A few things on this story.
As a former journalist, I believe Moran that a source said what he said he said. But Moran should have asked the Bills or Merriman for comment. If they refused, or said no comment, that should have been in the story. Poor journalism, even for a blog site.
He was sitting on this story for two weeks, and that silly blurb was all he had? There's a reason the mainstream media didn't run with anything. There is nothing there, yet at least.
Merriman can't and shouldn't sue for libel, as many people are calling for. From a PR perspective, it would draw more attention than it deserves. From a legal one, it wouldn't last one minute. Merriman is a public figure and the barriers for libel are high--malicious intent for one.
This Moran guy simply got overzealous, overestimated the value of the intel he had, and did sloppy reporting. He's obviously a blogger, not a journalist...no disrespect to bloggers, but they have lower standards.
Unless there's more to this story than is being reported, I feel sorry for this guy. Don't worry, though, Merriman's reputation will be fine...assuming the story doesn't have legs. Roethlisberger f-d a nearly passed out college girl in a public bathroom, Vick tortured dogs, and those guys are doing fine.