimum security camp isn't a country club. Barring an illness preventing him from working, every inmate must have a job, which might include waxing or mopping floors, cleaning toilets, painting walls or cutting grass. Inmates get paid for their work, at a rate of 12 cents an hour. Vick can buy items like shoes and sweat suits from the commissary, and while he's not limited to buying whatever he can afford on his 12-cents-an-hour job, he also can't spend much beyond that. Inmates are held to spending limits of about $290 a month at the commissary, Forster reports.

A big question about Vick's prison sentence is whether he'll be able to stay in shape. Forster reports that most federal prisons have a running track and a basketball court. Some locations have weight rooms; others don't. In any event, Vick won't be getting the kind of training he's accustomed to as a professional athlete.

Will Vick be able to watch NFL games from behind bars? Probably some, as dorms typically have two televisions. But Monday Night Football might be out: Not all facilities have cable.

Michael Vick will most likely never collect another NFL paycheck. And he may be forced to write the Falcons a very large check, for more than $28 million in bonus money the team has already paid him.

But that might not be the end of Vick's financial woes. Vick has damaged the reputations of the companies that had endorsement contracts with him, and he's cost them money in products and marketing campaigns tied to him that they won't be able to use. Nike, for example, was all set to roll out the new Zoom Vick V shoe before Vick's indictment led them to halt the campaign.

That leads to the question of whether companies might be able to sue him for damages to their brands resulting from his conduct. Some endorsement contracts specifically mention this possibility; the specific language of Vick's endorsement deals is not known.

Although Nike might decide that going after Vick would just create more headlines that would remind people that it was once closely associated with him, it would be completely reasonable for Nike and other companies to expect Vick to compensate them for what he's cost them.

If the Falcons, Nike and others line up to try to get money from Vick, he could be forced to file for bankruptcy. Vick doesn't seem like the type of savvy investor who would have tens of millions of dollars saved up in a rainy day fund, and it seems extremely unlikely that he would be able to withstand such claims against him.

It wouldn't be unprecedented for a man who was once among the highest-paid athletes in the world to go broke. Mike Tyson earned around $300 million in his boxing career, and he ended up filing for bankruptcy. Vick may follow in Tyson's footsteps.

Mike Nolan halted practice to berate the 49ers for getting too physical in a practice without pads.

Falcons LB Demorrio Williams will make his preseason debut Monday night after recovering from a torn pectoral muscle.

Packers RB Vernand Morency, currently sitting out with a knee injury, will definitely be ready for the regular-season opener.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is not worried about WR Terry Glenn missing practice time.

The Chargers will play most of their starters for about 40 plays in Saturday night's preseason game in Arizona. (LaDainian Tomlinson, of course, won't play at all.)

Tuesday's release of middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter by the Eagles is further proof that there are few sacred cows in the NFL, and none in Philadelphia. Every guy on the roster eventually will be cut, traded, or "retired." It's just the way it is.

The next big-time guy on the Eagles roster to whom this could apply, within the next year or two, is quarterback Donovan McNabb.

And if/when McNabb is unceremoniously nudged out of Philly, the last thing that anyone will be able to call it is unceremonious. One reader told us after inspecting the Eagles web site that the many tributes to Trotter created the impression not that he had been released, but that he had died.

So will McNabb be next? One clue could come from the images on the team's tickets. As one reader told us on Tuesday, each of the tickets to the Eagles' games this year bear the image of a player, and Trotter isn't one of them. If/when McNabb isn't one of the players appearing on the tickets (or, more likely, if/when there's a season with no player images on them), it could be a sign that McNabb could be done. Assuming, of course, that he isn't traded or released before the tickets are printed.

Whether McNabb will be the 2008 Trotter depends on how McNabb plays in 2007. But, surely, the Eagles didn't invest a second-round pick in Kevin Kolb to let him sit on the bench for four years and then leave via free agency. So at some point between 2007 and 2010, McNabb most likely will be the guy whose face is plastered all over the team's web site as it bids him a sad, yet premeditated, farewell.

Though we otherwise have no use for the NBA or anyone associated with it, we couldn't help but notice (thanks to a reader who pointed them out to us) the comments of Stephon Marbury regarding Mike Vick.

Count Marbury among the Clinton Portises of the world, who think that dog fighting is no big deal.

Said Marbury, while promoting his latest line of low-cost sneakers: "They don't say anything about people who shoot deers or shoot other animals. You know, I mean, from what I hear, dog fighting is a sport. It's just behind closed doors."

Here's the difference, Stephon. Hunting "deers" is legal. Fighting dogs is not. If people who live in the U.S. don't agree with that aspect of our legal system, then the alternative is to move to a country where dog fighting doesn't have to happen "behind closed doors," because it's perfectly legal there.

Excuse us for being cynical, but we have a feeling that Marbury is saying what he's saying in the hopes of getting some of the folks who blindly support Vick (even after he has admitted guilt) to devote some money that would have gone to high-priced Nike shoes with Vick's name on them to the cut-rate offerings marketed by Marbury.

But we can tell you this -- Florio Jr. has two pairs of Starbury shoes. And they'll be the last ones he ever gets.

Judge John Burlew made some interesting comments on Tuesday in connection with the situation involving Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman.

Calling the NFL "hypocrites" for promoting alcohol consumption while preventing players who drink it from playing, Judge Burlew said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, "This case upsets me more than anything else, primarily . . . with the National Football League. The allegations are that you had a legal substance – alcohol -- in your body, a substance which they advertise from and get money from, millions of dollars a year from."

The comments were made in connection with a hearing regarding allegations that Thurman violated the terms of his probation resulting from a 2006 DUI arrest. The matter was continued for two weeks, so that Thurman could retain a lawyer.

You might be wondering what Judge Burlew's thoughts on the NFL and its sponsorship strategies have to do with Thurman's case. The answer, well, is nothing.

But, you see, judges are elected in most states, and plenty of the registered voters in Hamilton County are very upset about the league's decision to cast Thurman aside for a second season. And Burlew is up for re-election in 2008. And a little grandstanding from the bench that generates local news coverage is a helluvalot cheaper than billboards and the television commercials.

At a time when multiple Falcons players are falling all over themselves to pledge unconditional loyalty to a man who has been living a warped dual life for years, spending his time away from the gridiron as a breeder and trainer of fighting dogs, at least one member of the team realizes what Monday's events mean.

Still, others are taking up for a man who got his jollies watching dogs rip each other to shreds.

"Michael is a human being," tight end Crumpler said. "People have been trying to dehumanize him. But he's hurting. I know that. Believe me, he's hurting."

Um, Alge? We know you're upset that the guy who looked to you as soon as he felt the slightest pressure in the pocket and ran out of it won't be there to help you justify that big contract you received, but please don't tell us that anyone has been trying to "dehumanize" Mike Vick. He dehumanized himself when he opted to act like something less than a human being by subjecting animals he professed to love to cruel activities, killing in cold blood those who were judged to be unfit to fight.

Meanwhile, we've heard that other current and former Vick teammates are carrying his dog-drowning water even after the revelation that Vick necessarily lied to them and the rest of us by claiming that he had nothing to do with the thing to which he now admits involvement. We've received several e-mails complaining about the nonsensical ramblings of Ray Buchanan, who told FOX Sports Radio colleague Chris Landry in April that Vick fights dogs and who then tried to deny it while saying that even if he thought that Vick was a dog fighter he wouldn't snitch on him.

But Buchanan's recent words mirror those of many others who refuse to recognize the realities of this case. Dog fighting is illegal. Gambling is illegal. Vick was immersed in the dog fighting and gambling lifestyle for years. But yet people are attacking the system for picking on Vick when, for example, Rams defensive end Leonard Little served only 90 days after killing Susan Gutweiler in 1998, followed by an eight-game suspension.

The fact that Little got off easy doesn't mean that Vick should, too. We've complained for years about the manner in which Little's situation was handled, and we're convinced that, if someone like Little were to kill someone while driving drunk in 2007, the consequences from an NFL standpoint would be far more dire.

Justice really is blind. Though some claim in defense of Vick that the laws are in some way slanted against African-Americans, it's simply not true. The law does not discriminate on the basis of race. That said, rich people usually can afford far more skilled counsel than those who aren't. The fact that the evidence in this case was strong enough to prevent even the best lawyers that money could buy from even trying to mount a defense should help to persuade anyone and everyone that Vick really is guilty, and that our sports heroes really can be capable of barbaric acts when out of the spotlight.

And it's all the more reason for our society to stop putting someone on a pedestal simply because he can run really fast or throw a ball hard.

We continue to get positive feedback (and we're not just saying that to get you to buy it) from folks who have bought the Rotoworld Fantasy Draft Guide.

Seriously, we've gotten several e-mails from folks who really like the thing. More importantly, we have not received a single e-mail from anyone complaining that it was a waste of their hard-earned money.

So buy it. The drafts are coming up. For all you know, every other person in your league has bought it. Where will you be without it?

Ravens coach Brian Billick wasn't happy that 11 penalty flags were thrown against his team on Sunday night.

X-rays were negative on the ankles of Ravens CB Samari Rolle and WR Mark Clayton.

The Texans' four starting defensive linemen registered one tackle against the Cardinals.

Jags S Reggie Nelson is expected to be available for the regular-season opener despite an ankle sprain.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, previously believed to have the personality of a mop bucket, apparently is changing.

During his Sunday night debut on NBC's football coverage, Tiki correctly questioned Eli's leadership skills, explaining that Eli was awkward and uncomfortable while addressing a room full of veterans such as Barber, Michael Strahan, and Jeremy Shockey.

Well, Eli has responded. It's not quite fire-and-brimstone material but, for Eli Milquetoast, it's a start:

"I guess I could have questioned his leadership skills last year with calling out the coach and having articles about him retiring in the middle of the season and [how] he's lost the heart," Manning said, according to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger. As a quarterback, you're reading your running back has lost the heart to play the game and it's about the 10th week. Well, I could see that a little bit at times."

Why do we have a feeling that this one will continue? Oh, yeah -- it's because Tiki doesn't know when to shut the hell up.

We intended to put this up on Monday, but technical difficulties prevented up from doing so.

Still, the Vick issue is still a red-hot subject. So, in other words, watch the damn thing.

He was taken from the field on a cart, and was later seen on crutches. It is believed that Sears has gone to a hospital for evaluation.

Sears, a second-round draft pick, is listed as the first-team left guard on the Bucs' depth chart.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the Seattle Seahawks have signed backup quarterback Seneca Wallace to a three-year, $5.4 million contract.

The contract increases his 2007 salary from $800,000 to $2 million. Also, Wallace is due to receive a $400,000 roster bonus in March. If the team chooses not to pay it, Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent.

So, basically, Wallace gave up his ability to hit the market for $1.6 million, since he otherwise would have been an unrestricted free agent after the season.

We're not so sure we agree with the move. At a time when the market has been going crazy, Wallace would have been in line for a lot more than the $4.6 million in the new money that he'll get by tying himself to the 'Hawks for the next three years.

And while we've got no quarrel with Wallace if he has decided to stay in Seattle over the long haul, the package seems a little bit light to us, even as backup quarterback contracts go.

A league source tells us that the new contract between running back Larry Johnson and the Chiefs includes a $13.5 million signing bonus.

Jay Glazer of FOX reports that the total guaranteed money is $19 million, and that the six-year deal has a total value of $45 million.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network has the contract at $19 million guaranteed, $43.2 million total value, and $27.7 million over the first three years.

It remains to be seen whether the $45 million (or $43.2 million) is a realistic number, or whether it requires Johnson to do things like lead the league in rushing multiple times, win an MVP award, and/or dress in drag and do the hula.

Okay, we know that that was incredibly lame. But we couldn't think of anything else.

UPDATE: Agent Alvin Keels tells us that the value of the five-year extension is $43.2 million, and that the total six-year value (including the old money) is $45 million.

Jay Glazer of FOX reports that running back Larry Johnson has agreed in principle on a six-year contract with the Chiefs. The contract will replace the final year of Johnson's rookie deal, during which he had been scheduled to earn $1.7 million.

Terms are not yet available, but the guaranteed money could be in the range of $19 million, which would be above the market for good veteran running backs but below the LaDanian Tomlinson ballpark.

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. In the NFC North, the cliche´ couldn't be more accurate.

The Vikings and the Packers have a history of picking through each other's garbage, and the tradition apparently will continue when former Green Bay receiver Robert Ferguson signs with the purple rivals to the west.

Per Scout.com, citing a television report from Houston, Ferguson will pass on a potential opportunity to join the Texans, and will instead join the Vikings.

Though heading to Houston seemed to be a natural fit for Ferguson, the truth is that he would have become, at best, the No. 3 man on the depth chart there. In Minnesota, he could soon be the go-to guy.

Last year, the Vikings cut receiver Koren Robinson not long after an alcohol-fueled high-speed police chase back to the team's training camp. Enter the Packers, who signed Robinson before a one-year suspension was imposed on him.

Other former Packers in Minnesota include kicker Ryan Longwell and safety Darren Sharper.

Defensive tackle Gerard Warren is now a member of the Raiders. But current Raider Warren Sapp isn't impressed.

"He's not going to make or break us," Sapp said. "If you don't make or break us, you're irrelevant to us. We're a unit. We're a unit that runs together. I see my eight. My eight's been here since I first walked in the door and I said, 'There's my eight.' . . . And he never came into that picture until I walked into the job this morning. I don't see him cracking that eight. . . .

"I wouldn't want to go to a team three weeks after their training camp and try to make their team, with my talent," Sapp added. "I wouldn't want to do that."

Gosh, it sounds like Sapp is more than a little threatened by the addition of Warren. Could it be that Sapp has heard the whispers that 32-year-old coach Lane Kiffin doesn't want to have on the team guys who are: (1) older than him; and (2) inclined to undermine Kiffin's objectives for the team?

Then again, if Sapp fears that interfering with the program might get him cut, he might not be openly criticizing the Warren trade.

Our guess is that Sapp simply can't help himself. He doesn't want to be overshadowed by anyone, and he doesn't appreciate the suggestion from the front office and/or the coaching staff that the current defensive tackle rotation needs help from someone like Warren.

Especially if an effective new Warren makes it easier for the Raiders to part ways with the old Warren.

A thought occurred to yours truly during a Tuesday morning visit with Marc Vandermeer and Andre Ware on SportsRadio 610 in Houston. While discussing the trade that sent Gerard Warren from Denver to Oakland, and addressing the conditional draft pick premised on Warren being on the opening day roster, the proverbial light bulb flickered.

If the Raiders cut Warren before the first game and re-sign him after it, they owe the Broncos nothing. So the Raiders can cut him before the first game, and re-sign him after it, and keep their fifth-round pick in the 2008 draft.

Every year, several veterans are released before Week One, in order to avoid the provision that allows their salaries to become fully guaranteed if they are on the opening day roster.

As to Warren, the only risk that the Raiders would be taking is that someone else could swoop in and sign him. But if the Raiders and Warren work out a wink-nod thing, they can pull off the maneuver and stick it to the Broncos.

A major factor in the final outcome of the entire Mike Vick legal imbroglio is what will happen to him under Virginia law. Though several readers have raised with us the notion of "double jeopardy," Vick has not faced animal cruelty charges under state law. The feds had no jurisdiction over such crimes, since they happened only in Virginia. For now, Vick has pleaded guilty only to conspiracy to violate several federal statutes dealing with interstate gambling and interstate dog fighting. He has never been placed in jeopardy for animal cruelty charges.

And, if the statement of facts he signs on August 27 includes an admission that he participated in the killing of the eight dogs that Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace admitted to killing with Vick, then it will be very easy to prove that Vick violated Virginia law.

We used to think that Poindexter was dragging his feet on Vick because Poindexter, a part-time prosecutor in his 60s, didn't want to face an O.J.-style dream team. But the challenge is now far easier than it would have been, and if Poindexter doesn't push forward aggressively, we'll conclude that his motives arise from corruption, not from sloth.

WIP radio, Sal Paolantonio of ESPN, and Jay Glazer of FOX report that Trotter will be released. An official announcement will be made at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Trotter became a star with the Eagles, and was slapped with the franchise tag after the 2001 season, when his rookie contract expired. The team lifted the tag later in the offseason, and Trotter signed with the Redskins. He spent two disappointing years in Washington before being released, and then returned to the Eagles, where he worked his way back into a starting job -- and was a key player during the team's 2004 Super Bowl run. He started 15 games in 2005, and 16 games in 2006.

UPDATE: The Eagles have officially announced the move. Said head coach Andy Reid: "Jeremiah is one of my favorite guys. There's no question that this is the toughest part of this job. He and I met about this last night and it was very emotional for the both of us. Jeremiah and I have been together for many years and he's played a vital role in helping this team win a lot of football games. He developed himself into a Pro Bowl middle linebacker through a lot of hard work and desire. In my mind, he will always be a Philadelphia Eagle and I'm sure he feels the same way. I wish he and his family nothing but the best in the future."

We'd been impressed by the work of ESPN.com's Lester Munson during the Mike Vick situation. Munson has a knack for making legal concepts readily understandable, using an easy-to-read question-and-answer format.

"The local prosecutor in Surry County, Va., where Vick built his dogfighting compound, says he will now take action against Vick. What can he do to Vick that the federal authorities haven't already done?

"Gerald Poindexter, the local prosecutor, can huff and puff and seek attention, but that's about it. Vick need not worry much about Poindexter. The federal authorities have the seven witnesses, the financial records, the e-mails and all the other evidence. Poindexter can charge Vick with dogfighting under a Virginia law that makes it a felony, but any punishment the player might serve on that charge would be done at the same time Vick is serving his federal sentence. Poindexter appears to be a bit embarrassed that the feds took over an investigation that he had started, and so whatever action he ultimately takes might be motivated, at least in part, by a desire to save face."

Lester, have you gone mad? If Vick admits to participating in the killing of eight dogs deemed unfit for fighting, he's on the hook for eight counts of animal cruelty, at a maximum prison sentence of five years each.

And Poindexter won't need the "seven witnesses, the financial records, the e-mails and all the other evidence." All Poindexter will need is the signed statement of facts, and it's a one-day, one-exhibit trial.

"I killed eight dogs."

Case closed.

Lester, what the hell are you thinking?

Though we're going to wait to see the statement of facts that Mike Vick signs on August 27, we will presume for now that it will contain an admission from Vick as to his involvement in the killing of eight dogs in April 2007 who were deemed to be unfit for fighting. We think that this is a fair presumption to make, because two of his codefendants admitted to participating in these activities, and said that Vick was involved, too. Thus, our guess is that federal prosecutors have pre-drafted Vick's statement of facts to include such an admission, and that prosecutors have made it clear to him that signing the document as written is a condition for accepting the plea offer.

So, if that's true, Vick will be admitting not only to being an illegal gambler and a dog fighter, but also to killing canines in cold blood. Man's best friend. The things that Vick has said he loves. Remember this?

As many talking heads already are saying, Vick's decision to plead guilty and, more importantly, to admit guilt is the first step in his quest for redemption. As Tom Jackson correctly said on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown on (duh) Monday night, we are a society that loves to give second chances.

But some people don't get second chances in our society. Pedophiles don't get second chances. Mass murderers don't get second chances (largely because they never get out of jail). Even today, some 40 years after the commission of his crimes, would anyone give Charles Manson anything other than a minimum-wage job if he were to find himself again among the free?

Though our society has never had the occasion to consider whether to give a second chance to a star athlete who admits to killing dogs, we think that no second chance should be available to Mike Vick, and we hope to hear from the "real" media plenty of skepticism regarding Vick's apparent effort to lay the foundation for his redemption by authorizing his lawyer to issue a statement in which Mike acknowledges the "mistakes he has made."

Folks, this wasn't a bad decision made in a night club under the influence of Grey Goose. This "mistake" was a lifestyle that unfolded over a period of years. It's something that Vick likely would still be doing if his property in Virginia hadn't been searched by authorities in late April.

And after the operation was found, what did Vick do? Did he take responsibility then? No -- he blamed his friends and family.

"I'm never there. I'm never at the house. I left the house with my family members and my cousin. They just haven't been doing the right thing. The issue will get resolved."

Folks, he lied. To you, to the Commissioner, and to the man who has paid him millions of dollars.

And then Vick hunkered down, using the notion of innocent until proven guilty -- a principle aimed only at protecting the truly innocent -- to force local and federal officials to marshal enough evidence before Vick would even consider admitting that he'd been caught.

He almost got lucky. Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter was, by all appearances, ready and willing to sweep all of this under the rug, until federal authorities wisely got involved.

Then, when Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury, he continued to remain silent. His lawyer professed his innocence on the courthouse steps, but in a perfunctory way that convinced no one who wasn't already predisposed to believing that Vick was clean.

It was only after Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace pleaded guilty that Vick even began to ponder the possibility of coming clean. And he only "did the right thing" after trying to get the best deal possible for doing it.

Look, we've got no problem with a guy engaging in aggressive plea negotiations in an effort to come out of the discussions with the most positive (or, as the case may be least negative) outcome, it's unfair and inappropriate for Vick to sell this as acceptance of full responsibility.

The notion of accepting full responsibility implies that Vick has done something honorable. But there is no honor in Vick's actions. He cried "uncle" as his arm was about to be snapped off.

Other members of the media ("real" or otherwise) might be sufficiently naive to be buffaloed by this. But not us. And we hope that any NFL team that might be seduced by Vick's superb but primarily one-dimensional skills in 2010 or thereafter will consider the situation very carefully before giving this man a second chance that, in our view, he simply does not deserve.

So maybe the right outcome here is for the Commissioner to protect all future owners and coaches and G.M.'s from themselves by banning Vick for life.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that the Washington Redskins have signed linebacker Randall Godfrey. To create room for Godfrey, the Redskins released linebacker Lemar Marshall.

Godfrey, an 11-year veteran, has spent the last three seasons with the Chargers. Before that, he played for the Titans, Seahawks, and Cowboys.

Marshall entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2001, and has spent his entire career with the Redskins. He has been a starter for most of the past three seasons, and he was due to earn $1 million in 2007, the final year of his contract.

So we're watching Man-Girl and Meatball in the Morning on ESPN2, but as usual one or both of the Mike's is gone. (How much freakin' vacation time do those guys get?) In their place, Doug Gottlieb and Michael Smith are soldiering on, complete with the weekly "Just Shut Up" feature.

And one of the possible choices caused us to choke on our whole wheat double fiber toast (which, actually, isn't hard to do).

The option was Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace, "For agreeing to plea deals and failing to stick up for the embattled QB."

What the f--k? We don't watch a lot of ESPN programming, but we somehow missed the fact that Bristol is now at the forefront of the "stop snitchin''" movement.

How can ESPN even begin to justify suggesting that two men who confessed to the commission of crimes -- crimes that we now know Mike Vick himself committed -- should be criticized for telling the truth? We are virtually speechless. (We couldn't just say "speechless" because, obviously, we're not silent.) This sends a horrible message to impressionable youths who will view the move as a subtle acknowledgement by ESPN that the right thing to do when the chips are down is to say nothing.

Real life isn't Goodfellas. We want our kids to know right from wrong, and it couldn't be more wrong to suggest that it's somehow wrong for someone to admit responsibility for his actions, even if the admission gets someone else in trouble.

These guys weren't tattling on Vick; they were confessing to their own misdeeds.

And so what if they "told on" Vick? He was guilty, and he lied about it. If the goal of the justice system is to get to the truth, and if the only way to get there is for other people to tell what they know, it's completely and totally inappropriate for a major broadcasting entity with a near ubiquitous (thanks, Tiki) presence in modern life to suggest that folks should clam up as a way to "stick up" for their friends.

POSTED 11:04 p.m. EDT, August 20, 2007; LAST UPDATED 12:18 a.m. EDT, August 21, 2007

A PFT reader who also practices law in Las Vegas has alerted us to the filing of a civil action by Natalie Jones against a variety of defendants, including Adam Bernard Jones.

Here's the description supplied by a service that alerts Nevada lawyers to new case filings: "Assault and battery action. Defendant Jones, a football player for the Tennessee Titans, fired a gun into a crowd outside of the defendant gentlemen's club and shot the plaintiff in the head. Jones had been thrown out of the club earlier that night for an altercation during which he grabbed a dancer by her hair and slammed her head against the stage. The plaintiff seeks punitive damages."

Maybe we missed the news items about, you know, a woman being shot in the head, or the reports that Jones actually fired a gun that night.

Obviously, these are only allegations at this point. And the plaintiff will have a chance to prove her claims. But we're skeptical of these claims, primarily since we think we would have already known about the incident if there was anything to it.

Last week, we got a look-see at the new Madden game for the Wii and the regular Xbox. Tonight, yours truly took a break from updating the site to get his butt kicked by a 16-year-old nephew on the Xbox 360 version of the game.

We ordinarily don't like to pimp products that don't pay for space on the site, but we have to give credit where it's due. The game is incredible.

Besides, we figure it's okay to give the game a plug because Sprint has a strong presence in every version of it -- a wise move by the official ProFootballTalk telecommunications sponsor to align itself with a high-quality product.

UPDATE: A reader who was disappointed with the initial Madden offering on Xbox 360 has asked us to elaborate on what makes the new version so good -- the game play or the graphics. For us, it's both. Oh, and the intro segment made me ready to run into a wall, without pads on.

One of these days, Emmitt Smith will show up at PFT headquarters and put his shoe so far up my ass that a lace will be protruding from a nostril.

But we can't keep quiet about this. Emmit was a great football player. He is unfit to be a broadcaster. He needs to go. Now.

Consider these lowlights from Monday night's pregame show, which we recorded so that we could get the quotes right.

First, Emmitt referred to his new colleague, former NFL coach Bill Parcells, simply as "Parcells."

Then, Emmitt got himself all tongue tied when talking about Mike Vick. Consider this passage: "let alone now spending three -- three years or whatever many -- however many time -- how much time he's away from the game."

Also, Emmitt generally needs to work on his conjugation of verbs. We understand that, in some settings, it's okay to speak in an informal, colloquial manner. But, when attempting to work as a broadcaster, it's time to talk correctly. You know, like a guy who has been to college.

It's not "he come," it's "he comes." It's not "he like," it's "he likes." It's not "all he have to do," it's "all he has to do."

There's simply no excuse for a guy who now makes a living by talking to talk so poorly. And to not demand that ESPN and other networks hire men and women who can speak properly sends a subtle message to the audience that it's perfectly okay for them to butcher the language, too.

And, please, don't send us a bunch of e-mails arguing that Emmitt is entitled to learn on the fly. There are plenty of people who could do that job better than Emmitt. He was hired for his name recognition, and nothing more. We're supposed to be impressed that ESPN was able to attract the all-time leading rusher -- and we're supposed to not notice that, if he played football like he comments on it, he would have been cut during the first week of camp.

The National Football League has issued the following statement regarding Mike Vick:

"We are aware of Michael Vick's decision to enter a guilty plea to the federal charges against him and accept responsibility for his conduct. We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons. We will conclude our own review under the league’s personal conduct policy as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have asked the Falcons to continue to refrain from taking action pending a decision by the commissioner."

The league's statement doesn't address possible violations of the gambling policy but, it's likely that a separate review will be conducted within the confines of that specific rule.

The difference between the two provisions is that Vick would have the ability to pursue a grievance regarding any penalties imposed under the gambling policy. Under the Personal Conduct Policy, the Commissioner is the judge, jury, executioner, court reporter, bailiff, and appellate court.

Let's take a break from the Mike Vick coverage to address a couple of other issues, as discussed by the boys of PFTV.

Five arrests were made at the Packers game on Saturday night. (We didn't know the Bengals were in town.)

With Mike Vick agreeing to plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges, what will transpire next? Read on for our take on the coming developments.

First, Vick will officially enter his plea on August 27. At that time, he will sign a statement of facts similar to the document that Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace signed on Friday, with detailed admissions. The biggest question? Whether the document will include an acknowledgement from Vick that he participated in the killing of eight dogs in April 2007.

Second, if the statement of facts contains an admission as to the killing of the eight dogs, Vick will be giving Surry County, Virginia prosecutor Gerald Poindexter all he needs to obtain a conviction on eight counts of violating Virginia's animal cruelty laws. Under Virginia law, he faces up to 40 years in jail.

Third, the NFL will be acting at some point, probably soon. Look for Vick to be suspended indefinitely, with a final decision made after Vick submits his signed statement of facts. Our guess? He'll be suspended for at least one year for dog fighting, and at least one year for gambling. Also, we think that any suspension will be tolled during his incarceration.

Fourth, the Falcons need to decide how to handle the situation. Though many will expect owner Arthur Blank to cut him as soon as Commissioner Roger Goodell allows the team to proceed, the Falcons need to wait until Vick defaults on his contract so that the team can recover, as we calculate it, more than $28 million in paid bonus money. The broader question is whether the Falcons must carry Vick on the roster during the term of his suspension in order to collect all of the $28 million, since the bonus money applies to future years of the contract that have not yet been served.

At some point, Arthur Blank must decide whether his desire to get his money back supersedes his desire to get Vick off of the team.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal on federal conspiracy charges. But it's more than just a guilty plea. Vick is admitting that he did it. A statement from lawyer Billy Martin reads as follows:

"After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick ask that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with Federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him. Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of Guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologizes again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter. The legal team and Mr. Vick will appear in court in Richmond on August 27th."

It's a far cry from Martin's initial statements regarding the case from July 23, when Martin had this to say: "You all heard and saw that this was the first step from Michael in proving his innocence. The indictment contains mere allegations."

In our view, Vick came clean because he realizes that there's no way he can ever return to the NFL without securing redemption, and that there can be no redemption without contrition.

The broader question is whether redemption is even available with contrition. Should he get credit for telling the truth only after it was clear that there was no way out? We don't think so.

It's unclear whether the deal includes any type of commitment from the NFL as to Vick's possible suspension, or any commitment from authorities in Virginia regarding possible charges for animal cruelty arising from eight dogs that were killed on Vick's property in April 2007, the same month in which Vick told the Commissioner that there was no dog fighting on his Surry County, Virginia property. If Vick's formal plea documents include an admission that he participated in the killings of the dogs, he's certain to face even more jail time in Virginia, where the total penalty will be up to 40 years.

Though in the fictional world of Madden 08 Trent Green is still the starting quarterback of the Chiefs, he officially has won the same position with the Dolphins, who acquired him in a June trade.

Green held off Cleo Lemon, who made an unexpectedly strong bid for the job. Lemon is in the last year of his contract, and will likely be the primary backup while second-round rookie John Beck learns the ropes.

"We're at a point where we need to start putting this offense together and the number one thing our offense needs is leadership," coach Cam Cameron said. "Trent brings that, but I do believe Cleo's time is coming and he's got a lot of room for growth."

Lemon's time will most likely come elsewhere. We recently reported that he rejected a multi-year offer from the Dolphins, and will instead become an unrestricted free agent in March.

David Elfin of the Washington Times reports that the Redskins are believed to be talking to the Falcons about a trade that would send quarterback Mark Brunell to Atlanta.

The Falcons have a clear need at the position following the recent ACL injury suffered by backup D.J. Shockley, a fan favorite due to his local connections. The only other quarterbacks on the roster are Joey Harrington and Chris Redman.

Though the Falcons could choose to go with two signal-callers on the regular-season roster, it might be wise to add a veteran like Brunell. If Harrington isn't effective, Brunell might be able to step in and salvage what otherwise would be a lost season. Redman hasn't played in a regular-season game since 2003.

Meanwhile, we think it's odd that a stodgy old-media type like Elfin would try to display some bloggers' humor and attitude by referring to Mike Vick as "Dogfighting Man."

Rule No. 1, Dave? If you want to let your hair down in the blog format with an effort at the kind of humor that can't be used when writing for the fish wrap, it's usually more effective if the end result is, you know, humorous.

The Rocky Mountain News and Adam Schefter of NFL Network report that the Broncos will receive a fifth-round pick from the Raiders for defensive tackle Gerard Warren, if Warren is on the roster when the season begins.

If Warren gets cut before September 9, the Broncos will get nothing and like it.

Warren's 2007 salary is a mere $595,000, making the Raiders likely to keep him around. Per Schefter, the Warren contract contains a $2 million incentive for Warren if he participates in at least 50 percent of the snaps on defense.

Things will get interesting in 2008, when Warren's base salary bumps to $4 million.

Though it appears that Mike Vick has opted not to plead guilty to pending federal conspiracy charges, CNN suggests that talks are ongoing.

Per CNN, the pending offer recommends a prison term of 18-36 months. Vick's lawyers are holding out for a recommended term of less than a year. Regardless, Judge Henry Hudson will have the final say on this.

CNN also reports that the Vick camp is hoping to hear from the NFL on Monday about the potential impact of a guilty plea on Vick's playing career. However, the league previously has indicated that it will not make such commitments in connection with the plea discussions.

WSB-TV in Atlanta reports that a hearing before Judge Henry Hudson on any plea deal involving Falcons quarterback Mike Vick would not occur before Monday, August 27.

The reason for this delay is that, before a hearing can be scheduled, there has to be a deal. As of yet, there is no deal.

Though the delay isn't significant, the real news here is that, if there's a deal, the judge presiding over the case hasn't been told about it. And that suggests that there is no deal.

It makes us wonder whether there even will be. At some point, prosecutors will pull the offer off of the table and proceed.

Of course, it's possible that the offer has been yanked, but that the Vick camp has yet to leak this fact to the media. Don't count on the prosecutors saying anything more about this until the new indictment, with new charges, is announced.

Former Texans vice president of administration Dan Ferens has joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as a consultant, a league source tells us. (In fact, Ferens already is listed on the team's official site as a "business department consultant.")

In November 2006, Ferens left the Texans to return to Pittsburgh, but not to continue to work in the NFL. He planned to attempt to obtain work with an accounting firm.

"The truth is that my family was in Pittsburgh, and my son's 11, and I didn't get to see one of his [football] games this season," Ferens told the Houston Chronicle at the time. "Now I will."

The move already is prompting speculation in league circles that the Steelers are giving Ferens a test drive in the event that they have to replace Omar Khan following the 2007 season. Khan and Kevin Colbert are widely rumored to be a candidate to join former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, if/when Cowher returns to the NFL. And Khan's specialty -- contracts and the salary cap -- is the same as Ferens' specialty.

Ferens spent nearly 20 years with the Steelers as the team's top contract negotiator before leaving in 2000.

Could the Apocalypse be approaching? If so, we definitely have a sign that we can point to.

Let's repeat that. The Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders have engaged in a trade.

Specifically, the Broncos have shipped defensive tackle Gerard Warren to the Raiders for an undisclosed pick in the 2008 draft.

The move is stunning, given the acrimony between these two franchise and, specifically, the abject hatred shared by Raiders owner Al Davis and Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. If anything, we would have expected tension to increase with the recent hiring of former Raiders personnel guru Mike Lombardi by the Broncos. But perhaps it was Lombardi who was able to work his old connections there in order to make the trade happen.

Surely, a trade to the Raiders was the only option that the Broncos had. Even then, we're surprised that they didn't simply cut Warren in lieu of entering into a transaction with the Raiders.

And, yeah, the title to this item comes from one of the funniest movies of our time.

We've finally gotten a look at the hit that put Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell out of the game on Saturday night, and as one reader pointed out it looks a lot like the January 2006 encounter between Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer and former Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelfhoffen.

The video, which can be seen right here, shows Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel hitting Campbell low as Campbell throws a pass.

There's an added benefit to viewing the video -- it features a reunion between Joey Sunshine and former Sunday night NFL play-by-play guy Mike Patrick (who hails from the same city in which PFT is based). Joe must have rubbed off on Mike a bit on Saturday night, because at one point in the highlight package Patrick refers to Campbell as "Williams."

And though it pains us to agree with Sunshine on anything, we believe that Sunshine is right when he argues that the penalty for hitting the quarterback low should be stiffer. Frankly, we think it should be an immediate ejection.

With much uncertainty surrounding the outcome of an NFL suspension and possible Virginia charges, it could be that Mike Vick has opted to reject (for now) the possibility of pleading guilty to pending federal charges.

If Vick's primary motivation is to get back onto the football field, and if there's no way of knowing when that will happen if he agrees to the pending plea offer, the only way that Vick will be able to return is by fighting the current charges (and any new counts) in the hopes of securing an acquittal.

If Vick pleads guilty, he likely won't be back in the NFL until 2009, at the very earliest. In fact, 2010 might be the more realistic season in which he would be allowed to return after spending a year or so in jail (which will wipe out, by the time his term starts, all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons) and after serving a post-prison suspension of one year.

So while he'll be likely to face more than 20 years behind bars once he is indicted on the underlying federal violations that, for now, he is only charged with conspiring to commit, the quickest path back to the NFL is to fight the charges and win.

The stakes, of course, couldn't be higher. If Vick is convicted on all charges, he's looking at a long, long time behind bars -- possibly more than a decade.

On Friday, one of Vick's lawyers said that there is no deadline for accepting the plea deal, but that prosecutors wanted to wrap the thing up by the end of last week. Logic and common sense suggest that, with no deal announced as of Monday morning, Vick has decided to pass on the offer.

If so, the federal authorities will move forward, with only one defendant on whom to focus. And our guess is that they will be even more determined and zealous in their pursuit of Vick, because the prosecutors surely believe that they made him a fair offer, which they likewise believe should have been accepted.

Moving forward, a new indictment likely will mean a new trial date. Our present guess is that the case will be set to start in early January, making it a direct distraction from the NFL postseason.

Also, look for Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Vick for the 2007 season within the next two weeks. Although former U.S. Attorney Eric Holder apparently has not yet submitted a final report to Goodell, the admissions signed on Friday by Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace give the Commish all the ammo he needs to eject Vick from the game for the 2007 season, with further penalties possible based on the evidence presented at trial.

The bottom line? If Vick goes all in on these charges, he'll either play in the NFL in 2008. Or never again. With no way of knowing when or if a guilty plea on current charges would allow him to return to the league, and with pro football such a huge part of his identity, it's starting to look like that's the path he will choose.

The beauty of a product that isn't printed on paper is that you can never run out of it. So, even as a surprisingly high number of residents of PFT Planet have decided since last Thursday to purchase the Rotoworld Fantasy Draft Guide, plenty more are available.

The Draft Guide can be purchased right here. If someone else in your league has already bought it and you haven't, you're pretty much screwed; you might as well draft Mike Vick and Curtis Martin and Jerry Rice and Mark Bavaro. And Cal Ripken.

Last season, the folks in Bristol were incessantly crowing about the ratings successes (relatively speaking) of their new $1.1 billion per year investment in the NFL.

"Best . . . cable . . . ratings . . . ever," was the constant cry from Connecticut, with flowery press releases generated pretty much every week about how great the MNF franchise was doing, even as NBC was offering up a far more compelling product on Sunday nights, at roughly half of the total annual rights fee.

The 17.2 million viewers who tuned in on Friday night (maybe it's not a bad idea to move the draft, after all) bested the MNF record of 16 million for the evening of September 23, 2006.

And, amazingly, HSM2 secured that many viewers without an extensive cross-promotional effort on ESPN, which is a sister to The Disney Channel. In fact, not even one of the kids we'd never recognize who star in the movie invaded the MNF booth on Thursday night of last week, and none of them were featured as guest commentators for those riveting "Who's Now" debates.

Though, on the surface, ESPN doesn't really cater to the HSM2 crowd, the intellectual level of an increasing amount of the content is geared to that same demographic. So maybe the numbers on Friday night could have been even higher.

Peter King of NBC reports that Mike Vick, if he pleads guilty, won't roll over on other NFL players who might be involved in dog fighting.

But what if giving up the goods as to what he knows about dog fighting and the associated gambling activities is part of the plea offer that's on the table? We suppose that he could try to say "I don't know" when it comes to NFL players, but if the feds expect him to come clean and he tries to zip his lips, the plug could be pulled on the plea bargain.

King's report came as part of an insightful halftime discussion during NBC's Sunday night game between the Ravens and the Giants. Cris Collinsworth raised the gambling angle, and King said that the NFL is as concerned, and possibly more concerned, about the gambling angle than the dog-fighting aspect of the case.

King also said that any suspension from the NFL most likely will begin after Vick gets out of prison.

And Tiki Barber suggested that, if Vick names names regarding other players who are involved in dog fighting, Vick would never be accepted in another NFL locker room.

So, Tiki, are you saying that NFL players don't like it when one of their own speaks out of school? Such as, for example, commenting on another player's contract? Or criticizing teammates and/or coaches to the press? You mean like that, Tiki?

As Tiki's new on-air teammate Peter King wrote less than two years ago after Tiki ripped the coaching staff following a playoff loss, "It was a bad decision to make that statement. Just as you don't impugn your quarterback for a lousy game (and Eli Manning was a lot worse on Sunday than Tom Coughlin), you don't rip your coaching staff, even if you think it did a bad job. Hey, I love to see people speaking the truth, and if Barber believes what he said, good for us. Great story. But I also think it's something you don't do as a team guy."

We tuned in to the halftime show on NBC primarily to see what Tiki Barber had to say. Specifically, we were looking for some of his patented ten-dollar words.

Unfortunately, we were disappointed. "Convoluted" was the closest Tiki came to expanding anyone's vocabulary.

Heck, Peter King was far more prodigious (thanks, um, Peter) in his vocabulary, throwing around terms like "concurrently" and "diminution" and "tentacles."

Somebody must have taken an axe to the beanstalk, because Giants are falling left and right on Sunday night.

The most serious of the bunch is receiver Michael Jennings, who ruptured an Achilles' tendon while making a reception in the first quarter.

Also, safety Will Demps dislocated an elbow, and cornerback Sam Madison pulled a hamstring. Receiver Steve Smith has a concussion.

And whenever Giants players get hurt we recall the words of coach Tom Coughlin, who suggested when hired that players could somehow will themselves to stay healthy.

The Ravens haven't avoided the injury bug. Cornerback Samari Rolle and receiver Mark Clayton each has sustained ankle injuries.

It seems that some members of the New York Giants are of the opinion that receiver Plaxico Burress is milking the ankle injury that he suffered on August 2.

"I think his milk is going bad," said a player who overheard what another player said, according to Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.

Said Burress in response: "It's fine. But when I get back on the football field, when I get back out there and back to being No. 17 and making plays, everybody's going to shut up and get in line.

"You think I'm not out there because I don't want to? That would be crazy to think that. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. If they think that, then good for them. But when it comes time to strap it up on Sunday, I'll be one of the best players on the field."

Maybe it's just us, but shouldn't Burress be pissed off about this, if he really isn't milking the injury? And isn't he going to want to know who it is that thinks he's milking the injury, if he isn't milking the injury?

Regardless, it's good to know that there will still be plenty of drama in New York, even without TiVi Barber on board.

Jets coach Eric Mangini isn't happy that the agent for RB Thomas Jones was talking about his condition.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that an MRI on the bruised knee of Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell shows that he suffered only a bruise to his knee on Saturday night.

Schefter also reports that linebacker Marcus Washington has a dislocated elbow, which was been relocated. He nevertheless will miss two weeks.

To the extent that there are unwritten rules that apply in the preseason, the Broncos believe that the Cowboys broke them on Saturday night.

"They came out and game-planned us, blitzing every play," safety John Lynch said. "They came after us. It's no excuse for the way we played. But I think they might have broken the code of ethics for the preseason."

Dallas coach Wade Phillips said that blitzing is a big part of what they do in a 3-4 defense.

From our perspective, we think that the Broncos shouldn't complain. The preseason is the time for the doing whatever a team thinks it needs to do to get ready for the season. The score doesn't (or at least shouldn't) matter.

Besides, the league wants to see "real" football, so that fans will continue to plunk down "real" money for these necessarily not "real" games.

Rogers was cut by the Lions prior to the 2006 season, and was unable to secure a contract with another team. We'd heard rumors of workouts involving times in the 40-yard dash at or about 5.0 seconds.

Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com reports that agent Jason Fletcher says that three CFL teams are interested in Rogers. In our view, however, Rogers would have to dominate Canada before anyone in the NFL would show any interest in him. His history of injuries, ineffectiveness, and inhalation presents a huge hurdle for Rogers, and his experiences are further proof that there's no such thing as a sure thing in the NFL draft.

Cards QB Matt Leinart, who wears jersey number seven, was seven for seven for 70 yards and a seven-pointer on Saturday night. (Okay, we know a touchdown is technically worth only six points, but we didn't want to disrupt the whole "seven" thing.)

The Falcons are waiting to find out whether QB D.J. Shockley is out for the year.

The Ravens wrapped up what coach Brian Billick called a "phenomenal" camp on Saturday.

Good news: The Texans scored on six straight possessions against the Cardinals on Saturday. Bad news: The Texans don't play the Cardinals during the regular season.

Not long ago, Browns rookie quarterback Brady Quinn was close to becoming persona non grata (thanks, Tiki) in Cleveland, due to a protracted holdout and the horribly misguided decision prior to training camp to charge a minimum of $75 for his autograph.

But those days could be gone forever (or, at least until he stinks it up in the regular season) following Quinn's stirring debut in a Saturday night game against the Lions. Playing from behind, Quinn passed on every snap during his two fourth-quarter touchdown drives, completing 13 of 20 throws. Four of the 20 attempts that didn't result in receptions were clock-killing spikes.

One of the efforts saw the Browns cover 92 yards in less than two minutes. It wasn't quite "The Drive," but it was enough to make fans think that Quinn could be Cleveland's long-awaited answer to the guy who authored it more than 20 years ago.

And at a time when the other Browns quarterbacks are playing like the brown stuff that might be found on the floor of the Dawg Pound, the outcry for Quinn could begin, soon.

"I can sit here and say he had a limited offense, but they're going to be encouraged by what they saw," coach Romeo Crennel said after the game. "Their best guys weren't in there, but ours weren't either. Let them get excited, but we still will do what we feel is best for this team."

Translation -- Quinn won't be the Week One starter. But unless Charlie Frye and/or Derek Anderson step it up soon, Quinn might be thrown into the fire earlier than expected, especially in light of the fact that his holdout prompted most observers to assume that he wouldn't play at all in 2007.

And if that's the real test for the games that aren't real, the Denver Broncos failed on Saturday against the Cowboys, when defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon, and running back Travis Henry went down with a knee injury that will require an MRI on Sunday. Henry is believed to have a sprained MCL; such an injury heals without surgery, but requires rest. His availability for the start of the regular season could be in doubt.

As to Ekuban, the season-long absence creates more need on a defensive line that the Broncos hope will improve significantly in 2007. With defensive tackle Gerard Warren still on the trading block, why not give the Giants a call and offer Warren straight up for holdout defensive end Michael Strahan?

Strahan supposedly would be inclined to play for a contender, and the Broncos are one. If, of course, they can get some solid play on the defensive line -- and if Travis Henry is available.

Redskins starting quarterback Jason Campbell left Saturday night's game against the Steelers with a bruised left knee.

Campbell went to the locker room but returned to the field. The injury doesn't appear to be serious.

He was a first-round pick of the Redskins in 2005, and this will be his first full season as a starter. The Redskins haven't had the same starting quarterback for an entire season since 1999.

Every night, we try to think of something clever to say in this space about the fact that we've added the next team to the PFT preseason power rankings.

Breaking news, folks -- Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com reports that Mike Vick still hasn't made up his mind about whether to accept a plea agreement.

The rest of Len's piece reads a lot like various of the items that we've posted over the past week or so regarding the Vick situation.

Possible gambling charges (the new "real" media buzzword for avoiding the "G" word is "racketeering") in a new indictment? Check.

Vick wanting to know as much as possible about his overall situation before taking the deal from federal prosecutors? Check.

The only new revelation in Len's article is that Vick's folks have been talking to Virginia authorities in conjunction with the ongoing negotiations with federal officials. But why would Surry County prosecutor Gerald Poindexter agree not to pursue charges of animal cruelty against Vick as part of the deal with the feds?

Did Poindexter agree not to prosecute Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips? As part of their federal pleas, they both signed paperwork which amounts to a confession as to eight counts of animal cruelty. It would be grossly unfair and unjust for Vick to get a better deal than the guys who pleaded guilty before him.

Many people have expressed to us suspicion that Poindexter is trying to help Vick. We've resisted reaching such opinions; we believed that Poindexter merely hoped to avoid a protracted trial against an O.J.-style dream team. But if Poindexter insists on no Virginia jail time as part of a deal in which Vick, like Peace and Phillips, admits to killing eight dogs, Poindexter should be removed from office, immediately.

One last point -- why do we suddenly get the feeling that Vick and company are trying to dictate the terms under which he'll accept a plea? Frankly, we're surprised that federal prosecutors are letting this drag on, and we hope that at some point soon they tell him that, if he doesn't take the deal now, they'll see him in court later.

Falcons QB D.J. Shockley suffered what could be a serious knee injury on Friday night.

Titans rookie DB Michael Griffin picked off two passes on Friday night against the Patriots.

Cards coach Ken Whisenhunt wants high-round draft picks of past seasons to pick up their games.

A league source tells us that the Oakland Raiders lack any real urgency to get quarterback JaMarcus Russell into camp. Per the source, the team's stance arises from the fact that owner Al Davis concluded during post-draft offseason workouts that Russell wouldn't be ready to play in 2007.

So if the franchise (i.e., Davis) believes that Russell won't help the team this season, there's no reason to bow to his agents' demands.

Still, the impasse needs to break at some point before next April. Otherwise, Russell will end up back in the draft, and the Raiders will have nothing to show for the first pick in the 2007 process.

We don't see it coming to that. At worst, the Raiders would try to trade his rights before the 2008 draft.

But, assuming that they don't, wouldn't it be the ultimate diss of the screwed-up rookie Powerball system to use the No. 1 pick in the draft and never sign him? It's even better than passing on the pick, since it also prevents the player from landing with another team.

Of course, it also prevents the Raiders from having any first-round draft pick, which isn't the best long-term strategy for building a team.

The bottom line, for now, is that the Raiders are in no rush to pay Russell, since the team doesn't feel the need to get him on the field. From Russell's perspective, the question is whether he's content to continue to sit. Without getting paid.

As disgruntled Jets offensive lineman Pete Kendall continues to stew about the team's refusal to adjust his contract or to cut him loose, we're starting to wonder whether Kendall is trying to get cut via his on-field performances.

On Friday night against the Vikings, Kendall played center in the second half -- and had two bad snaps, one of which was recovered in the end zone for a Minnesota touchdown.

And though we've got no specific reason to believe that Kendall was trying to throw the ball over the head of quarterback Kellen Clemens from shotgun formation, it's hard not to think that his unhappiness (justified or not) is influencing his actions, even if at a minimum his frustration is causing a subconscious distraction for him.

A reader is convinced that Kendall's actions were a not-so-subtle middle finger to management, especially since it's well known that Kendall doesn't want to play center.

Where this goes next remains to be seen. Kendall has quieted down a bit, apparently due to the possibility of a suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. But if he suddenly performs poorly, will the team be able to show that he is tanking it on purpose?

The bigger question might be whether the team will even want to bother with it. At some point, the smart move could be to cut the guy. If they do it after the start of the regular season, he will be allowed to take the balance of his salary as termination pay.

Then again, Kendall is largely responsible for his current situation. He signed a new contract in March 2006 and received a $3.9 million signing bonus. Though the deal also reduced his base salary for 2006 from $4.3 million to $1.3 million, he came out of the transaction with more money on his 1040.

But he had a solid season last year (possibly because he was sandwiched between two first-rounds who panned out), and now he wants more money. Pete, get in line. Unless there was a specific promise made to increase his pay on which the Jets are reneging, Kendall should be willing honor his deal.

Bottom line? No one forced him to sign the new contract that gave him $3.9 million bird in the hand. Sure, the new contract also slashed his 2007 salary. But, again, he didn't have to sign it.

Thus, yet another player doesn't want to respect the terms of the contract that carries his name, under the apparent guise that he has already "outperformed" the deal. But the system is what the system is. At a time in 2006 when Kendall might have been in danger of getting cut, he signed the paperwork -- and cashed the check. Less than 18 months later, he wants a do-over. And, like T.O. from two years ago, Kendall is opting not to hold out but to pout until he gets his way.

If there's any proof that Kendall is making mistakes on the field as a manifestation (thanks, Tiki) of his dissatisfaction, then the Jets need to enforce their rights aggressively. Regardless of the motivation, "tanking it" is a direct threat to the integrity of the game, and if it's happening it should be treated no differently than gambling.

The response to our offering of the Rotoworld draft guide has been overwhelming. And that means that plenty of the people whom you'll be facing this season in fantasy football might have already bought it.

You can get it right here. And ProFootballTalk gets a cut of all the sales made through this site. So by helping yourself to the Rotoworld draft guide, you're helping someone else. And isn't that what it's all about?

There's already talk in league circles that defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, the No. 10 overall pick in the draft, could be a bust.

The 20-year-old rookie from Louisville received plenty of hype in the run up to the draft. But the opinion of some is that he is undersized and not strong. As one source said, he's the "creation of a good P.R. campaign," and "there's no way he's a first-round pick."

Okoye already has been overshadowed in training camp and the preseason by Rams nose tackle Adam Carriker, the 13th overall selection. Carriker appears to be poised to make an instant impact at this level.

In our view, the biggest red flag regarding Okoye was raised when his college coach, Bobby Petrino, drafted defensive end Jamaal Anderson instead of Okoye. If Petrino, who had prior NFL experience, believed that Okoye could excel as a pro, Petrino surely would have taken the known commodity over the unknown quantity.

If Okoye falters, he'll be the third first-round pick on the Texans defensive line that has underachieved, including defensive tackle Travis Johnson and defensive end Mario Williams.

In the 48 hours or so since we got our hands on the contract numbers for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, the No. 14 overall pick in the draft, we've heard from league insiders on both sides of the fence -- agents and management -- who were skeptical about the terms.

Said one league insider on Friday: "According to your numbers, he'll be getting much more in every facet than Marshawn Lynch, the twelfth pick, who got a heck of a deal with Buffalo. According to your numbers, he'll be getting $11 million guaranteed on a four year deal versus $10.285 million for Lynch on a five year. And if the Jets buy back years five and six he'll get a total of $27 million guaranteed? No way it can be true. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it. If your numbers are right, [G.M.] Mike Tannenbaum should be fired on the spot."

As we reported on Thursday, the base value of the package is six years, $32 million. The deal voids to four years, $16 million (with $11 million guaranteed, which includes his 2007 base salary) if Revis participates in at least 35 percent of the snaps on defense in any one season. The Jets can then buy back years five and six for $5 million and $11 million, respectively. The year-six pay can drop to $9 million or increase to $13 million or $15 million based primarily on playing time -- but it apparently will require four Pro Bowl appearances in five years to get to the highest possible number in year six.

Said another league insider: "So much for the Jets digging in their heels, having the player hold out, and letting the world know they weren't going to do voidable years. Can you please tell me what was accomplished?"

Still, yet another league insider views it as a win-win, since the Jets will be paying huge money to Revis only if he becomes a star. And, if he does, the contract likely will be renegotiated after three or four NFL seasons.

"You pay for three positions," said the source, "cornerback, left tackle, and quarterback. By getting the full six years, the Jets won't have to franchise Revis and [left tackle D'Brickashaw] Ferguson in the same year. So if they both work out, they'll be able to keep both of them for the long haul."

A day after indicating that the Packers would either trade or release veteran receiver Robert Ferguson, the team has cut him loose.

And that's not a surprise, since no one was likely to pick up a contract that pays him a total of $4 million in salary over the next two years.

It'd be interesting to know whether the Packers tried to get him to take reduced pay before deciding to sever ties, and whether his agent gauged the market to determine whether Ferguson could get more elsewhere as a free agent than what the Packers would have paid. Technically, it's not permitted for teams to respond to such inquiries, given the tampering rule. But it happens all the time.

G.M. Ted Thompson said that the team made the move in order to give Ferguson a fair chance to land elsewhere. But with the start of the regular season only two weeks away, it really doesn't leave him with much time. Our guess is that the organization knew he was in danger of not making the team in the offseason but wanted to be sure that the guys who'll be on the depth chart in his absence can get the job done.

Ferguson is now a free agent, and can sign with anyone. Look for a team that brings him in now to possibly cut him before the start of the season and avoid owing him any salary. As a vested veteran, Ferguson would be entitled to exercise his one-time ability to take the balance of his salary as termination pay if he is on a team's roster when the season opens. Ferguson could then be re-signed after the first week of action, and his full salary for the season would not be, in essence, guaranteed.

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that no plea agreement is expected from Falcons quarterback Mike Vick on Friday night or for the rest of the weekend.

Meanwhile, it's increasingly clear that Falcons owner Arthur Blank isn't buying the notion that Vick is innocent. "It's sad that those allegations exist and now they are confirmed by others," said Blank. "It's sad that Michael has put himself into that kind of situation. It's his responsibility for putting himself into that situation. . . . From a personal perspective, it's just very sad. It's distressing after six years spending time with somebody, you think you know them and then there's another side that is shocking to all of us."

We continue our climb through the preseason power rankings, and we remain on track to get 'em finished before the regular season opens.

Dennis Green is a well-known figure within NFL circles. Still, but for last year's meltdown after an epic collapse against the Bears on a Monday night in October, Green wouldn't be regarded as having enough juice to justify being the latest former head coach to conduct a phony presser in those Coors Light commercials.

Thanks to his "they are who we thought they were" tantrum, Green can supplement his severance package from the Cardinals with some endorsement money.

The message to NFL coaches on the hot seat this year is clear. Once it looks like the season is lost, go bonkos at the podium.

Though the first commercial featuring Green seems to use phony real press conference footage for use in the real phony press conference, we hope that they'll eventually put something together with bits and pieces of the one that made him more famous than he's ever been.

ESPN reports that Falcons owner Arthur Blank expects Mike Vick to agree to plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges on Friday night.

Subsequently, ESPN's Sal Paolantonio interviewed Blank on the field at the Falcons' preseason game, and Blank reiterated his belief in this regard.

With his three co-defendants already pleading guilty to federal conspiracy charges, Mike Vick stands alone. The supposed deadline for accepting a plea deal has come and gone. But it was an artificial deadline; the game doesn't change until a grand jury indicts Vick on new charges, based largely on the testimony of the guys who already have flipped.

Meachum said that there have been discussions between the legal team and prosecutors about the parameters of a deal. He also said that there is no deadline, but that the prosecution hoped too have a deal in place if at all by the end of the week.

Meachum also claims that Vick has been "dehumanized" in the media, and that the team of lawyers have been too busy to do P.R. work aimed at countering the criticism of their client.

Please. Vick had months to get the P.R. machine rolling on this one, and it never happened. Besides, why should lawyers be doing P.R. for a guy with the money to hire P.R. specialists?

In the end, the answer could be that Vick was simply too cheap to plunk down the money for some Manhattan-style P.R. expertise.

In crafting our All-Seinfeld team (we haven't updated it in a couple of days, but we've got plenty more names to add), we were forced to use Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen as the fodder for every situation from the show in which someone was naked (e.g., the guy on the subway, the girlfriend who never wore clothes, the woman from across the way who caused Kramer to bow out of the contest).

We now might be able to replace Cullen with several members of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a female police officer and her supervisor have filed internal complaints after the officer was passed over for extra work at the Steelers' hotel due to her gender.

The officer who made the room assignments didn't want a female patrolling the team's floor because some of the players "walk down the hallway with no clothes on."

Cynthia Ferretti and her supervisor complained after the East Liberty station received a request from officer Kevin Head for volunteers for the off-duty assignment. Head allegedly included the gender limitation as the only stipulation for the gig.

"They just couldn't work the floors where the guys were with no clothes on," said Head. "I don't know why everybody's blowing this out of proportion. Really, I didn't even think they took it like they took it. I had two posts that required the men to be on the floor."

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that the team did not request that the guards assigned to player floors be men only.

We're not sure whether male gender is the kind of bona fide occupational qualification that would permit discrimination in this case, but we couldn't resist using the word "bona" under these specific circumstances.

Surry County, Virginia prosecutor Gerald Poindexter tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he intends to seek an indictment of Mike Vick when a grand jury convenes in September.

"The execution of these animals — and the manner in which they were executed — is startlingly offensive and demanding of prosecution," Poindexter said.

With signed statements from Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace indicating that they, and Vick, participated in the killing of eight dogs in April 2007, all that Poindexter has to do is submit the statements to the grand jury and indictments will flow.

In fact, we're wondering whether the lawyers for Phillips and Peace realized that their clients were admitting to facts that would subject each of them to up to an additional 40 years in prison under Virginia law. Unless the plea deal included a commitment from Poindexter that there will be no state charges against Phillips or Peace, both men have potentially signed away their freedom for a big chunk of their remaining lives.

Still, we don't think that these statements from Phillips and Peace mean that Vick will automatically be indicted. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised to hear Poindexter eventually announce that the grand jury decided that Phillips and Peace were not credible witnesses, and that therefore Vick shouldn't be indicted on animal cruelty charges.

We also wouldn't be surprised, given Poindexter's past handling of this matter, to see quotes from him as early as tomorrow in which he says that he won't be seeking an indictment of Vick.

FALCONS LIKELY WON'T IMMEDIATELY CUT VICK

We need to clarify a statement that appears below regarding the Falcons potential plans for Vick if/when he pleads guilty to pending conspiracy charges.

If they cut him while he is still on his current non-suspension suspension, the Falcons likely would forfeit the ability to pursue more than $28 million in previously paid bonus money. To date, he has not yet defaulted on his contract, because his absence has been necessarily excused.

Our guess, then, is that the league would immediately suspend Vick indefinitely, pending a final decision after a full review of the case. After the suspension is imposed, the first practice or preseason game that Vick misses would put him in default on his contract. Once he's in default, the Falcons would file a non-injury grievance for a refund of the money, and then they would cut him.

As we continue to hear various members of the "real" media ponder the possible return of Mike Vick to the NFL at some point in the future, we're becoming even more convinced that he'll never play in the NFL again.

The final nail in Vick's NFL coffin, we believe, comes from this passage from the statement of facts signed by Quanis Phillips, a long-time Vick friend and associate who pleaded guilty on Friday to federal conspiracy charges: "[Purnell] PEACE, PHILLIPS, and VICK executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging and drowning. All three participated in executing the dogs. PHILLIPS agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of PEACE, PHILLIPS, and VICK."

We are a society that loves redemption. But there can be no redemption, in our opinion, from misdeeds arising from messing with kids and dogs. Vick will try, possibly by becoming the leading public voice against animal fighting. Still, we don't think anyone will listen. His months of express and implied denials will make his belated epiphany suspicious at best, and we're not sure that anything he can say or do will ever erase mental images of the soon-to-be-former Falcons quarterback killing canines.

Besides, we fully expect the Vick spin machine to argue that Vick is actually innocent of all charges, but that he pleaded guilty to avoid the uncertainty of going to prison for a much longer period of time. Thus, without any true contrition from Vick, he's got no chance at redemption.

Even if Vick somehow can achieve redemption while his body is still young enough to play football, we're not quite sure how he'll ever be able to rejoin an NFL team. As a couple of readers have pointed out to us (and as we should have realized), Vick most likely will have to be under contract to serve his suspension.

So if he pleads guilty and if the Falcons promptly release him (as they should) and if Commissioner Roger Goodell later imposes a one-year suspension, Vick will have to find a team that is willing to take on the stigma of signing him at least one year before placating the public by unleashing his talents.

Yes, in a league of 32 teams it only takes one owner to say "yes," but let's give the folks who own these franchises a little credit on this one. Though they all want to win football games and make money, no amount of spit and polish will be able to clean the ick off of Vick.

In a statement of facts signed in connection with the guilty pleas entered on Friday morning by Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, Peace and Phillips admit to participating with Vick in the killing of eight dogs in April 2007, according to ESPN.

In our view, this means that Virginia authorities now have the green light to proceed with an indictment of Vick on eight counts of animal cruelty. Under Virginia law, he'd face up to 40 years behind bars, in addition to any federal prison term that he serves.

The alleged involvement in killing dogs is, in our view, proof positive that Vick will never be able to return to the NFL.

ESPN also reports that Phillips immediately was taken into custody because he failed a drug test while free on bond.

It's been six years since Robert Ferguson was selected by the Packers in round two of the NFL draft. And after seasons of unfulfilled promise, Ferguson's tenure with the team is over.

"Robert will no longer be a Packer," coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday. "We're going to go in another direction. We're just moving on [and moving out] with the other guys and that's where it stands right now. I'll have more definitive information for you tomorrow."

Ferguson is due to earn a base salary of $1.8 million in 2007, and a base salary of $2.2 million in 2008. No one will want to buy that contract, even for an eighth-round draft pick.

Possible destinations include the Texans, since assistant head coach Mike Sherman was the G.M. in Green Bay when Ferguson was drafted, and the Vikings, since the receivers they currently have pretty much stink.

We won't mention the fact that, when Ferguson's name was submitted by Sherman, the name of former Wisconsin standout Chris Chambers was still on the board. (Oh, wait. We just did.)

Since we posted an item on Thursday asking the members of PFT Planet to consider purchasing the Rotoworld fantasy draft guide, many of you have complied. And we've gotten great feedback from several satisfied customers.

One reader in particular was raving about the customizable cheat sheets, and he suggested that we mention them in our next pitch. (And so we have.)

With drafts coming up in fantasy leagues all over the country (and possibly in other corners of the globe), it makes good sense to have access to Rotoworld's treasure trove of information -- especially if that loud-mouthed, know-it-all guy from accounting who won the championship last year already has purchased it.

Last week, the Sports Junkies invited yours truly to do a segment on the WJFK unofficial Redskins pregame show. There won't be a Sports Junkies pregame for the 'Skins game in the second week of the preseason, but the plan is to continue the segment (at least until getting fired).

This weekend, the PFT virus will invade not one but two official pregame broadcasts. On Friday at 5:45 p.m., there will be a PFT appearance on the Patriots pregame show on WBCN with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh, and Scott Zolak. On Sunday, we'll join the WBAL pregame coverage for a few minutes in the runup to the Ravens Sunday night preseason tilt with the Giants.

Per published reports, Mike Vick has until 9:00 a.m. EDT to accept a deal that would entail pleading guilty to pending conspiracy charges in exchange for a recommendation by prosecutors of a 12-18 month jail term.

Vick's two remaining co-defendants will be pleading guilty at 9:00 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., respectively.

If Vick doesn't take the deal, he most likely will be indicted on more charges next week. There still has been no mention (that we've seen) as to whether a guilty plea on federal charges will include a commitment that he won't be prosecuted in Virginia for dog fighting, animal cruelty, or gambling.

The NFL has made it clear that a decision as to Mike Vick's punishment for violation of league policies won't be made until after he pleads guilty to pending charges, if he indeed pleads guilty.

But to the extent that Vick or anyone else thinks that a suspension will be served while he is in prison, we don't think it should be that simple or easy for him.

In order to make the suspension have the intended deterrent effect on other players, the suspension should not begin until after Vick is released from custody.

Commissioner Roger Goodell has broad discretion in determining Vick's punishment. Under the Personal Conduct Policy, Goodell has sole authority to fashion the penalty, and he likewise is the person who will review the decision on appeal.

If Vick pleads guilty, he likely won't be sentenced until November or December. If his jail term starts in January 2008, he'll be unavailable for the entire 2008 season. If Goodell imposes a one-year suspension that begins after Vick is released, Vick will be knocked out for the 2009 campaign.

Though we don't think that Vick will get a lifetime ban from Goodell, we think that it will be for at least two years -- one year for dog fighting, and one year for gambling. If the suspensions start after he gets out of jail, he won't be eligible to be back on the field until 2011, when he'll be 31 years old.

Even then, we're not sure anyone will sign him -- and we have a feeling that the NFL owners will be urged by the powers-that-be never to bring Vick back to the league, since to do so would provide a constant reminder of one of the most troubling player misconduct episodes in NFL history.

At an investor conference on Thursday in Virginia, Sprint unveiled the name for its multi-billion-dollar WiMAX network.

Sprint will invest a whopping $5 billion in the network, which is expected to reach 125 million people by 2010 -- and to provide wireless speeds up to five times faster than current wireless service.

The end result will be a dramatic change in the wireless experience, possibly even more significant than the land-line upgrade from dial-up Internet access to high-speed connections.

The fact that Sprint and Nextel are the official telecommunications sponsors of ProFootballTalk should have been enough to get you to become a Sprint or Nextel customer. A major enhancement to the speed with which data will flow over its products might also, you know, be a factor in that decision-making process.

Goodell said Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen, arrested last year for driving drunk and nude, is "turning his life around."

Reid says G Shawn Andrews should be ready to go for the Eagles' Week One game against the Packers.

Redskins S Sean Taylor is showing his dedication by improving his diet and spending more time watching film.

Although the Bears have changed defensive coordinators, S Mike Brown says, "There really is no difference as far as the scheme is concerned."

Says Packers coach Mike McCarthy, "Nobody is going to be on this football team just to be a returner."

Says Vikings G Artis Hicks of having to run a lap after jumping offside in practice, "to have to take off running in front of the whole team and organization . . . it's embarrassing."

Cowboys WR Terrell Owens was late to practice Thursday, blaming traffic problems; Jerry Jones said it was no big deal.

Bucs linebackers coach Gus Bradley says the versatility of Cato June allows the team to stay in its base defensive package when the offense goes to a one-back set.

Denzel Washington's son is in Rams camp, and he says, "I'm here to play ball. I'm not in Hollywood."

Although they're currently listed as second-stringers on the 49ers' depth chart, coach Mike Nolan wants to see how linemen Joe Staley and David Baas fit with the first-team offensive line.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren won't play any of his top players past the first quarter in Saturday's game at Green Bay.

Seahawks LB Kevin Bentley and C Chris Spencer got into a dust-up at Thursday morning's practice.

The Patriots have signed defensive end Ty Warren to a five-year, $36 million extension, which includes $17.5 million in guaranteed money, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network.

Warren had two years remaining on his rookie deal, which was signed after the Pats made him a first-round pick in 2003. He was due to earn $1.075 million in base salary this year and $1.45 million in base salary in 2008.

Warren is part of a stellar three-man line, composed exclusively of first-round draft picks. Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, a first-rounder in 2004, is signed through 2009. Defensive end Richard Seymour, a first-rounder in 2001, also is under contract through 2009.

We've posted the first 20 names in our list of receiver rankings. We'd hoped to add 20 more, but we ran out of time.

Coming Friday and over the weekend -- the other 20 receivers, the kickers, and the defenses.

In a move that could be a sign that Mike Vick has agreed to a guilty plea that will be entered on Monday, WSB-TV in Atlanta reports that Judge Henry Hudson has cleared his docket for Monday, August 20.

Vick reportedly has until 9:00 a.m. on Friday, August 17 to decide whether to formally accept a plea offer. If Vick does not accept the plea, prosecutors are expected to pursue additional charges against Vick before a grand jury that convenes on Monday, presumably based in part on testimony from Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, both of whom will plead guilty on Friday morning.

Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich has bene re-installed as the unquestioned starting quarterback of the team as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. His focus rightly should be moving forward toward his next deal, whether it comes from the Jags or from someone else.

But Leftwich is dwelling on last year's quasi-benching, which started as an ankle injury but ended with Leftwich not getting his job back. (Until, of course, he got his job back in February.)

Now, Leftwich is blaming the organization for the manner in which the situation was handled.

"Nothing negative or anything," Leftwich added. "I just think the way things [were] handled in the past, it opens the door for stuff like this to be talked about. No matter how we feel in-house, it leaves the door open for these conversations."

We're not quite sure what Leftwich is saying here. He's not trying to be "negative or anything," but he's throwing vague accusations at whoever decided not to let him play last season. And that "whoever" apparently is/was coach Jack Del Rio, the same guy who fell all over himself to tell the world before the start of free agency that Leftwich is the guy.

It's not wise, in our view, for Leftwich to be wallowing in past frustrations. Unless, of course, he's already trying to lay the foundation for his argument when he becomes a free agent that it's not his fault that his numbers in Jacksonville weren't as good as they could have been.

Suspended Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman and suspended Buccaneers cornerback Torrie Cox have filed discrimination claims with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com first reported this development as to Thurman.)

The claim arises under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The argument is that the Bengals and the Buccaneers, at the direction of the NFL, took adverse action against Thurman and Cox, respectively, based on alcoholism, either actual or perceived.

The ADA protects employees who are disabled. Alcoholism is a disability, regardless of whether an employee is actually an alcoholic or whether the employer perceives him to be one. Though an actual or perceived alcoholic can be disciplined for, for example, showing up to work while intoxicated, the argument as to Thurman and Cox is that their suspensions are based on no at-work manifestation of alcoholism.

As to Thurman, it's our understanding that the NFL refused to reinstate him after a one-year suspension because he failed to attend a couple of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. As to Cox, he tested positive for alcohol after drinking champagne at his wedding.

The focal point of the attack is the placement of certain restrictions on players in the substance-abuse program. If a player is an actual or perceived alcoholic and if the league prohibits him from drinking alcohol at any time and if the employee tests positive for drinking alcohol on his own time, he is arguably the victim of discrimination because of his actual or perceived disability.

Thurman and Cox elected to proceed in this regard based on a recent ruling by the EEOC in a claim filed by former NBA player Roy Tarpley. We're in the process of getting our mitts on the Tarpley decision so that we can better explain the specifics on this one.

And this could get interesting, given that the EEOC can choose to convert the claim into a broader attack against the NFL's practices in this regard, eventually asserting claims on behalf of any player who recently was suspended under similar circumstances.

As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell approaches his one-year anniversary, it occurs to us that we have agreed with virtually every decision that Goodell has made.

And we think we're going to agree with most of his decisions in year two. Especially if one of them is to try to address the ongoing problem regarding the payment of enormous windfalls to rookies who have never worn an NFL helmet except when trick-or-treating.

This year, for example, safety LaRon Landry received more guaranteed money than any safety in the history of the league, simply because his name was the sixth one called on draft day.

"It's a concern," Goodell said in a Thursday interview with the Detroit media. "I think it's a concern also for other reasons that are less obvious that came out when we talked to the players this year. It's difficult when a rookie comes in to a locker room and has that kind of a signing bonus. It's difficult [for] the veterans to provide that kind of leadership that's so important on teams. Money changes that dynamic a little bit. We'll talk to Gene [Upshaw]. We're not trying to save the dollars, we just think the dollars should go to players who have earned that on the field through their accomplishments and leadership. It's a system we have and we'll do the best we can with it right now.''

The only problem, as we see it, is that the union needs to want change, too, or else the union will expect some type of a concession from the league.

But both sides should want it. For the league, it will lessen the financial risk that arises from having (and using) a high draft pick. As JaMarcus Russell tries to break the bank in Oakland, for example, is the worst team in the league from a year ago really getting any better?

For the players, it provides more money in the future to current members of the union, at a cost only to guys who aren't in the union yet. Like a guy who suddenly favors a military draft the day after he becomes too old to be drafted, players already in the league have no reason to object to limitations on the money to be paid to guys who aren't there yet. The fact that the extra money would flow through to the current players gives such an approach even more appeal.

The reality is that the agents who pull the strings of the union don't want to give up their percentage of the lottery prizes that are paid out each and every year. And until the players stand up and demand that something be done, the NFLPA will continue to ignore the problem.

Some might think that the Commissioner was in Detroit as part of a promotional tour for the league's brand-new web site. He wasn't; it's just a normal part of his tour of team training camps. Besides, there's really not much of a need for a promotional tour in support of the new NFL.com, since the thing pretty much speaks for itself.

Apart from the new look, which is brighter and cleaner, the biggest addition is the videos. Like queens in the five-deck chute at Raymond Babbitt's blackjack table, there are "lots and lots of them."

There are NFL Network segments, NFL Films, game highlights, etc. Also, the videos are sortable by team, making it easier for fans to focus only on the stuff they want to see.

The best part of the new site, for our purposes, is the revamped NFL draft history section. We routinely need to be able to do draft-related research quickly and reliably for many of our stories, and we've relied for a couple of years now on the NFL.com official draft history area for that information. The new site is leaps-and-bounds better in this regard, with a wide array of sorting options, making it even easier to get fast answers. There's even a way to pull up all of the players that have been drafted from a given college, with obscure schools that haven't had a draft pick in nearly 70 years included (such as yours truly's undergrad alma mater).

Hey, we know that PFT isn't the only football site you frequent; different sites serve different purposes. But in light of its new design and functions, there's no way to truly follow the NFL without NFL.com. (Oh, and PFT.)

Though it's been reported as a six-year, $36 million package, the contract negotiated by cornerback Darrelle Revis has a base value of six years and $32 million.

And, as we understand it, that number reflects real money, with little or no fluff.

The six-year deal, which the Jets wanted to do, easily voids to a four-year deal, which the Jets previously didn't want to do. The deal automatically reduces to four years if in any of the first four seasons Revis participates in at least 35 percent of the defensive snaps.

The four-year value is $16 million, with $11 million in guaranteed money (which includes the 2007 base salary, which technically isn't guaranteed but as a practical matter is always paid).

But the Jets can buy back the fifth and sixth years. For $5 million guaranteed in year five and $11 million guaranteed in year six the Jets can get back the final two seasons.

If the Jets choose not to buy back years five and six, Revis hits the open market and the Jets will not apply the franchise tag or the transition tag.

The year six number can reduce to $9 million and can increase to $15 million, as the result of a point system based primarily on playing time. Interestingly, interceptions are not a factor as to any aspect of the deal.

As we see it, it's a win-win. But we can't help but wonder whether the deal couldn't have gotten done before the start of camp.

Soon, you'll be spending plenty of hours (and possibly plenty of money) on your fantasy football team. So why not help yourself nail down the best possible team by purchasing the Rotoworld draft guide?

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In the interests of full disclosure, we get a piece of the action for every sale made through this site. So we have a vested interest in having you buy it.

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Says defensive coordinator Jim Johnson of Eagles rookie CB Rashad Barksdale's preseason debut, "He stepped up and he played. . . . He helped himself the other night."

The Giants have signed DT Manny Wright. (The over-under on when Tom Coughlin makes him cry is Aug. 24.)

Hall of Fame LB Sam Huff says of current Redskins LB London Fletcher-Baker, "I was impressed that London knows who I am because I sure as hell know who he is."

The Bears continue to hold DT Tommie Harris and LB Brian Urlacher out of practice, but both could play Monday night's preseason game at Indianapolis. (If Urlacher misses many more practices someone might end up concluding that his mother raised a pussy.)

Backup Vikings QB Tyler Thigpen is developing a rapport with backup WR Cortez Hankton.

The Cardinals have sold out all their home games at University of Phoenix Stadium, including Saturday's preseason home opener against the Texans.

Rams coach Scott Linehan says of veteran S Corey Chavous, "One of the big reasons he's here is so that he can show people how to be a professional."

An MRI showed that backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick cracked a rib in the Rams' preseason opener against the Vikings.

Says 49ers TE Dalanie Walker of his conversion from wide receiver to tight end, "My coach said my blocking was better than my route running."

The Tennessee Titans have had a bit of a rough time of late in the first round of the NFL draft. In 2005, they found Pacman. In 2002, it was Albert Haynesworth.

In 2003, cornerback Andre Woolfolk was the choice. Four years later, the Titans have placed Woolfolk on injured reserve, and hope to reach an injury settlement with him, and release him.

Woolfolk is signed through the 2007 season, at a salary this year of $837,500. He has appeared in 39 career games, with only three career interceptions.

We just watched on Man-Girl and Meatball an interview of Bears fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, who recently was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 based on violation of the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances.

"Femi" (an appropriate nickname since his urine sample tested positive for an anti-estrogen substance) was boo-hooing about the fact that he's been labeled a cheater due to the media's decision to label his suspension as a violation of the steroids policy. Hey, Femi, that'sl one of the realities of the "real" media. While some of us try to call the policy what it really is, others still call it the "steroids policy," even though it covers a variety of non-steroids, such as ephedra.

Ayandbadejo also was moaning about the fact that he took a tainted supplement. Although he was at least willing to mention the name of the supplement that was tainted (unlike Shawne Merriman in 2006), the easy answer for all players is to get supplements from a pre-approved list to which they all have access. Femi suggested that many don't. If that's the case, they're playing Russian roulette.

And it was also funny to watch Mike and Michael affix their faces to Femi's fanny while he was on the phone, but then after he was off the line they basically said, "It was right for him to get suspended and it was all his fault."

The fact that a guilty plea on pending conspiracy charges could result in a sentence in the range of 12 to 18 months for Mike Vick, and the strong possibility that new charges could push his maximum stay (as we calculate it) to more than 20 years, likely would prompt most reasonable persons to conclude that Vick should accept the deal -- barring a high degree of confidence that a full acquittal could be obtained at trial.

The strong likelihood that Mike Vick would never play pro football again if convicted on the stiffest potential charge of maintaining an interstate gambling enterprise makes it even more important for him to take the deal that's on the table, we believe.

Though ESPN's Chris Mortensen has reported that the NFL isn't interested in participating in negotiations aimed at securing for Vick both a certain prison sentence and a certain suspension, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Vick's legal team still wants to know what kind of a penalty he'll face from the league if he pleads guilty.

But while Vick would be pleading only to federal conspiracy charges relating to gambling and dog fighting, the league might decide to base Vick's ultimate sanction on facts that would be relevant to the charges that have yet to be filed, either at the federal level or at the state level. So it would be premature for the league to issue a final decision about Vick's situation until there's time to explore every angle of the case.

Meanwhile, we've seen no mention in any of the media reports as to whether the possible charges based on violation of Virginia's animal cruelty laws would be resolved as part of a federal plea agreement. Vick currently is not indicted for participating in the killing of dogs or with dog fighting under Virginia law, and absent a comprehensive plea agreement he would still face prosecution there.

On one hand, the Vick legal team might be counting on Surry County Gerald Poindexter to decide that Vick's federal punishment is fair and sufficient, and that the investigation should be closed. On the other hand, the backlash from a guilty plea on federal conspiracy charges could prompt Virginia attorney general Bob McDonnell -- who might run for governor in 2009 -- to personally take aim against Vick and his co-defendants based on the allegations that eight dogs were killed in the Commonwealth in April 2007.

It's one thing for a Virginia politician to attack at a local hero while he's still a hero. It's quite another thing to chase him down once he has become a pariah.

Though Vick "badly wants to get back to the game" of football even if he must first serve time in prison, Vick and his lawyers would be stoopid to think that taking this deal means that Mike would be able to roll back into the NFL once he is released from custody.

Really, a return for the 2008 season is likely impossible, given that he wouldn't be sentenced until November or December. If he only spends a year in prison, the earliest he'd be able to come back to the NFL would be 2009.

And this assumes that the league won't suspend him beyond the end of his prison stay, and that Virginia won't try to put him away for up to 40 years for his alleged role in the killing those eight dogs. As we see it, neither assumption is warranted at this point.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is continuing to tinker with the starting lineup. For now, cornerback Bryant McFadden has passed Deshea Townsend, and receiver Santonio Holmes is in front of Cedrick Wilson.

"We're still shopping, if you will," Tomlin said. "We want to see what guys do when they get an opportunity to play their game in there with the first group. It's part of the evaluation process."

The evaluation process was interrupted on Wednesday, when Tomlin continued (sort of) a Coach Chin tradition. Bill Cowher used to cancel a morning practice at the last minute, as the players were on the field stretching, and declare that it was "movie day."

This time around, Tomlin told the team about it well in advance, and gave them the option of going to the movies, sleeping in, or doing whatever they wanted to do.

For his part, Tomlin didn't take in a show. "I have too much work to do. I don't have time to go to the movies. I guess going to the movies is tradition around here. I'm not too much into tradition," he said.

Hmmm. Tomlin sounds like George Costanza when trying to appear busy at work by acting frustrated all the time.

We get it that Tomlin is trying to breathe some fresh air into the football team, in order to wash out the complacency that infected the franchise after a 2005 championship season. But we think he should temper the tough-guy talk, especially when it comes to dissing tradition. He's working for an organization that is steeped in tradition, in a city that reveres such concepts.

In other words, being different for the sake of being different doesn't always mean being better. Tomlin, we believe, needs to be careful not to alienate folks unnecessarily with his "new sheriff in town" mentality, especially when implying in a roundabout way that some of the old ways were foolish.

To the extent that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is looking for things to change, he should not alter the team's detailed set of instructions given to the hotels where the team stays on the evenings before games.

But we've reviewed the thing, and we don't understand why this is even an item of interest. Did anyone think that a 100-person operation would not attempt to ensure maximum consistency from week to week at the hotels where the team will be staying on the night before an event that has a high degree of significance to the business? Though we're usually the first in line to point a finger and proclaim "ha-ha!" when an NFL team does something goofy, we think it's good business to ensure that all of the needs of the organization will be met, and that the team won't be distracted by any changes to their routine.

Indeed, we suspect that every team has a similar list of requirements. And if they don't, then they should.

We've also got a feeling that the Steelers won't be pleased that this information was disclosed, and that they'll find out which of the hotels with which they do business leaked it. And that that hotel will be stricken from the list of potential providers, permanently.

Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is back on the job, although doctors are "95 percent" sure that he is suffering from mononucleosis. Kiffin, the team's 32-year-old rookie coach, was hospitalized earlier in the week.

He was subdued at practice, due to orders from the physicians not to yell or exert energy.

Some players ribbed Kiffin by wearing surgical masks to a pre-practice meeting. (But a few of them said that they had the masks on because Kris Jenkins was right about Warren Sapp, after all.)

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