HEAV
05-17-2005, 04:20 PM
Lance Schulters� future with the Tennessee Titans is uncertain at best. The
veteran safety could end up being a June 1 salary cap casualty after his agent
Brian Levy met Monday with Titans general manager Floyd Reese to discuss
Schulters� situation. With Schulters in limbo, he will not take part in the
team�s six on-field organized team activities over the next two weeks. Those
workouts begin today. If Schulters does hit the open market, one team purported
to have interest in him is the Atlanta Falcons, where Schulters could reunite
with one-time 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora Jr., who his now the Falcons
head coach.
The Ravens remain confident that Deion Sanders will return as a nickel back.
"The plan is for him to join us for the June minicamps," Billick said.
"That was the plan all along, and I have heard nothing to indicate that
won't happen."
Romeo Crennel said the Browns do have some interest in linebacker Peter
Boulware, whom the Baltimore Ravens released last week. Boulware, a former Pro
Bowler, missed the 2004 season with a knee injury. ``We are interested, and we
are doing our homework and trying to find out what his situation is,'' Crennel
said. ``He's coming off an injury situation... we're trying to find out what his
contract desires are and then we'll see if it fits within our budget and go from
there.'' Crennel added that Boulware would be a good fit in his 3-4 defense.
``He's got experience in it so I think it would be a decent fit.''
Questions persisted, though, regarding two individuals who were not at the Colts
voluntary four-week summer school, running back Edgerrin James and linebacker
Rob Morris. James is under contract after signing his one-year, $8.1 million
tender as the Colts' "franchise" player in mid-March. Morris remains
an unrestricted free agent after his contract expired March 1. James' absence
wasn't a surprise. The team's career rushing leader has usually spent his
offseason working out in South Florida. "I know Edgerrin's down in Miami,
probably one of the most physically-fit athletes in the National Football
League," quarterback Peyton Manning said. Whether James shows up for the
Colts' mandatory three-day minicamp, which begins Friday, is anybody's guess.
Contrary to media reports, Titans GM Floyd Reese said he has not had any recent
conversations with the Buffalo Bills regarding the availability of running back
Travis Henry. Likewise, Reese has had no contact with Eddie George or his
representatives of late either.
Two other veteran linebackers remain on the open market -- ">Baltimore
Ravens' castoff Peter Boulware and ex-Cincinnati Bengal Kevin Hardy -- but if
the Colts sign a free agent, Tony Dungy prefers "somebody that's been with
us."
There's something Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper wants people to know
about his fractured friendship with Randy Moss: He didn't fracture it. Culpepper
said he is willing to talk to Moss about the rift, if only Moss would pick up
the phone and call him. "My phone number hasn't changed. If I'm a friend,
why didn't he talk to me?'' Culpepper said Monday. "My number ain't changed
and I ain't never had a beef with him.'' Culpepper claims he tried calling Moss
before and after the enigmatic wide receiver's trade to the Oakland Raiders on
March 2. "I did. That's beside the point. He knows,'' Culpepper said.
"That's all I care about. He knows.'' Culpepper was reacting to comments
Moss made in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Asked about his friends,
Moss told the magazine, "I thought Culpepper was, but now that everything's
happened, it seems to me I lost a friend. � I thought I had a friend in Daunte,
but obviously I didn't."
Former Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski detailed Monday how he stayed
one step ahead of the NFL's drug policy in an effort to perform at peak levels.
"It wasn't about illegal. I was doing things that they couldn't test
for," said Romanowski, who was known during his career for his use of
performance-enhancing supplements and has been implicated in the Bay Area
Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) steroids scandal. "As soon as they found
out that something could be tested for, I stopped taking it. I didn't want that
embarrassment, but I pushed that envelope ethically and morally because if I
could take something that would help me perform better and it wasn't on the
list, I was going to take it. "I had two criteria: Would it hurt me? And
would I test positive? "In the end, there's been some embarrassment at what
I had to deal with."
There is no experimentation going on with the Giants and their quarterback
situation. The search is over. The team is entirely comfortable going into
training camp � and heading into the season � with Tim Hasselbeck as the backup
to Eli Manning. Getting awarded Hasselbeck off waivers from the Redskins was no
minor move in the minds of the Giants, as they coveted him, hoped he'd get cut
and then sweated out the waiver process until they received word last Monday
that they got their man. "Hasselbeck was a gift," GM Ernie Accorsi
yesterday told The Post. "We did not expect him to become available. We
have a high regard for him. If he were a free agent he would have been at the
top of our list. This is not one of these stop-gap things."
Skins coach Joe Gibbs has yet to hear from safety Sean Taylor, who has boycotted
offseason workouts. Taylor is not expected to participate in the first of 14
organized team activities today, which amount to practices without pads. Asked
if Taylor planned to attend, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus said, "I'm not going
to comment on Sean's situation."
Ravens strong safety Ed Reed, who wants a new contract, was an unexpected
no-show at practice. "I visited with Ed last week and he didn't say
anything about not being here, so I am surprised he's not here," Billick
said. "But this is voluntary, so that's his choice. Why he's not here, you
have to ask Ed."
Washington's cap situation is one reason that the club will almost certainly
release wide receiver Rod Gardner, if it can't trade him, and gain $2.1 million
in cap space.
Top draft pick Matt Jones will be on the sidelines today when the Jaguars start
the next phase of their offseason workout program with a three-day passing camp.
The workouts will be part of the 14 organized team activities the team is
allowed to have in helmets and shorts before training camp opens in late July.
Coach Jack Del Rio said Jones, who strained a hamstring on the first day of the
mandatory minicamp April 29, aggravated the injury last week and Del Rio said
the Jaguars don't want to rush him back in May. Del Rio said he's not sure if
Jones will be able to participate in workouts later in the week. The Jaguars
will work three days a week for four of the next five weeks -- skipping Memorial
Day week -- and then will wrap up the drills with workouts Tuesday and
Wednesday, June 21 and 22.
According to sources with knowledge of Santana Moss's contract extension --
worth about $31 million over six years -- the wide receiver received a signing
bonus of $3 million, meaning that the Redskins theoretically could release him
before next season without much of a cap hit.
The first day of the Saints' coaching session workouts went according to plan
Monday with one notable exception: Fakhir Brown was nowhere to be found. The
starting right cornerback was one of two veterans not present at the team's
first two-hour, on-field workout. Defensive tackle Brian Young, who was on a
honeymoon after being married Saturday, was excused; Brown was not. "I
don't know where he is," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "His agent
(Ted Marchibroda Jr.) doesn't know where he is. We haven't been able to find
him. I don't know what the problem is, if there is one."
Will Poole is expected to miss the entire 2005 season after having
reconstructive surgery on his left knee, a disappointment to the Dolphins who
hoped to salvage the cornerback's season. Poole tore the anterior cruciate
ligament in his left knee during an offseason training session May 4. Monday's
surgery also repaired the player's medial meniscus.
Browns running back Reuben Droughns has returned to Cleveland and is working out
with the team again. "Right now, I'm not worrying about the business side
of it," he said Monday night by phone. "All I'm concerned about is
learning the system and getting in shape for the season." Droughns,
acquired in a trade with Denver for Ebenezer Ekuban and Mike Myers, walked out
of the Browns' off-season conditioning program in April and said he was prepared
to hold out for a bigger deal. Droughns is represented by Drew Rosenhaus, who
currently has several players in contract disputes, including Philadelphia's
Terrell Owens. The Browns have declined to say whether or not they would be
willing to redo Droughns' deal.
Browns running back Reuben Droughns, who is holding out for more money (he's
scheduled to make $950,000 during the 2005 season), was seen at the Browns
training camp facility. But all isn't well, just yet. ``Reuben was in the
building (Berea) today,'' Crennel said. ``I didn't see him working out. Maybe
he'll work out (Tuesday.) I haven't had the chance to talk to him. I don't know
what (his) thought process is, but if he's decided to come back, then we're
going to teach and coach him just like we're doing with everybody else who is
here.''
A confident Zygi Wilf said Monday he will become the lead investor in the
Minnesota Vikings, and he anticipates NFL owners, meeting next week in
Washington, D.C., will approve his purchase of the team. In a wide-ranging
interview with the Star Tribune, the New Jersey real-estate developer
acknowledged for the first time that he will become the general partner of the
Vikings and that Reggie Fowler, the Arizona businessman who hoped to become the
team's principal owner, will be but one of several limited partners. "I
don't want to say what the NFL will do, but we're looking forward towards
receiving approval," Wilf, 55, said in his company's offices, within a long
field goal of New York City. "I'm confident that the NFL is enthusiastic
about our group's approach."
Onterrio Smith and "The Original Whizzinator" have been the punch line
to countless jokes since then, but he brushed off reporters' questions after
practice by saying, "Gotta go to work." Fellow running back Moe
Williams said Smith's situation isn't a distraction or even a hot topic of
conversation in the Vikings' locker room. "We do our little one-liner
jokes, and that's the end of it," Williams said. "That's about
it." The NFL is investigating Smith, who already has two strikes against
him in the league's substance-abuse program. He faces a one-year suspension for
his next offense, but possession of test-altering paraphernalia outside of a
testing situation is not a violation of league policy. The third-year running
back took his normal repetitions during Monday's practice.
Coach Mike Tice has made "consistency" the theme for the Vikings on
and off the field this year, from the staff through the players. "It's the
difference in finishing 9-7 and winning the Super Bowl," he said.
Patriots center Dan Koppen calls the two-month break between the Super Bowl and
the beginning of the offseason conditioning program a crucial time in allowing
players to show up in the spring ``with a whole new attitude.'' But when it
comes to Koppen, the last thing the Pats want is a new attitude. That's because
the third-year veteran is straight out of the Patriots handbook, a selfless and
intelligent pro who espouses just about every attribute Bill Belichick wants
from his players. Koppen is also considered one of the best young centers in the
league, but if you ask him whether making his first Pro Bowl in 2005 is one of
his offseason goals, his response is team first.
Last season the Bears' offense sputtered under backup quarterbacks Jonathan
Quinn, Craig Krenzel and Chad Hutchinson. Ron Turner took particular note of
former Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton, a fourth-round draft pick, in the Bears'
first spring mini-camp. "I had seen him some in high school and I tried to
recruit him [to Illinois]," Turner said. "And I obviously watched him
a lot at Purdue and I watched some film. He has a live arm, and he's real smart.
He's picking things up very quickly." The Bears' regular summer training
camp opens July 23 in Bourbonnais, Ill.
Ravens TE Todd Heap, who could miss half the preseason while rehabilitating from
shoulder surgery, watched from the sideline. "I'll be ready to go for the
season," Heap said. "I just want to make sure everything is healed up
and ready to go before I play."
Tampa Bay was interested in bringing him back, and Washington offered a
three-year contract. But Roland Williams accepted the Rams' one-year, $690,000
offer to replace Cam Cleeland as the No. 2 tight end behind Brandon Manumaleuna.
"It's great to come back and have a rebirth in the place where I was born
as a football player," Williams said. "I think it's always been a good
fit, honestly. ... It's an offense that I love and had some success in."
And he just can't wait to start blocking for the 6-1, 231-pound Jackson, who
averaged just over 5 yards (673 total) on 134 carries last year as a rookie
after the Rams made him their first-round draft pick. "The boy is big, and
runs strong and hard," Williams gushed. "That's why they call him the
'Train.'"
It's not training camp or even minicamp, but Washington's veterans will be on
the Redskin Park fields with their coaches today for the first time since New
Year's Day. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs termed these days as an indoctrination for
his new veterans, including receivers Santana Moss and David Patten and center
Casey Rabach. All three are projected starters.
Did You Know? Former Bears safety Doug Plank, for whom the vaunted "46
Defense" was named by defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, has led the AFL
Georgia Force to its first Southern Division championship.
Negotiations are continuing with the Silverdome with an expectation that the
Lions' former home stadium will be one of two practice sites for Super Bowl XL
on Feb. 5, 2006. The Lions moved to Ford Field after the 2001 season after 26
seasons at the Silverdome. Officials for the NFL and Detroit Super Bowl Host
Committee have been in talks with Silverdome officials about having the AFC
champion practice at the Silverdome. The NFC champion will practice at the
Lions' Allen Park facility.
veteran safety could end up being a June 1 salary cap casualty after his agent
Brian Levy met Monday with Titans general manager Floyd Reese to discuss
Schulters� situation. With Schulters in limbo, he will not take part in the
team�s six on-field organized team activities over the next two weeks. Those
workouts begin today. If Schulters does hit the open market, one team purported
to have interest in him is the Atlanta Falcons, where Schulters could reunite
with one-time 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora Jr., who his now the Falcons
head coach.
The Ravens remain confident that Deion Sanders will return as a nickel back.
"The plan is for him to join us for the June minicamps," Billick said.
"That was the plan all along, and I have heard nothing to indicate that
won't happen."
Romeo Crennel said the Browns do have some interest in linebacker Peter
Boulware, whom the Baltimore Ravens released last week. Boulware, a former Pro
Bowler, missed the 2004 season with a knee injury. ``We are interested, and we
are doing our homework and trying to find out what his situation is,'' Crennel
said. ``He's coming off an injury situation... we're trying to find out what his
contract desires are and then we'll see if it fits within our budget and go from
there.'' Crennel added that Boulware would be a good fit in his 3-4 defense.
``He's got experience in it so I think it would be a decent fit.''
Questions persisted, though, regarding two individuals who were not at the Colts
voluntary four-week summer school, running back Edgerrin James and linebacker
Rob Morris. James is under contract after signing his one-year, $8.1 million
tender as the Colts' "franchise" player in mid-March. Morris remains
an unrestricted free agent after his contract expired March 1. James' absence
wasn't a surprise. The team's career rushing leader has usually spent his
offseason working out in South Florida. "I know Edgerrin's down in Miami,
probably one of the most physically-fit athletes in the National Football
League," quarterback Peyton Manning said. Whether James shows up for the
Colts' mandatory three-day minicamp, which begins Friday, is anybody's guess.
Contrary to media reports, Titans GM Floyd Reese said he has not had any recent
conversations with the Buffalo Bills regarding the availability of running back
Travis Henry. Likewise, Reese has had no contact with Eddie George or his
representatives of late either.
Two other veteran linebackers remain on the open market -- ">Baltimore
Ravens' castoff Peter Boulware and ex-Cincinnati Bengal Kevin Hardy -- but if
the Colts sign a free agent, Tony Dungy prefers "somebody that's been with
us."
There's something Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper wants people to know
about his fractured friendship with Randy Moss: He didn't fracture it. Culpepper
said he is willing to talk to Moss about the rift, if only Moss would pick up
the phone and call him. "My phone number hasn't changed. If I'm a friend,
why didn't he talk to me?'' Culpepper said Monday. "My number ain't changed
and I ain't never had a beef with him.'' Culpepper claims he tried calling Moss
before and after the enigmatic wide receiver's trade to the Oakland Raiders on
March 2. "I did. That's beside the point. He knows,'' Culpepper said.
"That's all I care about. He knows.'' Culpepper was reacting to comments
Moss made in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. Asked about his friends,
Moss told the magazine, "I thought Culpepper was, but now that everything's
happened, it seems to me I lost a friend. � I thought I had a friend in Daunte,
but obviously I didn't."
Former Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski detailed Monday how he stayed
one step ahead of the NFL's drug policy in an effort to perform at peak levels.
"It wasn't about illegal. I was doing things that they couldn't test
for," said Romanowski, who was known during his career for his use of
performance-enhancing supplements and has been implicated in the Bay Area
Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) steroids scandal. "As soon as they found
out that something could be tested for, I stopped taking it. I didn't want that
embarrassment, but I pushed that envelope ethically and morally because if I
could take something that would help me perform better and it wasn't on the
list, I was going to take it. "I had two criteria: Would it hurt me? And
would I test positive? "In the end, there's been some embarrassment at what
I had to deal with."
There is no experimentation going on with the Giants and their quarterback
situation. The search is over. The team is entirely comfortable going into
training camp � and heading into the season � with Tim Hasselbeck as the backup
to Eli Manning. Getting awarded Hasselbeck off waivers from the Redskins was no
minor move in the minds of the Giants, as they coveted him, hoped he'd get cut
and then sweated out the waiver process until they received word last Monday
that they got their man. "Hasselbeck was a gift," GM Ernie Accorsi
yesterday told The Post. "We did not expect him to become available. We
have a high regard for him. If he were a free agent he would have been at the
top of our list. This is not one of these stop-gap things."
Skins coach Joe Gibbs has yet to hear from safety Sean Taylor, who has boycotted
offseason workouts. Taylor is not expected to participate in the first of 14
organized team activities today, which amount to practices without pads. Asked
if Taylor planned to attend, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus said, "I'm not going
to comment on Sean's situation."
Ravens strong safety Ed Reed, who wants a new contract, was an unexpected
no-show at practice. "I visited with Ed last week and he didn't say
anything about not being here, so I am surprised he's not here," Billick
said. "But this is voluntary, so that's his choice. Why he's not here, you
have to ask Ed."
Washington's cap situation is one reason that the club will almost certainly
release wide receiver Rod Gardner, if it can't trade him, and gain $2.1 million
in cap space.
Top draft pick Matt Jones will be on the sidelines today when the Jaguars start
the next phase of their offseason workout program with a three-day passing camp.
The workouts will be part of the 14 organized team activities the team is
allowed to have in helmets and shorts before training camp opens in late July.
Coach Jack Del Rio said Jones, who strained a hamstring on the first day of the
mandatory minicamp April 29, aggravated the injury last week and Del Rio said
the Jaguars don't want to rush him back in May. Del Rio said he's not sure if
Jones will be able to participate in workouts later in the week. The Jaguars
will work three days a week for four of the next five weeks -- skipping Memorial
Day week -- and then will wrap up the drills with workouts Tuesday and
Wednesday, June 21 and 22.
According to sources with knowledge of Santana Moss's contract extension --
worth about $31 million over six years -- the wide receiver received a signing
bonus of $3 million, meaning that the Redskins theoretically could release him
before next season without much of a cap hit.
The first day of the Saints' coaching session workouts went according to plan
Monday with one notable exception: Fakhir Brown was nowhere to be found. The
starting right cornerback was one of two veterans not present at the team's
first two-hour, on-field workout. Defensive tackle Brian Young, who was on a
honeymoon after being married Saturday, was excused; Brown was not. "I
don't know where he is," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "His agent
(Ted Marchibroda Jr.) doesn't know where he is. We haven't been able to find
him. I don't know what the problem is, if there is one."
Will Poole is expected to miss the entire 2005 season after having
reconstructive surgery on his left knee, a disappointment to the Dolphins who
hoped to salvage the cornerback's season. Poole tore the anterior cruciate
ligament in his left knee during an offseason training session May 4. Monday's
surgery also repaired the player's medial meniscus.
Browns running back Reuben Droughns has returned to Cleveland and is working out
with the team again. "Right now, I'm not worrying about the business side
of it," he said Monday night by phone. "All I'm concerned about is
learning the system and getting in shape for the season." Droughns,
acquired in a trade with Denver for Ebenezer Ekuban and Mike Myers, walked out
of the Browns' off-season conditioning program in April and said he was prepared
to hold out for a bigger deal. Droughns is represented by Drew Rosenhaus, who
currently has several players in contract disputes, including Philadelphia's
Terrell Owens. The Browns have declined to say whether or not they would be
willing to redo Droughns' deal.
Browns running back Reuben Droughns, who is holding out for more money (he's
scheduled to make $950,000 during the 2005 season), was seen at the Browns
training camp facility. But all isn't well, just yet. ``Reuben was in the
building (Berea) today,'' Crennel said. ``I didn't see him working out. Maybe
he'll work out (Tuesday.) I haven't had the chance to talk to him. I don't know
what (his) thought process is, but if he's decided to come back, then we're
going to teach and coach him just like we're doing with everybody else who is
here.''
A confident Zygi Wilf said Monday he will become the lead investor in the
Minnesota Vikings, and he anticipates NFL owners, meeting next week in
Washington, D.C., will approve his purchase of the team. In a wide-ranging
interview with the Star Tribune, the New Jersey real-estate developer
acknowledged for the first time that he will become the general partner of the
Vikings and that Reggie Fowler, the Arizona businessman who hoped to become the
team's principal owner, will be but one of several limited partners. "I
don't want to say what the NFL will do, but we're looking forward towards
receiving approval," Wilf, 55, said in his company's offices, within a long
field goal of New York City. "I'm confident that the NFL is enthusiastic
about our group's approach."
Onterrio Smith and "The Original Whizzinator" have been the punch line
to countless jokes since then, but he brushed off reporters' questions after
practice by saying, "Gotta go to work." Fellow running back Moe
Williams said Smith's situation isn't a distraction or even a hot topic of
conversation in the Vikings' locker room. "We do our little one-liner
jokes, and that's the end of it," Williams said. "That's about
it." The NFL is investigating Smith, who already has two strikes against
him in the league's substance-abuse program. He faces a one-year suspension for
his next offense, but possession of test-altering paraphernalia outside of a
testing situation is not a violation of league policy. The third-year running
back took his normal repetitions during Monday's practice.
Coach Mike Tice has made "consistency" the theme for the Vikings on
and off the field this year, from the staff through the players. "It's the
difference in finishing 9-7 and winning the Super Bowl," he said.
Patriots center Dan Koppen calls the two-month break between the Super Bowl and
the beginning of the offseason conditioning program a crucial time in allowing
players to show up in the spring ``with a whole new attitude.'' But when it
comes to Koppen, the last thing the Pats want is a new attitude. That's because
the third-year veteran is straight out of the Patriots handbook, a selfless and
intelligent pro who espouses just about every attribute Bill Belichick wants
from his players. Koppen is also considered one of the best young centers in the
league, but if you ask him whether making his first Pro Bowl in 2005 is one of
his offseason goals, his response is team first.
Last season the Bears' offense sputtered under backup quarterbacks Jonathan
Quinn, Craig Krenzel and Chad Hutchinson. Ron Turner took particular note of
former Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton, a fourth-round draft pick, in the Bears'
first spring mini-camp. "I had seen him some in high school and I tried to
recruit him [to Illinois]," Turner said. "And I obviously watched him
a lot at Purdue and I watched some film. He has a live arm, and he's real smart.
He's picking things up very quickly." The Bears' regular summer training
camp opens July 23 in Bourbonnais, Ill.
Ravens TE Todd Heap, who could miss half the preseason while rehabilitating from
shoulder surgery, watched from the sideline. "I'll be ready to go for the
season," Heap said. "I just want to make sure everything is healed up
and ready to go before I play."
Tampa Bay was interested in bringing him back, and Washington offered a
three-year contract. But Roland Williams accepted the Rams' one-year, $690,000
offer to replace Cam Cleeland as the No. 2 tight end behind Brandon Manumaleuna.
"It's great to come back and have a rebirth in the place where I was born
as a football player," Williams said. "I think it's always been a good
fit, honestly. ... It's an offense that I love and had some success in."
And he just can't wait to start blocking for the 6-1, 231-pound Jackson, who
averaged just over 5 yards (673 total) on 134 carries last year as a rookie
after the Rams made him their first-round draft pick. "The boy is big, and
runs strong and hard," Williams gushed. "That's why they call him the
'Train.'"
It's not training camp or even minicamp, but Washington's veterans will be on
the Redskin Park fields with their coaches today for the first time since New
Year's Day. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs termed these days as an indoctrination for
his new veterans, including receivers Santana Moss and David Patten and center
Casey Rabach. All three are projected starters.
Did You Know? Former Bears safety Doug Plank, for whom the vaunted "46
Defense" was named by defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, has led the AFL
Georgia Force to its first Southern Division championship.
Negotiations are continuing with the Silverdome with an expectation that the
Lions' former home stadium will be one of two practice sites for Super Bowl XL
on Feb. 5, 2006. The Lions moved to Ford Field after the 2001 season after 26
seasons at the Silverdome. Officials for the NFL and Detroit Super Bowl Host
Committee have been in talks with Silverdome officials about having the AFC
champion practice at the Silverdome. The NFC champion will practice at the
Lions' Allen Park facility.