Law on their side again?

Former Patriot would welcome homecoming

Not long after the plane had touched down in Kansas City two years ago, Ty Law's phone rang and a familiar voice was on the other end. It was Bill Belichick.

Law was en route to Chiefs headquarters to sign a five-year, $30 million contract that he felt reflected his value as a top free agent cornerback. The Patriots coach wanted to know if it was too late for him to consider a return to New England.

"I was so close to just walking and turning around, but at that point, I just felt I couldn't turn back," Law said. "I had just gotten off the plane, so what was I going to say to them in Kansas City? I had given them my word."

If anything, the conversation reflected how the Patriots still had a hold on Law's heart. It also let him know bygones were bygones with his former coach, whom he had called a liar on his way out of town - a comment he later said he regretted making.

So now, after two largely unfulfilling seasons in Kansas City, Law is wondering whether Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli will be hitting redial. A reunion would seem to make sense; the Chiefs have told Law he will be released and the Patriots are seeking cornerback help.

"No matter what, I'll always be a part of New England, the Patriots, and they'll always be a part of me," Law said. "I think the fans feel the same way. We both had ups and downs, but we shared more success than anything. If it could happen again, it would be like things coming full circle. We're both still standing."

Law was in town last week after taking part in an NFL-sponsored program at Harvard Business School, and his presence at a Celtics game Wednesday night fueled speculation that a return to New England may be imminent. But because the Chiefs have yet to officially release him, Law is not free to speak with interested clubs.

At this point in his career, Law's priorities might be slightly different. While it's hard to imagine he would accept a hometown discount - that's never been his way, and he still feels he's a starting cornerback - he appears more willing to be flexible with a contender if things are close.

He'll also look closely at the style of a team's defense, as he believes his skills weren't maximized the last two seasons.

"I thought the opportunity was a great one at the time, but to be honest, it wasn't the best playing experience for me by any means," he said. "I feel that if you put me in a situation that takes advantage of my skills, I could be in Hawaii [at the Pro Bowl] the next three years. But you have to be in the right scheme of things to showcase your talent."

That's why if the Patriots ultimately express interest, and a financial offer is competitive, Law would be thrilled with the idea of finishing his career where he began it as a first-round draft choice in 1995.

"I like to move around [on defense], and that was the one thing about New England, we didn't stay still, we were moving around," Law explained. "The quarterback didn't know what we were doing.

"I might be 10 yards off but playing a two-deep zone. I might be up in your face but not necessarily playing man-to-man; I might be covering the deep part of the field.

"Belichick always gave us that freedom, saying, 'OK, you got it until you mess it up. Once you mess it up, it's back to my way.' At least he gave you that leeway until you screwed it up."

Law didn't feel he had that luxury in Kansas City, where he most often lined up on the left side while Patrick Surtain was on the right. He felt the defense performed better when he and Surtain were matching up against specific receivers.

While Law didn't miss a game with the Chiefs and totaled six interceptions, some observers wondered whether he could still compete at a high level. Always confident in his abilities, Law dismissed that thought, while seemingly agreeing that New England would be a good place to prove those critics wrong.

"I know I'm still a starting cornerback in this game," he shot back. "I'm going to be on the field and I'm going to make plays, given the opportunity. I think I proved that, even at Kansas City, when the opportunities were few and far in between, if I get my hands on that ball, I'm catching it.

"The opportunity to come back to New England, it would be like a dream come true. People would ask me ,'Don't you wish you were still on New England when they were trying for 19-0 and playing in the Super Bowl,' and the answer is, 'Hell, yeah, everyone wants to be in the Super Bowl.' Everybody wants to play in the big game."

The 2008 season will mark Law's 14th in the NFL, although he points out that at 34, he's a "young" 14-year veteran. Taking a line from Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, Law noted, "It's different now; the 30s are the new 20s.

"I'm kind of free-spirited right now," he said. "You would never think that somebody would be so looking forward to getting fired. This is like getting drafted to me. I have that same enthusiasm.

"I know that I'm going to play football and I can still play. I have that confidence in myself. If I go to the right team, I think I'm going to help them get over the hump and make them a contender. If it is a contender, I'm going to help them be a championship team from leadership and experience and everything else."

Security business for guards

Those wondering about trends in free agency the last two offseasons can look no further than the guard market. Traditionally one of the more anonymous positions, guards continue to land eye-popping contracts.

Last year, the Browns and Bills dished out $7 million-per-year deals for Eric Steinbach and Derrick Dockery, respectively. Both signings helped solidify leaky offensive lines.

This year, the Dolphins' first signing once free agency opened was 49ers guard Justin Smiley, who inked a reported $5 million-per-year contract. The Seahawks, still looking to fill the void left by Steve Hutchinson two years ago, opened the vault for Mike Wahle (around $4 million per year). Yesterday, Alan Faneca became the league's highest-paid offensive lineman with a five-year, $40 million deal from the Jets.

Why the sudden explosion for guards?

"I think you look at the entire picture and you see that tackle is your most valuable position on the offensive line, so more teams are locking those players up and giving them the biggest money," theorized former Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly. "Then what happens is that you have guards coming up and a lot of teams can't afford them. So teams that do have money to spend in free agency looking to improve their offensive line, they're finding that the best offensive linemen available are usually guards."

While guard is generally viewed as the third-most valuable position on the line, seemingly more examples crop up each year illustrating the importance of the position.

Just ask the Jets. After jettisoning starting left guard Pete Kendall in the 2007 preseason because the sides couldn't agree on a pay raise, they struggled all year to fill the spot, and they released 2007 starter Adrien Clarke last week.

Clarke, Patriots fans might recall, was beaten by Richard Seymour early in a Dec. 16 meeting, and when Seymour hurried quarterback Kellen Clemens, it resulted in a Eugene Wilson 5-yard interception return for a touchdown.

That probably helps explain why the Jets went strong after Faneca, easily the top guard available on the market.

Steelers fans coping with the
loss of a broadcasting legend

Myron Cope, who died Wednesday at age 79, was part of the Steelers' radio broadcast team for 35 years and was a legendary figure in Pittsburgh, known for his witty catchphrases and for creating the Terrible Towels that are still waved at Steelers games today.

Patriots play-by-play man Gil Santos respects the admiration Cope had in Pittsburgh.

"In some ways, you become the contact between the average fan and the team," Santos said. "When you're broadcasting a team's games, 99 percent of the listeners want the team to win. At the same time, you're a fan and you want the team to win. So you're sharing together in the glory, and also in the moments of angst.

"He was a funny, entertaining guy who had a unique position in football on the radio because he wasn't really a play-by-play man, was not a color man, but was a third man in the booth.

"From what I did hear of him, he was a character who provided a tremendous rooting interest for the Steelers into how he would talk about the game. He was brutally honest about it, so he was very happy when the team was doing well, and very unhappy when they were not. He was a real diehard."

Santos can relate.

"I still really can't talk about this year's Super Bowl," he said. "I was so disappointed with the way it ended. You're 35 seconds away from 19-0 and then there is a great play by [Eli] Manning, a great play by [David] Tyree, and it all goes down the drain.

"The only way I thought they'd lose a game is on a crazy play at the end of a game, but I didn't expect that at the Super Bowl.

"In retrospect, it was a phenomenal season, but one that ended in terrible disappointment."

Etc.

With two first-round draft choices (22d and 28th), Cowboys owner Jerry Jones downplayed talk of parlaying those selections to move up into the top three. Some believe Jones is enamored with the star power of Arkansas running back Darren McFadden - who would bring the type of sizzle Jones generally likes, especially when preparing to open a new stadium in 2009 - but he sounded pretty convinced that the team wasn't willing to move that far up. "I don't see any guy today where we'd make some big trade for the first pick up there," Jones said. "I guess that's what we're all alluding to. There's absolutely not been one breath of discussion with anybody about going up there to get the 1 or 2 or 3 pick."

Colts president Bill Polian reiterated a point that has been brewing in league circles in recent years: While the NFL draft is designed to help the league's worst teams, it actually puts them at more risk. The reason is large guarantee/bonus payments that go to top picks. "If you fail with that pick, your franchise is saddled with an albatross that you can't get rid of for who knows how long," Polian said. "It's completely changed because of the cost of those picks, and in my view, that's wrong. It should change. That's bad for the game. It isn't about money, it's about the integrity of the game on the field. The draft was designed to either allow the weakest teams, based on record, to choose the best players or if they chose not to take a particular player, to gather a bunch of picks to further accelerate their growth and competitiveness. That's what Mr. [George] Halas and commissioner [Bert] Bell intended way back when, and that's now been skewed completely by the cost of the picks in the top 15 picks in the first round."

After finishing 8-8 and in second place in the NFC West last year under first-year coach Ken Whisenhunt, the Cardinals should be building momentum heading into 2008. But instead, the team is stuck in neutral because of salary cap constraints. The root of the problem is the contract of receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the third selection in the 2004 draft. Essentially, the team had to decide whether to include voidable years at the end of the deal, or opt for incentives that could increase its value. The Cardinals chose the latter route and Fitzgerald has hit the key incentives that have resulted in him being owed a $14.59 million base salary in 2008, and a $17.3 million base in '09. So the Cardinals are financially handcuffed until they work out a new deal, and of course, they have only themselves to blame.

Cowboys linebacker Bobby Carpenter might have to throw a penalty flag on Jones for a false start. After the Cowboys signed free agent linebacker Zach Thomas last week, the team almost immediately started advertising "No. 54" Thomas jerseys on its website. The only problem? The number still belonged to Carpenter, a 2006 first-round pick. Thomas has said he is willing to switch to No. 55 if Carpenter doesn't give up the number.

Eleven players were assigned the franchise tag by teams this year. That number was up from last year, when seven players were tagged.

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.