It might be a little more difficult for reporters to get NFL executives' opinions on the top collegiate underclassmen talent if commissioner Paul Tagliabue has anything to do with it.

SportsLine.com has obtained a letter sent by the commissioner this week to every general manager, head coach and personnel director in the National Football League warning them that any comments they make about underclassmen college players before Jan. 12 are subject to disciplinary action from Tagliabue himself.

According to the memo, which was sent out Wednesday, Tagliabue writes that he has already received numerous complaints by college officials regarding such comments.

"Clubs are again urged to exercise caution and discretion in their public comments about players who are not currently eligible for the 2002 draft. Public statements by a player that he intends to enter the draft do not mean that the player is eligible for the draft. Any comments about any such player prior to Jan. 12 are prohibited. Violators of this policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

"It is not the responsibility of a general manager, personnel director, or scout to advise an underclassman of his draft potential. Inquiries about players who are not eligible for the draft are prohibited."

As the NCAA season heads into the final month, the discussion of several of the nation's top underclassmen will heat up. Players such as Chris Simms and Julius Peppers have been mentioned as potential top five picks if they leave college and enter the NFL Draft.

Tagliabue does not want the league's top personnel men giving an opinion until a player has officially been cleared by his office to enter the draft.

"I must emphasize the damage that can be done to our relationships with colleges by a careless remark about an underclassman who may not have any present intention of leaving his college team. Careless comments about the 'inferior' quality of an upcoming draft, or of certain positions in the draft may also have an effect of encouraging players to seek special eligibility.

"A number of complaints have been received from college officials regarding such comments. Even more regrettably, these statements may encourage college players to seek to enter the NFL Draft when it is in their best long-term interests to remain in college for another year to develop their skills."

Pats' sticky, but wonderful QB controversy

The New England Patriots have a wonderful quarterback controversy on their hands. While other teams such as the Lions, Ravens, Seahawks and Chargers have suffered such controversies because of poor quarterbacking this season, the Patriots are in a quandary because their starter has been too good.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has one quarterback in Drew Bledsoe, who was given a reported 10-year, $103 million deal this offseason, sitting behind a youngster in Tom Brady, who has brought the surging Pats back to respectability.

While the contract numbers on the surface would suggest that it would be impossible to trade the former All-Pro Bledsoe, a closer look at the deal tells a different story.

SportsLine.com sat down with two team executives in order to break down the deal and it turns out that trading Bledsoe would only cost the Patriots an additional $333,333 against their salary cap -- provided they can pull off such a deal.

Should Bledsoe be on the roster next year, the quarterback would count $6.333 million against their cap. But if he's traded or released he would count $6.666 million -- a small difference considering the overall value of the contract could be as much as $103 million.

According to his contract, Bledsoe's salary-cap number for next season is $6.333 million, $5 million in salary and $1.333 in previous bonus money. In three weeks Bledsoe is due a $4 million payment as the second half of an $8 million option bonus the team picked up on July 1.

Thus, should they trade him to a team such as the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $6.666 million of this bonus would accelerate to hit the Patriots salary cap next year, a $333,333 difference.

Many believe both Brady and Bledsoe can't be on the Patriots roster next year.

Bledsoe, previously considered the franchise, this week was said be furious over not being given enough repetitions in practice to compete for the starting job. He went as far as holding a meeting with team owner Robert Kraft.

After strongly insinuating that Brady would be his starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, head coach Bill Belichick this week retracted such sentiments and uncharacteristically tried his hand at the public relations game.

"In no way, shape or form is this a situation where Drew has lost his job," said Belichick. "There's a certain sense out there that Tom Brady has been picked to be the quarterback of the New England Patriots over Drew Bledsoe. Tom Brady has been the quarterback for the last eight weeks. And I just think Tom is ready to be the quarterback for this ninth week as well.

"I'm not saying it's been an equal competition and that Tom has beaten Drew out and taken his job. I've never said anything like that. I've told that to Tom and I've told that to Drew. I'm on record as telling everybody that." Bledsoe was clearly angered earlier in the week over the coach's refusal to open up the quarterback competition. However, as the week progressed the normally classy passer calmed quite a bit.

"Drew and I have talked a little bit," said Belichick. "But I think this is a situation that is going to work itself out. I don't think the way it's necessarily been portrayed is really the way it is. ... I'm not going to sit here and try to convince anybody that what I did was right. All I'm saying is that I have to make a decision based on the best interest of the football team, and I have to do it every week and that's all I'll try to do."

The Patriots need to ask themselves how much is it worth to them to eat $6.666 million of their cap for a player who is no longer on their roster?

Two general managers said that such a figure would require at least a first-round pick in return. Anything less may not be worth it.

"Remember, that's nearly 10 percent of your cap on a guy who isn't on your roster," said one AFC general manager. "That's a lot of dead money for one guy. Look what dead money did to the 49ers and the Cowboys.

"But at the same time, it's not so overwhelming where you don't do it if you truly believe in Brady and you can get something decent in return. If they truly believe in Brady, it would be worth it to trade Drew for a first-rounder. You also have to take into account the impact that such a controversy will have going into next season. There's no way they can go into camp next year with Drew as the backup. That won't work. It won't be good for anyone there."

The contract also states that on Feb. 15, 2002 the Patriots must decide on another option bonus of $7.2 million. If they pick up this bonus on or before this date, Bledsoe's contract will automatically be extended from 2005 to 2010. This route calls for the team to pay him $4.2 million on April 15 of next year and $3 million on the same date in 2003. Currently, it would be very unlikely they would exercise this option.

One thing in Belichick's favor is that veterans who would normally come to the rescue of their franchise quarterback are not. Most of the players on the roster are Belichick's guys (brought in by the coach) and those who weren't are happy to finally be a winning team again after a few years of losing. Thus, the vets like Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy and others are not raising a storm over the position.

Browns' Warren makes costly mistake

Browns defensive tackle Gerard Warren last week made a decision that could turn out to be extremely costly to the former Florida Gator. In fact, the mistake has a direct effect on over $20 million of the rookie's future.

Warren, arrested this week on charges of carrying an unlicensed gun while at a party in Pittsburgh, is suspended for the Browns' game today vs. the Bengals. According to contract figures obtained by SportsLine.com, Warren has an "escalator" clause in his deal that states the player's salary will increase by $20.5 million in 2004, 2005 and 2006 if he plays in 35 percent of the Browns' defensive snaps this year (there's also a stipulation that the Browns win one more game than they did last year, a requirement that has already been met).

It is believed that Warren is on the brink with regards to reaching this escalation. The issue at stake is why Warren would put himself in such a position with such a large financial stake still up in the air. Should Warren get hurt in practice this week or, worse yet, have another off-field problem during his suspension, where would that leave him?

Warren's agent Joel Segal confirmed the escalation and was unsure where he stood in regards to completing his requirements.

"I think he's pretty much right on the mark, but you don't know until you see how many snaps the defense has this year," said Segal. "I think he's just about there. What this clause does is increase his salary considerably so they will have to re-do him three years before they probably originally planned."

Warren has made quite an impact this season. The massive 330-pounder was to team with last year's No. 1 pick Courtney Brown on a surprisingly tough Cleveland front seven. This week, however, Brown will be without his tag-team partner.

Edwards returns to old stomping grounds

Jets coach Herman Edwards gave his team a four-day weekend for their bye this week. What did Edwards do with his time off? On Friday, the coach spent the day in a familiar role. The former Bucs defensive backs coach spent the day where he spent last year -- in the Bucs' secondary.

"It was great, like he never left," said Bucs cornerback Ronde Barber. "He was standing back there with us, pretty much in the same spot he used to be."

Gruden lends helping hand to Rice

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden last week made an adjustment to help free up Jerry Rice and preserve his body down the stretch. Raiders players say that Gruden changed Rice's routes heading into last week's game because the ageless wonder has been getting pummeled by linebackers in recent weeks coming off of crossing routes. To help him out, Gruden let Rice run more vertical routes for their last game and he responded with an eight-catch, 131-yard performance with three TDs.

Catch Jay Glazer's NFL Insider reports on The NFL Today, Sundays on CBS