You know Donovan McNabb trade rumors have reached a fevered pitched when the celebrity gossip sites are making reports. McNabb briefly knocked Jesse James out of the TMZ headline stacks with a report that the embattled quarterback does not want to play in Oakland.

The unidentified source tells TMZ that McNabb “does not want to play for the Raiders and would refuse the trade.”

NFL contracts typically do not carry ‘no-trade’ clauses, and McNabb’s only recourse would be to retire which seems excessive. Even with being traded to the Raiders.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Raiders’ No. 8 draft pick is in high demand. The report has a team offering the Raiders a second- and a first-round pick in 2011. The Chronicle‘s David White says that the Raiders do not have a history of dealing high draft picks for additional picks, but an extra second-round pick could help the Raiders swing a trade for McNabb.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News speculates that if McNabb does land in Oakland, this could be the end of JaMarcus Russell. Kawakami writes that Russell would likely have to take a pay cut or be released.

Kawakami also disputes reports that Russell showed up to offseason workouts weighing close to 300 pounds, instead citing a source that put Russell at about 271 pounds. Russell was listed at 260 pounds in 2009.

For more thoughts on McNabb, the always-entertaining Eagles fans sounded off to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Other news making its way around the Web on Wednesday.

• 49ers WR Michael Crabtree is taking his playbook every where he goes, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News. Crabtree who held out until October last year, is trying to get ahead this season, even taking his playbook to bed with him. Which, in hindsight, might be a little too much information.

• 49ers RB Frank Gore told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that he is not a fan of running back by committee. Fantasy football players agree with him.

• What to get the Saints fan who has everything? How about a new Saints Louisiana license plate. The Times-Picayune reports that the Saints will be working with the state to produce a license plate if the bill that passed becomes a law.

• Cowboys safety Ken Hamlin missed the Cowboys’ first offseason workout because he was reportedly at the Playboy Mansion. The Dallas Morning News says that Hamlin has a lot on the line for the Cowboys this season.

• A source told the Chicago Tribune that Bears WR Devin Hester is having no trouble learning Mike Martz‘s new offense, and that he is embracing the challenge.

• Bills QB Trent Edwards told the Buffalo News that he is confident that he can win the starting job. Edwards notes that he has a clean start with the new staff.

• Notre Dame WR Golden Tate joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta, via Sports Radio Interviews.

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