Posted by Josh Katzowitz

It looks like we’ll have some closure on two of the biggest names who didn’t report for duty this year.

According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, Chargers WR Vincent Jackson – who’s been the subject of so many trade rumors, all of which fell through for one reason or another – will report to his team Oct 31, while Patriots G Logan Mankins will report to New England by Nov. 16.

These moves should not come as a surprise. Though there was talk about both of these players sitting out the entire season, the fact is they want to accrue another season toward free agency, and to do that, they needed to report by the Tuesday following Week 10 of the season (Jackson has to report three weeks early, because the Chargers made him roster exempt, meaning he must sit out three games before the six-game clock that signifies an accrued season of free agency begins).

Really, it would have been silly of them not to do so, and Mortensen writes both of the players were advised to report by the NFL Players Association.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Will Brinson

Lots of folk, following the departure of Randy Moss to Minnesota, believed that the Patriots should go out and get themselves Vincent Jackson, the far-from-gruntled wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers who's done nothing since the end of last season but draw the ire of Bolts GM A.J. Smith.

Tom Curran of CSNNE reports that talks of such a trade is in the "preliminary" stage right now, but that there are indeed talks.

Since Jackson began his holdout, the standard rumor's been that San Diego wants a second- and third-rounder in exchange for the Pro Bowler, while Curran notes, via Kevin Acee, of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that it would increase to a first- and second-rounder to another AFC team.

The Patriots could possibly open up a different sort of trade, by offering also far-from-gruntled guard Logan Mankins for Jackson, which Curran says is "in play."

Clearly the draft picks plus Mankins is too much to give up for the Bolts, but whether or not a straight-up swap would work remains to be seen.

There's the additional problem of Jackson teetering (metaphorically, and depending on the violation, literally) on a longer suspension than he faced this year, if he were to violate the Personal Conduct Policy again.

But both players are in absurdly similar situations, having refused to sign their respective restricted free agent tenders and then managing to anger their respective bosses to the point that it seems unlikely any resolution with their respective current teams will be reached.

And it's a deal that makes sense -- the Chargers could shore up their offensive line and the Pats could replace the loss of Moss with Jackson. But given the other report out there, from Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network, that indicates both players might not become free agents with a new CBA, it's possible San Diego and New England won't want to cave on the leverage they could continue to have through 2011.

Update: Acee now adds that a deal is "highly unlikely" even though the Pats and Chargers apparently have had some discussions about a deal. So, yeah, not as exciting.
Update: Mankins' agent tells Ian Rapoport that the possibility of a swap like the one discussed above is "ludicrous" -- which seems like you could potentially forget everything, but, really, shouldn't that mean it's MORE likely? Discuss.
For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Givin Em the Business recognizes all the people that annoyed you from the week that was in football. Feel free to provide nominations either in the comments or by yelling at us on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

Rank	Who	Why
1	"The Megatron Rule"	You can't fault the officials in the Bears-Lions game for costing Detroit a win. All they did was make a correct decision on a rule that stinks. Fortunately for everyone else (fans, wide receivers, etc), there's a pretty good chance that the NFL will change the ridiculous rule and figure out some way to make receivers end zone catches exempt from the possibility of being nullified -- it needed a high profile game to actually make that happen. Unfortunately for the Lions, they won't get grandfathered in.
2	Logan Mankins	If the reports are true, and Logan Mankins passed up tens of millions of dollars because he wouldn't make a public apology to Patriots owner Robert Kraft, I'd like to immediately nominate "Curb" as his new nickname, in an homage to Larry David and only something his semi-fictional character would do. (Although his resemblance to Zach Galifinakis is also startling.) The sheer inanity of being so stubborn about something like that is mind-boggling. I'd publicly apologize for you reading my writing right now for $50 and I'm definitely not that rich. Just kind of rich.
3	Philly Phans	Complaining about Philly fans booing someone is about as interesting as Dave Matthews is relevant to the NFL, but they really did take it to a new level on Sunday when they showered their QB of the future, Kevin Kolb, with early birds of the boo variety. I guess it's nice that it wasn't batteries instead, but the dude was already concussed so he might not have known the difference. It's just sickening to see people try and run Donovan McNabb out of town for 10 years and as soon as they do, turn on is successor and learn to love Michael Vick. Just completely illogical and probably expected.
4	The Jets	Karma is a punk, ain't it? The Jets spent all offseason running their mouths and then followed that up by spending the entire week before their game against Baltimore by running their mouths. Even after the game, they didn't really stop, only this time it was to backpeddle from their ridiculous expectations. Pretty clearly if they had a competent quarterback and a running back who didn't borrow Braylon Edwards' hands for an evening, they would have beaten Baltimore. And already won the Super Bowl.
5	America	Need more proof that the NFL is popular? Dexter McCluster and Jamaal Charles were trending topics on Twitter last night. As were the "Cheifs." That's right -- America is so S-M-R-T that everyone in our country can't figure out the old "i before e except after c" adage and decided to tweet a misspelled version of the team playing on Monday Night Football. Now, look, I make mistakes with typos and it's entirely possible that lots of it was driven by people laughing on Twitter about the misspelling. But people, this is why we have schools. Quit skipping.
6	Zebras	I'm all for "fairness" and "consistency" and whatnot, but, hey, you, referee/umpire dudes: keep it in your freaking pants next week, okay? I scored a penalty flag when I visited the NFL headquarters last month, and I'm not about to FedEx it back to Roger Goodell's office just because the guys in charge of calling the plays run out of flags halfway through the season. Plus, football's pretty much fun regardless, but when we're seeing 100 yards worth of penalties per half, well, that's just lame. Except the Jets -- keep penalizing them.
7	T. Ocho	At this rate, the Bengals' wide receiving duo will make this list every single week -- one would think that in a beatdown from the Patriots (and no new reality television shows to watch ... yet) they would be relatively quiet. And they were. But their absence, ironically, was what made them most conspicuous -- neither Chad Ochocinco nor Terrell Owens were on the field for the first-half Hail Mary attempt that fell short, and neither of them would talk about it after the game. Unfortunately, the NFL isn't a "talk all I want when I want to league" so time to grow up, boys.
8	Randy Moss	Wide receiver divas are the norm in the NFL. But we never fully expect any one of these guys to get awkwardly angry in front of the entire NE press corps following a dominant Week 1 win. Moss did, though, and then he got rebuked privately by Bill Belichick. (And lest you think Bobby Kraft is happy about the events, see: Mankins, Curb above.) Fortunately, Moss isn't above public apologies: he went on Sportscenter Tuesday to make sure everyone knows just how fantastic a bank Capitol One is much he loves being a Pat.
9	Alex Barron	Gotta feel a little bad beating down on this guy (since he's already been eviscerated in the media for 36 straight hours), but I'm like 5'9" and -- a svelte, mind you -- buck-seventy, and I'm pretty confident that I could do a better of job of being a non-penalty-inducing offensive line speed bump than Barron. It's one thing to get called for holding. It's an entirely different thing to get called for holding on the final play of a Sunday night football game against your arch-rival during the final play of the game which would have resulted in your team winning.
10	Sexual Harrassment Probes	All of the arguments in the Ines Sainz - Jets locker room issue are just ridiculous. Kris Jenkins was ridiculous for trying to justify his "this is our locker room" stuff (and he paid a karmic price for it). Clinton Portis is ridiculous for talking about it on radio (and he'll pay a monetary price for it). The Jets are ridiculous for behaving like they did (karma again). And anyone who says "THIS IS A LOCKER ROOM. IT'S WHERE MEN ARE MEN AND WOMEN ARE OBJECTS. ROWRROWRROWR" is the most ridiculous sentiment of them all. Even if Sainz was inviting of certain behavior and even if her story isn't straight, everyone needs to remember that for the Jets, the locker room is the same thing as the office, so there's zero excuse for not acting like a professional. Unless you're Terry Tate.

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

- Browns QB Jake Delhomme will undergo an MRI as early as today to determine the extent of an ankle injury suffered against the Buccaneers. Apparently, he hurt himself in the first half but powered through the pain to complete the game.

- Ines Sainz, the object of the recent affection/alleged misogyny by the Jets, says she doesn’t plan to sue the club. This article is behind a paywall on the Newsday website, but hey, the headline is enough to cause a little bit of relief for the Jets. Even if she would have had no chance in hell of winning any kind of judgment.

- Another twist in the Logan Mankins-Patriots contract debacle has appeared. Although an ESPN report came out Sunday saying the two sides were close to an agreement, only to be thwarted when Mankins refused to publicly apologize to New England owner Bob Kraft, Kraft said that simply isn’t true. “That is a bold-faced fib,” Kraft told WEEI. “We never had a deal with Logan.”

- Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt talked to RB Tim Hightower about securing the ball and, you know, not fumbling so much. That’s probably a good idea, because Hightower – who already has a reputation for putting the ball on the ground – lost two more fumbles Sunday.

- Despite a poor performance against the Saints, Minnesota owner Zygi Wilf still believes the pieces are in place for the Vikings to win a Super Bowl. Perhaps, Whisenhunt needs a come-to-Jesus chat with Wilf after he’s done talking to Hightower.

- Where is Jeff Feagles when you need him? The Giants fans would like to know after watching punter Matt Dodge endure another performance in which the rookie struggled to, um, punt the football very well.

- Neither the Jets nor the Giants sold out their season openers in the New Meadowlands Stadium. In part, you can blame the expensive personal seat licenses.
 
- There was as kerfuffle before the Patriots-Bengals game when a fan needed immediate medical attention. The Patriots said today that the fan, whose name has not been made public, has died.

- Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco took Patriots fan Will Ditullo to dinner where the two talked about sports and about life in general.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz

An interesting story from ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter regarding Patriots G Logan Mankins and how close he was to reaching an agreement with New England. And it all blew up because, according to the story, the Patriots weren’t satisfied with just one apology. They wanted two.

From Schefter’s story:

About two weeks ago, Mankins and his agent Frank Bauer arrived at the Patriots training facility in Foxboro, Mass., with both sides intending and believing they would be able to hammer out a long-term deal similar to the seven-year, $56.7 million contract that Pro Bowl guard Jahri Evans signed with New Orleans in the spring.

Shortly before the deal could be consummated, the Patriots asked Mankins to apologize to Patriots owner Robert Kraft for comments he made in June, questioning the New England owner’s integrity. Mankins did. He called Kraft, apologized and explained why he spoke out in the way he did. It was a nice conversation and it paved the way for Mankins’ long-term deal to be consummated.

Then, about 90 minutes later, just before finalizing the deal, the Patriots requested Mankins issue a public apology. Not only did Mankins refuse, but he became offended, according to sources. The optimism that had been built, the momentum that the talks had generated completed collapsed -- and even regressed.

If this is true, how petty does this make the Patriots look? I can understand a personal apology, but a second, public apology? To me, that’s absolutely ridiculous.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Josh Katzowitz and Andy Benoit

Got links for the Hot Routes? Follow us on Twitter or send an email to josh [dot] katzowitz [at] cbsinteractive [dot] com.

-A Giants press box attendant asked Steelers icon Dan Rooney to leave because Rooney’s pass was only valid for the owner’s box . The press box attendant apparently didn’t know it was Dan Rooney. (No excuse, though: any half-witted attendant should know that whoever is important enough to get an owner’s box pass is more than important enough to be in the press box.) Rooney graciously left.

-Of the Jets’ “Big Four” – D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold, Darrelle Revis and David Harris – it looks like Harris will be the odd man out for a new contract this season. The uncapped year’s 30 percent rule appears to be part of the problem. Harris will make less than $1 million this season.

-According to the Boston Herald , OG Logan Mankins doesn’t spend money. Which means he doesn’t have to worry about lost wages if he doesn’t play this year for the Patriots. Which is looking like a real possibility.

-Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles is averaging more than twice as many more yards per carry this preseason than new acquisition Thomas Jones (7 yards to 3.1), but Charles isn’t worried about the stats at this point in the preseason.

-All offseason we’ve been writing about how the Bears don’t have enough quality pass-blockers to execute Mike Martz’s system . It’s only the preseason, but because this proves our point, we’ll remind everyone that Jay Cutler was sacked five times against the Raiders Saturday night.

-Brian Urlacher has a calf injury, but it doesn’t appear to be at all serious .

-The Ravens are upbeat about how Ed Reed’s rehab from hip surgery is going . Some somewhat good news on Sergio Kindle – Baltimore expects him in town by the end of the week .

 -Dallas rookie WR Dez Bryant isn’t scheduled to return in the preseason, but he’s still on track to start the season opener Sept. 12. After suffering a high ankle sprain, he’s lost about 10 pounds.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed .

Posted by Andy Benoit

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald reports that Patriots offensive lineman Nick Kaczur has undergone back surgery, putting his status for 2010 in very serious doubt.

Kaczur has been out since the second day of training camp. He had been filling in for Logan Mankins at left guard (Mankins is holding out). Dan Connolly is currently holding down that spot.

Second-year pro Sebastian Vollmer will continue to handle the right tackle duties. Vollmer has more raw ability than Kaczur but is still somewhat rough around the edges.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS feed.

Posted by Will Brinson

Tom Brady joins the Dennis and Callahan show on WEEI every Monday morning to talk Patriots football. Today, even though he's in the midst of an awkward contract situation, has a thumb injury and apparently can't get an appointment to have his haircut, he swung by. And things got interesting -- not in the sense that anything awkward was asked, but Brady was pretty darn quotable.

Brady confirmed the golf outing with Bob Kraft; he pointed out that he and Kraft hadn't spoken much in the last six or seven months and that with his wife out of town, he figured he'd take him up on the outing, since they hadn't spoken much in six or seven months. Then the topic turned to whether Brady could spend his entire career in New England.

"I’d love to be here my whole career," Brady responded. "I have goals and the team has goals and hopefully they’re down the same line. But you never know. Like I said, Joe Montana got traded, and Jerry Rice did, guys I loved watching out there that really were the best players to ever play at their positions. It’s hard to think if those guys are not playing for a team, wow, why should I ever be excluded from that?"

The WEEI guys followed up by asking whether or not Brady had a timeline on when he wanted to get a new deal done; the obvious thought process is "ASAP" considering that Brady managed to bang up his finger during the first preseason game of the year. Brady, however, played the typical role of team player.

"What I want, it doesn't matter," Brady pointed out. "I'm not going to be really attached to that, because it's not up to me. There are a lot of people involved. Every player on the team wants a contact to be fairly compensated. So does Logan [Mankins], so did Vince [Wilfork] last year. So do all the other guys ... so does Wes [Welker]. Wes doesn't make a lot of money, but he's one of the best receivers in the league. We all want to be compensated fairly, but we also understand we signed contracts so that's why we're here to show up and give our best."

Brady also discussed Peyton Manning's impending contract extension and whether or not it mattered to him how much Manning makes versus his contract -- they actually framed it with "who should make $1 more?" -- but Brady didn't bite.

"I know what he’s gonna make, he’s gonna make a lot and he deserves it," Brady said. "He’s one of best to ever play. You know, honestly, it’s not about that. When it’s all said and done, I’m not gonna sit and worry about who made more money. All these other quarterbacks in the league and what they make, I don’t care what they get. Whatever works for me and the team, that’s what it’ll be. I don’t really care who makes more."

Those are nice answers and the entire interview is pretty good. But also pretty typical of Brady, who's the consummate team player. Of course, if you presume that the two sides are in the midst of negotiations right now, it wouldn't exactly behoove Brady to come out and bash the team for taking their sweet time to ink him to an extension.

Don't be surprised if you see this deal happen soon.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @cbssportsnfl on Twitter and subscribe to our RSS Feed.