The latest rumor (other than ESPN’s update tonight that the Vikings have suspended their pursuit of Favre–presumably until tomorrow, when they wake up and start again) is that Favre’s family and friends have booked a block of rooms at the Midway Motor Lodge near Lambeau Field for the weekend of the Vikings game against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 1

Every report of this story that I’ve seen has been accompanied by the mention that this COULD be a sign that Favre has told those close to him that he is returning.

But what if it isn’t?  What if a really clever manager or bellhop just started the rumor to drum up some publicity for the Midway Motor Lodge?  Get some early reservations going, and hope that people don’t cancel in time, or decide to make the trip even if Favre stays retired?

Or, another possibility–what if Favre has actually decided NOT to come back, and he’s been in touch with the Packers, and that’s the weekend they’re finally going to retire #4?

OK, admittedly, neither of those scenarios seem real plausible–but neither does the idea that family & friends booking a block of rooms means he’s 100% coming back, if you ask me.

Until we finally hear something direct from Brad Childress or Favre himself, all of these reports–NFL Network, ESPN, etc–they are all 100% speculation, in my eyes.  And speculation that I could care less about.  After all, it’s only about two and a hlaf months until our first fantasy draft…

While Martellus Bennett maybe shouldn’t be given a forum to express his latest thoughts & wisdom, another NFL player maybe should be getting the attention of NFL fans, players and owners.  Jaguars TE George Wrighster wrote on his YardBarker blog today about how the collective bargaining agreement needs to be extended, for the good of the game.

If the CBA isn’t figured out soon, the NFL could be looking at a 2010 season with no salary cap–which Wrighster points out will be bad for the owners AND the players, as a whole.

Some players, such as Karlos Dansby, have been spouting off about the money they expect to receive in 2010, thanks to the uncapped year.  And a player like Dansby might actually see some extra cash, if they draw the interest of a team like the Washington Redskins, who will likely (continue) to spend maximum dollars in an effort to finally win something under Dan Snyder.

But many more teams, like Wrighster’s Jaguars, will be much more likely to take advantage of the lack of a salary floor–meaning they will spend much less than the $111 million that they are required to spend on salaries in 2009.  This will lead to a dynamic more like Major League Baseball, where you have big market teams spending anywhere from 2 to 10 times as much as smaller market teams.

And that means that while a few players benefit in the short term, over the long haul, players like Wrighster may actually see less money down the road–both from an annual basis, and from how long their career’s may be, as owners may decide to continue bringing in more and more younger (and cheaper) players year after year.

Despite this, the NFL Players Association has repeatedly said that if the salary cap disappears, it will never be coming back.

Another aspect that hasn’t seemingly been touched on much would be whether or not  owners like Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones, who never met a potential money making idea that they wouldn’t try to exploit to the hilt, might try to take advantage of the lack of a salary cap (and teams spending less) as an excuse to eliminate revenue sharing amongst the teams, and possibly even opt out of national contracts, in favor of local deals they could negotiate to make more for themselves.

In addition, if the CBA isn’t extended in the near term, it could lead to a work stoppage in 2011–which would be bad for everyone, except maybe Major League Baseball, who could maybe take advantage and once again become “America’s Pasttime.”

UPDATE: Apparently this was an April Fools Joke that just didn’t get publicized until April 2nd.  I think the joke should be on the Seahawks–make them play in green!  Upon further review, it should have been obvious it was a joke–the Seahawks are amongst the teams advocating the annoying trend of monochrome uniforms, so for this to have been real, they would have needed green pants as well.  That would have been AWESOME!

The Seatlle Seahawks new alternate jerseys were leaked on Deadspin this morning–presumably not a late April Fools joke.  I have to agree with Deadspin as to the jersey’s being hideous–why would you put the blueish-grey stripes on a beautiful green jersey like that?

Seahawks New Alternate Jersey

I’m not a real fan of the trend of jamming so many blocks of colors and Nike swooshes onto jerseys–most of the jerseys teams are switching to these days are hideous, and belong in the arena league (where the “modern” look seemed to originate).

But I actually kind of like the green Seahawks jersey–it would be better without the blue sleeves–but then again, I also list the Buccaneers old creamsicle orange jerseys in my top 5 all time football uniforms.

Tony’s Top 5 “Ugly” Football Uniforms:

5. Houston Oilers powder blue jerseys

4. Buffalo Bills red helmet, blue facemaks combo

3. New England Patriots red jerseys with Pat the Patriot

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers creamsicle orange jerseys and winking pirate…

1. Orlando Thunder flourescent green jerseys–had to be painful for opponents to look at during games.

What are some of the other best all time football uniforms out there?

After 10 days of stomping his feet, holding his breath and not returning phone calls Jay Cutler finally got his way. Denver owner Pat Bowlen announced Tuesday that he’d try to accommodate his spoiled quarterback’s desire to be traded.

The snot-nosed quarterback apparently decided again to not return phone calls or text messages from Bowlen and coach Josh McDaniels.

Roughly one-quarter of the league has reportedly been linked to the brat, err, Cutler talks. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, visiting the Dan Patrick Show, said his best guesses for Cutler’s destination would be the New York Jets and then the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco (assuming Cutler doesn’t have issues with Matt Stafford’s parents getting divorced), Cleveland, and Jacksonville were also mentioned by Yahoo Sports and other outlets.

The rumor I like best so far? Cutler to Washington with former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan to follow, possibly next season.

Vinny Cerrato, executive vice president of football operations, of course denies in the Washington Post that the team is going to go after Cutler. But Jason Campbell has been inconsistent (though having 36 offensive coordinators in four seasons hasn’t helped), Jim Zorn has always sort of been seen for right or wrong as a temporary coach, and owner Daniel Snyder loves to make a splash.

What bigger splash than making a deal for Cutler and then following up by snagging the brat’s former Broncos coach?

The Washington Times adds that sources have told its reporters that the Redskins are in fact interested in Cutler AND they note that Shanahan and Cerrato are close.

This whole thing has gotten stupid. McDaniels screwed up in going after Matt Cassel and in how he handled the situation with Cutler. Cutler has screwed up repeatedly in the time since, by not returning phone calls and texts and by generally acting like the stereotypical professional athlete who thinks the world revolves around him. There’s really no way Denver should be in the position of having to trade a solid-to-potentially-great quarterback who should be their guy for years.

But it looks like the relationship is busted. And as such, Denver will be looking to get as much as they can – I wouldn’t be a lot on it, but if I had an extra nickel, my money would be on the QB eventually landing in D.C.

While trying to get some work done for the day job I was listening to the Dan Patrick Show on the radio. During his weekly discussion with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network, the latter host indicated that he believes Jay Cutler will be traded by the Denver Broncos in a draft day deal.

Cutler, he says, simply isn’t going to be able to get over the perceived slight from head coach Josh McDaniels, who either listened to offers or floated Cutler’s name in trade talks involving Matt Cassel last month.

Eisen said the Broncos could use Chris Simms, if they had to. He didn’t predict a destination for Cutler, though he indicated that Minnesota and Detroit were two teams he said would be foolish to not at least inquire. Eisen named a couple more potential trade partners that I didn’t catch.

I still think Cutler is being a baby and that Denver would be foolish to make such a deal. He’s still young and even if he’s peaked, he’s still among the better quarterbacks in the league right now.

But if it’s going to become a distraction I can see why McDaniels might think the better move would be cutting the cord and moving on. I guess time will tell.

Something called the Washington Huskies Examiner and the Web site ProFootballTalk.com are both reporting that Jim Mora could be the next head coach of the Washington Huskies.

While the Seattle Times reported a month ago that he wouldn’t be a candidate, rumors persist that the former Atlanta Falcons coach might in fact be the guy.

Why is this noteworthy? Well, the assistant head coach/defensive backs coach of the Seattle Seahawks had already been pegged to be the successor to Mike Holmgren, who has already announced that he is leaving the Seattle Seahawks to take at least the next year off.

And the Seahawks may have paid the price for making that announcement prior to the season. While the team has been plagued by injuries, there is some evidence that naming a “head coach in waiting” can turn the current team off from playing for the current guy.

Don Banks at sportsillustrated.cnn.com points at the Indianapolis Colts (Jim Caldwell will replace Tony Dungy when Dungy leaves) and Dallas Cowboys (Jason Garrett will replace Wade Phillips when Jerry Jones gets his next itchy trigger finger) as teams in addition to Seattle that all have underachieved to some degree during the season.

The Colts and Cowboys have turned it around enough to get into contention. But an AFC executive told Banks “I can’t recall one, but in the history of the league has there ever been a situation , where there’s a coach, and a coach in waiting and that team has had a productive season?” the executive asked rhetorically. “I really don’t think so. I don’t remember one. There has to be something to all three of these teams struggling in this situation. How can it not be at least a factor?”

So, while injuries have helped derail the Seahawks this season, they also potentially partially wasted a the year in hopes that Mora would take over next year only for him to potentially jump ship before coaching a game?

I’ve got to think that if this comes to pass this strange “coach in waiting” trend might slow a bit. And I’ve also got to think that perhaps these are some of Jim Mora’s true colors starting to shine through … again.

I think when people look back at the 2008 season for the St. Louis Rams, the one thing that will jump out is how the lack of clarity around the ownership of the team doomed their season.  And possibly their next few seasons.

There were rumors dating back to last season that coach Scott Linehan was going to get fired. Those rumors proved to be false, and then in January, team owner Georgia Frontiere passed away, and her son Chip Rosenbloom assumed control–but promised not to make any changes until he could “evaluate the team.”

Now, as recently as Septemeber 16th, after the regular season started, Rosenbloom has finally threatened to make changes.

Meanwhile, Linehan has started making changes to the starting lineup–and in the process, has likely lost the team.  He cut starting cornerback Fakhir Brown (who was rumored to be facing a suspension), and benched starting quarterback Marc Bulger in favor of oft-concussed Trent Green.

This caused starting running back Steven Jackson, who held out to start the season, to publicly criticize the decision, and question whether Bulger would be willing to return to the lineup, if when needed, and veteran wide receiver Torry Holt to apologize to Bulger for poor play.

Now, there are rumors that Linehan is trying to trade Torry Holt, and may end up releasing him if he can’t trade him.

First, if Bulger refuses to play when called upon, he deserves to be suspended.  And then released in the off-season.  And blackballed.  You just can’t quit on your team, no matter how moronic your coach is.

Second, Linehan needs to be fired.  Now.  Saturday night, before the game.  He has completely lost the team, and benching/cutting the most talented players on the team isn’t going to reverse things.

Bottom line, the Rams are terrible, and if they keep this up, they may follow up the Patriots record 16-0 regular season with the first ever 0-16 regular season–the only thing that may save them is that they play in the pathetic NFC West.

In October 2000, the NBA discovered that the Minnesota Timberwolves had entered into secret contracts that allowed them to circumvent salary cap rules. While teams in all sports stretch the rules, the Wolves and Smith exacerbated this particular situation by putting their agreements down on paper.

NBA Commissioner David Stern at the time handed out one of the most severe spankings a professional sports franchise has ever received. He voided Smith’s contract with the Wolves, fined the team $3.5 million and took away their first-round picks for the next five seasons – a move the organization from which the organization is still recovering.

One must wonder after reading ESPN’s snippet of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Packers Insider story if the Minnesota Vikings might soon be in for the NFL’s version of the Wolves’ punishment. The paper reports that the tampering charges the Green Bay Packers filed against the Vikings are based on phone records showing that Brett Favre had numerous conversations with both his friend, Darrell Bevell, the team’s offensive coordinator, but also head coach Brad Childress.

Perhaps this is fitting for the organization that brought to the public the “Love Boat.” And perhaps it’s only karma coming home to roost for the Vikings for allegedly chasing after a quarterback that has given them fits for nearly two decades. But really, who could ever guess that Favre would be dumb enough to allegedly made and take these calls on, get this, his Packers’ issued cell phone?

Because the Packers owned the number, the paper reports, they were able to review the phone records and make the recovery.

Telephone calls, ESPN blogger Kevin Seifert points out, do not constitute evidence of tampering, nor are conversations between two men who have known each other for a long time. But while Favre and Bevell had a relationship through their years together in Green Bay, Favre and Childress have no such long-term relationship.

The NFL doesn’t have a long history of dealing with tampering situations. But they do have a recent one. This year the league stripped San Francisco of its fifth round pick in the draft and forced the 49ers to switch spots with the Chicago Bears in the third round after Commissioner Roger Goodell found them guilty of tampering with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs.

That penalty was based on the 49ers allegedly having contacted Briggs’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, during the 2007 season.

It’s hard to say what the hard evidence was in that case. But one can only guess that it was no stronger than phone records as they are alleged to be in Favre-gate. And one might also guess that Goodell will come down even harder on the Vikings if he decides the team disregarded the “warning” the commissioner put out in the 49ers/Bears case.

All in all it appears as though even if Favre never plays another down in the NFL he might have had an impact on the landscape of the NFC North for years to come. And what a stupid and potentially embarrassing way to enter the preseason for the Vikings after an offseason that has been lauded by many as providing the team with its strongest chance to make the playoffs and possibly even contend for a Super Bowl in a long time.

This story continues to degrade Favre’s legacy and now it is making two teams look like complete doofuses as well.

I almost regret writing most of the soap opera script that I have on the Brett Favre saga over the last week and change and nothing would make me more sorry than if ProFootballTalk.com’s post from last night is true.

That post suggests that the Packers gave Favre a list of three teams they would consider trading him to and that Favre didn’t like any of the three so he now plans to stay retired. What a horribly boring way for this saga to end.

In today’s early hours PFT has cited the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the NFL Network in reporting on separate posts that the Packers have called the Baltimore Ravens and at least one NFC team about dealing the bipolar quarterback.

Whether Favre does or doesn’t ultimately come back apparently doesn’t change the Packers’ tampering charge against the rival Minnesota Vikings. So – as PFT puts it – this story isn’t going away for months and months whether they want to cover it or not.

We, on the other hand, will just choose to ignore it if it continues to bore us. After all – training camps are starting and games are just around the corner. It won’t be long before we’re sitting at the sports book in the Wynn or Caesar’s Palace or the Golden Nugget — or all of the above — enjoying week one of the NFL regular season – and hoping the red eye flight home Sunday night doesn’t get canceled so I make my wife’s Monday birthday.

ESPN Radio’s Freddie Coleman says Vikings fans can stop trying to decide whether they’d like to see future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre wearing his trademarked number four in purple and gold this fall.

“Forget it, boys and girls,” he says. “It’s not going to happen.” During his Friday night GameNight broadcast Coleman says there are three teams Favre could end up with – and the Vikings aren’t one of them. It’d be too painful for the organization to deal with Favre coming out of the Lambeau Field tunnel with Minnesota, he claims.

Actually, Coleman insists that because of salary cap issues and the roster turnover that would be required by most teams to fit him under the cap it is most likely that Favre remains a Packer. But if a trade does happen – and his release is highly unlikely, Coleman says – three teams make the most sense.

* Tampa Bay: While Jon Gruden collects quarterbacks, “nobody on [Tampa's current roster] their best day is better than Favre on his worst day,” Coleman says. While that is debatable at this point, Tampa did win the NFC South last season and does have a solid defense and improving, young offensive line. There might be some merit to this, as Favre also has a long-standing relationship with Gruden.

* Baltimore: This was one of my early favorites as Kyle Boller is a stiff and Joe Flacco could use a true veteran to learn from for a year or two. Coleman claims that the defense will not be as mediocre as it was last year because “Ray Lewis will start throwing guys around the locker room if that happens.”  While I still think this is a possibility, Favre is likely to want to go to a Super Bowl contender, if possible, and I see the Ravens as a team showing its age. Combine that with its schedule and the Ravens, in my opinion, are a long-shot for the playoffs.

* Carolina: Given Jake Delhomme’s injury issues, this one makes some sense too. John Fox needs to win now
and Favre at best provides an upgrade and at worst is better insurance than Matt Moore against Delhomme’s injury issues. Steve Smith would certainly benefit as would young running back Jonathan Stewart and wideouts DJ Hackett and Muhsin Muhammad. “If you are open Favre will find you as a receiver and your name does not have to be Steve Smith,” Coleman says.

Coleman often blathers on and on without really saying much. But his analysis of the Favre situation was interesting. In all likelihood he’s probably right that Favre doesn’t end up in the NFC North unless he stays in Green Bay. But this remains the most interesting NFL soap opera in a long time. There are few scenarios that would surprise me anymore.