Category: NFL (Page 1242 of 1282)

Smoke and mirrors

April 18, 2006 / John Paulsen

Trust no one.

Fox Mulder would feel right at home as a GM in the NFL in the days leading up to the draft. Teams are pumping up players they don’t want and trying to drag down players they do. Take the Saints, who are bringing Matt Leinart in for a workout this week. Given the status of Drew Brees’ shoulder, it makes sense that they might use their #2 pick on Leinart as a backup plan. But Todd McShay has another theory [Insider subscription required]:

The Saints have been shopping their first-round pick since signing Brees, but they have not received the type of interest they had hoped for. With just two weeks left before the draft, they could be trying to drum up trade interest by courting Leinart. That would make Leinart’s workout for the Saints this week nothing more than a gigantic smokescreen to scare the Titans and Jets into trading up to get him.

The word out of Tennessee is that GM Floyd Reese’s opinion of Leinart differs with that of head coach Jeff Fisher and offensive coordinator Norm Chow. Reese appears to like Vince Young, while Fisher and Chow want Leinart. But is that all just a smokescreen as well? According to McShay, maybe:

Knowing all along that conventional wisdom would favor the Titans drafting Leinart because of his ties with Chow — USC’s offensive coordinator from 2001-04 — Reese could have expressed a preference for Young in order to throw off the Jets and keep them from cutting a deal with New Orleans to move up.

All of this posturing and out and out lying is what makes the draft so unpredictable. The Saints want to trade out of the #2 pick, but they still want OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson or DE Mario Williams, and they think they can get one of those players with the #3 or #4 pick. Whatever offers they’ve received thus aren’t up to snuff, so they bring in Leinart to get the Titans and Jets worried. The Titans, who probably want Leinart, know that the Saints probably aren’t going to take him and they want the Jets to believe that they might take Young instead, thinking that the Jets would be less likely to trade up if they thought Leinart would be there at #4.

Got that?

NFL, NFL Draft

Favre being selfish

April 8, 2006 / Bob

I believe that Brett Favre will go down as one of the best quarterbacks every to play professional football. I also believe that if he continues this “indecision” it will tarnish his reputation for being one of the most unselfish players ever to take the field. I understand that it’s a tough decision for Favre, but he’s putting his teammates and the Packers organization in a very uncomfortable position.

Green Bay is making roster decisions without knowing what type of experience they will have behind center. This is very tough on an organization. GM’s will tell you that they already know their offensive strategies for next season by spring.
I think Favre is putting his personal happiness and satisfaction above the team for the first time in his career and if he doesn’t decide soon it will become embarrassing for him and the Packers.

Personally, I believe Brett has one good season left in him and then he should retire. That being said, the Packers aren’t a very strong offensive unit and he could be a punching bag for the second straight season.

If Favre doesn’t decide this week, I will lose some of the respect and admiration that I have for him as a player after watching him for all these years.

NFL

NFL to keep things flexible on Sunday

April 5, 2006 / John Paulsen

During the second half of the season, the NFL will be able to schedule the Sunday night games on the fly, ensuring that the matchups are good ones.

For Weeks 10-15 and Week 17, the final regular-season weekend, all Sunday games will be listed with start times of 1 p.m. or 4:05-4:15 p.m. ET. The league must then announce which match will be played Sunday night at least 12 days before the date of the game.

CBS, who has the AFC games, and Fox, who has the NFC, each have the option to protect five games over the final seven weeks, but they cannot protect more than one game per week. If they protect a game, the league can’t move it to Sunday night.

This will be an improvement over recent years, where we’ve seen some poor or meaningless matchups on Sunday night. Now we’ll have games in prime time that are ready for prime time.

NFL, Television

Bills trade Moulds to Texans

April 4, 2006 / John Paulsen

Disgruntled WR Eric Moulds is on his way to Houston in exchange for what is believed to be a second-day draft choice (either a fourth or fifth round pick in this year’s draft).

Moulds decided last week that he preferred to go to Houston instead of the Philadelphia Eagles. He worked out a contractual agreement with the Texans and then awaited the trade.
“I knew Andre Johnson and always wanted to play with him,” Moulds said Tuesday. “He’s an up and coming receiver, and I felt like the team is on a rise. This is a chance to start new, and an opportunity to play close to home where I grew up.”

The Texans might be one of the most improved teams next season. With the addition of Moulds, they have a formidable WR to play alongside Johnson. Throw in Reggie Bush and Domanick Davis and you have an offense that has lots of talent at the skill positions. The offensive line and the defense have been questionable since the franchise was created, but if they are able to improve both units through the draft and free agency, they have a shot at cracking eight wins next season.

NFL

First round rumors

April 3, 2006 / Gerardo Orlando

Over at ESPN.com’s Insider (subscription required), Mel Kiper has some thoughts on the early picks:

It looks like the Houston Texans will take USC running back Reggie Bush with the No. 1 overall pick. The hottest spot in the draft to make a trade will be with the New Orleans Saints and the second pick. The only team the Saints could make a trade with — and still get defensive end Mario Williams — is the New York Jets. New York could trade up from the fourth overall pick and take USC QB Matt Leinart. Tennessee, which has the third pick, would then take Texas QB Vince Young. From what I have been told, the Titans have a very high opinion of Young.

This should be a fun draft. Vince Young is the wild card. It will be very interesting to see who takes a chance on him.