The Oakland Raiders, who have had an active offseason thus far, could be looking to add even more players.

Per Bill Williamson of ESPN.com, the Raiders want to add depth at defensive tackle.

To do so, they might pursue a couple of former Raiders — Sam Adams and Grady Jackson.

Jackson spent his first five NFL seasons with the Raiders, from 1997 through 2001, and Adams was a member of the 2002 edition of the team, which made it to the Super Bowl.

We continue our trend of non-NFL stories on this rainy (in West Virginia) Fourth of July morning because, well, apparently every NFL beat writer in the country got the day off.

But this one is kind of an NFL story, since it relates to the son of the late Walter Payton, arguably the greatest running back in the history of the game.

Jarrett Payton spent some time with the Titans, but emerged last year as the leading rusher for the Montreal Alouettes, with 852 yards in 13 games.

This year, Payton was released after the first regular-season game after a failed effort to trade him.

It didn’t help that Payton missed most of the preseason with an ankle injury.  But he insists that he’s now healthy.

“I really don’t know what happened, but a little bit was my injury,” Payton said.  “The injury opened the door for a switch.”

Taking Payton’s place is Avon Cobourne, the career rushing leader at West Virginia Univeristy who was unable to catch on at the NFL level. 

“It sounds like I was never in the picture,” Payton said.  “What would have happened if I wasn’t hurt?  I don’t know, but they would have had a tough decision.  When I’m playing at my best, I’m good and can help a team win.”

A change in coaches might have been a factor, with Jim Popp yielding to Marc Trestman.  Still, Payton can’t put a finger on the reason for the move.

“It’s one of those things and I still don’t understand why,” he said.

Payton is now a free agent, and he can play for any team in either the CFL or the NFL.

Despite the fact that it’s now harder for folks with a criminal record to gain admission into Canada, the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL have taken steps to eventually claim former Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews.

The Pats cut Andrews on Tuesday after his second arrest since Super Bowl XLII.  The Alouettes have placed Andrews on their confidential negotiation list, which gives them dibs on Andrews in the event he can’t get another gig in the NFL.

But the Alouettes, and anyone in the NFL who might be interested in Andrews, apparently will have to wait.  On Thursday, a judge ordered that Andrews could be held up to 90 days without bail for allegedly holding a pistol to the head of his ex-fiance.

Receiver Marcus Nash was best known in the NFL for being one of coach Mike Shanahan’s various misfires, flaming out in Denver after being selected in the first round of the 1998 draft.

As a rookie, he won a Super Bowl ring with the Broncos.  Two years later, he won another one with the Ravens.  For his career, he had four catches.

Nash disappeared from the NFL thereafter, but has spent six seasons in the Arena Football League.  In 2004, he was named the league’s offensive player of the year, with 154 catches for 1,771 yards for the Las Vegas Gladiators.  His 46 receiving touchdowns tied a league record.

For the last two seasons, Nash has played for the Dallas Desperados.  He finished the 2008 season with 33 scores, most on the team.  It also was his fifth straight season with more than 1,000 yards receiving.

So why hasn’t he gotten another chance in the NFL?  He’s now 32 years old, which might be too old to get a shot at the highest level of the game.  But to go from being a first-round pick to a completely forgotten man despite solid performances in the Arena league seems a little odd, to say the least.

UPDATE:  It looks like that second chance in the NFL will never come for Nash.  As a friend of the site points out, Nash suffered a broken neck in last week’s playoff loss.  His career is likely over.

Here’s another reason for the folks in Toronto to try to finagle as many Buffalo Bills games as possible.

The CFL team that plays there might not be very good.

On Thursday night, the Argos were ambushed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 32-13.  Hamilton hadn’t won in Toronto since 2001, and finished last season with a woeful 3-15 record.

Leading the way for Hamilton was former Chiefs quarterback Casey Printers, who had tried unsuccessfully to follow in the footsteps of men like Joe Theismann, Warren Moon, and Jeff Garcia by making the jump from the CFL to the NFL.  Printers threw for 171 yards and rushed for 32, scoring two touchdowns.

For the Argos, former NFL receiver Bethel Johnson caught only one pass for 11 yards, and former NFL quarterback Michael Bishop stayed on the sidelines, with former NFL defensive back Kerry Joseph getting the reps.

Another former NFL defensive back, Willie Middlebrooks, who was the league’s defensive player of the week after the first round of regular-season game, didn’t play due for the Argos to a foot injury.

Chiefs fans, you can rest easy.  You won’t be ejected from Arrowhead Stadium by one of the guys in the yellow CSC Event Staff windbreakers for standing up and rooting for your team.

The Chiefs, per AOL’s FanHouse, have changed their Fan Code of Conduct to outlaw “continuous standing.”  Previously, as we pointed out, the rule simply prohibited “standing.”

So you can stand.  Just take a seat from time to time. 

And kudos to the Chiefs for implicitly recognizing that their prior version of the Code of Conduct made no sense.

The Buffalo Bills have agreed to a three-year contract extension with defensive tackle Kyle Williams, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network.

Williams is now under contract through 2012.  The contract has a maximum value of $14.5 million and it includes $5.7 million in guaranteed money.

A two-year player, Williams started every game in 2007, and eleven of 16 in 2006 as a rookie.

Williams was the first pick in the fifth round of the 2006 draft, had he had been under contract through 2009, at base salaries of $445,000 and $530,000, respectively, over the next two seasons.

The tidal wave of Brett Favre reports and rumors has included more than a few suggestions that the Packers are inclined to be Favre free in 2008, and beyond.

Setting aside for now the question of whether such a position would jeopardize the employment (and/or the life) of G.M. Ted Thompson, the Packers wouldn’t be able both to refuse to let Favre play or to refuse to let him leave.

Here’s a look at some of the possibilities.  Courtesy of SportingNews.com.  Penned by a doofis whose name you might recognize.

Defensive end Jevon Kearse had a huge season as a rookie in 1999.  To a certain extent, he’s been living off the fumes of that four-month period from nine years ago ever since.

Injuries plagued the rest of his tenure in Tennessee, and the Titans allowed him to walk away to Philly as a free agent in 2003.

After being released by the Eagles earlier this year, Kearse is back in Tennessee.  And he’s already made headlines by being arrested for DUI.

So how has he followed it up?  By claiming that the Eagles will regret cutting him loose.

Kearse recently told Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com that he’ll play so well in 2008 that Philly fans will scratch their heads about the decision that was made.

“They’ll say, ‘Why the hell did we let that dude go?’ ” Kearse said. “‘What were they thinking?’”

Here’s what they were thinking, Jevon:  “This guy is riding on the hype of his rookie season, and he’s no longer worth the money that we pay him.”

Says Kearse, ”Maybe it was a good reason:  So I can get [pissed] off and get more motivated.” 

If Kearse gets “more motivated” and plays well in Tennessee, that’s fine.  The reality is that he wasn’t “more motivated” and wasn’t playing well in Philly. 

So maybe he needed a kick in the butt.  If so, it’s a shame; these guys are supposed to be professionals, and true professionals don’t need external events to make them “more motivated.”  They already are.

The stunning (but not surprising) reports that surfaced on Wednesday regarding former Packers quarterback Brett Favre helped spice up a slow day.

And it gave me a great topic for one of my SportingNews.com submissions.  Thanks, Brett!

Anyway, here it is.

The Kansas City Chiefs would like to clarify that their rule against standing while watching games at Arrowhead Stadium is only a rule against excessive standing.

Tammy Fruits, the team’s vice president of sales and marketing, tells Fox 4 News in Kansas City that the team’s guidelines for fan behavior — which drew criticism for listing standing among the activities that “the stadium staff will proactively intervene” to stop — are not intended to stop fans from jumping up to cheer spontaneously.

“We want Arrowhead loud and proud like it’s always been,” Fruits said.

The team will, however, intervene when a fan’s excessive standing obstructs the view of other fans. Now if we can just get a clear definition of what constitutes “excessive” standing, Kansas City fans will know how much time they should expect to spend on their feet when they go to games, and how much time they should expect to spend on their butts.

Former Chargers linebacker Steve Foley settled his claims against the City of Coronado for an undisclosed amount during the trial arising from the career-ending shooting incident that occurred in September 2006.

The settlement was brokered by a retired judge, who presumably was introduced to the action as a mediator.  Courts throughout the country use mediation, a non-binding negotiation process over which an independent lawyer or judge presides, as a way to get lawsuits resolved.  It’s possible that the retired judge in this case served as the mediator prior to trial, but then continued to touch base with the parties as the trial unfolded.

The settlement amount will be disclosed once the payment is formally approved by the City of Coronado.  (It’s odd that final approval wasn’t obtained before the deal was done.)

Typically, a successful settlement obtained through mediation leaves all parties slightly pissed off.

Foley was shot by an off-duty officer who followed Foley out of the jurisdiction at a time when the officer believed that Foley was driving drunk.

Offensive lineman Demetrius Bell, a seventh-round pick of the Buffalo Bills, signed a contract with the team on Tuesday.

Bell gained a lot more attention than the typical seventh-rounder at this April’s draft because his father is basketball star Karl Malone. The Mailman was likely not happy about all the attention because it was followed quickly by the revelation that Bell’s mother was just 13 when Malone, 20 at the time, impregnated her. Malone was not a part of his son’s life while Bell was growing up and, according to reports, rebuffed his attempts at creating a relationship several years ago.

Contract terms weren’t disclosed. Bell played left tackle at Northwestern State and started the final 22 games of his collegiate career. He’s the first of three Buffalo seventh-rounders and fourth of 10 overall picks to sign a contract.

When the NFL team in Cleveland left for Baltimore in 1996, the new team name of Ravens was chosen not for any particular affinity for the bird, but as a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, who lived much of his life in Baltimore.

But this year the Ravens thought it would be a good idea to get some actual ravens to fly around the stadium during their pre-game introductions.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals does not like that idea at all, and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun reports that PETA has sent a letter of protest to the team.

“We have received numerous complaints from people who are gravely concerned and upset that the Baltimore Ravens are planning to feature live African white nape ravens (members of the Corvidae family) at upcoming games, including having the birds fly out of smoky tunnel,” PETA’s letter said. “After carefully considering the following information, we urge you to cancel plans to feature live birds immediately and implement a policy prohibiting the use of live animals at all Ravens games.”

The Ravens didn’t respond to PETA’s letter, other than to note that the use of live animals at football games is widespread, including the Naval Academy using a goat and the Air Force Academy using a falcon. The Ravens will apparently go on with their plans to use real ravens.

Our pal Adam Schein of Sirius NFL Radio tells us that former Steelers running back Najeh Davenport recently denied mistaking a closet for a bathroom, and a hamper for a commode, during that infamous dorm-room incident from 2002.

Davenport’s denial came during a Monday interview, during which Davenport also said that he doesn’t think he could play for the Browns (which, actually, would be a perfect team for him, given the whole dorm-room thing), because his son and the son’s mother reside in Cleveland.  Last year, Davenport was tried on charges of roughing up the woman, and was acquitted in full.

It remains to be seen whether Davenport lands with a new team.  He picked a bad time, frankly, to be a free-agent running back, given the presence of guys like Shaun Alexander, Travis Henry, Cedric Benson, and Kevin Jones on the market.

But we credit the Steelers for cutting him loose before the start of training camp.  They could have chosen to keep him around in the event that Willie Parker or rookie Rashard Mendenhall get injured, and cut Davenport late in August if the rest of the backs were healthy.  That approach would have been good for the Steelers, but bad for Davenport’s efforts to latch on somewhere else.

The San Diego Chargers have announced agreements with two of the team’s 2008 draft picks.

Under contract are running back Marcus Thomas, a fifth-round pick, and offensive tackle Corey Clark, a seventh-rounder.

Thomas rushed for more than 1,100 yards last season for UTEP, and Clark was a two-year starter at Texas A&M.

The Chargers have three remaining unsigned picks, including first-round cornerback Antoine Cason.

Joe Jurevicius may have spoken too soon.

Less than three weeks after the wide receiver insisted he would be ready for training camp, the Cleveland Browns announced today that Jurevicius had another procedure on his knee.

According to the team’s announcement, Jurevicius has had ongoing swelling and discomfort, so he had a cleanup surgery yesterday at the Cleveland Clinic.  It is now unclear whether he will be ready for the start of camp on July 23.

Jurevicius played all 16 games for the Browns last season, but he did it on a balky knee, and he had surgery in January.  He developed a staph infection shortly after the surgery, and the knee has reportedly bothered throughout the offseason.

The Patriots have announced the release of defensive back Willie Andrews, a day after the news broke that he had been arrested for the second time this off-season.

The team offered no explanation for the decision to cut Andrews loose, but it was obvious that he wasn’t going to be invited to training camp. Some players are talented enough to keep their jobs despite multiple off-season arrests, but Andrews isn’t one of them.

Andrews faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm after his fiancee said he pointed a gun at her. He was arrested in February on a marijuana possession charge.

The Patriots also announced that they have signed sixth-round draft pick Bo Ruud, a linebacker from Nebraska.

A mistrial was declared in the Chris Henry assault case after jurors told the judge today they could not reach a verdict.

Jurors told Local 12 in Cincinnati that the eight-person jury was hopelessly deadlocked, with six jurors voting for acquittal and two voting for conviction.

Henry was accused of punching a University of Cincinnati student in the face in March. The Bengals cut him shortly after that incident, and he is currently suspended by the NFL, pending the resolution of the case.

Henry will go on trial again, with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for July 8. The judge told Henry he can remove the ankle monitor he’s been wearing, but he still must stay away from the man he’s accused of punching and any other witnesses.

In an effort to find out who’s the dirtiest player in the NFL, ESPN.com surveyed head coaches and asked them to name just one player who’s the dirtiest of them all.

Of the 17 coaches who supplied an answer, 11 of them chose Patriots safety Rodney Harrison.

The coaches answered anonymously and didn’t explain their answers, but this is obviously no surprise, as Harrison has a reputation for taking cheap shots.

However, ESPN.com’s Mike Sando reports that there’s one NFL player who has more personal foul penalties than Harrison over the last seven seasons: Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson, with 17. Wilson didn’t get a single vote for dirtiest player, and neither did Saints defensive end Will Smith, who is tied with Harrison for the second-most personal fouls (14) in the NFL since 2001.

Cowboys safety Roy Williams got two votes for league’s dirtiest player, and Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, Steelers receiver Hines Ward, Titans center Kevin Mawae and Bears center Olin Kreutz each got one.

In May, when word broke of a Philadelphia shooting involving a gun owned by Colts receiver Marvin Harrison, some believed that we’d eventually learn that the mild-mannered football player secretly has been leading a bizarre double life.

To date, no such evidence has emerged.  However, Harrison recently has been outed as a fan of pro wrestling.

While vacationing in Orlando, Harrison decided to pop in on a TNA Wrestling session.  He talked with the various TNA personalities and posed for a picture or two.

Last year, Pacman Jones became a TNA “personality” during his suspension from the NFL.  He apparently had planned to actually wrestle, but he agreed not to after the Titans filed sued, citing language in his football contract prohibiting such activities.

Hey, with rumors still swirling that Marvin’s knee might keep him from running pass routes, maybe it will be strong enough to allow him to pursue wrestling as a post-football career.

We’re kidding.  We think.

In May, Titans center Kevin Mawae told ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd that the amount of money being paid to unproven rookies is “a little disheartening.”

The comments were surprising, given that Mawae is now the President of the NFL Players Association.  Indeed, the Executive Director of the NFLPA, Gene Upshaw, has made it clear that he will never agree to a rookie wage slotting system.

Apparently, Upshaw has since coerced a little sense into Mawae.  Speaking to NFLN’s Adam Schefter from the rookie symposium in Atlanta, Mawae now seems to be working from Upshaw’s talking points.

“We’re talking about a very small population of the players coming into the league making that kind of money,” Mawae said, “and I said before and I’m saying now that I’m sure it’s going to be a point of contention and something we’ll be discussing during the Collective Bargaining Agreement [negotiations].”

But if the players want what the owners want on this point, it’s not a point of contention.  It’s a point of agreement.

Sure, it’s a small population of rookies who are affected by this, but there’s a lot of money.  And history tells us that only half of the players taken at the top of the draft ever earn it.  So why not take that money and make it available to the players who have proven themselves, year in and year out?

As long as any new system allows the Larry Fitzgeralds and the Joe Thomases and the Mario Williamseses of the NFL to be rewarded once they perform, it makes perfect sense to prevent guys like Ryan Leaf and Akili Smith from pocketing millions in exchange for, in the end, nothing.

Still, it was smart for Upshaw to reel in Mawae.  Because the goal of collective bargaining is to make a concession and get a concession.  If the players aren’t able to persuade the NFL that they hope to keep the current system for paying rookies, the players won’t get anything in return if/when they agree to a slotting structure.

The problem, however, is that when it comes to the input of veteran players, the cat is out of the bag, and it has clawed all the furniture (and pooped in Upshaw’s bowl of Grape Nuts).  The league knows that the veteran players want to contain the money paid at the top of the draft, and no matter how hard Gene pounds his fist about it, the reality is that the rank-and-file disagree with him.

Despite a denial by the player and a suggestion from the team that it was either a coincidence or a case of identity theft, police have confirmed that Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin was arrested on Saturday for drug possession at the Cleveland airport.

Per the AP, the authorities determined in conjunction with the Ravens that Martin the Ravens player was the person arrested.

Airport screeners found three small packets of marijuana while searching Marting at a security checkpoint.

The fact that Martin apparently lied to the team about the incident could subject him to stiffer-than-usual penalties under the Personal Conduct Policy.

Patriots’ season-ticket holders are beginning to receive their admission slips to the ten games that will be played at Gillette Stadium in 2008.

The ten tickets commemorate great moments in Patriots history.  And a franchise that has been to six Super Bowls, winning three of them, should be able to quickly come up with a ten-pack of great moments — for example, the six AFC title game victories, the three Super Bowl wins, and the Snow Bowl/Tuck Rule game against the Raiders in the 2001 playoffs that launched the run of three Super Bowl titles in four seasons.

But, somehow, the Pats have opted to include their largest single-game margin of victory as one of the ten moments. 

Possibly because the team on the wrong end of that 56-3 score was the New York Jets.

The bad blood between these two franchises is undeniable, and we’re convinced that, if that 53-point win had come at the expense of any other team, the outcome of a regular-season game from a year that didn’t even result in a playoff berth surely wouldn’t have made its way onto the face of a ticket.

Anyway, here’s the key portion of the ticket to the August 7 games between the Pats and the Ravens.  Discuss amongst yourselves.

A Hamilton County jury began considering the fate of receiver Chris Henry on Monday.  Though the verdict form won’t contain any questions about whether Henry should be able to continue his NFL career, if they check “yes” in response to the question of whether Henry committed an assault on March 31, they are essentially casting a “no” vote as to the former Bengal’s chances of ever playing for any one of the other 31 teams.

Surely, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will banish Henry if he is convicted of assault.  Not because an assault conviction standing alone disqualifies him from returning to the league, but because Goodell made it clear to Henry in April 2007 that his next blunder would be his last.

Deliberations will resume on Tuesday.  Henry claims that he was acting in self-defense. 

If acquitted, look for Henry to land with another team.  He has said that he wants to play for the Cowboys or the Saints.

Indianapolis Colts starting linebacker Tyjuan Hagler will be on the shelf for at least two months after tearing a pectoral muscle while lifting weights, according to Adam Schefter of NFL Network.

He will miss all of training camp, likely will miss all of the preseason, and could miss Week One of the regular season, a home game against the Bears.

Hagler was a fifth-round draft pick in 2005.  He appeared in twelve regular-season games and started seven of them last season.

As it turns out, Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews wasn’t only busted for assault with a dangerous weapon.  Per the Boston Herald, he also was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Per the Herald, the weapon was recovered near a dumpster at his apartment complex.

Andrews is being held without bail pending a “dangerousness” hearing on Thursday, which for some reason reminds us of the movie Johnny Dangerously.

Maybe Andrews will be denied bail if the judge determines that Andrews is a “fargin’ icehole.”

That thump you hear in the distance is that of Pats defensive back Willie Andrews hitting the waiver wire.

Andrews has been arrested again, for the second time since Super Bowl XLII.  This time around, he faces charges of assault with a dangerous weapon.

He allegedly pointed a gun at his girlfriend’s head after she accused him of cheating on her.

The incident occurred on Sunday, and the woman called 911.  When police arrived, Andrews had no gun.  He allowed them to search his car, and they found no gun.

Though it might not be enough to save his gig with the Pats, those facts smell a lot like reasonable doubt to us.

The Patriots were one of just a handful of teams to make it unscathed through the first year of our Turd Watch game.  This time around, they’re in contention for the kind of trophy that they surely don’t want to win.

There are rumors on the grapevine, courtesy of AOL’s FanHouse, that the Houston Texans might eventually take a chance on former Texas tailback Cedric Benson.

Benson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2005 draft, was cut earlier this month by the Bears.  Benson thereafter cleared waivers, and has drawn no interest on the open market.

As Stephanie Stradley of FanHouse points out, the team’s current depth chart at the position doesn’t inspire feelings of awe or wonder.  (We still like what rookie Steve Slaton of WVU might be able to do in a one-cut, zone-blocking scheme, if he can get back to hitting the hole and turning on the jets.) 

Still, Benson isn’t exactly an upgrade, given his performances during his NFL career.  Absent proof that he has learned his lesson, and that he otherwise plans to lift weights and run hard and all that crap, it might be a risk not worth taking.

The Kansas City Chiefs have announced that they’ll retire No. 18 on October 19, prior to the team’s home game against the Titans.  It was the jersey number worn by long-time cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

Thomas will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.  He spent 13 seasons with the Chiefs, from 1966 through 1978, leading the league in interceptions twice.

He entered the AFL as an undrafted free agent.  He has spent 27 years as a coach in the NFL ranks, and he currently is the assistant head coach/secondary of the Falcons.

As former Lions running back Kevin Jones continues to rehabilitate his knee in an effort to get back into the NFL, a league source tells us that the physician who is aiding the effort is well-respected for his ability to reduce recovery time.

Dr. D.S. Ping “is an amazing trainer,” the source said.  “He uses some different kind of rehab methods and gets results that cut recovery time in half.”

Whether that helps Jones get a job remains to be seen.  By all accounts, he had an impressive workout on Saturday.  Unless his financial objectives are unreasonable, he might be the most likely of the current crop of veteran tailbacks (including Shaun Alexander, Travis Henry, and Cedric Benson) to find work.

The Dolphins, Packers, Steelers, and Lions attended the workout.  The Browns have asked for a copy of the tape.

On Sunday afternoon it was reported that Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin was arrested for marijuana possession at the Cleveland airport.

But Sunday night, the Associated Press reported that Ravens spokesman Kevin Byrne said Martin denied that the incident occurred.  Not denied that he was guilty of marijuana possession, but denied that the incident occurred at all.

The Carroll County Times reports that the man who was arrested at the Cleveland airport listed Owings Mills, Maryland, as his residence on the citation, and that he had the same birth date as the Derrick Martin who plays for the Ravens.  So either there are two people named Derrick Martin who were born on the same day and live in the Baltimore area, or someone else got arrested and convinced police he was Martin, or Martin was lying when he denied that the incident occurred.

Players are required to tell their teams when they get arrested, so if Martin did get arrested and told the team he didn’t, he would be wise to fess up ASAP.

The charge itself is considered a minor one; a $100 fine is the maximum that can be assessed.

In April, Pats receiver Randy Moss expressed a desire to spend some of that three-year, $27 million contract on a racing team.

He has now made it happen.

According to the Charlotte Observer and ThatsRacin.com, Moss has purchased the majority interest in Morgan Dollar Motorsports.

The team will be called Randy Moss Motorsports.  The new venture will debut on July 19 in the Craftsman Truck Series race at the Kentucky Speedway.

Moss plans to run two full-time truck teams in 2009.  We still think that Moss should buy this one.

WKYC-TV in Cleveland reports that Ravens cornerback Derrick Martin was arrested on Saturday night for drug possession.

The arrest occurred at the Cleveland airport, where Martin was found with three bags of marijuana.  (Jeez, hasn’t this guy heard of the water bottle with a secret compartment in it?)

Martin was a sixth-round pick of the Ravens in the 2006 draft.  He appeared in every game last season, starting three of them.

There have been stories recently regarding the possibility that Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth will be the latest franchise player to play his franchise season with the ability to qualify for unrestricted free agency if certain triggers are met.

As we hear it, the team wants to impose a combined playing-time trigger and some type of high-end performance incentive, such as Haynesworth being named a starter in the Pro Bowl.  Haynesworth’s camp is said to be pushing for an either-or in this regard.

Chances for a long-term deal currently are slim, primarily because the two sides are so far apart.  We’re told that Haynesworth currently is aiming significantly north of the deal paid recently by the Bears to defensive tackle Tommie Harris.