Is the end in sight for Winslow and Browns?
Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/22/2008 @ 10:37 am)
The Browns suspended tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. for one-game following his verbal bashing of GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel in the wake of what he felt was the team’s mishandling of a staph infection. And as Patrick McManamon of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, this could be the beginning of the end for Winslow in Cleveland.
This comes from nothing anyone said privately or publicly, but from the occurrences of the past few days and from the statement released by General Manager Phil Savage that was so cold it had icicles dripping from it.
This clearly is one angry GM.
Savage has always been restrained with announcements and news. That he was blunt and direct in the statement about Winslow speaks volumes.
Savage called Winslow’s comments ”unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization.” He said the comments ”brought unjustified negative attention to our organization, and violated the team-first concept of our football squad.”
…But Winslow undercut Crennel twice — first after the game on Sunday, then Monday morning when he had more to say after meeting with Crennel on the team plane Sunday night.
Winslow cares about the team. But he also believes that he is better than most anyone and that is why he expects the ball.
This time, though, he put himself ahead of the team. After a tough loss, he made it about himself. If his coach is not on board with the suspension — and does anyone expect Crennel to say anything today except ”we’ve moved on”? — Winslow need only realize he is the one who put his coach in this position.
McManamon goes on to note that the Browns were in no hurry to re-do Winslow’s contract this offseason and they even went as far to draft a tight end (Martin Rucker) in this year’s draft.
If the Browns do part was with Winslow, it would be another first rounder from the 2004 draft that a team has sent packing. The Lions recently traded WR Roy Williams to the Cowboys and released RB Kevin Jones, the Falcons dealt CB DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders this offseason and the Jets sent LB Jonathan Vilma to the Saints before the start o of the year. Interesting.
Posted in: NFL
Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Browns suspend Kellen Winslow, Cleveland Browns, DeAngelo Hall, Detroit Lions, Falcons trade DeAngelo Hall to Raiders, Jonathan Vilma, Kellen Winslow Jr., Kellen Winslow Jr. quotes, Kevin Jones, Lions trade Roy Williams to Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Phil Savage, Romeo Crennel, Roy Williams
Cowboys sink a lot of money into one (overrated) position
Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/15/2008 @ 11:26 am)
According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com, the Dallas Cowboys have struck a deal with newly acquired WR Roy Williams on a five-year, $45 million contract extension. Williams will get $20 million guaranteed despite topping 850 yards once in his career.
As I noted yesterday when the Cowboys made the deal for Williams, they’re spending a lot of money on just one position. And an overrated position for that matter. Other teams (Patriots, Eagles, Bears) have made won or made Super Bowl appearances with significantly less offensive weapons than the Cowboys have now.
Last time I checked, Terrell Owens and his massive ego are still in Dallas. And with the NFL’s ridiculous rule of playing with only one football, Williams is going to cut into the amount of times T.O. gets opportunities to make plays in the passing game, which only spells disaster.
While the prospect of having Williams, Owens and Jason Witten in the same offense sounds exciting, there’s trouble brewing – I guarantee it. I guarantee it like the Cowboys guarantee $20 million to a receiver whose work ethic was often questioned in Detroit and not too mention doesn’t mind coming down with a case of the dropsies from time to time.
Posted in: Fantasy Football, NFL
Tags: Cowboys acquire Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Jason Witten, Lions trade Roy Williams, Lions trade Roy Williams to Cowboys, NFL trade deadline, NFL trades, NFL Week 7, Roy Williams, Terrell Owens
Roy Williams trade makes little sense for Cowboys
Posted by Anthony Stalter (10/14/2008 @ 3:59 pm)
Adam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that the Detroit Lions have traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a first, third and sixth round pick.
But ESPN.com’s Ed Werder reports that the deal will not include the Cowboys first round pick. The trade would involve multiple draft picks but would not involve the Cowboys’ first-round pick, a source told ESPN.com.
The Cowboys are also trying to negotiate a long-term deal with Williams before completing the deal. Williams has expressed unhappiness playing for the winless Lions and can become a free agent after the season unless the team places the franchise tag on him.
In the battle of media giants, I would have to say the NFL Network has the leg up on ESPN considering it’s a league-owned network. But my man Ed Werder eats, sleeps and breaths Dallas Cowboys football for ESPN so I wouldn’t necessarily shoot his information down.
Regardless of the pending compensation, this trade doesn’t make a ton of sense from the Cowboys’ standpoint. Fans will go crazy talking about an unstoppable offense that features Williams, Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, but the fact of the matter is that there’s only one ball to go around. Do you really think T.O. is going to be thrilled now that he has to share looks with another receiving target? Doubtful. And if the ‘Boys do sign Williams to a long term deal, they would have spent a ton of money at just one position (an overrated position to boot). Owens is already scheduled to make $8.9 million in 2009, $10.7 million in 2010 and $10.2 million in 2011.
This makes more sense for the Lions. They probably weren’t going to be able to re-sign Williams to a long-term deal, so why not get as much as they could for him now? And with Matt Millen gone, maybe now they’ll actually get some kind of value for the draft picks they acquired.
Posted in: Fantasy Football, NFL
Tags: Cowboys acquire Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Jason Witten, Lions trade Roy Williams, Lions trade Roy Williams to Cowboys, NFL trade deadline, NFL trades, NFL Week 7, Roy Williams, Terrell Owens