2016 NFL Off Season [Archive] - Big Red Insider Forums

eagle eye

01-15-2016, 07:31 AM

As fast as coaches were getting fired by this time last week new coaches were being hired yesterday in a whirlwind of activity. On Wednesday there were hirings being announced as well. It's not unusual for coaching positions to be filled quickly because the preparation for the 2016 season should already be ongoing. Not to mention a big event for NFL teams in prep for the NFL Draft in April or May is next week when the Senior Bowl will occur next weekend. It's not just the game, in fact, the game is sort a secondary event. The real importance of the Senior Bowl is the week of preparation leading up to the game. It's sort of a mini scouting combine when all 32 teams send coaches and scouts to Mobile, Alabama to watch practices as well as conducting interviews with players. Both the north and south squads will be coached by NFL coaching staffs, which this year will be the Cowboys and Jaguars staffs, which enables teams to see how players respond to NFL coaching. The whole process is geared as an evaluation tool to help NFL teams prepare for the draft.

That's why NFL team owners and GMs want to fill vacant coaching positions as quickly as possible. By the time the season ends teams are burning daylight for the next season. With that in mind here are the new coaches and execs that have been announced.

> Tampa Bay has hired OC Dirk Koetter to be their new head coach. As I posted last week the thinking was the Bucs didn't want to lose Koetter because he had helped develop last year's No 1 pick in the NFL draft Jameis Winston develop and had developed a good relationship with Winston. What Tampa did to Lovie Smith was a major case of chickensh*t. Hopefully, for Tampa's sake, Koetter is a good head coach. Right now, nobody knows if Koetter will be worth a crap as a head coach. We've seen time and again that a good coordinator doesn't necessarily mean he will be a good head coach.

> The NY Giants have hired their OC from last year, Ben McAdoo. McAdoo replaced long time OC Kevin Gilbride, the coordinator who had guided Eli Manning and the Giants offense to 2 Super Bowl wins, and they brought in west coast offense man McAdoo after the 2013 season. The Giants have looked pretty bad for the most part of the last 2 seasons and one reason is that Eli hasn't looked real good or comfortable in the new offense. Maybe it's because the talent level at receiver upgraded a bunch when Odell Beckham Jr came to NY in 2014 but Eli record the highest QB ratings of his career and has thrown 2 of the top 3 TD passes in a season the past two years. The one thing that is sort of confusing is the piss poor clock management the Giants exhibited, especially this past season, when the G-men blew more than a handful of 4 quarter leads often in the last 2 minutes of the game. This would include an open night loss to Dallas when the Cowboys scored with 7 second left in the game to win 27-26. Another case of a first time head coach in the NFL and whether or not he can make a successful next step in his career.

> "The genius" of Chip Kelly is going to get another chance to prove his hurry-up offensive system will fly in the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers have hired Kelly to their next head coach. Kelly will not be the HC and the GM as he was in Philly last season. He will be working with the Niners GM Trent Baalke who is seen as a big of a megalomaniac. In other words, Baalke is an ego maniacal, highly ambitious control freak. That's why this hire is so interesting. Baalke is the guy who ran Jim Harbaugh out of San Fran because they both are strong willed Type A personalities who could not co-exist. Now Baalke has hired a guy just like Harbaugh in terms of being a strong willed guy who tends to alienate the people around him. It will be interesting if this relationship can work. It will also be interesting to see if Kelly can help Colin Kaepernick resurrect his flagging career. Kap will be the best (i.e. most talented) QB he's had since he came into the NFL. If Kaepernick isn't going to cut it then Blaine Gabbert showed enough this past season that he merits a chance to prove himself. He had a nice career at Missouri and he got thrown into a bad situation in Jacksonville coming out of college which made him sort of a joke to NFL fans. He came in this past November for an ineffective Kaepernick and did pretty well. Kelly's biggest challenge is to try to figure out how not to get steamrolled by the Seahawks and Cardinals.

> It is being reported that Philadelphia will officially announce the hiring of Kansas City Chiefs OC Doug Pederson as their new head coach. It will become an official hire as soon as KC's season is over. Former Giants coach Tom Coughlin was in the conversation for the Eagles job but apparently the Eagles let Coughlin know that Pederson was their man so Coughlin withdrew his name from consideration. For years Andy Reid was considered a pariah in Philly because he never won a Super Bowl and Philly fans were ready to let Reid go three years ago. KC hired Reid and hoped he would lead the Chiefs out of the NFL cellar where they had been for years after Marty Schottenheimer was fired for being the same coach Reid had been in Philly, a guy who won a lot of games but couldn't get over the hump for a Super Bowl. Now, after 3 tumultuous seasons since Reid was fired under the Chip Kelly regime the Eagles are going back to an Andy Reid disciple in Pederson. Guys like DeMarco Murray are probably dancing a jig in celebration getting a guy who believes in a north-south running game rather than the east-west style of Kelly's offense which didn't suit Murray at all. The deal is, the Eagles have a solid core of players but they don't have any dynamic playmakers the likes of LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin. Another player that is probably happy is QB Sam Bradford who never seemed to fit the up tempo Chip Kelly offense. He should benefit from a more traditional pro-style offense.

> The Miami Dolphins have hired Adam Gase who has been the OC in Chicago to be their next head coach. Gase has been on Coach John Fox's staff in both Denver and Chicago. Gase began in Denver as Fox's wide receiver's coach (2009-2010), then as his QB coach (2011-2012) and finally his OC beginning in 2013. When Fox was fired after the 2014 season Gase went to Chicago with Fox and he again assumed the role of OC. IMO John Fox is a helluva coach and to learn from a guy like that is a big bonus. On the other side of the coin, much of Fox's success came as a result of Gase's work with guys like Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning. Gase had successful offenses under all three QB's who all were successful in large part because Gase and his staffs were able to adjust to each guy's particular skill set. I'm sure that Gase had a lot of imput in the drafting of QB Brock Osweiler in the 2nd round of the 2012 draft. He also had the opportunity to help Osweiler develop in his first two seasons in the NFL.

> The Tennessee Titans let GM Ruston Webster go electing not to renew his contract. Yesterday the Titans announced the hiring of former Buccaneers Director of Player Personnel, Jon Robinson, to be the GM of the Titans. Robinson's first job will be to hire a new head coach or offer the job to interim head coach Mike Mularky. It's interesting for this site that Robinson was a member of the coaching staff at Nicholls from 1998 through 2001. In his NFL resume he has served in the New England Patriots organization first as an area scout (2002-2005) then as regional scout (2006-2007). In 2008 he was promoted to the Patriots' assistant director of college scouting and in 2009 he was again promoted by the Patriots to the position of Director of College Scouting. In 2013 Robinson was hired to be the player personnel guy for Tampa Bay. Two years later he becomes the GM of the Titans. His rise through the Patriots organization speaks well of his ability to judge talent and he has come up through the ranks to get where he is now.

eagle eye

01-31-2016, 07:09 AM

The NFL is a never ending road of twists and turns. These relate to team relocation.

The Raiders are considering a move to Las Vegas. (Say what???!!!) NFL media's Albert Breer released a memo concerning the Raiders consideration of a move to Vegas.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000630283/article/nfl-releases-memo-regarding-raiders-interest-in-las-vegas

All the speculation that two teams would be relocating to Los Angeles are, for now, untrue. The Chargers will be staying in San Diego at least for the 2016 season. I hope it's for longer than that. I hate to see teams move. I still call the Colts the Baltimore Colts for crying out loud. The Chargers will stay put in '16 but has an option in 2017 to move up the coast. WR Keenan Allen sent a challenge to fans in the San Diego area that they must support the team better this coming season. San Diego is a bit notorious for being mistaken for an opponent's home stadium because of the visitor's presence at QualCom Stadium. It wouldn't hurt if there were plans to build a new stadium. QualCom is the 5th oldest stadium in the NFL.

Aaron Rodgers underwent a minor knee scope procedure after the season. Just routine surgery to clean up the joint. (Assuming surgery is "routine".)

According to NFL.com's Mike Mayock and Daniel Jeremiah Ohio State underclassmen could have 7 or 8 underclassmen drafted in the top 50 picks.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000630310/article/mayock-ohio-state-could-have-78-players-drafted-in-top-50-picks

Speaking of underclassmen, other than Carson Wentz and a few other players the senior class of 2016 doesn't look all that great. In the Senior Bowl yesterday Mayock said he figured there were only about 3 players in Mobile that would be drafted in the top 25 picks. What does that mean? It means there is a crap-load of talent in the underclassmen. This isn't really a huge surprise as the best players who would have been seniors this past season came out last spring and made themselves eligible for the draft. There are a lot of reasons why the seniors this season didn't come out last spring but I'll be the main reason was they weren't ready for the NFL. There has been talk that there have been 110 or so juniors who have declared for the draft which is a new record. If you're good why risk injury playing college ball and miss out on a big payday? The answer is obvious hence the large amount of underclassmen throwing their hats into the NFL ring. It's a pain in the ass for college coaches who are trying like heck to maintain, or build, a program on one hand but on the other hand coaches can guarantee playing time right away in many instances to incoming freshmen. At least he can red shirt them and they step right into a starters role when the RS season is past. Don't believe me? Look at Kentucky basketball. They funnel players in because the one-and-done rule precipitates a high turnover. College football isn't much different except the rules state players have to stay 3 years before they can come out and football rosters are so much bigger so the turnover isn't nearly as radical as basketball. This is mainly for the big boys because FCS and lower classified schools can't supply the quantity of juniors as the FBS schools can. I don't where I stand on this subject. My brother played college football and back in his day freshmen couldn't even suit up and play and now they routinely start. It's all become about money nowadays. I can't see encouraging a poor kid who has family responsibility to stay in school when he can make enough money to help his family and provide for himself for years by playing his sport. On the other hand an education is something you can't quantify. It is a debate with no real final answer IMO.

eagle eye

02-07-2016, 08:57 AM

The 2016 Hall of Fame class was announced last night. The new inductees are:
> Brett Favre - Was there any doubt? It didn't even matter he was busted sending selfies of his junk to a lady in New York when he played for the Jets.
> Tony Dungy - Head coach of Tampa Bay and Indianapolis and the first black head coach to win a Super Bowl. Just another sign Peyton wins tonight.
> Kevin Greene - LB that was pretty darn good in his day. Greene played for the Carolina Panthers but gained the most fame as a Steeler and Ram. Greene has waited 13 years for this honor to come to him. Well deserved.
> Marvin Harrison - Another sign that this is Peyton's weekend. Harrison was a member of the Colts version of the triplets with Peyton and Edgerin James. Harrison is thought to be long overdue to enter the HOF and he was one of the best ever NFL WRs.
> Orlando Pace - One of the best left tackles to play in the NFL. He was a St Louis Ram for his entire career.
> Ken Stabler - "The Snake" is in the HOF too late to acknowledge it directly to him because he passed away this past year. He was the only QB to win a Super Bowl in the 1970's not to be in the HOF. That injustice is rectified. You just wish it could have happened last year when he could take his well deserved bow.
> Eddie DeBartolo Jr - The owner of the 49ers during the late 70's to the late 90's. 5 Super Bowls and a lot of HOF'ers played when Eddie was at the helm of the Niners. He got into some trouble with a gambling thing and was forced to sell his team but he is still beloved by his players and Niners fans.
> Dick Stanfel - This guy was way before my time. He was a selection of the veterans committee as was Ken Stabler. Stanfel is the second member of this class to be awarded his honor posthumously. Stanfil died last June at age 87. Stanfel only played for 7 years in the NFL but he won All Pro honors in 5 of those years. Stanfel was a member of the Detroit Lions when they last won NFL championships in 1952 and 1953. He was traded to Washington in 1954 but he continued to excel and he was named of the 70 Greatest Reskins. He was also a veteran of WWII fighting in the Pacific.

Cam is NFL MVP, JJ Watt is the Defensive Player of the Year for the 3rd time in 4 years, Jameis Winston was Rookie of the Year, Fed-Ex Ground Players of the year were Carson Palmer and Adrian Peterson, Offensive Rookie of the Year was Todd Gurley, and here's the link for all the winners at the "NFL Honors" ceremony last night.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000633325/article/2016-nfl-honors-complete-list-of-winners

Amid all the hype around the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl and everything else it's hard to believe that after only 9 years in the NFL Calvin Johnson is contemplating hanging up his cleats. This is old news but nevertheless a bit shocking to think we may have seen the last of Megatron in the NFL. One of the biggest ironies ever is the reaction of former Detroit and HOF running back Barry Sanders when he says he is shocked at the news that Johnson may retire. This from a guy who walked away from the game after 10 seasons while still apparently in his prime. There must be something in the water in Detroit that makes the brightest stars on the city's football team want to it quits early.

eagle eye

02-09-2016, 05:11 PM

There sure has been a lot uproar over Cam Newton's behavior following the Panther's loss in Super Bowl 50. Cam did himself no favors coming out with the hood on his jacket pulled up looking like a Darth Vader wanna-be. His attitude was petulant at best and down right ungracious at worst. Want an example of how you deal with a heartbreaking loss with class? How about Russell Wilson who was truly a class act after he had the Super Bowl in his hand until he was picked off on the goal line handing the New England Patriots a victory in one of the most exciting finishes in the history of the Super Bowl. Cam and the Panthers was done after Vonn Miller's strip sack of him that was recovered at the Panther's four with around 3 and a half minutes left in the game. There wasn't any last minute heroics or heartbreaks but Cam acted like a complete poor sport.
I have been wondering about how he acted and what it means for him going forward. I saw a headline on NFL.com that basically said he had no regrets about his post game behavior. That's too bad. You would have liked for him to say that he was sorry, he was just caught up in the grip of losing the Super Bowl, and he regrets acting the way he did. He's said he didn't regret anything about his post game presser.
What Cam is sort of reminding me of is Donovan McNabb. McNabb was a really good QB but there was just something about him that he choked in the playoffs. Cam sort of played like that, like he choked. After is was all done he acted like a spoiled brat, not much different than McNabb used to act at times. It's too bad because I like Cam but if he doesn't grow up he won't get where he wants to go because his attitude will get in the way. Too bad.

Talk about a guy will a crap attitude, I submit Johnny Football. I really hoped that Manziel would succeed in the NFL because so many doubted him coming out of college. In his rookie year he spent more time partying than practicing and when he went to the huddle he couldn't even call a play. Last spring he checked into rehab and seemed to be righting his ship. As the season wore on though he slid back in JF mode got benched and he continued to mess up missing a scheduled rehab session and showing up another time hung over. John Manziel has got problems. He even had an incident with his girlfriend in which she said he hit her but all that sort of went away. Now, he's apparently hit her again, this time so hard it broke her ear drum. Even Johnny's dad expressed worry that if his boy doesn't get help he won't live to see his 24th birthday. It's pretty sad just how far he's fallen. I hope he can turn his life around but I don't want him playing for my team until he does. I'll wager a lot of GMs think Mr Football is a persona non grata as far as they are concerned. Officially, he is still a Cleveland Brown. Free agency begins the middle of March and that status is liable to change. We might have to wait until June because if the Browns release him early they will have his future salary fall back into the 2015 salary cap and the Browns may want to defer any guaranteed money to this year's cap if they can. We'll see how the Browns handle Johnny as a player and we'll see how they deal with Johnny the human being. It will tell us a lot about the Browns and their organization how they support, or not, Manziel going forward.

eagle eye

02-11-2016, 09:52 AM

The poor old Browns. They can't seem to catch a break. Now, on top of all the Johnny Manziel stuff, they just had one of their pass rushers, Armonty Brown is set for arraignment for a felony drug bust on Christmas Eve. Armonty was arrested for possession of Adderal and marijuana. He is subject to suspension by the NFL under it's substance abuse policy because it is his second offense. He was arrested on a DUI charge in May of 2015 and he pleaded "no contest". He was also arrested in college at East Central (Oklahoma) University for selling weed in a parking lot on campus. Armonty is definitely a member of the NFL Knuckleheads Club. One problem in Cleveland is the constant turnover in the Browns front office and head coach. There is zero continuity on that team and hasn't been for a while. Owner Jimmy Haslam was thought to be a ray of light for the Browns but since he bought the team in 2012 the Browns have had 3 general managers. Tom Heckert, Michael Lombardi and Ray Farmer and they have had 4 head coaches, Pat Shurmur, Rod Chudzinski, Mike Pettine and now Hue Jackson who was hired in January. That's 3 GMs and 4 head coaches in 4 years. Is it any wonder there are problems. This past season the rift between Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine over the Johnny Football fiasco probably cost Pettine his job, or at least was a big reason among the other reasons including the Browns sucked--again. Haslam has to make sure he has a GM he can live with and that GM has finally hired a coach he can agree with. There needs to be unity at the top so the Browns can move forward and successfully rebuild this franchise. Also, Haslam can't be firing GMs and coaches every year. Not good business. Part of the reason their players keep getting into trouble is because the people at the top can't agree with each other so it creates chaos in the locker room. Will Cleveland continue to support WR Josh Gordon if and when he is officially reinstated to the NFL? What's going to happen to Brown? The guy who was driving the car when Brown was arrested was former teammate DB De'Ante Saunders and he was indicated for improperly handling a firearm during the stop. He will also be arraigned on February 24. The Browns released Saunders from the practice squad 3 days after their arrest.

In this link from NFL.com Mike Mayock gives us his top 5 prospects in the the draft by position. I find it interesting that Mayock doesn't like UCLA LB Myles Jack as his #1 one guy. Instead he has Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith at #1 with Jack #2. I also find it a bit eye opening that in the WR list Ohio State's Braxton Miller is nowhere to be seen. Predicatably, QB Carson Wentz vaulted to the top of Mayocks rank of the QBs.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000635418/article/mike-mayocks-2016-nfl-draft-position-rankings

One last thing, in 2015 the NFL logo on NFL.com and on football fields across the league instead of having a white background had a tacky looking gold background to celebrate the 50th (Golden) anniversary of the Super Bowl. Now that the 2015 season and SB 50 is over the NFL logo is back to it's natural red, white and blue look. I'm glad. I hate that gold color. I hated it on the NFL logo and I really hate it on the Rams uniforms. I really miss the bright yellow and blue of their old team colors and throwback unis. The gold is so ugly. I don't know why I should care but I do. Now, with the Rams moving back to LA maybe they go back to their old team colors. Gosh, I hope so!

eagle eye

02-14-2016, 08:49 AM

How's this for funny? Bill Belichick and Tom Brady received votes in the New Hampshire presidential primary. Who's to say that either guy wouldn't make a good president?

Aqib Talib was fined $26,044 for the intentional face mask penalty he received in the Super Bowl.

Former Houston Texan and current Denver Bronco, Shiloh Keo was arrested in Idaho for a DUI. Keo went to college at Idaho but he was born in Washington state. Keo got his job in Denver by reaching out to his former Houston DC/HC Wade Phillips in the off season looking for a job.

For all you Cowboys and Texans fans looking for a running back in this year's draft how about thinking about a free agent? Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin, who made a big comeback after missing big chunks of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, rebounded with a really nice 2015. He was the 2nd leading rusher in the NFL with 1,402 yards and he made the Pro Bowl and was also 1st team All Pro, the first Buccaneer to be selected All Pro. Tampa selected Martin in the 2012 draft with the 31st pick in the 1st round. Because of his injury shorted 2013 and 2014 seasons Tampa declined to pick up the 5th year option on his contract prior to the 2015 season which is why he is a free agent now. Martin would be a better fit in Dallas because of their RB situation. Darren McFadden is 30 and his NFL timeline is almost at it's end and Lance Dunbar is 1) coming off a torn ACL and 2) not an every down back. Houston, on the other hand, is four deep with good backs and it's definitely not a priority to draft a RB. Plus, Arian Foster will be coming back after missing most of 2015 with a torn Achilles tendon. In January the Houston Chronicle reported that Foster was likely going to be released. That may or may not happen but he is currently under contract with the Texans. According to overthecap.com if Houston releases Foster prior to June 1st he will cost $2.3MM in dead money but save the Texans $6.625MM on their salary cap. If Houston keeps Foster they will have to pay him $8.925MM in salary. Do you want to pay that much money to a guy who turns 30 in August and has a history of injuries? Maybe Martin isn't such a bad choice after all.

Another 30 year old RB that will be available is Chicago Bears, and fantasy football mainstay, Matt Forte. Forte has continued to be productive and he may, under the right circumstances have a couple more years left as an NFL player. I'm sure nobody is going to break the bank for him but he would be a nice addition to a RB-by-committee situation.

Why is it that the media tries so hard to tear down our heroes? It wasn't enough that Al Jazeera erroneously reported Manning was taking HGH now the US media is reporting that Manning was a party in a sexual assault situation while he was at Tennessee. It's sort of Manning's fault because, in the incident in question, Manning and the lady in question settled the matter that included a non-disclosure clause. Apparently, in Manning's autobiography he said some unflattering things about the woman which prompted her response. She is suing him for the comments made in his book. Comments that got her fired from her job in a college in Florida. Manning didn't rape the woman or beat her up but he did, according to reports did something to humiliate her. If you are interested check out the link below to the article on Bleacher Report.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2616353-peyton-manning-sexual-assault-cover-up-alleged-in-new-york-daily-news-report

RGIII has passed his exit physical which clears the way for the Redskins to release him which is what is expected to happen. Kirk Cousins has taken hold of the starting QB job in Washington and Griffin isn't head coach Jay Gruden's favorite person. A lot of people are speculating that the Cowboys will try to sign Griffin when he is released. Signing Griffin would make drafting a QB with the 4th overall pick by the Cowboys pretty much unnecessary.

The regional scouting combine took place in Houston yesterday and a couple of players stood out in that combine. LB Jatavis Brown from Akron and DE Trent Corney from Virginia stood out according to Houston Texans analyzer and Texans.com writer John Harris. Here's his article from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000636103/article/jatavis-brown-trent-corney-highlight-regional-combine

eagle eye

02-19-2016, 05:02 PM

Movement is beginning in earnest as of today with some familiar names dotting the free agency ranks and a notable retirement.

The LA Rams cut 3 players you have heard of. Some pretty good players who are looked at as busts because of injury or where they were taken in the draft. A guy like Chris Long comes to mind. A top ten pick who never lived up to his draft position as the No 2 pick in the 2008 draft. It didn't help one bit that he had the shadow of his father, Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long, looming over him. A good player who never lived up to being picked so high in the draft. The Rams also cut LB James Laurinaitis. He was also the 2nd pick in the NFL like Long but one year later in 2009. Laurinaitis was, and is, a good player who should garner some interest in the free agent market. Somebody will get better value out of him than the Rams did because, like Chris Long, he just didn't live up to where he was selected in the draft. The last player the Rams let go was TE Jared Cook. Cook was a 3rd round pick in 2009 by Tennessee and he moved to the Rams in 2013. He's still got some mileage left in him so I would imagine he will be signed when the free agency signing period begins on March 7.

Long time Steelers TE Heath Miller officially retired today. Miller was drafted by the Steelers in 2005 and in the eleven years he spent in the NFL he was named to 3 Pro Bowls, was on 3 AFC Champion teams and on teams that won 2 Super Bowls. In the last few years Miller has battled injuries, including concussions, and he felt that it was time to hang up his cleats.

The Cowboys will have to make do without DE Randy Gregory for the first 4 games of the 2016 season because of violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. This is actually the 4th time he failed a drug test. He was fined after violations 2 and 3 and this 4th fourth earned him a suspension. If he fails another drug test he will be suspended half a season and after that he will be suspended a full season. I'd be surprised if Dallas puts up with Gregory all the way to 6 failed drug tests. Gregory's draft stock fell tremendously last year after he failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine. Dallas snapped up Gregory, who was projected as a top ten pick until he failed that test at the combine. He plummeted all way down to Dallas at pick number 60 late in the 2nd round. Gregory didn't play like a top ten caliber pick. He actually missed the first 4 games with a pulled hamstring and he never recorded a sack all season. He did play decent, however, giving Cowboys fans hope that a year in the weight room and working with the training staff Gregory would be a completely different player. Now, the Cowboys and their fans will have to wait until October to see if he's really worth all this crap.

Ravens 2nd year TE Nick Boyle will be suspended 10 games for PED use. NFL.com questions whether or not this will be the end of Boyle's career in Baltimore as they are pretty deep at TE with Dennis Pitta trying to make a comeback after suffering a hip injury that required surgery in September of last season. The Ravens also have Crockett Gilmore and Maxx Williams waiting for their chance to play.

eagle eye

02-22-2016, 02:32 PM

And the moves just keep on coming.....
> Antonio Cromartie had good success as a NY Jet under Rex Ryan and he left to play in Arizona for a year. The Jets resigned him last March but the reunion didn't last long as the Jets released him today. It's being reported that the Jets will save $8MM on their salary cap and the best thing is there is no dead money going forward according to overthecap.com. Cromartie's release was not unexpected because of his salary and because he didn't play very well in 2015. He was the 103rd ranked CB in the NFL amoung 118 CB's which ain't good. He will be 32 years old before the 2016 season comes around and he is an 11 year veteran. I would not expect any team to give him much as a free agent unless they are stupid or desperate.

> The Eagles have given safety Malcolm Jenkins a five year deal for the 28 year old. This is likely his last big contract and he has earned it with his play.

> The Colts have released 25 year old LB Jonathan Newsome on the heels of being arrested recently in Indiana for suspicion of possession of marijuana. At 25, Newsome has time to weather this storm but the NFL will likely either fine him or suspend him. He is a pretty good player but teams won't have much patience with a guy who seems determined to gain membership into the NFL Knucklehead's Club.

> Doesn't seem all that long ago that Fred Jackson was a mainstay at the top of the fantasy football draft boards when he was a RB with Buffalo. Buffalo cut ties with him and he spent last season in Seattle. He is 35 and I'm not certain anyone will give him more than the NFL veteran minimum at this point in his career. Jackson has said he wants to play in 2016 and the question begs, will anyone bite?

> Seattle has an interesting dilemma because CB Jeremy Lane is a free agent. Lane was a darn good CB for the Seahawks but the last time he played any football was in February of 2015 in Super Bowl XLIX when he tore his ACL and a broken wrist suffered in the 1st quarter of the game. Will Seattle get a hometown discount for player coming off a major injury? Maybe but with good CB's hard to come by in the NFL he will likely get some interest around the league.

> Here's a name you may not have heard before, DeForest Buckner. This kid is a defensive lineman out of Oregon who Mike Mayock deemed potentially franchise changing in his ability. He has been projected as a top 10 talent in many mocks and looks like a guy I'd would not moan and groan over if the Cowboys draft him at #4. As a physical specimen he's 6'8" and 295 lbs and, as Mayock described him, has a Reggie White hump move that's friggin awesome. Mayock says Buckner can play anywhere up and down the D-line so what's to say he can't play right defensive end and move DeMarcus Lawrence, who came on strong in the last half of last season, to left end? Or keep him at tackle where the Cowboys need help desperately? I'll tell you, if this guy is THAT good he has a home in Dallas as far as I'm concerned.

> One last thing, the NFL Scouting Combine begins Wednesday with the televised stuff beginning Thursday or Friday. NFL draft geeks will likely be watching but I'll tell you, the scouting combine is not compelling TV. I think it's really hard to see what the scouts and GMs and coaches see in person. You can't get a real feel of the burst a player has or the stuff that is quite clear in person that doesn't translate to TV. I'll watch because it's football but I'll bet I get a good nap in too.

eagle eye

02-26-2016, 11:56 AM

The NFL Scouting Combine is in full swing in Indianapolis. Wednesday and Thursday were mostly about player interviews with teams and getting measured (height, weight, arm length, hand size, etc.) and doing the bench press. Everyone presses 225 pounds and it's the amount of reps that is the number scouts and coaches are looking for. An interesting side note is that many of those same scouts and coaches really don't care about the bench press. In fact it has been expressed that if changes are made at the combine nobody would be sorry to if that went away. The feeling is the bench press doesn't convey a true picture of a player's playing strength and has no real value in the assessment process of a player.

One player who we might want to keep an eye on is Auburn WR Duke Williams. It's pretty much consensus that he has top ten talent but he has seventh round character issues. Those aren't my words, they are his. Williams has gotten into a lot of off field stuff while at Auburn culminating in a bar fight he got into that resulted in his dismissal from the team. Williams said he cried night after night after his dismissal because he let himself, his family and teammates down. He also cost himself a lot of money because he is likely to fall from a 1st round pick to a round much later in the draft. In his press interview yesterday, to his credit, Williams owned up to his past discretions. It was his talent and potential that got him an invitation to the combine despite being cast off by the Auburn Tigers. Williams says he knows and understands this and reports are that his ownership of his problems is a bit refreshing and against the norm in these cases. I hope it is true and a light has gone off in him and he walks the straight and narrow going forward. I like feel good stories and this could be one. If he falls far enough I know just the team that is always willing to take a chance on a player with a past if he has talent.

On the other end of the spectrum we have Terrell Owens. He was a great receiver but he was a bad teammate and he never took responsibility for any of the problems that arose around him. That's probably why a guy who should have been a 1st ballot Hall of Famer didn't get in this year. The guy's reputation was, and is, that he is locker room poison. In an interview on local Dallas radio station TO said that then offensive coordinator Jason Garrett leaked a story to the press that Owens was jealous of the relationship between Tony Romo and Jason Witten. It was publicized at the time that Romo would draw plays in the dirt in the huddle for Witten during a game. While Duke Williams seems to understand his part in his own troubles TO continues to live in a fantasy world where he is an innocent victim of multiple conspiracies.

Johnny Manziel is one step closer to being released by the Browns. The investigation by the Dallas police of a domestic violence charge filed against Manziel last month was wrapped up and is now in the hands of the Grand Jury who will decide whether to officially charge him with assault. If they do and he is found guilt of misdemeanor assault he could receive up to a year in jail and a $4K fine. Manziel is so out of control lately that his agent released a statement that he will no longer represent Manziel. He father has expressed a concern that if Johnny doesn't get some help he won't live to see his 24th birthday. As talented as Johnny is and as much as I wanted to see him make it big in the NFL it's sad to see the depths to which he has fallen.

Baltimore took a page out of the New England Patriots book and placed the franchise tag on kicker Justin Tucker in the same way the Pats franchised Stephen Gostkowski last March. It is a way to keep a dependable kicker for a year at least. Ironically, the extremely dependable Gostkowski missed an extra point in the AFC Championship game vs the Broncos in January that literally cost the Patriots a chance to win the game, or tie it and send it into overtime. Instead the Bronco hung on to win and ultimately won Super Bowl 50 over Carolina. The franchise price for a kicker is $4.5MM so it's not a bad deal for a good kicker.

Colin Kaepernick apparently doesn't like Chip Kelly already. His agent has requested that the 49ers make a trade to ship Kap out of the Bay Area.

eagle eye

02-29-2016, 11:04 AM

The combine is over. Thanks NFL Channel for affording me a nice nap or two on Saturday and Sunday. There are players I did see who I would love to see Dallas and Houston select in the upcoming draft. Fortunately, the Cowboys and Texans needs are different and I won't have much heartburn who gets who in the draft. Again, my hope is that both Texas teams become good enough to square off in an all-Texas Super Bowl.

I keep playing around with the ON THE CLOCK mock draft program and every single time when the Texans 22nd pick comes up RB Ezekiel Elliot is right there for the taking. I don't really think Houston NEEDS a RB but if Elliot is available I don't see any reason to pass on him. He is supposed to be the very best RB in this draft and possibly a once a decade runner who will stay on the field all three downs.

I saw Christian Hackenberg's work out at the combine and he looked pretty good. He really did well at Penn State the one year he and Texans head coach Bill O'Brien were together. The last couple of years Hackenberg has been beat like an old drum because of the crap O-line at Penn State. It is felt that Hack is shell shocked and may take some time learning to trust his line but his drills at the combine looked pretty good. The biggest worry is whether Ezekiel Elliot is available in the draft in the 1st round and whether or not they think Hackenberg will be available in the last third of the 2nd round. That's assuming the Texans are looking for a QB in the draft. Will they feel like Tom Savage is worth hanging their hat on going forward? If so, they don't need to sweat Hackenberg. Another big need in Houston is an upgrade of the O-line. Is that their 1st round target of need or not? Another factor will be how active Houston will be in free agency. It's all very interesting and it won't be long until we find out since free agent signing begins next week.

eagle eye

02-29-2016, 02:46 PM

Sometimes you just scratch your head over how incredibly stupid young guys can be. The latest inductee into the NFL Knucklehead's Club is Houston Texans WR Jaelen Strong. Why? Oh, just the same ol', same ol' when it comes to these youngsters--he was arrested for possession of marijuana. Strong was in a Maserati with two other former Arizona Wildcat players in Scottsdale Arizona. It so happens that the cops noticed the car had no visible license plates so he pulled the car over. When he got to the car and they opened the window there was that old telltale odor of burning cannabis sativa coming from the vehicle. According to an article on NFL.com the officer asked the occupants if they had been smoking weed. He also asked if they had any weed in their possession. Alertly, (?) Strong said yes to both questions and he was arrested on the spot. The driver and another passenger were let go. After admitting he had marijuana in his possession he produced a cigar box that had 3 joints in it. It was at that point Strong was arrested. Strong had another out because it's legal to have medical marijuana if you have a prescription but, as you might guess, Strong doesn't have a prescription. You would think that just 3 reefers is a mere slap on the wrist (misdemeanor) but it's the NFL substance abuse policy that is going to bite Strong right square in the ass. Look, I used to smoke weed but years ago when my company began drug testing I had no problem giving up the weed because I saw no reason to jeopardize a 100K job to smoke weed. If I can reason this out why is it so hard for guys who can make literally 10 times my salary to leave the wacky tobacky behind? Not only that but, you have a chance to play football for a living---i.e. dream freaking job! I just don't understand.

Tom Brady signed a 2 year extension. There's a guy who gets it. Also, the rumored split between Brady and his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen is completely false. Despite the fact they haven't been photographed together in more than two months Brady answered the rumor in a radio interview on Boston station WEEI saying that he went through a lot of emotions because of the deflate-gate mess and there were things that had to worked through but, he stated, that nobody is more supportive than his wife and he is devoted to his family. For those of you hoping to catch Gisele on the rebound, so sorry.

eagle eye

03-03-2016, 05:50 AM

It's a sign that you are getting old when guys you've watched play from day one have lost their value to the team and as their career is winding down and retirement is right around the corner. Of course I am talking about the Falcons releasing 11 year veteran wide receiver Roddy White. It seems like yesterday when White was a perennial fantasy football mainstay. Now, he hoping a team needs a good WR who's lost a step. You know, I could see White going to New England. The Patriots have been looking for WR help since Randy Moss wore out his welcome in Bahstun especially since the Pats just released Brandon LaFell.

Earlier this week the Redskins put the franchise tag on QB Kirk Cousins and yesterday NFL.com reported that Cousins has accepted the franchise offer of $19.95MM and he will sign the deal today. The $19.95MM base salary will be the highest of any QB in the NFL for 2016.

The Ravens have given Joe Flacco a 3 year contract extension making Flacco a Raven through the 2021 season. The deal is worth $66.4MM with an NFL record $40MM signing bonus. I know Flacco won a Super Bowl but I have never been all that impressed with him. He's better than average, I'll admit to that but, I just don't think he's a special player.

It has been widely reported that Peyton Manning will retire. Trouble is, it kind of looks like all this "Peyton needs to retire." talk has actually kind of pissed off Manning. An article on NFL.com has Manning saying he found it difficult to watch Broncos games on TV because of the constant commentary about how 2015 should be his last and he should retire. The Broncos say they will be patient and give him plenty of time to decide what his plans will be. Great for Manning but John Elway isn't stupid and the Broncos are actively trying to get a deal done with Brock Osweiler, the Broncos REAL QB of the future.

eagle eye

03-06-2016, 06:52 AM

There's a new sheriff in town in the annuls of the 40 yard dash. In the regional combine held yesterday in Minnesota Wendall Williams from the NAIA school, University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky ran a blazing 4.19 40 yard dash. He blew away all in attendance and was so impressive reps from 4 NFL team, the Vikings, the Packers, the Chiefs and the Panthers all pulled him off the field to interview him. If Williams has been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis he would have broken Chris Johnson's long standing record of 4.24 that he ran at the 2008 combine. Williams is more than a fast runner, he's a pretty fine athlete. His vertical jump of 45" was the best at the regional and would have been the best at the main combine this year. Williams was the NAIA national champion in the long jump and was fourth in the country in the 100 and 200 meters in the spring.Williams was named an All-American kick returner by the American Football Coaches Association this past season. He had a 32.4-yard kickoff return average and scored three touchdowns, including two in one game on 287 return yards. He had 141 yards on six punt returns, a 23.5-yard average.
Offensively, Williams caught 15 passes for 457 yards, had 205 yards rushing and scored 11 more touchdowns.

There's that pesky NFL.com insider Ian Rappaport again. This time he's reporting that Peyton Manning will announce his retirement tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it but the Broncos probably don't want to pay Manning the $19MM salary he's due. If Manning was to decline to retire Denver might just cut him. They are currently in negotiations with Brock Osweiler on a 3 year deal which he and his people are still considering.

eagle eye

03-07-2016, 05:50 AM

Sometimes you just have to shake your head. The newest member of the NFLKHC (Knuckleheads Club) is Tre Mason. The Rams RB was arrested in Miami over the weekend for several different things including possession of marijuana. Not only was he arrested he was such an idiot that the police had use a taser just to get him out of his car.

After putting up impressive numbers in Green Bay WR Greg Jennings made some good money as a free agent. Trouble is he hasn't been very good since leaving the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. Did you actually remember Jennings being a Minnesota Viking? Did you even realize he was a Miami Dolphin? That's how bad he's been. You could give him a pass because Christian Ponder was his QB in Minnesota but he had a decent QB in Miami in Ryan Tannehill and he still didn't do squat. Doesn't matter any more because the Dolphins have released Jennings and he will get to test the free agent waters yet again.

eagle eye

03-07-2016, 06:27 PM

The biggest news of the day is, of course, Peyton Manning's official retirement from the NFL. I saw the press conference in Denver and it was pretty much class all the way through including how Manning answered a totally inappropriate (IMO) question about he recent issues over an incident that happened when he was at the University of Tennessee. Manning sidestepped the question by reminding the lady who asked the question, and by proxy everyone else in the room, that this was supposed to be a happy day and he closed out the answer to the question by quoting a line from Forest Gump, "That's all I've got to say about that.". I elicited a laugh from the crowd and gratefully nobody else asked about that issue or his HGH issue. It was a happy day.

The second biggest news happened just a little bit ago. The Philadelphia Eagles made a deal with the Tennessee Titans that will send DeMarco Murray to the Titans and the Eagles will get..............well, the terms of the deal have yet to be released but it is for sure that Murray will not lose his $21MM in guaranteed money. The Eagles also sent LB Kiko Alonzo and CB Byron Maxwell. It seems as though the Eagles new from office is trying wipe away any semblance of the Chip Kelly era in Philly. Details of that deal are also undisclosed as yet, all that is known is Philly will get some draft picks for the players.

RGIII is an ex-Redskin. The 'Skins front office let Griffin go today. There are several teams who could be in the market for him. At one time it was thought that he would likely end up in Dallas but recent reports nix that notion. Houston could be a player but apparently the Texans are a serious contender to steal Brock Osweiler from the Broncos. The fit hits the shan Wednesday when the signing period officially begins.

eagle eye

03-09-2016, 05:52 AM

Is it the water in Detroit? After all, didn't Barry Sanders retire when he had 4-5 good years left? I don't know how to explain it but another seminal Detroit Lions player has hung up his cleats way too early. That is from the perspective of a fan but after 9 years of getting the hell knocked out of him Calvin Johnson has decided to retire from the NFL. It's weird but just like Sanders who had the opportunity to become the all time leading rusher in NFL history instead of Emmitt Smith Johnson could, conceivably, have ended his career as the all time leading receiver in NFL history. Now, it would have taken Johnson some phenomenal seasons to catch Jerry Rice but it could have been done especially with a QB like Matthew Stafford pulling the trigger. But, sometimes, a man can see the writing on the wall and since the 1950's Detroit's beleaguered football team has not even smelled a whiff of a championship. Sanders must have seen it in just the same way Johnson seems to have seen it. He didn't want to move to another city to play ball but he just couldn't see any hope of winning a ring. Too much turmoil at the top of the ladder in the Lions organization and it's been that way for a long, long time. See ya, Megatron. Loved watching you play.

The Dolphins are trying like heck to build something in Miami. Earlier this week it was reported that the Dolphin would acquire LB Kiko Alonzo and CB Byron Maxwell those deals will likely become finalized and official today as the free agent signing period begins today. The Dolphins have also apparently struck a deal with former Bills DE Mario Williams. Williams became a salary cap casualty getting released on Monday. At 31 you can imagine that Williams has 3-4 years, assuming he stays healthy, of being a productive player in the NFL. The Dolphin's premiere pass rusher, Cameron Wake, is a free agent but it's being reported that Miami is still in contract discussions with him. If they come to terms with Wake it would appear Miami is in major stockpile mode.

Jacksonville is starting to make waves in the free agency market. Earlier this week the Jags seem to have come to terms with Broncos DE Malik Jackson. The terms of that deal should become final today. It seems that the Jaguars will add former Jets RB Chris Ivory to their roster. Ivory has been showing flashes of being a very good RB ever since he came into the NFL in New Orleans in 2010. Last season under new head coach Todd Boles Ivory became a front line player becoming the AFC rushing leader in 2015. Ivory is capitalizing on that success. The fact is Ivory probably won't be the AFC rushing leader again because he will be in a running back by committee situation with the Jags young RB TJ Yeldon, who had a nice season of his own before being injured in Week 14 against the Colts, sprained his MCL and was done for the last 3 games of the season. Throw in Denard Robinson and you've got a rather crowded backfield. Ivory may feel like he's back in New Orleans sharing touches with Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles and Pierre Thomas.

Today the starting gun will fire and the free agent frenzy will begin. It remains to be seen who will go where and the biggest concern is, will the Texans and Cowboys be players?

eagle eye

03-10-2016, 08:58 AM

Yesterday was Day 1 of the 2016 free agent signing period. I referred to it yesterday as a frenzy and darned if it didn't look like a frenzy. Here's the article of deal made yesterday from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000642698/article/transactions-roundup-vikings-to-add-guard-alex-boone

From this article I see one potential sleeper pick for the 2016 fantasy football season will be TE Colby Fleener. Fleener was a receiving TE from Stanford that he never really fit into the Colts scheme despite the fact that he played with his college QB Andrew Luck. The Saints turned Jimmy Graham into a super star who completely flamed out after a deal sent him to Seattle. Fleener was a role player in Indy but he has a real chance to be featured in New Orleans.

The Dolphins have been ramping up the talent on their defense this offseason but the took a big hit when the Giants signed Olivier Vernon yesterday. The Dolphins hit Vernon with Transition tag meaning they had the right of first refusal if Vernon was offered a deal and if they didn't match the offer they would receive a draft pick in compensation. Trouble was the Dolphins retracted their transition tag and they will get nothing for losing their best pass rusher.

Speaking of the Giants, they have gotten serious in upgrading their defense. Of course they added Vernon to an epic $85MM contract with a huge $52MM in guaranteed money. The also added Damon Harrison along with Jason Pierre-Paul and Jonathan Hankins not to mention signing former Rams DB Janoris Jenkins. Wow.

eagle eye

03-11-2016, 07:15 AM

Man, do you think Miami is serious about making up ground on the Patriots in the AFC East? They have made several deals already that have upgraded the talent level on the team. The only bad move was not maintaining the transition tag on DE Olivier Vernon who has now signed on with the Giants. Now, the Dolphins have made an offer to Broncos RB CJ Anderson. Anderson may love relocating to Miami because their new head coach Adam Gase was the play caller for Denver when Anderson had his breakout season in 2014. The Deal Miami offered in for $18MM over 4 years and Denver has 5 days to match the offer of lose Anderson to South Beach.

On the other end of the scale the Broncos seem to be coming apart at the seams. Peyton retired, Osweiler to Houston, LB Danny Trevathan to Chicago, DL, DE Malik Jackson to Jacksonville (who have been making their own waves with $60MM dollars in cap money they HAVE to spend) and now possibly CJ Anderson will be lost to the Dolphins. Have you ever seen a Super Bowl winning team melt down like Denver is?

I wonder if Day 3 of the 2016 free agent signing period will be as interesting as Days 1 and 2 were?

eagle eye

03-12-2016, 10:00 AM

The Broncos have lost Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler and they have replaced them with....Mark Sanchez? They didn't sign him as a free agent but rather they got him in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Denver gave up a conditional seventh round pick for him. Has John Elway lost his mind or does he see something in Sanchez that nobody has been able to get out of him yet? Denver is also in the market for San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick so who knows what's in the cards regarding Sanchez. It is an interesting signing though.

You already know this but in case you don't the Johnny Manziel era in Cleveland is over and because of his self destructive tendencies his career as an NFL player may be over too. Hopefully, Manziel realizes he needs help before he kills someone or dies himself. It's a sad story but one I hope has a happy ending somewhere down the road.

The Jets are having trouble coming to terms on a deal with last year's QB Ryan Fitzpatrick it's looking like the Jets may have eyes on RGIII. It could be a very interesting fit for Griffin but it won't be as easy for him since the Jets have lost their No 1 RB from last year, Chris Ivory, to Jacksonville.

Speaking of Jacksonville, they have signed yet another player this week when they came to terms on a deal for former Giants CB Prince Amukamura. The deal is for one year. It looks like the Jags are trying to close the gap between themselves and the rest of the AFC South. They had a lot of money they needed to spend, almost $68MM and they have been big players in free agency this week. Including Amukamura they have signed Denver DL Malik Jackson, Browns S Tashaun Gipson and the Jets Chris Ivory. You have to believe the Jags are not done signing players especially with all the money they have to spend. Plus you just have to know they have a few of their own players who are free agents who I'm sure they would like to resign.

Here's a link to NFL.com's free agent roundup of the deals that were done yesterday.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643787/article/roundup-amukamara-signs-1year-deal-with-jags

eagle eye

03-14-2016, 09:51 AM

After the initial 3 days of free agency things have slowed down quite a bit. There are still plenty of guys out there looking for work but most of the big boys (meaning big contract guys) are gone. That doesn't mean there isn't still some noise out there.

Colby Fleener left Indianapolis for New Orleans as a free agent and in his introductory presser he mentioned that some of the Colts players sort of mailed it in after Andrew Luck was lost for the season. Okay. Without know the full context of the question it's hard to say what prompted him to sort of throw some guys, which he did not name, under the bus so I am not going to pass judgment on him. There is one guy who will and it's another former Colt, LB Jerrell Freeman, who signed with the Bears in HIS presser in Chicago. Freeman took Fleener's comment personally apparently because he tongue lashed Fleener to the hilt. At different points in his response he said Fleener was a coward, a little girl and he said what Fleener did was a (expletive) move. NFL.com is happy to throw gas on the fire by inferring Freeman is the standup guy while Fleener is the man with a grudge against the Colts just to feed the storyline.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000644116/article/excolt-jerrell-freeman-blasts-coby-fleener

Man, you just can't catch a break can you? Or is it that you can't deal with life without feeding your head? Who knows why players constantly violate the NFL substance abuse policy and risk losing a dream job playing pro football. Yet another guy is looking at losing it all because of drugs, likely marijuana and that guy is Steelers talented WR Martavis Bryant. He was suspended last season the first 4 games for multiple violations in exactly the same way Dallas' DE Randy Gregory will be. After missing 3 drug tests the NFL will likely suspend Bryant for a whole year. It is not official as yet but unless a miracle happens it likely will be soon.

Besides signing LB Jerrell Freeman as noted above the Bears have been busy in free agency. The Bears have signed 7 free agents, 3 of them their own guys. The have added former Bronco LB Danny Trevathan, former Arizona T Bobby Massey, former Colts LB Jerrell Freeman and now they have signed 3-4 DE Akiem Hicks away from the Patriots. The Bears actually had the highest offer on the table to former Broncos RB CJ Anderson. You would have thought that Anderson might have followed his former Broncos head coach, John Fox, but instead he went to Miami and former Broncos OC Adam Gase for less money.

Just in case you give a crap, the NFL draft is 45 days away.

eagle eye

03-15-2016, 05:27 AM

......and the membership in the NFL Knucklehead's Club keeps growing. As I posted yesterday Steelers WR Martavis Bryant was, in fact, suspended for one year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Reports are that Bryant will not appeal the suspension which begins today. It's also no surprise that the no-nonsense Steelers are getting sick and tired of Bryant's tune.
I'm not just talking about Bryant here because former 49'er, Bengal and former Raider Taylor Mays who was a 2nd round draft pick by San Fran in 2010 will miss the first four games of the upcoming season because of violation of the substance abuse policy. Oh yeah, he's a free agent. Think he's getting much of a look? He has been a career backup which isn't good for a 2nd round pick so he wasn't getting a huge deal anyway and now with this suspension NFL teams won't want a player for just 12 games. This suspension could actually spell the end of Mays NFL career. But Mays isn't the only dummy around here. No, there is also former 49er and former Seahawk linebacker Nick Moody. It's exactly the same deal as Taylor Mays all the way down to the free agent bit. The difference here is Moody has only been in the NFL for 3 seasons and he was a sixth round pick by San Fran. Moody has also lost parts of two of his 3 season because he was placed on injured reserve due to injuries. So, the market for a backup LB was probably limited to start with and now he's suspended 4 games. Care to rent a special teams LB for 12 games. Yeah, I thought so. Moody is only 26 and he has shot his NFL career right in the foot.

Former Chargers S Eric Weddle has signed a 4 year deal with the Baltimore Ravens worth $26MM. He was considered the top rated free agent on the market and the Ravens got him.

Former Tennessee Titans CB Coty Sensabaugh was signed by the Rams. He got a 3 year deal worth $15MM that could go to $19MM if he meets incentives.

Former Falcons DT Nick Soliai has signed a 2 year deal worth $7MM to play for the Carolina Panthers.

So far the Texans and Cowboys have been very quiet in this 2nd week of free agency. The Texans probably blew most of their free agent money wad last week signing Osweiler, Miller and two O-linemen. Dallas has signed one outside free agent in DT for Philly Cedric Thornton. The Cowboys have also signed 6 of their own free agents and may qualifying offers to 2 of their restricted free agents. That means that if they don't sign the offer to play with Dallas and another team makes a better offer then Dallas would get a compensatory draft pick for them. In all likelihood the 2 RFA's, Ron Leary and Jeff Heath will be Cowboys in 2016.

eagle eye

03-16-2016, 06:58 AM

The biggest news yesterday wasn't a free agent signing, it was a trade between the Patriots and Cardinals that raised eyebrows in and around the NFL. New England traded their best pass rusher, 2012 1st round pick Chandler Jones, to the Arizona Cardinals for OG Jonathan Cooper, who was the Cards 1st round pick in 2013, and a 2nd round pick in this year's draft. Jones has become a force for the Patriots sort of becoming the Pats version of JJ Watt playing DE in the Patriots 3-4 defense. Jones is liable to go bat crap crazy as a DE in the Cardinals 4-3 scheme. The Cards get the pass rusher their defense has lacked while the Patriots get some help on the O-line. Unlike Chandler Jones, Cooper has not lived up to being the 7th pick in the draft. It's unusual for a guard to be picked that high so you can imagine the expectations for him in Arizona were awfully high. When you don't live up to lofty expectations you get slammed by the media who covers the team. I'm sure Cooper is relishing the opportunity with New England where he won't have to listen to how much of a bust he is. The Patriots also get that 2nd round pick which is a big bonus because Roger Goodell stripped the Patriots of their 1st round draft pick this year over the deflate gate mess.
According to NFL.com's Greg Rosenthal the reasons the Patriots were willing to give up Jones was because they have to do deals with other defensive players, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins. Hightower is a Belichick favorite and Collins is maybe a better player than Jones and, considering the ridiculous money the Giants gave DE Olivier Vernon in free agency, the Patriots could not afford to pay all three guys big deals. Also, according to reports Jones is an inconsistent player not to mention that the week before the Patriots playoff game against Kansas City in January Jones showed up shirtless at a Boston police station after suffering a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana. Considering the issues the Pats have had in the past with players off field issues this absolutely didn't endear Jones to Bill Belichick. Last but not least the Patriots need the draft pick. Besides getting Collins the draft pick is a huge incentive to complete this deal especially with the lack of a pick in the 1st round courtesy of Roger Goodell.
Lastly, Rosenthal supposed that New England could sign a guy like Chris Long to a deal to replace Jones which, as it turns out, is exactly what the Patriots did later yesterday after the trade with Arizona was complete. Long is coming off a couple of disappointing years filled with injury and frustration for Long, it could be a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered.

One more item about the Patriots. The final showdown between the NFL (re: Roger Goodell) and Tom Brady over the deflate-gate mess is coming soon. Actually, the showdown has occurred as there was an appeals hearing earlier this month before a 3 person panel of judges. The hearing was sort of considered a victory for the NFL but in the end you don't know until a decision is handed down. In this case, the final ruling by the judges won't come until late spring or early summer. The Boston Globe is reporting that the Patriots are bracing for a negative ruling meaning Brady's 4 game suspension will happen this season. The Patriots have already reworked Brady's contract so he will only count $1MM against the salary cap this season and they posted an 8,000 word article on their official website called, "The Background and Myths of Deflategate — Separating Fact From Fiction." If Brady loses the appeal he may try to get the case all the way to the supreme court. Brady is pissed off at the character assassination he's endured over this ridiculous farce and even if he loses every step of the way in this suspension case I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't just sue the NFL and Roger Goodell for slander and libel or defamation of character. Regardless of how this ends up the NFL and Goodell have come off looking stupid and they are the real losers in this case.

Yesterday was the biggest day of Week 2 of free agency with a load of deals going down. Here's the recap of yesterday's moves from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000644499/article/roundup-junior-galette-to-resign-with-redskins

Have you ever seen a Super Bowl winning team dismantle like the Broncos have. Peyton Manning retires, Brock Osweiler leaves for Houston, LB Danny Trevathan goes to Chicago and DE Malik Jackson heads to Jacksonville and LT Ryan Harris defects to Pittsburgh. The latest player to depart Denver is S David Bruton who signed with the Redskins yesterday. That's 5 starters and the future starting QB all gone since Denver became world champions.

eagle eye

03-17-2016, 06:36 AM

The Patriots are some busy beavers this off season. After the surprising deal yesterday when they shipped ace pass rusher Chandler Jones to Arizona for an offensive guard and a 2nd round draft pick you and then signing DE Chris Long you may have thought the Patriots were done wheeling and dealing. NOT! The Patriots added another offensive weapon yesterday when they acquired TE Martellus Bennett from the Bears. The deal cost the Patriots a 4th round pick. Bennett is a unique individual and Cowboys fans may remember his antics on youtube and many questioned his dedication to football but there is definitely talent there but it would seem it is mostly untapped. The no-nonsense Patriots will find Bennett an interesting guy to deal with but his 6'6" frame gives Tom Brady another big red zone target and will be the most talent the Pats have had since Aaron Hernandez and Gronk worked over secondaries.

Former Rams MIKE LB James Laurinaitis has signed on to be a New Orleans Saint. Laurinaitis will likely move over the SAM LB spot after Stephone Anthony emerged as a force inside last season. New Saints DC Dennis Allen who took over for Rob Ryan after he was fired in the middle of last season is converting from Ryan's 3-4 defense to a 4-3 scheme.

NFL.com has listed the transactions that took place yesterday. There's not that many big names as there were last week but the movement around the league is pretty prolific after a couple of days of relative inactivity.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000644842/article/transactions-roundup-demario-davis-joins-browns

Daily knucklehead watch: The Ravens signing of FA S Eric Weddle was a good move for the Ravens defense and it also allowed them the ability to cut ties with S Will Hill who is facing a 10 game suspension for substance abuse violations. Hill began his career with the Giants in 2012 and he played well for them but after a third strike failed drug test and looking at being suspended for 6 games to start the 2014 season the Giants cut him in the 2013 offseason. Hill signed with Baltimore and played for the Ravens the past two seasons but teams just can't trust a guy who seems to value getting high over playing football. Hill is only 26 but he's facing a 10 game suspension and if he doesn't change his ways he will be suspended for at least one year. What I'm saying is a team will have to be desperate to sign a guy who will miss 63% of the coming season and he won't get a long term deal because he has yet to show he can be trusted to grow up and leave the dope alone. If his career in the NFL moves forward it will be on one year deals and that IF somebody is desperate enough to sign him.

eagle eye

03-20-2016, 09:22 AM

Backup Ravens CB Tray Walker was in a wreck on his dirt bike on Thursday when he collided with an SUV at a Miami intersection and he had been in critical condition until he passed away Friday from injuries suffered in the collision. It was reported that Walker's bike had no lights and he wasn't wearing a helmet. He apparently died from his head injuries. Walker was 25 years old.

Cal QB Jared Goff had his pro day at the University of California this past week and it has been said he did an excellent job and dispelled some of the doubts about him prior to his workout.

The Cleveland Browns new head coach Hue Jackson was interviewed Friday at the Cal pro day. He told NFL Channel reporters that he is very proud of the direction the Browns are going despite the belief that Cleveland could go winless in 2016. Whether or not Jackson is right about the positive direction will depend on if the franchise is willing enough to be patient to let Jackson have a real chance for Jackson to build his team. That's a big IF considering the Browns have had 9 head coaches since 2000 and 5 since 2009. Cleveland now has had 11 starting QB's since 2011. The Browns missed on sev.eral first round picks including Johnny Manziel, Brandon Weeden and Brady Quinn as well as guys like Derek Anderson, Brian Hoyer, Seneca Wallace and Colt McCoy to name a few. The thinking is Cleveland will invest in yet another high draft pick on a QB with the 2nd pick in this year's draft. It is likely they will take either Jared Goff or North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz. Cleveland will need to address the O-line or it won't matter who Cleveland drafts at QB because he will not have a chance to succeed and the said QB and Hue Jackson will likely be out of job.

eagle eye

03-21-2016, 12:12 PM

Browns new head coach Hue Jackson was quoted as saying that RGIII is "...a great talent." This appears to be coach-speak for we looked at him during his visit over the weekend and we think he's a good player. Complimentary but non-committal. The Question is whether or not RGIII will appreciate mentoring a rookie who will likely be drafted with the 2nd pick in the draft this April. Is RGIII a mentoring type? RGIII is young enough to be a franchise QB and he may not want to be a guy who gets another guy ready to take his job. It's a little inexplicable that Griffin hasn't already been signed by someone.
The Browns GM has said the team is not in negotiations with the 49ers for Colin Kaepernick. Maybe the Browns could throw a monkey in the wrench by signing Griffin if he will accept a team friendly deal and turn around and use the draft pick on a position player instead of a QB. Something might go down like a turd in a punchbowl for the long suffering Browns fans.

A couple Patriot notes;
> The Pats are hosting a visit by NT/DT Nick Fairley. Nick Fairley came out of college one of the most highly touted DL in the country. However in 4 seasons with the Lions and 1 season with the Rams he's been inconsistent when on the field and a bit prone to be injured as well. If anyone can turn a sow's ear into a sick purse it would be the Patriots.
> Patriots owner Robert Kraft has sent a letter to the NFL league office and Roger Goodell in particular petitioning them to consider reinstating the first round draft pick that Goodell stripped the Patriots of because of the deflate-gate affair. Kraft was given the right to appeal the suspended draft pick if new information came to light. Kraft pointed out that the league did not take the ideal gas law into consideration, something the league has admitted to, and Kraft hopes that it's enough to give Goodell a reason to reinstate the Patriots first round draft pick. Personally, besides all the other issues in this case, Goodell was overly penal to the Patriots and I really believe the Patriots should get their pick back.
> Chargers president, John Spanos, called the Patriots signing of RB Donald Brown a perfect Patriots signing. Despite the fact that the Chargers released Brown earlier this month Spanos indicated that Boston may be the perfect place for Brown to resurrect his career. It's not like he's over-the-hill, he's only 28 but he's been stuck as the 3rd option in San Diego's 3 deep RB situation. The first year he was behind Ryan Mathews and Danny Woodhead and last year he was behind 1st round draft pick Melvin Gordon and Woodhead. In New England the Patriots have let LeGarrett Blount and Stephen Jackson walk but there are a lot of guys still in the mix. Brown is the most experienced guy by far and the guy who sort of broke out that season was Dion Lewis who's season was cut short on Nov 8 when he tore his ACL. Brown and Lewis could be a really good 1-2 punch for the Patriots IF Brown isn't really washed up and IF Lewis recovers from the ACL.

At the NFL owners meetings in Florida there are reports that there could be NFL games in Germany in 2017 and China in 2018. The trip to China is 20 hours minimum and I can't imagine anyone on an NFL team would like to make that trip. Germany is about the same distance time-wise as London, maybe an extra hour or so, but that still means that the teams that travel will get a bye week the next week. Teams going to China may want back-to-back bye weeks. If they go to Beijing they want were gas masks because the air pollution in the Chinese capital is brutal. It's probably just good business trying to push the NFL's boundaries outside the continental US but the logistical nightmares are hard on the coaches and players.

eagle eye

03-24-2016, 02:17 PM

RGIII is not unemployed any more. He came to terms on a deal with Cleveland this morning. It is a 2 year deal worth $15MM. Griffin will make $7.5MM in 2016 and he got a $3.5MM as a signing bonus. According to NFL.com's Mike Mayock signing RGIII should not affect the Browns in the draft. It has been widely expected that Cleveland, who has the 2nd pick in the draft will take either Jared Goff or Carson Wentz. Considering Wentz is a big athletic QB like Griffin it would make more sense to draft him if QB is the way the Browns go. For the first time in his career RGIII will play for a coach who is a perfect fit for him. Hue Jackson has done wonders for every QB he's coached. But, according to ESPN player guru Greg Cosell Jackson will need to really work some special magic on Griffin because of the troubles he's had with former coaches Mike Shanahan and Jay Gruden, the beatings he's taken trying to run the read-option offense and the humbling experience he faced being benched and most inactive on game days last season when he never played a single down. Having a full year off to heal show handle the injury concerns but his mental state of mind and his confidence has been called into question. That is why drafting Goff or Wentz with the 2nd pick is still very much on the table. Goff is the most NFL ready of the two QB's who Cleveland could draft which is okay if Griffin falls flat in training camp but Wentz, who most experts say could use a couple of years to sit and learn the pro game, would benefit if Griffin does do okay which would enable Wentz to sit and learn. If Cleveland then doors open wide for the Cowboys at pick 4. They could take Wentz and allow him to sit and learn behind Tony Romo or they would have the means to trade down with a team who wants a QB. Trading back would mean Dallas would still get a good player and also get extra draft picks. Either way it's win-win for Dallas.

The owners meetings in Florida this week have yielded some rule changes and some could make for some interesting discussion.
1. For certain unsportsmanlike fouls, after the 2nd time a player is flagged for one or more of the infractions, it means the player will automatically be ejected.
2. The spot of the ball after a touchback on a punt or kickoff will be the 25 yard line.
3. The chop block is illegal in all cases. It doesn't mean that you can't block low if you are facing the opposing player it eliminates hitting low when an opposing player is already engaged with a blocker. A lot of defensive linemen have been hurt when locked up on a block with someone and a 2nd player comes in a "chops" the guy at his knees.
4. The horse collar tackle extends to the name plate on the back of jerseys. (I think this is bullsquat.)
5. A team will be flagged for delay of game if they try to call a time out when they are not allowed to. This situation came up last season in a game Dallas was playing. They were deep in the opposing team's territory with a 3rd and less than 5. The defense, to avoid being called for an illegal substitution called for and was erroneously granted a time out. After some discussion the play was a do-over because the illegal substitution penalty went away with the time out call. Dallas failed to get the first down and had to settle for a field goal. If the same circumstance occurs next season either the illegal substitution penalty would be called or the delay of game penalty will be called. Either way Dallas gets a first down and continues their drive.
6. Formerly if a receiver goes out of bounds and re-establishes himself inbounds and he touches a pass he would get flagged for illegal touching and his team would be penalized 5 yards. Now the 5 yard penalty goes away and it is a loss of down.
7. The NFL has eliminated "multiple spots of enforcement for a double foul after a change of possession." (I don't know what this means)
8. Communication between the QB or the defensive captain on the field can be either from the sideline or the coaches booth. Previously, all communication with the players on the field could only be done from the sideline.
9. Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay announced Wednesday a tweak to the injury reserve-designated to return rule. Now, teams do not have to designate a player to return when they place him on injured reserve. Players still have to be on IR for at least six weeks before they can come back and play.

The draft is still 35 days away.

eagle eye

03-31-2016, 07:44 AM

There is a wide receiver you have never heard of who could be the biggest sleeper in the this year's NFL draft. The guy is a physical beast at 6'4" tall and 225 lbs he can run the 40 in 4.39 seconds. Do I have your attention? The guy is young, 22 years old, and he's raw because he's only played football for 4 years. Last season he was rookie of the year in his first professional season. The guy's name is Moritz Boehringer and he's a German who played in the German Football League last season. What he did was totally unexpected because the coaches for his team told him they would bring him along slowly. Boehringer caught 70 passes for 1,461 yards and 16 touchdowns in the 19 game GFL season. He had a 20.9 YPC average and he lined up at both WR and TE. He has been working out in Boca Raton, Fla with guys like Anquan Bolden and Pierre Garcon at the XPE Sports Academy in preparation for his pro day that will happen today at Florida Atlantic University. In February a countryman, Anthony Dable, was signed by the New York Giants after a single workout. Dable is 27 and was not eligible for the NFL draft. Dable's measurables are: 6'5" tall and 215 lbs and he was impressive enough that the Giants snapped him up. Check out the video in this article which also feature's a nice cover of the old Ten Years After tune, "I'd Love to Change the World". Notice in the video that Boehringer catches the ball with his hands, he's not a body catcher. He also is comfortable lining up in different spots. He lined up wide, in the slot and at tight end. He is not afraid to go over the middle and he's good with YAC. He even went up on a jump ball and he got the ball at it's highest point and made the catch. He looked like a man amongst boys in the video and it would be interesting to see if he can do the same against NFL caliber talent.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000648990/article/german-wide-receiver-one-of-nfl-drafts-biggest-sleepers

There are two guys in this year's draft who are considered to be elite level talent but issues make them very questionable. The first is Myles Jack the LB from UCLA. He's still considered a top 5 talent but that could change after his April workout. Jack is coming off a major knee injury that cost him all of last season at UCLA. He dropped out of school to concentrate fully on his rehab which he is still ongoing. If his physical is good in April and his private workout is good he will be a top five pick. IF. The next guy is Mississippi State DL Robert Nkemdiche. He's a guy who is touted at being another top 5 talent but concerns over him have nothing to do with an injury. Nkemdiche fell out of a 4th floor window at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta at Buckhead hotel this past December. In his room was found marijuana and he was eventually charged with possession of drugs. Nkemdiche wasn't injured in the fall but he was taken to a nearby hospital for observation. Nkemdiche was suspended by the team and did not play in the 2016 Sugar Bowl. You wonder just what the hell is going on with college players these days and their infatuation with weed. Randy Gregory was a highly touted DE in last year's draft when he failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine of all things when they found mary jane in his system. Since the draft last year when Dallas took a chance on Gregory in the second round Gregory has failed 3 more drug tests, all for marijuana use, and will be suspended the first 4 games of the upcoming season. Teams see that and they will not take a chance on wasting a 1st round pick on a guy they maybe can't trust. Nkemdiche, like Gregory before him, has cost himself a lot of money because he can't leave the weed alone. Can Nkemdiche turn himself around like Arizona Cardinals S Tyrann Mathew did. The Honey Badger was kicked off the LSU football team for repeated drug violations. The Cards took a chance on him and he's proven to be a good NFL player and he hasn't had any more issues with failed drug tests. Or will Nkemdiche go the way of Gregory and continue to shoot himself in the foot. Gregory is a couple of violations away from being suspended 10 games and if that doesn't do it the next violation will an indefinite suspension that will be at least one year. It's hard to fathom how a guy can just throw away a lucrative dream job to smoke weed. That's the dilemma teams face when looking at Nkemdiche.

It's only 28 days until the NFL draft.

eagle eye

04-01-2016, 10:06 AM

Yesterday I posted some info on a WR named Moritz Boehringer from Germany who played in the German premiere football league. He's 6'4" and weighs 225 lbs and runs a 4.3 forty. He has lined up all across the front line from WR to TE to the slot. After working out in Florida and participating in Florida Atlantic's pro day he is no longer a mystery he worked his way into a full fledged prospect. It was thought that because of his superior workout yesterday he has vaulted himself to as high as the fourth round of the NFL draft. Check out his article from NFL.com's Andy Fenelon.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000649267/article/incredible-pro-day-puts-german-moritz-boehringer-on-nfl-radar

The Patriots have signed veteran nose tackle Terrence Knighton to a one year $4.5MM deal. Knighton will fill the hole left by Vince Wilfork when he left for Houston as a free agent last year. At 6'3" and 355 lbs Knighton will plug the middle of the Patriots defense. He was a 3rd round pick by Jacksonville in 2009 and he spent 4 seasons with the Jags. In 2014 he played with Denver and last season he was with the Washington Redskins.

This offseason the talk is that Denver had interest in getting Colin Kaepernick from the 49ers but the main requirement Denver had was that Kap had to agree to restructure his contract and take a pay cut. That is something Kaepernick refused to do. Yesterday was the deadline for funding the guaranteed money due Kaepernick. The deadline passed and he will get all the money due him in 2016 which is $11.9MM and he will still be a 49er.

RGIII signed with Cleveland earlier this month and it has come out that a major supporter of Griffin was his former head coach Mike Shanahan. This is the same Mike Shanahan who benched Griffin after a disappointing 2013 season which caused a major rift between the coach and player. Disfunctional is a mild way to describe how their relationship ended up. However, as free agency progressed it was Shanahan who was one of Griffin's majors supporters saying that under a system similar to the one run in Washington when Griffin was a rookie RGIII could be a resounding success. Griffin appreciates Shanahan's support and is grateful for his endorsement during his free agency. Now, all that remains to be seen is if Griffin and Hue Jackson can forge a relationship. Already Jackson has made comments about Griffin that indicate he has confidence in Griffin. In other words it may be the first time as a pro RGIII has had a coach who had his back and wanted him. Shanahan didn't necessarily want Griffin when Washington drafted him and Kirk Cousins back in 2012 draft. Griffin was Rookie of the Year in 2012 but things started going downhill on him after the injuries started piling up. Kirk Cousins has become the #1 guy in Washington and Griffin and new Redskins head coach Jay Gruden didn't see eye to eye and Gruden elected to go with Cousins over Griffin. Cousins led a surprising Redskins team to a 9-7 record and the NFC title with a home playoff game. This was amazing considering the Redskins were forecast to finish dead last in the division in the preseason. Griffin has a new opportunity in Cleveland under a head coach who actually wanted him. Don't be surprised if RGIII isn't the comeback player of the year for 2016.

eagle eye

04-04-2016, 06:11 AM

Colin Kaepernick got his 2016 fully guaranteed by the 49ers last week when the date came and went which looked like the Niners and Chip Kelly were going to try to make a go of it. The rumors of a deal with Denver would just not go away though and the last thing reported was the Broncos and Kaepernick had come to terms on a deal but the 49ers were not going to agree to pay $4.9 MM of the guaranteed part of Kaepernick's deal. Kap is scheduled to make $11.9 MM all of which is guaranteed this year. The Niners could lose $7 MM off their salary cap by agreeing to the trade but they don't want to pay that $5 MM and get nothing for their money. I don't blame the Niners especially if Kaepernick clicks in Kelly's offense. If he does then the 12 mil will not be an issue. The Niners don't have to eat anything if they don't want to and Denver is the one who only has Mark Sanchez to play QB this season. Even if the Broncos end up with a top QB in the draft, Paxton Lynch the most likely to fall to Denver, Lynch won't come in a lead the defending Super Bowl champs in the defense of their title. Rookies just don't do that. The Broncos have lost a lot of their players to free agency this off season and I believe it's in no small part because they know they don't have a QB going into the 2016 season. The Broncos are in deep do-do and could end up last in the AFC West if they are not careful. First to worst is not what you want to happen--ever.

TE Scott Chandler was let go by the Patriots this off season because he will need yet another surgery on his knee. Now, NFL.com is reporting that Chandler is afraid that his career may be over. Chandler showed flashes of being an elite level tight end all the way back to his days with Buffalo but injuries have kept him from reaching his potential. Chandler tore his ACL during the 2015 season with the Patriots and he admitted over the weekend that he will miss the 2016 season as a result of the surgery and rehab. It is his second torn ACL in this knee, the first coming in 2012 while with the Bills. Chandler is 30 and won't be available to play again until he is 32 which means teams will not be looking for an aging free agent tight end to sign.

Michael Vick will be turning 36 years old soon. Hard to believe isn't it? NFL.com reported that Vick wants another crack at playing in the NFL this coming season even though the odds aren't great he will get the chance. Last season he was the backup in Pittsburgh and he actually got to play until he was injured and Landry Jones came in an outplayed Vick. If was as if the handwriting was on the wall, Vick was done as an NFL QB. Vick had to wait until late August before being signed by New England and it may be a situation of a team needing an experienced backup before Vick gets his chance to play. If he doesn't he says he's not going to lose sleep over it because he's had a good career despite losing several years because of his arrest and conviction for participating in dog fighting. Vick seems to have turned his life around and he also seems to come out the better for the experience.

This may have been better posted on the Cowboys thread but the Jets have signed a one year deal with former Cowboys and Jets LB Bruce Carter. Carter was good in spurts for Dallas and he was a serviceable enough LB for him to get a free agent deal with Tampa Bay last season. Carter's deal with Tampa was for 4 years and $17 MM but he was cut March 6th and will save the Bucs $4.25 MM in cap space this season. Carter became expendable when he lost out to rookie sensation Kwon Alexander and his price tag was just too big for a backup player. The reason why Dallas didn't resign Carter was pretty much the same reason, his play wasn't worth paying him the money he received from Tampa as a free agent.

eagle eye

04-05-2016, 06:28 AM

The deal that was reportedly so close between the Broncos and Colin Kaepernick has hit the skids again. Kaepernick won't take a pay cut and San Francisco won't pay a portion of the guaranteed money Kap is slated to make and the Broncos are determined not to overpay for the guy. So, until further notice Kaepernick is a 49er.

Jameis Winston QB of the Tampa Bay Bucs says he will take a pay cut to have the opportunity to play with his former college teammate Jalen Ramsey. It's not going to happen unless the Bucs mortgage their whole draft to move up from #9 to #1 to guarantee they will get Ramsey. Mock drafts have Ramsey going anywhere from #1 to #4 in April's draft and there is not even a snowball's chance in hell he will fall to 9. It was certainly nice of Winston to talk up his former teammate though. Winston was the first pick in last year's draft and it would be a major coup for Florida State to have a second alum of the school go #1 in this year's draft.

People criticize Jerry Jones for players he chooses to sign but what about the Raiders who keep signing absolute nut job Aldon Smith to deals. Smith is an incident waiting to happen and the Raiders keep giving him a platform to mess up from. Get this, Smith is currently serving a 1 year suspension for substance abuse violations and he won't even be eligible for reinstatement until November. NOVEMBER! That hasn't stopped the Raiders from office from giving Smith a 2 year $19 MM contract. I guess when you are good any and all sins can and will be forgiven. Smith is worth the investment to Raiders because he recorded more sacks in the first two years of his career, 33.5, than any player in NFL history. That is why Oakland is willing to take a chance on Smith now. Smith's suspension stems from an incident last August when he was charged with hit and run, DUI and vandalism. This fool is bat-crap crazy but double digit sack men don't grow on trees. Like for most businesses Oakland must feel like the ends justify the means. We'll see.

The incident recently that involved Bills RB LeSean McCoy in relation to two off duty Philadelphia police officers being beaten up pretty severely has been thrown out because there wasn't enough evidence to file charges on McCoy. Both officers were knocked to the ground and beaten and kicked resulting in both officers suffering broken ribs, broken nose, lacerations and sprained thumb. It's too bad nothing has come from this incident because it's just wrong to have a person or persons, much less cops, getting the hell beaten out of them and nothing coming from it.

Mark Sanchez can read and I'm sure his hearing is pretty good too but that hasn't stopped him from acting like the Broncos #1 QB. He has organized the receivers from the Broncos and is holding his own QB camp as he tries to build an on-field relationship with the likes of Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and the signed receivers for Denver. QB Trevor Siemian is there to throw with the Broncos receivers. This is something Sanchez had done when he was with the Jets and Eagles so it's nothing new to Sanchez even though it is a very Peyton Manning-like thing to do. In fact it's just the same thing Peyton did when he came to Denver and, like Sanchez, it's the same thing he did in Indianapolis. Good habits are just good habits. I know a guy who thinks Sanchez isn't a bad QB at all. He will certainly be given a chance to show what he can do with the high caliber of players he has to throw to in Denver. After all Sanchez did lead the Jets to two consecutive AFC Championship games. He had to have something going for him, right? Right.

eagle eye

04-10-2016, 04:45 PM

The Saints and players and coaches around the NFL after DL Will Smith was murdered by a piece of shit after that piece of shit rear ended Smith's vehicle hitting him hard enough for Smith's vehicle to bash into the car ahead of him. After exchanging words after the accident the piece of shit, who was driving a Hummer, pulled out a gun and shot Smith multiple times and he also shot Smith's wife a couple of times. Smith was dead at the scene and his wife was taken to the hospital with 2 gun shot wounds to the leg.
Smith was a 9 year NFL veteran who was liked and respected around the league and he was a pillar of strength both for the Saints and in the New Orleans community and Smith's foundation Where There's a Will There's a Way provided opportunities to women and children in the community.
The piece of shit's name is Cardell Hayes who is 30 years old and he has been booked on 2nd degree murder. I hope his final sentence is being beaten to death with baseball bats. It's incidents like this that makes gun control people go crazy and I'm not sure I disagree. Like the Lynard Skynard song "Saturday Night Special" says, handguns are made for killing, they ain't good for nothing else. I have thought for a long time that anytime a crime is committed with a gun it is automatic death penalty if the perp is caught.
I'm sorry if this offends anyone but a man with a wife and 3 kids should not die in a city street after a guy initiates a wreck and doesn't like to hear what an idiot he is. Fuck Cardell Hayes. I change my mind, I hope he goes to prison and he's beaten up every single day by the inmates until he finally dies of the beatings hopefully after a few years of abuse. This could happen because the Saints are like Gods in the New Orleans area especially after they won the Super Bowl in 2009 after all the hardship because of Hurricane Katrina. Smith was a big part of that team and the recovery from Katrina. My thoughts and prayers go out to Smith, his wife and family as they deal with senselessness. I wish nothing but suffering and pain for Cardell Hayes and I hope he dies bloody and suffers in the process.

eagle eye

04-13-2016, 02:52 PM

I almost threw up in my mouth when I heard earlier this week that Cardell Hayes killed Saints DL Will Smith last week in self defense. The police reported that a gun was found in Smith's SUV and another gun was found in Hayes vehicle but police said neither gun had been fired. An eye witness to the killing said that Smith had his back to Hayes trying to protect his wife when Hayes shot smith 8 times in the back. Smith's wife, Rachel, was hit in the leg two times by gunfire and also had the femur bone in her leg shattered. The witness said Smith never removed his weapon, which he was licensed to carry, from it's spot in his vehicle and he definitely was not brandishing a gun as a passenger in Hayes vehicle had claimed. Hayes has been arrested and arraigned on 2nd degree murder and his preliminary hearing will take place on April 28th. Hayes is currently being held on $1MM bond. The penalty for being found guilty of 2nd degree murder in Louisiana is life in prison without hope of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. 1st degree murder is the same as 2nd degree murder with the death penalty on the table as well. Unfortunately, the definition of both types of murders dictates that Hayes be charged with 2nd degree murder. The only way this can result in the death penalty is if there are inmates who loved the Saints enough to exact a little "prison justice" on Hayes. One can only hope.

This week's sign the apocalypse is upon us. (Thanks Sport Illustrated for the inspiration) Cleveland Browns WR Josh Gordon failed yet another drug test last month but he still had the gall to make a request for reinstatement to the NFL. The NFL rejected the request because Gordon can't seem to leave the weed alone. He is eligible to reapply for reinstatement in August which, in all likelihood, will again be rejected. Gordon is currently a minimum one year ban placed on him last spring. Not only is he not clean he isn't even smart enough to lay off weed for the 30 days it stays in your system so he can pass a drug test. The kicker here is that it has been reported that even more troubled player, Johnny Manziel, is living with Gordon. Wait, what? A guy with substance abuse issues and behavioral issues is living with a guy with substance abuse issues when he's supposed to be cleaning up his life so he can play in the NFL? Really? Wow.

The Patriots have signed RB LeGarrett Blount to a 1 year deal. In another move the Pats have cut former 1st round pick DT Dominque Easley. The Pats first round pick in 2014 has been a very effective, maybe the best, player on defense the last two seasons when he's healthy. With in college Easley tore the ACL in both knees and in 2014 his season was cut short with a knee injury. Last season Easley missed time due to a torn quadriceps muscle in his leg. This move is being called "a stunner" by NFL.com who sees a really good player when healthy so much so that it's hard not to believe there is more to this story than has been made known to the public.

The Cincinnati Bengals have exercised the 5th year option for TE Tyler Eifort. Eifort is a huge weapon for Andy Dalton and the Bengals but the trouble is he can't seem to stay healthy. At least before 2015 when Eifort did stay healthy and earned his first pro bowl nod as he combined with AJ Green to give the Bengals a formidable 1-2 receiving punch.

eagle eye

04-14-2016, 11:24 AM

OMG! The face of this draft was changed dramatically this morning when the LA Rams traded up from #15 to get the #1 pick in this year's draft. It's a situation where the Rams got fleeced in much the same way they fleeced the Redskins 5 years ago who the 'Skins traded up so they could draft RGIII. The Rams have struck a deal with the Tennessee Titans in which the Rams get the first pick in the draft as well as the Titans fourth and sixth round picks. This is where the Rams get hosed because they give Tennessee their former pick at 15, they give the Titans 2 picks in the second round and a 3rd round pick in this year's draft and the Rams 1st and 3rd round pick in 2017. This puts enormous pressure on Jeff Fisher and the Rams to get this pick right because they won't have a draft pick worth talking about for the next two years. The Rams have made a move to draft their franchise QB in Carson Wentz or Jared Goff by all outward appearances and judging by the prevailing opinions of Wentz and Goff the Rams will pick Goff because he is considered the most NFL ready QB in this draft. This is a major move for both the Rams and Titans. The Titans have enough great draft picks this year and next they could lay the foundation for the Titans franchise for the next 10 years. This has to be a major coup for new Titans GM Jon Robinson who inherited his franchise QB Marcus Mariota whom the Titans acquired in last year's draft. The Titans need help at just about every other position so this will help their front office kick start their rebuilding program.

Super agent Drew Rosenhaus has represented a lot of very successful athletes in a lot of different sports but today he cut ties with one of his clients, Johnny Manziel. Rosenhaus said in a statement that, "I don't think I can express it enough -- it's a life-and-death situation," Rosenhaus said. "I'm not talking about football anymore. I'm talking about a young man who's in trouble." --- quote from article from NFL.com --- as Rosenhaus will no long facilitate Manziel's self destructive ways by representing him. It goes a long way in expressing just how far gone Manziel is and what Manziel does next could be a literal life and death decision. Rosenhaus is actually the 2nd agent this year to cut ties with Manziel. His previous representative cut ties with Johnny January after an incident involving domestic violence allegations were filed by his girlfriend. The case has gone to the Grand Jury who decide if charges will be filed against Manziel. This kid is a dumpster fire who has made partying, and drug and alcohol abuse the goes with it, the most important thing in his life. You know you're screwing up when a father that has enabled and entitled Johnny his whole life says he needs to get help before he literally kills himself. It's really sad to see a kid as talented and exciting as Manziel is on the football field throw it away like this.

Back to the Rams-Titans draft trade, here is a link to an article from one of NFL.com's draft experts, Daniel Jeremiah and how he believes this deal will reshape the first round picks.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000652854/article/mock-draft-for-first-6-picks-of-round-1-after-ramstitans-trade

eagle eye

04-16-2016, 12:55 PM

Which QB will the Rams draft now that they've put themselves in position to draft the one they want? Goff or Wentz? Goff has been projected as the most starting ready of the two while many feel Wentz has the most upside in the long haul. Fortunately, we only have to wait 12 more days to find out.

A day that will live in Infamy: It was 16 years today that Bill Belichick drafted Tom Brady in the 2000 NFL draft. For every non-Patriots fan this was a dark day indeed because he was not drafted until the 6th round meaning every single team passed on him at least 5 times.

Tony Romo has been fully throwing for the past two weeks since he had the surgery to shave down his collar bone to allow more movement of the joint which is supposed to help him avoid further injuries to the area. Cowboys fans have their fingers crossed.

The Texans have exercised their fifth year option for DeAndre Hopkins. This means he will be a Texan through the 2017 season. Hopkins has emerged as the lead dog in the Texans receiving corps and is is work every cent of the money Houston will pay him. I wouldn't surprised if prior to the 2017 season Houston doesn't try to get a long term deal done to avoid letting Hopkins even get a whiff of free agency.

Remember Kevin White. The Star WR from West Virginia who was drafted with the 7th pick in last year's draft. Don't worry if you don't because he's been on the down-low since the draft. He missed the entire 2015 because he needed surgery to correct a stress fracture in his leg. White will expected to be full go when the Bears and the rest of the NFL begin offseason work on Monday. It will be nice for the Bears to have White to pair with current star Alshon Jeffrey.

eagle eye

04-18-2016, 10:17 AM

I thought I'd put this post here since not everyone is a Cowboys or Texans fan and it may be interesting to have a guide to players you may not be completely familiar with. First, DallasCowboys.com beat writers have put together their 2016 Draft Guide issue of their Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine. They preview over 100 players and list 500 prospects in the draft. They also give their own 1st round mock draft and many other features. In the link below you find where to subscribe to the magazine either in print or as a digital issue or you can buy individual issues including the draft guide. Or, if you are in the Parkdale Mall area the Dallas Cowboys Fan shop located near the food court where you can buy the draft guide as well as your favorite Cowboys merch.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/star

Another resource is the most comprehensive draft on the market researched and published by CBSSports.com writer Dane Brugler. Dane is a regular on "The Draft Show" on DallasCowboys.com but he is well versed on the needs of all 32 teams. It is only available online for the price of 6.99 reduced from 9.99. You can print out a hard copy as a PDF file or just view it online. It covers over 400 prospects and includes a top 100 draft board. If there's anything you want to know about a player in this draft this is the place to go for the info. The link below is from myfootballnews.com and if you are a draft aficionado you won't pass up this draft guide.

http://www.myfootballnews.com/product/2016-Guide

eagle eye

04-19-2016, 05:39 AM

There has been some NFL news this week as teams prepare for the draft next week.

Denver has signed RB Ronnie Hillman to a one year deal. Hillman had a breakout season a couple of years ago as he finally was able to remain healthy for the entire season. He has actually been the main running back for the Broncos despite them drafting Montee Ball and later CJ Anderson. Hillman actually led the Broncos in carries and rushing yards last season but late in the season Hillman just wasn't as effective running the ball as Anderson who took over as the lead back. Hillman was totally ineffective in the playoff run to their Super Bowl victory gaining a meager 1.7 YPC in the playoffs. Hillman was a free agent this off season but his poor showing late in the season probably scared off potential interest in him. The deal Hillman signed was worth $2MM with $600K in guarantees.

The appeal to the NFL of the player tampering case by the Kansas City Chiefs was denied yesterday meaning the penalties levied by the NFL, a loss of this year's 3rd round draft pick and next year's 6th rounder was upheld. Fines levied on the Chiefs and on head coach Andy Reid were reduced slightly from $250K to $200K for the Chiefs and from $75K to $60K for Andy Reid by commissioner Roger Goodell. The case stems from the accusation that the Chiefs illegally recruited WR Jeremy Maclin in March of 2015 while Maclin was still a Philadelphia Eagle.

Former NFL players lost the appeal of the $1 Billion settlement of concussion law suits by the NFL in a federal appeals court in Philadelphia. The plan was to compensate NFL players suffering from concussion related injuries over the next 65 years. There is a clause granting a $4MM settlement for prior deaths but the cutoff date for such settlements was April of 2015. The thinking behind this clause was to not incentivize suicide.

In more pleasant news, the Miami Dolphins have claimed DL Chris Jones, who was released by the Patriots in a surprise move last week, off waivers. This move bolsters an already tough defensive front that includes Ndomukong Suh, Cameron Wake and newly signed free agent Mario Williams.

The Rams have already made their first QB move of the off season. They made a 1st round tender offer to RFA QB Case Keenum and yesterday he signed the offer sheet making him an LA Ram. The Rams have made the biggest off season splash by orchestrating a deal with Tennessee to move from #15 to #1 in the draft and speculation is they will be taking either Carson Wentz or Jared Goff with that 1st pick. My signing the tender Keenum with be paid in the neighborhood of $3.6 MM for his services this season. The fact the Rams have invested so much in Keenum and given the fact that the Rams will likely draft a QB, this sort of makes Nick Foles sort of the odd man out.

And still the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick have not reached an agreement on a new deal. With this in mind, despite the fact the Jets under new head coach Todd Boles had a really nice season last year, you could project that the Jets could be in the market for a QB like Paxton Lynch. This adds some drama to the already crowded list of teams who could be interested in a QB. Certainly the Broncos need a QB but a team like Arizona with an aging QB Carson Palmer might be looking for their QB of the future. Dallas is in the same boat but they have advantage the Broncos and Cardinals don't have--the 4th pick in the draft. If Dallas covets their QBOTF (QB of the future) enough I wonder if they would take Lynch even though he is projected late 1st round, early 2nd in the draft. It's the only way Dallas can guarantee they will get a top flight QB in the draft.

Finally, on a lighter note, the Tennessee Titans held a movie night on the field of their home stadium Nisson Stadium for their season ticket holders. The problem was the Titans ground crew forgot to turn off the sprinkler system and a boat load of season ticket holders and their families were drenched! For a team in extreme rebuilding mode it's not good community relations to soak the fans that help pay for that rebuilding effort.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000653740/article/titans-host-movie-night-forget-to-shut-off-sprinklers

eagle eye

04-20-2016, 04:08 PM

The Eagles have made a deal with Cleveland to move up to the 2nd pick in the draft from their present spot at #8. Details in the link below.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000654501/article/eagles-acquire-no-2-overall-draft-pick-from-browns

IMO this a great deal for the Browns and a risky as heck move for Philly because of all they sacrificed to move up. If the #2 pick is a bust the Eagles are screwed for several years to come. The Browns look to have made out better than the Tennessee Titans who traded their #1 overall pick to the Rams last week. The Browns get a higher first round draft pick and they get another 2 picks in this draft besides as well as a 1st pick in 2017 and a 2nd rounder in 2018. If the #2 pick is a bust then Philly will be like the kid whose parents went to Hawaii and all he got was that damn T-shirt.

Since yesterday the San Diego Chargers have let it be known they are shopping their #3 pick in the draft so the pre draft wheeling and dealing may not be over. It's almost a certainty the only taker would be somebody wanting to draft Jalen Ramsey. I wonder if Dallas is listening to calls wanting a trade up to #4? Dallas just may feel it's worth it to trade down and take Paxton Lynch. This draft is going to be quite interesting for sure.

In another WTF move in the NFL today the Carolina Panthers rescinded the franchise tag designation on CB Josh Norman immediately making him an unrestricted free agent. The reason for the Panther's move is being reported that Carolina sees no hope in signing Norman to a long term deal and rather than pay what amounts to very expensive rent for the player they decided to cut bait on Norman. Anyone need an All Pro caliber CB? Yeah, that's what I thought. Let the feeding frenzy begin.

Here is NFL.com's assessment of the winners and losers as a result of today's Eagles-Browns deal. Some I agree with and some I don't.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000654640/article/winners-and-losers-from-eaglesbrowns-trade

eagle eye

04-23-2016, 11:47 AM

It didn't take long for CB Josh Norman to find work after he was made a free agent by the Carolina Panthers earlier this weed. Yesterday Norman was signed to a contract by the Washington Redskins. He didn't get chump change either after he declined to sign the franchise offer sheet offered by the Panthers which was for $13.9 MM cashed in big after the Panthers rescinded the offer on Wednesday. The Redskins agree to pay Norman $75 MM over 5 years with $50 MM guaranteed. Norman is now the highest paid CB in the NFL. Norman is 29 so this is the big payday and it makes the Redskins pretty formidable as he will pair with Beshaud Breeland with Will Blackmon and Quinton Dunbar as added depth.

Giants WR Victor Cruz who didn't play a down in 2015 as a result of torn patellar tendon and a nagging calf injury that required surgery has said he will be ready for training camp 100% guaranteed. It's great news for the Giants who had Odell Beckham have a breakout season in 2015 because it gives the G-men a scary 1-2 WR punch.

With the Eagles making a deal for the 2nd pick in the draft going along with all the deals they have made this off season and with Dallas having the 4th pick in the draft and an early round pick in every round it looks like the NFC East is making a bid to get back to being the toughest division in the NFL.

The thing about being an average QB there is always a market for his services. Since he was released by Houston this past week his name has been linked to the NY Jets and Denver Broncos. Whether or not he is signed by either of the teams remains to be seen. The Jets are balking on making a deal with Ryan Fitzpatrick who led the Jets out of obscurity to a respectable 10-6 record and just missed the playoffs. Fitz also developed and good chemistry with his receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. At last report the Jets and Fitz are a long way off in contract negotiations. Hoyer, quite frankly would be a poor substitute for Fitz but the Jets new GM is playing hardball over his contract most likely because of Fitz's age 33 but a 3 or 4 year deal may not be out of the question.

The Cleveland Browns have been purging their roster of aging players as they begin rebuilding the team under new GM Sashi Brown and new head coach Hue Jackson. For the first time in a long time an owner, in this case Jimmy Haslam, has bought into the new direction Brown and Jackson want to take the team. This included making a deal this past week with the Eagles that allowed the Eagle to move up to the 2nd pick in the draft while the Browns will now pick at #8 to go along with the 5 additional draft picks they got in the deal. Besides a draft pick windfall the Browns got a bit of good news at the Brown opening press conference when the off season program began on Monday. Barkevius Mingo, the 6th pick in the 2013 draft has been a major disappointment for the Browns to this point. But, in the off season Mingo began training with a very special trainer in Dallas. Here is a link to the NFL.com article about Mingo's transformation.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000655235/article/bodybuilding-granny-helps-browns-mingo-get-jacked

eagle eye

04-25-2016, 09:01 AM

San Diego wants to keep their Chargers. Chargers players want to stay in San Diego. Over the weekend there was a rally in the San Diego that include such players as Phillip Rivers and former Charger LaDanian Tomlinson trying to rally support to keep the Chargers from leaving for LA. Even the commish, Roger Goodell said he thinks San Diego ought to stay put. Goodell even said that a new stadium in San Diego would make this southern California town a prime location to host a Super Bowl. To back up this statement the NFL has committed to a $300 MM contribution for a stadium solution in the downtown area of San Diego.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000655495/article/roger-goodell-the-chargers-belong-in-san-diego

I am all for this. I still call the Baltimore franchise the Colts sometimes. While I love the Texans I wish Houston still had the Oilers and after a long time displaced from LA the Rams are moving back and it alleviates my sense of how wrong it's been to call the Rams the St Louis Rams when in my heart they have been the Los Angeles Rams. I don't like it when franchises move. The Arizona Cardinals never has sounded right to me. They are the St Louis football Cardinals. Any Cardinal team has to be from St Louis. I'm not against Arizona having a team or Indianapolis, for that matter, but they should have their own name. I'm old enough that the Colts really and truly belong in Baltimore. I think the Ravens should move to Indy and the Colt go back to Baltimore where they began. The Arizona Prospectors would be a great name for that team in tribute to the gold and silver mines that flourished in the old west. There is one other name that needs to go back to it's original incarnation and that's the Patriots ought to go back to being the BOSTON Patriots. Just because they moved to Foxborough which is roughly 38 minutes from Boston they included all of New England in the name? It's a suburb of Boston for goodness sake. The Cowboys didn't rename themselves the North Texas Cowboys when they moved to Irving and recently to Arlington did they? Hell no. Why are you people trampling on my sense of serenity by changing the traditional names of our franchises? It drives me crazy. Why did Seattle have to sacrifice the Super Sonics to become the Oklahoma City Thunder? Way back in the day New Orleans lost their franchise to Utah, name and all. In the Mormon dominated state of Utah how does "the Jazz" fit? Now NOLA has a team and they're called the Pelicans, maybe the ugliest bird and mascot ever. Gangs and violence caused the Washington franchise to change it's name from the Bullets to the Wizards which, when you think about it, is appropriate considering how fast the politicians in DC can make our money disappear. The Astros are an American League team now and that still rubs me the wrong way. There is the ongoing debate over the Washington football franchise's name. If the Native Americans have their way and get Washington to abandon the name it's another change that is going to drive me crazy. I hate change. Most people do. Change upsets people's sense of security and wellbeing.
So why am I rambling on about this? Because, I want to take my mind off the draft that begins Thursday because I am so ready for something positive from the NFL. The Rockets and the Astros both stink right now and there's nothing else to fill the void. Last year the Astros were flying high exceeding all expectations but this year they are falling way short of where most folks thought they'd be. The Rockets are a mess. It seemed like the Game 3 win over Golden State was enough for them and they are ready to fold up their tents and head into the off season. The flat out quit in the 2nd half of yesterday's game, especially with Steph Curry going down with a knee injury, spoke volumes about the lack of heart this team has. So there is only the draft and there is so much cause for hope for the Texans and Cowboys you can't help but get excited. It will be a glorious 3 days as the jumping off point to 3 months of nothing NFL until training camp begins in August.

eagle eye

04-25-2016, 06:11 PM

There is no justice in this world, none whatsoever. The deflate-gate has come full circle as the US 2nd Court of Appeals has overturned the US District Court ruling that the NFL and Roger Goodell's 4 game suspension of Tom Brady in the deflate-gate incident in the AFC Championship game 2 years ago will be reinstated. The district court ruled that the commissioner acted within the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. It doesn't say what a toolbag Goodell was in such a harsh punishment for an equipment violation. The harshest punishment for an equipment violation prior to deflate-gate was $10K. For the Patriots it cost them their first round pick in this year's draft and a $1MM. For Tom Brady it cost him 4 games, his reputation and untold cash for the lawyers to fight the case. Rich as Brady is he can't fight the mega millions the NFL has for it's war chest. Follow the money, wasn't it inevitable that the NFL won? Brady can still appeal but the Goodell it seems has been on a witch hunt for the Patriots for years. Some of his vindictiveness is warranted because of the cheating Bill Belichick did filming Jets practices but the extent to which Goodell persecuted Brady and the Patriots is a clear abuse of his power and to do something like this and cost the NFL and the Patriots and Brady millions of dollars over such a trivial matter is beyond reprehensible. Hell, the Patriots have successfully refuted the claims the ball were even deflated artificially by using science to prove the air pressure in the balls were subject to extreme temperature conditions between the warm locker room and the frigid field temps. This is such a crock of bull squirt. This comes down to a pissing contest between two rich guys and the richer of the two won. Excuse me, I believe I'm going to be sick. What I love is The Donald, Mr Trump to you and me, was in New England and he was quoted as saying, "First of all, let's start by saying, leave Tom Brady (http://www.nfl.com/player/tombrady/2504211/profile) alone! Leave him alone. Leave him alone," Trump said, drawing wild cheers from New England-area supporters. "He's a great guy. It's enough, it's enough." For once Don I completely agree with you.

It took a few days for Sam Bradford to decide on a course of action after his team, the Philadelphia Eagle mortgaged their short term future to move up to the 2nd pick in the draft with the apparent goal of draft the left over between Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. The deal by Philly was crazy from one standpoint. In March they signed Bradford to a deal as well as signing career backup Chase Daniels to a healthy deal. If the Eagles do draft a QB at #2 they will likely have as much as $22+ MM tied up in QB's. Now Bradford has announced that he will no longer participate in the Eagles voluntary off season program because he wants a trade. He sees the writing on the wall and he doesn't want to be a stop-gap QB while the Eagles groom his replacement. I'm sure the Broncos have taken note of the deal and could be quite interested in Bradford.

eagle eye

04-26-2016, 08:08 AM

https://media.giphy.com/media/8auIsn8itn9Hq/giphy.gif

NFL PRE-DRAFT COVERAGE

eagle eye

04-28-2016, 09:23 AM

tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. Just a matter of hours now and the Christmas in April begins! The anticipation for the draft for NFL fans is on a par with the excitement you had when you were a kid waiting on Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, isn't it? It is for me. I honestly have that attitude. Christmas isn't nearly as exciting as an event to me as it was when I was a kid. I still love Christmas for what the true meaning is but I don't get geeked up about it like I did when I was a kid waiting on opening presents on Christmas morning. The draft is the most anticipated day of the year, maybe even more than opening day of each season because it when teams open their presents and fans get to enjoy the process. Sometimes you get a great gift that you have been wanting all year and sometime you get a pair of socks or some underwear. Sometimes you get a crappy gift but unlike Christmas when you have to be polite and act happy, in the draft you don't worry about politeness. If you get a player you consider a lump of coal you can just vent as much as you want. Either way you get an emotional release and sometimes that lump of coal is actually a diamond in the rough and you are happy again. It may be a year or two later when the diamond emerges but it's enough time to have plausible deniability about ever doubting the pick! Like Christmas, the drafts gives us another excuse to throw a party or go to a sports bar and be a part of the social event. You get to drink, eat nachos and raise hell. It's now 9:50 AM which means it is less than 9 hours away. Like Flounder in "Animal House" says with barely concealed glee, "Oh boy! Is this great!".

Other news that flying a bit under the radar right now is the possibility that Oakland could move to Las Vegas pending an aye vote for a new stadium. I had a post last week bitching about how I hate change. I don't mind expansion but I don't want the teams I have associated with a particular city to move. It upsets my sense of order and to do that to an OCD type like me is almost cruel. I never did get used to calling the Raiders the Los Angeles Raiders when they moved for a short time to LA. They are the freaking OAKLAND Raiders dammit! I really think if the Raiders ownership wants to move to greener pastures, go for it. I think the Oakland community ought to do what Cleveland did when their franchise moved to Baltimore, force the team to leave the franchise name behind. If the Raiders move to Las Vegas they should leave their name and logo in Oakland because there will be a new owner cartel rise up and bring a new franchise to Oakland the old name and logo will be there like it was when Cleveland got a new franchise. If the Raiders morph into the Las Vegas Prospectors, or the Gamblers, or the Desert Rats I'm all in. New is new and I can handle that but there is no room for a pirate logo like the Raiders works in the desert.

What is the deal with rich people with bad haircuts? Trump's hair is the poster child of a bad rich guy doo but there are plenty more. How about Mark Cuban's doo? Not good for a billionaire who can definitely afford a better barber. Shoot, you have the money for a hair transplant so a really obviously bad comb over shouldn't be necessary. Then you have the guy who is the owner of the Raiders Marc Davis. What's up with that guy. Is he going for a little dutch boy look? Or is it a Moe Howard Three Stooges look? His old man, Al Davis had his own unique look with the slicked down, 50's do-wop doo but, it wasn't hideous like this!!! This isn't a bad comb over, the man has hair. When he gets ready for his day and he looks in the mirror does he think, "Man, I am killing it today!"? Are rich people this delusional? wow.

http://i.imgur.com/fEJRjwM.jpg (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwix-pCuzrHMAhWKbj4KHRC_BPkQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ramsondemand.com%2Fthreads%2F photoshop-a-new-haircut-for-raiders-owner-mark-davis.43918%2F&psig=AFQjCNGVgTv6UVQNFm_6i1-BVGFRVNc12Q&ust=1461942463826399)

You know that the draft process is ready to begin when a story surfaces yesterday that Ohio State CB Eli Apple has no life skills because he doesn't know how to cook. Apple is a first round talent that has had mud thrown on him because it was a slow day prior to the draft. I think most draft people will ignore this load of crap put out there by NFL.com because it is just that, a load of crap. I can't believe the folks at NFL.com who edit their content didn't roll their eyes and ask the reporter, "Really? -- Really?". So it was talked about long enough to point out this is a load of crap story and Eli Apple's draft stock shouldn't be affected by this story. Sheesh, somebody was bored to tears to think this was a real story.

Now less than 8 hours to Christmas--I mean the draft.

eagle eye

05-02-2016, 02:11 PM

Well, Brian Hoyer didn't stay unemployed long. Sunday da Bears signed Hoyer to a one year $2MM deal to back up Jake Cutler in Chicago. Good move for them. Hoyer isn't good enough to be a full time starter but he is a good backup. It's no shame to be a backup. A lot of guys have made a good living being career backups.

The Redskins cut CB Chris Culliver who was a year into a 4 year $32MM deal. Things didn't go well for Culliver since he signed his deal. He lost his guaranteed money when he was suspended for violations of the NFL personal conduct policy and he tore his ACL and MCL in November which ended his season. The Redskins originally said they would bring Culliver back for his 2nd year until they signed CB Josh Norman from Carolina in free agency. Culliver parlayed a good 2014 season with the San Francisco felons-er-49ers into a deal with the Redskins last year. Culliver is a very big risk at this point as he is coming off ACL, MCL and the dreaded microfracture surgery. He has been cleared medically but recovering from microfracture surgery takes every bit of two years meaning Culliver won't be his old self until 2017. In March of 2014 Culliver originally was charged with misdemeanor hit and run and felony possession of brass knuckles for his involvement in an incident, in which he hit a bicyclist and fled the scene (http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25724243/san-jose-suit-alleges-physical-threats-racial-slur), and he subsequently threatened a citizen with brass knuckles. His attorneys argued for the felony charge be reduced (http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_27778058/san-jose-ex-49er-chris-culliver-has-brass?source=pkg) to a misdemeanor. In June of 2015 Culliver pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors to resolve the case. The NFL league office decided Culliver had violated the league personal conduct policy and suspended him for one game without pay. Culliver was on the same team with other 49ers who got into altercations with the law since 2012 like Aldon Smith, Bruce Miller, Ray McDonald, Daniel Kilgore, Al Netter and Demarcus Dobbs. Smith has been arrested 5 times on various charges and Ray McDonald twice.

Tampa Bay cut kicker Connor Barth after drafting the best kicker in the draft this past weekend. The Bucs drafted Robert Aguayo from Florida State which meant that Barth knew he would soon be unemployed. Barth will get a chance somewhere because the guys in the good-old-boys-kickers-club always seem to end up on their feet.

The Chiefs exercise their 5th year option on 2013 draftee OL Eric Fisher. Fisher was the 1st pick that draft and he finally came into his own last season. Good for him.

Here's an article from NFL.com listing all 32 draft picks in the 2013 draft who are eligible for teams to exercise that 5th year option.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000659379/article/fifthyear-option-tracker-for-2013-firstround-picks

Do you think that Rex Ryan and Bills signing Rob Gronkowski's little brother Glen is a little tweek to Bill Belichick? Uh, maybe!

Lamar ex-WR Reggie Begelton will be brought in to try out at Atlanta's rookie camp. Reggie was a UFA for Atlanta last year. Also Lamar ex Cody Elenz was signed as a UFA by Atlanta. Nice job guys and good luck.

eagle eye

05-04-2016, 02:36 PM

The Bills have signed OT Cordy Glenn to a 5 year deal worth up to $65MM. Glenn is the first NFL player who was tagged with the franchise player designation to signed to a long term deal.

S Keanu Neal is the first 1st round draft pick from this year's draft to agree to his contract. He scheduled to officially sign the deal tomorrow. Neal, a former Florida Gator was drafted with the 17th pick in the draft by Atlanta. Depending on which draft ranking board you looked at going into the draft Neal was either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd best safety in the draft and it's a shame that a lot of pundits accused Atlanta of reaching for the player by drafting him too soon. Since the draft the Falcons GM Thomas Dimitrov has spent most of his time defending the pick. Neal is a 6'1" 211 lbs hitting machine. He is said to be better working downhill toward the line of scrimmage rather than in coverage but that is all sour grapes when you consider that CBSSports.com had him ranked as the top SS in this class.

I have seen nothing but "F's" for Cleveland's draft class. After Cleveland traded back with the Rams and gave up the #1 pick in the draft to stock up on draft picks as the new regime in Cleveland looked to jump start their rebuilding effort. I can't explain it but I have soft spot in my heart for the Browns and I'd like to see them climb out of the muck and make some noise in the AFC North. So, I decided to judge their draft myself to see if I agree.

Rd 1 - WR Corey Coleman (Baylor) - The Browns are getting ripped for this pick since Josh Doctson, Will Fuller and Lequan Treadwell were still available. Coleman is fast and he makes plays. I see no issue with this pick. A
Rd 2 - DE Emmanuel Ogbah (Okla St) - One of the top ranked pass rushers in the draft many felt was very underrated going in. Not a bad pick at all. B+
Rd 3 - DE Carl Nassib (Penn St) - This is a guy you can plug in on the strong side opposite Ogbah. Pass rushers were at a premium in this draft and while he may have gone a little high it's still a good pick. B+
Rd 3 - OT Shon Coleman (Auburn) - Great back story as a he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. He is a feel good story of a cancer survivor but he's not a bad OT. He has experience at both tackle positions and he can step right in and contribute. B+
Rd 3 - QB Cody Kessler (USC) - There were a lot of higher ranked QB's in the draft but new head coach Hue Jackson loves him some Cody. RGIII is the guy but if Griffin is unsalvageable for one reason or another Kessler will be Jackson's QB of the future. Cleveland actually has 5 QB's on the roster now but RGIII and Kessler are the clear favorites going forward. Kessler completed 67.5% of his passes as a 3 year starter at USC and ran a pro style offense so his transition should be easier than for guys like Wentz and Lynch who went in the 1st round. The downside to Kessler is he's only 6'1'' but not being the prototypical height hasn't mattered to Russell Wilson yet. C+
Rd 4 - LB Joe Schobert (Wisconsin) - I have looked at this guy doing mock drafts and I like this player. He's productive and he has size and speed and will be a good fit in a 4-3 defense or 3-4 on the inside. For the value and the spot where he was taken it is a very nice pick. A-
Rd 4 - WR Ricardo Louis (Auburn) - A very fast and athletic guy who is very raw. He needs work on his route running and he drops way too many balls. He is a project guy who was taken way too early with better receivers still on the board. D+
Rd 4 - S Derrick Kindred (TCU) - Got to give respect to a guy who played the entire season with a messed up collar bone. You know the kid is tough as nails and he's going to give you everything he has on the field. He played pretty well injured and he should be healthy going into the season. C+
Rd 4 - WR/TE Seth Devalve (Princeton) - Another reach at WR. Because of his size he will likely be a TE in Cleveland. He had so-so production at Princeton because of foot issue that required surgery to correct. As he goes into training camp he should literally be feeling better than he has in his life physically. Still a reach with much better players available. D
Rd 5 - WR Jordan Payton (UCLA) - This is a much better pick and a good value as well. Peyton is a possession receiver who just makes plays. He's reliable and he's not afraid to go over the middle. In the past two seasons Payton had 151 catchable balls and only 6 drops. Holy crap! He is the all time leader in receptions at UCLA and he will add a lot to the Browns. A+
Rd 5 - OT Spencer Drango (Baylor) - Good pick and a great value at the end of the 5th round. He needs to work on his pass blocking but he is a really good run blocker and in Cleveland with the wind whipping off Lake Erie in November and December you need to run the ball. B+
Rd 5 - WR Rashard Higgins (Colo St) - Very productive receiver in college leading the Buffs all time in rec yards, TD's and catches in his career there. Higgins was ranked much higher and therefore is a very good value here. A-
Rd 5 - CB Trey Caldwell (Louisiana-Monroe) - A small school guy who is small in stature (5'9'', 188 lbs). Cleveland needed CB help in the draft and they passed in the 3rd and 4 rounds on better players than this. I root for small school guys but Caldwell has a huge mountain to climb. F
Rd 7 - ILB Scooby Wright (Arizona) - Again, for the spot he was drafted Wright is pretty good value. At 6'0'' and 239 lbs he's undersized to play in the middle of an NFL team but he was the 5th ranked ILB according CBSSports.com. Wright is a better player than athlete because he has exceptional instincts and anticipation. He is coming off a meniscus tear similar to Myles Jack's so you can't be sure of what you are going to get from him but in the 7th round he's at least a good value pick in this spot. C-

That's it. 14 draft picks. It seemed like every time you turned around Cleveland was on the clock. I like most of their picks but I also think they wasted a lot on questionable receivers. Depending on your point of view Cleveland drafted either 4 or 5 WR's. No RB's and no DT's and their linebacker picks weren't great at all. They did try to give RGIII some weapons to work with receiver-wise but the actually swung and missed with their 3rd and 4th round picks. I have to scratch my head a little over how they used the many 3rd, 4th and 5th round picks they had. I don't think they scored an F but I'd have to say they only got a C in my book.

eagle eye

05-06-2016, 10:49 AM

Man there is all kinds of stuff going on in the NFL right now so lets take a look at some of those things.

1. CB Vernon Hargreaves has signed his contract with Tampa Bay. Hargreaves was the 11th pick overall in the draft by Tampa Bay.
2. OT Laremy Tunsil signed his deal with Miami. Tunsil was the 13th pick in the draft.
3. #17 pick S Keanu Neal signed with the Falcons.
4. #18 pick C Ryan Kelly signed with the Colts.

New England WR Danny Amendola has reportedly accepted a pay cut to remain with the team. He was slated to make $12MM over the next two years but he agree to restructure his deal and now he will make $7.5MM over the next two years with another 3/4 of a million dollars in incentives.

This must be the week for players to throw teammates or coaches under the bus. Cases in point are;
> Giants C Weston Richburg threw his fellow O-linemen under the bus by telling reporters that he's been working out at the O-Line Performance Center in Chandler, Arizona run by former NFL lineman LeCharles Bentley, the facility is aimed at reversing a disturbing lack of teaching for O-linemen at the pro level. Richburg and fellow lineman from Chicago Kyle Long say that being offensive lineman makes you a member of the "mushroom club" meaning the NFL coaches put you in a dark closet and hope something blooms. That means that the offensive linemen around the league are woefully under coached. Richburg went on to say that none of his fellow linemen from New York are at the training facility, in effect, saying they are just content to be in the NFL and didn't feel they needed extra coaching. We'll see how that plays out in the Giants locker room.
> Titans OL Chance Warmack has called out his former O-line coach Bob Bostad who was hired by former Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt. "I had one dude (coach) who played D-III football at linebacker," Warmack said during a roundtable discussion with Pete Prisco of CBS Sports (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/feature/25577288/in-the-line-of-fire). "And he's teaching me how to play offensive line? If there's nothing wrong with that, you tell me. I play offensive line. I don't play linebacker. I definitely didn't play D-III football. Warmack was the 10th overall pick in the 2013 draft by Tennessee apparently feels the man didn't fit the job. Sounds like Mr Warmack and his fellow Titans linemen should have gone to the O-Line Performance Center mentioned about. It may be a validation of what Chris Long and Weston Richburg meant when they claimed they were under coached.

One sidebar, Dallas emerged as a line that one of the best in the NFL two years ago but they seeming took a huge step back last year. The difference being in 2014 the O-line coach was Bill Callahan. Callahan left to coach the O-line in Washington and Frank Pollack, who worked under Callahan while he was in Dallas, took over. That's the only common denominator that changed. If I'm Jason Garrett there would certainly be no harm in encouraging my line to go to the LeCharles Bentley training site during the offseason. No disrespect to Frank Pollack but any time you have an opportunity to get better why not take a chance? Same with the Texans. If the attention on coaching in the NFL for O-linemen is that sparse why wouldn't you trying something that has proven to make players better?

eagle eye

05-07-2016, 10:01 AM

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has officially ended the party over their sixth round draft pick from Germany Moritz Boehringer. Boehringer was the first non American to be draft from Europe and he is a feel good story in the way he came to play American football. Or is was. According to Zimmer the story is over and it's time to go to work. Here's an article from NFL.com about Boehringer's and the rest of the Vikings draft picks and UFA's in their first practice. Notice that Boehringer got a severe initiation to our football after getting sick on several occasions in unseasonably hot weather. He will learn what it means to be in NFL football shape right quick and in a hurry.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660613/article/zimmer-on-moritz-boehringer-feelgood-story-is-over

John Elway of the Broncos stated yesterday that their first round draft pick QB Paxton Lynch will play sooner than people expect. The reason? "He's a young guy with tremendous athletic ability," Elway said. "He's got the strong arm, can make all the throws, he's smart, and he's a guy that can fit into this offense real well." Here's the link to the article on NFL.com about the Broncos rookie QB which includes a video report on Lynch at the Broncos rookie mini camp.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660532/article/elway-lynch-will-be-ready-sooner-than-people-think

Arizona's 1st round draft pick Robert Nkemdiche has signed his deal with the team as the 1st round picks continue to sign their first NFL contracts. DeForest Buckner has also signed his deal with San Francisco.

The wife of slain New Orleans DL Will Smith was in Miami to accept her late husband's MBA from the U. Racquel Smith was there in a wheel chair as she is recovering from 2 gun shot wounds to her leg suffered in the same incident that claimed her husband's life.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660450/article/wife-of-will-smith-accepts-mba-on-his-behalf

In one of the most disturbing things I've heard in a long time rookie QB from Ohio State Cardale Jones said he thought his new head coach, Rex Ryan of the Buffalo Bills, "...might be my long, lost Dad."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660418/article/cardale-jones-rex-ryan-might-be-my-long-lost-dad

eagle eye

05-09-2016, 12:12 PM

Adrian Peterson is epitome of the ultimate running back in the NFL combining power, speed and balance into a nearly unstoppable juggernaut raging through NFL defenses almost at will. The only thing that has held him back is an anemic offensive cast surrounding him. It's this fact that makes his accomplishments even more impressive. Peterson shocked the NFL world by returning in mere months after an ACL tear which, in the past, had kept a player sidelined for a year or more. There was no end to his beastliness when he came back after that ACL injury to lead the NFL in rushing and earned him Comeback Player of the Year in 2012. The list of his awards and achievements are too long to list here and everyone knows all that. The reason for this preamble is in the offseason Peterson resides in Houston. He is, after all, a Texan boy born and bred. It seems like AP is looking past his NFL career as he and a partner have opened a workout facility in Houston called O Athletik which will be detailed in the article linked below from ESPN via the Bleacher Report.

http://espn.go.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/18907/adrian-petersons-new-houston-gym-has-mma-classes-an-obstacle-course-and-organic-juice-bar

Sam Bradford's hissy fit is over and he's back at the Eagles facility preparing for the upcoming season. Sometimes a guy just needs a little time out to think things through. It won't be long before his tantrum is forgotten at least until Carson Wentz is named the starter at the end of training camp.

The Redskins have signed their 1st round pick Josh Doctson. Cowboys fans are overjoyed --- not.

Another draft pick signed and that would Titans RB Derrick Henry. BTW DeMarco Murray said he's thrilled that the Titan drafted him. Murray signed in the offseason is probably just tickled pink his carries will be smaller with Henry in the house. I wonder if Murray is happy with that big money contract he got when he left the Cowboys? He got crapped on by Chip Kelly and the Eagles and now the Titans have already put him on the back burners by drafting the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner.

The Cardinals head coach was asked what advice he would give his newest first round draft pick Robert Nkemdiche and he replied he needed him to back off a little in practice. This is probably a good thing to get a guy to throttle the intensity back a little. Arians was quoted as saying, "He was killing people in walk-through," Arians said, according to The Arizona Republic (http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2016/05/06/cardinals-bruce-arians-rookie-robert-nkemdiche-slow-down/84047412/). "I had to slow him down. It's a walk-through, and he bench-pressed a lineman already."! Great, that all the NFL needs is for the Cardinals to get better on defense.

There has been another shooting that has resulted in the death of a football player. Former Notre Dame RB and future Alabama-Birmingham RB Gregory Bryant was found in his car in West Palm Beach Florida on Sunday after the shooting occurred Saturday night. Here is the article about the death of the 21 year old this past weekend. Man, when are we going to stop solving problems with a gun? This kid had his whole life ahead of him and now it's over. What a waste.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660771/article/uab-rb-gregory-bryant-declared-brain-dead-day-after-shooting

eagle eye

05-10-2016, 11:54 AM

The San Diego Chargers got the second best RB in the 2015 according to the "experts". Trouble was they didn't know Melvin Gordon wasn't going to play like the 2nd best RB in the draft. To say Gordon was a disappointment I believe a San Diego fan would say with supreme sarcasm, "Ya think?". Imagine how the Chargers faithful feel now that it has been released that Gordon had microfracture surgery at the conclusion of the 2015 season. It's being reported that the recovery window for Gordon is 4-6 months which would put him able to go around the 1st of July. All I can say is he must have had a less severe injury than either the Texans Jadeveon Clowney or Dallas' Anthony Spencer. Clowney had his surgery in 2014 and only showed flashes of potential at the end of the 2015 season. Spencer had his surgery in late 2013. He only showed flashes of his potential late in the 2014 season. He signed with New Orleans in 2015 but spent the season on injured reserve after injuring himself in training camp. His status for 2016 is unknown. Good luck to Gordon as he tries to make it back this season but the odds plus the history of microfracture surgery say he won't be himself until 2017. We'll see, but in the meantime San Diego drafted a lot of guys but RB wasn't a position addressed in their draft. As a result San Diego has what they have and we'll see what that gets them.

Former OC for the Broncos and new head coach of the Miami Dolphins gets you a little extra perk or two. One of those perks was that former Bronco QB Peyton Manning is available for favors and apparently Gase called in a big favor. While he is installed his offense in Miami Gase felt it was beneficial to have Manning come down in the offseason and do a little tutoring in the fine points of the new offense with 5th year QB Ryan Tannehill. It sure as heck can't hurt to have the all time leading passer in NFL history do some one-on-one with your starting QB! There's no doubt that Manning was able to jump start Tannehill's initiation to Gase's offense.

Man, you'd think a 2nd round draft pick would not need frequent flyer miles because of changing teams so much but as the #50 pick overall in the 2013 draft Jon Bostic is getting a tour of the NFL in the least agreeable way, by changing teams. First he's drafted by the Bears then dealt to New England and 8 months later he goes to Detroit. The fact is the new GM of Lions is the former Director of Pro Scouting for the Patriots. He left New England on good terms with the team and Bill Belichick in particular so there are positive lines of communications between Quinn and the Patriots which no doubt facilitated this deal.

Here's a link to an article from Chris Wesserling of NFL.com about 10 things learned from this past weekend's rookie mini camps around the NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000660975/article/ten-things-we-learned-from-nfl-rookie-minicamps

eagle eye

05-16-2016, 09:23 AM

Man, you know you've hit rock bottom when you lose your job to Matt Cassel. Brandon Weeden felt that sting last year when he lose his job to Cassel in Dallas. Cassel wasn't great going in but he flat out stank in Big D. Now, Zack Mettenberger has to feel the cold hand of fate as he has now lost his job backing up Marcus Mariota in Tennessee to Cassel. Mettenberger has been sort of bad since he came to the Titans in the 6th round of the 2014 draft but some consideration has to be given to the fact the Titans sucked the big one the last 2 seasons. Mettenberger is only 24 and at 6'5" and 224 lbs equipped with a strong arm he should find work somewhere else hopefully with better coaching and a better team around him.

This gets me to thinking what is going to become of the New York Jets QB Bryce Petty. He was highly touted coming out of Baylor as a guy with loads of talent that needed to learn how to play under center and read defenses since he came from the Baylor offense that doesn't depend on either skill. Petty is 6'3'' and 230 lbs and he can throw a ball a country mile so you wonder why the Jets decide to draft Christian Hackenberg in the 2nd round of this year's draft. Of the 3 QBs on the roster none except Geno Smith has any experience. The Jets seem miles away from a deal with last year's starter Ryan Fitzpatrick who would be a great mentor to either of the Jets QBs. As for Smith he seems to have the least amount of upside going forward as he was considered a huge reach by the Jets when they drafted him 2nd round of the 2013 draft. The Jets seemed to be under a more stable organization after Rex Ryan was fired and Todd Boles was hired to replace him but the impasse with Fitzpatrick doesn't make sense with absolutely they either have no experience at QB or a QB worth a damn. I'm sure the Jets want Fitz back but they don't want to pay an arm or leg for his services.

Here's a feel good story. Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald made good on his promise to his mother and completed his college degree. Fitzgerald was a student at the University of Pittsburgh when his mother was suffering from breast cancer. He made a promise to her before she died in 2003 that he would finish his degree. This past weekend Fitzgerald earned his Bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Phoenix 13 years after making that promise to his mom. After the 2003 season spending only 2 non red shirt years in college Fitz petitioned the NFL for the right to enter the 2004 draft which was granted. He was drafted with the 3rd pick in the draft in 2004 and he has been great ever since. He never forgot his promise to his mother and he graduated on Saturday fulfilling that pledge.

Speaking of graduations, Russell Wilson was asked to give a commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin this past weekend. Wilson earned his graduate degree at Wisconsin after getting his Bachelor's at North Carolina State. During his speech among all the life advice he gave the students there he added some humor in a self deprecating style, "Of course, I'm also here to share some things I've learned," Wilson said, via ESPN.com (http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15542833/seattle-seahawks-quarterback-russell-wilson-pokes-fun-commencement-speech). "Things like, if you're dating a woman that's way out of your league, ask her to marry you. If you can throw a football 80 yards, for some reason, people think that's pretty cool. And if you're playing the New England Patriots (http://www.nfl.com/teams/newenglandpatriots/profile?team=NE) in the Super Bowl (http://www.nfl.com/superbowl), and you've got 26 seconds left and you're down by four, and it's second and goal on their 1-yard line, try not to throw an interception. That's purely, purely hypothetical though, of course."

After a rocky end to his college career because of failed drug tests Arizona took a chance on "The Honeybadger" and drafted Tyrann Mathieu in the 3rd round of the 2013 draft. Ever since he came to the NFL he has flown the straight and narrow. Not only that he proved a 5'9'' 189 lb guy can be a player in the NFL. He came in an under head coach Bruce Arians envisioned Mathieu as a safety and he was right, he's been better than good. At the end of 2015 Mathieu was named to his first Pro Bowl and also named All Pro. Unfortunately, Mathieu's 2015 didn't end on a high note because he tore is ACL in December ending his season. The injury also casts some doubt as whether he'll be ready for the start of this season but it hasn't hurt his chances of getting a huge contract extension. NFL.com's Ian Rappaport has reported that Mathieu could get a contract extension this summer making him one of, if not THE highest paid safeties in the NFL. If he does it's an admission by the Cardinals of how important he is to them.

After 47 years in coaching and the last 20 years as a head coach in the NFL for Jacksonville and the NY Giants Tom Coughlin was fired, or resigned, or something from the Giants after the end of the 2015 season. You'd think Coughlin would be happy to walk off into the sunset with Super Bowl rings and the respect of the whole sport. Not so much. Coughlin says the coaching juices are flowing again and he's itching to get another chance to coach, I'm assuming head coach, of an NFL team. Right now there are no jobs to be had in the NFL and Coughlin is almost 70 years old. A team hoping to rebuild isn't looking for a septuagenarian to be their coach of the future. The Giants did that man wrong and he's been under the gun to be fired for years but he always proved the media and fans wrong. It really sucks to get old and nobody wants you.

eagle eye

05-17-2016, 12:30 PM

Buffalo's front office has to have some happy campers sitting around today. Just yesterday they find out their 1st round draft pick, DE Shaq Lawson from Clemson will be unavailable for about 5-6 MONTHS because he needs shoulder surgery which is taking place today. The injury is one that is preventative in nature that stems from a condition he had his senior year at Clemson. Lawson played with a bad should in his final year in college never missing a game because of it. In fact, Lawson never missed a game of the 41 games the Tigers played when he was there. That wasn't the only bad news for the Bills. WR Sammy Watkins suffered a broken bone in his foot that will require surgery. Actually the surgery took place 3 weeks ago. The doctors repaired the broken bone in his foot and they inserted a screw to stabilize the joint. It doesn't sound too much different than the surgery Dez Bryant had done last year after his foot was broken in Week 1 against the Giants. Bryant attempted to come back too soon from the surgery and it affected his whole game in a detrimental way. The Bills are saying that Watkins will be ready for training camp but as with Bryant and Julio Jones a couple of years ago, coming back too soon is not a good thing.

Mark Sanchez will miss at least the start of OTA's for the Broncos after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his non-throwing hand over the weekend. Sanchez is looking to be the starter in Week 1 for the Broncos but this surgery will open the door for Broncos 1st round draft choice Paxton Lynch a kick-start to his career by getting a bunch of Sanchez' reps. If Lynch is a quick study and is able to grasp Gary Kubiak's offense the momentum for him to the opening day starter will gain with every extra rep he gets while Sanchez recovers.

It looks like RB Darren Sproles might be on the trading block. As a result of the reports that he might get traded Sproles is holding out from participating in OTA's with the Eagles until his situation clarifies itself. The reason is he doesn't want to compromise his trade value by getting hurt. I can't imagine why Philadelphia would want to trade a guy as valuable as Sproles but I have scratched my head after a couple of the moves this new head coach and front office have made this offseason.

eagle eye

05-19-2016, 07:55 AM

Here is an article from SI.com about the top free agents still available to be signed by an NFL team.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/05/18/top-remaining-free-agents-ryan-fitzpatrick-arian-foster

Here's an article from NFL.com's Chris Wesserling about his notion that a paradigm is emerging in the NFL led by Tennessee, Dallas and the LA Rams who are building a team that features a strong run game. This type of offensive system is totally old school and flies in the face of the current trend of the NFL being a pass first league. All three teams have spent high draft picks on offensive linemen with Dallas leading the way with 3 first round draft picks, a guy who should've been a 1st round pick if not for off field issues and is generally regard among the best O-lines in football. All three have invested high draft picks on franchise-type running backs. This also goes against recent belief that you don't use a high draft pick on a running back. The Rams took Todd Gurley in the top 15 in 2015, Dallas has taken Ezekiel Elliott with the 4th overall pick this year and Tennessee has traded for former Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray who set a Cowboys franchise record 1,845 yards rushing in 2014. After an ill-advised detour to Philadelphia he is in a system that will use him properly. Not only did Tennessee acquire Murray but they also drafted the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry in the 2nd round of this year's draft. Neither guy is going to scare you with their breakaway speed but they will punish you for every yard they gain. Power running backs. This is probably the best tandem since Kevin Mack and Ernest Byner were the Browns 1-2 punch during the late 1980's when the only thing between Cleveland and two Super Bowl appearances was a last minute drive by John Elway and the Broncos and a fumble by Byner on the Broncos 2 yard line with a minute left in the game. This old school approach worked for Dallas in 2014 when Tony Romo had his most efficient season of his career because of the effectiveness of Murray running the ball. The old school approach is interesting to see how it unfolds.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000663325/article/titans-cowboys-rams-returning-to-power-football

eagle eye

05-21-2016, 06:52 AM

The Pittsburgh Steelers are more known for their smash mouth toughness and for being perpetually good, always in contention for the playoffs. You don't really count them as folks on top of the latest technology but we might need to think again. In the link below we see the Steelers' leap into the future with technology that will help protect players from excessive contact and thereby protect them from injury as a result of said contact. The link below is from Steelers.com with an accompanying video to show how the technology works.

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Steelers-experiment-with-new-technology/411c9642-781a-4c46-b764-66867db975e6

The Jacksonville Jaguars 1st round pick, the 5th pick overall, Jalen Ramsey from Florida State was injured during workouts the other day. The injury is a partially torn meniscus in his right knee. The severity of the injury has yet to be determined and he is slated to get a second opinion early next week. If the prognosis is good it is being reported that he could be back in time for training camp. Ramsey had microfracture surgery on the same knee when he was a sophomore in high school. The Jags have got to feel a little snake bit because last year's 1st round pick, DE Dante Fowler, missed the entire 2015 season because of a torn ACL. Ramsey and the Jags are hoping this is not that serious.

The Broncos have a guy who wants to be a starter. That is not earth shattering news but something he said may ruffle a few feathers in the locker room. The Broncos 4th round pick, RB Devontae Booker from Utah, came out and started talking smack like he was a 1st round pick. Booker was quoted as saying, "My message to Broncos (http://www.nfl.com/teams/denverbroncos/profile?team=DEN) fans is I want to be one of the best running backs to come out of Denver," Booker told NFL Media on Thursday during the NFL Players Association Rookie Premiere in Los Angeles. "I'm not there to carry pads. I'm there to take someone's job." (https://twitter.com/NFL/status/733481146730876928) Rookie talking major smack, is that a good thing or not? We won't know until September.

Former Lions RB Jahvid Best is not from St Lucia, an island nation in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean, but he has family ties there. That is significant because it enables him be on their track team. His career in Detroit was marred by concussions that cut his career short, he was cut by the Lions in July of 2013. His athletic career is getting a second shot because, like San Francisco's Jarryd Hayne, he will be representing that country in the upcoming Olympic Games. Best will run in the qualifier for the Olympic Games in June where he will have to run a minimum of a 10.16 in the 100 meter dash. BTW Hayne retired from the NFL earlier this year so he could play for the Fiji National Rugby team. Like Best, Hayne isn't a Fijian but he has connections by family to Fiji which allows him to play for them.

eagle eye

05-23-2016, 05:41 PM

Good Lord will this deflate-gate ever end? I guess not any time soon. The latest news is that Tom Brady has filed appeal for a rehearing by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals of New York. The appeal is an en banc hearing that will involve all 13 members instead of the 3 man court that reversed the lower court decision earlier this year. I think that the NFL league office and Roger Goodell in particular was just too severe in it's handling of the deflate-gate issue. The punitive penalties handed down by Goodell spoke of a guy with a vendetta against the Patriots. Fining the team a million dollars and seizing their 1st round draft pick is harsh if that's all Goodell did but suspending Brady 4 games was over the top. Pats owner Robert Kraft rolled over and accepted the sanctions against his team with the understanding that Goodell would go easy on Brady. When that didn't happen it was clear as a glass of water that Kraft was mega-pissed at what was Goodell's betrayal. I am rooting for Brady, it doesn't mean I like him or the Patriots but, I don't like injustice and I think the NFL was so wrong in this case.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000664303/article/tom-brady-files-petition-for-suspension-case-rehearing

In yet another bogus outcome for the NFL league office a democratic leader of the US House said that the NFL attempted to influence the study into brain injuries. It's too involved for me to summarize here so below is a link to the NFL.com article with the details of the ongoing case of how football relates to brain trauma.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000664412/article/house-report-nfl-attempted-to-influence-brain-injury-study

eagle eye

05-26-2016, 06:28 AM

The New England Patriots (read Pat's owner Robert Kraft) have filed a petition with the court of appeals to hear the "deflate-gate" appeal filed by Tom Brady earlier this week. The paper that was filed stated that the Patriots had a "strong interest" in the case which is obvious in that a positive outcome for Brady who negate the 4 game suspension Brady is supposed to serve to begin the 2016 season.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000665057/article/patriots-ask-appeals-court-to-rehear-tom-bradys-case-vs-nfl

Wes Welker is still on the fence over whether or not he will retire. He was on the NFL Channel yesterday and part of the discussion was about whether or not he will play this season. He's had a bunch of concussions in the past 3 years with the Broncos and Rams causing him to miss a bunch of games. Welker actually was on the Rams roster last season but he was virtually a non-factor for St Louis. He is currently a free agent and I'm sure he was semi-trolling for a team with his guest shot on the NFL channel. Trouble is, you wonder how many teams will take a chance on a 35 year old WR with a history of concussions.

Sam Bradford missed the start of offseason work because he was pouting over the fact Philly drafted Carson Wentz in this year's draft. He got over it and came back to work and has been on the field for the first of the Eagle's OTA's. It seems as though the Eagles are doing whatever they can to piss Mr Bradford off again because the OC for the Eagles said yesterday that it would be a mistake to pencil in Bradford as the starter for them. Both the OC, Frank Ryan and the DC Jim Schwartz both said starting QB is a competition and it would be a mistake to assume any sort of order. For a guy like Bradford who obviously has a bit of a fragile ego this may feel like it's a bit of a slap in the face. It could be that Bradford's days in Philly could be limited because he doesn't seem to have much support from his coaches.

eagle eye

05-28-2016, 09:51 AM

I did not like Buddy Ryan. Not when he was the DC with the Bears, not when he was head coach of the Eagles or DC of the Houston Oilers. That old man was just a loud mouthed bully as far as I'm concerned and I knew what kind of man he was went he tried to punch Houston's OC Kevin Gilbride then he bragged about it afterward even calling Gilbride a wimp. The fact is Ryan took a swing at Gilbride but it didn't land and coaches and teammates kept the two apart on the sideline. BTW, did I mention all this took place during a game? Ryan is a douche and he raise two sons who are douches. Rex, the head coach of the Bills is a douche but he's not nearly the tool bag his brother Rob is. I hated it when the Cowboys hired Rob to be their DC and for one year the defense pure D sucked. All the while Rob never lost that Ryan bluster every week declaring the defense would be great. It wasn't and it was pretty clear Ryan didn't fit with Jason Garrett. He was fired after his lone season as the Cowboys DC and hired by New Orleans. For two seasons the Saints defense sucked and at the end of two seasons Ryan was again fired. He didn't stay unemployed long as he was hired by his brother to be the DC in Buffalo. In 2015 the Bills under first year head coach Rob were disappointing going 8-8 and missing out on the playoffs. I really thought Ryan inherited a good team when he took over the NY Jets and he rode those players to the AFC Championship game 2 years in a row but as free agency claimed most of the good player from that roster the Jets got progressively worse. He was obviously no help on offense because he is a defensive coach and as the Jets got worse Ryan became a persona non grata in New York. Ryan certainly talks a good game, hell both of them do, but the results don't reflect the massive bravado both brothers exude. Now Rob and his brother got interviewed by NFL.com and Rob has not problem throwing the Saints under the bus and absolving himself from any blame for the Saints league worst defense the two years in was in New Orleans. I kind of like Buffalo as a franchise and I like the fact they are a small market team who have been successful in spite of that but, I hope the Ryan brothers fall flat on their faces. I don't like their father and I sure don't like them.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000665499/article/rob-ryan-saints-lastplace-defense-wasnt-my-fault

eagle eye

06-02-2016, 06:13 AM

The Pro Bowl is moving to Orlando Florida next year. In a deal that links the PB with the Disney Corporation and ESPN means the hype will certainly escalate. It's not likely the game will be any better but what the hell, it's an exhibition and to expect players with nothing really on the line to go all out is ridiculous. The NFL Pro Bowl is the least interesting game of the big four sports because the chance of suffering a severe injury is too great if players go all out. It just isn't an event worth chancing a career threatening injury over. Hence, the quality of the game is pretty poor. But, moving the game to the mainland and tying together with Disney and the Mothership can't hurt. The format has been, for the past 3 years, a game where Michael Irvin and Jerry Rice choose their teams sort of like a playground pickup game without regard to whether the players are AFC or NFC affiliated. That will change for the next game as the format goes back to conference vs conference. It's all a lot of hooey over nothing but what the heck, the most interesting thing to see is how Disney's involvement will help the pageantry of the game. We'll likely get to see Mickey, Goofy and Pluto prance around the field as part of the festivities. That's actually fitting because the game is pretty much a Mickey Mouse affair anyway. There are a lot of people who will benefit from the game and all the details are discussed in this article from NFL.com below.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000666054/article/orlando-pro-bowl-returning-to-afcnfc-format-in-2017

This is really Texans news but the Denver Broncos will be scheduled to go to the White House to meet with President Obama. It will be the last such event for Obama who is serving his final year of his final term in office. Previously Obama has hosted the Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants, Ravens, Seahawks and Patriots. It will be the 8th and final time the White House will greet the NFL champs with Obama as the sitting president. What is somewhat newsworthy is that Texans QB Brock Osweiler was extended an invitation to go to the White House with his former teammates but he has chosen instead to stay with the Texans attending scheduled OTA practice. In an attempt to stir up some controversy the media has tried to stir the pot by asking Broncos GM John Elway his feelings about Osweiler declining to go meet President Obama. Elway refused to bite simply saying the decision was Osweiler's and "It's his choice." There was some feeling that Elway was a tad pissed at Osweiler for leaving Denver for Houston since the Broncos had drafted Osweiler and developed him but Osweiler instead opted to sign a big contract offered by the Texans leaving Denver and its less lucrative offer. If you're a Texans fan you've got to say "That's pretty cool for Osweiler to skip meeting the president to be with the team.". By contrast, if you're a Broncos fan you are likely saying, "F--- him!".

A laptop computer containing confidential player information was stolen from the locked car of a Redskins trainer. The computer was password protected but not encrypted so there is some danger of the information could get out. Here's the article from NFL.com talking about the matter.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000666134/article/redskins-laptop-containing-player-data-was-stolen

eagle eye

06-07-2016, 06:45 AM

The only real news lately is Broncos safety Aqib Talib being shot in the leg at a Dallas night club. When I saw the headline about the incident I thought that Denver is a rough place for athletes. This wouldn't have been the first NFL player shot in the Mile High City and the Broncos have had to deal with way too much tragedy since 2007 when Broncos Darrent Williams was killed in a drive by shooting as he and several teammates left a nightclub. It is another incident involving a Broncos player which is a bit unsettling if you're John Elway. Talib is a Dallas native and it's not the first time he's gotten into trouble in Dallas. I guess it's a case of being able to take a kid off the street but not being able to take the street out of the man.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000666908/article/aqib-talib-released-from-hospital-after-being-shot

Roger Goodell was interviewed at a charity golf event yesterday and he said when asked if there were any settlement talks between him and Tom Brady that there were no such talks. That's no shock since Brady and Goodell have exhausted those types of communication long ago. It looks like it will come down to the appeal for another appeal with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case in full instead of just the 3 man court that convened in May that overturned the ruling that overturned Brady's 4 game suspension. Goodell gave all that lip service saying its the commissioner's job to protect the integrity of the game when the whole time this looked like Goodell has a vendetta against the Patriots and Brady is part his crusade to punish them.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000667191/article/roger-goodell-no-settlement-talks-with-tom-brady

Here's an early fantasy football tip. If you're looking for a tight end in this year's fantasy draft I would remind you all of one Julius Thomas of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last offseason the Jags acquired Thomas as a free agent from the Denver Broncos but he wasn't much of a factor in Jacksonville because of injuries but he's had the chance to completely heal and he should step up and become yet another target for Blake Bortles along with Allan Hurns and Allen Robinson and RB TJ Yeldon among the Jags embarrassingly rich bunch of weapons.

It's almost inconceivable to think that this could be the last season Drew Brees in the starting QB of the Saints but there is talk that just may be the case. With Brees slated to count $30MM against the Saints salary cap the speculation over whether Brees will be offered a contract extension to lower that cap hit. It's a hard thing to offer a long term deal to a 37 year old QB since there really isn't a "long term" to work with. You might give Brees an offer that will extend him 2 extra seasons at most but you are betting that Brees will still be able to play at 40. Even Peyton Manning was just a shadow of himself last season and he was 39. Here's an article from ProFootballTalk about the challenges of giving Brees a new deal.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/06/05/guaranteed-money-could-be-the-sticking-point-on-a-drew-brees-deal/

eagle eye

06-08-2016, 06:22 AM

The story of Aqib Talib's gunshot wound has taken a turn toward the absurd. It seems that the authorities are now investigating the possibility that Talib pulled a Plaxico Burress and accidently shot himself. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

The Patriots had missed their star cornerback Malcolm Butler during OTA's the past two weeks and it was being reported he was holding out because he wanted his contract renegotiated. He is only scheduled to make $660 K this season and he made but $510 K last season and for a guy who was the hero of Super Bowl XLIX and made All Pro last year is severely under paid. Butler denied to reporters yesterday missing OTA's because of his contract, he said it was because of a family matter or something like that. That last part was quote and sound really vague which makes you wonder if he's just being a good soldier acting in the "Patriot Way". Who knows but the fact is I believe Butler has a bitch based on what he's meant to the Patriots the last couple of years. Butler was an undrafted free agent back in 2014 so he is entering the 3rd year of his original contract and it may be the Patriots don't often renegotiate.

This time of year there are all kinds of lists flying around the media surrounding the NFL. This one, IMO, is kind of interesting because it could be a clue to fantasy football sleepers and after all it's not all that long until it's time to think about fantasy draft season is here. This list is from NFL.com and concerns 10 players who are not getting enough attention.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000667021/article/ten-players-who-arent-getting-attention-they-deserve

eagle eye

06-15-2016, 06:49 AM

You don't hear about stuff like this often especially in reference to a veteran player but last week Tampa Bay TE Austin Sefarian-Jenkins was kicked off the practice field because, in the words of Buc head coach Dick Koetter, ASJ was kicked out of practice "...for not knowing what he was doing.". Wow, that is not good. Afterward he got into a fracas with media and fans as he left the field. ASJ was back at practice for the Bucs mini camp very apologetic about what had happened. We'll see if he really meant it or if he was just saying the right things to get the spotlight off him.

In the link below NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal gives us his 10 takeaways from mini camp practices around the NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000669404/article/top-10-takeaways-from-tuesdays-nfl-minicamps

Brandon Marshall got a contract extension. He would also probably like to have Ryan Fitzpatrick back with him as well but it's looking less and less likely that's going to happen.

Victor Cruz is participating in Giants mini camp. He participated in individual drills only but he's expected to be ready for training camp. Cruz has not played an NFL game since the 2014 season so I would imagine anything they get from Cruz will be appreciated.

NFL.com is reporting that Broncos QBs Trevor Siemian (who?) and Mark Sanchez are neck and neck in the race to become the Broncos starting QB when the season begins in September. Siemian was the Broncos 7th round pick in last year's draft out of Northwestern. He fell in the draft because he suffered an ACL tear his senior season in college. It is being reported that Siemian has been impressive during offseason work and has shown a real talent for throwing the ball. All this discussion mean that Paxton Lynch will begin the season as QB #3 on the depth chart. So what happens if Siemian turns out to be a special player? Well, the Broncos will own him for 3 more years and it will give the team time to determine if Lynch is going to be worth a darn in the NFL.

This final tidbit from NFL.com. An enigmatic men's softball player in Philadelphia has been the subject of some controversy of late. The player's name is Dick Mahoney and this is a funny story.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000669406/article/who-is-dick-mahoney-walter-thurmond-knows

eagle eye

06-23-2016, 06:56 PM

This 5-6 week period of players being on vacation should be called "Dumb men walking" instead of the common prison saying, dead man walking, as the final walk of a condemned prisoner. This period is a dreaded time for NFL coaching staffs and front office personnel because their roster is free to walk around on their only real vacation in the football year. Yes, they still work out to stay in shape for training camp but there are a good many of these players who choose to go on vacations where recreational drugs and driving under the influence is a real possibility. Then there are those who can't stay out of trouble at a night club or even a private part that can result in stabbings and shootings. It's funny, most of the shootings occur as the self inflicted sort. Apparently the best athletes in the world are much when it comes to handling firearms. Stay tuned because the reports will be coming in before you know it.

Now that I've bashed the whole of the NFL it is time to talk a little fantasy. If you're smart you get a jump on player research so you get a leg up on the other guys in your league. Most of the talk now is simply speculation but the experts are right more than they are wrong. In this article from NFL.com Adam Rank lists his 16 bold fantasy predictions for the coming season.

http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball/story/0ap3000000670916/article/16-bold-fantasy-football-predictions-for-2016

This article from NFL.com takes a look at 3 players who were fantasy busts in 2015 and the prospects for a rebound to former form or whether they will continue to stink. There are links in the article on the fantasy prospectus for Packers RB Eddie Lacy, Colts QB Andrew Luck and Bengals RB Jeremy Hill.

http://www.nfl.com/fantasyfootball/story/0ap3000000670951/article/fantasy-bustamove-who-will-rebound-in-2016

Free agents not signed at this time of year likely won't get signed until around mid August as injuries start taking their toll on rosters around the NFL. NFL.com takes a look at the top 6 free agents still available. One of those is Arian Foster who is rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon suffered early last season. It is being reported that Foster still needs a few

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000662567/article/six-most-interesting-players-still-on-freeagent-market

eagle eye

06-27-2016, 01:48 PM

Johnny Football was in the news again over the weekend as news of his lawyer "accidentally" texting client privileged information to the wrong guy. The lawyer texted info about Manziel's drug use, cash and domestic violence plea to an AP reporter. I don't believe it was an accident but I wonder how much trouble that lawyer will get into over this mess. Even Manziel's father reiterated that his son is a "druggie" and would benefit going to jail over his domestic violence charge. It's a shame to see a guy throw his life away like Manziel is.

http://www.tmz.com/2016/06/24/johnny-manziel-attorney-accidentally-texts-reporter-about-drugs-crash-dom-violence/

Here we go---the dumbasses are starting to come out of the woodwork.
> Jacksonville Jags LB Dan Skuta is being charged with first degree misdemeanor battery. No details of the incident are available yet. Skuta, 30, will be battling with the Jags 2nd round pick out of UCLA, Myles Jack, for the starting outside LB spot. Maybe Skuta went all Jim Carrey and beat himself up in an Orlando bathroom.

Remember the Al Jazeera America article accusing Peyton Manning of taking PED's? Yeah, I figured you did. This story just won't go away but Manning is out of the glare of it by virtue of his retirement. Also by virtue that the guy who accused the players of doping crawfished and has said he is not a reliable narrator. Here's the article from Bleacher Report about the issue.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2648333-nfl-to-interview-players-connected-to-al-jazeera-america-report-on-peds

As of last Wednesday there were seven drafted players who were not yet signed. There are 3 first rounders and 4 3rd rounders. The 3rd round picks are the least surprising because even though there is a rookie salary cap and the rookie contracts are slotted according to where they are drafted there seems to be more leeway for 3rd round draft picks. This also includes Cowboys 3rd rounder Maliek Collins who remains as the only Cowboys draft pick unsigned. Linked below is an article about the players who still haven't signed their contracts.

http://www.profootballrumors.com/2016/06/unsigned-rookies-2016-nfl

eagle eye

06-28-2016, 07:48 AM

So yesterday I wondered what would happen with the lawyer who "accidentally" sent a private text to an AP reporter in regard to privileged information about his client Johnny Manziel. It didn't take long for something to happen. Yesterday the lawyer, Bob Hinton, resigned from the case but I can't believe this is the end of it. The guy is in line for some serious law suits and maybe even disbarment. Divulging privileged information about your own client is some seriously messed up stuff and it could adversely affect Manziel's legal team's ability to get the best deal for Manziel. Yep, I can see Hinton being sued by the Manziels.

Long time NFL coach Buddy Ryan died today at age 82. A lot of people liked Ryan especially guys who played for Ryan. I have made my personal feelings known about the man here in various threads but out of respect I will keep my feelings to myself. He was an innovative defensive coach and had been for a long time. Both of his sons, Rob and Rex are both NFL coaches so Ryan's legacy lives on. Here's a link about Ryan's death from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000671619/article/former-nfl-coach-buddy-ryan-dies-at-age-82

Former Detroit Lions WR Calvin Johnson recently talked about why he won't rethink his retirement and come back and play in the NFL. In an article from the Bleacher Report Megatron talked about the aches and pains he has and the pain he played through his last couple of seasons has taken a toll on his body. In his words he just got "fed up". Johnson is the 2nd high profile player from Detroit to retire with years left on his career joining RB Barry Sanders as an early retiree.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2648481-calvin-johnson-reveals-when-he-decided-to-retire-from-nfl

Finally, Mike Tannier of Bleacher Report talks about how the NFL continues to make money off the unsuspecting public during the summer. Kind of interesting and funny, but also sort of long, article.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2648716-lunch-and-circuses-how-the-nfl-squeezes-extra-summer-cash-out-of-fans

eagle eye

06-30-2016, 09:13 AM

So now Andrew Luck is the highest paid football player in history. He agree to a deal that will pay him $140MM over six years with $87MM guaranteed. That's a lot of money for a guy who has a tendency to turn the ball over. Luck missed 9 games due to a variety of injuries last year including a lacerated kidney. To say he won't be rested would be wrong and between missing a lot of 2015 and this new contract you'd expect Luck to be rarin' to go when training camp starts.

I'm not sure how I missed it but NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah began a series called "First Look" previewing some of college football's top talent heading toward the 2016 season. In this installment he takes a look at Alabama LB Tim Williams. I wonder if Jeremiah has heard of Kade Harrington? As the days pass I'll catch up on the previous players he profiled but for starters Williams isn't a bad place to start.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000671481/article/first-look-scouting-alabama-olb-tim-williams

eagle eye

07-05-2016, 07:20 AM

To continue the "First Look" series by NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah today he takes a look at USC senior WR JuJu Smith-Schuster.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000670606/article/first-look-scouting-usc-wr-juju-smithschuster

You know it's a slow time on the NFL news beat when the marquee headline on NFL.com is player reactions to Kevin Durant's signing by the Golden State Warriors. Coaches and GMs across the NFL are tickled to death that the biggest news in the NFL is a basketball story. That means their players haven't done anything stupid -- yet. You talk about coaches getting ulcers but I believe they are chugging antacid tablets like M&Ms in the time between the final summer practices and training camp. This is the time when the ultimate control freaks have absolutely no control whatsoever over their players. Their young, virile, immature, testosterone infused players with no outlet for their adrenalin are left without a father figure to keep them from doing something incredibly stupid as it relates to their NFL careers. I'll bet coaches reach for tums the Maalox or a similar antacid relief medicine on a daily basis.

The NFL supplemental draft is coming up on July 14th. The supplemental draft is historically meant for players who declare late or have missed time in college due to disciplinary problems and/or other issues. Last year Clemson OL Isaiah Battle was selected in the 5th round of the supplemental draft and he was the only player selected. Battle was also the first player selected in the supplemental draft since 2012. The first link below is NFL.com's list of the 6 top players available in the supplemental draft. The second link below lists the top players selected in the supplemental draft over the years.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000672751/article/six-players-eligible-for-selection-in-2016-nfl-supplemental-draft

http://www.nfl.com/photos/0ap1000000217328

It's a new day and age isn't it? Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell released a rap song he made on this twitter account over the weekend that covered a lot of issues but it also gives him a platform to tell the Steelers and the world what kind of salary he is looking for. Check out this link from NFL.com about Bell's rap career.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000672954/article/leveon-bell-hints-steelers-know-his-worth-in-rap-lyrics

eagle eye

07-06-2016, 06:40 AM

There has been some bad news come up. One is a tragic accident and the other has got to be classified as just dumb.
First former Iowa and Buffalo Bills O-lineman Kyle Calloway was killed when he was hit by a train while he was jogging in his home town of Tucson Arizona. Calloway was an All Big 10 lineman at Iowa and he was drafted in the 10th round of the 2010 draft by Buffalo. He never made an NFL roster, he was released in training camp by the Bills his rookie year and he signed with Baltimore the following year and appeared in two preseason games before being cut. Calloway's father told reporters that his son was out jogging by the tracks which is what he did for exercise. It had rained the day before and he jumped back and forth on and off the tracks to avoid muddy conditions. It sounds to me like Calloway may have slipped and fallen down because of his muddy shoes and couldn't get out of the way of the train quickly enough. At any rate it is a shame, Calloway was just 29 years old.
The knuckleheads club may have a new member. I said "may have" because the whole story has yet to come out. In San Bernardino California Tampa Bay OL Dominique Robertson was shot twice in the leg but Sheriff's deputy, Olivia Bozek, reported he has injuries to his back, buttocks and leg. Police have been unable to find any evidence of a crime scene in the area where Robertson says he was shot and no witnesses or reports of gunfire at the time of the shooting have been found. Robertson was signed as an undrafted free agent in May by the Bucs so he has only gone through OTA's and mini camp with the team so far in his pro career. This is definitely a setback for him. Thankfully, the wounds are not significant and he was treated and released from Loma Linda Hospital. All this took place on Monday July 4th. Police are still investigating the matter and they report there are no suspects in the case as yet.

Last season in Week 8 Seattle was playing the Dallas Cowboys. WR Ricardo Lockette was on the punt coverage team and on play he had participated in a thousand times he pushed off a block and bam, Cowboys safety Jeff Heath crashed into him leaving him motionless and conscious and scared on the field of play. Lockette retired in May because of that hit and he is thankful he has a second chance at life because lying on that field he wasn't sure he would have any second chance. Check out the link to the article from NFL.com that includes a rather chilling blow by blow account of the injury that forced him to retire. At the end of the article there is a link to his retirement message that is equally as powerful as the article.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673036/article/ricardo-lockette-thankful-for-another-chance-after-hit

eagle eye

07-07-2016, 06:39 AM

In today's installment of NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah series "First Look" he profiles Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey. Want to feel old? Christian is the middle son of former Stanford and Denver Bronco great WR Ed McCaffrey.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000668945/article/first-look-scouting-stanford-rb-christian-mccaffrey

In NFL.com's annual top 100 players in the NFL the guy at No 1 is Carolina's Cam Newton. I don't know why I mention this because I don't care about this list because I rarely agree with the rankings. It's just a popularity contest in some respects and I think it's just something for a conversation that doesn't mean anything. So, there it is. Cam is number one. Wake me up when training camp starts.

eagle eye

07-08-2016, 07:25 AM

Today's "First Look" from NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah focuses on Florida cornerback Jalen Tabor.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673227/article/first-look-scouting-florida-cb-jalen-tabor

Wide receivers are such divas. No other position do you have to put with the phrase "I need the ball more" or some variation of that old song and dance. Yesterday on NFL.com 34 year old Roddy White complains that if Atlanta had used him right the Falcons would have made the playoffs. Really? REALLY? C'mon Roddy you are over the hill in WR years and you are just trolling for a job since the Falcons cut ties with you during the offseason. The fact you don't have a job yet speaks volumes about what you showed on tape from last season. Even the Patriots who are notorious for recycling WR's did come calling. Roddy, you were a fantasy football gold mine for 8 years but the ride is over. You are just not the same dynamic receiver you once were. The only contest nobody wins is against father time and, in your case, he's won again.

eagle eye

07-11-2016, 05:54 AM

It has been a quiet last few weeks as the player vacation time between the end of mini camp and the start of training camp. In years past there has been a lot more incidents of players getting into trouble for one reason or another. This summer it has been pretty uneventful. The start of training camp is still around 2-1/2 to 3 weeks away depending on the team so it's not time to relax and think everything will be okay but, so far at least, the fellas have been doing a good job of staying out of trouble.

The following link comes from NFL.com and focuses on some of the reasons why Calvin Johnson retired. He has said before he just got tired of aches and pain of playing for so many years. In the article he talks about the fact that Detroit was not, and probably won't, be a contender for a championship. Why suffer for no good reason seems to be the message there. Johnson has also talked about the easy access to pain killers and how they were given out without any hassles because coaches want to keep the players on the field. At the opposite end of the spectrum a player smokes weed for whatever reason, I will never believe it is strictly for pain management, and they are criticized, fined and suspended. In the words of Nick Nolte's character in the 1979 movie "North Dallas Forty" when the owners and head coach were firing Nolte's character because he was seen smoking marijuana, "....hell, they gave me stronger drugs just to get on the field in Chicago." comes to mind. I think there has always been more than a little bit of hypocrisy when it comes to drugs and the NFL. I call the guys who are ruining their NFL careers by doing banned substances knuckleheads but the fact is they are given stronger stuff to manage pain or to jack them up for games. It's kind of like you parents telling you smoking is bad for you as they puff away on a cigarette. 'Do as I say not as I do' seems to be a mantra the NFL abides by. Oh well.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673670/article/megatron-lions-struggles-factored-into-retirement

In today's "First Look" Daniel Jeremiah profiles LSU RB Leonard Fournette.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000666981/article/first-look-scouting-lsu-rb-leonard-fournette

BTW, did you ever wonder what makes Daniel Jeremiah such and "expert". I did so I looked him up and he is more than just another talking head. Seems like he was a starting QB in college at Northeastern Louisiana in 1997 and at Appalachian State for three years, 1998 through 2000. He worked as a college scout for the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles until he was hired by NFL.com/NFL Network in 2012. As many of you know Northeastern LA is now called Louisiana-Monroe University and is a member of the Sun Belt. When Jeremiah went to NE LA they were a division I-A school but they played as an independent. They didn't join the Sun Belt until 2001.

eagle eye

07-12-2016, 05:55 AM

Daniel Jeremiah likes him some Alabama players. Today's "First Look" feature the second player from 'Bama he has profiled. He takes a look at the Crimson Tide's DL Jonathan Allen.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000669642/article/first-look-scouting-alabama-dl-jonathan-allen

For the second time in two weeks NFL.com's biggest story was about basketball. This time it was player reaction to the retirement of San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan. Duncan was the epitome of class during his 19 year career which included 15 All Star games and 5 NBA Championships. For a guy who always kept low key NFL players recognize Duncan as one the best players in NBA history as well he should be.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673904/article/nfl-players-pay-tribute-to-tim-duncans-career

Still no negative news from the players on vacation. Way to go guys, keep up the good non-work!

eagle eye

07-13-2016, 06:25 AM

With college football right around the corner I think the "First Look" series previewing some of the top college players heading into the season is very appropriate. It's a bit of crumb to hang on to while we wait for football to start again. I was driving to work this morning and the thermometer in my truck indicated it was 850 outside at 5:30 AM. I hate SE Texas summers. So dreaming about fall occupies my mind -- a lot. I want to catch up on some players the writer of the articles, Daniel Jeremiah has profiled.

First is Clemson QB DeShaun Watson: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000666358/article/first-look-scouting-clemson-qb-deshaun-watson

Next up is Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000667897/article/first-look-scouting-texas-am-de-myles-garrett

Last but not least is Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000672962/article/first-look-scouting-ole-miss-qb-chad-kelly

Cleveland can't catch a break and head coach Hue Jackson's job of rebuilding the roster just got harder. Browns DE Desmond Bryant tore a pec muscle lifting weights yesterday and he had surgery to repair the tear on Tuesday. The surgery went well but he is scheduled to miss 4-6 months and he could miss the entire season. Bryant led the Browns with 6 sacks last year and until now he has started all 41 games he has appeared in over the last 3 seasons. You kind of feel bad for Cleveland because they have way more than their fair share of problems in the last decade. Maybe with the Cavaliers NBA Championship it really will break the Cleveland Curse. The city's baseball team is doing damn good but they still have to play the second half of the season. But they are leading their division by 6.5 games and own the 2nd best record in the AL so their prospects of making the post season look pretty good. Now all the city and its fans need is to hear some kind of pulse from the Browns. Ironically it was the Browns who last won a championship for Cleveland way back in 1964 until the Cavs won a month ago. That would be 52 of frustration broken at long last. Maybe it's Cleveland's time to shine.

You'd think Cleveland would catch a friggin' break but yesterday the proverbial shit hit the fan again. Browns RB Isaiah Crowell posted a drawing on his Twitter account depicting a hooded man with a machete to the throat of a fallen police officer. Crowell posted the offensive image in response to the killings of two black men by police officers in separate incidents in Louisiana and Wisconsin. It also occurred after 5 Dallas police officers were killed by a sniper as they were providing security for a peaceful protest march by black people who were marching for the "Black Lives Matter" event that took place in Dallas and many other cities across the nation. Crowell's post was stupid and disrespectful of the police officers who were protecting people exercising their right to protest. The two men who were killed that sparked the nation wide protest marches have been shown to be felons and not the innocent victims that they were first depicted as being. The point here is social media is a good thing at times but it is also a forum for people to do and say stupid things and in Crowell's case he may never recover from his version of stupidity. He's apologized for the post and it has been taken down but the damage has been done and the Browns are saying an apology isn't enough. Check out the article from ESPN with an accompanying video about the Crowell incident.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17041805/cleveland-browns-rb-isaiah-crowell-donate-game-check-fallen-police-officers

I don't understand why a story about the NFL would be associated with a network like Al Jazeera but when the new outlet put out that Peyton Manning and several other NFL players were guilty of PED use makes you wonder what the agenda was behind that article. In this paranoid society we live in you wonder why a middle eastern news agency would care about Peyton Manning. Manning is retired now and beyond the ken of the NFL investigation of the allegations made via Al Jazeera but it hasn't stopped the NFL from investigating the other players still active in the NFL. In the link below NFL.com reports that Steelers LB James Harrison sent an affidavit via the NFL Players Association to the NFL league office denying PED use. Harrison was one of the players named in the Al Jazeera article.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000674111/article/james-harrison-denies-ped-allegations-in-sworn-affidavit

eagle eye

07-15-2016, 08:26 AM

The deflate-gate saga is almost over. Earlier this week the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals refused Tom Brady's request that the whole panel to hear his appeal of his suspension by the NFL. The last recourse Brady has now is to hope the US Supreme Court will hear his case. The prevailing opinion is Brady has no shot of the Supreme Court hearing the case and he will have to serve his 4 game suspension to begin this coming season. I feel bad for Brady. Whether you believe he's innocent or not this whole case has been a travesty. What it really comes down to is New England was charged with equipment tampering which, prior to this deflate-gate incident, was never given more than a $10K fine. Brady will have to miss four games and the four game checks that go with it. That amounts to $235,294 dollars. It could have been worse but Brady and the Patriots restructured his deal for 2016 that will end up saving Brady $2MM dollars. Brady and Robert Kraft screwed the NFL out of a lot of money but what if they didn't? The loss of pay would have been around 2-1/4 million dollars and that is a helluva fine for equipment tampering. The thing that has driven Brady in this whole process is his belief this punishment is, in effect, questioning his integrity and it wasn't something Brady was going to let go unchallenged. He will apparently lose his battle but I think the NFL lost even more. Roger Goodell is a megalomaniac and he obviously had a vendetta against the Patriots because the team suffered a million dollar fine and they lost their first round draft pick this over this affair. The Pats also will not have a 4th round pick in 2017. All this for an incident that had a previous max of a 10K fine. Pats owner Robert Kraft accepted the punishment levied by the NFL league office with the understanding that they would back off of Tom Brady. Apparently, Goodell lied to Kraft which pissed Kraft off. You can bet Kraft is planning payback to this over officious jerk. In just about every incidence in the last 2 years Goodell and the NFL have looked either stupid or clueless or both. Is it totally wrong to hope Goodell and his bitch Dean Blandino get hit by a truck? Maybe but it is what it is.

It looks like the long time receiver Anquan Bolden will have a job this year after he was not resigned by the 49ers this off season. Bolden is 35 years old but he was still productive for the Niners last season. Bolden may be one of those guys who is a physical freak enough to play past where most guys hang it up. Last year Bolden caught 69 balls for 789 yards for an 11.4 YPC average. He is definitely a person who will benefit from the wide open Saints offense. Oh, I didn't mention the Saints have made an offer to Bolden. Sorry about that but the Saints are being reported as the front runners for Bolden's services.

The Broncos have upped the ante in negotiations with its star LB Von Miller. It is being reported that Denver increased their offer of a long term deal to Miller to include $70MM in guaranteed money. The general feeling on ESPN is that Miller will agree to this new offer no later than this afternoon because he's getting what he wanted and he no longer has any reason left to delay signing a deal with the Broncos.

No players were selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft again this season. The supplemental draft is a crap shoot that asks the drafting team to sacrifice their 2017 draft choice in the round they select the player in the supplemental draft. The reason is most of the players who are in the supplemental draft are players that have some kind of baggage. The kicker is if a team wants to sign a player eligible for the supplemental draft can just wait until after the draft and sign him without losing a draft choice. This supplemental draft has become a stupid and pointless system. It needs to be revised or done away with.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000674477/article/no-players-were-selected-in-nfl-supplemental-draft

Daniel Jeremiah's "First Look" series profiling the best of the college football players continues today with two more selections.

Missouri DE Charles Harris: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000674402/article/first-look-scouting-missouri-de-charles-harris

Yet another Alabama player TE OJ Howard: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673957/article/first-look-scouting-alabama-te-oj-howard

eagle eye

07-17-2016, 07:40 AM

Tom Brady announced that he will cease pursuing legal action in relation to his 4 game suspension because of the deflate-gate mess. The only recourse he had left legally was to hope the US Supreme Court would hear the case and that was considered a one in a million shot in the dark. All that remains from the deflate-gate saga is the actual suspension of the first 4 games of the upcoming season. I really hate that Roger Goodell and the NFL have won this overblown piece of crap. If the Patriots were guilty of tampering with the footballs in the playoff game against Indianapolis then the league office should have given the team the previous max fine of $10K and been done with it but Goodell went bat-crap crazy in an obvious vendetta against the Patriots and in the name of defending the "integrity of the game" they took away 2 draft picks from the Patriots and fined them $1MM. The penalty levied on Brady was ridiculous. 4 games with no only means they steal that time from his career but the monetary loss of those 4 game checks. It sucks big time that the punishment so does not fit the crime. No matter the outcome of the legal proceedings the NFL and Goodell lost big time. Think Patriots owner Robert Kraft isn't upset over this whole debacle? Check out this quote from Kraft from NFL.com---Brady and the Pats: With Brady resigned to accepting his ban, Patriots (http://www.nfl.com/teams/newenglandpatriots/profile?team=NE) owner Robert Kraft issued a biting press release slamming the NFL's "unprecedented, unjust and unreasonable" punishment in the Deflategate debacle, saying: "What Tom has had to endure throughout this 18-month ordeal has been, in my opinion, as far removed from due process (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675037/article/robert-kraft-blasts-process-in-tom-bradys-suspension) as you could ever expect in this country." Amen Bob, amen.

Former Lions RB Javid Best will be going to Rio to represent the tiny island nation of St Lucia in the Olympics. He will compete on their track team. Best had a snake bit career in the NFL with recurring concussions dogging his every step as he only lasted 2 seasons. Best's father is from St Lucia and Best holds dual citizenship. Best will run the 100 meters after posting a qualifying time of 10.16 seconds.

The 49ers got bad news yesterday as LB Aaron Lynch will be suspended because he failed a drug test and under the NFL substance abuse program he will miss the first 4 games of the upcoming season. We just couldn't make the whole vacation period without something like this happening. Still it has been a quiet summer and teams should be grateful for that.

The NFL deadline for players to get a long term deal from their respective teams or play under the franchise tag designation they were tagged with earlier this year. Some, like Von Miller of Denver and Mohammed Wilkerson of the NY Jets got a new long term deal before the Friday deadline. In the link below NFL.com looks at the winners and losers in the franchise player sweepstakes.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675161/article/winners-and-losers-from-frantic-franchise-tag-friday

eagle eye

07-18-2016, 01:20 PM

The top remaining free agents still available seem to be QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and RB Arian Foster. Fitz has been dueling with the Jets over a long term deal all offseason with no apparent end in sight. All the Jets have for QB is Geno Smith, 2nd year QB Bryce Petty and rookie Christian Hackenberg. Personally, I wouldn't want Geno Smith unless I needed a waterboy. I wouldn't even want him as a veteran mentor to Petty and Hackenberg. You have to feel like Jet head coach Todd Boles wants to win so he doesn't get fired so one side of the other is going to give in and the deal will get done IMO. As for Foster, he tore his Achilles tendon early last year and he's been cleared to work out. He was scheduled for a workout with the Dolphins and the Lions this week. I'd like to see AF get a job but he's turning the big 3-0 and he may not get the money he would like.

Ass-munch Dean Blandino has tried yet again to define the catch rule. He failed again and his explanation isn't a clarification of the most ambiguous rule in football it probably goes a long way to piss off teams and fans alike as he said if it's a bang-bang play or if there's any doubt the refs should rule it an incomplete pass. I think I am officially going to name Blandino Captain Dumbass from here on out.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675298/article/dean-blandino-offers-some-clarity-on-nfl-catch-rule

The Buffalo Bills are said to be going to make an offer to RB Reggie Bush. The Bills offensive backfield is trying to live up to it's name--offensive. LeSean McCoy had legal issues with an assault charge that recently got thrown out of court. Karlos Williams, who filled in so admirably for McCoy when he was out injured last season, will miss the first 4 games of the season due to substance abuse issues and last week rookie RB Jonathan Williams, Buffalo's 5th round pick in this year's draft out of Arkansas, was arrested last week on suspicion of DUI. The last word has not been uttered in this incident as yet. That is why Reggie Bush is drawing interest from the Bills front office. Even at 31 Bush has value and at least, unless he's hurt, he's on the field and not screwing up off it.

Last season Pittsburgh RB Le'Veon Bell was lost for the season due to a torn ACL and in his place DeAngelo Williams had a great season, his best in a while, running for Bell. So, as you might expect the talk is Bell and Williams will share carries. That almost never works out for fantasy players with one poaching touches and TDs from the other. Unless of course you are talking about Chris Johnson gaining 2,000 yards and LenDale White getting most of the TD's. Then again it could be just a lot of hot air.

eagle eye

07-20-2016, 08:00 AM

Here is a guy to watch this season and he plays in our relatively own back yard at Texas A&M. That guy is Myles Garrett and he's already got me wishing Dallas or Houston could figure out a way to draft the guy and he has still got this coming season in college to play. The guy he gets compared to more than anyone is 2014 No 1 pick in the NFL Draft Jadeveon Clowney and according to the article from Bleacher Report Garrett has way more upside than Clowney. Are You Kidding Me? Yep, I will be keeping an eye on College Station this fall.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2652678-why-myles-garrett-is-a-better-nfl-draft-prospect-than-jadeveon-clowney

Tampa Bay QB Jameis Winston has lost 20 pounds heading into training camp. Winston has taken off the weight as part of an overall effort to get better in his 2nd season leading the Bucs offense. The instagram videos in the article show his dedication is paying off.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675667/article/jameis-winston-loses-20-pounds-ahead-of-bucs-camp

Even though Redskins QB Kirk Cousins led the team to the first division title in a while as well as making RGIII expendable the Redskins wouldn't give Cousins a long term deal in the offseason. The did place the franchise player tag on him mean he will get a one year deal paying him the average of the top 5 salaries at his position. What that means is Cousins will get in the neighborhood of 20MM bucks and the Redskins get another year to see if Cousins' 2015 was real or a fluke.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675573/article/redskins-gm-i-wanted-to-sign-kirk-cousins-to-contract

The Big Twelve Conference has unanimously agree to explore expansion. This is not big news! It only makes sense because the Big 12 was overlooked in the polls last season because they didn't have a conference championship game. The reason why they didn't have championship game is because there aren't enough teams to warrant one. There are several candidates in the discussion of expansion according the article linked below but the ones that make the most sense to me are BYU, Houston and Colorado State, maybe Cincinnati because of geographical proximity but that doesn't seem to matter to a conference that already has West Virginia in it. UCF, Memphis and UConn are also in the discussion. Heck, bring back SMU and Houston you'd almost have the whole of the old Southwest Conference back together. All you'd need is for Arkansas to defect from the SEC (like that's going to happen) and you'd have the SWC plus remnants of the old Big 8 Conference and West Virginia to fill out the Big 12 roster. You can only dream I guess.

Almost the whole of the Miami Dolphins 2013 draft was a bust. It was an almost historically bad draft for them with the most disappointing player of the draft had to be the Dolphins 1 round pick, No 3 overall, Dion Jordan had a decent 2013 but he missed 4 game due to suspension for substance abuse and all of 2015 for the same reason. It is reported that Jordan is a new man and he's in incredible shape but the fact is he is still waiting for the NFL to reinstate him. His new-found dedication is commendable but he will need the NFL league office to decide if they can allow him to try to redeem himself to the NFL and the Dolphins.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675641/article/big-12-conference-unanimously-agrees-to-explore-expansion

eagle eye

07-22-2016, 05:53 AM

Troubled Cleveland WR Josh Gordon met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday to discuss his reinstatement to the NFL. Gordon missed all of the 2015 season and big chunks of the 2013 and 2014 seasons because of suspensions related to substance abuse. In typical Goodell fashion it is being reported that Gordon will not hear anything from Goodell before the start of the upcoming season. That's totally fair to Gordon--no training camp, no work with his team, no getting in NFL shape guided by an NFL training staff. Seems ol' Rog is setting Gordon up to be injured if and when he does come back. Thank you Mr Goodell. Gordon is his own worst enemy but it's not fair at all to leave him hanging. He either needs to tell the man he can play again or tell him he will not be reinstated this season. Either way, at least Gordon will know where he stands.

Greg Hardy worked out and interviewed with the Jacksonville Jags the past couple of days. Hardy was not signed by the Jags and no word at all really from either side as to whether he may have impressed enough to get a job. Since the Cowboys cut bait with Hardy after the end of the 2015 season Hardy has been a persona non grata to teams around the NFL. To be honest, without knowing anything about the circumstances around his visit to Jacksonville, I would guess Hardy's agent knew a guy who owed him a favor and that's how Hardy got the look-see from the Jags. Nobody wants to touch this guy and he's been trying to do damage control this entire offseason. After Dallas took a massive PR kick in the groin to sign Hardy and the way he repaid the Cowboys willingness to take a chance on him by being a total ass hat on and off the field the NFL saw all they needed to see from this guy. I would be surprised as heck if he plays this season or ever again.

Another guy trying to overcome his tarnished image is Ray Rice. He was quoted as saying he would donate all of his salary for 2015 to a battered wives charity if somebody would just give him a chance at making an NFL roster. Personally, I would be more inclined to give Rice another chance. The guy never got into trouble until the incident in the Atlantic City elevator when he decked his then-fiancée and current wife Janay in the middle of an argument the couple was having. The video was pretty doggone damning but his actions since have all been positive and he has expressed genuine regret over the issue. He deserves another chance but the trouble is he's been out of football for two years and he's got to be rusty. The fact is though, Rice is just 29 and because he hasn't had the wear and tear on his body for two years likely means he's still got 3-4 years of prime football left in him. I wouldn't piss on Greg Hardy if he was on fire but I believe Ray Rice deserves another chance in the NFL.

I got tired of looking at Alabama players Daniel Jeremiah was profiling in his "First Look" series. There are over 100 Div-I schools and a lot of them have a player worth looking at. Yeah Alabama is great, rah-rah. Finally, he moved on to other schools and other players. In this First Look Jeremiah profiles Ohio State LB Raekwon McMillan. Tired of THE Ohio State University too? I get it but Jere has profiled no less than 4 players from 'Bama and no more than 1 from any other school including OSU.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675776/article/first-look-scouting-ohio-state-lb-raekwon-mcmillan

eagle eye

07-26-2016, 10:19 AM

Some news that is good, some that is bad and, of course, the NFL knucklehead's Club is represented too.

> Everybody's favorite flex player in fantasy a few years back was released by the Atlanta Falcons. Devon Hester got famous in the NFL and in fantasy circles as a member of the Chicago Bears primarily as a kick returner and some as a wide receiver. We'll see if he catches on with another team but he's now reached the ripe old age of 33 it may be hard for an aging kick returner/WR who has lost a step.

> The family of Rams RB Trey Mason is worried about his mental health. The article linked below with explain the issue but they never really venture a guess why his personality seems to have changed. If I had a guess he's been doing drugs. It sounds to lame to say it like this but it would totally explain his behavior. You have wonder when the last time Mason underwent a drug screening. The bottom line is, I hope he finds out what is wrong and gets help. As for the Rams? They haven't had to depend on Mason much since they drafted Todd Gurley last year. I hope Mason gets some help and gets his life straightened out. That IS the most important thing, after all.

> NFLKHC - Le'Veon Bell is being suspended 4 games this season because he missed is scheduled drug test. The whole deal is under appeal and Bell says he missed the drug test because he got a new phone number and he didn't know about the test. I would think the NFL would point out to Bell his obligation to let the team and the league know his new phone number for just this sort of thing. It's possible for Bell to get his suspension reduced but it probably won't go away. This hurts the Steelers but Bell missed most of last season because of a torn MCL and PCL. That was after he served a 4 game suspension for an incident where he was arrested with then-teammate LeGarrette Blount in August of 2014 for a DUI charge. The Steelers also have one of their top 3 WR's Martavis Bryant suspended 4 games for substance abuse. Knuckleheads.

> NFLKHC 2 - Josh Gordon got reinstated to play football again in the 2016 season. It wasn't until after he got another kick in the pants from the NFL league office. They suspended Gordon the first 4 games of the NFL season because they figured missing the whole of 2015 wasn't enough punishment. At least the NFL said he can participate in training camp. You wonder just how much Gordon may have lose missing out on a whole year of football? It may be one of the best pieced of news new Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson has gotten since he became coach earlier this year because when Gordon is on the field he can be a dynamic player and Cleveland is in a bit of short supply of those right now. Next time Gordon gets busted in a drug test his career is over. I hope he's aware of just how thin the ice is where he's walking.

> Instead of doing anything to alleviate head trauma and concussion issues the NFL has just made their non-compliance with concussion protocols more strict. Ooo-rah.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2654006-nfl-nflpa-announce-new-policy-to-enforce-leagues-concussion-protocol

> Washington LB Junior Galette will miss the entire season because of a torn Achilles tendon. The most tragic part of the story is this will be the 2nd year in a row he's missed for the same reason although it's not the same leg. Achilles tears hurt like heck and the rehab is long and arduous and you wouldn't wish that on anyone once much less twice.

> 3rd pick in the draft, Joey Bosa is one of 3 players drafted this spring that have yet to sign a contract. According to a San Diego rep it's not about money, money is negotiable. It's some of the language in his contract that Bosa apparently has issues with. With training camps beginning this week you wonder if Bosa and the other two who haven't signed their contracts yet LB Darron Lee of the Jets and OG Josh Garnette of the 49ers will be available for the start of training camp. Since the rookie salary cap was introduced in 2011 there have not been any holdouts. This could change in 2016.

> NFLKHC 3 - S Taylor Mays formerly of the Cincinnati Bengals already had a 4 game suspension going into this season for substance abuse which was handed down in March. This is no coincidence, the Bengals released Mays after learning of his suspension. Well, it's gotten worse for Mays as he's looking at further action by the NFL because he failed another drug test and further punishment is warranted by the NFL. His four game suspension could turn into a 10 game suspension or, if the NFL wants to play hardball, they give a 10 games suspension to be served AFTER the he sits out his current 4 game suspension.

> NFLKHC 4 - Colts DL Arthur Jones has issued an apology for his 4 game suspension for PED use. Jones missed all of the 2015 season because of an ankle injury and now the first games of this season will be missed as well. Jones was drafted in 2010 by the Ravens and he spent his first 4 years in Baltimore. In 2014 Jones signed a 5 year $33 MM contract and he's only played nine games for the Colts since. Talk about no bang for your bucks. He will have to wait until October to play and the Colts need him as they had the 8th worst rushing defense in the NFL allowing more than 120 YPG.

> The NFL has concluded it investigation into the Al-Jazeera allegations that Peyton Manning was guilty of PED use and they have decided there is no evidence Manning used PED's to speed his rehab from neck surgery or to maintain his health playing in the NFL. This is a good thing but I'm disappointed this wasn't a big headline like the original accusation was. News stories in days past were subject to a certain level of journalistic integrity that said you don't publish anything until you can corroborate your facts. In the last decade or so that tried and true rule of good journalism has been replaced by TMZ tabloid-like reporting of just throw something out there and see if it sticks. Under this style of news (?) you just have to accuse someone and it doesn't seem to need facts or evidence to support it. Scoop the other guy and print a retraction if necessary. At one time the news was called the Fourth Estate. Big brother watching out for all of us by reporting the truth with facts and figures to back it up. It was respected but now I don't know if the media has that respect any more. When I hear Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" it makes me mad enough to want to break things because that song is even more true now than when it was released 34 years ago. At one time the most trusted man in America was a CBS reporter named Walter Cronkite. His declaration at the end of his report on the Tet Offensive on January 30, 1968 that the US could not win the war in Viet Nam was a death knell to Lyndon Johnson's presidency. It was said that when even Walter Cronkite doesn't think we can win all is lost. Later that year the assignation of Martin Luther King was the final straw. In a year that saw the Tet offensive and murder's of King and Democratic candidate Robert F Kennedy it was probably the most tumultuous time in the US since Bobby's brother John F Kennedy was murdered in Dallas in 1964. Such was the power of a man with integrity in the media like Cronkite. Now, it seems, the media is full of a bunch of pretty boys and prettier girls who are only talking heads. Dirty Laundry indeed.

eagle eye

07-27-2016, 07:40 AM

After going 5 weeks without a misstep the flood gates are open to the NFLKHC members. I listed a half dozen instances for lunatic behavior yesterday and darned if there aren't more knuckleheads are coming out of the woodwork and all this is just days before training camp.

Philadelphia LB Nigel Bradham was arrested yesterday for assault and battery at a MIAMI hotel. Check this quote out from NFL.com: According to a Miami Beach Police Department arrest report, Bradham got into a verbal altercation with an individual working at the Hilton Bentley South Beach hotel on Thursday. He then allegedly punched the individual "without provocation" in the nose with his closed fist, causing the victim to fall to the ground. Other members of Bradham's group then joined in on the attack before fleeing the scene with Bradham, the report states. So, Bradham and his crew went full on gansta on some poor schmuck at a 5 star hotel in South Beach. Eagles training camp begins today and it's not really known if he will be able to attend. Bradham and his crew need to go to jail not training camp.

With the fourth installment of the Bourne series coming out soon Matt Damon is making the media rounds to promote the film. Damon is also from Boston and he is undoubtedly a Patriots fan. On the Rich Eisen show he commented on the recent f-bomb laced tirade his friend Ben Affleck had on the HBO sports talk show hosted by Bill Simmons about the whole deflate-gate thing. Damon said his friend is passionate as are all Boston fans, "Boston fans, we're a little crazy, and we take this stuff very seriously. And particularly, this thing with Tom has been going on for a long time. It's just the slipshod way that they were measuring these footballs to begin with. Damon was more laid back concerning deflate-gate than Affleck taking this stance, "I actually look at it the other way," Damon replied. "That Tom's going to be pissed. And him pissed is a good thing for the New England Patriots (http://www.nfl.com/teams/newenglandpatriots/profile?team=NE)' faithful. We love seeing him like that. Because he's as focused a human being as I've met anyway."

Here's a link to the youtube video of Affleck's rant on Bill Simmon's show Any Given Wednesday. I have to say, I don't disagree with anything Affleck had to say I disagree with anything he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhEqsNYLaSM

eagle eye

07-28-2016, 06:30 AM

There are several teams who have begun training camp already like New England, Green Bay and Indianapolis. Others like Philadelphia begin TC today. So, I guess you could say 2016 football is underway! That is a good thing.

The Jets will begin training camp with their starting QB back in fold. The Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick agreed to terms on a 1 year $12MM contract with another $3MM he could earn in incentives. All the drama surrounding the pissing contest between the Jets and Fitz ended yesterday with the Jets admitting they wanted Fitz back after he led them to a 10-6 record just missing out on the playoffs last season. Unfortunately, for the Jets Week 17 could have vaulted them into the playoffs with a win but the Jets picked that day to suck. Mohammed Wilkerson, who was just resigned to a big contract recently, broke his leg. Darrelle Revis was punked all game by Sammy Watkins and Fitz threw 3 picks in the final 10:43 of the game. Losing to Rex Ryan and the Bills was just have salt rubbed into the wound of losing out on the chance to go to the playoffs. Despite all the trouble the Jets had they still only lost by a score of 22-17. One TD away from the tournament. Had to sting. Now the whole cast is back and ready to get over the hump and make the playoffs.

Nick Foles asked for and was given his outright release by the LA Rams yesterday. You kind of wonder about the timing of this move as it is right before training camp but it gives Foles a good chance to sign with another team. I know the Dallas Cowboys have a lot of uncertainty at backup QB with Kellen Moore and rookie draft pick Dak Prescott and the wildcard of the group Jameille Showers. A guy like Foles who does have some skills might be a nice fit in Dallas. I would feel a lot better about the QB situation with Foles backing up Romo as Dak Prescott learns the pro game.

Speaking of the Jets, the team has finally come to terms with and has finally signed a contract with their first round pick LB Darron Lee. Lee was the 20th pick in this year's draft. His signing means only 2 first round picks are left that haven't signed their contracts. The 49ers Joshua Garnett and the Chargers Joey Bosa are the only ones left of the first rounders not to sign. An encouraging thing is all three of these players have the same agent, Creative Artists Agency, which may be a good sign they will be signed soon.

Hall of Fame DL and current NFL Channel on-air personality Warren Sapp was bitten by a 4' nurse shark while lobster fishing in the Florida Keys. He is the first Hall of Famer to survive a shark attack. That's the opening line of the article linked below from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000677220/article/warren-sapp-bitten-by-shark-during-fishing-trip

Here is an injury roundup from around the NFL including News that Port Arthur's Jamaal Charles will begin training camp on the PUP list as he is still recovering from ACL surgery last October. The Chiefs are in good shape at RB with Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware on the roster. The Chiefs will also begin camp without S Eric Berry and LB Justin Houston who are on the PUP list as well.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000677058/article/injury-roundup-chiefs-place-jamaal-charles-on-pup-list

Last but not least the Dallas Cowboys woes because of having 3 defensive starters suspended isn't just confined to the field. The NFL is probably going to fine them $250K as teams also have to be responsible for the behavior of their players. That's a real kick in the groin since the team has no control over their players when they are not at the team facility. It won't matter, the Seattle Seahawks were fined the same amount in 2013 with they had six players suspended for PED use over a two year span. The old saying "when it rains it pours" sure is apt in this case.

eagle eye

07-28-2016, 09:03 AM

I have been thinking about this for a while now because I have noticed that I am pretty much the only one who posts in this SportsCenter forum. I have hoped to spark discussion and debate both pro and con but it hasn't happened in a while. I never intended this forum to become my own domain. So, I am going to back off from posting in this forum for a while in hopes that all you BRI people will make this a true fan forum again. I appreciate the folks to who have checked out my posts, almost 8,000 views on the 4 pinned threads I have going is pretty awesome and I thank you for giving my ramblings a look. The downside of that is I know you're out there so I'm challenging you all to step up and make this continue to grow. Thanks to Mike and the other administrators for giving us all this opportunity to talk Lamar and sports in general and thanks also for not kicking me off the site because my posts are just too darn long. I'll still be around posting on the Inside the Birdcage forum and I'll be watching SportsCenter to see what comes up. Go Cards and Go BRI!

eagle eye

08-09-2016, 11:42 AM

How embarrassing is it to have a major thing like Hall of Fame weekend spoiled because the folks in Canton failed to have the field in good enough shape to play a game without endangering players. All this because the frigging paint on the field made the field unplayable. You have got to be kidding me. Another tic on the anti-Roger Goodell side of the scorecard. Do better NFL. The only group probably not pissed were the players who would have had to play 5 preseason games instead of the 4 everyone else plays.

Need some fantasy advice? How about this, Baltimore's Justin Forsett has been really special in practice so far. Forsett ran for over 1,200 yards before breaking his arm late in the season but there is a guy who may have earn split carries with Forsett. That would be Terrence West who is dropping jaws all over Ravens training camp.

Oakland WR Amari Cooper had a really nice rookie season before a foot injury slowed him down late last season. He became the first WR in Raiders history to top 1,000 yards as a rookie. That's including the December swoon he had when he only had 20 yards receiving in 3 out of the last 4 games. The Raiders are supposed to be legit contenders for the AFC West this year and large part of that comes from a healthy Amari Cooper. I'm sure fantasy owners weren't happy with his December after riding him for the first 3 months of the season but if you're smart you forgive him and plan to pick him up in your fantasy draft.

Nobody wanted to give Tim Tebow a chance in the NFL after he was cut by the NE Patriots a couple of years ago. Not even Canada wanted him. Too bad because Tebow is, by all accounts, a tremendous person and a great friend to have in your corner. That doesn't mean that Tim doesn't have competitive juices still flowing in his veins. The way he's trying to address that is by trying to become a pro BASEBALL player.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000681916/article/exnfl-qb-tim-tebow-plans-to-pursue-baseball-career

eagle eye

08-11-2016, 08:15 AM

Beginning tonight we will be able to watch virile young men in skin tight spandex, polyester, leather and plastic padding run around banging into each other for 3 and 1/2 hours. That sounds sort of creepy doesn't it. How about, "There will be football games on starting tonight!!!!" Yeah, much better. The games will be on the NFL Channel and it gives everyone a watered-down version of football. It's not REAL football but it will do until the real thing comes along in September.

Here's an injury update from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000682336/article/injuries-julian-edelman-returns-to-patriots-practice

Hard Knocks is back on. This year is featuring the LA Rams and that choice of team is a no-brainer, right? High profile team who traded up to get the top pick in the draft in which they selected Cal QB Jared Goff plus the move from St Louis to Los Angeles all make this the obvious choice for the HBO special. As long as you're browsing HBO you might give the series Ballers a try. It stars The Rock as an ex-pro football player trying to transition into being a sports agent. Pretty good show. I suggest you go back on watch season 1 first so you know what's up in season 2. HBO just aired Episode 4 of season 2 the other day.

Start doing your research because fantasy drafts will start happening soon!

eagle eye

08-15-2016, 08:27 AM

The weekend pretty much went how you might expect. No huge surprises and not really any devastating injuries.

The exception to that was this year's 2nd pick in the NFL draft Carson Wentz suffered a hairline crack in one of his ribs. The Eagles are holding him out of practice right now as a precaution and his return isn't known at this time.

If you want to know who emerged on fantasy radars here are some names to consider:

1. and 1A. DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry combining for Tennessee's new "Thunder and Thunder" running back tandem. They combined for 167 yards rushing and a couple of TDs on just 16 carries.

2. Christine Michael has had an epiphany of sorts in his second stint with Seattle and he is making it hard on Thomas Rawls to keep his starting job.

3. Melvin Gordon may have had his own epiphany as he looked like a different back from the disappointing one we saw in 2015.

These are 4 guys to keep an eye on going in to the 2nd preseason game this weekend. We won't be working on their busts for Canton just yet but they do merit some consideration for a fantasy league.

eagle eye

08-16-2016, 07:19 AM

I went back and looked at Carson Wentz' highlights, or lowlights as the case may be, and the poor guy got the crap beaten out of him. The Philly O-line was just awful. Tampa has some nice players but they aren't dominating like they appeared to be against the Eagles. The Eagles backup linemen stink. The most ironic and funniest thing about the story was on the NFL Network had David Carr as part of the discussion of Wentz' first game as a pro. David Carr was ruined in Houston coming out of college by maybe the worst O-line ever in the history of the NFL. Poor David Carr spent more time looking up at NRG Stadium roof than he did looking downfield for receivers. David Carr knows bad lines intimately. Hopefully Saturday night didn't ruin Carson Wentz.

Not much coming out of NFL camps except injuries that don't affect much even in fantasy. They suck for the players who are hurt and the teams they play for but if you need an update NFL.com is the place to go.

eagle eye

08-19-2016, 08:40 AM

In the spring I posted about how Eddie Lacy rededicated himself after struggling through the 2015 season often being benched in favor of James Starks. I heard they even started calling him FAT Eddie Lacy in Green Bay. So far in preseason he has looked like a different guy. He will always be a big back but he has definitely slimmed down and he looks quicker and faster than he has in a couple of years. Long story short, he could be a real nice pick up in fantasy drafts.

More fantasy advice comes out of Cleveland. Yes, I said Cleveland. RGIII is being unleashed by new Browns head coach Hue Jackson and for the second game in a row Griffin has had success throwing the deep ball. It's not just RGIII but Cleveland has resurrected the career of former Ohio State QB Terrell Pryor as a wide receiver. Last night was the 2nd game in a row RGIII has connected on a deep ball to Pryor for a TD. It figures the Browns will being playing catch-up a lot this season meaning the passing game will be front and center for the Browns. As fantasy prospects Griffin and Pryor may not be bad players to pick up. As for the Browns, I'd look for some improvement but there fortunes are tied to future years especially with the draft picks they picked up trading down in this year's draft. If the Browns owner and GM will have some patience the draft pick haul the Brown got in this year's draft should pay big dividends a couple of years down the road. Things could be looking up for the Browns at long last.

For the second week in a row Seattle's reborn RB Christine Michael showed he can play. He rushed 10 times for 55 yards and even I can do the math to figure out that a 5.5 YPC average. The Seahawks may have a bruising one-two punch in Michael and Thomas Rawls. But, don't count out rookie RB from Jacksonville State Troymaine Pope who had 10 carries for 86 yards to lead all Seattle RBs. Rawls did not play last night as he is still out rehabbing from a badly broken ankle suffered late last season. The Seahawks GM says he hopes Rawls will be able to play in the 'Hawks 4th preseason game. So, right now it will be the Michael and Pope show in Seattle.

The Bengals kicked the crap out of Detroit last night but there isn't much to tell fantasy wise about either team. It's just that the Bengals are just a better team top to bottom than Detroit. I wonder if the Lions regret canning Jim Schwartz a couple of years ago in favor of Jim Caldwell?

Tom Brady apparently cut himself with a pair of scissors before the game last night or sometime this week anyway and he sat out the whole game last night as NE faced off against the Chicago Bears. Jimmy Garoppolo played most of the game as did LeGarrett Blount. Blount just has a feel for the Patriots offense and he is definitely a player who should be on fantasy radars. The Patriots big receiver last night was a 2nd year man from Arkansas named AJ Derby a TE of some skill who could be the new and improved (and less homicidal hopefully) Aaron Hernandez. Derby caught 6 balls for 71 yards and a TD to lead all NE receivers. He could be the next big deal to compliment Gronk but I wouldn't count out offseason acquisition Martellus Bennett. Derby weighs in at 255 lbs while Bennett tilts the scales at 275 lbs. Bennett is also a very good blocker which should benefit the Pats running game. I think there is a spot for both TEs but everyone knows if he's healthy Gronk is the man in this offense.

Here's an injury roundup from last night's games from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000687200/article/injury-roundup-brett-hundley-suffers-ankle-injury

eagle eye

08-20-2016, 10:23 AM

Oh goody, Pittsburgh RB Le'Veon Bell got his suspension reduced from 4 games to 3. How he managed that I don't know since he was being suspended for missing 3 scheduled drug tests. Now people you tell me which is worse, missing 3 drug tests which is tantamount to being guilty of failing 3 drug tests or a QB who refused to give up his phone with all his personal stuff on it to an entity that is notorious for leaking information to the press all part of an investigation about a slightly underinflated football used for a half a game? Well according to the NFL the deflate-gate is more serious than doping. Sounds quite convoluted to me. What this means is you can still draft Bell in fantasy but you'd better have D'Angelo Williams as well.

Carson Wentz will resume throwing for the Eagles for the first time since he cracked a rib in the preseason opener against Tampa Bay. He didn't play against the Steelers on Thursday night but he might get a little work in one of the final two preseason games left. It doesn't matter since Wentz will probably sit and learn this season as he is behind starter Sam Bradford and primary backup Chase Daniels in the Eagles depth chart. Despite being the 2nd pick in the draft it was pretty much consensus that Wentz wasn't a day one starter in the NFL. I like Wentz and I think he'll get his shot as soon as next year but I just wish he was on another team. But he's with the Eagles and it's pretty well documented how much I hate the Eagles which also mean I will have a real hard time rooting for Wentz going forward. BTW, he's not a fantasy option for 2016.

The San Diego Chargers beat the Arizona Cardinals last night and Cardinals coach Bruce Ariens is pissed off about it. The 19-3 loss at the hands of a Chargers team that didn't have Phillip Rivers on the field the whole game made the old man a little cross. His starters were ineffective, his backups were ineffective and the scrubs sucked too. It doesn't mean that Carson Palmer, David Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald shouldn't be on you fantasy radar though.

Two things come out of the Cowboys-Dolphins preseason game last night. 1) Tony Romo is fine and should be good to go for the Giants on September 11th and 2) If he isn't it won't be such a bad thing to have Dak Prescott to fall back on. Dallas is deep on the offensive side of the ball. If they can get anything out their defense they will have to be considered legit as Super Bowl contenders in 2016. As for Dak, he's been extremely impressive so far but the whole script changed when the games start to count.

eagle eye

08-23-2016, 12:42 PM

I was all in favor of Roger Goodell when he first took over for the previous NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue because he was promising to go hard line on substance abuse. To that regard he has made good on that promise. Some of the players don't like it but the fact is the threat of suspension has not been enough to make knuckleheads refrain from knucklehead behavior. Every single day almost somebody fails a drug test or fails to go to their drug test and it ends up a lot of times in a suspension. To me the NFL should consider a one-and-done policy. Fail 3 drug tests and your suspended 6 games and if you fail any more you are out of football for at least 2 years before you can petition the NFL to be reinstated. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. Substance abuse is a whole other issue than domestic violence. A woman, and in some rare cases a man, should not have to live in fear in their own home. Roger Goodell's office has messed up at every turn at handling domestic violence issues beginning with Ray Rice. The NFL suspended Rice one game for knocking out his then-fiancée-and-now-wife in a hotel in Atlantic City. The message was clear, the NFL league office was saying it is more heinous to smoke pot than for a man to coldcock his wife or girlfriend. Four games for substance abuse vs one game for domestic abuse. The fit really hit the shan when the video of "the punch" was released to the public and everyone when bat-crap crazy about the incident. It went from an interesting discussion of how the NFL should be more harsh on domestic violence to a mob rule demand that Ray Rice be hung from the nearest tree. Goodell's office constantly messed up as other issues began to surface and it looked like the Keystone Kops was running the NFL. Then the Tom Brady-Deflate-gate affair and Goodell graduated from incompetent jerk to a full fledged petulant prick. Now, we have yet another domestic violence case this time involving New York Giants kicker Josh Brown. A guy who has received a ONE GAME suspension over a history of domestic abuse. Brown's wife has called the cops on her husband at least 20 times. The guy is wife beater and he will probably do the same to his kids. The incident arose after Brown was accused of domestic abuse and arrested in 2015. The NFL has chosen to ignore the facts and bury its head in the sand. The NY Giants franchise has chosen to stand behind the NFL league office's decision on the matter. Roger Goodell works for all 32 NFL owners and if those owners had any stones they would fire Goodell ASAP. Here's a link from an article from The Bleacher Report that says all this much better than I.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2659183-josh-brown-case-proves-that-the-nfl-learned-all-the-wrong-lessons-from-ray-rice

eagle eye

08-25-2016, 08:41 AM

What the hell is up with Joey Bosa? Since the new players agreement was signed in 2011 that put a limit on what rookie draft picks could be paid there hasn't been a holdout of note since. That is until now. Joey Bosa was the Charger pick, #3 overall in this year's draft but he has yet to practice a down for the Bolts. Why? Because he is getting bad advice IMO from his agent. The Chargers pulled their latest offer off the table yesterday and the Chargers President of Football Operations is totally frustrated with Bosa's representation. Check this out from NFL.com..........

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000689877/article/chargers-exec-bosas-stance-absolutely-asinine

Bosa's camp is not commenting on what the Chargers are saying in the press but they had better get their heads out of their asses and get their boy into training camp, what's left of it, ASA-friggin'-P! What generally happens when someone holds out? The player gets hurt. It invariably happens and the reason is because he is trying to play catch up for the time he's missed and he's not in NFL practice shape much less game shape. As the article said, Bosa was offered the 2nd most guaranteed money for this season than any other rookie in this draft class and Bosa and his agent doesn't think that's fair? I'm so glad that San Diego took Bosa and took the element of choice away from Dallas because if he had been available I'm sure he would have been in the conversation in the Cowboys war room and Dallas may have to be stuck with this dude.

The Jets say the throwing motion of rookie QB Christian Hackenberg is a 'work in progress'. That's not what you want to hear about your 2nd round draft pick. It looks like Hackenberg will be a project QB who will need time to develop. The Jets already have their starter in Ryan Fitzpatrick and the biggest camp battle right now is whether 2nd year player Bryce Petty out of Baylor can bump Geno Smith out of the backup role. After drafting Petty last season it looked like the Jets may have gotten their QB of the future after a really nice career at Baylor so it was puzzling to me just why the Jets drafted Hackenberg. Oh well, that's why the Jets' GM gets the big money I guess.

The Patriots have traded C Bryan Stork to the Giants for a 7th round draft pick. Stork was the Pats 2014 4th round draft pick and he's made 17 starts for the Patriots but they were able to get something for a player that is said they were going to cut anyway. The Patriots also let veteran WR, and former Texan, Nate Washington go this week as well. According to NFL.com Stork has had issues controlling his emotions. I think it may be more rightly stated that he has trouble controlling his temper. He was penalized for a headbutt in the AFC title game against the Broncos and he was thrown out of a June mini-camp practice for fighting.

The trade by Tennessee of Dorial Green-Beckham to Philadelphia last week was a bit of a shock considering DGB was the Titan's 2nd round pick last year. The Eagles needed a WR and Tennessee needed O-line depth which they got in Dennis Kelly who can play both guard and tackle in exchange. It's been said that the Titans were looking to deal DGB because while he's a hyper talented receiver he has serious questions about his dedication and focus. Maybe a change of scenery will help him. He will get his first game action this weekend and the hope he will help solidify a shaky Eagles WR corps. If he does well in Philly he could be a real fantasy sleeper pick (hint, hint)

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000689697/article/greenbeckham-will-see-firstteam-action-saturday

Things haven't gone well for RB Stevan Ridley since he tore his ACL as a member of the Patriots in 2014 and he just hasn't been the same since. He had a lousy year with the Jets last year and yesterday he was cut by the Lions just a few months after signing a one year deal with them.

eagle eye

08-30-2016, 08:03 AM

Joey Bosa finally ended his holdout and he signed his rookie contract on Monday. Bosa's deal is worth $25.8 MM and is fully guaranteed over the 4 years of the deal. Because Bosa is a first round pick the Chargers also have a 5th year option they can exercise at the end of the deal. The deal is worth about $2MM less than Jared Goff's deal but Goff only got $18.5 of his $27.9MM guaranteed. Goff was the 1st pick in this year's draft while Bosa was the 3rd player picked. Carson Wentz was the 2nd player drafted this year and his deal was for $26.7MM with a $17MM signing bonus. Bosa got everything he wanted in the holdout. No offset language in the deal and not only that he got his whole contract guaranteed. I cannot believe the Chargers gave in to Bosa to this extent. I'm sure the other owners in the NFL are none to happy with the Chargers either.

Okay fantasy nuts there is new sheriff in town and his name is Trevor Siemian and that town is Denver Colorado. The Broncos announced that Siemian will be the starting QB for the Broncos in Week 1 as the young man who was the QB at Northwestern and he was All Big Ten in 2013 and 2014. His college career was cut short when he tore his ACL after starting the first 11 games of the 2014 season. Siemian was the Broncos 7th round draft pick in 2015 but he was buried in the depth chart behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler but he paid his dues and he did get to learn from Manning up close and personal. The Broncos starting job seemed to be Mark Sanchez' since the day he signed a deal with the Broncos in the offseason but he successfully played himself out that gig with his poor play this preseason. Things also didn't look so good for Siemian when Denver traded up to draft Paxton Lynch from Memphis. It apparently didn't matter to Siemian who went out and played well allowing him to earn the starting QB job for the time being. Could Denver be content to have a 2nd year player and a rookie be 1 and 2 on the QB depth chart? Seems unlikely but I can't imagine Sanchez wants to stick around Denver now. Actually, the Broncos are said to be shopping Sanchez to the Cowboys since Tony Romo's injury seems to be likely to keep him out for several weeks. Personally, I don't want Dallas to take Sanchez. There's just too much bad water underneath a rickety bridge where he's concerned for my liking. I would rather Dallas keep Jameill Showers as the backup to Dak Prescott while Tony is out. Dallas would be stupid to trade for a guy they could pick up after cuts are made so the idea of Sanchez coming to Dallas is pretty far fetched.

The first cuts on NFL rosters have to be done today by 4 o'clock. Rosters have to be down from 90 players to 75 by today with final cuts to the 53 man limit having to be done by Saturday afternoon. The opening games of the 2016 season are just 9 days away. College has already started in some areas but the opening day is this Saturday around college football and for Lamar as well. Life is good.

Kaepernick has the right to protest if he wants. It may piss some people off but that's his right. Whether you agree or disagree with his stance is another matter for another forum but he has the right and it took some guts to do it knowing he backlash that would result. So, after the red ass simmers down I think we should at least respect his right to stand for something he believes in.
In a related matter, just when I am get on board with a guy for President of the United States he goes and sticks his foot in his mouth. Donald Trump's response to Colin Kaepernick's protest was the old "If you don't like America why don't you move to another country?" argument. That's pretty lame Don. Here's an article about the Donald's reaction to Kaepernick's protest and Kaep's response is pretty good and illustrates why I'm for Trump in the first place. Because Hilary Clinton is a lying, cheating guilty as hell bitch who ought to be in jail and not the White House. Trouble is, with the Donald you are just picking the lesser of two poisons.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000692256/article/trump-on-kap-maybe-he-should-find-another-country

eagle eye

08-31-2016, 05:36 AM

Things happen for a reason but sometimes it's hard to fathom what the reason could be. Yesterday during Vikings practice starting QB Teddy Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee and a torn ACL in a non-contact incident just 30 minutes into practice. The good thing is that the MRI revealed no nerve damage or arterial damage so if there is a silver lining in all this that would be it. The Vikings now have two QBs on the roster, Shaun Hill and Joel Stave (who?) with Hill the one who will step in and be the starter for the time being. The Vikings will certainly be in the market for a guy when cuts are made you would think. Shaun Hill is 36 years old and he has a 16-18 record as a starter in the NFL. Upon a closer look at just who Joel Stave is it is clear I'm not a follower of the Big Ten. Stave had been the starting QB at Wisconsin where he was a 4 year starter. He left the Badgers as the winningest QB in school history going 31-10 in his career. His final game at Wisconsin was the 2016 Holiday Bowl which the Badgers won 23-21 over USC and Stave was named the game's MVP. So, maybe there is something there after all. Stave is a rookie who went undrafted this past May but he's got size (6'5", 230 lbs) and he's capable of throwing the ball. Despite the fact that Wisconsin is a run oriented team Stave left Wisconsin as the school's 2nd all time leading passer. For his career at Wisconsin Stave threw for 7,635 yards and 48 TDs. He left school as the all time leader in wins overall and conference wins as a starting QB so Stave has some pretty good credentials and you sort of wonder why he wasn't drafted. The reason he wasn't drafted is despite all the physical measurables there are legit questions about his accuracy and decision making in the pocket. Stave is in a great position because he has a great offensive coordinator and quarterback coach in Norv Turner. We will see for ourselves tomorrow night because he is almost guaranteed a lot of PT when the Viking close out the preseason against the LA Rams.

There were a lot of high profile names, QBs in particular that were let go yesterday. Among them are QB Zach Mettenberger who was released by San Diego, RB David Cobb by Tennessee and TE Bjoern Werner by Jacksonville not to mention WR Brandon Tate by the Bengals. Where you will see the bigger names will be after Saturday's final cuts by teams getting down to their final 53. There are plenty of teams that are shopping players for trades right now but I doubt you see much movement trade-wise because all teams have to do is wait and they can sign a player and they won't have to give up anything for the right to do that.

eagle eye

09-01-2016, 08:02 AM

The preseason ends tonight and, in my mind, the march to the regular season officially begins when the final cuts to their 53 man rosters is made on Saturday afternoon. There will still be some wheeling and dealing the rest of the weekend as teams with weaknesses or needs at certain positions will hit the cut list hard to see if anyone is available that can help them. The best teams will have to cut good players simply because the numbers didn't add up for them and the weaker teams will poach those players as quickly as they can because at one minute past the cut deadline it will be like sharks with blood in the water. Good times. Suddenly, guys who thought their NFL career dreams were over are snapped up and they are players once again. Really good times. So remember when the final preseason games kick off tonight remember there are a boatload of players who this "meaningless" game means everything and even though the games themselves are sloppy, penalty filled marathons for the players on the field it's their Super Bowl. Just seven days until the regular season begins.

The NFL after blundering through a useless investigation of charges of PED use by several current and former players by a since discredited article from Al-Jazeera and a pissing contest with the players in question over when and where interviews with the NFL league office the NFL has concluded that there is no credence to the Al-Jazeera report and the players have all been exonerated of any wrong doing. Another case of the NFL league office (sic; Roger Goodell) wielding its heavy handed, pain in the ass attitude to come to a conclusion that should have been a no-brainer after the man that wrote the article for Al-Jazeera admitted his article was a piece of crap. The NFL tried to bully players into agreeing to meet with them on their turf and under their conditions and the players in question, James Harrison in particular, thumbed their nose at the NFL league office demands. The interviews took place under the threat of fines or suspensions for non-compliance and the logical conclusion was reached in the end. The NFL tried to flex its muscles again in a similar fashion as the deflate-gate debacle and they come out of it looking like a bunch of spoiled brat bullies. All this crap over a discredited article from a middle eastern news service. Kids, tell Al-Jazeera thank you for wasting our time. Thank you Al-Jazeera. Good, now kids go play (football).

Here we are on the verge of the happiest time of the year no, Christmas wasn't moved to September, I'm talking about the start of football. And what are we doing? Celebrating the beginning of fall with the start of the football? Hell no, we are talking about bullshit. Al-Jazeera articles, political protests of treatment of minorities in the USA and pretty much nothing about football. WTF people!?? So NFL.com has an article about an open letter from Nate Boyer to Colin Kaepernick over his refusal to stand for the National Anthem in last Saturday's 49ers game. Who's Nate Boyer? He's a former Green Beret and veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq who tried out for the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. He didn't make the cut but at 35 it was something that he tried and nearly made it. I think you'll be surprised at what he has to say to Mr Kaepernick. To say Kaepernick has raised awareness of what he feels is a real plight in America is an understatement and Mr Boyer's reaction may make us all stop and think. Kaepernick's protest stems from police related shootings of minorities and the subsequent lack of punishment of those officers. There are bad apples in every barrel and some of the shootings are not justified but the amount police related shootings is just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of killings by minorities of each other in gang and drug related violence. Where's the outrage over that? I respect Kaepernick's right to protest and his right to be concerned over police related shootings. I disagree with the track he took but that's why we live in such a great country that allows for such forms of protest to occur without harsh government repercussions. The social repercussions are another matter but he seems willing to deal with that which is good because it's also the right of others not like what he did. Check out Nate Boyer's response and you may think about this a little differently.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000693173/article/nate-boyer-writes-open-letter-to-colin-kaepernick

I hope we can talk football again soon.

eagle eye

09-02-2016, 05:48 AM

The only thing left in the preseason are the final cuts. What's been called the world's longest job interview is over and now all there is left to do is wait. Did you ever have to wait for something you really wanted and had to wait to see whether or not you would get it? It just plain sucks. Can you imagine having to wait a day and a half to find out if your life long dream of being an NFL football player will come true or not? It must be excruciating but the fact is for a great many of these players, they already know in their hearts it's over. It's like that long last walk of a death row inmate to his doom they are the NFL equivalent to dead men walking. Yeah okay, a little too dramatic but to a 20 or 21 year old young man it may seem like the end of the world. Eventually, they realize it's not the end but a chance for a new beginning on different path. And such is life. Last night we found out that some team's backups are better than others but we kind of knew that already. Final cuts come Saturday and the anticipation for the fans can begin for that opening day. A few years ago the NFL decided to kick start the season by having one game on the Thursday night prior to opening Sunday. Then it morphed into a regular Thursday night game to go along with the traditional Sunday lineup of games and of course Monday Night Football. Then came Sunday night football and then the NFL figured if one game to open the season on Thursday night is good then two would be twice as good. I don't subscribe to Thursday Night Football as a good thing. I think that the thing that makes football special is there is only one game per team a week and the anticipation for that game is part of why people go bat-crap crazy when the game comes on. The big hot topic in the NFL right now is player safety but the NFL seems to be talking out of both sides of their mouths because on the one hand they say they are for player safety and they create new rules to try to protect players but on the other hand they perpetuate the Thursday night game which gives players only 3 days between games. You can't fully recuperate from what amounts to 35-40 car wrecks in 3 days, there's no way. There is also talk of expanding the season to 18 games and I am so against that as well. All the owners see are dollar signs but all it means to players is two extra weeks of punishment and that's before the playoffs even start. Who wins? The owners do because money talks and you know what walks. That's the ugly side of football but in early September it's not about any of that. It's about digging your lucky shirt out of moth balls or breaking out your new team jersey and grabbing a 12 pack and getting together with your buddies because this is the first day of spring all over again. Every single team starts out 0-0 and every single one of them is hoping to get to the Super Bowl and every single one of them has a shot, in their own minds anyway. Fans too, it's a new season, a new beginning and hope is the word of the day. To each and every fan the phrase, "This is our year" is as real as it gets. Eventually, the reality sets in and hope fades but on opening weekend everyone is in first place and everyone has a shot at the brass ring. That's why I don't like the Thursday night doubleheader because it in the middle of the week and I have work the next day. You can't bar-b-cue and you can't drink beer like you could on Sunday afternoon. I'll give you Sunday night and Monday night is an institution even though ESPN is sort of ruining it but Thursday is too darn much. Give me a whole week to let the anticipation build until that pent up adrenaline has a release and let me have Thursday to watch some cop save the city so I can go to bed at a decent hour. That said, the 2016 NFL season begins in just six days!! And the Cowboys are going undefeated and win the Super Bowl!!!

eagle eye

09-03-2016, 02:00 PM

Earlier this morning there was breaking news that is somewhat shocking. The Minnesota Vikings completed a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to obtain QB Sam Bradford. The Vikings will give up a 1st round pick next year and a 4th round pick to be determined. It's highly unusual for a team to trade it's starting QB a week before opening day. In fact, I will venture to say it has never happened before, ever. Bradford may not be all that upset because he was totally pissed in the spring when the Eagles made two big trades to move up to take QB Carson Wentz with the 2nd pick in the draft. To say Bradford didn't feel the love of the Eagles front office would be a gross understatement. This means that Chase Daniels will likely become the Week 1 starter for Philly and the Eagles have already announced that Wentz will assume the starting QB duties when he is fully healthy. So put that in your fantasy draft pipe and smoke it.

Here's a list of notable cuts made today including German WR Moritz Behringer whose freakish athleticism garnered him some notice before the draft this year, notice that actually led to his being drafted by the Minnesota Vikiings in April. If he showed any real potential during OTAs and training camp the Vikes will sign him to their practice squad as soon as he clears waivers. One guy who won't be on anyone's practice squad is Packers 3 time pro bowl guard Josh Sitten who was released today. (Hello, Houston. Did you see this?) So other players of note are in this article linked below from NFL.com.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000694974/article/notable-cuts-roundup-patriots-cut-aaron-dobson

eagle eye

09-05-2016, 05:21 AM

This is theme that will be repeated on other threads but with all cuts being made and last second deals have been made off the cut lists so what that means is the preseason is officially over. I have a link below analyzing some of those last minute signings and that's it for this thread. It's time to officially commence the 2016 NFL season's beginning. There are fantasy lineups to set, beer to buy and pizza to order. Thanks to all who have followed this thread and I hope to see you during the regular season.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000695169/article/what-we-learned-18-takeaways-from-roster-cutdowns

eagle eye

09-13-2016, 07:08 AM

Last night the Steelers proved they don't need Martavis Bryant who is on IR or Le'Veon Bell who is suspended 4 games they have a good enough team to step on the field with anybody. I don't know how the Steelers do it and I both hate them and I am jealous of them for their consistency. They kicked the crap out of the Redskins last night and they are poised to roll through yet another season as a playoff contender. The final score, in case you didn't hear was Pitt 38 Wash 16 and folks it wasn't even that close.
At the opposite end of the spectrum the folks at MNF gave us two teams who likely won't even smell a .500 record this year. The Rams and 49ers faced off against each other in what I like to call "The Overrated Coach Bowl". I think both Jeff Fisher and Chip Kelly are overrated and I don't like either one of them. I sort of like the Rams as a franchise, don't ask me why because I don't know but I do but it's clear that Fisher doesn't know what the hell he is doing. I still can't explain how he led the Titans to the Super Bowl and was just a half yard short of winning the thing over, ironically enough the Rams team known at the time as the greatest show on turf. My dislike of Fisher as a head coach was cemented when I saw Hard Knocks. Fisher and his staff never really showed any great leadership qualities. The best they could do was threaten players jobs and drop F-bombs all over the place. The Cardinals and Seahawks are going to just beat both of these teams to a pulp this season and personally, I will be glad to watch the carnage. It's one of the reasons that makes have Directv and NFL Sunday Ticket worth having so I can see these two overrated gentlemen get their asses handed to them.

It looks like Jacksonville is finally getting it's money's worth out of TE Julius Thomas. After Thomas signed with the Jags a couple of years ago he hasn't been a factor for them at all because he has been injured. This season began with him finally healthy and you could see the difference as the Jaguars gave the Green Bay Packers they wanted before finally losing 27-23. Thomas caught 5 balls for 65 yards and a TD in his best game since he left Denver. He was the third leading receiver for the Jags behind the Allen brothers, Robinson and Hurns. TJ Yeldon may get another week as the bell cow because the status, like his mysterious illness, of Chris Ivory is up in the air. The Jags have said only that Ivory checked into the hospital on Saturday night with a general health issue and that's as far as the explanation goes. Yeldon wasn't much of a factor in the run game because the Packers sort of negated the Jags run game. Yeldon gained just 39 yards on 21 carries but he did score a TD rushing. He also added 30 yards receiving on 4 catches. The road doesn't get any easier as they play San Diego who blew a 2nd half lead to lose to Kansas City on Sunday.

If you keep track of such things in the NFC East the Giants and Eagles won while the Cowboys and Redskins both lost. In the AFC South every team but the Texans lost but Houston can't enjoy the win and the division lead too long because those aforementioned Chiefs will be coming in to play the them on Sunday. As for the Colts, are they really that bad or is Detroit suddenly that good? We'll see as Indy will play Denver in Denver on Sunday.