Wellness

[gardenman]

Lots of veterans are getting cut around the league now that the draft is past. I'm not sure I remember that from previous years. Vince Young got cut, the Giants cut one of their five quarterbacks, and lots of lesser players are biting the dust. It's a tough business sometimes. I'm not sure I'd be that anxious to unload guys until the kids have had a rookie camp or two. Cutting proven guys based on an unproven rookie's potential is a bit risky. You might find out pretty quickly you need those guys back and they may have signed elsewhere.

The Eagles who struck out on offensive linemen in the draft are now bringing in one or more of the leftover unsigned vets for a tryout/physical. Chances are we'll hear of a signing or two over the next few days as they add a few more bodies on the offensive line.

The Eagles reportedly signed Taylor Martinez, the nimble Nebraska quarterback as a free agent. He's expected to play either a defensive back role or a receiver role with the Eagles and will likely end up as a practice squad guy. He's a great athlete with lots of ability, but not really an NFL quarterback. He's a smart, high character player who the Eagles love, but he's going to have to learn a whole new position to have a shot and chances are it'll take longer than he has this off-season to learn a new spot. If he shows any promise, he's likely destined for one of the practice squad spots or could be resigned after the season ends and the roster expands. He reportedly ran a 40 at around 4.2 seconds earlier in his career and is coming off a foot injury, but still ran a 4.4 40 recently. He's got decent size (6' 1" 210 lbs.) and is an athlete, but learning a new position and becoming good enough at it in three months or so to make a roster is asking a lot. He'll be an interesting guy to watch though.

In terms of receivers, the Eagles are sure to keep Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper. Those two guys are locks to make the roster if they stay healthy. The two draft picks this year, Josh Huff and Jordan Matthews should also be locks to make the roster. Very few teams cut a second or third round pick in the first year. Brad Smith has been talked up a lot by the Eagles this off-season. He came to the Eagles in November and apparently impressed the coaches. A full off-season in the system should help him a ton. The Eagles loved Arrelious Benn enough to trade for him last off-season, but then the injury bug bit him again. He'll need to stay healthy to make the team. There are thirteen or fourteen guys (depending on where Taylor Martinez ends up) competing for wide receiver jobs with the Eagles now. It's hard to rule anyone out as there's some good talent there. Teams that need a receiver will no doubt be watching to see who doesn't make the Eagles' roster. A few really good football players will be cut out of this group.

[Spurt]

On 5/12/2014 yellowrose said:

Looks like a late night tonight Spurt with the Spurs game not starting until 9:30. I probably shouldn't watch since they have done very well without me rooting for them. I may jinx them. But tonight will be the first game I'll be able to watch (since the Mav's disaster) and I don't want to miss a possible sweep.

Sorry for the OT......back to football, but I've got nothing so say, for now.

Okay yellowrose you jinxed my Spurs..........actually I think my sis did since she got out her broom......The Spurs had absolutely NO ENGERGY (kinda like me after a late game-).......Hopefully they get back on track and can wrap this thing up and move on ....in the playoffs!

Back to football---

Now after all the excitement in Cleveland with Johnny Manziel and 2,000 season tickets sold, they are telling him to "think backup"......which may be the best thing, to give him time to learn, especially since their will be few weapons for a QB since they did NOT draft a WR, and their "star" receiver will be suspended .....I bet the Brown fans are ticked off.....

[Spurt]

Oh and it looks like DeSean is in a bit of trouble --- at the Wizard's game DeSean was rooting for THE PACERS and NOT the Wizardsand tweeted about it, ..he also tweeted pix of him and Pacers Paul George.....of course they showed DeSean on the big screen and played Hail To The Redskins.....which Im sure the Wizards did not appreciate....

Some tweets were-

"Do you have any common sense" (in DC cheering and tweeting about your bro Paul George and the Pacers)

"Seriously, have some sensitivity to DC/Wizard fans would have been appreciated"

"Way to root against your new home team. Leaving a good first impression"

"uhhh keep that between yourself if (you and Paul George) are boys. You're a Redskin now Djax."

Aahh and the football season hasn't even started yet.....looks like their will be tons of fun this year with DeSean...

BTW another football player was at the Spurs/Trailblazers game.....none other than the Super Bowl QB himself---Russell Wilson----afterall, the BIG BOSS, Paul Allen, owns BOTH the Trailblazers and Seahawks....

No veterans or big names for the cuts by the Redskins----

WR David Gettis.....drafted by Panthers in 2010, picked up by the Redskins in January

Kicker Jake Rogers (since they have Forbath and drafted Hocker no longer need)

[yellowrose]

I'm innocent Spurt. Storm blew out my power for 6 hrs so I wasn't able to watch. I'm sure the Spurs will bounce back in SA and get this series done.

So the Cowboys got a TX A&M QB afterall....Dustin Vaughan. I know nothing about him. Sure would be nice to have some competition for Romo, but he's Jerry's pride and joy. Romo can sleep well at night.

[gardenman]

Yellowrose. The Cowboys are going to be interesting to watch this year. JJ thinks they have better personnel now than they did last year (I don't agree, but he's the GM) and is expecting big things from them. They've got a tough schedule, the weak spots in their defense still look pretty weak to me. Their offensive weapons are getting older. Romo's back could be a big, big, big issue. I'd be surprised if the Cowboys finished better than 8-8 this year, but maybe Romo will play lights out and drag the team to a better record. It's pretty much all on Romo this year. That defense isn't likely to win many games. Special teams are average. Romo and Dez Bryant have to have massive years for JJ to be happy and I'm not sure they will have massive years. If I had to bet, I'd say the Cowboys were more likely playing for the first overall pick in the draft than the playoffs.

[yellowrose]

I wouldn't bet against you gardenman. I hate to write this season off before it's even started but I think the Cowboys need the 2015 draft before we have anything to possibly get excited about. I hope I'm wrong. Our first regular season game is against the 49ers. I'm actually glad we're starting off the season against a strong team. Should be very telling

[gardenman]

Yellowrose. Yeah, starting against the Niners probably won't be a lot of fun. It also won't tell you a whole lot. You never know what a team will be like from year to year. Going into 2013 the Falcons and Texans looked poised to make a playoff run. They ended up competing for that first overall pick instead. Teams can go from really good to really bad, pretty quickly. If the team loses faith in the coach things can go south in a hurry. I'm not sure Jim Harbaugh is a guy the Niner players will buy into long term. They've had some pretty big distractions this off season with Aldon Smith getting in trouble and Kaepernick and his issue with whatever happened in that Florida hotel room. The Niners could implode this season and end up being much less impressive than we assume they will be.

And teams are already signing draft picks! The Eagles signed their third round pick Josh Huff yesterday and will likely sign more guys to contracts later this week. That's great for the players to get some cash moving their way this quickly after the draft. I really like that about the new CBA. The agents are largely unneeded for these first contracts and they're often worked out very quickly. It's a big improvement over the old system where contracts weren't negotiated until just before camp.

Andre Johnson of the Texans has looked around and decided that maybe playing for the Texans won't be a lot of fun for the rest of his career and he may be looking for a trade out of Texas. His big issue is his contract. He's making around $15 million a year and there aren't a lot of teams with that much cap space and a need for a stud receiver. The Browns could afford to pay him and they need a receiver, but I'm not sure they're any closer to being a contender than the Texans, so that may not be a step up as far as Andre is concerned. You have to feel sorry for the really talented guys who get stuck in a bad place for much of their career.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Texans rebound pretty quickly this year. They've got to get some solid leadership going on defense after trading away DeMeco Ryans and letting Connor Barwin leave in free agency in the last couple of years. (Both of whom are now solid leaders on the Eagle defense.) With JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney on the defensive line the defense should be pretty disruptive. If they can settle on a quarterback and get reasonable performance then the Texans could be pretty competitive pretty quickly. Tennessee and Jacksonville don't strike me as being all that hard to get past. Indy's the big threat in the AFC South, but there aren't a lot of really good AFC teams. Making the playoffs as a wildcard on the AFC side isn't out of reach for pretty much any AFC team.

[Spurt]

On 5/13/2014 yellowrose said:

I'm innocent Spurt. Storm blew out my power for 6 hrs so I wasn't able to watch. I'm sure the Spurs will bounce back in SA and get this series done.

So the Cowboys got a TX A&M QB afterall....Dustin Vaughan. I know nothing about him. Sure would be nice to have some competition for Romo, but he's Jerry's pride and joy. Romo can sleep well at night.

Hi YELLOWROSE--okay your innocent regarding my Spurs....

First Jerry gets Weedon....now this guy from TX A&M....who the heck is he???..I think Jerry definitely does NOT want to sign anyone that would give Romo real competition despite his age and back surgery and he paid him that huge contract. Tony is always sitting with Jerry in his box watching other events taking place at "The Palace" yep, Jerrah's pride and joy all right! ......And people complained because Dan Snyder took RG3 out to dinner....SHEESH!

[Spurt]

On 5/14/2014 gardenman said:

Yellowrose. Yeah, starting against the Niners probably won't be a lot of fun. It also won't tell you a whole lot. You never know what a team will be like from year to year. Going into 2013 the Falcons and Texans looked poised to make a playoff run. They ended up competing for that first overall pick instead. Teams can go from really good to really bad, pretty quickly. If the team loses faith in the coach things can go south in a hurry. I'm not sure Jim Harbaugh is a guy the Niner players will buy into long term. They've had some pretty big distractions this off season with Aldon Smith getting in trouble and Kaepernick and his issue with whatever happened in that Florida hotel room. The Niners could implode this season and end up being much less impressive than we assume they will be.

And teams are already signing draft picks! The Eagles signed their third round pick Josh Huff yesterday and will likely sign more guys to contracts later this week. That's great for the players to get some cash moving their way this quickly after the draft. I really like that about the new CBA. The agents are largely unneeded for these first contracts and they're often worked out very quickly. It's a big improvement over the old system where contracts weren't negotiated until just before camp.

Andre Johnson of the Texans has looked around and decided that maybe playing for the Texans won't be a lot of fun for the rest of his career and he may be looking for a trade out of Texas. His big issue is his contract. He's making around $15 million a year and there aren't a lot of teams with that much cap space and a need for a stud receiver. The Browns could afford to pay him and they need a receiver, but I'm not sure they're any closer to being a contender than the Texans, so that may not be a step up as far as Andre is concerned. You have to feel sorry for the really talented guys who get stuck in a bad place for much of their career.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Texans rebound pretty quickly this year. They've got to get some solid leadership going on defense after trading away DeMeco Ryans and letting Connor Barwin leave in free agency in the last couple of years. (Both of whom are now solid leaders on the Eagle defense.) With JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney on the defensive line the defense should be pretty disruptive. If they can settle on a quarterback and get reasonable performance then the Texans could be pretty competitive pretty quickly. Tennessee and Jacksonville don't strike me as being all that hard to get past. Indy's the big threat in the AFC South, but there aren't a lot of really good AFC teams. Making the playoffs as a wildcard on the AFC side isn't out of reach for pretty much any AFC team.

GARDENMAN---I don't want the Texans rebound back too quickly---especially that first game... The Texans defense should be good...but they have that big question mark at quarterback....

And the Rams sure loaded up I think the 49ers are going to have some competition in addition to Seattle....that is if Bradford can stay healthy....so the West will be even tougher---but I think Harbaugh is the type of coach that help the weather these storms and keep them focused.....

[gardenman]

Taylor Martinez, the Nebraska quarterback who had signed with the Eagles, today had his contract rescinded when he failed his physical. The Eagles' team docs felt his foot hadn't healed enough/properly and recommended surgery for him. I have a suspicion that he'll be signed again at the end of the season when rosters expand and his foot has healed.

Michael Sam who the Rams took with their seventh round pick has now disclosed that he has a deal for a reality series with Oprah's OWN network. I'm thinking that's not going to go over too well with the Rams. They've made a point of him being a "normal" seventh round pick despite his orientation. To have him now disclose this deal with Oprah is probably not endearing him to the Rams. He could end up being the first player from this draft class released if he doesn't find a way out of that deal. They've made it clear they want him to be a typical seventh round draft pick and not a celebrity and a 'normal' seventh round draft pick doesn't get a reality series from Oprah. This is a dumb, dumb, dumb decision by the kid. He should be completely focused on making the team and instead he's busy working on his reality series. I'm guessing the Rams may just release him to let him get on with his television career.