More News........
May 1
(10:00 AM): McNair still Titan; Ravens hovering… Tennessee QB Steve McNair is still a member of the Titans, however, it appears its not if but when his days with the team are over. Indeed, the Titans gave Baltimore permission to speak with McNair about working out a deal that would facilitate a trade between the two teams after Tennessee selected former Texas QB Vince Young with the third pick overall at the Saturday’s draft. According to sources, McNair was apparently ‘agreeable’ to the Ravens terms, however the talks didn't produce anything concrete as the two teams are reportedly far apart on compensation for the Titans. Indeed, Tennessee GM Floyd Reese was quoted afterwards as saying that a deal was "not going to happen. We talked early and they made an offer and it was insufficient, and it died right there. Right now all that is dead.'' However, Ravens’ he coach Brian Billick warned people to "stay tuned.'' The speculation is, though, that it could take several weeks to resolve the issue because neither team is under any immediate deadline to get something done. What isn’t clear is what the two sides are asking for although it does appear that there is a wide gulf between the offers on the table. The Ravens, though, may have the edge because with less than $500,000 in salary cap room, the Titans can't sign any free agents or any of its draft picks until it reduces or sheds McNair's $23.5 million cap number. At worst, the Titans will likely be forced to release McNair after June 1st. Meanwhile, QB Joey Harrington is still technically a Lion after Detroit was unable to unable to unload the former #1 round pick. Harrington has already agreed to play for Miami, but the Lions were unable to get the Dolphins to up their offer of 6th-round pick in 2007. Indeed, the Lions threatened to move Harrington to Cleveland this weekend for a 5th-rounder this year, but in the end the Browns balked because of Harrington's reticence about going to Cleveland. And now, there's a possibility that the Dolphins will remove the offer from the table and wait for the Lions to release Harrington in June just before he's due a $4-million roster bonus.
More ‘roomie’ troubles at USC… Southern California officials are reportedly investigating whether an upscale apartment that star junior WR Dwayne Jarrett, a potential top prospect at the 2007 draft, shared with former Trojans’ QB Matt Leinart violated NCAA rules. Leinart's family put the duo in a high-rent secured apartment complex in downtown Los Angeles after Leinart moved out of his former residence near campus because he was constantly hounded by fans. Leinart, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who was picked 10th overall by Arizona at the draft on Saturday, and Jarrett each paid $650 a month for the apartment that cost $3,866 a month, according to the Los Angeles Times. Leinart's father reportedly paid the difference which was fine for Leinart, but may have been against NCAA rules for Jarrett who might have to repay about $10,000,
Injuries cloud prospect hopes… Part of the ‘draftnik’s lament’ is that we often don’t have inside information on things certain like injuries that NFL teams are going to have. For example, it turns out that Texas DT Rod Wright, who fell all the way to the 7th round at this weekend’s draft, has a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that will require surgery. In fact, Wright didn’t even know himself about the injury which showed up on a x-ray taken at the combine in February. There was a similar story for another Texas-based DT as Johnny Jolly of Texas A&M, who fell to Green bay in the 6th round this weekend after injuring an ankle just a few days before the NFL scouting combine in March. Like Wright, there's a good possibility Jolly will require surgery to correct the condition, although he is not expected to be out more than a few weeks. Another player whose stock plummeted dramatically because of injury concerns was Southern California junior OG Fred Matua, originally a late first day prospect who ended up going in the 7th round, reportedly because of concerns about a couple of past knee injuries.
