Tag: Detroit Lions (Page 39 of 45)

Is the end in sight for Winslow and Browns?

The Browns suspended tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. for one-game following his verbal bashing of GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel in the wake of what he felt was the team’s mishandling of a staph infection. And as Patrick McManamon of the Akron Beacon Journal writes, this could be the beginning of the end for Winslow in Cleveland.

Kellen WinslowThis comes from nothing anyone said privately or publicly, but from the occurrences of the past few days and from the statement released by General Manager Phil Savage that was so cold it had icicles dripping from it.

This clearly is one angry GM.

Savage has always been restrained with announcements and news. That he was blunt and direct in the statement about Winslow speaks volumes.

Savage called Winslow’s comments ”unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessarily disparaging to our organization.” He said the comments ”brought unjustified negative attention to our organization, and violated the team-first concept of our football squad.”

…But Winslow undercut Crennel twice — first after the game on Sunday, then Monday morning when he had more to say after meeting with Crennel on the team plane Sunday night.

Winslow cares about the team. But he also believes that he is better than most anyone and that is why he expects the ball.

This time, though, he put himself ahead of the team. After a tough loss, he made it about himself. If his coach is not on board with the suspension — and does anyone expect Crennel to say anything today except ”we’ve moved on”? — Winslow need only realize he is the one who put his coach in this position.

McManamon goes on to note that the Browns were in no hurry to re-do Winslow’s contract this offseason and they even went as far to draft a tight end (Martin Rucker) in this year’s draft.

If the Browns do part was with Winslow, it would be another first rounder from the 2004 draft that a team has sent packing. The Lions recently traded WR Roy Williams to the Cowboys and released RB Kevin Jones, the Falcons dealt CB DeAngelo Hall to the Raiders this offseason and the Jets sent LB Jonathan Vilma to the Saints before the start o of the year. Interesting.

Top 10 Active NFL Punching Bags (Most Times Sacked)

Usually sacks are kept track of statistically by the guys who are the sacker, not the sack-ee. In today’s NFL, that means guys like Aaron Kampman, John Abraham and Justin Tuck. But when you think about it, that’s a lot of punishment on the guys who are being brought down to the ground, usually with 300 pounds or more on top of them. Ouch. Here is a list of the active leaders in the “sacked” department:

1. Brett Favre, New York Jets (451)—Well, if you play the game long enough, this is sure to happen, right? Still, Favre paid the price in 1996, the year he led the Packers to a Super Bowl title, hitting the ground a career high 40 times.

2. Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles (309)—In a full season, McNabb is typically brought down 35-40 times, and mainly because he’s mobile, meaning he’s being chased. Still, I bet he’s still seeing stars from that game last season in which the Giants sacked him 12 times.

3. Kerry Collins, Tennessee Titans (306)—At 36, this is another example of longevity. But when you hang in the pocket for as long as Collins does sometimes, this is bound to happen.

4. Jon Kitna, Detroit Lions (302)—Kitna played a few years in Seattle and a few years in Cincinnati before signing with Detroit before the 2006 season. He was welcomed with a sieve for an offensive line, taking 63 sacks in 2006 and 51 in 2007. Again, ouch.

5. David Carr, New York Giants (262)—Here is where this gets a little painful even to write about. David Carr has only been in the NFL since 2002, the first year of the expansion Houston Texans. That year, Carr broke an NFL record by being sacked 76 times. With 249 total sacks in 5 seasons, Carr has enjoyed the view from the sidelines in Carolina and now in New York (Giants), as a backup.

6. Trent Green, St. Louis Rams (255)—And we wonder why the guy has struggled to get on the field due to concussions. This is one of those sad truths about playing in the NFL.

7. Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle Seahawks (237)—Chunky Soup sure doesn’t help Hasselbeck or McNabb get away from a pass rush.

8. Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals (223)—Fantasy owners don’t care about this number. They only care about the Arena League type numbers Warner keeps putting up, even now at the age of 37.

9. Marc Bulger, St. Louis Rams (215)—It’s a sure sign that the mighty Rams have fallen when a guy like Bulger hits the ground 49 times, as he did in 2006.

10. Tom Brady, New England Patriots (203)—The only one that New England fans remember is number 203, the one that knocked Mr. Brady out for the 2008 season in the opener last month.

Source: Pro Football Reference

Kitna: Lions used injury to make change at quarterback

Jon Kitna is claiming that the Lions used his back injury in order to make a change at the quarterback position. Kitna was placed on IR on Tuesday.

Jon Kitna“Was there reasonable cause to put me on IR? Yeah, because they said there’s a bulging disk. But the reality is, most guys have bulging disks,” Kitna said in the interview.

“I really feel like I could have played last Sunday at probably above 90 percent health-wise,” he said in the interview. “I played the last two years most of the time probably 75 to 80 percent health-wise with different type of things.”

It’s hard to argue with the Lions for wanting to make a change, especially after they fired GM Matt Millen. They’re trying to figure out what they have on their roster and if either Dan Orlovsky or Drew Stanton can develop at quarterback. It sounds like Kitna understands that, but due to his competitive nature he understandably wants to play.

One had to imagine that Kitna would struggle this year without Mike Martz, which he has. His interceptions in the fourth quarter cost Detroit a chance to make a remarkable comeback against the Packers and that wasn’t the first time he has made terrible mistakes late in games. But he gave that team a true leader and made a lot of the players accountable for their actions. Eventually that’s what the Lions need in a quarterback, but unfortunately for Kitna it looks like his time in Detroit is over.

Cowboys sink a lot of money into one (overrated) position

Roy WilliamsAccording to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com, the Dallas Cowboys have struck a deal with newly acquired WR Roy Williams on a five-year, $45 million contract extension. Williams will get $20 million guaranteed despite topping 850 yards once in his career.

As I noted yesterday when the Cowboys made the deal for Williams, they’re spending a lot of money on just one position. And an overrated position for that matter. Other teams (Patriots, Eagles, Bears) have made won or made Super Bowl appearances with significantly less offensive weapons than the Cowboys have now.

Last time I checked, Terrell Owens and his massive ego are still in Dallas. And with the NFL’s ridiculous rule of playing with only one football, Williams is going to cut into the amount of times T.O. gets opportunities to make plays in the passing game, which only spells disaster.

While the prospect of having Williams, Owens and Jason Witten in the same offense sounds exciting, there’s trouble brewing – I guarantee it. I guarantee it like the Cowboys guarantee $20 million to a receiver whose work ethic was often questioned in Detroit and not too mention doesn’t mind coming down with a case of the dropsies from time to time.

Roy Williams trade makes little sense for Cowboys

Roy WilliamsAdam Schefter of the NFL Network is reporting that the Detroit Lions have traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a first, third and sixth round pick.

But ESPN.com’s Ed Werder reports that the deal will not include the Cowboys first round pick. The trade would involve multiple draft picks but would not involve the Cowboys’ first-round pick, a source told ESPN.com.

The Cowboys are also trying to negotiate a long-term deal with Williams before completing the deal. Williams has expressed unhappiness playing for the winless Lions and can become a free agent after the season unless the team places the franchise tag on him.

In the battle of media giants, I would have to say the NFL Network has the leg up on ESPN considering it’s a league-owned network. But my man Ed Werder eats, sleeps and breaths Dallas Cowboys football for ESPN so I wouldn’t necessarily shoot his information down.

Regardless of the pending compensation, this trade doesn’t make a ton of sense from the Cowboys’ standpoint. Fans will go crazy talking about an unstoppable offense that features Williams, Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, but the fact of the matter is that there’s only one ball to go around. Do you really think T.O. is going to be thrilled now that he has to share looks with another receiving target? Doubtful. And if the ‘Boys do sign Williams to a long term deal, they would have spent a ton of money at just one position (an overrated position to boot). Owens is already scheduled to make $8.9 million in 2009, $10.7 million in 2010 and $10.2 million in 2011.

This makes more sense for the Lions. They probably weren’t going to be able to re-sign Williams to a long-term deal, so why not get as much as they could for him now? And with Matt Millen gone, maybe now they’ll actually get some kind of value for the draft picks they acquired.

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