NFL Offseason Thread

Eh, I'm willing to give Blank a bit more rope; he's paying right now for the dual sins of hitching his wagon to the inconsistent on the field/fucking knucklehead off the field Mike Vick and Bobby "I never met a contract I didn't want to break" Petrino.

Obviously, those are two pretty massive errors, but Blank can make some GOOD decisions and start digging his team out of the hole.

* Giants may be looking to trade Shockey after the season Kevin Boss had.

* Chad Johnson supposedly was a jackass at the pro bowl, and even allegedly shoved or pushed an NFL employee. He's surpassing TO on the a-hole quotient.

You keep that Maroon and Black strong Washington.

To all Dolphin fans...According to ESPN.com Miami has released 9 Players. They are...QB Trent Green, WR Marty Booker, DT Keith Traylor, T L.J. Shelton, T Joe Toledo, T Anthony Alabi, T Marion Dukes and DT Marquay Love. Sadly QB Cleo Lemon is still on the team.

D.Richard, I would like Cleo Lemon to fully realize his potential...on the Baltimore Ravens coached by Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron.

Espn.com reports that Zach Thomas will be an ex-Dolphin later today. Very sad news indeed.

Well, the Patriots could use a linebacker. They need to start working on that aging defense that essentially cost them the SuperBowl.

Shit, I didn't know Zack Thomas was 35. Maybe he is a bit too old for the NE Dline. However, he is an upgrade over Bruski and Seau. And i just heard a report he's meeting with both the Cowboys and Pats about possibly signing with one of them.

Well, the Saints could certainly use help on the defensive side of the ball. They lost games this past season because they couldn't make plsys on defense. Dallas has a very good D, can't see why they would want him.
Yeah, Z. Thomas is a bit too old for the Pats aging Dfense. I'm certain NE will take a dfensive lineman with their 7th pick.

The Patriots are getting younger at LB if they sign Zach Thomas...he is 4 years younger than Junior Seau.

Their d-line is comprised of 1st round high impact players and should be good to go. They would need to address the LBs with most of them drawing social security checks soon. Depending on the combines, Keith Rivers would be a nice addition but a bit early at #7 at this point, unless he has a Patrick Willis type workout.

Definitely need to upgrade in the defensive backfield since Hobbs and Gay suck and Samuel departing. Lito Sheppard has been rumored to be available.

Totally agree about the Pats secondary. I mean if they had a better secondary the Giants never march down the field to scoreMel Kiper, if you choose to believe what he says, reports that they're going to a CB from Kansas. I think they should take a linebacker.

Thing about the Pats is that they do draft pretty well. So whoever they draft should end up being a very solid pro. CB is very deep this year and they could go after Jenkins (USF), Talib (Kansas), Flowers (VT) or McKelvin (Troy). Sleeper guy could be Rogers-Cromartie (TN St)

So the Pats didn't franchise tag Randy Moss??!! But i think no way Belichick lets him leave to another team. He and Brady both need eachother. Brady would have a coronary if he found out they let Moss leave via free agency. I think they have a contract already in principal which is why they didn't franchise tag him.

Oh, i agree with you about CB which the Pats could certainly use.

Zach Thomas ends up signing a 1-year deal with Dallas, saying he wanted to be close to his home state of Texas. The Bears also resign Sexy Rexy for another year.

If you believe the Bucs message board, we're signing every single free agent on the market. I've never seen a more narrow-minded group -- those who aren't pie-in-the-sky idealists are all-is-doomed pessimists.

I would have like to see the Pats sign Zack Thomas. They certainly could have used a linebacker of his quality. Then again, at 35 he;s a bit too old; they need to get younger. i think taking a Linebacker with their 7th pick is all the more wiser.

Rumors are that the Cowboys will trade Marion Barber and their 1st rounder to Miami for the overall first pick. Assuming they'll take Darren McFadden with that, as Jerry Jones in an Arkansas alum. Which kind of sucks for me, as I have MB, but a low first rounder in my keeper league for the rookie draft. So I'd have to pull some major trade up to get McFadden if that's what happens.

EDIT: Also read that Troy Williamson will be traded to Jax. Maybe he'll catch the ball better in the South. And Deshaun Foster has signed with the 49ers. What really sucks is, I actually drafted Frank Gore a few years back, then traded him for Eric Shelton (who was picked right before me). If I had held on to Gore, I'd have both 49ers RBs by proxy. Ahh, for a FFL crystal ball.

Ugh. Is Troy Williamson any better than Dennis Northcutt/Reggie Williams/Matt Jones/Willie Jackson/Desmond Howard/et al?

Yeah, that's kind of what I felt too. The Jags seem to take WRs full of potential that never pan out.

Also there's a rumor that Moss may be looking at joining the Cowboys. Holy shit if that happens. That's like making your own Madden team.

I think Moss will sign with the PAts. If they're were any chance of him leaving via free agency they would have franchise taged him, which they didn't. Leads me to believe that a deal may alreay be in place.

I really think teams shouldn't waste a top 5 pick on a running back. Most don't pan out. Sure they're exceptions, but most are busts. If Mcfadden is taken is taken with the first 7 picks, or so, i think its a mistake.

* Sean Salisbury gets staked by ESPN. After you read that, then read this where Salisbury says he was looked down upon because he wasn't a superstar in the NFL, and how he's the hardest working analyst in show bidness.

* Kevin Faulk apparently put on Randy Moss' jacket before he went to a concert and got busted for possession of mary-jay-wanna.

I guess he won't be calling them the Bungles anymore.

He's one of the few guys I truly enjoyed listening to both as a fan of and as a fan for the opposing team. He'll be missed

When I got Sirius, I finally got to listen to him do some games before he retired, and I'm glad I did. He always had some great lines, some even bordering on Harry Carey territory.

Yes!!! Cleo Lemon has been signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. I weep for all Jaguar fans if anything happens to Gerrard. On a positive note the Jags signed WR Jerry Porter.

Miami Signed OG Justin Smiley of the 49ers, and traded for Ex Jet ex cowboy DT Jason Ferguson for 2 6th rd picks (08+09 )

Miami is bringing in Josh McCown, and Calvin Pace Arizona Cardinals OLB for interviews today.

Now all Parcells has to do is draft QB Matt Ryan, or Joe Flacco or Chad Henne...and Dolphin fans will finally get to see a quarterback prospect to get excited about.

The Bucs have made former Saint Jeff Faine the highest-paid center in the league. Good to see they're willing to use all that cap space they have, and with Faine only being 26 and with Joseph, Trueblood and Sears looking like great draft picks, the Bucs may have just set their offensive line for years to come.

Damn.. Dennis Northcutt.. Troy Williamson.. Jerry Porter.. the Jaguars' receiving corps is pretty solid.

Oh, wait, this isn't 2005.

And to quote New Yorkers everywhere, the Cleo Lemon signing is what it is. The Jaguars have won games with guys like Rob Johnson, Steve Matthews, Jay Fiedler and Quinn Gray before. Lemon is not appreciably better or worse than any of those guys.

I never knew they were good in 2005...

Tommy Kelly, the highest paid DT in the NFL? What a complete joke. I like Tommy Kelly, but not coming off a torn ACL, with $18 guaranteed, $24 mil in the first 3 years, and a total package of $50 mil dollars. Talk about overpaying for a player.

The Raiders are releasing Barry Sims, and it seems they're going to replace him with Kwame Harris. Now we'll only have the two biggest OT busts over the past five years!

Gabril Wilson is in town, he's from the Bay Area, and Al loves the secondary - especially Super Bowl winners. He'll be a good pickup but his contract better be similar to the Madieu Williams contract, that he signed with the Vikings.

So many questions with the Raiders 1st round pick. They locked up Fargas at decent money, but nothing crazy, have Bush on the roster, Jordan is definitely gone and possible Rhodes. Do they take McFadden even though they don't really need him? Do they take Dorsey or Ellis, even though that means they'll have the two highest paid DT in football? Jake Long? Even though it looks like Kwame Harris is going to be the guy to take over LT. It's looking more and more likely that Vernon Gholston could be the pick.

Huff was supposed to switch over to FS this year, which I think was long over do. If Wilson comes to town does that mean Huff is back to SS? Huff is on the block right now but I'd rather keep him then trading him away for a 2nd rounder.

You guys ridiculously overpaid for Faine, and I'm happy for it. First of all, the guy is very injury prone. He's a bit finesse and gets maulded by huge athletic DTs.

Second, and this is personal experience, he is not a well-disciplined guy and he drinks a lot. He hangs out at the same bar I do on weekends, and all of my friends work there. I've seen him there on the night before games drinking away, and on 3 occassions I've seen him literally carried out by 3 bouncers because he was so drunk...one of those times was the weekend of a home game.

Anyhoo...

The Saints traded a conditional 09 4th to the Jets that could become a 3rd with playing time for Jon Vilma. If Vilma's knee works out, the Saints made out like absolute bandits.

After years of putting up with John Wade, I'd be happy with a center who can get the snaps off on a regular basis. And while he's not the best pass blocker, he's got two road-graders next to him. He just needs to hold is own, not be the anchor. And the contract isn't all that insane when you look at the cap hit and the guaranteed money -- everyone is going to be signing big contracts this year.

Don't you think the Josh McCown signing indicates that Matt Ryan is off the radar? With all the other glaring needs that the Fins have (OL, DL, etc), plus the possibility of trading #1 overall for multiple picks, getting Ryan at #1 overall looks less and less lilkely.

I really hope Justin Smith stilll has game in the tank to live up to the contract the niners are throwing at him, let alone play successfully in a 3-4.

And what is up with the Isaac Bruce signing? I mean, I know he is a veteran and knows Martz offense, but the niners really need to get some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.

More moves:

* Donte' Stallworth to Cleveland
* Alan Faneca to NY Jets, who also trade Vilma to the Saints and acquire Kris Jenkins from the Panthers
* Jax trades Marcus Stroud to the Bills, and the Bills also sign Kawika Mitchell
* Bernard Berrian to Minnesota
* John Lynch returns to Denver, and the Broncos cut Javon Walker
* Rams sign Josh Brown
* Panthers sign Ricardo Colclough
* Asante Samuel goes to Philly
* Lions trade Shaun Rogers to Cleveland and get Leigh Bodden

Reports are it's a third and a fifth from Buffalo for Stroud. That, my friends, is a fleece. I guess there's been enough time that's elapsed since the Rob Johnson deal.

Jags also get Drayton Florence from the Chargers. I'll say this, at least they're doing something. And narrowing down exactly what they need to do in the draft.

Indeed. Rarely do the Saints engage in many offseason transactions worthy of notice. Barring his knee, which he seems to feel good about, this is nothing but good news.

Now to address the secondary....

On a somewhat related note. Does anyone know what network has the Superbowl next year?? I certainly hope it isn't FOX. NOt a fan of Joe Buck but especially of the way FOX whores out all their shows.

Gio Angles, I don't think the addition of Josh McCown will cause Miami to pass on QB Matt Ryan. I think Parcells signed McCown to replace John Beck. That said...Parcells is just as likely to draft OT Jake Long with his 1st rd pick and then take either Chad Henne or Joe Flacco with his first 2nd rd pick. Joe Flacco could turn out to be the best QB of the 2008 draft. He is almost 6'7 at 6 3/4 ths, he has the strongest arm, and even though he went to a small school that doesn't mean that he can't be an excellent QB. Just look at Ben Rothlisberger, he was at Miami (Ohio). If Miami signs Cardinal DE/OLB Calvin Pace then their Dline would consist of Jason Taylor, Calvin Pace at DE with Randy Starks and Jason Ferguson at DT. If Miami does take Matt Ryan #1 then it is likely they will draft an OT in rd 2.

The Falcons land Michael Turner and also sign TE Ben Hartsock. So far, they've made more better moves this offseason than they have since Blank bought the team.

Saints have signed Randall Gay. Not the top level name I'd hoped for, but he should be an instantly noticable upgrade over Jason David.

Of course, someone's one egged grandmother would be a noticable upgrade over Jason David.

David was bad as a Colt, I'm just surprised that so much was paid to him..I do like the Saints but that was just a bad move

Favre Retires.

I guess he figured last year was his best shot, if he was going to make it again. And of course, you already knew that.

True. That '07 Green Bay roster is being completely dismantled due to cap issues.

I thought the Packers had one of the best young teams in the NFL/ both on defense and offense. I'm surprised to hear they're being torn apart.

Check your sarcasto-meter. The only loss they've had so far is a VERY good young DT - fortunately, they have lots of depth at that position.

Today thedigitalbits.com announced that The Road To The Super Bowl arrives on DVD June 3rd. The NFL is actually going to have the complete broadcast of the AFC,NFC championship games and Super Bowl XVII. The DVD will be $40 before sale price. I think this is the first time an entire Super Bowl will be avaiable to consumers. Usually, there is are highlights but not the whole game.