More than a year-and-a-half after signing a collective bargaining agreement that provided for human growth hormone testing for NFL players, the league and the NFL Players Association seem to be closing in on a deal to implement the program in advance of the 2013 season.

The two sides have recently exchanged written proposals, and union leaders will study and discuss the NFL's latest offer when they gather next week at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas for the NFLPA's annual meeting,

NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith speaks during the NFL players association news conference during Super Bowl week. (USA TODAY Sports)However, as the two sides haggle over the remaining points of contention and move toward a system of third-party arbitration over appeals of all positive drug tests, it’s clear that the players’ distrust of commissioner Roger Goodell is spurring the union to drive a hard bargain. In the wake of Goodell’s handling of the New Orleans Saints’ pay-for-injure scandal, union leaders and their constituents seem united in their belief that the commissioner enjoys too much power.

"The

When word broke last week that the San Francisco 49ers had agreed to trade backup quarterback Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL community was abuzz with gossipy cynicism.

Not only was Smith the latest and most significant domino to fall in a decidedly unsexy quarterback market, but the price he commanded from the Chiefs — the second pick in the second round of April's NFL draft, and a conditional 2014 pick that reportedly could be as high as another second-rounder — blew the minds of many coaches and executives around the league.

Alex Smith gestures during the first half of a game against the Chiefs in 2010. (AP)"I'd say it was somewhere between steep and outright theft," one AFC general manager said in response to the trade, echoing the sentiments of many of his peers. "I would have had a hard time giving up two 2s. He was a free agent last year, and it's not like people were pounding down his door to sign him."

Yet there's a very viable reason that Smith is a much hotter commodity in 2013 than he was a year ago: This is a far chillier March

So Tom Brady, out of the goodness of his gold-minted heart, has cut the New England Patriots a contractual break, taking far less than he's worth so that the team will have more room under the salary cap.

Patriots, you are now on the clock.

How aggressively the Pats parlay the cap savings into retaining and acquiring premium players will determine whether Brady's gesture was a smart one. While the future Hall of Fame quarterback certainly had his reasons for doing a cut-rate deal — and, on many levels, he has earned the right to make that decision — it did not come without a psychic cost relative to his reputation within the NFL community.

In agreeing to a three-year, $27 million contact extension that runs through the end of the 2017 season, when he'll be 40, Brady likely riled agents and players throughout the league, especially those of the elite-quarterback variety. From Joe Flacco, who's currently negotiating a long-term deal with the Baltimore Ravens in the wake of a

INDIANAPOLIS – The front-office executive fielded the question with the utmost seriousness, issuing a businesslike response amid the pleasure-packed madness of Mo's, the downtown Indy steakhouse that is the unofficial epicenter of the 2013 NFL scouting combine.

Will your team be interviewing Manti Te'o?

"No," the executive responded Thursday night, an answer that indicated a lack of interest in the former Notre Dame linebacker and purported catfishing victim whose celebrated connection with an imaginary girlfriend has titillated the sports world for the past five weeks.

The executive let his dismissive response linger for a few seconds before supplying the punch line: "We're going to do it by email."

If you thought the NFL's coaches and top talent evaluators might be immune to the type of ruthless taunting that Te'o faces in the cyber universe, it's time to revise that scouting report. As teams focus on a draft class that is decidedly unsexy, the former Butkus Award winner's

He is a 6-foot-6, 256-pound athletic wonder who tracks opposing ball carriers like a laser dot and punishes them like a vindictive medicine ball.

If Jadeveon Clowney were allowed to enter April's NFL draft, rather than prepare for his junior season at South Carolina, the dripping-with-talent defensive end would likely go in the top three, and possibly the top one. Jadeveon Clowney finished the 2012 season with 13 sacks. (USA Today Sports)

Yet Clowney, because of a nine-year-old decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, doesn't have the option to cash in immediately on his potential. And the risk he'll assume by playing another season for the Gamecocks has prompted some, including Charlotte Observer columnist Tom Sorensen, to suggest that Clowney sit out the 2013 season before going pro.

I have a better idea: Clowney, who turns 20 on Valentine's Day, should lawyer up and try to barge his way into the NFL this spring – the same way he blasted into the Michigan backfield during last month's Outback Bowl.

If Clowney chooses to go this

As Jed York strolled through the jubilant visitors' locker room at the Georgia Dome after last month's NFC championship game, the San Francisco 49ers' young owner shared in the celebration of his team's 28-24 victory over the Atlanta Falcons and the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance in 18 years.

A few minutes later, however, as he stood in the small dressing area, York couldn't help but look ahead — not only to his team's Super Bowl XLVII clash with the Baltimore Ravens, but also to a 2013 season that promises to be challenging for the two-time defending NFC West champions.

Jed York in New Orleans prior to the team's Super Bowl XLVII loss to the Ravens. (AP) "I have to give a lot of credit to the NFC West," York said, responding to a question about how a blowout defeat to the Seattle Seahawks in late December had galvanized the Niners heading into the postseason. "Nobody expected it to be, in my opinion, the toughest division in professional sports. The Rams are getting back there and gave us so much trouble. The Cardinals always play us tough.

NEW ORLEANS – His work was done. His conquest was complete. And with his sons in tow, a victory party to attend and a post-football existence to begin, Ray Lewis politely declined to answer another question about the Baltimore Ravens' remarkable Super Bowl XLVII triumph.

Then, suddenly, the departing star changed his mind: The subject matter stopped him. What's love got to do with it? Lewis, the Ravens' legendary linebacker and unparalleled leader, the man who'd just been part of a dramatic goal-line stand to preserve a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, flashed a satisfied smile and gave the final quote of his 17-year career.

"Love," Lewis said, "is the reason why we're here."

Ray Lewis and head coach John Harbaugh celebrate after their win against the 49ers. (AP) He took a few steps and stopped to embrace the only other Ravens player who remained in the locker room, cornerback Cary Williams.

"They just don't understand, do they, Cary, how much we love each other?" Lewis asked. He turned back to me, resuming his last interview as an

NEW ORLEANS — The beautiful football mind of Sean Payton is a well-established force in the 21st century NFL panorama, and it was on full display in the wee hours Thursday morning as he entertained a small group of guests at his Warehouse district condominium.

The New Orleans Saints' recently reinstated coach was breaking down Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, and he gave a very technical, intelligent and persuasive assessment of why he believes the Niners are likely to win.

Ray Rice catches a pass as Ray Lewis walks past in practice Wednesday. (AP)When it comes to such assessments, I trust Payton like Manti Te'o trusted his imaginary girlfriend. But I also trust my instincts, and after ignoring them five years ago when I picked the undefeated Patriots to beat the underdog Giants in Super Bowl XLII — and before Baltimore's recent playoff upsets of the Broncos and Pats — I'm going with the feeling in my gut, rather than the one in my brain.

The Ravens are going to win the Super Bowl — not