topic Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!! in Wellness

NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 15:08:03 GMT

And with the Super Bowl now behind us, it's time to start looking to the future. Later in February the NFL combine will take place and that will likely reshape the draft for a few teams. Seeing players who all play the same position on the field side-by-side tends to alter team's perceptions of those players a bit. A guy who's a bit shorter than ideal may suddenly look a lot shorter than ideal when lined up alongside of a taller player or two. A quarterback's footwork/release may look way too slow when he's competing alongside of guys with quick footwork/releases. A guy who runs a 4.6 forty may start to look too slow when you're seeing guys run a 4.4. Guys who were sure first round picks who stammer and stutter their way through the interviews may find their stock dropping. Guys who were reportedly 6'-1" will be measured and found to be 5'-10" instead. There are lots of eye openers that take place at the combine.

The Texans are now calling the Browns' bluff and saying that Johnny Manziel is a guy they're seriously looking at and one of the two guys they like at quarterback. The Texans don't want a team that loves Manziel making a blockbuster trade with the Browns when they could make that trade with the Texans instead, so if the Browns want to dangle Manziel out there as trade bait, then the Texans will make it clear he may not be there by pick two and any team that wants him (including the Browns) had better talk to them instead of the Browns. I personally don't see Manziel going in the top ten, but I could be wrong. He just looks a tick too fragile to me for a team to invest a lot in him. When teams see him alongside of the other quarterbacks in the draft, his value is likely to drop a bit. He can do amazing stuff on the field, but he takes a pounding doing it. I'd be shocked if he ever managed to stay healthy for a full NFL season playing the way he plays.

Teams are now starting to negotiate/renogotiate contracts. Larry Fitzgerald restructured his contract to stay with the Cards. He was going to count $18 million against the cap in 2014 and that was just too much. They've rewritten his contract so he still gets his money, but they've moved a ton of it into a signing bonus that's pro-rated over the life of the contract making the cap impact significantly smaller. The Redskins are reportedly deep into negotiations with their pending free agents trying to lock them up before a bidding war can start. Any high cap player for 2014 who hasn't heard from the team about restructuring his contract is likely on his way out. The same is true for any potential free agent who hasn't had at least preliminary discussions with his team about a new contract. Quite a few guys will get a chance to test the free agent market. If they can't get a big deal then they may end back with thir original team.

Reports indicate the Eagles will either trade for, or sign a free agent safety. Howie Roseman, the Eagles GM, said that he didn't want to go into the draft needing a safety which since we need one now, would imply he's looking to fill that void before the draft. It'll be interesting to see if he aims for a top guy, or a potentially up and coming younger free agent. There are quite a few safeties who will likely be free agents, so he'll have some to pick from. There may be a young guy backing up a proven safety in the league that Roseman likes too, and who he can pick up for a draft pick. So we could see a trade go down to fill the void. We'll have to see what happens there.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

teganslaw — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 23:12:35 GMT

One of the Colts who is a free agent is Safety Antoine Bethea. There are rumors as to what is going to happen to him. He says that he wants to remain in Indy, but is non committal as to a contract restructure. Will he take a pay cut if necessary? He is well -liked by the rest of the team and has been a solid player. He is just one of the many others who are free agents. It will be interesting to see where he ends up.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 14:33:19 GMT

And there's a new TV deal in place for the Thursday night games. For the first eight weeks of the 2014 season CBS and the NFL Network will simulcast the Thursday night games. The bad news (for me anyway) is that Phil Simms will be the analyst for those games. (I'm not a big Phil Simms fan.)

And the first cuts are starting to roll in. Atlanta has decided to waive Asante Samuel and go with the kids at cornerback. They also waived linebacker Stephen Nicholas. Asante can still play decent football and help a team, but he's not worth the contract Atlanta signed him to, so he's gone. Atlanta's a team that's likely to purge a good percentage of their roster after the debacle that was 2013. If they think a guy has trade value they'll hold onto him and try to swing a trade, but guys they don't think they can trade will be waived. Asante was too expensive for another team to trade for him, so he's gone.

We're apt to see lots more names get waived in the coming days/weeks. You could probably build a pretty good team from the guys who will get waived in the near future. Matt Cassell is voiding the final year of his deal and becoming a free agent. He'd be a good backup option for a team that needs a backup quarterback. I don't think anyone will give him a starting job any longer. He's had a couple of chances to grab a starting job and he never took advantage of the opportunities. When he's on, he's a really good quarterback. When he's not on (which is unfortunately more than he's on) he's a very mediocre quarterback. You can survive with a guy like that as a backup, but not as a full-time starter.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

teganslaw — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:12:16 GMT

The Colts hired Rob Chudzinski as special assistant to Pagano. They don't state what duties "special assistant" has, so it could mean almost anything. Many Colts fans are pleased with the hiring, stating that he is a good coach but was in a bad situation in Cleveland. I don't know much about him, myself. Pagano and Chud have known each other for a long time, and since Trent Richardson was originally in Cleveland, it might work out.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 00:25:03 GMT

The Chudzinski hire is probably a good one for the Colts.

We're starting to hear more unofficial rumors/whispers (many likely started by agents) of which teams want which free agent players. If you can believe the rumors (and you probably shouldn't) the Jets are looking to become the northern branch of the Philadelphia Eagles. Their top quarteback choice is reportedly Mike Vick and their top free agent WR is now rumored to be Jeremy Maclin. There is some logic there as Marty Mornhinweg the Jets OC was the OC of the Eagles and knows those guys well.

The Eagles signed Joe Anderson a young wide receiver/kick returner from the Bears as a free agent. He was eligible to be signed now since he was cut earlier in the season. A lot of the draftniks have the Eagles taking a wide receiver early in the draft. I'm not sure we'll see that though. They have DeSean Jackson as a sure starter. Jason Avant has been the slot receiver and might be asked to take a pay cut. We've also got a few young guys with tons of potential who the Eagles have kept around. There's BJ Cunningham who's been on the practice squad two years. Ifeanyi Momah the BC wide receiver who's 6'-7" tall and reportedly ran a 4.2 forty yard dash last year. He didn't show a lot in camp last year, but has been reportedly working with a trainer to be better this year. Will Murphy and Jeff Maehl, two kids from Oregon who know Chip Kelly's system. There's also Arrelious Benn who's coming back from a torn ACL suffered in camp last year. Even if we lose Maclin and Riley Cooper I don't see a pressing need for a wide receiver as long as one of those guys is ready to step up.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Tue, 11 Feb 2014 14:59:15 GMT

And the NFL will soon have their first openly gay player when a team drafts Michael Sam this year. It's not like there haven't been dozens/hundreds of gay players/coaches before, but this is the first guy who's openly proclaimed his orientation. I suspect it won't be a problem with his team or opposing teams but opposing fans, and even home fans if things are going badly, will take lots of cheap shots at the kid. It's a pretty gutsy move on his part. Of course, having told his teammates this past summer, keeping it a secret now would be a challenge.

The Bucs signed Mike Kafka to their roster which is a pretty smart move. He's a good young quarterback who is pretty capable, but not exceptional. He'd be a good backup at worst and if he could turn up his game a notch or two, he'd be a competent starter.

There is lots of speculation out of Dalllas that Miles Austin will be cut due to his cap number and lack of production. Sean Lee of the Cowboys has said that the Cowboys' issues on defense last year were due to the players and not the coaching. He's right. When you change defenses you have to change the personnel to match the new defense. The Cowboys didn't do that last year. We'll have to see what they do this year, but putting square pegs into round holes just doesn't work.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 02:15:00 GMT

Well, the Browns are keeping things interesting this early in the offseason. They fired Joe Banner (team President and in overall charge of football operations) and GM Michael Lombardi. It's certainly interesting timing. You let those guys fire the head coach they hired a year ago (Chudzinski,) let them interview and hire a new head coach (Pettine,) then fire them. I'm thinking the fans in Cleveland are probably less than enthusiastic right now. I'm pretty sure the new head coach isn't overly comfy in his spot right now. When the guys who hired you just got fired, it's not exactly reassuring. I'm guessing all of the reports coming out of Cleveland of them trying to land Johnny Manziel may have also played a role in this. If that is your plan, it's more than a little stupid to broadcast it.

It's been a tough couple of years for Joe Banner. The Eagles (owned by Jeffrey Lurie his childhood friend) fired him, then he got the job with the Browns and now a little over a year later, he's fired again. Joe may have to start looking for work in a different line.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

Spurt — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 23:03:21 GMT

Well my Redskins are off to a good start....I here that Robert will be doing a lot of offseason work with Pierre Garcon and other receivers. Also our ex-QB coach said he expects Robert to really improve next season. He also said he won't be wearing a brace which was slowing him down to. That's good news, Robert seems to be trying to get off to a good start and he has also hired a QB coach to work with him too.

Our main free agent priority is getting our own Brian Orakpo signed....

it looks like TE Fred Davis and WR Josh Morgan won't be. Questionable about WR Santana Moss who seemd a bit discontented with the drama in the locker room (he may have talked himself out of being resigned by grumbling to the press so much)....

Redskins are in luck because we need another receiver opposite Garcon and their are 54 WRs that will be free agents (and as you know GARDENMAN Riley Cooper is one of them--hey would could also weaken an opponent in the same conference by signing him....hmmmm)

Hey GARDENAMN did you see the piece by John Clayton's mailbag where someone asked how the Eagles stayed so healthy....only had one major injury and that was when camp first started so before Chip's regimine started.....and fans were wonderding about "Chip's secrets" to keeping his team healthy....Clayton doubted if Chip would share...

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

teganslaw — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:24:20 GMT

SPURT, it sounds like Pierre Garcon will be Griffin's "go to" guy. I've always liked Garcon, so I hope it works out .Just as long as it doesn't work out too well when they play the Colts.

I'm not sure what will happen with Ahmad Bradshaw. There are rumors of him being waived, but haven't heard an official news on that. he has been injured so was unable to play last season. The original starting rb, Vick Ballard, should be back and healthy. They will work with Trent Richardson, so it's not certain if Bradshaw would be happy as a back up. Will wait and see.

Gardenman, if Chip Kelly has a secret to keeping players healthy, he could be nice and share. Probably won't, though.

OT: SPURT, was your area hit with that ice storm? It looks quite bad; try to stay safe.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

Spurt — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:57:47 GMT

On 2/13/2014 teganslaw said:
SPURT, it sounds like Pierre Garcon will be Griffin's "go to" guy. I've always liked Garcon, so I hope it works out .Just as long as it doesn't work out too well when they play the Colts.

I'm not sure what will happen with Ahmad Bradshaw. There are rumors of him being waived, but haven't heard an official news on that. he has been injured so was unable to play last season. The original starting rb, Vick Ballard, should be back and healthy. They will work with Trent Richardson, so it's not certain if Bradshaw would be happy as a back up. Will wait and see.

Gardenman, if Chip Kelly has a secret to keeping players healthy, he could be nice and share. Probably won't, though.

OT: SPURT, was your area hit with that ice storm? It looks quite bad; try to stay safe.

Hey Tegan.....

We got some cold weather the high was 38....but the wintery mix with the colder temperatures stayed in the Texas Hill Country and missed us....I was just glad we didnt get ice.....and now we are warming up to 78 by the weekend before another cool front comes in....I hope your area missed the bad storm too.....

LOL....yep we play you guys...Garcon is a hard worker and he is our best WR.

Should be an interesting offseason.....heard the Cowboys Jason Garrett is now consulting with former Spurs coach, and coach of numerous college teams and currently SMU's coach, Larry Brown....GEE....how many people are the Cowboys going to consult with....I expect that everyone in the State of Texas will get a postcard asking for their opinion too...

Well good luck to the Colts in the offeseason with the free agent market and draft....I HATE the draft being in May...too long....

Stay warm...

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 16:17:06 GMT

Chip Kelly's secret to keeping the guys healthy isn't really a secret if you follow the Eagles. They've got a pretty impressive training regimen where each day when the players report they have to complete a report indicating any soreness, stiffness, tightness, etc. and turn that in before meetings. While they're in the meetings the sports science guys, trainers, and team docs will go over the reports and create a training program specific for each player. Then after meetings when they go to train, the sports science guys and trainers will have a training regimen already for them that will allow them to either rest the affected area, or work the affected area depending on what's best for it.

Chip's practices are typically no/limited contact. He rotates players a lot. Other than three torn ACL's in training camp, and a few minor nicks during the season, the guys stayed really healthy. He emphasizes staying hydrated (the players all get a custom made protein shake after each workout) and getting a good night's rest (the players wear sleep monitors to ensure they're getting their rest.) The players have all pretty much bought into his approach and it seems to have worked. Now, next year everyone might get injured, but based on what we've seen so far, it looks like Chip's approach really works.

About the only Eagle players who stayed on the field the whole time and who were never rotated out were our offensive linemen. Every other position you would have the starters take a breather for a series or two and their backups take some snaps. Continuity on the o-line is important so Chip never wanted to disrupt that, but every runningback, wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, d-back, defensive lineman on the Eagles roster saw playing time last year. Playing everyone gave Chip a chance to see how they'd respond as a starter, gave them valuable playing time, and helped to keep the real starters rested and healthy. Many of the Eagle players said they felt as fresh at the end of the season as they had at the start. The vets raved about how well they felt. The rookies didn't seem to hit that rookie wall that typically sets in around game twelve.

A lot of coaches want lots of contact in practice. The organizations don't closely monitor the health of the players. Players are largely left on their own to get ready through the offseason. (Each Eagle player got a three ring binder filled with a workout program specific for that player after this past season ended that would strengthen their weaknesses and maintain their strengths.)

Nothing Chip Kelly does is done without a good, solid reason behind it. The fact that it all seems to be working only makes the players even more willing to buy into what he's selling. Getting that initial buy-in from the players was the tricky part. Now they've bought in, seen the results, and are anxiously looking forward to next year.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 23:06:16 GMT

And the Wells report on the Dolphins is now released. It doesn't look good for the Dolphins. One of their coaches apparently participated in the harrassment along with trainers. We may see some significant changes down there pretty quickly.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Sun, 16 Feb 2014 16:57:01 GMT

Johnny Manziel is not going to throw at the combine. I think that's a mistake. The combine exists so teams can compare players side by side and when a player opts out, it makes it clear that he doesn't think he'll compare favorably to the competition. He's also warning the Texans that they'll be sorry if they don't draft him first overall. I've still got a feeling that the mock drafts are all way, way off on where Manziel will be drafted. I wouldn't be shocked to see him drop pretty far in the draft.

I've already seen reports where film study shows that he takes off and runs even when his first read is wide open. If you've got an open receiver you've got to get the ball to him. If Manziel can't explain to teams in the interviews why he tucked the ball and ran instead of throwing to the open guy/guys, he's going to drop a lot. I just don't think Johnny Manziel is going to blow teams away, and to be a top ten pick, you've pretty much got to blow people away. He's an exciting college quarterback, but I'm just not sure he'll translate to the NFL.

The combine is a showcase where you can come in and show the scouts and GM's how you measure up to the rest of the class. As a quarterback they'll be looking for arm strength, speed of release, accuracy, consistency, temperament, intelligence, and more. If he was confident in those areas he'd relish the chance to go head to head with the best guys out there. Instead he wants to only throw whern there's no competition around to compare him to. That wouldn't make me overly confident drafting him.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

brewhaha — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 21:13:51 GMT

The talk about Michael Sam & Jonathan Martin has finally slowed down. They were talking about it ad nauseum.

The combine is only a few days away. The NFL Network has been showing some promos. They show a player doing his vertical leap. You hear about guys with vertical leaps of 35"" or more. I'm beginning to think that's not how high off the ground he jumps. I think his vertical leap is the difference between how high his fingers reach at the peak of his jump and his actual height. That means a player with long arms has an advantage. That's why you hear about 300 lb linemen with very high vertical leaps. There's no way a player is jumping 35"" off the ground from a standing position. I think he's only going as high as his knees to thighs assuming he doesn't bend his knees while he's in the air.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 15:11:40 GMT

brewhaha. It's been a while since I last saw a vertical jump comp, but the last time I saw one they had the guy stretch as far as he could on tiptoes and with extended fingers to move the lower markers out of the way. They then marked that spot and he then jumped up to see how much further he could go. The difference from where he could reach while extended and the jumping distance was his vertical jump. William Perry (the 400 pound defensive tackle of the Bears a few years back) reportedly had a 36 inch vertical jump. They said he'd jump flat footed from the ground to stand atop the training tables in the training room.

Fred Davis, the soon to be free agent tight end from the Redskins, has now earned an indefinite suspension from the league for violating their substance abuse policy. Not a smart move as you're about to become a free agent. He was a risky free agent to begin with and just became toxic. No team will even consider signing him now. Those indefinite suspensions make a guy untouchable. It's a shame as the kid's got potential, but teams just won't take a chance on him now. Maybe when injuries start taking out tight ends in the fall and if he gets his suspension lifted a team may give him a chance, but he's going to have to be very, very lucky to play next year.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

Spurt — Thu, 20 Feb 2014 22:20:19 GMT

On 2/20/2014 gardenman said:
brewhaha. It's been a while since I last saw a vertical jump comp, but the last time I saw one they had the guy stretch as far as he could on tiptoes and with extended fingers to move the lower markers out of the way. They then marked that spot and he then jumped up to see how much further he could go. The difference from where he could reach while extended and the jumping distance was his vertical jump. William Perry (the 400 pound defensive tackle of the Bears a few years back) reportedly had a 36 inch vertical jump. They said he'd jump flat footed from the ground to stand atop the training tables in the training room.

Fred Davis, the soon to be free agent tight end from the Redskins, has now earned an indefinite suspension from the league for violating their substance abuse policy. Not a smart move as you're about to become a free agent. He was a risky free agent to begin with and just became toxic. No team will even consider signing him now. Those indefinite suspensions make a guy untouchable. It's a shame as the kid's got potential, but teams just won't take a chance on him now. Maybe when injuries start taking out tight ends in the fall and if he gets his suspension lifted a team may give him a chance, but he's going to have to be very, very lucky to play next year.

GARDENAMN---well good riddance to "pothead" Fred.....he destroyed his chances of a successful NFL career....maybe he can move to Washington State or Colorado and live happily every after....

Well the Redskins re-signed De Angelo Hall.....he did play extremely well last year and why take a chance signing an unknown commodity that would definitely want more money than Hall got. I dont like the idea of the Redskins trying to trade Kirk Cousins for a potential 2nd round pick when Robert's healthy and ability are still a question mark and its hard to find a decent backup, I think we are jumping the gun here.

So Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino got cut from CBS and they signed Tony Gonzalez instead......was not a fan of Sharpe and Marino added very little insight...now if they'd only get rid of Boomer Esiason. I still prefer Fox pre-game.

I just want to warn everyone----the end of the world is near----prepare now---

Stephen A. Smith said something actually positive about my Spurs---yep the Apocalypse is upon us!!!

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 01:16:27 GMT

I also prefer the Fox pregame. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino. There are so many sports channels around these days that they're bound to turn up someplace.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

Spurt — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 03:27:28 GMT

On 2/20/2014 gardenman said:
I also prefer the Fox pregame. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Shannon Sharpe and Dan Marino. There are so many sports channels around these days that they're bound to turn up someplace.

Well there's a rumor Marino might go to work for the Dolphins front office.....after all the bad publicity from the Incognito/Martin fiasco that might not be a bad idea .....

I keep hearing even though the Eagles have greater needs they may go for a backup QB somewhere in the draft.....

Negotiations have made little progress with Redskins and LB Riley...Rak is the priority...

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

gardenman — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 15:44:25 GMT

Marino working for the Dolphins might make some sense from a PR standpoint. He did have that issue of fathering a child out of wedlock with a CBS co-worker a few years ago though which could be an issue for the Dolphins. If they're trying to aim for the high moral ground, he might not be an ideal fit for them.

I'd still be surprised if the Eagles reached for a quarterback, but if an Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger fell to them in round three or four (due to their torn ACL's) I could see the Eagles grabbing one of them. If you can get a first round talent guy for a third or fourth round pick, it's kind of silly not to make the move. That's how we got Matt Barkley last year and I could see the same thing happening again. If we got one of those guys we could put him on PUP or the IR for the coming year, get him healthy and then have Barkley, Foles and the new kid all fighting it out for the job in 2015. We've got GJ Kinne still on the roster as a third stringer and there are always guys like Rex Grossman available in a pinch if you get desperate.

I wouldn't worry about the Redskins losing Orakpo. They'll franchise tag him if need be, but they can't afford to lose him. Players have the edge in negotiating right now. They know the teams don't generally want to tag a good player as it only locks them in for one year and at a high price. It's better for the team to sign a guy to a long term contract with a big bonus that can be spread out over years. I suspect that in the week before free agency starts you'll see quite a few signings. Right now players and their agents are just toying with GM's. In the next week to ten days you'll see lots of names coming off the free agent list as they resign with their current teams.

Re: NFL Offseason News and Notes for February!!

brewhaha — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 01:26:36 GMT

Gardenman, thanks for the explanation about the vertical jump. It's still incomprehensible to me how a 300 lb man can jump three feet into the air from a standing position without taking a step for momentum.

Johnny Manziel measured in at 5'11 3/4" and 207 lbs. I would be very hesitant to take him in the top ten. Because of his style of play, he's going to take some hits and at 207 lbs, I don't know how he's going to hold up. He's going to have to be smart about when he runs and become more of a pocket passer.

Jeff Fisher was on ESPN's NFL Insiders show and it sounds like an OL or two is high on their list. He also mentioned this is a very deep draft so trading down would be a possibility.