Stephon Marbury played 13 minutes off the bench last night and went 4-6 from the field, posting eight points, two assists, a steal, a rebound and three turnovers. More importantly, he helped the shorthanded Celtics beat the Pacers, 104-99.
I saw his second half stint and he played solid defense and found Ray Allen for an open jumper. It’s going to take him a while to get back into the groove, but there is so much focus on how he fits in with the Celtics that I think he’s going to bend over backwards not to be a headache.
NFL.com’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Broncos have reached a deal with free agent safety Brian Dawkins (Eagles) on a five-year, $17 million contract with $7.2 million guaranteed.
Denver signs free agent safety Brian Dawkins to a five-year, $17 million deal that includes $7.2 million guaranteed. The contract also has escalators that could boost the value of the deal to $27 million over five years, but the deal also could be voided to two years, $9 million.
Considering Dawkins is already 35 years old, chances are the two-year deal will be the one that comes into play. But even at 35, Dawkins has always remained in fantastic shape and the Broncos landed a true veteran leader. He’s always been one of the classier players in the league and here’s hoping he has a few more productive years left in him.
It’s going to be weird not seeing Dawkins in a Philadelphia uniform next season.
Scott Pioli is quickly turning the Kansas City Chiefs into the Patriots of the AFC West after he was able to acquire quarterback Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel from New England in exchange for a second round pick (No. 34 overall).
NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, who first reported the story, claims that the two teams have agreed on the compensation, but details are not yet available. Rotoworld.com, however, confirms that the compensation for Cassel and Vrabel is a second round pick, which seems incredibly light for a starting quarterback and linebacker.
Did Bill Belichick do his old buddy Pioli a favor by only letting Cassel go for only a second rounder? Did Pioli have incriminating photos of New England front office members and was set to release them unless they agreed to trade Cassel for as little as possible? How they hell could the Pats only get a second rounder for Cassel and Vrabel?
Anderson Silva
“The Spider” Height: 6’2” Weight: 185/205 MMA Record: 23-4 UFC Record: 8-0
Anderson “the spider” Silva started his fighting career back in 2000 in the Mecca (Vale Tudo) organization. He started off with a decision loss, but quickly went on a nine-fight win streak. Silva is one of the most feared strikers in the world, showcasing world class Muay Thai kick boxing skills, which were honed at the infamous Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil. He also happens to have a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, earning impressive victories over Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson via submissions.
Silva started his pro MMA career in Vale tudo Brazilian fights under the Mecca organization. After several wins he moved to Shooto and then moved to Pride FC and Cage Rage. He amassed a very impressive record, which prompted the UFC to sign him to a multi fight deal. He left Cage Rage and began his destruction of the middleweight division in the UFC, leaving such fighters as Nate Marquardt, Chris Lebon, and Rich Franklin still feeling the bite of the spider.
Now Silva has run through every UFC middleweight and is still currently the champ at 185. He has stated that he hopes to retire soon from fighting after his current UFC contract is up. He is currently ranked the number one-pound for pound fighter in the world by many MMA sites. His next title defense is set at UFC 97.
The Eagles have agreed to a trade that would send cornerback Lito Sheppard to the Jets for a 2009 fifth round and a 2010 conditional pick, which could turn into a second rounder depending on Sheppard’s playing time next season.
Some Philly fans will look at the fifth round compensation and scoff, but the Eagles really got a great deal here. Sheppard barely played in 2008, starting just three games and amassing only 21 tackles and one interception. They held onto him last offseason after not attracting many quality offers and still wound up getting a fifth this year and anywhere between a second and fourth next year. It was a solid trade.
The deal isn’t horrible for the Jets, but there is a catch-22. They acquired Sheppard hoping that he would become a starter, which he should opposite Darrelle Revis. But if Sheppard does become a starter and plays most of the snaps in ’09, then there’s a good chance that conditional round pick could turn into a second rounder.
A second and fifth round pick for Sheppard would probably be too much, but again, if he turns into a quality starter than maybe it was worth it for the Jets. And it’s not like they’re getting a bad player. Sheppard is only 27 and before injuries started taking their toll the past two years, he was one of the more productive players in the Eagles’ secondary.
As part of his 55-point game against the Bucks a week ago, LeBron hit four three-point bombs and two midrange jumpers in just over two minutes at the start of the third quarter. He even had a pretty good defender in Richard Jefferson covering him.
In a surprising move, the Patriots traded veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel to the Chiefs for an undisclosed draft pick. Vrabel was expected to take a lesser role with New England next year, so this move allows him to start in KC and be a mentor for a young Chiefs team.
On a related note, Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss is speculating that the Vrabel-to-KC-trade could be part of a bigger trade involving quarterback Matt Cassel.
2) Could this be part of a larger deal with the Chiefs that might involve Matt Cassel? The 33-year-old Vrabel was entering the final year of his contract in 2009. He was due to earn $2.2 million in base salary, would receive a $1 million roster bonus, and count $4.3 million against the salary cap.
Given Vrabel’s contributions to the Patriots — on the field and in the locker room — that doesn’t seem like much to digest.
So why make the deal?
From a Chiefs perspective, they had one of the youngest rosters in the NFL last season, and new general manager Scott Pioli understands the importance of veteran leadership in the locker room. Vrabel will provide that in Kansas City, likely as a team captain.
The question is why the Patriots would trade Vrabel.
Well, the Pats only save $3 mil in cap space with this move, so it couldn’t have just been about money. New England might have been toying with the idea of cutting Vrabel, so once they found a trade partner they jumped. At least they get compensation.
Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:
- UFC 95 featured eight wild stoppages, Diego Sanchez’s successful debut as a lightweight, and a shocking (and somewhat controversial) loss for Josh Koscheck.
- MMA heavyweight Tim Sylvia is trying his hand at boxing, while boxing heavyweight Hasim Rahman is trying his hand at MMA. Of the two, we’re guessing that Rahman’s failure will be more epic.
- Georges St. Pierre’s camp has responded to BJ Penn’s accusation that he greased during their welterweight championship match last month by releasing a 17-page statement and a video showing that what his cornerman did was simply part of a breathing technique.
- Living legends Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will likely be fighting at UFC 101 in Augusy — which may also be when BJ Penn and Kenny Florian face off for the UFC’s lightweight title.
- New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly droned on and on and on about how MMA is like prostitution and how it breeds more violence in society And your point is?
- WEC 39 goes down Sunday night in Corpus Christi, Texas, with featherweight champion Mike Brown making his first title defense against Leonard Garcia. Watch the action live on Versus [versus.com] starting at 9 p.m. ET, and come back to CagePotato on Monday morning for results, videos, and commentary.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the Jets’ deal with free agent linebacker Bart Scott is not official as initially reported, and now the Ravens are apparently offering him a five-year contract worth $42 million.
Ravens inside linebacker Bart Scott is in New York, but continues to still negotiate with both the Ravens and Jets.
There is speculation that the Ravens have offered Scott a five-year contract worth $42 million, and Scott also wants assurances that he will become the center piece of the defense in Baltimore, much like Ray Lewis was during the last decade.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan, the Ravens’ former defensive coordinator, keeps increasing the ante as the Ravens go up.
Several sources reported that the Jets’ deal for Scott was already completed, but apparently it was just an offer. It’s easy to see why Scott would sign with the Jets considering Rex Ryan is now New York’s new head coach, but apparently the Ravens are still very much in play.
Ray Lewis might walk, so losing Scott would be a huge blow to the Ravens’ linebacker corps. It’ll be interesting to see how this thing plays out.
