Ravens Land Houshmandzadeh

By Justin Worsley

The Baltimore Ravens have signed free agent wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, scooping the former Pro-Bowler after being a free agent for only two days.

Houshmandzadeh was released by Seattle on Sunday when all teams were required to cut down to a 53-man roster. Seattle signed Houshmandzadeh in 2009 to a five-year $40 million contract. The Seahawks will still pay Houshmandzadeh $6.15 million this season.

According to ESPN.com's Adam Schefter, the Ravens signed Houshmandzadeh to a one-year, $850,000 contract, giving Houshmandzadeh a $7 million salary this season.

Houshmandzadeh, 32, is the second wide receiver from the NFC West division to join Baltimore this offseason. The Ravens traded with the Arizona Cardinals for Anquan Boldin last March.

Houshmandzadeh will now suit up twice a year against the Cincinnati Bengals, who drafted the ten-year veteran in the seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of Oregon State. His former college teammate, Chad Ochocinco, was drafted in the second round by Cincinnati as well that year.

Houshmandzadeh had a career-year in 2007, where he tied New England's Wes Welker for the league lead with 112 receptions. In his career, Houshmandzadeh has caught 586 passes for 6,693 yards and 40 touchdowns.

Last season, however, was a disappointment in Seattle. Houshmandzadeh caught 79 passes for 911 yards, but was only able to find the end zone three times while Seattle finished with a 5-11 record.

Baltimore is looking to make a run at the Super Bowl this season after making two consecutive playoff appearances.

Thrashers Bring In Veteran Modin

By Justin Worsley

The Atlanta Thrashers have signed veteran forward Fredrik Modin to a deal on Monday, bringing in a veteran player to help turn the franchise around.

Modin, 35, played for Columbus and Los Angeles last year, scoring 11 points in 44 games.

Modin has also played for Toronto and Tampa Bay. In 2004, Modin helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup.

In 858 career games, Modin has notched in 225 goals along with 227 assists. Modin, however, has failed to score more than 40 points or 10 goals in a season since 2007. Injuries were a key factor to his decline in production in Columbus.

The deal is good for one-year. Financial terms were not disclosed on press time.

Atlanta has not made the playoffs since being swept in the opening round by the New York Rangers in 2007.

Redskins, Titans Discuss Trade For Haynesworth

By Justin Worsley

The Washington Redskins are, again, discussing the possibility of trading away disgruntled defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to his former team, the Tennessee Titans, according to sources.

Haynesworth lost his starting job this offseason after refusing to show up to the teams organized training activities in protest of new head coach Mike Shannahan's 3-4 defensive scheme. When Haynesworth finally showed up, his performance was considered "awful" by his coaches in the preseason.

The Redskins landed Haynesworth within the first hours of free agency in 2009. The 6-foot-6, 350-pound Haynesworth signed a seven-year, $100 million deal.

Washington gave Haynesworth an opportunity to find himself a way out of the team last April, telling him he was allowed to pursue a trade opportunity. Instead, Haynesworth cashed a $21 million signing bonus check from the team.

Tennessee selected Haynesworth with the 15th overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft. Haynesworth was an immediate force amongst the teams defense, earning two Pro-Bowl selections as well as making the 2007 and 2008 All-Pro team.

Washington will most likely come out on the losing end of a deal after the tumultuous offseason with Haynesworth. During April, teams were considering giving up as much as a second-round draft pick for the 29-year-old. Now that teams have seen Haynesworth poor performance along with his negative attitude towards a 3-4 defense, his stock has plummeted. ESPN.com, however, has reported that Washington is still asking for two draft picks in exchange for Haynesworth.

Haynesworth missed the first ten days of training camp after continuously failing his conditioning test. After finally joining the team, as a backup, Haynesworth missed another week of training camp due to an "illness."

In just over a year at Washington, Haynesworth has made $32 million.

Dennis Dixon Named Steelers Starter

By Justin Worsley

The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced that Dennis Dixon will be the starting quarterback for at least the first four games of the season.

Dixon, 25, beat out Byron Leftwich for the starting job after Leftwich suffered a knee injury before the team's preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers. Dixon completed 23 of 32 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns as well as two interceptions this preseason.

Dixon has started only one game in since being drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, an overtime loss the division rival Baltimore Ravens.

Dixon will start the first four games of the season while incumbent quarterback Ben Roethlisberger serves a league suspension for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Georgia last April.

The Steelers start the season off by hosting the Atlanta Falcons before traveling to Tennessee and Tampa Bay in Week 2&3 before returning home to face Baltimore. Roethlisberger will be allowed to return to the team after their game against Baltimore. Pittsburgh has a bye week in Week 5. The combined record for their first four opponents last season was 29-35.

The Steelers also have longtime backup quarterback Charlie Batch on their roster.

Ole Miss Quarterback Masoli Ruled Eligible

By Justin Worsley

Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli wanted a fresh start at Mississippi, but had to fight in order to get that start.

On Friday, Masoli won that new beginning. After the NCAA ruled Masoli ineligible this season due to transfer rules three days ago, Masoli won an appeal that will make him immediately eligible for the Rebels Saturday game against Jacksonville State.

Masoli's transfer to Ole Miss was highly published. The junior was kicked off of Oregon's team after multiple run-ins with the law.

Masoli entered the season as a contender for the Heisman Trophy, however, after his dismissal from Oregon, his chances to win the coveted trophy went down the drain.

Rumors have circulated that Ole Miss is considering naming the 5-foot-11, 214 pound mobile quarterback team captain. The Rebels are coming off of a 9-4 season and is looking to dethrone defending nation champion and division rival Alabama.

Michigan, Ohio State Divided In Big Ten's New Divisions

By Justin Worsley

Despite much protest from fans, the Big Ten has separated it's conferences biggest rivals, Ohio State and Michigan.

The re-alignment, which takes place in 2011 when Nebraska joins the conference, is broken down to two currently unnamed divisions.

Ohio State joins Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana in one division while Michigan joins interstate rival Michigan State as well as Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern and Minnesota in the other division.

Despite being separated, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney hasn't fought tradition. Ohio State and Michigan will still play each other in the conference finale each year. The separation of the two teams opens up the opportunity for both teams to face each other twice a year, once during the regular season and a second time during the conference championship game.

The first Big Ten football championship game will be hosted at Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.

Matt Leinart Trade On The Horizon

By Justin Worsley

Four years ago, the Arizona Cardinals were just coming off of their seventh consecutive losing season and entered the 2006 NFL Draft looking for a new face of the league's oldest franchise.

Today, it seems that they are trying to part ways with that face.

After failing to translate his successful college career to the pros, Matt Leinart is apparently on the trading block, according to ESPN.com. Two teams have expressed interest to far, the Oakland Raiders and the New York Giants.

Either place he lands he will be a backup. The Giants will most likely part ways with backup quarterback Jim Sorgi, who injured his shoulder in the preseason, while Oakland is content with Jason Campbell as their potential franchise savior. The trade could happen as early as this weekend,

Leinart spent his entire career in Arizona fighting for the starting job with veteran quarterback Kurt Warner. Leinart ultimately lost the job and Warner led the Cardinals to the teams first Super Bowl appearance in the 2008 season as well as their first playoff appearance since 1998. Leinart spent his time learning from Warner.

After Warner retired in January, Leinart entered the offseason for the first time without Warner battling for the starting job and it seemed that Leinart would be the starter. However, the Cardinals signed former Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Derek Anderson and Leinart, again, had to fight for his job.

After Leinart entered the first two preseason games as the starting quarterback, head coach Ken Wisenhunt decided to go in a different direction, replacing Leinart with Anderson for the final two preseason games.

Leinartcompleted 19 of 23 passes this preseason for 161 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. Anderson is 31-for-53 with 287 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions.