When it comes to fumbles, nobody drops the ball more than quarterbacks, because they handle the ball more than anyone besides the center. Brett Favre has 157 of them, which leads active players (yes, we’re considering Favre active). But many times when a QB fumbles, he can pounce right back on the ball. Running backs are a different story. The ones who fumble a lot often wind up in their coach’s doghouse because most of the time it’s because of careless ball handling. As for fantasy football, you’ll want to be careful with these guys too because they take points off your scoreboard, both by negative points for fumbles, and for lost opportunities on offense. So here is the active Top 10 in fumbles by running backs…..

1. Edgerrin James (43)—James isn’t as bad as early in his career, like when he fumbled 8 times during his rookie year of 1999 with the Colts. But you tend to look the other way when the other numbers offset the fumbles—and James was an All Pro that year with 2139 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns.

2. Ricky Williams (41)—Ricky definitely comes down with fumble-it is pretty often, and that has to drive Bill Parcells crazy. I wonder if it would help if Ricky thought he was carrying a bag of..…oh forget it.

3. Jamal Lewis (39)—Lewis has improved drastically in this area, fumbling only twice last season. But he fumbled 8 times in back to back seasons in 2002 and 2003 while with Baltimore. Yikes.

4. Ahman Green (37)—He hasn’t fumbled since 2006, but that’s only because Green has carried the ball just 144 times since then.

5. Michael Pittman (31)—Pittman was one of like 15 running backs used by the Broncos last season.

6. Shaun Alexander (31)—For a few years there, Alexander was putting up such ridiculous numbers that Mike Holmgren was forced to accept some drops.

7. Warrick Dunn (26)—He’s never had more than 4 fumbles in a season, but he’s been playing for so long that he wound up on here. Dunn may be one of the most underrated RBs in the history of the NFL.

8. Fred Taylor (26)—Taylor has fumbled less in recent years, but he’s also carried the ball less. It should be interesting to see if his career is re-ignited in a Patriots’ uniform.

9. LaDainian Tomlinson (25)—He fumbled 8 times in his rookie year, and only 17 times since. With 2657 total carries, that’s not bad at all.

9 (tie). Clinton Portis (25)—Portis is a solid RB, but he does have two quirks—he’s injury prone and he drops the ball a few too many times.

Source: Pro Football Reference

Former NFL head coach Denny Green went on Sirius radio earlier this week and said that he has a hard time believing that suspended quarterback Michael Vick won’t wind up with Bill Parcells in Miami.

“I have a hard time believing that Michael Vick is not going to wind up with Bill Parcells, simply because [Parcells] has that creativeness that says no matter what it takes, he’s going to find a way to get Michael Vick. Now, whether it means convincing the commissioner or whatever it takes, Michael Vick is probably going to wind up at Miami because of the fact Bill Parcells is Bill Parcells.”

Yikes. It seems like with these comments, Green is just picking up a stone and tossing it as far as he can in hopes to hit water and make a splash. Not to discredit a man that has more NFL experience in one day than I will ever have in a lifetime, but there’s no way anyone should buy into what Green is saying. In fact, I fully believe that once Parcells catches wind of Green’s comments he’ll shoot down the idea of ever pursuing Vick.

Yes, Vick would be a nice fit in Miami’s “Wildcat” formation. But last time I checked, the NFL still only uses one football during a given game and the Fins already have Ronnie Brown and Pat White (whom they selected in the second round of April’s draft specifically for their “Wildcat” offense) on the roster. Why sign Vick and create a massive media circus for your team when you already have the players to run the scheme that best fits Vick? It doesn’t make a lot of sense and even for as creative as Parcells may be, he’s not stupid.

Again, this just seems like Green’s attempt to make something out of nothing. Had Miami not taken White in the second round of this year’s draft, maybe Parcells would be more inclined to sign Vick. But considering they already have the players for the “Wildcat” and Parcells might not be there in a year anyway, I highly doubt he would sign the dog fighter.

Free agent defensive end Jason Taylor signed a one-year, $1.1 million contact to re-join the Dolphins. The deal also includes a $400,000 signing bonus.

The deal is a good one for Miami, as Taylor will earn just $1.1 million in base salary, with incentives that could bring him another $400,000. He had been contracted to earn more than $8 million with Washington this season.

Rumors have linked Taylor to Miami since he was let go by Washington earlier this year, but the Dolphins seemed to be unwilling to go that route as they attempted to build their roster through the draft and younger free agents.

But coach Tony Sparano told Joe Rose on 560-AM on Tuesday that, with the draft complete and still lingering needs on defense, the front office would be taking another look at the Taylor situation this week.

“My heart has always been in Miami,” Taylor said in a statement. “I’m truly motivated to call myself a Dolphin again.

This is just another example of Bill Parcells getting the best of a situation. Taylor pissed Parcells off last year when he skipped the Dolphins’ voluntary off-season workouts and stated how he wanted out of Miami. So Parcells found a dope in Daniel Snyder and shipped Taylor to Washington for a second round pick in 2009 and a sixth round pick in 2010. And look how everything turned out – Taylor is back in Miami at a drastically discounted price, the Dolphins drafted Pat White with that second round pick, they still have the sixth rounder in their back pocket for next year and the Redskins are left with nothing.

Parcells wins again.

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that the Dolphins are still monitoring Anquan Boldin’s situation in Arizona and haven’t dismissed the idea of trading for the disgruntled wideout.

The fact is the Dolphins definitely, positively have not thrown in the towel on 2009 for any reason, much less the fanciful one that they realize they’re not a Super Bowl contender. Be serious. Does that sound like Tony Sparano or Bill Parcells to you?

I’m going so far as telling you the Dolphins are still monitoring the Anquan Boldin situation. Parcells thinks this kid is a monster! He recognizes there are problems with trading for him — compensation to the Cardinals and compensation of $7-$8 million per year to the player. But the Dolphins have definitely not at this point completely dismissed the idea of being active on the matter if it ever hits the front burner.

Here’s a thought: As we know, Parcells gets awfully antsy when he stays in one place for too long. He almost bolted Miami after one year, so it’s not a stretch to think that he’ll jet after the 2009 season for another new adventure.

Given this line of thinking, if Parcells loves Boldin and knows he might not be around next year, what’s from stopping him for putting a package together for two high draft picks in the upcoming years (maybe a first and third next year) for Boldin and trying to win it all this season? What does he care – he won’t be around in 2010 when Miami has to deal with the lack of compensation. And nobody would call him out on it because A) they would be getting a great player in Boldin and B) Parcells would say that he was trying to win.

This news rumor has very little to stand on now, but it’ll be interesting to see if it develops over the summer.

According to the Palm Beach Post, the Dolphins have set their targets on USC middle linebacker Rey Maualuga in the first round.

USC inside linebacker Rey Maualuga, the 2008 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, is projected by many draftniks to be selected in the late teens, at worst. But even if he doesn’t fall to the mid-20s, Bill Parcells and Co. might consider moving up to grab him.

Maualuga will be visiting South Florida Tuesday so the Dolphins can get to know him better, according to an NFL source.

One NFL insider believes Maualuga, an unrelenting linebacker in the mold of former Trojan Junior Seau, is the Dolphins’ target during the first round of April 25-26 draft.

But ask 10 experts who Parcells and Jeff Ireland covet with pick No. 25 and you might get more than a half-dozen different answers … Illinois CB Vontae Davis, North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks, USC LB Clay Matthews, Connecticut CB Darius Butler, Northern Illinois’ Larry English and so on.

Maualuga doesn’t seem to fit the team’s most acute needs, cornerback or wide receiver. He isn’t the big outside linebacker with pass-rushing skills who could give Joey Porter some help – especially given Cameron Wake could need a good bit of time to adjust from the CFL to the NFL – and maybe eventually replace Porter, 32.

But Maualuga could be the kind of big (6-2, 255), physical linebacker Parcells won’t be able to pass up, considering his eye for game-changing players at the position.

Prospects slip all the time in the first round, but I highly doubt Maualuga falls to No. 25, meaning the Dolphins would definitely have to move up to get him. I have a hard time believing that the Lions would pass on him at No. 20.

According to the Miami Herald, Bill Parcells told Dolphins’ owner Wayne Huizenga that he would leave the team following the 2008 NFL season. Huizenga, who recently sold the team, promised Parcells that he could walk at any time if he agreed to stay another year in Miami.

This should surprise absolutely no one. Parcells does whatever he wants and commitments mean next to nothing to him. It’s almost laughable that a team would allow him to just pack up and leave anytime he wanted to, but then again it speaks to how good he is.

You want to win? You want Parcells? No problem, but this is how he operates and he’s not going to change his ways now. Nobody in Miami is complaining about the arraignment after the way he took a 1-15 Dolphins team and transformed them into AFC East Champions this season. The guy is a miracle worker.

It’ll be interesting to see if he bolts at some point this season. He could very easily get the Dolphins through the free agency period and the draft and then decide to bolt, or he could stick around for the entire year and leave after the season. Either way, it would be shocking if the Dolphins get him to honor his four-year contract.

The Super Bowl has been played since the 1966 season, so while NFL championships before that are not irrelevant, many records are based on the “Super Bowl era.” And while some teams have a great track record in Super Bowls (49ers), there are others that have awful records (Vikings, Bills). Here is a list of the Top 10 teams record-wise (based primarily on wins) in the Super Bowl era…..

1. San Francisco 49ers (5-0)—The 49ers are undefeated in Super Bowl history, and when you have guys like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice and Steve Young leading the way, it’s easy to see how that happens. But these teams were deep on both offense and defense, and were coached by Bill Walsh and George Seifert. What might be even more remarkable is that the Niners have scored 188 points while giving up 89 in those five games, a 99-point differential. Truly, ahem, super.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-1)—The Steelers are looking to become the first team to win six Super Bowls this Sunday in Tampa against the Cardinals and the second one in the Ben Roethlisberger era. They are already one of the NFL’s premier franchises, but more is always better when it comes to championships.

3. Dallas Cowboys (5-3)—The Cowboys have a rich history of winning, but in today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately NFL, all anyone remembers is that they haven’t won a playoff game since 1996, and that dysfunction follows them around like tabloids following QB Tony Romo.

4. Green Bay Packers (3-1)—You might immediately think of Brett Favre, but he is only 1-1 in Super Bowls. The other two were Super Bowls I and II, when Bart Starr was the Packers’ QB and the coach was the legendary Vince Lombardi.

5. New York Giants (3-1)—The Giants climbed up a few notches with that improbable upset of the Patriots last season. Bill Parcells has two of the wins, one with Phil Simms at the helm and the other with Jeff Hostetler—and both with one of the greatest defensive players in history, Lawrence Taylor, terrorizing the other teams’ quarterbacks.

6. Oakland/LA Raiders (3-2)—It’s been about a quarter century since the Raiders won a Super Bowl, or around the same time Al Davis started to lose his marbles.

7. Washington Redskins (3-2)—The Redskins lost to Miami in Super Bowl 7, 14-7, to cap Miami’s (and the NFL’s only) perfect season, and have had mixed results since then, last appearing in 1991 when they beat Buffalo. Hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since their last Super Bowl, but Dan Snyder makes Al Davis type decisions at times, so the drought could be long.

8. New England Patriots (3-3)—Have the Patriots have lost as many Super Bowls as they’ve won? Yes, when you realize the first two losses were to the mighty ’85 Bears, and to the unstoppable Favre/Holmgren Packers in ’96.

9. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (2-1)—You would think Peyton Manning should have more than one Super Bowl appearance, but that very fact was the big knock on him until he got his ring two years ago.

10. Miami Dolphins (2-3)—It’s been 25 years since the D-men have been in the big game, but mark my words…with Bill Parcells at the helm, this team will get back there within a few years, maybe even next year.

Source: Pro Football Reference

It appears that Terrell Owens will be the front and center of news this NFL offseason. In Jennifer Floyd Engel’s latest column for the Dallas Star-Telegram, Keyshawn Johnson and Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Jason Garrett sound off on the “poison pill” that is T.O.

Johnson also noted that current Cardinals and former Cowboys’ offensive coordinator Todd Haley could turn the culture at Valley Ranch.

“You know, Jen, why aren’t you touting Todd Haley for the job?” he asked. “He was the only one with the [guts] to tell Jerry ‘I really want this job but I can’t coach this team with this guy on it. And I don’t think you are going to win anything of any consequence with this guy on it.’ ”

This guy, of course, was Terrell Owens. And he and Haley were not exactly BFFs in their one and only season together as Cowboys under Big Bill.

T.O. vowed to “find the rats” with Haley being his prime suspect and blamed him for failing to use his considerable talent. Haley, a Big Bill disciple in every way, refused to cower and snapped right back which only further enraged perpetually touchy T.O.

Owner Jones did interview Haley, along with almost everybody else, when Bill Parcells left. Of course, Haley did not have a chance, bucking convention and saying what Jerry did not want to hear which is T.O. is the rat.

Now, Haley is the offensive coordinator of a team going to the Super Bowl and T.O. is whining about locker room rats again and how the offensive coordinator is to blame. And a few misguided souls actually believe this self-plagiarized rant with Haley being replaced by Jason Witten and Jason Garrett.
“What is obvious is you can’t keep Jason Garrett, T.O. and the coach,” Johnson said.

And almost as an exclamation point, The Red-headed Genius chimed in from the Senior Bowl where he answered a question about T.O. with a very read-between-the-line-ish “I certainly have a lot of respect for him as a player. And we’ll just leave it at that.”

My guess is JG thinks T.O. is going to be waived. No way his normally cautious self says what he said otherwise. Or else he figured out what Haley did two years ago which is you are not going to win anything of any consequence with this guy on your team. So better to jump from that doomed-to-fail ship.

The key to this entire situation is Jerry Jones. If he feels T.O. really is the cog holding the Cowboys back, then Owens will be jettisoned before next season. But Jones can’t part with Owens’ talent and that’s why everyone around T.O. (Parcells, Haley, etc.) are now elsewhere (and winning might I add).

It seems that Jones takes pride in gathering all of these dysfunctional characters, putting them all under one roof and trying to make it work. But eventually he’s going to have to realize that chemistry trumps talent in most cases and he might have to go more conventional route to build a winner.

Despite rumors that he could potentially return to the sidelines next season, Bill Parcells is apparently staying in the Miami Dolphins’ front office for 2009.

Wayne Huizenga may have left Dolphin Stadium as majority owner of the Dolphins for the last time this afternoon, but before exiting he revealed some news Miami fans will likely welcome.
Huizenga said Bill Parcells is coming back next year.

“Bill is going to stay,” Huizenga said. “He told me the day before yesterday he was going to stay.”

I also spoke with incoming owner Stephen Ross who indicated he expects Parcells to stay.

That’s all well and good, but there’s still no guarantee that Parcells will stay. This is the same man who has revoked his commitment to the Atlanta Falcons twice (once as a coach and once as a GM) and essentially had a deal in place to become the Jets head coach while he was coaching the Patriots in the 1996 Super Bowl. The guy does whatever he wants and can be as fickle as Brett Favre in the offseason.

He should stay in Miami because he’s done an absolutely amazing job with the Dolphins this season. But I’ll believe that he’s staying when I see his ass in the Fins’ skybox next season.