TRADE FOR HALL WILL
BE HARD
Despite reports of
talks between the Falcons and the Giants regarding a trade of
cornerback DeAngelo Hall to the defending Super Bowl champs, a
league source tells us that Hall's contract will make a trade with
New York, or any team, a difficult proposition.
Though Hall has said
he won't insist on a new contract as part of a trade, no one will be
willing to give up a first-round draft pick for a guy who is signed
for only one more year.
And with Hall, as we
hear it, hoping to make $10 million per year as part of his new
deal, the thinking is that no one would be willing to give up that
kind of money and a first-round draft pick.
FRIDAY NIGHT
ONE-LINERS
Lions CEO Matt Millen
admits that the team's record during his tenure is "beyond
awful."
And the winner of the
PFT Art Monk Award is
. . . .
The contract given to
Colts TE Dallas Clark is worth
$6.9 million per year.
The
Titans have met with TE Alge Crumpler.
The Competition
Committee is looking at
re-seeding the playoff field regardless of whether teams are
division winners or wild cards.
The
Broncos are
out of the Zach Thomas sweepstakes.
The Competition Committee
won't be
doing anything about time outs called before field goals.
The Cards freed up
$7.2 million in cap room by cutting three players.
LB Dan Morgan has
visited with the Saints.
The Vikings
might try to sign a big-name free agent.
Texas TE Jermichael Finley says that the
Packers
are interested in him.
POSTED
6:45 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
PATTERSON BUSTED ON POT
CHARGE
The NFC is on the board in
Turd Watch II.
Per media reports, Eagles
defensive tackle
Mike Patterson was arrested on Saturday for marijuana possession.
Patterson's brother,
Tyrone, was with him at the time, and was arrested on various
outstanding warrants. Tyrone Patterson also was charged with
resisting arrest.
The three points that the
Eagles will get in the Turd Watch games are their first points under
either version of our patented (okay, it's not patented) game for
tracking misconduct in the NFL.
POSTED
4:54 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
HIGH DEMAND FOR
BUTTER-FINGERED RECEIVER?
Agent David Canter claims
that more than eight teams are interested in Vikings receiver Troy
Williamson.
Okay. But why?
Williamson runs fast, but
he can't catch. Whether it's because he's got hands of stone or
eyes of glass, he just can't catch.
"It's
a very positive situation," Canter said, according to the St.
Paul Pioneer Press. "They're letting us put together the
trade. There's already been some offers and preliminary
discussions. Troy is really excited and he's just anxious to see
where he ends up."
Judd Zulgad of the
Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Dolphins, Jaguars,
Raiders, 49ers, Seahawks, and Titans all
could be
interested in Williamson, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2005 draft.
POSTED
4:28 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
HALL WANTS OUT OT
ATLANTA
After making himself into
a pain in the butt for the Falcons for much of the past year, cornerback
DeAngelo Hall is now livid over the fact that the team would consider
moving the chronic malcontent.
Hall says he feels
"betrayed" and "stabbed in the back" by the Falcons, who reportedly are
entertaining trade offers for the four-year veteran.
"I
don't want to stay there," Hall said on Friday, adding that his
chances of returning to the Falcons in 2008 are "slim and none."
Hall, a first-round pick
in 2004, is signed through 2008. He previously has said that he
intends to give free agency a try when his contract expires.
POSTED
3:23 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
FINS ANNOUNCE THAT
HUIZENGA, ROSS ARE PARTNERS
On the heels of reports
that Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga has sold a portion of the team to
Steve Ross, the team has announced that Huizenga and Ross are now 50-50
partners in the ownership of the team and Dolphin Stadium.
"I have
always said that I wanted to bring in a partner," Huienzga said in a
release, "and I can't think of anyone more appropriate than Steve.
He has
unbridled enthusiasm and I couldn't feel better about the future
than I do with Steve as my partner and Bill Parcells running
football operations."
"Having
grown up in South Florida, Dolphins football has been a lifetime
passion for me," Ross said in the statement. "I am energized by
this opportunity and look forward to being able to once again watch
the Dolphins win a Super Bowl alongside all the other loyal Dolphin
fans."
Huizenga will remain the managing
general partner, and the transaction will require full approval by
the other owners.
POSTED
3:14 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
ROSS ACQUIRES PATH TO
OWNERSHIP OF FINS
Updating prior reports,
Jay Glazer of FOXSports.com reports that Steve Ross is buying a piece of
the Dolphins, and that Ross will secure the ability to purchase
controlling interest in the future.
In December, there were
reports of
discussions between Ross and owner Wayne Huizenga, who said at the
time that he was not actively looking to sell the team.
Huizenga purchased the
Dolphins in 1994. He also has owned the Florida Marlins and the
Florida Panthers of the NHL.
POSTED
3:06 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
HUIZENGA SELLS A SLICE
OF THE DOLPHINS
Jay Glazer of
FOXSports.com reports that Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga has sold a
piece of the team.
Per Glazer, Huizenga will
continue to have controlling interest in the team. It's unknown
whether the current transaction is the first step toward a sale of the
rest of the team.
When V.P. of football
operations Bill Parcells was hired in January, it was reported that he
did so with an assurance that Huizenga will remain in control of the
organization for the full term of Parcells' four-year deal.
POSTED
2:36 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
PACMAN'S SUSPENSION
CONTINUES INDEFINITELY
Though it was assumed that
the path had been cleared for Titans cornerback Pacman Jones to return
to the NFL upon completion of the 2007 season, Terry McCormick of the
Nashville City Paper reports that
Jones' suspension will continue indefinitely.
"[W]e've been told that he
won’t be reinstated immediately as was our hope," said attorney Manny
Arora at the Scouting Combine. "The idea is that he continues to
meet some sign posts that the commissioner has put out there, and if he
meets those over the next however many weeks or months, then he will be
allowed to come back and we can petition to let him back in."
Per McCormick, the current
suspension appears to be "open-ended."
Since the initial
suspension was imposed, Jones has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges
in Las Vegas arising out of a strip-club shooting in February 2007, and
earlier this month he pleaded no contest to a felony charge arising from
allegations in Georgia that he bit a cop on the hand in 2006.
Presumably, additional penalties for these outcomes can be imposed by
the league under the Personal Conduct Policy.
Meanwhile, Arora is
getting upset. "[W]e've been given the longest suspension in
history, and it's infuriating to me that we’re the poster child for this
thing when you compare it to some of the other players," the
lawyer-turned-agent said.
Manny, here's some free
advice. First, shut your mouth. Then, stop and think about
whether your fairly-obvious effort to parlay Pacman's case into a
full-blown agent practice via grandstanding and other tactics aimed at
securing publicity has helped your client, or whether it has hurt him.
The Titans reportedly are
expected to try to trade Jones if/when he is reinstated, or to release
him.
POSTED
1:57 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
McFADDEN TO RUN BUT NOT
LIFT?
As folks eyeballing the
Scouting Combine try to figure out which of the top-flight recruits will
choose to show what they can do, a source with knowledge of the
situation tells us that Arkansas running back Darren McFadden probably
will run on Sunday, but likely won't lift.
It's unclear whether
McFadden will participate in any of the other drills.
Often, the players
projected to be taken at the top of the draft will opt to delay their
workouts. In some cases, the thinking is that the player will
perform better if he has more time to prepare. In other instances,
the thinking is that the running surface will be more favorable
elsewhere.
POSTED
1:39 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
UNION GETTING
"CONSISTENT SIGNALS" OF EARLY CBA TERMINATION
An item posted on the NFL
Players Association's official web site says that attendees at a
Wednesday meeting in Indianapolis were informed that the union has been
getting "consistent
signals" that NFL owners aren't happy with the 2006 revisions to the
Collective Bargaining Agreement, and that they likely will exercise
their right to cancel the deal two years early.
The NFLPA also asked a
group of 17 agents and 10 current and former players to assist in
preparing the rank-and-file for the "upcoming negotiations."
The key word is
"upcoming." With the deadline for opting out of the last two years
of the CBA in November, we think it would be wise for both sides to make
"upcoming" mean "right now."
And with the owners
scheduled to meet in March, it would make sense for them to pull the
plug then and there, which would give both sides more time to try to
work something out before the havoc of the last capped year unfolds in
2009.
The agents attending the
session were Tony Agnone (23 active contracts), Adisa Bakari (10),
Andrew "Buddy" Baker (23), Steve Baker (17), Jason Chayut (17), Jerrold
Colton (13), Tom Condon (38), James "Bus" Cook (25), Todd France (32),
Kristen Kuliga (4), Vann McElroy (17), Kennard McGuire (14), Drew
Rosenhaus (79), Joel Segal (36), Rick Smith (22), Bruce Tollner (18),
and Angelo Wright (13). As we previously noted, some agents
believe that this group was hand-picked in order to ensure that there
would be no dissent in the room. There also is some confusion
among some agents regarding the need for an advance meeting when the
union would be meeting with many more agents on Friday.
As to where all of this
might be heading,
consider the thoughts of some Internet hack on SportingNews.com.
POSTED
12:00 p.m. EST, February 22, 2008
McFADDEN BASHING BEGINS
Jason Cole of Yahoo!
Sports suggests that question marks surrounding Arkansas running back
Darren McFadden could prompt this year's Adrian Peterson to
slide down the draft board.
Then again, it could be
that teams who hope he'll be on the board when they pick would like to
grease the skids.
Two unnamed NFL head
coaches have told Cole that McFadden's off-field issues, including a
couple of night-club incidents, could be a problem.
"There's going to be some
stuff that comes out on that kid, I'm telling you," said one coach.
"Just watch. People are going to project him going way up here and
then you're going to hear about his behavior and then about this and that
and whatever."
"He's the best
skill-position player in the draft, by far," said another coach.
"But he has issues. He's going to get a lot of questions from
people, a lot of eyeballing to make sure he’s being straight with people
and that they can trust him."
Fine. Good.
But unless we know who the coaches are who said these things, there's no
way to know whether the coach is saying what he's saying in furtherance
of his own self-interests.
The general rule of thumb
this time of year is that coaches talk up the players whom they don't
like, in the hopes that someone else will take the guy. The
coaches also tend to bad-mouth the players whom they secretly covet.
So unless one of Cole's sources for this one is Fins coach Tony Sparano, it's hard for us
to put much stock in the report.
That said, McFadden has
indeed had some off-field issues, and it probably could affect his draft
standing. Our broader point is that the last folks to trust for
credible information regarding such matters are those who might find
fortune in a free-fall.
POSTED
11:03 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
TAMPERING CHARGES WERE
MADE "SEVERAL MONTHS AGO"
The recent report of
tampering claim made by the Bears against the 49ers doesn't identify
when the charges were filed.
Per a league source, the
assertion occurred "several months ago."
The thinking in some
league circles is that the Bears made the assertion not in order to
secure punishment for the Niners for allegedly engaging in unauthorized
contract talks with linebacker Lance Briggs at a time when the Bears and
Niners were talking about a trade, but to get the Niners to back off of
any efforts to work out an advance wink-nod deal with Briggs to sign him
at the very outset of free agency.
It makes sense. If
the Bears were at the time holding out any hope of re-signing Briggs,
who per his 2007 contract couldn't have been slapped with the franchise
tag again in 2008, the Bears surely would have preferred a shot at
working out a deal without Briggs and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, trying
to line up more money elsewhere.
And it could be that the
news is finally hitting the media now because the Bears hope to make the
Niners think twice about trying to work out something with Briggs while
all of the teams and most of the agents are in Indianapolis.
FRIDAY MORNING
ONE-LINERS
Jets coach Eric Mangini
says that
the starting quarterback job is open; it could be a ploy to gin up
trade interest in Chad Pennington.
Eagles coach Andy Reid and
president Joe Banner say that
they weren't cheated in the game during which Donovan McNabb puked.
The Giants
aren't ruling out a new deal for DE Michael Strahan.
Are the Bucs ready to
make a trade for WR Javon Walker?
The three-year deal signed
by Browns RB Jamal Lewis is
believed to be worth $17 million.
The Steelers hope to sign
OT Max Starks
to a long-term extension.
The Jets have given LB
Jonathan Vilma
permission to shop himself; the Jags and the Saints are possible
suitors.
Former Lions offensive
coordinator Mike Martz talks about his "mutual" departure from the
Lions: "When they fired me,
then it became mutual -- I agreed that I should probably go.
That's how it became mutual."
Bears director of college
scouting Greg Gabriel
could be running his last draft in Chicago.
The chances of QB Trent
Green returning to Miami are
increasingly remote.
The Pats officially have
declined to pick up the option on receiver Donte' Stallworth.
Ravens LT Jonathan Ogden
has
taken a $5 million pay cut for 2008, which will only increase
speculation that he plans to give up the rest of it by retiring.
The Chargers
hope to trade FB Lorenzo Neal.
The Seahawks have signed
RT Shawn Locklear
to a
five-year deal.
Ravens director of player
development O.J. Brigance
has Lou Gehrig's Disease.
The Bucs
have had discussions with the agents for DT Rod Coleman and TE Alge
Crumpler.
The Bengals have signed WR
Antonio Chatman
to a two-year deal.
The Bills
will be looking for a starting receiver in free agency.
The Dolphins have
re-signed CB Michael Lehan.
The Fins apparently
won't be trying to re-sign RG Rex Hadnot.
POSTED
10:10 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
WILLIAMSON IS ON THE
BLOCK
In a development that
hardly can be characterized as a surprise, a league source at the
Scouting Combine tells us that the Minnesota Vikings are shopping
receiver Troy Williamson.
Williamson was the seventh
overall pick in the 2005 draft, and he has been a major disappointment.
The problem is that he can't catch the ball on a consistent basis.
Recently, Vikings
receivers coach George Stewart said that he wants to give Williamson
another chance. We should have interpreted that statement as what
it apparently is -- a too-little, too-late effort by the Vikings to make
other teams think he won't be cut if he isn't dealt.
Williamson is signed
through 2009, and is due to earn a base salary of $910,000 in 2008.
POSTED
9:29 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
IS CAPERS THE
CONTINGENCY PLAN?
Several members of PFT
Planet have raised an intriguing question about the addition of Dom
Capers to the coaching staff in New England.
Is Capers, as one reader
put it, the "break glass in case of emergency" option in the event that
Spygate II goes to hell in a handbasket and Bill Belichick gets
suspended by the league and/or fired by the team?
The answer might lie in
Capers' contract, which almost certainly will never be exposed to the
light of day. If there's a written provision making him the head
coach in the event of any sudden "incapacity" of Belichick, then this
means that the powers-that-be have planned for the possibility, however
remote it might be, that something bad could happen if/when Matt Walsh
ever shows what he has and says what he knows.
By having Capers'
elevation reduced to writing, the Pats wouldn't be required to adhere to
the Rooney Rule if/when a vacancy arises. Indeed, if the
worst-case scenario (i.e., NFL suspends Belichick and the
evidence is sufficiently compelling to force Bob Kraft to fire him)
unfolds in, say, June, the franchise surely would want to make a quick
transition. Starting a coaching search from scratch wouldn't be
the way to make that happen.
The other possibility is
that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would be elevated to head
coach and Capers would take over the defense. But McDaniels is
still on the "ridiculously freaking young" side, and Capers has nine
years of experience as a head coach with two expansion teams.
SPRINT SLASHES PRICE
FOR UNLIMITED FAMILY TEXTING
Ordinarily, Sprint makes
unlimited text messaging available for $20 per month per phone.
Now, the whole family can get unlimited texting for a grand total
of $20 per month.
The low-price texting
option is available on Power Pack Family Plans. Click the ads on
this page to get more information about the offer.
The best thing about
having a flat rate for unlimited texting is that it eliminates that
sense of dread that blossoms somewhere in the duodenum while the
envelope containing the monthly bill is being opened.
And remember that Sprint
is the official telecommunications partner of ProFootballTalk.
Plenty of our loyal readers have made the switch to Sprint in the two
years that Sprint has been supporting the site, and we hope that even
more of you will continue to do so.
POSTED
8:49 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
KEYSHAWN HAS AN ITCH HE
SHOULDN'T SCRATCH
ESPN broadcaster Keyshawn
Johnson tells ESPN's Hasmarks blog that
he's got the "itch" to play football again.
Consider it poison ivy,
Key.
Unless Johnson is
posturing about playing football again SIMPLY because he hopes to
leverage more cash and/or better exposure at ESPN/ABC, Johnson needs to
consider carefully the consequences of giving up an easy-money gig that
could extend for decades (see Tom Jackson) in exchange for the
privilege of getting his body banged around for another four months.
Just ask Deion Sanders,
who left CBS in a huff and ultimately had to play football again because
there were no openings elsewhere -- once a former NFL player gives up
one of the handful of spots for former NFL players on television,
there's no guarantee that any others will be available.
Johnson was good in his
television debut last year, especially in comparison to on-air colleague
Emmitt Smith. But no one was "blowed" away with Keyshawn's
performance, and our sense is that ESPN or CBS or NBC or NFLN or whoever
else is hiring former NFL players for national TV work when Johnson
retires again would be inclined to choose a more current flavor of the
month.
Whether it's Warren Sapp
or Michael Strahan or Brett Favre or Torry Holt or Terrell Owens, there
will be no shortage of new faces and voices with more appeal than
Keyshawn, if for no other reason than they're new.
So think it over, Keyshawn.
You've got your Super Bowl ring. You can still walk without any
noticeable limps. You've got a prime seat at the grown-ups table.
While you surely like the offseason attention, play this thing out a
little bit longer and then say "no thanks."
You'll thank yourself for
it later.
POSTED
8:30 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
FALCONS SECURE NO. 3
PICK
The
Atlanta Falcons have won the coin toss giving them the No. 3 overall
pick in the 2008 draft, according to John Clayton of ESPN.com.
Hooray?
The third pick is, in some
respects, less advantageous than the fourth pick. Based on the
contract slotting process, the financial drop between the third and
fourth spot arguably is larger than the talent difference between the
two players who'll be selected in those two positions.
The victory by the Falcons
in the coin toss with the Raiders automatically gave the Raiders the No.
4 and the Chiefs the No. 5 selection, since the Raiders finished fourth
in the AFC West via the application of tiebreakers. If the Raiders
had won the flip with the Falcons, there would have been another flip
between the Falcons and Chiefs for the No. 4 spot.
POSTED
8:17 a.m. EST, February 22, 2008
DEANGELO TO DA GIANTS?
With cornerback DeAngelo
Hall desperate to get out of Atlanta, the New York Giants might be the
team to make it happen.
According to the Newark
Star-Ledger, the Giants are exploring the possibility of
sending the 31st overall pick in the 2008 draft to Atlanta for Hall.
The willingness of the
Falcons to trade Hall could be a sign that they'll target Patriots
cornerback Asante Samuel when free agency opens next week. New
Atlanta G.M. Tom Dimitroff was the director of college scouting in New
England before taking a job with the Falcons.
From the Giants'
perspective, the interest in Hall smacks of hubris. One of the
problems with the team has been an overabundance of loudmouths in the
locker room. Many believe that the retirement of Tiki Barber and
the disappearance of Jeremy Shockey following a broken leg were key
components in getting the rest of the guys on the same page.
Here's a thought -- why
don't the Giants just pursue Asante Samuel? Signing him won't cost
much more than it would to extend Hall, and the Giants would still have
their first-round pick.
Besides, giving Samuel a
big-money deal would be fitting, given that it was his dropped
interception that opened the door for the Shawshank Reception.
POSTED
11:26 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
BEARS CHARGE NINERS
WITH TAMPERING
In a rare move between the
32 business partners who usually play nice with each other, the
Chicago Bears have charged the San Francisco 49ers with tampering.
According to Jason Cole of
Yahoo! Sports, the Bears claim that the Niners talked to Briggs about a
possible contract without permission during the 2007 season.
Surprisingly, the Niners
admit they communicated with Briggs' agent, Drew Rosenhaus. But
the Niners claim that the discussions occurred only after the Niners and
the Bears held preliminary trade discussions.
The irony is that the
49ers soon learned that Briggs couldn't be signed to a new contract
during the 2007 season because he had not signed a long-term deal by
July 15. So if San Fran tampered, they talked about something that
never could have happened.
As far as the tampering
rules go, however, it doesn't matter. If the 49ers didn't have
permission to talk directly with Rosenhaus about Briggs, the rules were
violated.
The question, in our view,
is whether league rules require the use of any magic words reduced to
writing to trigger official permission to permit a player to speak with
another team. If there is such a requirement and if, as it
appears, the i's weren't dotted and t's weren't crossed, the Niners
could be the first team since the Dolphins of the early '70s to be
busted for tampering.
The other issue is whether
the presence of these allegations will keep the Niners and Rosenhaus
from laying the foundation for a contract to be signed at 12:01 a.m. EST
on February 29, a sure sign that discussions occurred in violation of
the rules against tampering.
Come to think of it, the
Bears have signed players to such speedy deals a time or two in the
past. And that only reinforces the notion that each of the houses
in the NFL's neighborhood are all windows and no walls.
POSTED
10:32 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
"NEW CHEATING CHARGES"
ARE OLD NEWS
The item to which the
Drudge Report has or will be linking is a New York Times article
that traces the Patriots' practice of videotaping defensive coaching
signals
back to the 2000 preseason.
But this really isn't
"new." It has been established that Pats coach Bill Belichick
began the practice when he joined the team in 2000. Belichick
contends that he interpreted the rules to permit the practice.
So that's it. Those
are the "new cheating charges."
We don't fault the guys
who wrote the article, John Branch and Greg Bishop. Instead, the
false impression created by the headline was created by whoever wrote
the headline. As we've learned over the years, that person rarely
is the person who wrote the story.
The Times article
also contains some interesting quotes harvested on Thursday in
Indianapolis. For example, former Rams coach Mike Martz said that
he wants the league to continue to investigate whether the Patriots
taped his team's walk-through practice prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, and
Martz took issue with the notion that having such information wouldn't
be useful.
"For somebody to say that,
it's kind of disgusting," Martz said. "The whole point is if they
really cheated. To say he took some steroids and it did help or it
didn't help, that’s never the point. The point is, to all these
high school coaches and high school kids and college kids, that if they
did cheat, that’s the point."
POSTED
10:18 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
NEW CHEATING CHARGES
AGAINST THE PATS?
Our own Taco Bill, whose
work on the recent NFL dumpster photos has been nothing short of
brilliant, points out to us the following headline in the left column of
the Drudge Report:
"NEW
CHARGES OF CHEATING EMERGE AGAINST THE PATRIOTS . . . DEVELOPING . . .
"
The link, however, merely
comes back to the front page of the Drudge site. We assume that,
after Drudge racks up another extra million views or so as folks
unknowingly refresh his front page, the link will lead to a, you know,
story.
Stay tuned.
Or, we should say,
DEVELOPING
. . .
POSTED
10:12 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
SEAHAWKS WON'T COMMENT
ON ALEXANDER RUMORS
Well, we're already
stirring up trouble in Indianapolis. And we're not even in
Indiana.
In response to rumors
we've heard from multiple folks at the Scouting Combine that Seahawks
running back Shaun Alexander might soon be shoved into the Pacific
Ocean, the team has declined comment.
Per Clare Farnsworth of
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the team said that the rumor "doesn't
deserve a response."
But what Farnsworth wrote
next makes us wonder whether the 'Hawks are protesting too much, if
Farnsworth is parroting something he was told by the club: "If he
is released, it would likely come after June 1 to spread the cap hit on
the remaining proration of his signing bonuses over the next two years."
Wrong. Under the
current CBA, two players per team can be cut before June 1, and the
transactions can be processed as post-June 1 moves.
The better argument
against releasing Alexander now is that the team would have more
leverage to squeeze Alexander to take a lower salary if he'd be cut at a
time after the bulk of the free-agency money has flowed. It's
another reason why agents negotiating these long-term, big-money deals
need to shift some of the salary money to roster bonus payments due in
late February or early March. Such terms force teams to decide
sooner rather than later whether a change should be made.
POSTED
8:14 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
PATS FIRE COLLIER, HIRE
CAPERS
Mike Reiss of the
Boston Globe reports that veteran NFL coach Dom Capers has
joined the New England Patriots as a special assistant/secondary.
He'll replace secondary coach Joel Collier, who apparently has been
fired.
The title suggests that
Capers possibly is a consultant, which would mean that he'd be allowed
to leave prior to the completion of the team's 2008 season if he is
offered work as a defensive coordinator or as a head coach.
Capers was fired by the
Dolphins in January. He'll receive his salary from Miami for the
duration of his contract with the team, offset by any earnings in New
England.
Collier, 44, has been an
NFL assistant coach since 1990, and he has had two stints with the Pats.
He returned after more than a decade in 2005.
POSTED
7:23 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
SAINTS MAKE OFFER TO
THOMAS
It's two visits, two
offers for former linebacker Zach Thomas.
According to Adam Schefter
of NFL Network, the New Orleans Saints have made Thomas an offer to join
the team. Earlier this week, the Patriots offered Thomas a
contract.
Schefter reports that
there's a feeling that the Saints are the favorites to land Thomas, who
was cut by Miami last week.
Other teams interested in
Thomas include the Cowboys, Broncos, Texans, Jets, and Bills.
POSTED
5:38 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
NFL CHANGES CHURCH
POLICY
Last February, there were
media reports of an Indianapolis church that wasn't allowed to broadcast
Super Bowl XLI between the Colts and the Bears on a television with a
screen larger than 55 inches. In response, the NFL explained its
position and stuck to its guns. The story died before the opening
kickoff of the NFL title game in Miami.
What a difference a year
makes.
The story surfaced again
prior to Super Bowl XLII between the Giants and the Pats. This
time around, however, the media exposure and, apparently, the ensuing
pressure from Congress caused the league to cave.
In a letter to Senator
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Commissioner Roger Goodell promised to allow "live
showings -- regardless of screen size -- of the Super Bowl" by
religious organizations.
The move is the most
concrete evidence to date of the apparent discomfort that the league
currently is feeling in the face of arguably unprecedented interest by
Congress in its activities. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has been
stirring up trouble over Spygate, and Senator Patrck Leahy (D-Vt.)
authorized last week the expenditure of funds by the Senate Judiciary
Committee for further investigation of the manner in which the league
handled materials surrendered by the Patriots in September 2007, and
regarding recent allegations of cheating at Super Bowl XXXVI.
POSTED
5:19 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
SHAUN GETTING THE
SHAFT?
We're hearing multiple
rumblings from our connections at the Scouting Combine that the Seahawks
could be cutting running back Shaun Alexander soon.
A media source told us
moments ago that the move could come "in the next couple of days."
It would be the last step
in a dramatic fall from grace for the NFL's MVP in 2005.
Once Alexander got rewarded with a big contract in 2006, his performance
began to dip. In 2007, he was, as the league insider types say,
"just a guy."
Alexander is under
contract through 2013, with total remaining non-guaranteed base salaries
of $43.1625 million.
POSTED
4:51 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
PANTHERS CUT FOSTER
So much for the Panthers
trading running back DeShaun Foster. On Thursday, the
Panthers cut the six-year
veteran.
We always believed that a
trade of Foster was unlikely. A player who is expected to be cut
often is traded only when his current contract is believed to be more
favorable than what he would get on the open market. In such a
case, it makes sense to give up, say, a fifth-round pick in order to buy
the contract.
But Foster was due to earn
$4.75 million in 2008, the final year of his contract. So there
was no reason to give up a draft pick when he likely can be had on the
open market for far less.
Foster was a second-round
pick in 2002.
POSTED
4:41 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
NO TAG FOR MOSS
Mike Reiss of the
Boston Globe reports that the New England Patriots
did not apply the franchise tag to receiver Randy Moss before
Thursday's 4:00 p.m. EST deadline.
Reiss correctly observes
that this could mean that the Patriots and Moss have a verbal deal in
place for a long-term contract. But while Reiss points out that a
multi-year deal can't be announced until the new league year begins on
February 29, the more accurate statement is that no enforceable
agreement can be reached until then.
In other words, if there's
an agreement, Moss can renege without consequence. And, given the
reality that tampering is a fact of life in the modern NFL, anyone who
might be interested in putting together a jaw-dropping financial package
can put out hypothetical feelers to Moss between now and midnight next
Thursday.
From the Patriots'
standpoint, they'd probably justify losing Moss in that fashion by
explaining that if he isn't a man of his word then he's better off
leaving.
POSTED
4:15 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
BROWNS, LEWIS DO A DEAL
Mary Kay Cabot of the
Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns and running back
Jamal Lewis have reached agreement on a "multi-year
deal." Earlier in the day on Thursday, it was suggested that
Lewis would ultimately sign a two-year deal with an option for a third
season.
The parties are expected
to meet in Indianapolis and sign the contract.
With the deal being worked
out on the last day for application of the franchise tag, we wonder
whether the Browns would have used the tag on Lewis if an agreement
hadn't been reached by 4:00 p.m. EST.
The one-year franchise
tender for Lewis would have cost the team $6.53 million. He earned
about $5 million in 2007.
POSTED
3:10 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
NFLPA PREPARING FOR A
LOCKOUT?
On Wednesday, we reported
that NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw would be meeting with a
hand-picked group of agents to discuss the Collective Bargaining
Agreement.
Liz Mullen of
SportsBusiness Journal reports that, at the meeting, the NFLPA
officials raised the possibility of a lockout in 2011.
"There could be a work
stoppage, in which case even guaranteed contract [money] would
presumably not be paid," an agent who attended the meeting told Mullen.
Owners are expected to
exercise their right to end the labor contract two years early, making
2010 the last season with a contract between the two sides.
A lockout is the
ownership version of a strike. Management prevents the employees
from working until a new deal is hammered out. The NHL lost the
entire 2004-05 season due to a lockout.
The difference, however,
is that the owners in hockey were genuinely losing money. In the
NFL, the question for both sides is how much money is enough?
POSTED
2:27 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
ALL EYES ON NEW ENGLAND
With less than two hours
to go before the deadline for using the franchise tag expires, NFL
observers are casting an eye toward Foxborough, where the Patriots could
be applying the franchise tag to receiver Randy Moss.
Because Moss restructured
his deal to take less money in April 2007, he can't do another contract
with the Pats until the start of the next league year. But this
means that he'll technically hit the free-agent market before he can
re-sign with the Patriots. Even if he has a verbal deal with the
Pats, he can still entertain offers that might come in at 12:01 a.m. EST
on February 29.
If the Pats don't use the
tag, it's safe to assume that there is a verbal deal in place, and that
Moss has promised to make it official at midnight sharp on February 29.
If the tag is applied, then there's likely no deal in place -- and
Randy's specific makeup could make it harder for a deal to ever get
done.
A list of all tagged
players is right here. In all,
twelve players have been slapped with the franchise tag, and one player
has been hit with the transition tag.
POSTED
2:05 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
COWBOYS TAG HAMLIN
With the deadline for
using the franchise tag looming at 4:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, the
Cowboys have used theirs on safety Ken Hamlin, according to Adam
Schefter of NFL Network.
Hamlin signed a one-year
deal with the Cowboys last year during free agency. He started in
every game, and had a career-high five interceptions.
The move might have been
prompted in part by the decision of the Vikings to cut safety Dwight
Smith, since the Vikings might have pursued Hamlin aggressively in free
agency.
The use of the tag on
Hamlin also means that left tackle Flozell Adams will become an
unrestricted free agent.
POSTED
1:46 p.m. EST, February 21, 2008
FALCONS INFATUATED WITH
RYAN?
In response to our
assessment that Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan might not be
drafted until the bottom of round one at the earliest, a league source
advises us that there's a belief in league circles that Falcons owner
Arthur Blank is smitten with Ryan, and that the Falcons would take him
with its first pick in the 2008 draft, which currently is among the top
five selections. (The final spot will be determined by flip(s) of
the coin this weekend in Indy.)
Of course, this is the
time of the year when all sorts of smokescreens begin to emerge, so it's
not really clear at this point whether or not there is any factual basis
to the rumors making the rounds.
Still, the overriding
point is that, even if 31 franchises say "no," all it takes is for one
to say "yes."
POSTED
11:14 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
BROWNS, LEWIS CLOSE TO
A DEAL
Reports out of Cleveland
indicate that a deal between the Browns and running back Jamal Lewis is
"imminent."
G.M. Phil Savage told WTAM
that a deal is
likely within the next 24 hours. It is expected to be a
two-year contract with an option for a third season.
Lewis joined the Browns
last year in free agency after spending seven seasons in Baltimore.
He signed a one-year contract.
Savage, who is in
Indianapolis for the Scouting Combine, also plans to meet with the
agents for quarterback Derek Anderson in the hopes of finalizing a
contract before the launch of free agency next Friday.
POSTED
11:04 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
WALSH TO BE SUBPOENAED?
The lawyer who filed on
Friday a $100 million class-action lawsuit against the New England
Patriots alleging cheating in connection with Super Bowl XXXVI says that
he plans to subpoena former video employee Matt Walsh for a
deposition within the next two weeks.
"If Matt Walsh doesn't
have the goods, we'd pack our bags and go home," attorney Eric Deters
told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We don't need the tapes, just the
testimony."
But other things Deters
has said (more on that in a minute) and his apparent lack of knowledge
regarding the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure makes us wonder whether
he's got the chops to pursue complex and contentious litigation against
one of the most successful franchises in the National Football League.
Put simply, Deters isn't
allowed to take Walsh's deposition yet.
Rule 26(d)(1) of the
Federal Rules plainly states that "[a] party may not seek discovery from
any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 26(f),"
absent a Court order or a stipulation to the contrary.
The Rule 26(f) conference
is a meeting, typically by phone, between the parties for the purposes
of coming up with a proposed trial date and other pre-trial matters.
It occurs pursuant to a Court order setting the deadline for such a
meeting. The Court order typically is entered after all of the
defendants have filed an answer to the complaint. An answer is due
as few as twenty and as many as sixty days after the summons and the
complaint are properly served on the defendants.
In this case, we expect
the Patriots to file a motion to dismiss the entire lawsuit right out of
the gates, which likely will delay the Rule 26(f) conference.
Indeed, there's no reason to figure out a trial date if there never will
be a trial.
And because we can't
imagine the Patriots agreeing to a stipulation that would allow Walsh to
be deposed within the next two weeks, the only hope in this regard would
be for Deters to file a motion with the Court seeking leave to take
Walsh's deposition right now. If Deters does so, he'll need to
have a reason far more compelling than "I want to try to leverage a
quick settlement."
That's precisely what we
think Deters is trying to do. In our view, he isn't interested in
doing justice; he simply wants to make a fast score.
"We are the NFL and
Patriots' worst nightmare," Deters said. "Litigation takes years.
It would be a huge distraction to the league and the team. The way
to resolve this is to pay some reparation to teams, players and fans
affected."
Deters' belief reflects a
high degree of hubris, and naivete. Apparently, he thinks that
he's a sufficiently intimidating adversary to cause the Pats and the NFL
to conclude that it would be better to suffer the crippling P.R. fallout
of settling (i.e., implicitly admitting) claims of Super Bowl
cheating than it would be to square off against him.
So Deters had better scrap
the notion that he's going to get rich quick on this one.
Actually, he should welcome the opportunity to go to trial.
"I think the case has
great merit," Deters said. "We have a 90 percent chance of
winning."
I've been practicing law
for 16-plus years now, and one thing I've learned is that anyone who
tries to affix with confidence any type of a percentage to the outcome
of a piece of litigation is a 100-percent idiot.
The sad part is that the
case very well could have merit, if Walsh has the goods and if the
Patriots don't have a credible explanation. But it's our opinion
after reading Deters' initial comments on the lawsuit that his
involvement in it will only increase the likelihood of ultimate failure.
POSTED
10:18 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
UNION ALLEGES COLLUSION
Our friends at
SportsBusiness Daily, which is the weekday companion to
SportsBusiness Journal, report that the NFL Players Association
accused the NFL on Wednesday of collusion with respect to the decision
of the owners to reduce the debt ceiling for each of the 32 franchises.
On Thursday, the NFLPA
will ask Special Master Richard Burbank to force the league to reverse
the decision to drop the per-team annual limit from $150 million to $120
million. Intriguingly, Burbank's ruling would be subject to review
by Judge David S. Doty, whom the league accused one week ago of judicial
misconduct.
By reducing the debt
limit, teams will have $30 million less per year in borrowed money to
play with. Thus, if a team is feeling a pinch in the offseason
when the network television money and the gate receipts aren't rolling
in, there could be less money available to throw at free agents.
It's more of an issue, as
we see it, for signing bonuses and other lump-sums promised during the
months when far less money is being made by the teams. And it
might prompt some teams to push more of a player's compensation into
non-guaranteed base salaries.
But whether this rises to
the level of collusion is a different issue. The salary cap is the
same. The salary floor is the same. There's no requirement
in the CBA that teams use guaranteed money versus non-guaranteed money,
or bonuses versus base salaries.
So what really might be
going on here? That will be the topic of some Internet
hack's new column for SportingNews.com, coming on Friday.
POSTED
9:52 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
HENRY RESTRUCTURES FOR
DENVER
Faced with a looming
multi-million-dollar roster bonus like the one that got him cut from the
Titans a year ago, Broncos running back
Travis Henry has
restructured his contract and will play for the team in 2008.
Henry was due to earn a $6
million option bonus on February 29. The Broncos likely would have
dumped him if he hadn't altered the deal.
Adam Schefter of NFL
Network reports that Henry gave up the option bonus to stay in Denver.
It's unclear whether the amount was replaced with base salary or, for
example, a per-game roster bonus tied to Henry's presence each week on
the active 53-man roster.
Either way, it's a small
price to pay in light of the unflagging support that Henry got from
coach Mike Shanahan during the tailback's 2007 travails with the
substance abuse policy.
Schefter also reports
that, as of Thursday morning, the Broncos were $16.7 million under the
projected salary cap of $116 million, due in part to an agreement by
cornerback Dre' Bly to convert the bulk of his 2008 base salary into a
guaranteed payment.
Per the Denver Post,
the Broncos are trying to trade receiver Javon Walker and linebacker Ian
Gold.
POSTED
8:23 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
RYAN INTENTIONALLY OFF
OF OUR FIRST MOCK DRAFT
In the hopes of not
receiving another 150 e-mails reminding us that Boston College
quarterback Matt Ryan isn't in the first round of
our first mock draft of the season,
we're announcing in this space that we know.
We left Ryan out
intentionally. Here's why.
There's talk among scouts
that neither Ryan nor Brian Brohm of Louisville are top prospects.
And there are a few serviceable quarterbacks with NFL game experience
who will be available in free agency. So we currently think that
both of them could slide like Aaron Rodgers or Brady Quinn.
For one of them, the
free-fall will end at No. 20, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers use their
pick. But Brohm is, in our assessment, a better fit for the West
Coast offense than Ryan. So Ryan's drop will continue.
And since none of the
remaining teams in round one need a new starting quarterback, Ryan will
slip right out of the first 31 picks.
With that said, we think
that someone would trade back into the bottom of the first round to get
Ryan, just like the Browns did last year with Brady Quinn. And
with the going rate for such a move being the team's spot in round two
and a first-rounder the following year, it's a deal that we think will
likely get done.
Finally, we realize the
folly of mock drafts, especially before teams address needs via free
agency signings, or develop new needs via free agency departures.
But PFT Planet wanted a mock draft, so we put one together with the
assistance of our network of insiders.
POSTED
8:03 a.m. EST, February 21, 2008
VINCENT CLAIMS HGH IS
NOT A PROBLEM
NFLPA Executive Director
Gene Upshaw has vowed that the union won't accept blood testing of
players for HGH. Coincidentally (or not), NFLPA President Troy
Vincent says that the league doesn't have an HGH problem.
"We
feel it's not something that's common in our space," Vincent told
the AP on Wednesday.
His apparent reasoning is
that HGH isn't widely available. "You don't usually find
[performance-enhancing drugs] on the north side of Philly or in a rural
Texas neighborhood," Vincent said.
Um, huh? Though
Vincent concedes that recreational drugs are a real problem for NFL
players, the notion that a guy making hundreds of thousands of dollars
per year can't figure out how to score some HGH is laughable.
The HGH problem is, in our
view, real. Why wouldn't a player who hopes to fend off
challengers for his starting spot, or place on the roster, use something
that might help him get back from an injury faster, especially if the
league doesn't test for HGH?
Besides, shouldn't the
President of the NFLPA actually be, you know, on a team? Vincent
was out of football in 2007. Though NFLPA regulations allow him to
still be a member if he's actively seeking employment as a player with
an NFL club, at a certain point he needs to recognize that it's over --
and he needs to let a player who's currently on a team take the reins.
The reality is that
Vincent is surely hoping to slide into Gene Upshaw's role, especially
since Upshaw is making franchise tag money every year in his job as
Executive Director. And if staying on deck for Upshaw's job
requires Vincent to say things that mesh with Upshaw's agenda, so be it.
It's the verbal equivalent
of taking HGH, in our view. By parroting the party line, Vincent
is doing what he thinks he needs to do to remain the President of the
NFLPA, and thus to remain in line for one of the premier positions in
all of sport.
