WASHINGTON — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith both are slated to participate in the league's latest round of labor negotiations.

Speaking after testifying before a House subcommittee yesterday about a legal case involving two Minnesota Vikings players, Goodell told The Associated Press he would be present for today's talks in New York about a new collective bargaining agreement.

Goodell has not attended all of the sessions the league and union have held so far.

The NFL opted out of the collective bargaining agreement last year, although the contract won't expire until after the 2010 season. That season will not have a salary cap under the current CBA, and Smith has said he hopes to have an agreement before then.

The old contract was negotiated in 2006 by then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue and then-union head Gene Upshaw, who passed away last year.

SEAHAWKS

RB JAMES RELEASED

The Edgerrin James experiment in Seattle is over.

The struggling Seahawks cut ties with James yesterday, releasing the backup running back who never provided the pop Seattle hoped to get when it signed the 31-year-old in late August. James, a two-time NFL rushing champion, is 10th on the NFL's all-time rushing leaders list with 12,246 yards.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

BOWLING GREEN RALLIES PAST BUFFALO

Tyler Sheehan threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Barnes with 39 seconds left to give Bowling Green a 30-29 victory over Buffalo last night at Amherst, N.Y.

The Falcons (4-5, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) rallied from a 13-point deficit as Sheehan threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. He was 22 for 40 for 313 yards and an interception.

Jeffvon Gill ran for 172 yards and a touchdown for Buffalo (3-6, 1-4), which took a 29-16 lead into the fourth quarter.