NFL News and Notes

It appears Bills LB Takeo Spikes, who had asked to be traded or released months ago, will get his wish very soon.

Buffalo has opened up trade discussions and the Eagles and Giants are very interested in acquiring the 30-year old linebacker. The frontrunner appears to be Philadelphia - who would move him to the outside in its defense.

Spikes bounced back from a torn Achilles tendon in 2005 to register 70 tackles and one sack last season.

****
It seems the Dolphins are passing on getting Kansas City QB Trent Green because the price the Chiefs are asking for is too steep.

Miami is offering a sixth rounder, while Carl Peterson and company want a second rounder and maybe another late round pick as well.

Also, Olindo Mare is fuming that the Dolphins are not moving fast enough to trade him. Miami signed kicker Jay Feely in the offense, pretty much sending a message to Mare that his time in a Dolphin uniform was over.

Mare wants out so bad, he's offered to give back his $250,000 roster bonus if it will expedite his move out of Miami faster.

****
Joe Theismann is out as a "Monday Night Football" analyst after one season, a person familiar with the decision said yesterday.

Reached on his cellphone, Theismann declined to comment on the Newsday report "until I fully understand what has taken place." But he did not deny the news and hinted that it came as a shock.

Theismann is believed to have been informed Friday. An ESPN spokesman said only "we have nothing to announce."

The likely replacement alongside Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser will be Ron Jaworski. He worked one end of a Monday night doubleheader last year and is calling Arena Football League games.

Many critics noted a lack of chemistry between Kornheiser and Theismann in their first season together, but the two believed it improved as the season went on. When Kornheiser said in January he would return to the booth, it was assumed the trio would remain intact.

Theismann, 57, has been an analyst for ESPN since 1988, beginning on the network's Sunday night NFL package.

****
State officials and the New Orleans Saints have agreed to toss out contract exit clauses that would have let the NFL team leave Louisiana within the next four seasons.

"For the forseeable future, Louisiana's team will keep marching to victory right here," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said at the Governor's Mansion on Monday, announcing the latest developments in ongoing negotiations to keep the Saints in New Orleans.

The contract had allowed the Saints to opt out of its current deal with the state by repaying about $70 million the state has provided in inducements to the team. But the Saints will drop that termination clause, and the state will eliminate its ability to opt out of the contract.

Those changes to the contract keep the team in Louisiana through the 2010 football season, Blanco and Saints officials said.

Both sides agreed to continue negotiating on a long-term agreement that could keep the Saints in New Orleans beyond the current contract.

Saints owner Tom Benson "is committed over the next four years to get a long-term deal done here and to stay here forever," said team spokesman Greg Bensel.