Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com reports that the Rams are serious about signing Terrell Owens to a contract, presumably because they want to stunt the growth of rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. (Just goofin’!…Kind of.)

The Rams asked Owens through his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, if he would consider a serious contract proposal, even though they are not considered a playoff contender. Rosenhaus told the team Owens would definitely consider it, sources said.

Apparently the Bengals are also still in the mix for T.O.

The Cincinnati Bengals, as reported by ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, are also engaged in talks with Owens. The Bengals signed free-agent receiver Antonio Bryant during the offseason but Bryant has struggled so far. According to a team source, that has motivated the Bengals to take another look at Owens.

One source said the Rams have gotten very aggressive in their pursuit of Owens and it’s possible that Owens will sign with the Rams or Bengals within the next 48 to 72 hours.

However, the Bengals still have given no indication they’re ready to offer a contract. They want to get a good look at their young wide receivers and have five preseason games to do it. They need some of those guys to play special teams. Chad Ochocinco, Bryant and Owens would not be special teams-type guys, so it’s uncertain how quickly the Bengals would react if they sensed he was about to sign with someone else.

The names listed on the Rams’ receiving depth chart aren’t going to stand out: Donnie Avery, Laurent Robinson, Mardy Gilyard, which is why signing T.O. makes sense on the surface. But believe it or not, all three of those wideouts still have a lot of upside and if they can stay healthy, I for one believe that St. Louis could have a solid receiving corps in 2010 and beyond. I wouldn’t view signing T.O. as a bad thing necessarily, I just don’t think it would be necessary for a team like the Rams.

The Bengals, on the other hand, make more sense. There wouldn’t be much concern that T.O. would damage the team’s locker room (really, how more can it be damaged?) and Cincy has a veteran quarterback in Carson Palmer who could deal with a personality like the one Owens has. Plus, a trio of Ochocinco, T.O. and Antonio Bryant would, at the very least, be an upgrade over the unit the Bengals had last year. Not that T.O. is an elite receiver or even a great No. 2, but he could be a decent complementary piece in an improved Cincinnati passing game.

Once again, it appears that Drew Rosenhaus might be bending the truth when it comes teams being interested in one of his clients.

I know, I know – that’s surprising news. It hit me hard this morning, too.

Rosenhaus said late last week that five teams had showed interested in Terrell Owens and at least one new team was acting aggressively towards signing the receiver. He also said that he was encouraged about a team signing T.O. within the next couple of weeks and reiterated that, “this isn’t just agent rhetoric.”

But since making those statements, at least four teams (the Ravens, Bengals, Chargers and Seahawks) joined the Redskins, Browns and Patriots as teams that reportedly want nothing to do with T.O. Considering Owens also stated last week that he doesn’t get along with Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, you can probably cross Kansas City off his list of suitors as well.

Granted, that’s only eight teams and there are 32 in the league. It’s still a possibility that Rosenhaus is telling the truth when he says that five teams are interested in T.O. and maybe the receiver will find a new home within the next couple of weeks.

But it isn’t likely. The Seahawks are the latest team to say no to T.O. and they were seemingly the best fit. Who better to take on a personality like T.O. then Pete Carroll, who was on the 49ers’ staff the year they drafted Owens. Even Carroll weighed the risk versus the reward when it comes to T.O. and figured out that he wasn’t worth it.

We all know Rosenhaus talks a great game, but it’s becoming clearer by the day that very few teams (if any) are interested in Owens. I still think he’ll eventually catch on somewhere, but it might take a major injury or two for a team to gather up enough gumption to pick up the phone and call Rosenhaus.

Agent Drew Rosenhaus wrote this on his Twitter page today:

Chad OchoCinco is really on a mission. He has truly dedicated himself this offseason. He will be tougher then ever to cover this year.

Dedicated himself to what? It certainly hasn’t been his team that he’s dedicated himself to as he continues to skip Bengals’ OTA sessions.

Rosenhaus’ comments come on the heels of former Bengal and current Chief Eric Giaciuc telling Kansas City’s official website that there were certain personalities in Cincinnati that caused a distraction for the rest of the team. He didn’t mention Ochocinco by name, but he didn’t have to either.

Rosenhaus has to paint a rosy picture for his client, but the fact remains that nobody knows what Ochocinco is up to these days because he won’t report to any of the Bengals’ camps. If he were truly “on a mission” and “dedicating himself” this offseason, then why wouldn’t he do so while working out with his teammates? There are several athletes that choose to workout away from the team, but usually the team knows where they’re at and what they’re doing. By the looks of things, the Bengals have no idea when Ochocinco is going to show up.

According to agent Drew Rosenhaus, who is now a Twitter madman apparently, another identified team (there are now three according to Rosenhaus) has expressed serious interest in his client Plaxico Burress.

Good news for Plaxico as a 3rd team has just expressed serious interest in signing him. I won’t identify any of the teams at their request.

Apparently the Jets and Bucs were the first two teams interested in Plax and sites like Rotoworld.com speculate that the mystery third team could be the Rams, Dolphins or Bears.

Of course, there’s a very real possibility that there is no third team, especially considering sports agents are known for trying to create as much buzz about their clients as humanly possible in order to get them signed.

Remember this past offseason in baseball when Scott Boras claimed that multiple teams were interested in Manny Ramirez? And it turned out there was only one team (the Dodgers) that was legitimately interested? So nobody should be shocked if it turns out that none of these teams are “seriously” interested in Burress. After all, there’s a very real possibility that he could be suspended or in jail when the season starts, so teams have to be overly cautious about even considering signing him.

This Twitter site is going to fuel (or be the black angel of death depending on how you look at it) all sports rumors because agents are going to throw crap against the wall all the time just to see if it sticks.

According to a report by the Arizona Republic, agent Drew Rosenhaus is apparently to blame for the mess that currently is Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin’s contract situation.

Boldin is under contract for two more years with the Cardinals, at $2.75 million this year and $3 million in 2010, a deal Rosenhaus renegotiated in 2005.

Rosenhaus pushed for a new deal, however, after the Cardinals re-signed Fitzgerald to a four-year, $40 million extension before last season. The Cardinals told Boldin they would try to oblige but first had to attend to new deals for Dansby and Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson.

Boldin, under advice from Rosenhaus, demanded a trade last summer and said he would never re-sign with the Cardinals. His position softened in the ensuing months and, after helping the Cardinals reach Super Bowl XLIII, dialogue resumed about a new contract.

But through it all, Boldin’s reputation took a hit, although his performance on the field never came into question. He finished the 2008 regular season with 89 receptions for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns.

If this is true, it would make sense why Boldin plans to fire Rosenhaus and is now seeking new representation. Maybe Boldin would be willing to take a modest pay raise (whatever that entails) from the Cards, but Rosenhaus kept pushing for more. Either way, with Rosenhaus out of the way it seems like Boldin is a safe bet to stay in AZ. In fact, Boldin might even report to minicamp sometime this week as a sign of good faith to the team.

With his contract talks reaching a stalemate with the Cardinals, receiver Anquan Boldin plans to fire agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Rosenhaus, who represents more NFL players than any other agent, had tried pressuring the Cardinals into trading the 28-year-old receiver.

“Regarding Anquan Boldin, let me say that I have great respect for him. I’m hopeful we can work this out and he can return to the Rosenhaus Sports family in the near future. We are proud to continue to represent his brother, D.J. Boldin,” Rosenhaus said in a statement to ESPN.com. “We would also like to take this opportunity to announce that we have signed Will Allen to a 2-year contract extension with the Dolphins worth $16.2 million. We are pleased to announce today that we have re-signed New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey [to a representation agreement].”

Boldin reached out to other agents in recent weeks, according to a source. He spoke with Kennard McGuire, CAA agents Tom Condon and Ben Dogra, and two of Fitzgerald’s agents, Eugene Parker and Paul Lawrence.

Under NFLPA rules, a player must wait five days after firing his agent before hiring a new one.

Boldin apparently didn’t like the way Rosenhaus was going about negotiations with the Cardinals, although it’s hardly the agent’s fault if a team doesn’t want to re-work a contract when the player still has two years remaining on the current one. Still, it’s interesting that Rosenhaus has lost a big client like Boldin. Normally, players are seeking Rosenhaus’ negotiation tactics, not firing him because of them.

According to Yahoo Sports, the NFL has begun an investigation on if the Washington Redskins tampered with defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth prior to the start of the free agent signing period.
The Tennessee Titans filed charges with the league in late March stating they were interfered with their efforts in re-signing Haynesworth after the 2008 season.
The Washington Post reported:

Haynesworth is among the people expected to be interviewed by NFL officials possibly as early as this week regarding allegations that the Washington Redskins violated league tampering rules, according to league sources.
NFL investigators have been reviewing information relating to the Redskins’ pursuit of Haynesworth, who formerly played for the Tennessee Titans, and whether his representative was improperly contacted before free agency officially began at midnight Feb. 27. The Redskins and Haynesworth agreed to terms of a deal by 5:30 a.m. Feb. 27.
League investigators are interested in obtaining all communications between Haynesworth’s agent, Chad Speck, and Redskins officials in the weeks before free agency opened. Part of the difficulty, though, in determining the subject matter of the contact is that Speck also represents Redskins wide receiver Malcolm Kelly.

If convicted, the Redskins could lose a pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Last year, the NFL stripped the San Francisco 49ers of a fifth-round draft pick after they ruled the team violated the league’s tampering rules by having an improper conversation with Drew Rosenhaus, agent for Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, about the player’s upcoming free agent status.

Neither the NFL nor Speck commented on the report or the current investigation.

According to the Arizona Republic, Anquan Boldin’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has submitted a contract offer to the Cardinals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is willing to negotiate at this time.

Rosenhaus said contrary to speculation, Boldin is not seeking a deal worth $10 million a year, which is what teammate Larry Fitzgerald is receiving. The recent offer is for less, Rosenhaus said.

An NFL source familiar with the proposal said the deal averaged just under $10 million per season.

Rosenhaus declined to say when he made the proposal to the Cardinals. He has discussed the proposal with Graves, he said, but the Cardinals have not responded with a counteroffer.

It could be the range of $8 million to $9 million a year on average. T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million deal with Seattle this spring, with $15 million guaranteed.

Dallas traded for Roy Williams last year, then signed him to a five-year, $45 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.

If we’re talking solely about contract numbers, Boldin is definitely worth the $9 mil a year that Housh is getting. But it’s obviously not that simple for the Cards to just re-negotiate a deal like that for Boldin considering they’re already paying Fitzgerald $10 million a year. Plus, and this is a biggie, Boldin is still under contract for two more years. The Cardinals aren’t obligated to do anything with his contract if they don’t want to.

Nevertheless, at least the lines of communication are open between Rosenhaus and the Cardinals. We’ll see what Arizona’s countermove is.

Perhaps something we all overlooked when the Cowboys released wideout Terrell Owens a couple days ago is that now his agent Drew Rosenhaus is relevant again.

Rosenhaus apparently has no concerns about finding his client a job and lucky for us, he boastfully even put a time frame on T.O. being signed.

“These are several teams that are interested in signing Terrell,” Drew Rosenhaus told us Friday morning. “I have been in negotiations with these teams. I will not identify these teams at this time.”
So how quickly will this process unfold?

“Terrell and I expect to have a deal in place by the end of next week if not sooner,” Rosenhaus said.

Riiiight. I don’t doubt Rosenhaus feels that way, but it’s going to be a little tough when NFL teams are tripping over themselves to state publicly that they want nothing to do with the one-man destruction force that is T.O.

If you’re scoring at home, the Jaguars, Saints, Rams, Raiders, Chargers, Redskins, Titans, Ravens, Browns, Falcons, Vikings and Jets have all publicly stated that they want nothing to do with Owens. And when Al Davis and Daniel Snyder want nothing to do with a player, you know he’s going to have a hard time finding a job.

Rosenhaus certainly has his hands full because you know T.O. is going to want to go to a competitor. But at this point, maybe the agent should tell his client that if he wants to play, he’d take any deal that’s tossed his way. (I wrote that last sentence while laughing my ass off at the thought of Rosenhaus taking any deal offered to any of his clients.)

Agent Drew Rosenhaus isn’t making a ton of friends lately with the way he’s decided to make his clients available for trades, without speaking to the teams first.

Case in point:

Drew Rosenhaus, who has represented (Plaxico) Burress since he signed with the Giants four years ago, sent an e-mail to all 32 teams earlier this week in which he indicated Burress could be acquired via trade, according to three people informed of the contents of the e-mail. The people, who requested anonymity because the e-mail was not to be discussed publicly, said it was a list of Rosenhaus’ free-agent and draft-eligible clients as well as three players he deemed trade-able.

All three are wide receivers: the Cardinals’ Anquan Boldin, the Bengals’ Chad Johnson and Burress.

But according to one of the people familiar with the situation — a member of one team’s front office who was on Rosenhaus’ list of recipients — the Giants had plenty to say earlier this week. Giants assistant general manager Kevin Abrams notified the rest of the league that the Giants had not authorized Rosenhaus to pursue trade scenarios on Burress’ behalf, and that any inquiries about Burress’ availability would constitute tampering.

Another person informed of the situation said Rosenhaus sent out another e-mail yesterday in which he clarified he doesn’t have permission to seek a trade for any of the three clients he listed.

This numb nut just decided to send out a mass e-mail letting other teams know that Burress, Boldin and Ocho Cinco were available without talking to their respective teams first. Brilliant! These power agents really do feel like they can do whatever they want.