04/07/2002

According to sources close to the Internet -- anonymous sources are now mandatory for all Drew Bledsoe
stories -- ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli
reported Friday that the Patriots and Bills have exchanged trade proposals for Bledsoe.

Pasquarelli, a well-connected veteran writer, got confirmation on that from both teams. He added that the exchange left the two teams "no closer to consummating a trade."

The Bills have the fourth overall pick, but, according to Pasquarelli, have no interest in Oregon's Joey Harrington
, the highest-rated QB on the board when their pick comes up.

The Bills can either stick with Alex Van Pelt
, deal for Bledsoe, or sign either Jeff Blake
or Chris Chandler
, a couple of free agents they've maintained contact with. Pasquarelli, who worked with Bills general manager Tom Donahoe at ESPN, said the guy they want most is Bledsoe. An interesting thing to bear in mind as draft day edges closer (April 20-21) is that the Pats, because of the potential for a Bledsoe deal, have to prepare as if they have a top-10 pick just in case they wind up with one. This puts added heat on the scouting and personnel people to be familiar with every player in the first round, not just the guys expected to go later. Go to www.projo.com/patriots to vote in our online poll about where Bledsoe will be next season. Results and comments will be in next week's Patriots Beat. Quick hitter

Chew on this: if the season started today, the four starting quarterbacks in the AFC East would be Tom Brady
, Chad Pennington
, Van Pelt and Jay Fiedler
. Think there's been a bit of a change since the days of Bledsoe, Vinny Testaverde
, Jim Kelly
and Dan Marino
?

-- TOM E. CURRAN