Category: NFL (Page 1045 of 1282)

ESPN.com’s Sal Paolantonio had several terrific points about NFL teams currently overspending for average cornerbacks and thus having their salary caps ruined with no positive gains on the field. His prime example was how the Raiders just traded for former Falcons’ corner DeAngelo Hall and paid him $70 million in the process.

Hall, who has been to two Pro Bowls, possesses many of the qualities great cornerbacks have. Great speed. Remarkable athleticism. Terrific leaping ability. Huge ego.

In reality, Hall is an average cornerback who takes needless chances, gives up a staggering number of big plays, has never helped his team win anything and wore out his welcome with the franchise that drafted him in just four years.

In three of Hall’s four seasons in Atlanta, the Falcons ranked 22nd or worse in pass defense, and only once did they manage a winning season: in his rookie year (2004), when he was a part-time starter. So don’t expect Hall’s presence to improve the Raiders’ pass defense dramatically in 2008.

Hall may be overrated and he does make costly mental and physical mistakes, but there’s no denying he’s coming off a great season. With that said, however, Paolantonio makes a great point later in his column by noting that teams would be better served to pony up for a pass rush than a cover corner. Given that the rules are designed to benefit wide receivers more than DBs, it doesn’t make sense to kill your cap by signing cornerbacks to megabucks if the QB is going to have 10 seconds to throw the ball anyway. Paolantonio used a great example of this point later in his column:

The New York Giants proved that. Did you watch their Super Bowl XLII victory over the New England Patriots ?”

In case you were one of the few Americans who missed it, that was indeed the most prolific offense in NFL history shut down by Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. And guess what? Spags had no shutdown corners.

So, it didn’t take big-name corners with big contracts to shut down Randy Moss and the most productive passing game in the history of pro football.

Excellent points.

According to the New York Star Ledger, Giants’ tight end Jeremy Shockey reportedly asked to be traded if his role with the offense didn’t change.

Shockey told the Giants in December he wanted a changed role in the offense or a trade to another team, according to a person familiar with discussions between Shockey, the Giants’ coaching staff and front office. The person, who requested anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak on behalf of Shockey or the Giants, said Shockey threatened to sit out the upcoming season if neither request was granted.

Shockey, 27, who suffered a broken fibula in a Dec. 16 loss to the Redskins, feels his career is being cut short by all the blocking he has been asked to do since Tom Coughlin became coach of the Giants in 2004. While blocking is an integral part of a tight end’s job description, Shockey believes he was more effective as a receiver under former coach Jim Fassel and offensive coordinator Sean Payton, now the coach of the New Orleans Saints, who are interested in trading for Shockey.

I like Shockey, but this is exactly the kind of crap attitude that makes me respect guys like Warrick Dunn, Donald Driver and Troy Brown even more. Hey Jeremy, why don’t you prove you can stay healthy for just one full season before you start demanding what role you’d like to play in the offense? It seems to me that your team didn’t pretty well without you around last postseason, so how about you take it down a notch with the trade demands?

The Brian Urlacher situation just got juicer.

One league source says Urlacher’s agents have asked the team if they could explore a trade. Another says Urlacher is threatening to retire because of neck and back problems, a move in which he wouldn’t have to repay any portion of the $13 million signing bonus he received in 2003, when he received a nine-year, $56.65 million deal.

Urlacher feels he has outplayed his contract and is demanding more money. He’s boycotting the team’s voluntary offseason workout program and threatening to hold out of minicamp, organized team activities and even training camp if he doesn’t get a new deal.

One NFL insider laughed off the situation as the equivalent of a child taking his ball and going home or threatening to hold his breath until he passes out.

”Urlacher has no leverage,” the source said. ”He wants to be paid, right? If he takes a medical [retirement], then he’s got to prove he’s hurt. If he does that, he’ll never get paid. They’re not going to trade him. All he can do is be disruptive.

”It’s a joke. Players never walk away from millions. They threaten to, but they never do it.”

Does anyone else find it kind of ironic that Urlacher is demanding a new contract but is also using neck and back injuries to threaten to retire if he doesn’t get said new contract? Isn’t that counterproductive? “Oh, you have neck and back problems Brian? Well let’s just get that new multi-million dollar deal written up then!”

By the way, this is great timing for Chicago seeing as how this year’s draft is completely (pardon the pun) bare of middle linebackers.

Update: Grrlacher is reporting that the retirement rumors are just gossip.

Photo Courtesy of Flickr