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POSTED 7:35 p.m. EST, March 31, 2006

VIKES LETTING BURLESON WALK

A league source tells us that the Minnesota Vikings will not be matching the offer sheet signed by receiver Nate Burleson with the Seahawks.  As a result, Burleson will become a member of the Seahawks as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, and the Vikings will receive Seattle's third-round pick in next month's draft.

The move closes the chapter on an ugly three-week tussle between the two teams, which started when the Vikings signed Pro Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson to a seven-year, $49 million offer sheet.  Under the terms of the offer sheet, the contract becomes fully guaranteed if Hutchinson is not the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team. 

In Minnesota, he is.  In Seattle, he wouldn't have been.

The 'Hawks tried to challenge the poison pill provision, arguing that the guarantee violates the CBA.  But then at the hearing Seattle argued that a restructuring of left tackle Walter Jones' deal enabled them to avoid the guarantee.  The Special Master ruled in favor of the Vikings.

Four days later, the Seahawks signed Burleson to a seven-year, $49 million offer sheet that becomes fully guaranteed if Burleson plays in at least five games in Minnesota in any year of the deal. 

As a practical matter, Burleson's contract with Seattle is a four-year, $14 million deal.

Burleson continues to appear on the Vikings' official web site, as of the posting of this entry.

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POSTED 4:08 p.m. EST; UPDATED 5:11 p.m. EST, March 31, 2006

MEDIA GROUP URGES NFL TO LET LOCAL CAMERAS ON THE FIELD

In response to a measure passed at the recent NFL ownership meetings that has received precious little attention from the major media conglomerates who will benefit from the rule the most, the Radio-Television News Directors Association has called for a reversal of the decision to bar local television stations from the sidelines of NFL games.

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and to the co-chairs of the competition committee, Rich McKay and Jeff Fisher, RTNDA president Barbara Cochran "urge[s]" the NFL "in the strongest possible terms" to reverse the rule.

Cochran believes that the rule discriminates against television journalists, since the print media will continue to have access to the games.  

"RTNDA's members are hard-pressed to understand the rationale behind your decision, which effectively prohibits coverage of NFL games by television reporters," she writes.  "Even private entities should not be allowed to engage in behavior that impedes the media's right to gather and disseminate public information such as information about sporting events.  Certainly, severely restricting the rights of the electronic media to gather news in publicly funded stadiums raises significant First Amendment questions."  

Amen.  

There's more:

"When electronic journalists are denied the ability to report on a news event with their own microphones, cameras and production crews, it allows newsmakers to determine the content of the news, a
result that is inconsistent with our society's democratic values."

Folks who work for local stations throughout the country generally are upset with the decision.  For them, covering NFL games is one of the few perks of a job for which they are generally overworked and underpaid.

So if the rule isn't reversed, look for a backlash.  For starters, the local affiliates will be less inclined to cover fluff activities undertaken by the hometown club.  In the past, teams could rely upon a guy with a camera to show up for every pancake breakfast at the local animal shelter featuring the fourth-string fullback with the flap jack flipper that's too small for his sasquatch hands to grip.  With this new rule in place, management might decide that there's something a tad more newsworthy to cover.

Also, don't be surprised to see some of the affiliates, which typically support the local team with a fervor bordering on unconditional love, to become more opinionated on the air when the local teams lose more games than they win.  If, after all, the local stations are getting less access, there's less of a reason for the local stations to suck up to the teams.  

Maybe, then, this actually will be a good thing for broadcast journalism.  By taking the local TV reporters off of the sidelines, the local TV stations might take their noses our of the teams' rear ends.

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FRIDAY AFTERNOON ONE-LINERS

The Bengals have terminated the contract of S Kim Herring.

Lord Favre says that He won't play beyond 2006.

The Saints have signed WR Chris Horn to a two-year deal.

Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck will throw out the first pitch on opening day for the Mariners (and as long as Jerramy Stevens isn't the guy wearing the catcher's mitt, there's a good change the thing won't be dropped).

L.A. is leading Anaheim in the hunt to host a relocated NFL franchise.

Bills director of archives Denny Lynch is retiring after 34 NFL seasons.

Former ESPN guru Mark Shapiro is trying to turn around Six Flags.

WR Ricky Proehl could end up playing for the Giants.

Titans QB Steve McNair says he isn't ready to step aside.

CB Charles Woodson has pushed his visit to Green Bay from this week to next week.

By the time the Pats were ready to offer solid money to K Adam Vinatieri, he was ready to move on.

Although the public paid for their stadium, the Seahawks' financial information is private.

QB Steve Young and QB Joe Montana reportedly took pains to avoid each other at the recent 49ers reunion in Las Vegas.

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POSTED 2:55 p.m. EST, March 31, 2006

VIKES REINSTATE NATE 

To any folks out there who still think that NFL teams don't regularly monitor this site . . . we don't expect the following story to change your minds.  But we'll tell it anyway.

Less than an hour after we posted a blurb regarding the absence of receiver Nate Burleson from the Minnesota Vikings' official web site, Nate has been reinstated.

And trust us on this, the guy was not there as of 1:57 p.m. EST.  He wasn't listed in the roster, he wasn't listed on the depth chart, and his face wasn't among the collection of player mug shots, arranged horizontally and alphabetically on the "Team" page.  Now, he's back on all three.  (Yeah, we should have done a screen capture.)

It's possible that one of the Vikings' web dudes merely jumped the gun in expunging Nate, without any insight into what the team intends to do before midnight Friday, the deadline for matching the offer sheet that Burleson signed with the Seahawks.  Regardless, someone whose paychecks have the name "Zygi Wilf" at the bottom saw our story, sounded the alarm, and got Burleson back on the page.

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POSTED 1:57 p.m. EST, March 31, 2006

VIKES WIPE NATE FROM SITE

A reader has tipped us off to the fact that the Minnesota Vikings has removed from their official web site receiver Nate Burleson, who signed last Friday an offer sheet with the Seattle Seahawks.

Burleson's name is missing from the team roster, from the collection of player head shots, and from the depth chart.

The move undoubtedly means that the Vikes will not attempt to match all or part of the offer sheet, accepting instead a third-round draft choice from the Seahawks in exchange for the fourth-year wideout, who grew up in Seattle.

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POSTED 12:22 p.m. EST, March 31, 2006

FAVRE MESSES WITH THOMPSON

We're told that Packers quarterback Brett Favre has decided to delay the official announcement of his decision to return to play in 2006 merely as a way to twist the tail of G.M. Ted Thompson.

We've heard multiple times in the past couple of weeks that it's common knowledge within the organization that Favre will play in 2006, and that he's told the team he will be back.  However, Favre has not given the team the green light to announce that Green Bay will still have a guy wearing No. 4 this season.  Recently, we'd heard that Favre was going to wait until Sunday, April 2 to make the trip to Green Bay for the announcement, simply because Thompson had wanted to make the announcement by Saturday, April 1.

But we're now told that because Thompson has tried to deny that there ever was an April 1 deadline for the announcement, Favre has decided to string Thompson along for a while longer.

Still, despite Favre's public suggestion that he hasn't made a decision, we are 100 percent certain that he has.  The organization's concern, as we hear it, is that it will look very bad in the eyes of the fans if they say Favre is coming back and Favre later has a change of heart.  So the Packers have decided to say nothing at all until Favre says it publicly himself.

But, for Favre, the current posture is nothing more than a way for him to play an offseason game with his G.M., whom we hear Favre doesn't genuinely like.

The problem is that this back-and-forth makes everyone look bad, including Favre.  If he's coming back, say so.  And if everything we've heard is wrong and he really hasn't made a final decision, he should make one.  Now.  It's kind of important for the team to know whether it will need to get a new starting quarterback ready for the 2006 season, especially with the draft four weeks away.

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POSTED 9:27 a.m. EST; UPDATED 10:05 a.m. EST, March 31, 2006

BELICHICK LOOKING TO SHOW IT'S ALL ABOUT THE COACHING?

As New Englanders continue to wring their hands regarding the exodus of key players from the Patriots and the failure of the team to throw cap money at available free agents, there's a theory making the rounds in league circles that coach Bill Belichick plans to show that, in the end, the team's success has had more to do with the coaching than with the quality of the players on the roster.

We don't know whether or not this school of thought is accurate.  All we know is that, for some folks who work in and around the NFL for a living, the only plausible explanation for not using a cap bulge believed to be in the neighborhood of $20 million is that Belichick wants to show that he can win even if key players like David Givens, Willie McGinest, and Adam Vinatieri leave, and even if no one with any significant name recognition is added to fill their shoes.

If that's Belichick's intent, some of his current players haven't gotten the memo.  "It's been discouraging at time, to tell you the truth," said linebacker Tedy Bruschi regarding the recent exodus.

Part of the team's cap surplus surely is being held for the purposes of extending the contract of defensive lineman Richard Seymour.  But don't expect a new contract to come soon, because under the CBA a team cannot restructure a player's deal twice within the same year in order to give him a raise.  Last August, the Pats "adjusted" Seymour's rookie contract to get him to abandon a training camp holdout.

(Editor's note:  For any CBA nerds out there, Article XXIV, Section 9(a) says that the contract of a veteran player may not be renegotiated to increase the player's wages during the original term of the contract for a period of 12 months after the player's most recent contract negotiation.  Note that multiple restructurings are permitted if the player does not end up with more total money.) 

Though the notion of an eventual new deal for Seymour won't be enough to reduce the collective blood pressure of the team's fan base, we think the situation isn't as bad as feared.  This team has won games over the past couple of years despite a revolving door of injuries.  So for 2006, the faithful should just assume that Givens, Vinatieri, and McGinest already have suffered torn ACLs.

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MINNY HAS FOUR OPTIONS ON BURLESON OFFER SHEET

The Minnesota media and the Seattle media apparently presume that the Vikings have only three options for responding to the offer sheet signed by receiver Nate Burleson with the Seahawks a week ago:  (1) match the offer, which would make the full seven-year, $49 million contract guaranteed; (2) challenge the validity of the poison pill provisions that would make the contract fully guaranteed if matched by the Vikings; or (3) do nothing, allowing Burleson to become a member of the Seahawks.

But there's a fourth option.  The Vikings can match the offer sheet, and exclude from the match the two poison pill provisions.  This would force the Seahawks and the NFLPA to take the matter to arbitration as to the question of whether the poison pills are principal terms.  Although the legal mechanics are somewhat unclear when it comes to fussing about the application of the CBA, the NFL and the Vikings could try to argue in response that the poison pills violate the CBA by essentially forcing the Vikings to pay more money than the Seahawks will be required to pay under the full term of the deal, which essentially is a four-year, $14 million contract if the guarantee is not triggered.

With that said, we don't expect the Vikings to prolong this mess beyond the current deadline of midnight Friday.  They applied the low tender to Burleson because they decided that they'd be inclined to take a third-rounder in exchange for another year of his services.  Indeed, even without the poison pill provisions, it's likely that the Vikings would not have matched the current offer.

But the question is whether Minnesota wants to make the process more difficult for the Seahawks.  Although the CBA provides for expedited consideration of disputes regarding offer sheets, every extra day that the Vikings draw this out is another day that the Seahawks don't have Burleson in the fold.

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NEW UNIS FOR VIKES

The Minnesota Vikings will be introducing new uniforms prior to the April draft. 

But before folks begin to speculate on the specifics of a dramatic overhaul, the changes are expected to be "relatively subtle."  The biggest adjustment will be the reintroduction of purple pants, which were last worn by the team in the 1960s -- most notably in the game in which defensive end Jim Marshall ran the wrong way after recovering a fumble.

He could . . . go . . . all . . . the . . . way.  For a safety.

The helmets will continue to feature horns, although we're relatively certain that plenty of NFL fans don't know that the decals are supposed to be horns.  And that brings to mind this excerpt from our interview last month with center Matt Birk, who grew up in Minnesota as a Vikings fan:

PFT:  Now tell me this, when you were a kid, did you know what the hell that thing was on the Vikings helmet?

Birk:  No.  No.  Even looking at it now, it's a pretty poor depiction.  It's supposed to kind of have that 3D look to it, like the horn actually is sticking out of the side of the helmet.  I think it's time to update that, or at least get somebody to get a crack at it.

PFT:  I think they should actually put horns on the side of the helmet.  That's got aesthetic benefit and strategic benefit. 

Birk:  Yeah, that could be like a bull.  You could hook the guy's jersey with the tip of your horns.

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BLOOM NOT EXPECTED TO RUN ON SATURDAY

We're told that former Colorado receiver/kick returner Jeremy Bloom does not plan to attempt to improve on his 40-yard dash time from the scouting combine at his pro day workout on Saturday in Los Angeles.  Instead, Bloom will focus on running routes and catching passes.

We reported after the scouting combine, at which Bloom ran the forty in 4.5 seconds, that some scouts weren't happy with Bloom's decision not to take part in the receiving drills.  Bloom apparently passed on catching passes because he had recently returned from competing in the Olympics.

One of the scouts' primary concerns regarding Bloom apparently will be adequately addressed on Saturday.  According to the Denver Post, Bloom's weight is up from 173 at the combine to 186.

The former Buffalo played only two years of college football before losing his eligibility due to an issue regarding payment for endorsements related to skiing.  He scored several long touchdowns despite limited touches in his two seasons of college ball.  He is expected by some league insiders to be drafted in the fourth or fifth round.

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FRIDAY MORNING ONE-LINERS

The Bucs have signed Cowboys OT Torrin Tucker to an offer sheet, which contains a poison pill stating that if Tucker plays more than five games in the state of Texas, he must be paid in bacon.  (And Tucker is secretly hoping that the 'Boys will match.)

The Texans have agreed to pay WR Eric Moulds $14 million over four years, with a $5 million signing bonus.  (We predict that, if the deal goes through, Moulds will be playing for the Texans long after T.O. is no longer a Cowboy.)

The prosecution is considering changes to charges in the trial of Redskins S Sean Taylor, which is supposed to start in 10 days.

CB Ty Law will visit the Seahawks next week; in Seattle, Law would replace the guy who is replacing him with the Jets.

The Eagles apparently are putting out the word that they never were interested in WR Eric Moulds.

Penn State DT Scott Paxson apparently is a good lacrosse player.

Bears DT Tank Johnson will miss 4-6 months after surgery to repair a tord quadriceps muscle; the injury happened while Johnson was "working out."

CB Ty Law is interested in playing for the Titans.

The Aggies are still in Wapner mode regarding the 12th Man thing.

Day 13 of the T.O. era, and still not a word from the Tuna, who presumably skipped the ownership meetings this week in order to duck a storm of media questions.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy defends the lack of talent on the Green Bay roster by saying, "I've been around less."

The Jets' new headquarters will include a 120,000-square-foot building on a 420-acre development (and the G.M. and the head coach will get their own sets of keys to the place as soon as they each turn 40).

New Chiefs special teams coach Mike Priefer says he'll get Dante Hall back to the Pro Bowl.

DE Kenard Lang will be the Broncos nickel pass rusher.

Click here for our NFL news and rumors from March 30.  (Or you can keep wishing that Howie Mandel will do his old rubber glove bit on his new show -- and pull the thing past his mouth and nose and leave it there for 7-10 minutes.)