Rice Is Traded to Seattle; Gannon Is Out for Season

The Oakland Raiders on Monday traded receiver Jerry Rice and learned that quarterback Rich Gannon won’t play again this season.

Rice, unhappy as his role with the Raiders diminished, was sent to the Seattle Seahawks. Oakland did not say what it received in return, but two Internet sites reported it was a conditional seventh-round draft pick.

The trade will be finalized after Rice, 42, the NFL’s career leader in receptions and touchdowns and the only receiver to play after age 40, undergoes a physical and the league gives its approval.

Seattle Coach Mike Holmgren was Rice’s offensive coordinator from 1989 to 1991 with the San Francisco 49ers. Holmgren was the 49ers’ quarterbacks coach starting in Rice’s second season with the team in 1986.

Rice had five catches for 67 yards and no touchdowns this season. He didn’t make a catch in three games, including in the Raiders’ 31-3 loss to Denver on Sunday, but still believes he can be productive.

Gannon, who turns 39 in December, will not return to the field this season because of a broken vertebra in his neck.

He said Monday that he consulted four neck and spine specialists in the last two weeks and was told he shouldn’t try to play again this year. Gannon didn’t rule out a return next season.

Gannon was injured on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks on Sept. 26. Kerry Collins is playing in his place.

Gannon, the league’s most valuable player for the 2002 season, finished last season on injured reserve after shoulder surgery.

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Randy Moss might sit out a game for the first time in his career, but Minnesota won’t decide before Friday whether the Pro Bowl receiver will be forced out because of a strained right hamstring he suffered in the Vikings’ 38-31 victory against New Orleans on Sunday.

Coach Mike Tice described the injury as more than mild, but Moss might be able to play a limited role in Sunday’s home game against the Tennessee Titans.

Moss, who has played in 101 consecutive regular-season games, leads the league with eight touchdown catches.

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Retired running back Ricky Williams is scheduled to meet Thursday with NFL officials to seek permission to immediately rejoin the Miami Dolphins, despite his multiple violations of the league’s substance-abuse program.

In July, Williams said he learned shortly before retiring that he had failed a drug test for marijuana -- his third violation in the program since 2002.

Because of the violations and Williams’ subsequent retirement, the Dolphins said their understanding is that he is suspended for the season. The NFL has declined to comment.

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Denver Bronco tight end Dwayne Carswell was suspended for one game for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, the result of pleading guilty to battery after a fight with his girlfriend last year.

Carswell was put on probation for one year for the guilty plea. He will be suspended without pay for Monday’s game at Cincinnati and will be docked an additional week’s salary.

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The Seahawks learned that defensive end Grant Wistrom will be out four to six weeks because of a small fracture in his left knee suffered in the team’s 30-20 loss to New England on Sunday.

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Once healthy, running back Travis Henry will regain his job as the Buffalo Bill starter, even after Willis McGahee’s strong debut Sunday, Coach Mike Mularkey said.

Mularkey’s comments came a day after McGahee had 111 yards rushing and 31 yards receiving in his first career start to help the Bills defeat the Dolphins, 20-13.

McGahee sat out all of his rookie season recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

Henry has a sprained left foot and his status for the Bills’ game at Baltimore on Sunday is unclear.