NFL commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday disputed a 17-page report published by the NFL Players Association claiming the league is flush with money and the teams averaged $25 million in profit last season.

"There's a lot of fiction in that report," Goodell said. "It is completely inaccurate."

The owners opted out of the contract that was extended in 2006, and if a new agreement cannot be reached by 2010, that season will not have a salary cap, and a lockout or work stoppage could occur in 2011.

"We understand our system and the numbers, and ownership has spent a lot of time evaluating the current collective-bargaining agreement, and believed it was better to terminate that agreement and go into negotiations where we can come up with a solution that can work for all clubs and our players," Goodell said.

"The economics were difficult prior to the economy turning south on us. The owners feel for the future of the game, that they re-evaluate this. I'm optimistic we'll be able to sit down with the union and reach an agreement."

Goodell also said the union was incorrect in its assertion that the league made a mistake by opting out of the current agreement because it had a mechanism that that would adjust the players' 60 percent of revenues if revenues decreased

"The rules of collective bargaining say the cap can't go down," Goodell said. "It's a longstanding rule from the early 1990s. The cap continues to increase. It will be up to $123 million per club this year."

Goodell said there is no reason for the owners to open their books, as the union has asked.

"The union has very intense knowledge about our economics," he said. "They know about our revenue down to the penny because they share in that. They also know our largest costs, player costs. We have $4.5 billion in player costs.

"What's happened is the system has changed and our environment has changed. We are now investing in stadiums and operating stadiums. Those are significant costs and significant risks to our ownership. We will address that during collective bargaining."

NINERS

RAYE TO GUIDE OFFENSE

Jimmy Raye agreed to terms with San Francisco yesterday to become the club's seventh offensive coordinator in seven seasons.

The 62-year-old coaching veteran is a somewhat unlikely choice for the 49ers, who needed a full month to fill the vacancy created when coach Mike Singletary fired Mike Martz on Dec. 30 in his first major act after getting the permanent job running the club.

Singletary wanted a veteran coordinator who would build his game plans around a sustained running attack. He apparently found what he wanted in Raye, the eighth man to interview for the job last week.

"It certainly took longer than we would have liked it to, but sometimes good things come to those who wait," Singletary said.

Singletary also hired former Baltimore Ravens assistant Mike Johnson as the 49ers' new quarterbacks coach.

ELSEWHERE

Hall of Fame: Bruce Smith, Derrick Thomas, Claude Humphrey, Richard Dent and John Randle are among 17 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A minimum of four finalists and a maximum of seven will be chosen today.

Lions: Detroit's Thanksgiving Day game is safe, at least for 2009. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says that could change. During a news conference yesterday, Goodell said owners will discuss having other teams host Thanksgiving Day games "as we get later into the year." The Lions have hosted Thanksgiving Day games since 1934.

Law and order: A lawyer for Michael Vick told a federal bankruptcy judge in Newport News, Va., yesterday that the imprisoned NFL star could be transferred to a halfway house in Virginia any day. The judge presiding over Vick's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case asked about the transfer during a hearing at which he also approved procedures to sell some of the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback's property. "He's in the process of being released to the halfway house," attorney Paul Campsen told Judge Frank Santoro. "We expect it to occur any day."