Blame Hurricane Katrina.

Last week, the AFL pushed the free-agent signing date from Wednesday to Oct. 1 because of delays caused by the disaster in the Gulf coast region, leaving Blaze officials with that strange feeling that comes to a person when a test is postponed.

"We were gearing up [for signing day], but right now, we are spinning in the mud," said coach and general manager Danny White. "We are talking to a lot of guys, but everything has been put on hold."

The expansion draft - the Blaze are the only team in it - will still be held Sept. 26. But that's a different animal from the free-agent shopping spree that will begin at 10 a.m. MDT the first day of October.

Tuesday evening, White would only mention two of the 200 or so available free agents that the team has interest in - and both play quarterback for his former team, the Arizona Rattlers. Starting quarterback Sherdrick Bonner and backup Joe Germaine "are obviously guys we have talked to," White said.

The Rattlers have expressed interest in keeping all their quarterbacks, especially Bonner, who has been offered a bigger salary than he made last year. An 11-year veteran, Bonner is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in AFL history, and was the 1994 ArenaBowl MVP.

"I know what he can do," said White.

The Blaze have reached a contract agreement with former Ute safety Morgan Scalley - whom they will sign on Oct. 1 - but do not have any agreements with any other players right now, the coach said.

"We are sifting through a lot of the names on the [free-agent] list, looking at a lot of film," he said, noting that he would like to sign five to 10 veteran players. "So is everybody else. Everybody is playing the game right now."

Then there's the expansion draft. Tuesday, the league released the list of 94 unprotected players available to the Blaze, and White said four teams have already called him to talk about a trade "because there are guys on that list that some team really want."

The biggest name on the list is former rookie of the year Adrian McPherson of the Nashville Kats, a quarterback who played at Florida State.

Utah can pick a maximum of 20 players from the list, but is not obligated to choose any. Each team protected 16 players whose rights they control, although Arizona, Las Vegas and New Orleans will not have any players in the expansion draft because they currently have fewer than 16 players under contract.

White said in addition to free-agent signings and the expansion draft, the team hopes to find players at its invitation-only tryouts on Oct. 7-8.

drew@sltrib.com