Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 845 of 1503)

      Bears, Eagles made trade offers to Cardinals for Boldin on draft day

      May 15, 2009 /

      According to the Arizona Republic, the Eagles offered the Cardinals cornerback Sheldon Brown and a third round pick in exchange for receiver Anquan Boldin on draft day, but Arizona quickly rejected it. Bears’ GM Jerry Angelo also admitted that he offered the 49th overall pick in exchange for Boldin, but obviously was turned down himself.

      Earlier this week, Eagles coach Andy Reid told a Philadelphia radio audience that the price for Boldin was too high, both in terms of trade compensation and a new contract. As a baseline, Reid threw out trade terms of first, third and fifth-round picks, in addition to a new contract worth $10 million or so a year.

      Maybe Reid was trying to spin the situation to satisfy Eagles fans, some of whom have long clamored to trade for Boldin. In the radio interview, Reid went on to say that he didn’t think the Cardinals ever really wanted to trade Boldin. Of course, it would be hard to determine that when the best offer is Brown and a third rounder.

      Maybe the Eagles figured they would take a stab at stealing Boldin for a pittance. No harm in that.
      The Eagles never offered more than the third round pick and Brown, a seven-year veteran who is unhappy with his current contract. The Cardinals didn’t have a need for a starting cornerback after signing Bryant McFadden in free agency.

      Sheldon and a third round pick for Boldin? I thought I heard laughter off in the distance on draft day – turns out it was Cardinals’ GM Rod Graves after talking with the Eagles.

      Hey, it was worth a shot for the Eagles. If nothing came out of it, so be it. But if the Cards were at all desperate to relieve themselves from the Boldin situation, maybe they would have pulled the trigger on Philly’s offer. (And then would have been rightfully lambasted by their fans and media in the process.)

      I wonder if Graves would have done a deal with Angelo for a second and a third, although the third would have had to been for 2010 because Chicago had already traded that pick to Denver for Jay Cutler. Still, if Angelo was able to pull a deal off for Boldin, then the Bears would have went from perennial NFC North favorites to legit Super Bowl contenders.

      NFL

      Rosenhaus: Boldin isn’t seeking $10 million a year

      May 15, 2009 /

      According to the Arizona Republic, Anquan Boldin’s agent Drew Rosenhaus has submitted a contract offer to the Cardinals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the team is willing to negotiate at this time.

      Rosenhaus said contrary to speculation, Boldin is not seeking a deal worth $10 million a year, which is what teammate Larry Fitzgerald is receiving. The recent offer is for less, Rosenhaus said.

      An NFL source familiar with the proposal said the deal averaged just under $10 million per season.

      Rosenhaus declined to say when he made the proposal to the Cardinals. He has discussed the proposal with Graves, he said, but the Cardinals have not responded with a counteroffer.

      It could be the range of $8 million to $9 million a year on average. T.J. Houshmandzadeh signed a five-year, $40 million deal with Seattle this spring, with $15 million guaranteed.

      Dallas traded for Roy Williams last year, then signed him to a five-year, $45 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.

      If we’re talking solely about contract numbers, Boldin is definitely worth the $9 mil a year that Housh is getting. But it’s obviously not that simple for the Cards to just re-negotiate a deal like that for Boldin considering they’re already paying Fitzgerald $10 million a year. Plus, and this is a biggie, Boldin is still under contract for two more years. The Cardinals aren’t obligated to do anything with his contract if they don’t want to.

      Nevertheless, at least the lines of communication are open between Rosenhaus and the Cardinals. We’ll see what Arizona’s countermove is.

      MLB

      Report: Manny’s drug test flagged for elevated testosterone, not hCG

      May 15, 2009 /

      According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, Manny Ramirez’s drug test was flagged by MLB for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone, not hCG as was initially believed.

      The newspaper reported that no trace of hCG, the banned substance for which the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder was suspended, was found in his system at the time of the drug test, according to three sources with specific knowledge of the test. But according to one source with knowledge of the test, it was was flagged for having a synthetic testosterone level four times the amount of the average male.

      Baseball officials had begun the disciplinary process for the drug test when they obtained Ramirez’s medical records and learned he had a prescription for hCG, which is commonly prescribed for women as a fertility drug and is a banned substance in baseball’s drug program. At that point, Ramirez was suspended for “just cause,” based on the prescription and the fact he had not sought an exemption for it, and Ramirez dropped his appeals and took the suspension, according to the report.

      Before the prescription came to light, Ramirez was expected to argue on appeal that the elevated testosterone level was caused by DHEA, according to authorities familiar with MLB’s testing procedure, the Times reported.

      The World Anti-Doping Agency considers DHEA a steroid and has banned its use, but it is not a banned substance under baseball’s drug policy. DHEA is produced by the adrenal gland and serves as a precursor to male and female sex hormones.

      The Times reported that according to those same authorities, Ramirez’s test would not have been declared a positive if it were known that DHEA had caused the spike in his testosterone-epitestosterone (T-E) ratio.

      But one of the three sources with information about the test results said baseball had three “powerful analytic foundations” to say the positive drug test was not caused by DHEA, according to the Times.

      I realize this is just a report. Nothing has been confirmed and nothing probably will be confirmed by Manny or MLB. However, this is pretty damning evidence for Ramirez.

      Let’s sum this up, shall we?

      Manny is told that he will be suspended for a positive PED test. He plans to appeal the suspension on the basis that his positive test was the cause of DHEA, which he knows isn’t on baseball’s banned list. But when he found out that MLB had evidence that the positive drug test was not caused by DHEA, he backed down.

      Furthermore, he had elevated testosterone levels four times the amount of the average male. Four…times. And oh-by-the-way, he also had a prescription filled out for hCG, which is a drug known to help restore testosterone levels for those coming off steroid cycles.

      This guy was (allegedly) juicing! He was (allegedly) on the juice! He (allegedly) got caught with steroids!

      Again, this is just a report so we cannot take it as complete truth, especially when there are unnamed sources involved. But this could possibly be the smoking gun that was begging to come out as soon as the suspension was handed down.

      MLB

      Report: Favre consulted well-known doctor about biceps injury

      May 15, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Brett Favre consulted Dr. James Andrews, a highly respected doctor among athletes, on what kind of exercises would help strengthen his biceps injury so he wouldn’t have to go under the knife.

      The development further indicates Favre’s willingness to consider coming out of retirement to sign with the Minnesota Vikings, particularly if there is a non-surgical solution to his damaged shoulder.

      The source said Andrews and Favre experimented with one of several exercises that could accelerate the process of the tendon releasing on its own. During an interview with ESPN in February, Favre mentioned that he had a partially torn biceps tendon in his left shoulder during his Green Bay Packers career and that the pain subsided once it completely tore naturally.

      If that fails to produce the desired results, it remains uncertain whether Favre would endure even arthroscopic surgery to prolong his career to a 19th season. A source close to Favre described that as an option but a projected 3-6 week rehabilitation is unappealing to the quarterback, who will apparently require no therapy if the tendon can be forced to tear through the exercise regimen.

      This report doesn’t necessarily mean that Favre intends on playing again next season, but it sure as hell looks like he’s trying to do everything in his power in order to come back. (And I do mean everything seeing as how he has been working out with a high school team to stay in shape.)

      NFL

      Bengals next up for “Hard Knocks” series

      May 14, 2009 /

      HBO chose to film the dysfunctional Bengals for its next installment of “Hard Knocks.”

      The cable channel and NFL Films chose one of the league’s least-successful teams of the last 18 years for its next “Hard Knocks” training camp series. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys were the ones followed through training camp.

      HBO started the program in 2001 with the Baltimore Ravens. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore then, so he’s familiar with how it works. Still, television executives had to do some arm-twisting to get the team to go along.

      The Bengals have only one winning record since 1991, when owner Mike Brown took over. One intriguing subplot will be how Brown, who shies away from cameras, comes across in the episodes. Brown didn’t attend a news conference about the show.

      If there’s a better fit for “Hard Knocks”, I’m hard pressed to think of it. Having the opportunity to be filmed on a daily basis should make Chad Ocho Cinco’s day and maybe get him to stop crying (literally) about wanting to get traded.

      NFL

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