Category: Rumors & Gossip (Page 189 of 225)

      Rumor: Cowboys interested in Ravens’ Ray Lewis

      January 19, 2009 /

      The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys might possibly be interested in linebacker Ray Lewis, who becomes a free agent this offseason.

      Ray LewisWord around the NFL is that the Dallas Cowboys are very interested in obtaining Ravens inside linebacker Ray Lewis if he becomes a free agent. The speculation is that the Cowboys are willing to give Lewis a three-year deal worth between $27 and $30 million, with $25 million guaranteed.

      Dallas owner Jerry Jones believes his team is in the serious hunt for a Super Bowl title next season, and that Lewis could help solve some of the team’s problems inside the locker room.

      The Ravens are expected to begin negotiations with Lewis, who is in the last year of his contract, as soon as the season is over. Fellow linebackers Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs are also in the final years of their contracts.

      Suggs’ decision to play against the Steelers was a courageous one. Oh, and by the way, he happened to come up with two big sacks.

      If the Cowboys are willing to dole out upwards of $30 million to acquire Lewis than the Ravens might have to let him walk. Scott is highly underrated and Suggs is one of the premier pass-rushers in the league. Both players are also younger (Scott is 28, Suggs is 26) than Lewis and Baltimore can’t afford to lose all three players.

      It’ll be interesting to see whom the Ravens attempt to keep. Lewis is older, but he proved this year that he can still play at a high level and you can’t replace his leadership. Again though, Scott and Suggs are younger and are just as valuable (if not more valuable on the field) as Lewis.

      The Ravens have some tough decisions this offseason.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Julius Peppers wants to play for another team next season…as a linebacker.

      January 17, 2009 /

      According to his agent Carl Carey, Julius Peppers is not only ready to play for another team, but he also wants to stand up and play as an outside linebacker.

      Julius Peppers“Julius is ready to move on and play for another team,” agent Carl Carey said Saturday morning. “Julius has given a huge portion of his career and his time to the Carolina Panthers and he feels that he has done what he can do there. So this is more about him trying it another way. For him that means trying it outside of the Carolina Panthers.”

      When asked if that means Peppers doesn’t want to play for the Panthers again under any circumstance, Carey responded flatly, “That’s right. He’s ready to move on.”

      Carey said ideally Peppers wants to play in a 3-4 defensive system where he can stand up and roam the field as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker, similar to how the Dallas Cowboys use DeMarcus Ware and how the San Diego Chargers have used Shawne Merriman in the past before his injury.

      So basically he doesn’t want to have a lot of run responsibility, he just wants to rush the quarterback and compile as many sacks as he possibly can. At 6’7”, 283 pounds, Peppers would easily be the biggest linebacker in the NFL.

      It’s highly likely that the Panthers will franchise tag him and then attempt to trade him. Of course with his wish to play as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 system, Peppers just limited Carolina’s trading partners dramatically.

      NFL, Rumors & Gossip

      Hot Stove League: Pitchers Flying Off Shelves

      January 17, 2009 /

      This past week, John Smoltz officially signed with the Red Sox and the Braves inked Derek Lowe to a four-year, $60 million deal, something Atlanta’s rival New York Mets could not match. Imagine that. But what runs deeper here is that the second and even third tier of pitchers continue to be signed and many position players remain team-less.

      Less than a month before pitchers and catchers report, here are some of the big names still available: Manny freaking Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, Ken Griffey, Orlando Hudson, Frank Thomas, and to a lesser extent, Kevin Millar (20 homers last season) and Orlando Cabrera. To put this in perspective, the Astros signed pitcher Russ Ortiz to a minor league deal a few days ago, the Dodgers signed reliever Guillermo Mota, the Angels inked Darren Oliver for one year, and the White Sox brought back a Bartolo Colon who is on the downside of his career. Clearly, it’s a pitchers’ market this off-season, and it’s almost mind-boggling that Ramirez has gone almost three full months without being signed.

      Part of the problem here is that the big spenders (ahem, New York teams) have blown their collective load on the likes of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira, Francisco Rodriguez, etc., leaving a team like the Dodgers the likely scenario for Man-Ram in 2009, which at the end of the day is probably best for both sides anyway. But some of those other guys are going to have trouble finding work, or they are going to take a recession-friendly deal from a team they wouldn’t have signed with otherwise. It’s already happened with Pat Burrell in Tampa and Jason Giambi with Oakland.

      In other more recent news, the Red Sox avoided arbitration with Kevin Youkilis on Thursday, agreeing to terms on a four-year deal. And the Dodgers finally released beleaguered outfielder Andruw Jones, who the Braves are considering bringing back for the league minimum salary. The Braves are also mulling over whether to bring back injury-plagued LHP Tom Glavine for one more season.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Andrea Bargnani is starting to “get it”

      January 16, 2009 /

      Remember Andrea Bargnani? He was the 20 year-old Italian that the Raptors picked #1 overall in the 2006 NBA Draft. During his first two seasons, he struggled with his shot — 43% in 2006 and 39% in 2007 — and didn’t rebound very well for a seven-footer (< 4 boards a game). Some even started to throw around labels like "disappointment" or even "bust." But even with those shooting struggles, Bargnani managed to score double-figures in each of his first two seasons, so the potential was clearly there. After a pretty strong start to the 2008-09 season -- 14.7 ppg in the first seven games -- Bargnani had his ups and downs coming off the Raptor bench. It wasn't until Jermaine O'Neal's injury that he really started to flourish. Since O'Neal has been out of the lineup (Dec. 29), Bargnani has averaged 22.3 points and 7.1 rebounds, while shooting 55% from the field and an amazing 58% from long range. O'Neal may return as early as tonight and it's unclear what kind of effect this will have on Bargnani and/or his minutes. Bargnani's emergence has started some rumors about the possibility of trading O'Neal, who hasn't been a great fit in Toronto. His contract runs for another season at the tune of $23 million (wow!) but expires before the infamous summer of 2010. One idea would be for the Raptors to swap O'Neal for Shawn Marion, who could play small forward alongside Bargnani and Chris Bosh, but the Heat would probably prefer to let Marion's deal expire and use the cap space this summer or next on a free agent like Carlos Boozer (or even Bosh). O'Neal just hasn't been able to stay healthy over the last few seasons and I'm sure his giant contract has more than a few owners wary of trading for him.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, Rumors & Gossip

      Yao says that things are fine with McGrady

      January 16, 2009 /

      Yesterday, we posted a rumor (from “a source close to the situation”) that Yao Ming was tired of Tracy McGrady’s injury issues.

      Yao said, however, that a report of locker-room discord to the point that he and Tracy McGrady do not speak and that he wants McGrady off the team are not true.

      Responding to an NBA.com story that he and McGrady are not on speaking terms and that he wants McGrady out, Yao said the report is not accurate.

      “I’m upset,” he said, “(that) this news is fake.”

      That McGrady and Yao still talk, even beyond the conversations necessary as teammates, is not news. They can often be seen conversing on the practice court, in the locker room and on the road.

      Well, I’m glad that’s settled.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals, Rumors & Gossip

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑