HERE I AM BABY…SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I’M YOURS ~ According to ESPN.com, as of Monday morning, only 58 of the 255 prospects selected in the 2006 draft (22.7%), had agreed to contracts. And of that group with completed deals, 33 were in the sixth and seventh rounds.  Only one first round pick has been signed (Mario Williams) and just 9 of 97 selected on Day 1 of the 2006 NFL Draft have placed their John Hancocks on the dotted line. 

One player who signed yesterday is Winston Justice, second round pick by the Eagles.  Justice agreed to a deal that will pay him $2.1 million in guarantees and minimum base salaries over the next four seasons.  For the record, the first player to sign last year other than No.1 pick Alex Smith was Oakland CB Fabian Washington.  Washington signed his deal on July 26.

BUT I’M JUST A SOUL WHOSE INTENTIONS ARE GOOD…OH LORD, PLEASE DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD ~ Tonight if you tune into HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” (as opposed to unreal sports), you will be treated to the self-proclaimed misunderstood one himself, Terrell Owens.  In a segment that will surely conjure up thoughts of the Linda Ronstadt classic, “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me”, Owens claims, “I feel like I have been one of the main guys who've been vilified."  

Really? 

His criticisms of offensive coordinators, former agents, Jeff Garcia, Steve Mariucci, Ozzie Newsome, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb notwithstanding, T.O. feels like he’s been undeservingly tagged as the bad guy?  I’ll buy that as much as I’ll buy that Yoko Ono had nothing to do with the break up of The Beatles.

JUST GIVE ME MONEY…THAT’S WHAT I WANT…A LITTLE MONEY ~ According to the Press Box’ Joe Platania, the Ravens new deal with Ed Reed makes it extremely difficult for the team to do the same for Ray Lewis.  Not that they’d want to give Lewis a new deal, but according to Platania, the club wants to see Lewis retire as a Raven.  While that desire is pretty clear, finding a way to make it happen might not be. 

Regardless of the speculation, $50 million is laughable and there is absolutely no way the Ravens cough up that kind of dough to satisfy their desire for Ray to be a career Raven.  What is more likely to happen in my opinion, is that Ray Lewis is not a Raven in 2007.  Next year, Lewis’ cap figure is $9.2 million and the cost against the cap to set him free is $5.4 million, a $3.8 million savings against the cap and a $6.5 million savings in Steve Bisciotti’s checkbook. 

WELL I’M NOT UPTIGHT, NOT UNATTRACTED, TURN ME ON TONIGHT, CAUSE I’M RADIOACTIVE ~ Radio active certainly describes Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder these days.  According to Paul Farhi and Thomas Heath of the Washington Post, Snyder has acquired three radio stations that will fall under the umbrella of “Triple X ESPN Radio.”  While it is not known if Jenna Jameson will be involved in the Triple X venture, Redskins’ broadcasts will be.  Snyder is reportedly set to take on “The Team”, aka WTEM (980 AM). 

Other than a drive time program from 3 to 7 PM hosted by John Riggins, the Triple X will feature ESPN’s syndicated feed.  One has to wonder how much the outspoken Riggins will be muzzled by the controlling Snyder, particularly if the Redskins struggle.  Until such time, Snyder appears content with his latest addition to his sizeable portfolio which features companies that have some upside.  Snyder sees the same in a shaky local radio industry.  "I don't buy companies at their peak. I sell them at their peak."

Yet another reason for D.C. fans to hope for a Redskins Super Bowl victory.

IN MY MIND I’M GOIN’ TO CAROLINA ~ Actually Carolina is coming to Baltimore this season and according to SI’s Don Banks, the Panthers are locked and loaded and he says don’t be surprised to see them in Miami in February.  “You know about DeAngelo Williams being brought in to help the injury-susceptible running game and veteran No. 2 receiver Keyshawn Johnson signing on to draw some of the coverage away from all-world receiver Steve Smith. But Carolina quietly got a lot better on defense, too, adding tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis in free agency. If tackle Kris Jenkins can return to form after his injury-shortened 2005, no one will run much against the Panthers, who already put pressure on passing games with their superb starting ends and cornerbacks.”

Bank on it!

HE’S A SMOOTH OPERATOR…SMOOTH OPERATOR ~ This in from the Oakland Tribune: “Randy Moss is saying the right things in his off-season radio interviews, granted in part to pump up his smoothie business. But if he gets hurt for the third straight year and the Raiders lay another egg, expect Moss to be looking for a way out of town and the team to accommodate him.”

CAN ANYBODY…FIND ME…SOMEBODY TO LOVE? ~ According to Orioles’ VP of Operations Jim Duquette, “We're buyers if we can get somebody we can control beyond this year, and preferably with zero to three years of service.  We're not going to give up a prospect or someone we think can help us for a short-term rental. But we are open to moving anybody we don't feel is productive, or anybody that we feel can't help us win. That's where the seller part comes in."

With that statement, Duquette just told the world that he’s willing to part with someone the O’s don’t like or value for someone that they do.  In other words the “Open for Business” sign is up on the shelf collecting dust. 

For the record, the O’s official site lists these players as being “on the block”: Jeff Conine, LaTroy Hawkins, Javy Lopez and Kevin Millar.  Read into it whatever you’d like.

AND I WILL LOSE MY MIND, IF YOU WON’T SEE ME ~ In 2005 the Rams selected center Richie Incognito in the third round.  The versatile and talented former Cornhusker who possessed first round talent slipped in the draft because of several off the field incidents that forced Nebraska to suspend Incognito indefinitely.  Let’s just say that the guy has a very short fuse and he repeatedly violated several team rules. 

That aside, Incognito has been impressive during Rams’ minicamp practices according to Pro Football Weekly, while showing solid mobility and strength.  Incognito hasn’t played in an actual game since the fall of 2003, just before his suspension from Nebraska.  I guess you could say when it comes to football Incognito has certainly lived up to his namesake.