Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 932 of 1503)

      Report: Shaun Rogers asks out of Cleveland

      February 25, 2009 /

      According to NFL.com’s Adam Schefter, Shaun Rogers has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million bonus that is due to him next month because he’d rather be released.

      Shaun RogersRogers has grown so disenchanted with the situation in Cleveland that he has asked the Browns not to pick up the $6 million option-bonus payment due to him next month, a source close to the defensive tackle said. Rogers would rather be released after one season with the Browns, despite still being owed another $15 million in guaranteed money.

      Some of Rogers’ feelings stem back to two offseason incidents in which he believes Mangini disrespected him. The first time, Mangini walked into the Browns’ training room and failed to say hello to Rogers. The next time, at a public charity function in which both men were in the green room, neither said hello to the other, and Mangini later said he didn’t know Rogers was there.

      The Browns believe that, once Rogers hears out Mangini, the same will occur. The situation will be soothed over, hard feelings will dissipate and Cleveland will have a happy defensive tackle.

      Cutting Rogers would be difficult to do financially. If the Browns release Rogers, they would have to count more than $9.7 million against their salary cap.

      This situation will probably blow over once the two decide to sit down and talk but either way, this isn’t a good start for Mangini. Not that a coach has to walk around and kiss everybody’s ass on the first day, but players are big on the “respect factor” and obviously Rogers feels that he has been disrespected twice already by Mangini.

      Rogers was labeled as a lazy, unmotivated and temperamental player in Detroit. When he was traded to Cleveland, he cleaned up his act and turned out to be the Browns’ best defender. In fact, he probably turned in his best season as a pro and there’s no question that the Browns need this guy on their D-line.

      Again, the situation will probably be worked out, but Mangini needs to move quickly.

      NFL

      Haynesworth’s agent says there is no deal with Redskins

      February 25, 2009 /

      Despite what reports suggested on Tuesday, Albert Haynesworth’s agent says that his client has no deal with the Washington Redskins.

      Albert Haynesworth“Albert is not allowed to have a deal with another team, and he doesn’t have a deal with another team,” Speck e-mailed Tuesday night. “We continue to keep the lines of communication open with Tennessee. The rumors suggesting that a deal is in place between Albert and the Washington Redskins are completely false.”

      What is true is that the Redskins are one of a handful of teams that will have interest in Haynesworth. But for whoever signs him, it isn’t going to cheap. Haynesworth widely is expected to become the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, with a deal that will defy today’s economic hardships and send tremors around the league. The deal could wind up including a signing bonus in the vicinity of $40 million dollars. Washington will have interest. But so will Detroit, Tampa Bay, Tennessee and others.

      And the big question as free agency opens Friday will be what is Haynes-worth?

      Don’t read too much into this. Haynesworth’s agent has to say that there’s no deal in place or else the Redskins could face tampering charges for talking to another team before the free agency period opens on Februarys 27. But agents talk to teams all the time before the start of free agency or else how do deals get worked out in the first hour that the period opens?

      Where there’s smoke there’s fire and there’s a lot of smoke coming from Washington. I highly expect Haynesworth to be a Redskin by the end of the week.

      NFL

      Teams would be wise not to pass on Crabtree

      February 24, 2009 /

      One of the bigger stories surrounding the NFL scouting combine this week (besides the ongoing antics of Alabama’s Andre Smith, that is) is the foot injury that has caused Texas Tech wideout Michael Crabtree to skip workouts. He’ll need to have surgery to repair the slight fracture in his foot and therefore won’t be able to run the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day in March.

      When players require surgery before the draft, the notion among some pundits is that their stock will fall. Hopefully teams aren’t that stupid in the case of Crabtree because anyone that has seen him in game action knows how dynamic he can be.

      We live in a time where the 40-yard dash seems to rule all. A couple pundits were sporting wood last week when Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith ran a 5.22 forty, which blew away every O-linemen at the combine. Besides displaying great athleticism, I don’t know why anyone would get overly excited about an offensive tackle running a fast forty. Unless a team plans on him being a combo left tackle/tight end, nobody should flip their lid over Smith (or any offensive tackle for that matter) running a 5.22 forty.

      That said, Crabtree not being able to run the forty means very little. He wasn’t even supposed to run a fast time anyway, so nothing changes. He’s still a top 10 pick, he’s still one of the best overall prospects in the draft and he’ll still be the best wideout available come April. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Percy Harvin and Jeremy Maclin are all fantastic receiving prospects. But Crabtree beats them all – good 40-time or not.

      NFL, NFL Draft

      Report: Redskins to sign Albert Haynesworth

      February 24, 2009 /

      According to a report by the Houston Chronicle, the Redskins will sign free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth unless the Titans can pony up at the last second.

      Albert HanyesworthThis time around he tells me that the Washington Redskins will break the bank to sign Albert Haynesworth. The Titans could come over the top of the Redskins deal as well, but my guess is that the Redskins will let Haynesworth get the best offer possible from the Titans and then “better deal” it.

      My source tells me to look for a contract that could break $100 million with an average of $15 million to $16 million per. My guy is almost never wrong and Dan Snyder gets what he wants.

      Peter King also said he wouldn’t be surprised if Synder made a play for Haynesworth in his latest edition of “Monday Morning Quarterback”, so this story is picking up steam.

      The Redskins haven’t had a decent interior pass rush in some time and Haynesworth could solve those issues all on his own. As I wrote in my latest column, he could also become very unmotivated after cashing in and Washington seems to be the place were defensive tackles go to die. (Kind of like receivers in Chicago.)

      We’ll see how this plays out when free agency officially kicks off this Friday.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Ten reasons why Spring Training beats Training Camp

      February 24, 2009 /

      RealClearSports.com compiles 10 reasons why baseball’s spring training beats football’s training camp.

      Downtime
      Normally, there is no down time during an NFL training camp, unless you count sitting in a large tub full of ice. Players are usually so exhausted that any and all free time they have is spent either eating or sleeping.

      Baseball just simply isn’t as demanding as that, which allows them to work on some of the game’s finer points, like perfecting the “hot-foot,” determining exactly when to shove a towel full of shaving cream into a teammate’s face during a live TV interview, and everyone’s favorite, learning exactly how to place a bubble-gum bubble on your pitcher’s head.

      Pressure
      Imagine if an NFL wide receiver went all of camp without catching pass in any of the scrimmages or games. For a month in game-competition, every pass that came his way either sailed through his hands or bounced off his chest. To top it off, he was often running the wrong routes and missing blocks. The chances of him making it past cuts and onto the final 53-man roster would be slim to none.

      Translate that to baseball, where the opening day starting lineups are usually already set before February even begins. A player could have an awful spring: terrible at-bats, poor fielding and too many strikeouts, but come April, he’s in the starting lineup (just ask Ichiro, who struggled last spring and started 0-for-21).

      Practices
      Seemingly as soon as a football practice begins, players are in full pads, flying around and running into each at full speed. This continues for hours at a time, in extreme summer heat, and often, twice-a-day.

      Baseball practices, on the other hand, feature fielding fungos on perfectly manicured fields, hitting balls of a tee, first base running drills (seriously), covering first base on sacrifice bunt roughly 3000 times and doing whatever it is those Red Sox are doing in that picture – it seems highly likely that one could go through an entire practice without breaking a sweat.

      Not RealClearSports.com’s best work. The three reasons listed above are supposed to be in favor of spring training, but I’d say every one of them favors training camp.

      MLB, NFL

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