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      Credit the Bills for being aggressive when it came to signing Mario Williams

      March 15, 2012 /

      When I asked one former NFL VP of Player Personnel about whether or not he thought Mario Williams would wind up in Buffalo because other teams didn’t have enough cap space to sign him, the VP responded, “Oh, they wanted to sign him. They were just waiting for him to get out of Buffalo.”

      But Williams never left Buffalo.

      The Bills signed the edge rusher to a six-year, $100 million contract on Thursday, which also includes $50 million guaranteed. The deal almost puts Julius Peppers’ six-year, $84 million contract with the Bears to shame, which is saying something.

      Williams becomes the first ever defensive player to net a $100 million contract and he’ll have the opportunity to move back to his natural position at defensive end in Buffalo’s new 4-3 defense. Considering they also feature safety Jarius Byrd and 2011 second overall pick Marcell Dareus, the Bills are certainly moving in the right direction on that side of the ball.

      And landing Williams was the ultimate coup. Considering he spent three days in Buffalo, one would assume he received an initial offer from the Bills and had his agent shop that price around to other teams. In the end, I can imagine Buddy Nix sitting in his office while speaking to Williams’ representatives and saying, “What’s it going to take to wrap this deal up? One hundred mil? Done – sign the paper.”

      The Bills accomplished what other teams probably set out to, which was to put on a full court press and make sure Williams didn’t leave the city without signing a contract first. They had to. Buffalo isn’t exactly an attractive place to play so the Bills had to pony up in order to land the top free agent on the market. Give them credit for zeroing in on a valuable piece and not balking over a couple of million a year, because they certainly didn’t have the luxury to do so. Premier pass rushers don’t fall off trees, nor do they become available very often. And when they do, they probably don’t look at Buffalo as the ideal landing spot.

      It’s probably safe to say that the Bills will only go as far as Ryan Fitzpatrick will take them, but under Nix they’re finally spending money and retaining their own. (Receiver Steve Johnson got a new contract this offseason, as did linebacker Kirk Morrison.) They may not have enough overall talent to slay the Patriots yet, but you have to like what’s going on in Buffalo right now.

      External Sports, NFL

      Is Seattle serious about Matt Flynn?

      March 15, 2012 /

      Matt Flynn is visiting Seattle this week, but it’s not clear how serious they are about the young free agent.

      Flynn has a familiar pedigree coming from Green Bay. After all, that’s the same organization that traded Matt Hasselbeck to Seattle 11 years ago. There’s a little more history, too. John Schneider — now Seattle’s general manager — was in the Packers’ front office when they drafted Flynn in the seventh round in 2008.

      But no one should jump to conclusions or characterize Flynn’s addition as imminent. He’s still a largely inexperienced quarterback, and there’s a very real question of just how much the Seahawks will offer a quarterback with two career starts.

      Is Seattle convinced enough of Flynn’s potential to offer a deal that is significantly more than the two-year, $8 million contract that Seattle has used as its baseline for a quarterback it sees as a potential starter down the road? That was the contract Seattle signed Charlie Whitehurst to in 2010 before he had attempted a regular-season pass, and it was largely the same deal used to acquire Jackson last year.

      Maybe Seattle does see Flynn as a different caliber of prospect, a player worth a significantly higher investment. But a year ago, Seattle wasn’t willing to make the kind of financial commitment that Kevin Kolb got from Arizona or part with the draft picks it would have taken to acquire him, and Kolb had more experience than Flynn.

      Pete Carroll hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his quarterback picks so far, but the rest of the team is progressing so maybe the Seahawks will step up here. Miami is also in the mix, and despite conflicting reports, I think the Browns would be interested at the right price. Much will depend on whether Seattle lets Flynn move on after his visit without a signed contract.

      I like Flynn and I’m hoping he lands in Cleveland. The kid learned the West Coast Offense under the best in Green Bay for four years, and experience is critical in that offense. This glowing profile from Peter King points out what Flynn has learned and how he made decisions in his epic game against the Lions. Here’s another very positive scouting report.

      There’s no guarantee with Flynn, and may bring up that he’s had only two NFL starts, but that’s two more than Andrew Luck and RG3. I’m not saying he’s a better prospect, but the “risk” is mitigated by his apprenticeship in Green Bay under Aaron Rodgers. The key is the size of the contract, and that will be dictated by how many teams enter the bidding.

      External Sports, NFL

      Can John Calipari finally win it?

      March 15, 2012 /

      I didn’t fill out a bracket this year. I haven’t done so in years. While the NCAA tournament is still fun to watch, it’s hard to keep up on college basketball with the yearly turnover on the best teams, so each year I’m learning about the teams as the tournament progresses.

      Many experts seem to think Kentucky has a great shot, again, so we’ll see if John Calipari can finally get it done.

      It’s your Dance, John Calipari.

      This is your NCAA tournament. All you have to do is win it – nothing more, and especially nothing less.

      It’s not necessarily now or never. But it’s absolutely now. In 20 years as a college head coach, you’ve never had a better chance to win a national title.

      Wednesday, you named off the great teams you’ve coached – Massachusetts 1996, Memphis 2008, Kentucky 2010 and ’11. All came close to winning it all. None finished the deal. None had the advantages this one enjoys.

      You have the best team, which is the most important thing of all.

      Your seven-man rotation is nothing but NBA prospects, one through seven, including a couple of top-five picks. Don’t bother with the “young team” line because every coach in America would love to be burdened with the youth of Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

      Calipari is a loudmouth, so I’ll be rooting for an epic fail.

      My Buckeyes got a break when Syracuse lost their best player, so maybe this makes up for the monster bracket they had to endure last year when they were a #1 seed and got bounced by Kentucky. I like their chances of getting to the Final Four, IF they can shoot well. This team is hot and cold, and getting hot now is critical for them and every other team. Also, I love Thad Matta as a coach. He’s an incredible recruiter. But I hate how he sticks to a tight rotation, and I haven’t seen him outcoach his counterparts in the big games. Hopefully this is his year.

      College Basketball, External Sports

      The Dwight Howard drama

      March 15, 2012 /

      Drama queen Dwight Howard generated quite a bit of attention yesterday as contradictory reports surfaced as to whether he would stay in Orlando through next season. Now it looks like he’s staying, but who knows.

      Dwight Howard informed Orlando Magic management late Wednesday night that he wants to stay with the team through next season and will not opt out of his contract, according to sources close to the situation.

      Howard plans to sign a waiver of the early termination option in his contract Thursday morning. Until both Howard and his agent sign the waiver, the Magic will assume he is not staying and go ahead with their plans to trade him before Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline, sources said.

      By signing the waiver, Howard would remain under contract with the Magic through the 2012-2013 season.

      Of course this means nothing until Howard signs the paperwork Anything can still happen.

      External Sports, NBA

      Redskins, Cowboys Gamble and Lose

      March 15, 2012 /

      The NFL announced that the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins will each be docked millions of dollars for taking advantage of the uncapped 2010 year. Both teams front-loaded contracts in 2010 because there was no salary cap, giving them a “competitive advantage” over the other teams. They played a game of high stakes poker with the league office and lost.

      The Cowboys will lose $10 million and the Redskins will lose $36 million from the projected $120.6 million salary cap, announced at the start of the football year. All teams were warned not to take advantage of the uncapped scenario but it appears two teams did not take heed of that notice. The two teams are able to spread the cap reduction over the next two years, or take it all this year.

      It’s believed that large contracts given to Albert Haynesworth, who no longer plays for the Redskins, and Miles Austin, who still plays for the Cowboys, triggered this penalty.

      Several teams benefited from this review because both teams are in the NFC North division. The Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants, who won the Super Bowl last year, are the other two teams and look to benefit from their rivals’ cap reduction.

      It remains to be seen how this will affect the Redskins, who recently traded three first round draft picks and a second round draft pick with the Rams for the presumed rights to draft Robert Griffin III. It will probably be difficult for the Redskins to participate in the free agency market to attract quality players to put around RG3, but that’s what front offices are paid to do – make do with what little resources you have. As for the Cowboys, they aren’t faced with as many challenges but it’s never good to lose cap space.

      The remaining teams in the league will also benefit from this reduction because the $46 million will be distributed across the remaining teams, with the exception of New Orleans and Oakland. It’s believed that New Orleans won’t get an estimated $1.6 million cap space because of the bounty program and it’s unclear why Oakland isn’t involved.

      External Sports, NFL

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