MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Before I get to the news of the day (which is about the Chargers' quarterback search and the long, conversational dinners San Diego's braintrust will have/be having in Raleigh, N.C., Oxford, Ohio, and New Orleans), let me get something off my chest:

The Ravens got absolutely jobbed in the Terrell Owens Affair.

No one should ever truly feel sorry for an NFL team after it loses out on a player it wanted badly. There are other fish in the sea. But if Baltimore were a patient in the NFL Memorial Hospital, I'd advise suing the pants off the place for malpractice. What in the world was the league thinking when it upheld the sanctity of Owens' contract with the 49ers after his agent did not meet an NFL-mandated deadline for filing for free agency, allowed the 49ers to trade Owens to Baltimore, told Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome that Owens was dead-solid the property of the Ravens and then -- when Owens brought a grievance through the NFL Players Association claiming he should be a free agent -- caved after the grievance hearing? Unbelievably irresponsible.

Did the NFL not read Owens' contract? Did the NFL not understand that it could certainly be up for debate that Owens didn't have to live with the Feb. 21 deadline to void contracts because he had signed his deal with San Francisco before that date was put into effect? I, and almost every other media person covering this story, should take a great lesson from this, as should Newsome: When an NFL lawyer cavalierly -- or not-so-cavalierly -- says a rule is a rule, view said lawyer with a jaundiced eye. The Ravens, spurned in an attempt to get Owens, now must address the biggest weakness (receiver) on their team after allowing a good one of their own (Marcus Robinson) to walk away, watching two others (Keyshawn Johnson, Joey Galloway) get traded for one another and letting two more solid players (Darrell Jackson, Justin McCareins) sign with other teams as free agents. In the end, Baltimore got a fifth-round pick from Philadelphia, the league's attempt to throw some salve on a gunshot wound. A fifth-round pick buys a backup linebacker, maybe a nice special teams player. It doesn't buy a good wide receiver.

What's so laughable is NFL Management Council head Harold Henderson saying after the deal between the Eagles, Ravens and Niners that the "settlement resolves the dispute in a manner which satisfies all involved parties.'' Oh, it does? Talk to the Ravens. They haven't said much, but believe me, they're plenty ticked off about this. I can't believe they've held their tongues with as much dignity as they have. In six days the NFL begins its annual meetings in Palm Beach, and I can't wait to see how Henderson explains his way out of this one when he sees Newsome and Brian Billick walking down the gilded halls of the Breakers Hotel.

OK. Got that out of my system. Now, let's talk about those dinners.

Sunday morning in San Diego, the Chargers decision-makers -- GM A.J. Smith, assistant Buddy Nix, coach Marty Schottenheimer, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and president Dean Spanos -- got on a private plane to Raleigh, the start of a three-city trip to study, up-close-and-personal, this draft's three stud quarterbacks. After dining with North Carolina State's Philip Rivers (my guess is they had some barbecue) Sunday night, they'll talk to Rivers again on Monday and work him out. Then they'll fly to Ohio to eat with and work out Miami's Ben Roethlisberger on Tuesday. Finally, they'll head south to meet, greet and work out Eli Manning of Mississippi on Wednesday. Smith told me Friday the team has completed its video study on the three quarterbacks. He obviously wouldn't tell me who's No. 1 on his list right now, but he said: "We've narrowed the quarterbacks down to three, and now, after watching them work out and talking to them, we'll decide what order we'd have them in.''

Three important things to remember:

1. The Chargers are not sold on keeping their top pick. Smith told me he hasn't had any feelers yet, but the draft is 33 days away, and teams don't often tip their hands this far in advance. Believe me, Smith hopes he gets some calls and has to make a decision whether to trade the pick.

2. The Chargers will probably select a quarterback, but it's not set in stone. Smith likes Iowa tackle Robert Gallery a lot, as does anyone with half a football brain, and he still is considering two defensive players for a high draft choice. (I'm assuming one is Miami safety Sean Taylor.) In an ideal world, I think Smith would love to pick one of the quarterbacks, but not with the first overall pick, because the signing bonus will be a bit out-of-whack for a guy who probably doesn't have first-overall-pick quality.

3. The Chargers won't take one of the great receivers -- Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Williams, Roy Williams -- with that first overall pick if they keep it. The value just isn't there. If you can get a very good receiver with your second pick, why, if you're in such a personnel hole as the Chargers are, would you choose a receiver first?

What will the Chargers do? I don't know ... because they don't know. They truly don't. But here's a gut feeling: They'll try to trade down once or twice, maybe move down 10 spots, and pick Rivers. Notice I used the word "try.'' Smith and I disagreed about one thing the other day on the phone. I said I didn't think this draft had an "it'' guy, a guy teams would clamor to trade up for. He thought there might be as many as four. He didn't say who, but I'm sure he meant at least one of the quarterbacks and Gallery, then maybe a defensive player or two. He sounded like I feel -- that no receiver would be picked No. 1 simply because there are so many good ones; why pay one of them a $13-million signing bonus when there are two or three others so close in value? In my opinion, he's hoping he can stir up interest so teams will fight to move up and deal for his pick.

Back to the gut feeling. Rivers is almost universally considered the third quarterback in the draft, though I'm not quite sure why. He's 6-feet-5 and 236 pounds and can get out of his own way. He's as accurate as a college passer can hope to be (67.1 percent of his career) and has more experience than most 23-year-olds leaving college. He started 51 games.

"I was a big fan of him before this year,'' said Smith. "I kept hearing people talk about the draft, and they'd say he was a fourth- or fifth-round pick [entering the 2003 college season], and I thought that was absurd. I really, really like him. In fact, it was the recommendations of me and Buddy Nix that put him in the Senior Bowl after the season.''

But Rivers wouldn't be a good buy at No. 1. You don't want to pay a 15th-pick-caliber guy top-pick money, obviously. That's where the trade-down prospect comes in. That's also where the quandary comes in about what the Chargers should do if they can't get anyone to deal with them. Would they take the consensus No. 1 pick, Manning? Or maybe Gallery, and then try to get a pick in the middle of the first round, using next year's first-rounder to steal the quarterback they want, the way Baltimore did with Kyle Boller this year? That's what I'd try to do.

Finally, my rather ample gut tells me the Chargers will end up putting Roethlisberger third on their secret quarterback depth chart. Nothing scientific about that. Just something that Smith said. When discussing Roethlisberger (pronounced "ROTH-lis-burger'') with me, Smith called him "Roslinberg.''

All my years as a reportorial detective (and what a savvy gumshoe I am) lead me to deduce that if you really like a guy, you'd probably know how to pronounce his name.

See all the inside football knowledge you get by reading this column?

"Regardless of what you've heard, I've never been a selfish guy. I can catch two or three balls and block downfield to spring a guy and I'll feel like I scored a touchdown just like I caught one. It doesn't really matter. My thing is, I just want to win.'' -- New Philadelphia Eagles wideout Terrell Owens.

OK. That's an on-the-record quote now, T.O. Those are your words, taken directly from a transcript provided by the Eagles. I just wanted to remind you that a whole lot of people in San Francisco, and in the media, will be watching, and listening, to see if those words are true.

Some opinionated folks out there this week, as there are every week. On with the show:

TY LAW, GET REAL. From Kate of Boston: "Ty Law is disgusting. Somehow he's got it in his head that unlike every other player in the league, he's above restructuring. Then when the Patriots say, 'OK, we'll just leave your contract as is and pay what you were supposed to make this year,' that's not good enough, either? How disrespectful of his teammates who HAVE restructured in order to stay with a winning team.''

I have much respect for Law the player and like Law the person a lot. But I think he ought to play for what he's scheduled to make this year, which is more than the current franchise-player number for a corner in the NFL.

HAVE A GOOD LIFE, T.O. From Anthony Butler of Baltimore: "You're absolutely right that the Owens saga is bad for football. Baltimore is lucky not to inherit Owens. Andy Reid will find he's more headache than he's worth, and Baltimore now has a second-round pick to find a great receiver in a draft that's deep at that position.''

If I'm Baltimore, I'm praying that somehow, some way, Lee Evans falls to me in the middle of Round 2. I don't think there's much chance of that happening, but you never know.

NOW THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. From Robert Merriman of St. Louis: "Has the NFL ever considered setting up each season's schedule so that the last three games of each team are against division foes? It would add additional drama to the last few weeks of the season. Hey, Monday Night Football might get some meaningful games.''

Wow. I'm sure this would doable. I wish I'd thought of that. Imagine how great an idea that is, particularly in divisions where there's a pennant race down to the last week. NFL, are you listening?

ANOTHER INTERESTING IDEA. From Eric Killian of Vancouver, Wash.: "Reading about John Lynch and the Bucs reminded me of Jerry Rice and the Niners and Junior Seau and the Chargers. The NFL needs to do something to allow longtime players to stay with their teams. How about a version of the NBA's Larry Bird rule? Allow teams two exemptions that allow them to sign guys 'off the cap,' so to speak, if they have been in the league more than 10 years and spent their entire career with that team.''

Various ideas like this one have been proposed over the years. They have merit, because it would allow teams to hang onto guys and have them retire in their original cities -- in some cases. But I've never been a big fan of this idea because I think it's just another way for teams to circumvent the cap, and for another reason you may not realize. I don't think the Bucs want Lynch around anymore. They're worried about his neck injury, I think, and if he struggles to regain his hard-hitting form, then the Bucs are stuck with a quasi-legend on the bench who's grousing that he should be in the lineup. The Niners didn't want Jerry Rice to stay; right or wrong, in their mind, he'd have been an impediment to the development of the younger 49ers receivers.

GET REAL, KING. From Peter Nusbaum of Vancouver, B.C.: "You wrote, 'I can't figure out how I'm conservative in asking a guy to live up to the terms of a contract.' Funny, Mr. King, you didn't seem to be 'conservative' when you agreed with the Pats' decision to release Lawyer Milloy with three years left on his contract. Didn't the Pats sign a contract with Lawyer Milloy? Your hypocrisy is staggering.''

One difference. NFL contracts are one-way deals. Teams can terminate them at any point because the deals are not guaranteed. Players don't have that luxury. If players have a valid contract, they're obligated to live by the contract or not play. I didn't make the rules, but that's what they are.

AN IDEA FOR THE REBIRTH OF FOOTBALL IN L.A. From Doug Shaffer of Las Vegas: "I have a solution to the problem of pro football in Los Angeles that would generate gobs of revenue, keep the NFL at a nifty balance with 32 teams, give L.A. a new stadium within five years for free, shorten the pre-season to three games (to limit injuries to players like Michael Vick), and extend the regular season to 17 games. Plus, no team would have to move. The solution: The NFL 'Game of The Week' on Thursday night ... live from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Want to see the Colts? The Bucs? Giants? They all hit the L.A. tour once in the season. Sixteen games get played in L.A. ... 32 teams ... once each. Part of the revenue is set aside to build the number two market a new stadium in a few years.''

Doug, this is really a good idea. Yo, Sam Farmer! T.J. Simers! All you L.A. Times guys, tell me why this is a dumb idea. Sounds good to me.

1. I think the Raiders, assuming Ted Washington and Warren Sapp can play 10 games together in the middle of the defensive line, with John Parrella in reserve, are vastly improved on the defensive front, even after losing Rod Coleman in free agency. That's a big if, of course, because Washington, Sapp and Parrella are on the other side of the mountain. And given that Washington has missed six games because of a broken leg -- the same one he broke in 2002 -- that's no lock. Sapp's deal is probably going to keep him a Raider for two or three years. If he stays two, this would be a two-year, $9.7million deal; if he stays three, it would be a three-year, $14.3 million contract. It's probably a worthy gamble, because Sapp will be motivated to prove he wasn't appreciated by the Bucs. And if Cornelius Griffin can get $8.3 million to sign in this crazy free-agency season, Sapp's certainly worth the $4.5 million signing bonus he received.

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2. I think the first thing you'd figure when the Dolphins acquired troubled wideout David Boston last week is that the move seemed to be a grasping-at-straws attempt to give a poor receiving group an injection of adrenalin. What it was, really, was taking a no-risk flier on a player who was one of the game's five best receivers three seasons ago, and who is still just 25. Miami paid Boston, who had 98 catches for a 16.3-yard average in 2001, the non-guaranteed minimum salaries of $535,000 and $540,000 in the next two years, with a $100,000 workout bonus each season if he stays in the Dolphins' offseason program. In addition, he'll be paid $89,000 each week that he's on the Miami roster during the 2004 season and $185,000 per game week in 2005. For this, Miami gave San Diego a 2005 sixth-round pick (conditional on Boston being on the Dolphins' opening day 2004 roster) and reserve cornerback Jamar Fletcher, a failed former first-round Miami pick.

Boston's reputation has been damaged by charges of insubordination -- he was suspended for a game after a shouting match with a coach in San Diego -- and in 2002 he pleaded no contest to charges of driving under the influence or marijuana and cocaine. "Sure, there was concern about it,'' GM Rick Spielman said. "But you look at what you're giving up for him and the financial package that is committed to him. If something does go wrong it doesn't cost us one penny against the cap. So it was an opportunity to take a chance on what we think is an excellent receiver in this league that has Pro Bowl ability and not really risking anything.'' The key thing here is that Dolphins receivers coach Jerry Sullivan, who was Boston's coach in Arizona and helped him reach the Pro Bowl, knows how to pamper the guy and get the most out of him. Even if there's just a 25 percent chance that Boston will regain the franchise receiver stuff that made him great two years ago, this is a worthy gamble by a team desperate for a complement to Chris Chambers. Plus, Chambers will be a free agent next year.

3. I think the one other loose end you're probably wondering about is whether the Vikings and Dolphins ever really got serious about a Randy Moss trade. Well, no, not really. The two teams talked. Minnesota would have made the deal if it could have pillaged the Dolphins roster for three legitimate top starters (including pass-rusher Adewale Ogunleye, who has 22 sacks in his last 23 games) and several million dollars. Miami would have seriously considered the deal if the Vikings had been reasonable. But it's dead now.

4. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Coffeenerdness: At a Starbucks at Newark Airport on Friday, my barista was named Quteeya.

b. Montclair High School Softball Note of the Week: Swell effort by the Mountie girls Saturday inside the bubble at Giants Stadium. (It has snowed here, our sporting version of March Sadness, so the MHS Softball Booster Club procured the Giants' practice field for a fee.) We graduated six key players last year, and so we weren't sure how the girls would fare against defending Essex County champion Mount St. Dominic and their two ace hurlers. The 2-2 tie was encouraging. MHS southpaw hurler Mary Beth King went five. The personal highlight was a pair of at-bats against her former catcher, Kelly Schreiber, now a star-in-the-making second-sacker for the Mount. When Mary Beth was in seventh grade, Kelly was her travel-team catcher, and so the four parents gee-whizzed over the groundout and line double to left-center. I'm not going to get all sentimental about softball stuff yet, but don't worry, you'll get some of that in late May.

c. The Sopranos might be as good as ever.

d. Of the 95 people in the NCAA pool we take part it, Mary Beth was fourth after the first two days. She ALWAYS does well, despite knowing absolutely nothing about college basketball. Two years ago she won real money in one of these pools. Her method: "I like to pick the teams with the most school spirit!'' Vegas, are you guys listening?

e. Nevada and Xavier. They're what is great about this time of year.

f. My rotisserie draft's Monday night. I'm nervous. I've got five picks in the first three rounds, the partial bounty from trading A-Rod two weeks ago. Let me tell you: The news that Juan Pierre dislocated his finger Sunday was not exactly music to my ears.

5. I think the reason you haven't seen John Lynch sign anywhere is that teams are worried about how long he can hold up after his January surgery to remove some neck spurs. The surgery apparently repaired more than just that, and there's some doubt in the football community (stretching beyond the Tampa Bay front office) that Lynch will be able to play a full season and be the same hard-hitting Pro Bowler he was for the Bucs for so long.

6. I think the cap hits the Eagles took to sign Terrell Owens show a commitment on the part of the franchise not to let the deal be an anchor if he turns out to be an idiot and they have to cut him. The year-by-year cap numbers: 2004, $7.25 million;  2005, $3.89 million; 2006, $6.78 million; 2007, $6.52 million; 2008, $7.52 million; 2009, $8.52 million; 2010, $8.51 million. The beauty of the deal is that Owens will earn $10.1 million in the first two years of the contract, and because the remaining portion of his bonus is in a non-guaranteed roster bonus, Philly can cut him after the 2005 season without any major financial consequences. There's a reason why this front office is so admired by the rest of the league. Roster bonuses are not guaranteed. Signing bonuses are.

7. I think the Giants are going to be staring a very good quarterback, and not Robert Gallery, the great tackle, in the face when they pick at No. 4 overall come draft day. I have a feeling Gallery's going in the top three picks.

8. I think the musical chairs are being filled, Bobby Taylor, and it's time for you to choose Cincinnati.

9. I think this is how badly Jeff Garcia really wanted to play in Tampa Bay and not Cleveland: He flew himself to Tampa to talk to Jon Gruden two weeks ago. The Bucs didn't even pick up the tab for his ticket. That's unheard of. But that's obviously what Garcia wanted. If Tampa Bay hadn't offered him less than backup money, he'd be a Buc today.

10. I think all over the sports world today, the most compelling initials are these: UAB.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week.