Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1417 of 1503)

Falcons sign Harrington

Chris Mortensen of ESPN is reporting the Falcons have signed former first round quarterback Joey Harrington to a two-year deal. Financial terms were not yet immediate. Atlanta needed a backup after trading Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans last month.

Given the other quarterback options of Anthony Wright, Jay Fiedler and Chris Redman, Harrington isn’t a bad signing. He’ll compete with Redman and last year’s seventh round pick, D.J. Shockley, to be Michael Vick’s backup. However, this isn’t a move to bask in if Vick potentially does go down. Harrington seems fine in a spot duty, but showed at the conclusion of last year in Miami that his weaknesses will eventually come to the surface.

NFL Rumors 4/6

Ricky Williams clean?
Miami Dolphins’ running back Ricky Williams appeared on ESPN’s Dan Patrick show Friday morning claiming he has not smoked marijuana in a few years. Williams stated that he has replaced pot with yoga to relieve stress and says there is a good chance he’ll be reinstated into the NFL. The NFL has been testing him periodically since he was banned last year, but who knows if he can be trusted.

Redskins interested in Samuel
Apparently the Redskins will contact the Patriots about the availability of cornerback Asante Samuel. Samuel was franchised in February, so Washington would have to surrender two first round picks in order to acquire him or else negotiate a separate deal with New England. Samuel is looking for a long-term deal though, so the Redskins would have to sign him before any trade goes through. This is a Washington move that actually makes sense, compared to going after what many call a “system player” in Lance Briggs when the linebacker corps is arguably already set.

Browns interested in Green
Cleveland GM Phil Savage has confirmed that the Browns are interested in Kansas City quarterback Trent Green. The compensation to get Green is likely at least a fourth or fifth rounder, seeing as how the Chiefs rejected a sixth round pick from the Dolphins last month. If Savage could swing a deal for Green, it’s less likely that the Browns select a QB in round one considering Charlie Frye is still under contract and a new deal would be required in order to obtain Green.

Raiders talking QB trade with Lions?
According to ESPN’s John Clayton, the Raiders are interested in Lions quarterback Josh McCown. Even if the deal does go through, it doesn’t mean that Oakland won’t look for a quarterback in the draft…The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports Dolphins’ GM Randy Mueller will take a “wait and see” approach with Daunte Culpepper and he’s knee surgeries. Cleo Lemon will get a shot to start next year regardless of Culpepper’s health.

Panthers sign Carr

ESPN.com is reporting the Carolina Panthers have struck a two-year deal with former Houston Texans’ quarterback David Carr Friday. For now, Carr will be Jake Delhomme’s backup.

Delhomme came under heavy fire last year for the way he couldn’t finish games. Often while late in fourth quarters, Delhomme did his best Jon Kitna impersonation by giving away close games with multiple turnovers. Games against Dallas and Philadelphia come to mind, but there were others. With Carr now on board, Delhomme’s leash just got a bit shorter.

Many believe all Carr needed in Houston was just a little protection, so it’s going to be interesting if he takes over at some point for Delhomme next year. The Panthers are switching to a zone-blocking scheme similar to the one that Denver and Atlanta have run in the past, so run blocking is going to be more of an emphasis than pass protection. Will it actually be better for Carr now that he’ll line up behind this line? Who knows, but anything has to be better than the Texans’ offensive line over the past four years.

Dice “K” looks solid in debut

The long anticipated start for Daisuke Matsuzaka is officially in the books. Dice-K went seven innings, striking out 10 and only yielding one run in a 4-1 victory over the Royals.

The most encouraging thing for Red Sox fans is that Matsuzaka seemingly had command of all of his pitches. What often happens early in the regular season is that starting pitchers rely on fastballs until they get control over the rest of their pitches. But Matsuzaka threw multiple pitches with good command, including the much talked about “gyro ball”, which is basically a pitch with severe drop off by the time it reaches the plate.

Overall, Boston fans have to be encouraged about what they saw, especially since Curt Shilling gave them next to nothing in his 2007 debut.

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