Chris Berman has been the face of ESPN for a long, long time but his contract is expiring in a few months and Sports by Brooks is reporting that DirecTV is supposedly trying to sign him.

Brooks is reporting that DirecTV "is in full pursuit of the longtime broadcaster." DirecTV apparently wants Berman for the Red Zone Channel as well as on a channel that is in progress for Dan Patrick.

Meanwhile, the NFL Network is supposedly after Berman as well, according to The Big Lead. One thing going for the Network is that its president is Steve Bornstein, who Berman is supposedly close pals with after they worked together at ESPN.

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Source: Sports by BrooksThe Big Lead

Lots of people are expecting Eagles running back Brian Westbrook(notes) to retire this offseason after he played in only seven games last year due to two concussions. But it doesn't sound like he is planning to hang up his cleats just yet, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The paper reports that Westbrook was on the radio in Philly Monday and said that he is "just trying to enjoy this offseason and trying to get ready for this next upcoming season."

Of course the word is also that Westbrook is considering retirement because of a testy left knee, not because of the concussions.

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Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Donovan McNabb(notes) is a very popular man these days. Plenty of teams have apparently called the Philadelphia Eagles to find out if he is available, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Teams have also asked about backup Kevin Kolb(notes) and three teams have asked about Michael Vick(notes).

Three of the teams that are asking about McNabb are supposedly the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns. Of course, most, if not all, of these calls are totally exploratory at this point as teams start to feel out all the others to see what's going to be available this offseason.

Eagles head coach Andy Reid is sticking to his story that McNabb will be the starter next season, the last one on the QB's contract. Still, it is hard to believe all three of these quarterbacks will be with the team when things get rolling next year.

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Source: Philadelphia Daily News

Miami Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter(notes) says there is no way he'll be returning to play in South Florida next season, according to NFL.com.

"I still have a lot of years of football left ... but strapping on that jersey, yes, this year is the last time," the 32-year-old said Sunday after finishing out the season with nine sacks. "If it was a situation where the guys were better than me, then you just have to move on, but if it's not a changing of the guard, they just have to sit and wait their turn. Nobody is that good enough behind me to be stepping on my toes."

Sure will be fun to watch the Dolphins play against wherever Porter lands next season.

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Source: NFL.com

Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall(notes) has apparently suddenly grown up. He's telling folks he handled things a little unprofessionally last year when he was making trade demands and spouting off to the media. "This offseason I'm just going to go with the flow and just go in whatever direction the Broncos want to go," he told the Denver Post.

Broncos execs have got to be a little shocked at the 180-degree turn Marshall is taking from last year when he held out of a minicamp and then was a bozo at training camp. However, he went on to make 101 catches this past season.

Maybe he realizes he's got a decent deal? Maybe he suddenly loves living in Colorado? Who knows? Any way you slice it, he's not planning to spread unpleasantness this offseason. Let's see if he can succeed.

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Source: Denver Post

New England Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas(notes) has two years remaining on a five-year, $35 million contract, but seems to be thinking he's pretty much done with playing football for the Pats, according to the Boston Globe.

Thomas and the Pats haven't talked since the season ended. The main thing that is driving Thomas away from the team is his distaste for head coach Bill Belichick, who rubbed him the wrong way the day after the first game of the season against the Buffalo Bills when Belichick wasn't happy with Thomas' work at outside linebacker, a position he had never played before.

"I really didn't understand some of the stuff I was told,'' Thomas said. "So I knew at that point it was bigger than what was on the surface. It was bigger than that."

Things apparently got more confusing for Thomas as the year progressed. In Week 6, Thomas was made inactive even though he was healthy. And in Week 14, Thomas was one of the four players sent home for being late to a meeting.

If he is released by the Pats, the Globe thinks he could end up with the New York Jets where he could work with the coach he worked for with the Baltimore Ravens, Rex Ryan.

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Source: Boston Globe

The agent for Baltimore Ravens backup quarterback Troy Smith(notes) says he made a trade request for his client in December but the team is saying it never received such a thing, according to the National Football Post.

The agent emailed NFP: "I am more than 90 percent sure that (Ravens GM) Ozzie (Newsome) was called about Troy wanting a trade." But Newsome is saying he never got the message.

Recently Smith let it be known that he'd love to go play for his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns. And one of his old Ohio State teammates, Donte Whitner(notes), was hoping he could come to the Buffalo Bills.

So it must be pretty clear to Newsome by now that the former Heisman Trophy winner wants out of Charm City. The agent wrote the following tweet Thursday after hearing Newsome hadn't heard of the request: "Heard Ravens Ozzie Newsome did not receive formal Troy Smith trade request. Ozzie pretty please with sugar on top trade the friggin guy."

How can he say no to that? It appears that he will and Smith will be back with the Ravens next season.

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Source: National Football Post

LaDainian Tomlinson(notes) has two years left on his contract with the San Diego Chargers but the running back says he's convinced that the team will release him, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

He and his agent haven't spoken with the Chargers so the news is coming to them through the media.

If LT is still on the Chargers' roster on March 5, the team will owe him $2 million and if the team somehow thinks it can convince Tomlinson to play for them this year, he's owed $5 million in salary. Tomlinson is willing to toss that money out the window, though, and says he'll "definitely" find work with another team.

The running back has 12,490 career rushing yards and 153 touchdowns and is sure to get interest but it's unlikely he'll get the same sort of dough the Chargers were slated to pay him.

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Source: San Diego Union-Tribune

A Florida woman is saying that she met former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin and another man at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Fort Lauderdale back in 2007 on July 4. Irvin then supposedly plied her with alcoholic beverages and then took her to his room where he and the other man had their way with her without her consent, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The woman, Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in Florida yesterday. Irvin's lawyer is saying that she's been trying to get $1 million from Irvin before going public with the accusation.

Of course this isn't Irvin's first brush with legal troubles. He was arrested back in 1996 at his 30th birthday party for cocaine possession and had to pay a $10,000 fine and put in some community service. That same year a woman falsely accused him of sexually assaulting her. She ended up paying a fine and spending three months in the slammer. He was also arrested a year after retiring for drug possession though the charge was dropped. Then he was arrested for an unpaid speeding ticket and possession of drug paraphernalia, which the cop saw in his car. That stuff belonged to his brother, Irvin said. And last year he was supposedly the victim of a carjacking that had two guys with a gun confronting him but then leaving him alone when they found out who he was. The police said later that Irvin wasn't helpful at all in the investigation, which was suspended two weeks later.

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Source: Dallas Morning News

Last month, Jerome Bettis let the world know that Bill Cowher was just waiting for the New York Giants' coaching job to become available so he could get back onto the sidelines. But Cowher is apparently not waiting for the folks in New York/New Jersey to extend an offer, according to the New York Post.

Cowher, it appears, is ready to consider any offer that comes his way these days, though he's pretty happy in the CBS analyst booth. He says he hasn't talked to Bettis in two years so there's no way Bettis could know what he's thinking. In fact, he's hung out with (and traveled to Iraq with) Giants head coach Tom Coughlin more recently than that

So let the Cowher rumors fly!

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Source: New York Post