Category: NFL (Page 157 of 1282)

      You’re not living the High Life if you can’t figure out how to share $9 billion

      March 17, 2011 /
      The NFL logo is seen on a trailer parked near the New Meadowlands Stadium where the New York Jets and New York Giants NFL football teams play home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey, March 14, 2011. The NFL has officially announced a lockout of players by team owners following the move by the players’ union to dissolve themselves and pursue court action against the league. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL BUSINESS)

      This series is sponsored by Miller High Life – The Official Beer Of You. Find out how you can get sponsored by Miller High Life.

      If your league grew 7.5% last year and now you can’t figure out a way to best divvy up $9 billion so that fans can enjoy a season next fall, then you automatically aren’t living the High Life.

      As expected, the NFL labor situation has gone from bad to worse as the players have decertified and the owners have locked them out. While there are many factors at play, the root of the bickering is revenue – as in, how to share it. The owners want the players to take a paycut, while the players want to know why when the league’s profits and popularity keep growing.

      Meanwhile, the fans continue to suffer this offseason. This is supposed to be a time for free agent news, draft rumors and a renewed sense of hope that your team will compete next year (even though it won’t…sorry, Buffalo fan). Instead, the draft is the only thing fans have to look forward to and the players and owners are doing their best to ruin that now, too. (The NFLPA has instructed top prospects not to attend Radio City Music Hall, so things could get real awkward when Roger Goodell starts announcing names on stage in New York next month.)

      The worst part about the situation (besides the fact that there may not be a season next year) is that neither side is getting anywhere. Judge David Doty (who has ruled more in favor of the players than the owners when it comes to previous NFL cases) ruled that the owners couldn’t use the $4 billion from renegotiated TV contracts to fund their lockout, so the players seemingly had the upper hand in talks. Thinking they had friendly Judge Doty in their back pocket if they went to court, the players decided to reject a last-second offer by the owners last Friday and decertify. The only problem is that they didn’t have Judge Doty because a different judge has been assigned to their case. Now it appears the playing field has been leveled again.

      The NFL has grown in leaps and bounds because of its fans. Now the league is a victim of its own success because fans are getting more impatient by the day. With no resolution in sight, everyone may have to wait until September to get back to living the High Life.

      External Sports, NFL

      Randy Moss: Heart and happiness in New England

      March 16, 2011 /
      Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss gives a hug to his former teammate, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady at the end of the game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on October 31, 2010. The Patriots defeated the Vikings 28-18. UPI/Matthew Healey

      While appearing on KFAN 1130 in Minneapolis on Wednesday, free agent Randy Moss dropped a few loud hints that he would like to return to the Patriots next season.

      “If you ask me where my heart and where I’m happy is,” Moss said, “I love Tom Brady and I love playing for coach Belichick.”

      Really? Then why didn’t he do what Belichick asked him to last year and not complain about his contract situation to the media? Had he kept working hard, showed a little patience and let the situation play itself out, then maybe he never would have been traded. Instead, he reminded people at every turn that he didn’t have a contract and essentially got himself traded out of New England.

      But now he wants back in after a couple of miserably months in Minnesota (whom he also said he would “love” to play for again) and Tennessee. Interesting. If I were Belichick, I’d take Moss back in a heartbeat. Why, you ask? The great thing about Randy Moss is that he’s not very hard to figure out. When his team is winning or when he feels like he has something to prove, he plays with hunger and motivation. He gave up in Oakland because he didn’t have to prove himself and because the Raiders were losers. When he was dealt to New England, he once again wanted to show people how good he was and he preformed at a high level because he loved being a part of a winner. But that eventually wore off so he made money his main priority and then promptly fell off the face of the earth after he was traded.

      But now he’s motivated again and he would probably come real cheap after the way his season ended last year. If Belichick was interested, I’m willing to bet that Moss would jog to New England just to have one more chance to play for a winner.

      External Sports, NFL

      Marvin Lewis aware that Palmer won’t be back next season?

      March 16, 2011 /
      Cincinnati Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis talks to quarterbacks Carson (L) and Jordan Palmer as they play the Baltimore Ravens’ at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on January 2, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

      One unnamed NFL GM tells CBS Sports that head coach Marvin Lewis “knows” that quarterback Carson Palmer won’t play for the Bengals next season.

      Essentially, the question is this: Can [Lewis] convince Brown to deal Palmer for draft picks, players or both to get something of value this season? Most people believe he cannot, and that was reiterated by our GM who said he’s certain Cincinnati won’t budge on Palmer because of what it would mean for others.

      But he also said that if Palmer is true to his word and retires it might increase his value for 2012, with teams believing that if he has that much of a conviction, is that disciplined, is that true to himself, then he’s exactly the sort of quarterback they’d like as a leader.

      “He can still play, and he can still play at a high level,” the GM said.

      It’s kind of a moot point to talk about potential trades seeing as how we’re in the middle of a lockout but this Palmer situation won’t die down. Making matters more complex is that if the Bengals were willing to trade him, it would make sense to do so before the draft. But since teams can’t make trades right now, the Bengals are stuck.

      It cannot be overstated: the Bengals have a mess on their hands here. Brown doesn’t want to set a precedent for other disgruntled players to follow Palmer and demand trades just because they want out of Cincinnati. But if Palmer follows through and retires, then obviously the best recourse for the Bengals is to trade him in order to get something in return. And if Lewis knows that Palmer doesn’t want to be his quarterback, then I would have to assume that he wants someone else in place who does.

      For now, at least the Bengals have plenty of time on their hands to figure out what they want to do with Palmer. Because there doesn’t appear to be a quick resolution to the labor mess.

      External Sports, NFL

      Enjoy it this year NFL fans, because there may not be a draft in 2012

      March 16, 2011 /

      For the past two days, columnist Michael Silver has taken to the pages of Yahoo! Sports and Twitter to rant about the NFL draft.

      No, not because he thinks it’s wrong for the NFLPA to instruct top prospects not to attend Radio City Music Hall next month and no, not to lash out about the fact that players and owners are ruining the Holy Grail of the NFL offseason.

      He’s ranting that the NFL draft should become yet another victim of the current labor dispute.

      Silver offers a cold dose of reality when it comes to the draft: that it’s not as important as 1,7000 players fighting for their financial livelihoods. And as much as I’d like to punch him in the ear and tell him to get on board with the rest of us draftnits, he’s right.

      He’s also right about something that will really make devote draft followers sick to their stomachs: The fact that there may not be a draft in 2012 if the owners and players can’t agree to a new CBA.

      In the absence of a collective bargaining agreement, the draft is kind of … how shall I say this gently? … illegal. The notion that a person trying to ply his trade can be denied the opportunity to negotiate his/her services on the open market – in this case, that he is prohibited from signing with 31 of the NFL’s 32 franchises – isn’t simply un-American; it’s also a violation of federal law.

      In fact, the controversy over the upcoming draft would likely be moot if not for a stipulation in the recently expired CBA that this year’s draft would proceed as scheduled. Otherwise, the players would have had an excellent chance of convincing a judge to disallow it. And if there’s still no CBA a year from April, even if the players are successful in blocking the lockout and the owners merely impose rules while the two sides wage their fight over the antitrust lawsuit, you can forget about a draft happening in 2012.

      Even though the situation looks bleak, I’m willing to bet that most fans believe everything will eventually work out. That there will be a football season next year and the events of these past months will fade away once that ball is placed on the tee in Week 1. But Silver makes a great observation here. If the courts rule against the owners’ lockout, that doesn’t mean that a new CBA will be put in place. The players and owners still have to agree to a new deal and thus, we could be back to square one after next season even though the lockout has ended. How nauseating does that sound?

      In the meantime, we can still enjoy the draft but read Silver’s column in full and then tell me you’re still excited for the end of April to come. Personally, I think Silver’s anti-draft rants can be toned down a notch. He seems to be revealing in the fact that he has solid points and those points suck the life right out of whatever excitement fans still have left about this offseason. As a NFL fan and a diehard draft follower myself I want to say to him, “Are you enjoying all of this, Eyebrows? Are you enjoying the fact that we don’t have free agency and trade rumors to chew on for the next couple of months and now the powers at be are also trying to ruin the draft, too? Because it sure seems like it.”

      But as a realist, I say: “Damn it Silver, right on.”

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

      Panthers leaning towards Cam Newton?

      March 16, 2011 /
      Auburn University Quarterback Cam Newton speaks to the media after winning the 2010 Heisman Trophy Award at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on December 11, 2010. UPI/John Angelillo

      Unless it’s a ruse created to lure teams into trading up, all signs point to the Panthers selecting Auburn quarterback Cam Newton with the No. 1 overall pick according to the Charlotte Observer.

      Carolina sent six representatives to Auburn’s Pro Day and will attend a private workout by Newton in Alabama on Wednesday. With Blaine Gabbert’s Pro Day coming up on Thursday, the Panthers should have a good idea as to whom they will be selecting with the top pick next month. There have been reports that the injury concerns surrounding the top defensive linemen in this year’s draft have scared the Panthers off, so maybe they’ve narrowed their wish list down to Newton or Gabbert.

      Of course, there are rumblings that the Vikings and Bills are interested in Newton as well, so maybe a trade is in order. The Panthers don’t have a second round pick this year, so they may want to trade down in order to regain that selection. If they do trade down, Gabbert, LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson or even Georgia receiver A.J. Green become possibilities for the Panthers depending on how far they fall.

      As of right now, this is still a cat and mouse game. The Panthers want to do their due diligence when it comes to scouting prospects, but they also don’t want to make their intentions obvious. If they have a couple of prospects rated close to each other, maybe they wouldn’t mind trading down, acquiring more picks and still landing a player at the top of their board.

      External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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