KIRKLAND, Wash. – Tim Ruskell doesn't believe in tinkering. There's really no such word as "adjustment" and no such phrase as "minor change" in the vocabulary of the president of the Seattle Seahawks football operations.

In Ruskell's world, there's status quo and complete overhaul. The space between the pair is as thick as onion-skin paper. Be it falling in love with Seattle after spending close to 30 years of his life in Florida or the decision to move the Seahawks' long-time training facility in suburban Kirkland for a monstrous, high-end facility alongside Lake Washington in Renton, Ruskell embraces change the way most people embrace their children.

"Sometimes what you have to do is just start over and completely change what you're doing," Ruskell said. "We did that with our safety position last season when we felt we were having so many problems with big plays at the end of games in 2006. Two new starters there, added another coach, revamped what we were doing and I think it worked

CULVER CITY, Calif. – LaDainian Tomlinson is back to leaping and running at full speed, displaying his skills during a shoot for his latest series of commercials and ads last week.

The Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee – which sidelined him for most of the San Diego Chargers AFC title game loss to the New England Patriots in January – has healed on its own. Back then, Tomlinson never let on how badly he was hurt, going so far as to say it was "nothing serious." That's part of the creed in the NFL at playoff time, nobody tells the truth about injuries.

Last week, Tomlinson sat down with Yahoo! Sports to talk about his health, his emotional flare-ups the past two seasons and several other issues as he took a break from his side job as a pitchman for Campbell's Chunky Soup.

Question: In each of the past two seasons, you've had moments that seemed uncharacteristic for you: displaying anger at the end of the loss to New England in the playoffs in January 2007

LOS ANGELES – Jason Taylor has never been this close to a championship in his professional career. This may be dancing, not football, but winning is winning.

That helps explain the hardened, competitive smile of satisfaction that crossed his face approximately an hour after the latest episode of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars." He was changing quickly in his makeup trailer as he bantered with wife Katina, agent Gary Wichard and some friends from Florida who came to town for the show.

Katina then interjected about how much Taylor was really starting to enjoy it, getting into the artistry of the dancing and the action. That's when someone else blurted, "Really, you love to win."

"No question," Taylor said, emphatically, that smile punctuating the moment as he hustled to get ready for a post-show party. Taylor, who is shooting to stardom at a rapid rate even by Hollywood standards, can't get enough of the success he has had over the past two months of dancing. Success that has eluded him

The Minnesota Vikings made defensive end Jared Allen the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL last month, but also provided themselves plenty of financial protection in the deal. It's the type of protection that could become increasingly popular around the NFL as teams deal with high-risk players in the post-Michael Vick era.

One of the key elements to Allen's six-year, $74 million contract is a provision, pre-approved by the player, that allows the Vikings to convert an $8 million roster bonus Allen is due to receive in 2010 into a signing bonus. In such a case, the team would recoup its money from the player and the signing bonus would count under the salary cap for the remaining years of his contract. Under rules of the collective bargaining agreement, signing bonuses can be recovered by a team when a player violates his contract; a roster bonus can't.

That was a key issue in Vick winning the right to keep approximately $16.25 million in a federal court judgment handed down in

Mike Martz is mad, and Alex Smith couldn’t be much happier as he deals with his own frustration.

Those emotional states are not really related, but the San Francisco 49ers are hoping they mix into something brilliantly successful. Martz is San Francisco’s fourth offensive coordinator in the four years since Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft. The constant change is one of the many reasons Smith has so far dealt with more failure than success as an NFL quarterback.

The 49ers hope to get a glimpse this weekend at how effective their offense might be as they open their first offseason camp since hiring Martz, who was fired after two seasons in Detroit.

For Smith, this will also be a big step in his recovery from a separated shoulder. He suffered the injury in September and ultimately required surgery after he could no longer play in December. It was a situation that caused tension between Smith and head coach Mike Nolan.

That tension, combined with a 16-32 record in three

• More: NFC grades

Given that there wasn't a lot of great offensive talent at skill positions available this year, most teams in the AFC focused on upgrading their defenses in hopes of chasing down top quarterbacks Tom Brady of New England and Peyton Manning of Indianapolis. Either that or they spent high picks on offensive linemen in hopes of having the type of running attacks to keep the ball away from those quarterbacks.

In that vein, New York added pass rusher Vernon Gholston, an amazing physical specimen from Ohio State, while Jacksonville made two trades up to nab defensive ends Derrick Harvey of Florida and Quentin Groves of Auburn.

Not surprisingly, Miami and Kansas City took big strides toward rebuilding their depleted offensive and defensive lines. New England made key moves to improve their aging linebacking corps and Indianapolis made picks with an eye toward the future.

But the biggest move of the draft was Oakland taking Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the most

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Vernon Gholston has obvious intelligence. He also has manners to go with an understated way of talking that appeals to anyone with common sensibility.

But in the uncommon world of the NFL, where hyper-macho intensity mixes with manic emotional swings, listening to Gholston talk makes you wonder: Where is the fire?

On the surface, the talented Gholston certainly doesn't appear to burn hot. For a team that has put as much on the line as the New York Jets this offseason, drafting a player like Gholston with the sixth overall pick during the NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall on Saturday could be the key to narrowing the chasm that currently exists between the archrival New England Patriots and the cross-town rival (not to mention reigning champion) New York Giants.

Or his selection could ultimately be the move that helps seal the fate of a front office that is clearly under pressure to make a drastic improvement. Taking the physically gifted Gholston (he had 37 reps on

The $16 million, $17 million or $18 million (depending on the contract) question that nobody could answer truthfully Thursday at the annual NFL draft luncheon: Which one of you top prospects wants to be a Raider?

Sadly for the once-proud Oakland Raiders, the answer is none of the five yet-to-be signed players in attendance (newly minted Dolphins offensive tackle Jake Long is the exception) at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers really wants to join the franchise.

Or as one agent put: "Sure, somebody is going to want to go fourth overall because of the money, but they're not going to like the prospects once they get there."

There is no greater indictment of a team than the stricken look that comes upon a player's face when he realizes he must go to the Raiders, the NFL's wasteland. Sure, plenty of players, such as safety Gibril Wilson, cornerback DeAngelo Hall, defensive tackle Tommy Kelly and running back Justin Fargas, lined up to take the money. That's why when the Raiders pick at No. 4