Speculation still swirling around McDaniels

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Washington Redskins have the last head coaching opening in the NFL, which has fueled talk that the hire could be an assistant on one of the clubs in Super Bowl XLII.

Speculation has swirled around Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, and both were besieged with questions on the topic yesterday.

McDaniels, who withdrew his name from consideration in Atlanta and Baltimore, left himself some minor wiggle room to interview for the Redskins job. Spagnuolo was a bit more open on the topic, acknowledging his interest but maintaining that his focus remains on the Super Bowl.

The 31-year-old McDaniels felt uneasy that he was a target for D.C.-area reporters at yesterday's Media Day.

"To make me a big story line this week, I don't think that's the point of this whole thing for me. I want to be a New England Patriot," he said. "I think when the time is right for me to do that, if the opportunity is there at some point in the future - and I think I'm ready to go and do that - then I'll make the decision at that point."

Asked if previous reports indicating he was taking his name out of consideration for all head coaching jobs were accurate, McDaniels said: "That's pretty accurate."

Spagnuolo said, "I think anyone who gets in this business, when you decide to coach football, has two dreams - you have a dream to be a head coach at the highest level and you have a dream to win a Super Bowl. Right now, I'm focused on one of them."

Spagnuolo added that he's recently tapped into the advice of some of his mentors over the years, a group that includes Eagles coach Andy Reid, Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, Chiefs assistant coach Dick Curl, and former Boston College coach Jack Bicknell.

"In this league, everything happens so fast, and the advice they've given me is to focus on the one thing at hand now and trust that those things will take care of themselves," he said.

The Associated Press said Redskins owner Dan Snyder did interview Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks again yesterday in Indianapolis.

Kraft weighs in

Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft echoed comments made by Broncos owner Pat Bowlen earlier this month, hinting that NFL owners will be opting out of the collective bargaining agreement in November.

"The CBA is a very one-sided deal right now, under the new arrangement," Kraft said. "It's something that has to be addressed. We've been able to work things out for close to 20 years and I hope we will continue that.

"No business transaction is good if one side has too much of an edge than the other. As long as they balance out over time, but never let it get to an extreme. I think what Pat was saying is that it's probably gotten pretty far out there and now we need to recalibrate."

Kraft's comments were disputed by NFL Players Association president Troy Vincent.

"We don't believe it's one-sided," said Vincent, whose term as president ends in March. "It's a booming business. Bob [Kraft], Daniel Snyder, [Bob ] McNair, [Jerry ] Jones, they all have their own take, but we believe the revenue sharing, that's something the clubs negotiated and that's something they'll have to resolve."

If the owners opt out as expected, it would make 2010 a season without a salary cap if a new agreement is not reached. Players union executive director Gene Upshaw has said if there is an uncapped year, the players never will go back to a cap again, so the early signs of a labor battle are beginning to appear.

"If they want to go to an uncapped year," Vincent said, "players are totally for it."

Happy to be here

Former Patriots assistant and current University of Virginia coach Al Groh attended the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium. His presence, and the fact he's seeking a new defensive coordinator, led some to wonder if Patriots defensive line coach Pepper Johnson might be on his radar.

If that's the case, it would be news to Johnson, who said he also received a text message from a friend earlier this week asking him about his potential candidacy in Virginia.

Johnson talked yesterday about staying with the Patriots as a line coach vs. taking a job as a college coordinator.

"It all depends on who makes that phone call. If it's The Ohio State University [his alma mater], then probably I'd have to tell Bill [ Belichick] he's going to have to hang on there without me. Other than that, I don't know," he said.

Now in his eighth season as a Patriots assistant, Johnson added that he's happy in his current position, and he said he did not feel slighted when the team promoted Dean Pees to coordinator in 2005 following Romeo Crennel's departure.

Signal from Johnson

Fox studio analyst Jimmy Johnson reiterated his stance that the NFL's punishment of the Patriots' illegal videotaping procedures this year was overblown. He spoke passionately on the subject.

"The only thing I can say is so many people made such a big to-do about it, and everybody - and I mean everybody - went to the edge on rules in one form or fashion," Johnson said, reflecting on his coaching tenure with the Cowboys. "That's just part of the game, that's stealing the signals in baseball. This stuff has been going on for so long.

"When I came into the NFL, back in '89, I talked to a Kansas City scout and he said, 'Here's what we do, we videotape the opposing team's signals and then we synch it up with the game film.' So I did it."

Johnson admitted it was "borderline" but he ended up stopping because he didn't think the team got much out of it. He then spoke of other rules clubs pushed to the limit.

"When I went to the Dolphins and they talked about how you're supposed to have a 15-second cutoff [in communication] to your quarterback, but here is what we do [to circumvent that]," Johnson said. "They said they've always done this. So I said, 'OK, let's go ahead and do it.' Then the league said, 'Hey, we hear you're doing that, so don't do it anymore.'

"The point I'm making - I'm not trying to say everybody is cheaters - is that you have a rulebook that is so thick and you say 'How far can you go without breaking the rules?' When I coached the Cowboys, we didn't have this kind of scrutiny. But now, the scrutiny, every little thing we do - that's why I said the media blew it so far out of proportion.

"Would the commissioner have fined them and taken a draft pick if it had been the Arizona Cardinals? There is a lot of jealousy in this league. The high profile, it's almost making statement that 'I've got to do it because of who it is.' I know Bill Belichick very well, I know how he loves the NFL, he loves the history of the NFL, he loves the integrity of the NFL, that's why it irritates me that anyone would ever question that."

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; Christopher L. Gasper of the Globe staff contributed to this report.