Category: Fantasy Football (Page 307 of 324)

Bengals HC Marvin Lewis reiterated that he thinks his quarterback will be ready to play on opening day.

Palmer didn’t suit up at the Paul Brown Stadium practice fields, but all eyes were on him as he threw to receivers during warmups and then jogged some sprints at a fairly good rate on the sidelines along with agility drills.

By most accounts, Palmer’s reconstructed left knee – which he injured during the playoff game against the Steelers last season – is looking good.

Fantasy impact: Palmer was a Top 5 QB in most scoring systems last season, so if he’s able to play at a high level, he’ll be a solid pick in rounds 3-5.

The NFL may have no idea when free agency is going to start (a weekend of labor talks and deadline extensions ended with yet another extension, this time until Thursday at 12:01 am), but when it does, Shaun Alexander won’t be available. The reigning league MVP agreed to an eight-year, $62 million deal with the Seahawks Sunday, a deal that should keep the six-year veteran in Seattle for the rest of his career.

Agent Jim Steiner said the deal is the richest for an NFL running back and will pay Alexander over $15.1 million in guaranteed cash, through signing and other bonuses and 2006 base salary.

This contract should make a lot of people happy. The Seahawks will again be one of the premier teams in the NFC now that their workhorse back is locked up long-term, and fantasy owners will continue to benefit from Alexander running behind one of the best offensive lines in football.

As for the ongoing labor negotiations, the Thursday extension was granted to reportedly give the owners time to vote on the Players Association’s latest offer. Hopefully all of this drama will end this week and we can turn our NFL focus back to free agency and the upcoming draft. Stay tuned.

There’s a good chance that QB Drew Brees won’t be a Charger next season. Brees and the franchise have had trouble reaching an agreement on a new contract, mainly due to Brees’ injured shoulder.

The Chargers don’t want to name Brees as their transition player because that would guarantee his salary for 2006, and the team is not sure he’ll be ready to play.

Brees underwent surgery last month and is expected to begin throwing in May. But whether he is at full strength by the Chargers’ July training camp isn’t known.

Brees and the Chargers are talking about a multiyear pact. But so far, no agreement has been reached and on March 3, Brees can negotiate with any team.

The Dolphins are expected to make a strong run at Brees if he hits free agency.

Looks like we may have seen the last of Ricky Williams on the football field:

Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy for a fourth time and is facing a one-year suspension from the league, Denver television station KDVR reported on Sunday.

The Miami Herald, citing two sources of its own, confirmed the station’s report that Williams has violated the policy, although neither source would say whether Williams had failed a drug test or if he had missed a required test, which also is a violation.

In their Rumor Mill, ProFootballTalk.com reports the violation was indeed a missed test, not a failed one, but adds:

The difference is technical. Either action is a violation of the substance abuse policy, and a violation (for Williams) most likely will trigger a minimum suspension of one year. During the suspension, he still will be expected to submit to testing and other aspects of his treatment plan.

This is a tough one to understand. Why go through the hassle of coming out of retirement, talking to the media about everything, apologizing to your teammates, enduring a four-game suspension, and backing up a rookie, only to space on a drug test (Williams is reportedly in India right now) and earn a year-long ban?

At this point, it’s clear football just isn’t very important to Ricky Williams, which is a shame since he managed to raise his stock significantly last year and was likely on his way to a featured role with someone like Denver. Then again, if Ricky’s not interested in playing football anymore, then this is the perfect excuse to retire for good this time around. Of course, there’s a chance Williams could appeal the suspension since he didn’t actually test positive, but it seems like a one-year suspension is almost inevitable at this point.