Chris Mortensen

ESPN NFL expert Chris Mortensen joined Mut & Merloni on Monday to discuss the most recent developments with the NFL lockout, including the issues that are holding a deal up and when he expects things to be resolved. To hear the interview, go to the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Mortensen opened by saying that this week’s negotiations are the most important to date on whether or not a new deal will be reached by the scheduled league meetings on July 21.

“This is an important week because everyone has pretty much said that this needs to get finalized,” he said. “Finalized means that there is really no more negotiating after this week, and it is all dotting I’s and crossing T’s and getting everyone to sign off and getting the approval. Bottom line is they are still hung up on a couple of issues. The most surprising one to me is the rookie wage system, that owners are hung up on a matter that doesn’t make sense to me and doesn’t make sense to the players side.”

Added Mortensen: “The players have basically agreed that we’re going to cut rookie salaries about in half in terms of the amount of money they’re paid. … But where the players are pretty upset … what they’re seeing is this control over the fifth year. In other words, the players really want after four years for these rookies — who are no longer rookies — to be able to experience free agency like a true veteran. Because since you’ve already slashed the rookie salaries in half … then they should be able to experience what most veterans do, and that is free agency after four years. Owners want a fifth-year option that’s a little more restrictive than the players are willing to have. If there’s going to be a fifth-year option, it’s got to cost the owners. And that’s where they’re hung up at.”

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Patriots scouting assistant Ronnie McGill (left) measures the arm span of University of Maine cornerback Dom Cusano as Maine assistant coach Kevin Cahill (right) assists at University of Maine in Orono Thursday. Maine linebacker Mark Masterson (rear, left) looks on. Cusano and Masterson were two Maine players who took part in Maine's recent Pro Day. (Bangor Daily News Photo by Gabor Degre)

A few more notes on workouts, Pro Days and other pre-draft information:

•In all the talk of big Pro Days, one thing that’s kind of gotten lost in the shuffle around here is the productions that were put on by New England schools. We covered Boston College’s Pro Day last week, but three schools that recently had their Pro Days were Maine, UConn and UMass. We weren’t able to get any confirmation about representatives of the Patriots showing up in Amherst, but in the past, the Patriots have been in attendance at UConn (Patriots coach Bill Belichick was there in 2009, and is known to be friends with UConn coach Randy Edsall). And this year, New England had scouting assistant Ronnie McGill in Maine, as evidenced by the above picture (courtesy of the Bangor Daily News).

•According to NFL.com, Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was one of three o-line coaches in attendance at Utah’s Pro Day on Tuesday, which drew scouts or coaches from 20 different teams. Scarnecchia and his fellow o-line coaches (including Bill Callahan of the Jets and Pat Ruel from the Seahawks) were likely there to get a look at a pair of offensive line prospects, Zane Taylor and Caleb Schlauderaff. Taylor is a 6-foot-3, 309-pounder who has played both center and guard. Projected as a late-round pick, he was first team All-MWC as a senior. As for Schlauderaff, he’s a 6-foot-4, 305-pounder who can play guard and tackle, and is likely to be a mid- to late-round selection. With the Utes, he was a second-team Walter Camp and SI.com All-America offensive guard as a senior.

•And finally, the guys from ESPN — analysts Trent Dilfer, Chris Mortensen and Mel Kiper, Jr. — debate how the Patriots are going to approach this year’s draft. Here’s the video:

Chris Mortensen

ESPN NFL insider Chris Mortensen joined the Dale & Holley show Wednesday to talk about the Patriots-Jets playoff matchup and the confident chatter coming from the Jets camp, specifically from coach Rex Ryan and cornerback Antonio Cromartie. To hear the interview, go to the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

Asked if he had ever seen a coach and players more willing to speak their minds than this edition of the Jets, Mortensen said, “No. Never. … Right now, you’ve got so many stories going on, it’s hard to, like, OK, let me roll my sleeves and spend a lot of time wondering if there’s a discussion that’s going on behind the scenes saying, ‘Let’s really chatter, yap it up this week,’ in a way just to re-energize the team after the butt-whupping they took the last time they were in New England. Because if they take another one, you know, whatever. What’s the difference? I’ve never seen anything like it. I really haven’t.

“Listen, when your coach is out there doing it — and Rex really does have a lot of respect for Bill Belichick. And who wouldn’t? And it appears Belichick respects Rex. But when your head coach does it, it just basically tells the rest of the team, have at it. Now, Cromartie’s never won any awards for being the brightest bulb, so, I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to stir up that hornet’s nest there in New England. Not me. But I think there must be something just trying to get these guys to a different level of energy that maybe they throughout was lacking last time.”

Mortensen agreed that Ryan’s comments overshadow his performance as a coach. “I think it does,” he said. “But you know, that’s Rex’s personality. If you knew his dad [former NFL coach Buddy Ryan], he’s not totally like his dad. You know, his dad spoke his peace, always did. So, it’s kind of like in the family blood, the family genes. But in a way it does kind of diminish the respect we should have for Rex as a coach.”

Asked his opinion of Ryan, Mortensen had plenty of good things to say. “Pretty good coach. Media figure, gets A-pluses,” he said. “There’s a lot of things about Rex I like. … Fun guy to be around, talks football, friendly. I mean, like a genuinely good guy. And as a coach, he’s kind of signed his — this is what he does. He’s going to talk. He’s going to say what’s on his mind.

“I think in a way it’s kind of like when he speaks something either he’s trying to take the heat off his team or he’s trying to basically have that whole thing, which is, If we’re going to talk the talk, we’re going to walk the walk.”

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is dealing with a shoulder injury, although it’s unclear exactly what the injury is or its severity. “He’s having surgery after the season, so he’s hurt,” Mortensen said. “I’ve heard different things on what the injury is.”

Mortensen said D’Brickashaw Ferguson and the rest of the Jets offensive line did a great job protecting Sanchez against the Colts, and that will again be a key Sunday. “If they hit Sanchez and and he lands on that shoulder, is he out of there? Now we’re playing with Mark Brunell or Kellen Clemens,” Mortensen said. “They did a great job of protecting him [against the Colts]. And Mark just played fair, as you know, it wasn’t great. That’s why I have a hard time seeing the Jets having chance of winning this game.”

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Chris Mortensen

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen joined the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning to talk about the rumored Randy Moss trade to the Vikings. To hear the interview, visit the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

Mortensen said his sources are telling him the deal will go through Wednesday, and the analyst tried to explain why the trade will be made.

“I think if you just look at the DNA of the Patriots, from the owner Bob Kraft to Bill Belichick, and Jonathan Kraft and what have you — from Week 1 when Randy Moss decided to make a very clear statement that, ‘Yes, I want to be a Patriot but I want to be a contract but I want a new contract,’ that’s just not the Patriot Way, is it?”

Added Mortensen: “The contract thing probably was going to rear its ugly head more than one more time this year.”

Mortensen said there were signs on Monday night that Moss was being iced out of the offense, on a night when he had no catches and the Patriots posted a big victory over the Dolphins.

“Belichick was as happy as I’ve seen him,” Mortensen said. “Outside of the four AFC championship game and three Super Bowls, it’s about the happiest I’ve seen him look. And I think it was because, it was like, ‘All this work we’ve done, these young guys are starting to come around,’ combined with the fact that they had made a decision clearly a couple of weeks ago — especially when Minnesota got involved and they could not acquire Vincent Jackson — that Randy Moss was going to be out of town.”

Mortensen said he doesn’t believe the Patriots will in turn acquire Jackson, the suspended Chargers receiver, as some have speculated. He also said he didn’t consider the Patriots a Super Bowl-caliber team, but their performance on Monday bumped up their contending status.

“What I saw the other night, I said, ‘OK, you know what, of the top six teams or seven teams that I see as Super Bowl contenders, maybe I can still put the Patriots in that group at the bottom. And if you get young guys who get better, and Tom Brady is the best at what he does, and Belichick is the best at what he does. So, anything can happen.”

Chris Mortensen

ESPN insider Chris Mortensen joined the Dennis & Callahan show early Tuesday morning to discuss everything football just before the start of training camp. Mort talked about Dez Bryant‘s controversy with the Cowboys, the favorites in the AFC East, the Logan Mankins contract discussions and Tom Brady‘s private ruminations about his unfavorable contract.

“Why would we expect Tom to be happy making $6.5 million? It’s not like they’re going out there and signing a bunch of free agents to truly make this team better,” Mortensen said.

When asked about the AFC East in 2010, Mortensen replied: “If I were rating this division right now, I would be rating it: 1. Jets, 2. Dolphins, 3. Patriots, with all three having a chance to go to the playoffs and filling up all the playoff spots.”

Below are highlights. To listen to the full interview, click on the Dennis & Callahan Show audio on demand page.

On Dez Bryant’s early issues with the Cowboys:

It’s an interesting story because it’s only [about] carrying [Roy Williams’] shoulder pads. We kind of classify it as hazing, but I don’t think that’s hazing. It’s a rite of passage, I’ve heard people say. On the other hand, I can tell you from [the Cowboys’] offseason, I think that there was a feeling that everyone had a good offseason workout. [They] worked their tails off, except for one player, and the problem is the one player asking him to carry his shoulder pads is Roy Williams. So, I’m not sure that there are coaches and veteran players in the locker room that are all that upset with Dez Bryant, because I think they’re more upset with Roy Williams.

On if the Cowboys are siding with Bryant because of Williams’ lack of effort:

Well there’s no question I think you’re right. … Whether it’s coaches or players or ownership, executives in terms of thoughts about Roy. Are there 53 guys all rolling in the same direction or are there 52? I’ve heard that, with Roy being the exception. There’s no question from what they’ve seen, [the Cowboys believe] that Dez will be a star. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be a star or not, generally, if a vet says, “Go carry my shoulder pads,” the rookie does it. It was just interesting that Dez decided not to do it. The other thing, let’s not forget this, it was the only training camp open and it’s the Cowboys and it’s the media. I’ll have to throw ESPN out there because whenever we do something, it becomes bigger. So, it’s probably a little bit bigger deal than it is in actuality in the locker room or amongst the organization.

On the three QBs in the last year of their contracts — Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees:

Well, Peyton is going to make $15.7 million this year. The “Bank of Manning” didn’t have to take any stimulus packages, as I like to refer to them. My feeling is the most urgent [contract] is Tom Brady’s, but if you’re Tom, do you go ahead? Do the Patriots go ahead and get something done? I don’t think anything is imminent. I know he’s the consummate pro, he can’t be happy. He’s at most risk because his salary is so low. Read the rest of this entry »