What's happening in spring ball? - College Football News
...How's USC doing replacing Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and LenDale White?
So-so. John David Booty appeared to be all but cemented as the starting quarterback because of his knowledge of the offense, but an injured back will thrust Mark Sanchez into the spotlight. Head coach Pete Carroll wasn't planning on naming his number one man until this summer, but not things are now way up in the air if Booty's back spasms ris something more serious. Likely top new running back Hershel Dennis has been gimpy at best with a hamstring problem, while star-in-waiting Chauncey Washington might finally be academically eligible if he has a great spring in the classroom...

[Miller] Spring look around the Pac-10 - ESPN
...USC must replace not just three offensive linemen but three linemen expected to be NFL draft picks. Don't expect a dramatic, calamitous tumble into mediocrity up front, however. You might have heard this before: There's talent at USC...

...Talented but mercurial junior receiver Whitney Lewis will work at tailback, as will talented but oft-injured fullback Brandon Hancock. With Hancock splitting time, linebacker Ryan Powdrell will work at fullback...

...The USC secondary is in flux, needing to replace three starters...

Booty injures back, causing USC concern - OC Register
...Safety Kevin Ellison, who tore ligaments in his left knee last season against Arizona State, surprised coaches with how much he was able to do in practice. "He's fighting for reps," Carroll said. "He's way ahead of schedule."...

Carroll also said that cornerback Terrell Thomas, who tore ligaments in his left knee against Arkansas, has recovered faster and is practicing more than expected...

Booty out indefinitely - Daily Trojan
...The hurt at running back caused by the loss of Reggie Bush is obvious, but the hole left in special teams returns is not so obvious...

...Wide receiver Steve Smith, cornerback Cary Harris, and defensive backs Brandon and Ryan Ting have shared the kick-returning duties.

Smith returned kicks in high school and said he feels comfortable at that position...

[Waldner] USC's quarterback duel unlikely to be part of show - Daily Breeze
...This is a coach who can see the trees, the forest and smell the flowers at the same time. He understands the plus points of family, girlfriends, sundry other friends, boosters and, shudder, reporters to attending practice.

It's good for the family unit. And think about the benefit during recruiting when the girlfriend sees she is welcome.

Is it extra pressure to have "outsiders" see a player get chewed out for blowing an assignment in practice?

Actually, it's just part of the preparation for the pressure of playing in games...

Keyshawn - finer in Carolina - NY Daily News
Keyshawn Johnson will not be returning to New York to play for the Giants. Instead, he took a better offer yesterday from the Carolina Panthers, who become his third team since the Jets traded him six years ago...

...Johnson rejected the Giants' offer, flew to St. Louis on business - he did not visit the Rams - and then went to Charlotte...

Taft's Holland intent on making the grade - LA Daily News
...Academics, not athletics, will be Holland's main focus this semester - even if it costs him in defending his state sprint titles.

Holland, who signed a letter of intent to play football at USC, is running for Taft, but doesn't want to find himself sitting in the Coliseum stands next year...

Gable top local in all-star game - LA Daily News
Sylmar High football standout C.J. Gable heads the list of area players selected to participate in the 55th annual Shrine Classic all-star football game to be played June 24 at Citrus College in Glendora.

Gable, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards two seasons in a row, is also a talented defensive back who earned Daily News Defensive Player of the Year honors this season after totaling 56 tackles and seven interceptions. He has signed with USC...

Booty's back spasms may be cause for new concerns - LA Daily News
...This is the third setback for Booty since he enrolled at USC. He broke his left wrist during the UCLA game his freshman year, then sat out his sophomore season after suffering nerve damage in his elbow during training camp.

Carroll said Booty experienced back problems in high school, but no one was ready Thursday night to say surgery was likely.

"If it hasn't responded, we'll see," Carroll said.

Without Booty, former walk-on Mike MacDonald is the backup to Sanchez. Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks quarterback Garrett Green, who attended Thursday's practice, will arrive in the fall...

Back Problem Sidelines Booty Indefinitely - LA Times
...Booty's absence turned the focus to redshirt freshman Mark Sanchez, who took the majority of the first-team repetitions and clearly relishes the chance to compete for the starting job.

Sanchez said he was "just trying to champion the cause, champion the opportunity and show the guys that I can do it and let them know that I'm a guy that can play."

Quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian said Sanchez was performing well...

[Maisel] USC quarterback may miss rest of spring - ESPN
...Before practice Thursday, head coach Pete Carroll said Booty had suffered back spasms and that he was in a "wait and see" mode. Booty underwent an MRI Wednesday, and USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said there is concern that Booty may have injured a disk.

"He won't even be out there today," Kiffin said before practice Thursday. "He's getting another MRI. His back just locked up Tuesday. He's barely able to walk around."

Redshirt freshman Mark Sanchez, expected to challenge Booty for the starting job, will take over the first-team offense...

...university athletic medical personnel didn't know how long Booty would be out. Kiffin, however, said he does not expect Booty back this spring. If surgery is needed, the coach said, doctors expect Booty would be back by July...

So far, so good for Palmer - Cincinatti Enquirer
...Palmer made his first public comments since Jan. 9. He had surgery Jan. 10 to replace torn knee ligaments, the anterior cruciate and medial collateral.

He recalled the injury and the eerie sensation of being driven away from Paul Brown Stadium with the game still going on. He also displayed the mature perspective that has endeared him to Bengals fans, and he vowed to be back as soon as he can - preferably, he said, in time for the regular-season opener...

Panthers, Keyshawn will talk - Charlotte Observer
...The Panthers usually avoid mere flirtations in free agency and appear ready to seriously bid for a player they believe could take them to the next level after losing to Seattle in the NFC Championship this past season.

Johnson's price tag is believed to be a two- or three-year deal worth about $4 million a season -- and the Panthers have enough salary cap room to make it happen ($5.6 million). Johnson left a visit with the New York Giants earlier this week after not accepting an offer of $3 million a season. He also might visit Seattle...

[Greenspan] Don't count Trojan football out just yet - Daily Trojan
...If they get effective play in the secondary early on, an offensive line that keeps the quarterback's jersey clean and can find a backfield that doesn't field just fullbacks, the 2006 installment of Trojan football could again be playing for a national title...

Dean of Admission Deans to Leave UNC for USC - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Jerome A. Lucido, one of the nation’s leading admissions minds, is headed west. Mr. Lucido, vice provost for enrollment management and director of undergraduate admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has accepted a new post at the University of Southern California...

Leinart's status continues to grow - OC Register
...the results are in for USC's Matt Leinart.

His new forecast calls for considerably more money and a lot more options.

"Ultimately, we now think he'll get a $30 million guaranteed contract," said Leigh Steinberg, Leinart's Newport Beach-based agent. "That won't be bad for a young boy from Costa Mesa."...

...The Jets remain the team most likely in the market. Chad Pennington's arm strength, after serious surgery, remains a major question mark, and although they traded a low draft choice for the Redskins' Patrick Ramsey last week, he doesn't project as a franchise quarterback.

Leinart does. Especially in a city where the Jets have to compete with the Giants and Eli Manning for space on the tabloids' back pages...

Poster doesn't go all the way - LA Daily News
USC spring practice is more than the ongoing quarterback controversy. There could be an interesting and unexpected addition to the football team, perhaps as soon as today's practice. More on that later...

Munson makes push to break camp as Astros No. 2 catcher - Houston Chronicle
If anything, the competition for the backup catcher spot has become more muddled in recent days because of the performance of non-roster invitee Eric Munson, hitting .351 with three homers and nine RBIs this spring.

Munson, 4-for-5 with a homer in Tuesday's loss to Detroit, is a strong candidate to open the season on the major-league roster...

[Malcomson] Hauling in a Hail Mary - Daily Trojan
This is not how it was supposed to be.

I tried out for the USC football team during its March 7 tryout on a whim, solely to go through the experience for an article for the Daily Trojan.

Now here I am, still shocked and in total disbelief:

I made the team. Yes, the USC football team...

[Dodd] Spring Top 25 - CBS Sportsline
...1. Ohio State...2. LSU...3. West Virginia...4. Auburn...5. Notre Dame...6. Oklahoma...7. Texas...

...8. USC: Still the class of the Pac-10. And there's no reason to believe there will be much of a drop off at quarterback (John David Booty) or running back...This team could easily win 10 games.

It's still early but ... the linebacking corps of Oscar Lua, Keith Rivers, Brian Cushing and freshman All-American Rey Maualuga could be the best in the country...

Ranking the coaches - Pac 10 - College Football News
Best Coach – Pete Carroll, USC – Only a fool or a contrarian would argue with Carroll’s 54-10 record that includes four straight Pac-10 titles, three BCS bowl wins and shares of two national championships...Faced with getting back up the mountain for the first time in a while, he appears more motivated than ever for the upcoming season...

...Best Offensive Coordinator – Dirk Koetter, Arizona State...At just 30, USC’s Lane Kiffin is on the expressway to really big things...

Broncos climbing to No. 15 - Denver Post
...If the Broncos want to use the No. 15 pick on a running back who can compete with Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne this season, LenDale White of Southern Cal and Chatfield High School, DeAngelo Williams of Memphis and Minnesota's Laurence Maroney are among the possibilities.

"As long as LenDale is a professional and he's treated like a professional, it doesn't matter which team he plays for," said Herman White, who is serving as a consultant to his nephew. "With Denver there might be some concern about distractions, but whatever makes LenDale happy."...

Prior has just 17 wins in last two years - ESPN
On the first day of spring training, the day that every team -- even one that hasn't won a World Series in 98 years -- is supposed to feel good about the road ahead, the questions started for Mark Prior and the Cubs...

...He says he understands his sport is also a business. Perhaps that's because he completed a business degree at USC in 2004, three years after the Cubs selected him in the draft.

Prior likes to finish what he starts...

[Malcomson] Tryout at wideout - Daily Trojan
It was an advertisement that especially drew attention: Try out for the USC football team.

That simple.

Here's an opportunity to join one of the nation's premier programs. And it was open to any student at USC.

I couldn't pass it up...

Top Web Stories Of The Year - CNNSI
1. After attending the 2005 Heisman Trophy ceremony, USC's Matt Leinart was spotted at New York City nightclub Marquee. Four days later unflattering photos of a flush Leinart grinding with an anonymous girl surfaced on Deadspin.com. (At the time, he was dating USC basketball guard Brynn Cameron.) The QB later refuted allegations that he made a pass at the girl and that she slapped him...

[Whicker] Booty-Sanchez analysis has just begun - OC Register
...The verdict Tuesday after the first round of Trojan Idol:

Tune in Thursday.

"I'm looking forward to watching the tape," Sanchez said when USC's first spring practice session was over.

If that tape was handed over to Trojan-aholics, it would be examined more closely than the Zapruder film...

...To whom will Kalil be snapping it?

You would think Sanchez would need a one-round knockout to be the starter at Arkansas. Booty has the positioning and the familiarity. Sanchez's many admirers think he can supplant Booty during the season, but that will be difficult if USC is undefeated. And something extraterrestrial or tectonic will have to happen to keep the Trojans from being 9-0. Then the deal comes down: Cal, Notre Dame, UCLA...

Few running backs, but Trojans run deep - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
..."It's exciting with the new players and fun catching balls from Booty and Mark," McFoy said. "Exciting" was the same word fellow seniors Ryan Kalil and Oscar Lua used.

Watching Booty, two years ahead of Sanchez, go through his paces as the No. 1 guy after three years, was the main attraction. Watching Sanchez, farther along than any freshman in Carroll's six years here, try to catch up is the spring plot line...

...At linebacker, eight potential starters will vie for three spots with the return of Dallas Sartz from surgery for a final season joining Keith Rivers, Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, Kaluka Maiava, Thomas Williams and Lua.

At defensive back, Carroll said he was pleased with the work of incoming freshman Antwine Perez, thrown into the lineup at safety with probable starters Kevin Ellison, Josh Pinkard and Terrell Thomas, returning from knee surgery...

[Lupica] He needs to think about sense, not dollars - NY Daily News
...Keyshawn Johnson left bad, and loud, like Terrell Owens on training wheels, and ended up with Tampa Bay...

...He ought to come back to Giants Stadium, give Eli Manning one more big target, be another small forward wandering around the secondary with Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress and the rest of them. Keyshawn comes back to New York and right away the Giants have a better front line than the Knicks. And he can do something Burress does not always do, which means go into traffic, go over the middle, and make a catch with somebody hanging all over him...

..."The more he was a part of our team, the more we appreciated him as a player," Jerry Jones said when the Cowboys let him go. Once, Keyshawn Johnson talked and talked about putting the Jets in the Super Bowl. He can do the same for the Giants. There may be more money out there. Just not a better story than coming back to Giants Stadium and getting it right this time. The Giants are smart to go after him and he would be smart to sign with them.

Hamstring Injury Sidelines Dennis - LA Times
Hershel Dennis was supposed to be USC's only healthy tailback when the Trojans opened spring practice Tuesday.

But the senior who sat out last season while recovering from knee surgery did not participate because he strained his right hamstring while running sprints late last week. Dennis said he probably would miss a week...

...Safety Antwine Perez, who graduated early from high school in New Jersey to enroll at USC and participate in spring practice, worked with the first-unit defense. Carroll said Perez "did quite well for just surviving the day." Carroll said tight end Gerald Washington, a transfer from Chaffey College, also performed well in his first workout…. Incoming running back Stafon Johnson of Dorsey High was among the observers...

Trojans audition for the top roles - Daily Breeze
...How good is Sanchez at preparing? During the fall semester, he took a class that dealt with anticipation and nerves that he said helped him prepare for the moment.

"I think I did well,'' he said. "There were some high points and low points, as with every practice. I was trying to do everything exactly right and make it perfect. Coach Sark was telling me, `Relax a little bit. You're fine in there, you're doing well. Stay tall, look clean and do everything right.' Sometimes that's it. You've just got to relax and I'll be ready to go on Thursday.''

And then he trudged off to the film room, a drill he would rather stand as an augmentation to his game instead of the sole part of his learning process...

Trojans need tailbacks - LA Daily News
USC may not have a healthy tailback for spring practice...

...Without Dennis, fullback Jody Adewale took the majority of time at tailback Tuesday...

...New special teams coach Al Everest will not be allowed on the staff this season, because due to the late timing of his hiring, he was unable to register in time for a spring-semester class.

Everest, a former New Orleans Saints assistant, was classified as a graduate assistant, which required him to attend a class...

Jets trade Abraham - NY Newsday
...With the 29th pick to go with their fourth overall selection in next month's draft, the Jets now have the ammunition they need to trade up as high as the second pick to select a quarterback, perhaps USC's Matt Leinart.

Seahawks in NFL Europe Week 1 Update - Official Seahawks Website
...K Ryan Killeen (Amsterdam Admirals) Converted all three PATs...

Keyshawn may soon be a Giant - Newark Star Ledger
...Johnson is still a clutch performer and is fearless going across the middle. He had 25 receptions for 256 yards and two touchdowns on third down, tied for sixth in the NFC.

Giants coach Tom Coughlin, who is close to Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, is believed to think Johnson is the kind of clutch player the Giants lack...

'06 NFL Draft Interview: Matt Leinart - GoTitans.com
...Our second interview is with Todd Harmonson of the Orange County Register...

...What do you feel are Leinart's strengths? Weaknesses?
He’s a winner. Ignore all his tools -- and he has plenty -- and focus on what matters the most in football. Every teammate trusted him to lead USC, and he repeatedly delivered when the Trojans needed him. And, if there had been a little more time on the clock in the Rose Bowl after Texas’ final touchdown, he probably would have done it again. His other obvious strength is his ability to master his offense and read what opposing defenses will give him. Focusing on these strengths makes it seem as if he doesn’t have physical gifts, but that’s a mistaken perception. He has a strong arm, throws an extremely catchable ball, an uncanny pocket awareness and the toughness to take a hit.

Leinart has far fewer weaknesses. He certainly could be more consistent on his deep balls, but he has the strength to throw them...

NFL Draft Diaries with Darnell Bing - Foxsports
...All the NFL teams my agents have spoken with think I am one of the top defensive players in the draft. They like my size and how physical I am and say if I run a low 4.4 the sky is the limit come draft day. There are estimates out there of my speed being in the low 4.5s, but I hope to beat that come April 2.

Obviously my goal with the workout is do well enough to assure that several teams want to take me in the early part of the first round. I spoke with the Dolphins this past week and the 49ers want to meet with me soon and break down film...

Tuesday Question - College Football News
If you could've played for any program in history over a four-year college period, which would it be and why?...

...[Zemek]...If I wanted to play for a program that excelled but also did much to transform college football for the better, I would have played for John McKay's USC teams from 1967 through 1970. In '67, I would have been able to see O.J.'s run to glory against UCLA, but in 1970, I would have been able to have a firsthand view of something much greater: Sam Cunningham running over, around and through Alabama in Birmingham, leading Bear Bryant to walk into my winning locker room, take Cunningham into his locker room, and tell his Crimson Tide players: "This is what a football player looks like."...

Many holes, but focus will be on quarterbacks - OC Register
Work ethic and attitude always come first for USC coach Pete Carroll...

...Carroll, Steve Sarkisian and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin insisted Sanchez has a chance to win the job...

..."Mark is way ahead of any freshman we've had," Carroll said...

...The tailback competition, though, likely won't materialize until training camp in August because of injuries, academics and the wait for some talented freshmen - led by Dorsey High's Stafon Johnson - to arrive...

Trojans ready to fill voids - Daily Trojan
...Early enrollee Antwine Perez will challenge the likes of Josh Pinkard and the Ting brothers for playing time in the defensive backfield.

"A lot of players will be battling for playing time in the secondary and the competition will continue into the fall," Carroll said.

One positive for Carroll and Holt is an abundance of talent at linebacker. Senior Dallas Sartz returns from injury, and starters Oscar Lua and Keith Rivers are also back.

Depth at the position, which was lacking last season, should also help out Trojan special teams...

Trojans Spring Into a New Era - LA Times
...Senior Hershel Dennis, who redshirted last season while recovering from knee surgery, will be the lone experienced tailback this spring...

...Sophomore Michael Coleman and junior Desmond Reed will not participate because they are recovering from hip and knee surgeries, respectively. Senior Chauncey Washington...will concentrate on academic issues with hopes of becoming eligible in the fall...

...Carroll said junior receiver Whitney Lewis would work at tailback.

"I feel like this is an opportunity," Lewis said. "I really feel comfortable and want to show the coaches what I can do."

Sophomore Jeff Byers will replace Taitusi Lutui at left guard and sophomore Chilo Rachal will replace Fred Matua at right guard. Senior Kyle Williams will get first shot at replacing Winston Justice at right tackle...

For now, Booty is the No. 1 QB - LA Daily News
...Carroll has anointed junior John David Booty as the No. 1 quarterback over freshman Mark Sanchez before the first practice, but that's not official until they actually compete for the job.

"I need to pick somebody to go first," Carroll said. "John David's got two full years on Mark. He's clearly ahead by experience. But they have to compete."

The least surprised person about Booty's temporary designation is Sanchez.

"Being three years older than me, it's not surprising John David is penciled into the starting spot," Sanchez said.

Booty is certainly ahead of where Leinart was three years ago...

...Wide receiver Chris McFoy, who considered not returning for his senior season because he graduates this spring, will play. Cornerback Mozique McCurtis, hampered last season by a hernia, is healthy for spring practice.

Hartley shows dominance - LA Daily News
Blythe Hartley is the NCAA's preeminent diver, and she put on a clinic last week at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Athens, Ga.

The USC senior won two titles - the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards and finished seventh in platform...

Return to the glory days - Daily Breeze
When Coach James Anderson decided to take Narbonne's Morghan Medlock out of her final high school game with just more than seven minutes left, the two embraced in an emotional moment that served as a fitting tribute to a remarkable high school career.

Medlock already had earned a scholarship to USC. Her spots in the McDonald's and Nike All-American games had been secured. Yet this might have been when Medlock's accomplishments at Narbonne were realized as well as how much Medlock and Anderson meant to each other...

[Conlin] League learned it could bank on Tagliabue - Philly Daily News
...One Tagliabue negative sticks out like 12 men on the field. The NFL still has not returned to America's second-largest city and its largest metropolitan area - unless you want to count USC.

The Los Angeles issue is one that needs to be fixed before Paul Tagliabue's successor in what will be another orderly

coronation can exult, as did mob boss Hyman Roth in Godfather II: "We're bigger than U.S. Steel."

Almost... But not without the Los Angeles market.

KU, Southern Cal agree on hoops series - Lawrence Journal-World
Kansas University’s men’s basketball team will be playing a pair of USCs next season.

The Jayhawks, who will complete a home-and-home series with the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., have agreed to a home-and-home series with the University of Southern California.

Next year’s game against Southern Cal is slated to be played in Allen Fieldhouse, with KU returning to Los Angeles the following season...

Don't Count the Trojans Out Just Yet - RealFootball365.com
...Before the critics start predicting Trojan losses, they need to keep a few things in mind including the last time the Trojans were faced with similar circumstances, Coach Pete Carroll, and all of the players who actually are returning...

...remember that the Trojans are returning sixty players who have already seen playing time in a Trojan uniform including twenty-one players who have starts under their belts. Not bad for a team expected to take a nose dive in 2006.

Booty set to battle for USC quarterback job - Shreveport Times
John David Booty's wait to become the starting quarterback at the University of Southern California has taken longer than he expected. But on Tuesday, he will take the first snaps when the Trojans begin spring football practice in Los Angeles.

Booty, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound rising junior from Shreveport's Evangel Christian Academy, thought his time might have come last season...

Boselli to Sign with Jaguars & Retire - First Coast News
Former Jaguars offensive lineman Tony Boselli is coming back to his old team.

Sports Director Dan Hicken has learned the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to sign Boselli to a one day contract so he can retire as a Jaguars player.

Boselli is the Jaguars first ever first round draft pick. The Jaguars drafted Boselli out of the University of Southern California in 1995...

[Lupica] Bud in on Bonds time - NY Daily News
...For what it's worth, I want Matt Leinart.

Big time.

You never know with quarterbacks, because sometimes they turn out to be Ryan Leaf.

But every time I grade Leinart against the curve, I see him making that fourth-down throw in South Bend against Notre Dame, when it was all on the line for his team.

And if you can step to the line, with No. 1 on the line and your winning streak on the line and call an audible and make that throw down the left sideline to Dwayne Jarrett, you can make that throw in the pros...

Experience carries Trojans to victory - LA Daily News
The USC women's basketball team didn't have many advantages coming into its first-round NCAA Tournament game against South Florida.

The Trojans have been losing players at an alarming rate this season, losing two starters and two reserves with season-ending injuries, leaving them with only seven scholarship players for the tournament.

But USC did have one important thing going for it: experience...

Avengers Catch a Break - LA Times
...The Avengers scored two touchdowns early in the third quarter when Kevin Ingram caught his second touchdown pass and former USC cornerback Antuan Simmons returned an interception 36 yards for a score...

Bannister earning serious consideration - Official MLB Website
Brian Bannister can bring it when he has to. His fastball has touched the mid-90s, but he prefers to sacrifice velocity for greater precision, the mark of a wise man rather than that of a caveman. He'd rather deceive batters regularly than overwhelm them occasionally. In his effort to win a position in the Mets' starting rotation, he relies on smarts, a 12-to-6 curveball and late movement.

Those commodities have served Bannister well in this, his first big-league camp...

Jets pitch hardball to Falcons - Bergen Record
...the object of that swap with the Saints would be to select Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart.

That rumor has been floated before, but a knowledgeable league source said Saturday that it is the driving force behind Tannenbaum's hardball negotiations with Atlanta GM Rich McKay over compensation for Abraham, the franchise-tagged pass-rushing superstar...

Don't be misled, Texans will pick Bush - Ft Worth Star-Telegram
The Texans claim they have not completed their evaluations or made up their minds about whom they will select with the No. 1 choice April 29.

The Texans will draft Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush.

Owner Bob McNair and GM Charley Casserly said they will trade the pick if it's a blockbuster deal.

The Texans will draft Southern Cal running back Reggie Bush.

The biggest question is: How far do the top quarterbacks fall?...

Jets must get in Lein - NY Daily News
The Jets have Patrick Ramsey, but he doesn't change anything long-term. They still need a franchise quarterback. Matt Leinart wants to play for them and the Saints will take bids for the second pick in the draft, so there's a deal to be made.

The free-agent and trading period opened last Saturday and the quarterback market has been volatile. Six teams already have new starters.

The Jets should get Leinart. He is the best quarterback in the draft...

Signings give way to LenDale sighting - Denver Post
Don't think the idea of seeing Denver native LenDale White in Broncos blue and orange is a pipe dream. It could happen.

Two things happened last week to make that notion viable. First, Arizona made a huge free-agent splash by signing Indianapolis running back Edgerrin James.

Then, Jamal Lewis decided to stay with the Ravens.

That puts two teams that pick before the Broncos in the first round of next month's draft out of the mix for White. It also made Denver, which has the 22nd and 29th picks, a real option to select the former Chatfield tailback...

Dynamic Changes Will Reshape Draft - Hartford Courant
...The first ripple will be felt on draft day. With Brees in New Orleans, where rookie coach Sean Payton will be asked to rebuild the once displaced franchise, there is no chance the Saints will use the second overall pick on Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart.

That means the Saints, who have cut incumbent quarterback Aaron Brooks, can actively pursue a trade for the pick, perhaps to the Jets, who could exchange the fourth selection and throw in defensive end John Abraham for the right to take the former Heisman Trophy winner.

Or they can deal with the Titans, who own the third pick...