Morton

The accord with Coles was struck, for instance, last Sunday night. But the formal offer sheet didn't go into the league office until Thursday morning. So what's the big deal about a few days gap? It provided New York officials three days to begin formulating strategy on Coles before the seven-day lock began ticking on their deadline to match the offer sheet. Even before the Jets had the offer sheet in hand, they were arranging visits with potential replacements, and in general pow-wowing over the sagacity of keeping Coles and spending $13 million to do so.

In Snyder's defense, he had to clear sufficient cap room to actually sign Coles to the offer sheet, because the resultant cap number counts against the Washington spending limit until the Jets resolve the issue by either matching or passing. But the prudent move would have been to stay mum about Coles until the cap room space was carved out.

When 'Skins director of football operations Joe Mendes phoned the Jets on Wednesday evening to alert them they would be receiving an offer sheet via fax, the response from the New York functionary was pretty funny. "Yeah, no (kidding), Joe," said the Jets official of the week's worst-kept secret.

By the way, the NFL Players Association is challenging the Jets' decision to match the offer sheet to Morton, claiming they did not match the "voidable" clause for the final two seasons of the five-year deal. The case will be arbitrated within 10 days, but, according to several league sources, the chances that Morton would actually go to the Redskins are slim.

Baltimore and Dallas are two teams that could monitor the Griese situation closely over the next few months. The Ravens are content for now to list Chris Redman as their starter, but the three-year veteran is coming off January back surgery for a herniated disc and still hasn't demonstrated he is fully rehabilitated. Anyone who has undergone back surgery knows just how dicey a procedure it can be.

Baltimore coach Brian Billick has added quarterbacks late in the spring before, and they have been productive for him at times, so he could probably deal with landing Griese in early June if he and general manager Ozzie Newsome felt that was a prudent move. The one deterrent would be if the Ravens select Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich in the first round.

The Cowboys are still evaluating youngsters Chad Hutchinson and Quincy Carter, but it is hard to imagine Bill Parcells being overly enamored with players who are so inconsistent. There were rampant, and erroneous, rumors this week that the Cowboys would meet with Griese in a get-acquainted session. That never occurred, in part because the league, in an incredible display of short-sightedness, won't permit Griese to visit other teams, even though he is free to seek a trade. Don't be surprised, though, if the Cowboys indicate some interest in Griese when he is released.

	Seau

Sure, that might be sacrilegious to suggest in San Diego, where Seau is justifiably revered. But the numbers, at least in part, support the notion that Seau, 34, is no longer a Pro Bowl-caliber defender. In six of his first seven seasons, he posted over 100 tackles, but has gone over the century mark only twice in the last six years and just once in his four most recent campaigns.

And here's an eye-opener: In the last five seasons, Seau has averaged only 5.4 "big plays " -- a combination of sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles and fumbles recovered. In that five-year span, he has just 13 sacks. The reality is, teams are not going to invest big bucks in linebackers who are just run-stuffers, and that's what Seau is at this point in his career. Chances are, he won't find a team willing to surrender a draft choice for him and will be released.

Desperate for a tailback, uncertain if DeShaun Foster will ever play again following the controversial "microfracture" procedure on his knee last summer, the Panthers tossed Davis a lifeline. What they did not throw at him, nor did anyone else, was the kind of upfront dollars he was seeking.

When he was interviewing potential new representatives a few weeks ago, after original agent Steve Weinberg had been decertified and was no longer able to serve as his mouthpiece, Davis told at least two of them that he wanted a "Tiki Barber type of deal." The New York Giants star received a combined $7 million in a signing bonus and option bonus two years ago.

But in his new contract, Davis fell far shy of that, like $5 million shy. The $2.5 million signing bonus he will get from the Panthers has to be disappointing for a player who was one of the NFL's most prolific runners over the past four seasons. Fact is, though, Davis was fortunate to get that. Only two teams, Carolina and Houston, vied for his services. The Texans never made a formal offer, and at one point last week, a Houston source told ESPN.com he felt Davis would struggle to get a $2 million signing bonus and an average-per-year of $2 million.

At the end, the Panthers essentially bid against themselves. Houston never made a formal offer. The Texans actually might have gone as high as $3 million on the signing bonus, but were turned off by how Davis and agent David Canter approached the endgame of negotiations.

The Davis deal is a prime example, especially this year, of how a tighter free-agent market is blunting expectations. Players who don't heed the warning signs, and become very pragmatic about their negotiations, could be left scrounging for minimum-salary contracts in June and July.

Oh, yeah, about that $35 million that Davis could earn in his new contract. Over $20 million of it is tied to personal and team achievements, and -- at age 29 and with a franchise still in the rebuilding mode -- Davis is unlikely to see most of the bonus cash.

Said one league source: "Maybe if he leads the league in rushing, is named most valuable player, the Panthers win the Super Bowl and he's the MVP in that game, he'll see the money."

Houston, by the way, will probably sign Jacksonville free agent tailback Stacey Mack to challenge second-year pro Jonathan Wells for the top job.

	Colvin

Although most reports had the Colvin contract as a seven-year, $30 million deal, NFLPA salary documents show it at six years, $25.85 million. Essentially, for a veteran some people felt was the premier player in the unrestricted pool, the Patriots paid only the going rate for a linebacker, a little over $4 million annually. There is a $6 million signing bonus and base salaries of $550,000 (for 2003), $2.1 million (2004), $2.6 million (2005), $3.6 million (2006), $4.6 million (2007) and $5.5 million (2008). There are additional incentives of $300,000 each for the final three years.

Harrison signed a six-year contract worth $14.45 million, but no one expects him to play more than two or three years of the deal. His signing bonus was $2.5 million and, in the first three years of the package, he will earn $6.655 million.

Colvin will provide a pass rush for a defense that hasn't had a player with double-digit sacks in five years. Harrison is on the wrong side of 30, and perhaps is too much like incumbent Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy, but the Patriots play split safeties on such a high number of snaps that it doesn't matter.

The week before the Patriots landed Colvin and Harrison, they signed cornerback Tyrone Poole to a market value deal. Later this week, they added safety Chris Akins, a solid No. 3 guy at the position and an excellent special teams player. All in all, it's been a very productive two weeks for the team.

Adams prefers to play in Buffalo, obviously, where he would line up next to longtime friend Pat Williams in the interior of the Bills front four. But the veteran run-stuffer waited too long last year to pull the trigger on a deal, didn't sign with the Raiders until August, and figures he cost himself a lot of money. Adams is smart enough to realize that the money in the free agent well is drying up quickly now and he won't wait forever on the Bills to get into what he feels his price range should be.

In the next week or so, if there is no deal with Buffalo, he will begin exploring options. And don't be surprised if the Ravens are at the top of his list.

Lewis has said he will take the best player available, and many feel that points to Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner. But the best player ready to contribute right now for the Bengals, or maybe any other team, might be Kansas State cornerback Terence Newman. The top cornerback prospect might well be the top prospect, period, in this year's lottery. After lighting things up in a combine workout, he did even better in his campus session with some scouts clocking him at under 4.3 seconds in the 40.

	Scioli

In the wake of that ill-advised decision, Scioli fired Senior and hired veteran agent Brad Blank to represent him. Blank got the deal done with the Colt,s but it was hardly the same proposal Scioli could have had earlier. Instead of a $4.5 million signing bonus, Scioli got just $1 million. There is a guarantee of $1.5 million in 2005, so that makes up for some of the lost bonus money. But the deal, essentially at five years for $13 million, falls shy of what the player originally rejected.

Blank did a good job resurrecting the talks with the Colts, who were mightily miffed at Scioli and ready to move on without him, but the player and his former agent made a costly decision in opting not to accept the first offer.

Right down to the end, Tice felt his team would land Brown, and rightly so. The one-year deal to which Brown agreed with the Ravens is worth just $1 million. The Vikings offered a deal that would have paid Brown $2.5 million in 2003. And there was a four-year proposal that was worth $13 million. Brown wanted to be closer to his children, though, and opted for the Ravens deal.

What Tice envisioned, had Minnesota landed Brown, was the NFL's most mammoth offensive line, one behind which smallish tailback Michael Bennett would have been able to hide. The presence of Brown (6-feet-7, a conservative 350 pounds) would have permitted the Vikings to move Chris Liwienski (6-5, 321) to left guard. The rest of the lineup would have consisted of left tackle Bryant McKinnie (6-8, 343), center Matt Birk (6-4, 308) and right guard David Dixon (6-5, 359). Minnesota, which very quietly led the league in rushing in '02, would have had five road graders across the line.

	Jackson

Give him credit for this: Jackson's 15 minutes of fame came on the biggest sports stage -- the Super Bowl -- where his two interceptions earned him most valuable player honors when the league rigged the voting. Maybe he would have still generated a lot of interest in free agency without that clutch performance, but the Super Bowl game certainly enhanced his profile and, eventually, his paycheck.

But the truth of the matter is, Jackson was an above-average player surrounded by greatness on the NFL's premier defensive unit, and that last fact surely didn't hurt him. Now he's going to be playing behind the NFL's worst pass rush, a unit that has posted a measly 65 sacks over the last three seasons, including just 21 in 2002.

Quarterbacks have been known to age just sitting in the pocket and waiting for an Arizona blitzer to get close. That will make Jackson's task exceedingly more difficult than it was in Tampa Bay, where the Bucs always applied pressure. Some scouts aren't sure Jackson is as good as the man he is replacing, Kwamie Lassiter, even if he is seven years his junior. He probably isn't as good, either, as Cardinals strong safety Adrian Wilson, his new partner and an emerging star in the league.

	Spikes

Punts